Sunday, February 21, 2010

Highlights of Weeks 3 and 4 in Mwanza (A month has passed, like no time at all)

On Monday, we had our weekly meeting with the mamas at 4 PM, so we went to the kitchen in the late morning. On our way, we found buns and once we got to the kitchen we ate some left over chapati that the mamas had made. Too much deep-fried food available in Mwanza! (The concept of gaining weight in Africa...) At the meeting, we discussed the packaging from BestPack Ltd. After reviewing the samples and the prices, we decided that it was too expensive and would force the mamas to increase the price of the yoghurt by at least 25%. The meeting ran late, so we didn’t have time to make it to Yoga, but we bought some mangoes and bananas and walked home instead. Hassain came over for his nightly routine of exchanging English lessons for Swahili lessons.

On Tuesday, we made an effort to rise early so we could catch the mamas making chapattis and mandazi (buns) at the kitchen at Mtoni Secondary School. The kids all swarmed us when we got near the kitchen with our cameras and everyone kept reaching for my camera and asking me to take pictures of them with me. When we had finally woven through the masses and got inside the kitchen, kids would curiously peek through the windows at us. Steph and I noted there were two different uniform colour schemes (burgundy and beige, and turquoise and white), and as it turns out Mabatini Primary School is directly beside Mtoni Secondary School and they share the grounds for sports etc. We had our first Swahili language lessons with Gaudence at 1 til 3 PM. Gaudence is a professor from the International School, helping us learn Swahili (we’re going to be having lessons about two or three times a week from here on out). It’s helpful because although we’re learning a lot from Esther and other people who speak English, Gaudence is good at explaining the grammar and sentence structure and answering our questions of “BUT WHY?” (because Swahili is entirely different from English in every way possible, unlike say French or Spanish). He's really experienced and has done a lot of translating for missionary groups and priests.

On Wednesday, we went to NIMR (National Institute of Medical Research) with Esther and Mama Joyce. Mama Joyce was collecting the probiotic culture, which she does weekly. The probiotics are cultured at NIMR and mixed into milk and transported back to the kitchen to be mixed into a greater quantity of milk (Some incubation time Et Voila, Yoghurt!). We met with some of the lab staff, but unfortunately the director, Dr. Changalucha, has been out of the office sick for a while. So, we’re still looking into contacting him to secure a lab space for our research.

On Thursday, we visited the site at Nyamhongolo, where the mamas are keeping their cows! There was a large, fenced-in plot of land, with some rice growing in one corner, the shed for storing cows in the other (four cows and two calves). The man in charge of feeding the cows has a tiny living quarters at the site, as well. We found out that the mamas used to have 5 cows, but one sadly was put down last month (however they did get to sell the meat for 200, 000 Tsh, which is beneficial). The two calves were so cute and tiny and we got close enough to pet them! We rode the dala-dala (a van converted into a bus) there and back, and we were crammed into it, not even sitting in seats, but either sitting on the floor or standing up. We found out that Joke got the last signature she needed to receive official ethics approval for her clinical trial (Congratulations to Joke, as she’s been waiting patiently a long time for this!) She came by the apartment to discuss the details of the lab work, and then we drove to Tunza for Yoga. We were the only three people there, and it was so peaceful and relaxing to unwind some of the week’s stresses. We got some amazing views of the sun setting over the lake, and saw some kids bathing and swimming, and it was so tempting to go in for a swim (but it’s polluted with raw sewage…and apparently you can get worms infections if you go in...)!

On Friday, we visited Mtoni Secondary School to meet with the teachers and students. We had arranged a meeting with Albert, the assistant head master (the head master is presently busy invigilating exams). He informed us that there are only 20 teachers for about 900 to 1000 students. Often up to 300 students are absent on any given day, as attendance is not regulated as it is in Canada (it's hard when kids are out sick more, and girls often have to stay home when on their periods etc.). Mtoni was set up as a governmental school in 2007, so it is still a very new community school. We presented Mtoni with the funds raised by Clarke Road Secondary School in London, Ontario (sister schools, with students writing emails/letters as pen pals throughout the year) and we are waiting to hear back about what the money will be spent on (hopefully something to benefit the entire school community). Albert told us that there are eight periods in a day, 45 minutes each, and there are sports teams for football (soccer) and netball. He was very interested in comparisons we were making between Canadian schools and what we had seen at Mtoni. The school was definitely lacking in space for expansion, books and stationary supplies, and teaching staff. We were introduced to all the students, and we spoke about where were coming from and what we were doing during our time in Mwanza. It was nice to be introduced to everyone, and we felt really honored to be able to make a speech. We also got the chance to meet with the staff and personally introduce ourselves. After this, we were shown around the grounds. That afternoon, we went to meet with Maimuna at Kivulini Women’s Rights Organization. We got to travel on pike-pikes (motorcycles)! This ended up being super fun, but I was nervous because it’s extremely dangerous on the roads and drivers are not exactly cautious here. Also we had no helmets! (the driver took off his helmid midway there…maybe it was too hot…). Kivulini is just into Isamilo, so it wasn’t a long ride, and once there we spoke to Maimuna about having the mamas train other women’s groups in the area. She informed us of four that she knows of in the rural areas surrounding Mwanza.

