The Christmas Card

Our main job while volunteering was to have the children make Christmas Cards and take pictures for their sponsors. At first, when given the job, we thought – great, we’ll have it done in a week and move on to something else. Little did we know…

After designing the card, we wanted to print out our design to paste on the over 200 cards we had to make. This proved to be no easy task. First, in the design process we used the Internet to download pictures – took FOREVER. Second, we tried printing our design in the office – there was no USB cable. Third, we went to the office at Pilgrams to print, but there was no ink. 4^th, we went back to Tudor office with the USB cable from Pilgrams, which did not work with Sara’s computer and they had lost the installation CD for the printer. This next part chronicles our numerous other attempts:

5. Go to Boma to print, the town has no electricity

6. Find a store with a generator, they are out of yellow ink and the printer is from the USA, but paper A4 (took us awhile to figure out)

7. DAY 2 of trying to print: back to first shop in Boma, only a photo printer, no USB connection

8. Went to another shop, where the computer either didn’t have Adobe or they lost the installation disk to install the printer on the computer that did

9. Back 2^nd store from day 1, still didn’t have yellow ink. By this time, a boy named Adam (who ended up wanting 1500 dollars from Sara and I to open a shop) decided he should help us

10. Adam took us back to the place that could only print pictures

11. Store across the street from picture place – no color ink

12 – 18. All stores that didn’t have color ink or no USB connection

19. Internet shop, ran out of ink while printing

20. Back to store with no yellow ink, they had finally got new ink.

After 20 attempts, we were able to print out 20 copies, which took an hour. We learned our cultural lesson: what is easy and routine at home (press print), is a process in Tanzania. Adam taught us that what would take 3 minutes Mwzungu time (our time), would take 30 in African time – you just have to add a zero to the end of the number! Needless to say, the Christmas card was a process (to print out all needed copies, we photocopied some in the office and ended up buying the other office a print cartridge), and had taken us all four weeks to get them done! But, most importantly, we learned how things work here 

BUSY

HI Everyone,

We have been very busy, so we are trying to get some blog posts up soon. We are still doing great and really enjoying ourselves.

Stay tuned!!

Abby and Sara

Election time in Tanzania

Since we arrived two weeks ago, Sara and I have noticed what appear to be election posters all over. Big land cruisers also drive around with loud speakers pumping up-beat music and someone yelling something over the loud speakers. Well, Sunday, October 31^st was the big day for the regional prime ministers as well as the president. Although Tanzanians are relatively peaceful – yet spirited and passionate – no one was expecting really bad violence as was the case in Kenya. However, as a precautionary measure, we were asked not to leave Tudor Village until after Tuesday, when the last results were announced, as there were isolated cases of cars windows being smashed in and heated arguments in Boma, the “town” next to Tudor.

On Monday, the results were coming in and the ruling party appeared to have been overthrown in Hai District, where Boma is. The ruling party is CCM, and if you are for them, you give a thumbs-up and the other party is the peace sign. We learned this from the girls at Tudor, when I gave them a peace sign and was immediately scolded for being for the wrong party – thank goodness for learning this within the safeness of Tudor walls!

Monday night was not a quiet one. Sara and I heard what sounded like fireworks coming from the direction of Boma. It turns out; it was actually gunfire and maybe small bombs (At least that is was Dada Gudilla told us). This was however, not gunfire aimed at people, rather as warning shots in the air. Because the ruling party was overthrown, the results were held for some time, and the now ruling PM wouldn’t sign over his post. That’s why people were getting riled up and storming the headquarters in the district, and the gunfire was in the air as warnings. We weren’t thaaaaaaaat scared (granted we had had a couple glasses of our awesome box wine), and neither should you be, but we were also happy to be at Tudor, where we feel really safe, mostly thanks to our Masaai watchmen.

--Abby

October Birthday Party

With over 40 boys at the Light in Africa Pilgrim House, and around 80 kids at the Tudor Village site – having an individual birthday party for everyone is impossible and impractical. Not to mention, many of the children don’t know what day they were born, their age is just estimated, and a day of birth is made up, sometimes. Upon arrival to LIA, Mama Lynn gave us the task of planning a “small and simple” birthday party – which was exactly what we delivered.

