The Kilimanjaro Journals

Mambo poa, Bwana Bush

So, as you no doubt have heard, last week George W. Bush was in Tanzania. In Dar last week for the UNICEF conference I saw signs along the road welcoming "His Excellency" Mr. Bush. At the conference, one of the facilitators made a passing reference to the street cleaning that was underway in Arusha. In preparation for Bush's arrival, Tanzanian police began arresting street children en masse. They were detained until Bush had left Tanzania. It's not surprising that Bush was moved by the cheering Tanzanians who lined the streets in Dar and Arusha. His retinue shut down traffic in both cities for 9 hours! Can you imagine what would happen if traffic were shut down in New York, Tokyo or London for 9 hours? With the homeless in jail and traffic at a standstill the only thing to do in either city was go out and get a look at the leader of the United States.

In his usually inept style, Bush greeted the president of Tanzania, Mr. Jakaya Kikwete, by saying, "Mambo Vipi?" I don't claim any major level of competence in the Swahili language, but I do know enough to realize how inappropriate it was to greet a leader by saying the equivalent of "Wuz up?"

Bush was playing up his Presidential Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PETFAR). The plan is one of two things the man did as president that I might be tempted to congratulate him on. The other was making a huge section of ocean off limits to oil or other resource mining. Yes, no resources had been found anywhere nearby the area, but it was a nice gesture. PETFAR made available a lot of money for combating entirely preventable diseases like Malaria, TB and HIV. HIV medication is a lot cheaper than it was a few years ago because of the program. But then it should've been cheap and accessible all along - making a profit off of lifesaving drugs should be a crime. Of course the money PETFAR released to USAID programs in Africa came with a big stipulation: that abstinence would be promoted over condom use. I did say "tempted to congratulate him on".

In other news, I've been staying with two volunteers at Amani, Aaron and Christina, while our house is being finished up. I was supposed to move in last week, but the landlord had the interior painted and it wasn't finished yet. They've been treating me well, and it's free so I can't complain. I'll get the keys for our place on Sunday and start moving in on Monday night after work.

Monday during the day at Amani there's a staff versus children soccer match. I'll be playing midfield. The staff has lost everyone of these matches they've played in. I understand why: even the smallest girls can run circles around most of the caregivers here. It should be fun, though. I'll try to get a few pictures to put up here next week.

I turned 28 last week while I was in Dar. It was a decent birthday. My boss Valerie and her husband Matthew took me out to a Japanese restaurant in Dar and I was being put up in a hotel with an ocean view. But, all I did was go to bed around 10 and wake up early the next day for the conclusion of the conference. I'm toying with the idea of writing an article about the conference and the campaign to get a children's rights act on the books in Tanzania, so I'll hold off on any commentary about it now.

That's it. I'm off to a Swahili lesson. It's all cool, Mr. Bush.

Our Home

Joe sent me some pictures of our new house last night. I was very pleasantly surprised!

Porch

Master Bedroom

Joe moves in on Tuesday. He said when he was there yesterday there were workers replacing broken windows, screens, cleaning the floors and painting the walls. Sounds like its going to be really nice. I am really impressed by the pictures. It's so light!

He went shopping yesterday and got dishes, sheets and other essentials. Our biggest expenses are going to be the stove and fridge. There doesn't seem to be much of a used market for any of these things so we will have to buy everything new.

I am two weeks away from joining him! Not long at all.

Kibo and Mawenzi

The twin peaks of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Kibo (left) and Mawenzi, as seen from behind Amani Children's Home.

Dalla Dalla Time

Riding the dalla dallas here is a memorable experience. These minibuses (many exported from Japan after they slipped below school transportation standards there) are the only practical public transportation system in most parts of Africa. They're often seen racing at break-neck speeds along the Moshi streets, sputtering black smoke, filled to the brim with bodies, blaring Bongo Flava out of broken speakers. They're fantastic.

The dalla dallas follow routes but not time schedules. I stand out on the route that heads towards Amani each morning. A conductor hollers to potential customers on the streets. He pokes his head out the window calling the direction the bus is heading. If another dalla dalla is nearby, fishing for customers, a fierce competition breaks out. They'll block each other. The conductors hop out of the moving buses and race up to the customers, grabbing their bags, pulling them towards their ride. Dalla dallas will circle the block looking for customers and won't head towards their destination until they're absolutely full. Absolutely full.

House Hunting, Off to Dar

It's been another busy week, but also a very productive one. A big part of my job is developing and maintaining relationships with Amani donors. There hasn't been someone on site in my position for over three months, which means I have been doing a lot of catching up. This week, Valerie and I set in motion one of our major projects for the year - a complete overhaul of the Amani Children's Home website. We've got a lot of really great ideas and some masterful technical assistance from friends of Amani around the world.

House hunting was more difficult than I had anticipated. I've looked at about 20 different places in the past three weeks. I've gotten a lot of really great help from people I've just met on the street and I've also had a lot of my time wasted. But, I've finally found our place. It's a four bedroom house in an area of town called Soweto. It's a really great place for a decent price. I'm meeting the landlord tomorrow to sign a contract and give him a year's rent(!). I'll take photos tomorrow and slap them up here soon.

This has been my home for the past month. I move into our new home on 19 February.

Monday Valerie, Matthew (her husband) and I are heading to Tanzania's capital, Dar es Salaam. (Actually the political capital is currently being transferred to Dodoma.) Amani's been invited to a conference hosted by UNICEF about advocating for a Children's Rights Act in Tanzania, the only country in East Africa without one. The meetings on the 12th (my birthday!) and 13th will be an exchange between national and international NGOs dedicated to children's rights. I'm really excited about the opportunity to have a first row seat as this campaign for protective laws proceeds. The conference will be held at the Kunduchi Beach Resort. Room and board are completely covered by UNICEF! Valerie and Matthew are taking me to a Japanese restaurant for my birthday, too. I'm really looking forward to everything about the trip except for the 8-9 hour bus ride to Dar from Moshi.

Here's a shot of Moshi's bus stand, where my likely-to-be-torturous 9 hour trip to Dar will begin.

Morning View, Mt. Kilimanjaro

I took this a few days ago on my morning run. Scientists warn that the literary 'snows of Kilimanjaro' will be no more in less than 7 years, the result of increasing global temperatures and over-logging on the mountain's slopes, which are changing the microclimate.

I'm going to try to get some more photos of Moshi street life but taking pictures of people is difficult here. Most feel exploited by tourists snapping photos of exotic Africans and will ask for money in exchange. There's also still a few religions around who fear having their image captured in a little box will steal part of their soul.

In other news, I'm still living at the Backpacker's Hotel, enjoying the fresh pineapple breakfasts, but not enjoying living in a room that I can touch opposite walls at the small time in. Apartment hunting is proving to be difficult. There's no classified section to peruse, no real estate agents either. I've just been letting every person I meet know that I'm looking for a place. I've seen about six houses this week. Either they're gorgeous palatial buildings with manicured lawns and guards or complete dumps. The mansions are just few hundred dollars a month, but are out of our price range right now. My boss lives in a great three bedroom home for which she and her husband pay 150,000 Tsh a month, about 140 USD. I'm holding out for something that's comfortable and affordable. The other factor hindering my search is that two of Amani's volunteers are also house hunting, so we're trying not to step on each other's toes.