On Saturday, we had planned a Valentine’s Day Party and invited lots of the friends we had made since our arrival in Mwanza. We went to the market early in the morning to pick up all the food for the mamas to cook dinner with. After that, we went to town to pick up the heart-shaped cake we’d been eyeing for the past week, and to buy some wine and sodas. We spent the whole day preparing, cleaning, and decorating. We also had a home-made chocolate cake! Our house was full of people helping out with the cooking, and everyone seemed to really appreciate the food. It turned out really well, despite a little power-outage that we solved by lighting candles stuck in empty wine bottles (TIA).

On Sunday, we were woken up at 8 am by Salome who had come to take us to her church service! We walked for about an hour in the beating hot morning sun, and arrived on time for the 9 am service. The church didn’t exactly look like a church as you might imagine it, from the outside nor the inside. When we walked in, there was a woman singing into a microphone, beside large loud speakers at the front. We filed through the rows of chairs set up, and sat down the front row. Yes, front and centre, not drawing any attention to ourselves…Steph and I each got our own translators to sit beside us and they would whisper in our ear after every sentence spoken in the sermon. It was a little hard to hear because of the booming loud speakers, but the woman was very good at speaking English and I was appreciative that she was there. There was a lot of soulful gospel music being sung, and plenty of dancing too! Near the end of the service, the pastor called us up to be greeted and to introduce ourselves to the people in attendance. After the service, Salome kindly invited us to her home for lunch. Salome exclaimed "they all loved you!" haha. It was a far trek up the rocky hill that she lives upon, and when we finally got to her house I was shocked to see how tiny it was. It literally consisted for three rooms: a bedroom with a mattress on the floor and piles of papers, pictures, and some clothing in the corner, a kitchen area with a coal burner for cooking and some dishes and piles of food like veggies and eggs, and a living room with two wooden couch frames, with no cushions! She cooked us some ugali (common, staple food here made from maize, not very flavorful, an alternative to rice), which we then balled up in our hands and dipped into a tomato sauce with vegetables. When we finally walked home, I was feeling a little sick, and I started getting paranoid that my flu-like symptoms might mean I had malaria (But, luckily a couple days later I feel back to normal, so I think I was just a little run-down). We went to Talapia later that night to do some work, but we were dragged to the casino at New Mwanza Hotel (probably the smallest casino ever haha).and we were convinced to play some Roulette…”Come on, it’s Valentine’s day, you don’t need to sleep!” haha. I think we won twice, thankfully it’s just a game of chance, not strategy because we honestly had no idea how to play!

That next Monday we rose early to arrive at the kitchen at Mtoni secondary school by 8 am. We basically helped with kneading dough, rolling chapatti and then frying them. We went back home for our Swahili lesson, and then to Jiko la Jamie yoghurt kitchen for our weekly Monday meeting. However, we were informed that the mamas were attending a funeral that afternoon, so the meeting was postponed. We ended up sticking around the kitchen and playing with the local schoolchildren and street-kids (probably my favorite part of my days).

On Tuesday we went to the kitchen and found packages that had been sent from the project in Oyugis, Kenya. The mamas have packaging AND the sealing machine to go along with it. So, we tested a few packs, and as it turns out, 250 ml fits perfectly into the bag, with enough space left to seal it closed. We started designing a label on the computer, with the FITI brand, and a design of a cow, as well as the nutritional information. We found a few sheets of large sticker-style labels in the filing cabinet at home, and worked with the information from these. Now we just have to look into the pricing of getting the labels printed, to make sure the plastic bag packaging is still cost-effective once the labels com e into the equation. We also researched into other packagers in the area, in Arusha, Mwanza and Nairobi.

On Wednesday evening we were doing some work at Talapia on the internet, and decided to take some time off later in the night and ate at the Japanese Restaurant with Tim (British mate). We also met some other Mwanza folk, including some women employed as teachers here, not teaching English as we originally assumed, but teaching math and sciences. It was really cool with the grill right in front of us and lots of fresh seafood. On Thursday evening we were invited to go on Joke and Major’s boat on a ride from Talapia to Tunza (there was a bonfire beach party planned for Tunza). We got to watch the most amazing sun-set over the calm, calm waters of Lake Victoria. The views were amazing!

