oNe PhOtO a DaY fOr ApRiL

THE PROMPS FOR THE MONTH

1 PLAY: still able to play in the dirt with nothing but their imaginations to inspire them, but a funny looking white woman is a definite distraction!

2 BLUE: An iridescent blue-shouldered, white –bellied sunbird against a pale blue African sky.

3 SOMETHING BEGINNING WITH A: A is for Arusha with its landmark clock tower.

4 THIS HAPPENED TODAY: at the one and only set of traffic lights in Arusha where almost anything goes in traffic terms.

5 SOMETHING GOOD: only goats could think that these scary thorn bushes were something good to eat!

6 AIR: open air butchers in Monduli Juu

7 DREAMY: Such a dreamy look in her eyes- What are her aspirations?

8 ON YOUR PLATE: Chipsi MaYai local treat of an omelette made with chips

9 TINY: This 2-day old kid born prematurely on the school campus is tiny

10 A PLACE: a place we see daily from behind the library, but have yet to walk to.

11 DETAIL: the detail of the mud we struggle through everyday to get to school

12 IN THE MIDDLE: in the middle of the journey to school today we had to stop to rebuild the road where it had washed away overnight.

13 VIEW FROM YOUR BED: the mosquito net we use every night

14 WATER: The water tank that services the 2 volunteer houses and 6 volunteers- note the rock to stop drips and the ingenious stitch and melt repair.

15 ALONE: This African grass owl was discovered in the library all alone – was it perhaps reading up to add to its wisdom?

16 YOUR FAVOURITE COLOUR: These orange birds were the first to catch my attention because orange is my favourite colour.

17 BUSY: Orkeeswa students busy repairing chairs in the “fix it” activity

18 HELLO! One doesn’t need language to know what these kids are calling out as we pass. 

19 BUTTON: This ‘button is pinned to the notice board in our arts faculty staffroom

20 ON YOUR MIND: My home class XC in Bhutan in 2011 and 2012. They are often on my mind. I miss them and wonder where life has taken them

21 FIRE: the cooking fire and the dinner being prepared on it at one of our student’s bomas yesterday

22 BLURRY: Andrew’s blurry hand as he defeats the students at cards, yet again in activity time- I love that the headmaster is also watching on from the doorway

23 TIME: to build nests, feed the young and welcome them into this weaverbird community in a large tree outside the Form 4 classroom!

24 I SAW THIS PERSON TODAY: While visiting a student at her home I saw her shy little brother watching us but too afraid to join us

25 LIFE IS …….. all about “ugali”( the white stodge) - a rather unappetizing maize staple served twice a week as school lunches and eaten much more often than that by the locals!

26 CHILDHOOD: is not always smiles and laughter especially when it is happening to you- little Sophie

27 EARTH: African Earth after just 3 days without rain the mud has turned to this cracked and parched surface already

28 MY SUNDAY: Watching Suzi dress Melanie in a Maasai Shuka

29 I WORE THIS TODAY: and almost every day for the last 4 months : the memories attached make it hard to remove

30 GLASSES: I could never read, teach or hike without this 3 pack of glasses (displayed on a beautiful Maasai Shuka)

This is the summary for April.

Please feel free to comment if you have a favourite or a question about any of these images

Teething Trouble?

Since coming here, I have struggled to feel I belong in this environment and although we have lived and worked in many different cultures outside of Australia, all of them have been in Asia. We knew coming to Tanzania wasn't going to be an easy transition but in the past 6 weeks it has been much more of a challenge than I ever expected.

There is so much need and so little available in terms of resources. In the past I have reconciled this discrepancy, in developing countries with the thought that I am doing the little that I can and therefore making a difference, at least at the personal level but here it seems that I question if I am actually making any difference.