We were given the name of 8 kids who had October birthdays, and we set about trying plan our first birthday party for 16 children (each child with a birthday was able to invite one friend.) With the help of our godsend Gloria, we ordered cupcakes from a “bakery” (no frosting L), picked up juice concentrate, cookies, suckers, silly birthday hats, and a gift for each birthday kid. We mostly gave out stuffed animals, but also gave out colored pencils (with cool fuzzy stuff on the end), and a silly hand clapper with candy to our only birthday boy. We introduced Pin the Tail on the Donkey (I drew a donkey with a giant bare butt on a piece of cardboard), as well as had a very intense water fight – complete with water balloons.

We both felt the party was a decent success, but couldn’t really get a read on if the kids enjoyed themselves and liked their gifts. The kids are so modest and reserved when you give them gifts, that because they didn’t do the “normal” squeal and run off to play with it – we thought we didn’t do that great of a job. However, the next day, we noticed a few of the kids still had their presents’ wrapping paper, the home-made card, and parts of their birthday hat. In the end, I think everyone had a great time, and they really appreciated having a special afternoon in celebration of their birth. As an October birthday girl myself, I know I will never have another party without seeing each one of their gorgeous faces.

--Sara

Language barrier – pee pee

We are learning a little Swahili everyday, and generally not remembering any of it. I think both of us wish we could do more, even though most people speak English and many of the kids quite well. But, you can just tell that these girls are so hiliarious and so full of life, and I wish that for just one conversation, I sould tell exactly what they were saying to eachtother to get their true personalities.

There have also been mishaps. Sayuni, a toddler from laughter house, whose smile and general excitedness makes you feel like you could never be sad again, was making her Christmas card the other day. She kept saying “pee pee”. I brought her to the toilet for the volunteers, foreign to her and her normal whole in the ground. She proceeded to go number 2, but then kept saying pee pee. I took her to another toilet and she went number 2 again, and then to a bush and she tried again, until I realized she must not have to go pee pee, but I found it so cute that she willed herself to poop, because I told her to. Later, I found out that pee pee means sweets – talk about lost in translation!

--Abby

Rachel

Rachel is the oldest girl at Tudor Village, at the age of 15. She helps Mama Nisa (who cooks are meals) out at meal time and is an all-round beautiful and wonderful girl. On Wednesday, we went to Machame, on the foothills of Kili to visit Rachel in the hospital after an operation on her leg. You see, Rachel comes from an area called Mirerani (more on that later), where the water is contaminated with fluoride. The people from this region have brown-stained teeth and often crooked legs.

Rachel had to have her leg broken in 6 different places to try to fix the crookedness. She was delighted to see us in the hospital, and we were quite happy to see her smiling face. Her room was shared with 20 other women of all ages and alignments. Her bed was stained and the room smelled of urine, all in all, I wanted never to have to be patient there. The women seemed to being doing fine though, all talking to each other and exciting about us visiting. I could tell Rachel was the life of the room, and she had made many friends, including her Masaai next bed mate. Although we were borderline appalled by the hospital facilities, we were touched by the spirit of the people and community feeling – don’t think you get that back at home, where people get mad about sharing a room with just one person.

Now Rachel is recovering back here at Tudor, we are glad to have her back. She loves singing and laughing. Most of all, she – like all the girls here – loves Shakira and her World Cup Waka Waka song. We have it in our heads all day, and it doesn’t bother us one bit. These girls have natural rhythm and are teaching us some moves, even though we generally can’t get our bodies to move like theirs!

--Abby

African Funeral

I’m not sure there is anything more tragic than the death of a child, even in a place like this – where death is so common. Thankfully, the death was not one of “our” kids, but a neighbor of ours and a classmate of theirs. The girls told us about it one afternoon when we were playing on the playground – they kept taking the climbing rope and putting it around their neck. We gathered after asking enough questions at that time and later that evening when we heard a woman yelling and crying, that a boy around 11 years old had hung himself, and they saw the body. Abby and I were both horrified, but also not sure how much we missed in translation.

The next day, when we were with our friend Gloria, she told us what happened to the boy. Apparently the little boy was trying to recreate a kung-fu move he had seen Jackie Chan perform in a movie. He had tied up bed sheets in a tree, and was swinging around on it – somehow the unimaginable happened trying to reenact a move.

The day after the accident, we saw at least 100 chairs on the boys parents property, and people slowly filling them all up and every spare inch of space surrounding them. The boys’ schoolmates were even escorted to the funeral by teachers. It was such a tragic accident, and hearing so clearly the mothers heart wrenching cries, made for a solemn few days at Tudor.

-- Sara