On Friday, we went to Mwanza City Council to speak with the representative for TASAF (Tanzanian Social Action Fund) and also the representative for HIV/AIDS counseling on council. We are inquiring about funding needed for the project to continue to support the 125 PLWAs (People living with HIV/AIDS) with yoghurt daily. The funding has ended as of January of this year. The visit to TASAF was promising and he gave us a very encouraging response. However, when meeting with the HIV/AIDS coordinator, I was a little discouraged because he seemed a little critical of our packaging advancements, by saying that the bags we were looking into may not be good enough quality to receive health safety standards approval (ie. He wondered about contamination during the packaging process, which we hadn’t really thought much about).

On Saturday, we attended the wedding service of Mama Joyce’s daughter. Unfortunately it was a rainy day, but Joke, Esther, Stephanie, and I were invited into their home in Mabatini. We were offered some amazing food, rice, potatoes, beans, a mix of cassava leaves and ground peanuts, and soup that the mamas had cooked up! Mama Joyce introduced us to some of her other children and relatives and we had some fun fooling around with the camera for a while. Her daughter was marrying a Muslim man, and although she is Christian, she is now officially Muslim by law. Apparently her friends and family had deterred her from this, but she persisted. The bride looked very beautiful in her dress and had henna painted all down her arms and hands. After seeing the couple off in a car, we watched a group of “street-kids” breaking it down on the “dancefloor” surrounding the dj’s blaring sound-system. Saturday night was our last night with some friends we had made from Zurich (they were now finished their volunteering and were heading on a Safari and then to Zanzibar for a week)! It was sad to see them go, but we had a great last night at Tunza, with a little trip out on Joke and Major's boat again. It was so cool to be on the pitch-black water with nothing but the tiny lights from the fishing boats to light up the skies.

On Sunday, we had been invited to our friend Lillian’s house for lunch. Lillian works at the Kivulini dress and souvenir shop below our apartment. She’s twenty-one years old, is well educated and works as a seamstress. She has a two-year-old son. Lillian is so sweet and always has a smile on her face. She came by dala-dala to pick us up, then showed us how the dala-dala system worked, and brought us home! She made an amazing meal and was so welcoming. Her home was drastically different from Salome’s home last Sunday, as she had lots of furniture, a fan, a television etc. Her house was also in a nice area, in the country-side, a nice contrast from the loud, dirty city. It was so peaceful there, with a beautiful, lush landscape. She was very generous and gave us some eggs, fresh from the chickens in her yard, and also some of the large, green bananas that are used in savory dishes here! The TV programming that was on while we ate was a hilariously cheesy Asian soap opera.

Just some general points that don’t really fit anywhere particular:
-So, it’s come to my attention that I failed to note that our bathroom consists of a “squat” toilet and requires a bucket of water to be flushed and the shower is presently cold water. That’s pretty much the extent of “roughin’ it” in our apartment. (Our water heater broke and we are far too lazy and broke to go out and get a new one.)
-On one of our trips to Tunza, we saw a funeral party marching across the street as we were stuck in a traffic jam. Apparently it’s Muslim tradition to be buried immediately, the same day of death, and it’s mandatory that the whole village must attend the burial. Well, all men that is, but women are not permitted at the service.
-Many men from the Masaai tribe run Tunza and Steph is always scared when we walk by them because they look so intimidating haha
-I’m not sure which visit to Mtoni this occurred at, but we witnessed a teacher “punishing” a group of boys by making them do planks and then he started whipping them with a wooden stick. A little ruthless to be “spanked”. I mean I’m sure it happens in some people’s households in Canada, but it’s looked down upon, whereas here it happens in public.
-We’ve been trying to wake up earlier to go to Mtoni to help the mamas with making chapattis and buns in the mornings. They are there every day (shifts here and at the yoghurt kitchen) from about 8 am until 12 pm and it’s tiring work!
-There are basically no garbage cans…there’s garbage “piles” on sidewalks and street-sides, but most people will litter the streets with trash. Also, I was wondering where all the excess produce from the markets goes, when we walked by a huge mount of rotting bananas (fermenting bananas don’t smell so sweet…). And that leads me to recycling- well the glass bottles from sodas are all recycled and reused. Big trucks collect crates of empty bottles from the shops, so when you’re done drinking a soda, you have to return it, or else they’ll keep pestering you about when you’re bringing it back.
-The majority of local shops around our house are either convenience/general stores, or shoe stores. Oddly enough, there are tones and tones of used shoes piled up in little “hole in the wall” shops along our street. Bags of used shoes arrive from Europe and Canada and the US and come here to be “revamped” (a little washing, super-gluing beat-up soles, and shining leather goes a long way) and then resold. What I’m wondering is if these are shoes that people are sending for “charity” to help children in Africa with no shoes? The reason I ask is because in some used clothing stores here, I’ve noticed some ValuVillage tags, which struck me as odd.
-We saw an albino man at the dala-dala station. At first I thought he was a white man, but I later realized he had a pigment disorder, and his hair was very white and his eyes very light blue. It's strange because earlier in the trip, a child ran from us screaming that we were albino, and another child told him no, no just Mzungus, so I think people are really terrified of albinos here.

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