For years I have lived my life by the philosophy of "small footprints" but now, everyday, I am forced to question the devastating effect we have on the fragile environment in which we live. The trip to school is a hair-raising adventure or a death trap waiting to happen, for those of us who are occupants of  the car. That for me is scary enough, but the road itself and the continual degradation of that precious farmland is hard to reconcile. Where does the balance sit when the environmental destruction is weighed against the positive social impact? The very water we use to wash our clothes and ourselves seems an unreasonable demand on the precious little available. Are we a part of the solution or an extension of the problem in this scenario? I can't help but wonder.

Here, there is a charity culture that is hard to break and even harder to accept. Or at least that is the way it seems to me. At the school level students have sponsors and are given almost all of the things they require for their education, so there is a tendency to just demand what they need whenever they need it. I cannot deny that without sponsors and donations they would not be able to get a secondary education but almost daily I am confronted with students who expect, or maybe just hope, I will simply give them my possessions, in addition to the many other things they require and are often provided with, simply because they are asking me for them.

At the community level, charity and NGOs are a significant factor in bringing about change and creating opportunities. This is to be commended and supported but....... Whilst doing everyday things, like walking home from the market, groups of very young children have rushed towards us and used the few words of English they know to ask us for "money" or to "be my sponsor." Indeed when questioned further they are able articulate what they want you to sponsor them for. I find it sad that the culture of dependence is so ingrained. I feel uncomfortable with the fact I obviously have more and am wealthier than many of them even aspire to be, but providing my skills or time is not considered enough. There is still and expectation that I will financially support local people. Enterprise clearly also plays a part but but I don't yet fully understand the real role there.

At the same time I am struggling with what exactly I am likely to be able to achieve here with my students, in terms of reasonable expectations and long-term objectives. Maybe these are all just teething problems and to be expected in our quest to embrace a totally unfamiliar and non-homogenous new culture! I am still not sure and long to feel less like 'a fish out of water' and more at home on a daily basis.

Time will certainly tell!

The Commute

Every morning we set off at about 7 am. Andrew fires up the trusty old Landy and those people lagging behind have to be careful to hurry along lest the abundant exhaust smoke asphyxiates them as it drifts through the open front door of the volunteer house.

Once we are all aboard the journey begins. Sometimes just getting up the driveway and off the property is challenge enough. Steep, muddy and rutted are the three words that spring to mind when thinking about the roads here in Monduli.

After the first muddy section there is a short paved section of road that feels like a freeway (with speeds to match!). The squeal of the Landy’s brakes announces our arrival at yet another speed hump and we passengers adopt the brace position.

After a short stint on the ‘freeway’ we have a short wait at Tumaini’s shop. There people buy bananas or bottled water or biscuits or whatever they need to get them through the day. We also meet up with other teachers and staff who join us for the rest of the trip out to our school.

At this point we have a driver change. Andrew readily jumps in the back of the Landy and Hamadi takes the reins. Hamadi is our go to guy and is a real lynch pin of the whole organisation. Andrew drives maybe 2 km while Hamadi is the pilot for the remaining 5 kms.

 Once we pick up the remainder of the passengers on the paved road, it’s exit stage left and not surprisingly the road is once again a muddy quagmire.

I don’t know how they do it but some folks can even eat breakfast ‘in transit’.

It is the rainy season at the moment and we regularly get the most torrential downpours I have ever witnessed. Water courses from high points to low paying no heed to the course we want it to take. Instead it races downwards cutting new channels and gouging new gullies and ravines with a single minded purposefulness that is hard to imagine. 

One morning last week we even had to undertake a spot of road building as the previous night’s downpours had all but washed away a section of road adjacent to a culvert. The water had simply gone its own way giving us yet another glimpse of its unstoppable power to transform the landscape.

We are always very happy to finally arrive at school. Hamadi then turns right around and heads back to Monduli for the second trip! This trip brings all the teachers and staff who commute the extra 40 odd kms from Arusha every day. I am very glad we live in Monduli…

Some of us even arrive at school in a relatively clean state! How do they do it??!!

Once at school the views over the plain towards Mt Meru are fantastic.

Then, at around 4.15 in the afternoon the whole process is reversed as the first of two home trips begins, lucky we have our trusty Landy!!