Out and About with the Kiddies

This week I went to visit another orphanage to get some ideas on how to better organize Save Africa.  The kids were so well behaved at the Hill Crest Orphanage and the volunteers did a great job decorating the walls with posters and pictures to help the kids learn. We have a few posters on the walls at Save Africa but they are all ripped and faded from the sun.  After work on Friday, Karina and I went shopping for some supplies so we can make posters and index cards with more English words.  We will be hanging posters with the days of the week, names of the months, weather patterns, and numbers.  The kids only know a few words in English that they learn from the alphabet song so hopefully this will help expand their vocabulary.

I had a great conversation with my project manager on Friday about the needs of the school so we can better prioritize our goals.  There are 4 or 5 kids at the orphanage who are too advanced for the classes there and should really be placed in primary schools.  Unfortunately, either they come from really poor families who cannot afford to send them to school or they live at the orphanage with no family at all.  I am trying to think of some creative fundraising ideas to sponsor some of these students so they can get the proper education. Let me know if you work for an organization or company that would be interested in sponsoring a child’s education for a year! 

Face paint Friday :)

The next thing on my list is buying sheets, blankets, and pillows for the orphanage.  Right now, the kids sleep two or three to a bed without anything but a thin, foam mattress.  I nearly started crying when Pascal showed me the bedrooms again and I realized they didn’t have anything to sleep with- maybe I will buy a few teddy bears too.  It gets really cold here at night so I can’t imagine how uncomfortable they are.

This is one of the bedrooms, 4 or 5 of the little ones share this bed

We are also looking for exercise books so the children can practice writing, reading, and math skills.  They only have blank notebooks that they copy down exercises from the board- this is when the mayhem ensues because there are not enough pencils for all of the kids to work at the same time. On Friday, Karina and I took 6 of the younger kids out of class so we could review the alphabet with them and let them practice holding pencils, coloring, and writing.  This method is so much more effective because we can give them special attention and help them to develop their handwriting skills.  They are so happy when they learn to write a new letter or number, its adorable.

Karina teaching Hadija how to write her name

We are buying more spoons, cups, and plates so they have enough for all of the kids, a thermos for tea, and buckets for cleaning. I think we are going to try to buy big bags of rice, beans, flour, etc so the mama’s can cook a variety of meals for them.  I was so sad when Pascal told me that some nights the kids just have Chai tea for dinner and then go to bed.  On Friday, we took 7 of the oldest kids out to lunch- they were ecstatic!  Pascal played a joke on them and told them they were in trouble so we were taking them to the river for a punishment.  They knew he was joking but the suspense of where we were really going was killing them.  They all ordered chips mayai with meat and vegetable on top; chips mayai is a traditional meal here, basically it’s an omelet with french fries in it…really good and unhealthy. The plates were so huge that Karina and I turned to each other and said, “there is no way they will be able to eat all of this”.  Well, they proved us wrong by basically licking their plates clean and fighting over the chicken bones we had left on our plates.  I heard my Grandpa’s voice saying “There are starving children in Africa, you must eat everything on your plate!!”- a line  he famously used at every family party when we were younger.  At the end of the meal, they were all very full and happy.  It was such a treat for them to be taken out to lunch and be fed a proper meal; I will never forget the smiles on their faces that day.

Out for lunch!

Since I get so upset thinking about what they do on the weekends, Matt and I decided to visit on Saturday too.  They never leave the school area except for Sundays when they go to church.  I wanted to give them something to look forward to on the weekend so we told them we were coming to take them out for ice cream on Saturday afternoon.  I brought balloons, stickers, and a beach ball that we played with for a little while- “Teacha, puliza! Teacha, puliza!” (Teacher, blow up my balloon!)  After a half hour of craziness, Matt and I walked to town with 14 kids, Pascal & Francis.  They were in awe of everything going on around them- music, stores, animals, food vendors.  Most of them had never seen town so Pascal asked if we could just walk around for a little while so they could take it all in.  Once we got to the ice cream stand, they very patiently waiting for us to hand out the cups of Tutti Frutti ice cream.  I was shocked at how well behaved they were!  It was nowhere near the chaos we witness during porridge everyday.

Saturday afternoon fun

Ice Cream Outing!

At school, the children are so loud and crazy because they are competing for our attention and it is a place where they feel safe. I found it very interesting to observe them in smaller groups when we brought them outside their comfort zone and into town.  They are timid and shy and much better behaved.  I am so grateful we were able to spend extra time with them and learn more about each individual; its so hard to do that with 50 kids jumping all over you.  Each and every one of them is amazing in their own way and I want nothing more than to provide them the opportunities and memories that all of us were given during our childhood.

Safari!!!

This past weekend, I went on a four day safari to Lake Manyara, the Serengeti, and the Ngorongoro Crater with 6 other volunteers- it was so much fun!  We saw every animal there was to see and did both a sunset and a sunrise game ride. I could just about die for a good sunset so that was all I needed to be happy...so add in a herd of elephants, and I go crazy.

A herd of elephants at sunset!

On Friday morning, Chui (our driver and ironically the word for leopard in Swahili) piled all 7 of us into the Safari jeep and drove us to Lake Manyara National Park.  We set up our campsite for the night and then drove thorough the park for about 3 hours sighting monkeys, zebras, giraffe, elephants, impala, and water buffalo.  The park was gorgeous; there were areas of lush trees followed by open fields of grass with roaming herds of animals.  We popped the top up on the car so we could stand and stick our heads out to get a better view.  After dinner at the campsite, we watched a music and dance performance which I was unfortunately pulled into and forced to katika, “or shake my hips” in front of everyone…pretty embarrassing.  Thank god I don’t have any pictures of that to share!

Can I fit him in my backyard?

Safari Van

A quick afternoon cleaning!

We spent most of the day on Saturday driving out to the Serengeti on windy and bumpy, dirt roads.  Along the way, we stopped at a Maasai village to see how they live.  Although we felt quite intrusive, it was very interesting to learn more about their way of life.  They welcomed us with a traditional dance routine and gave us necklaces to wear around while we were touring the village.  There are only three items that make up their diet- meat, blood, and milk…can you believe that?!

My boyfriends

The girls attempting the Maasai Dance

We arrived in the Serengeti on Saturday afternoon and did another game drive spotting tons of animals.  It is insane how close the animals get, at one point we had a leopard crawling around under our car!  We were so excited to keep going that we drove straight into sunset blasting “Circle of Life” and “Hakuna Matata” on repeat and then Chui had to find our campsite in complete darkness.  It was quite the process trying to set up camp in the middle of the Serengeti with no lights and the threat of animals coming from all directions.  Thankfully we survived and were able to wake up at 5:30am to do a sunrise game drive through the plains.  As much as we wanted to keep sleeping, it was SO worth it to wake up early.  There were tons of animals out at this time and the views were unbelievable.  I can’t even begin to describe how beautiful and peaceful it is to be in the middle of endless plains, my pictures barely capture it.  In the Serengeti, we saw all of the same animals we saw in Lake Manyara with the addition of lions, cheetahs, hyenas, hippos, meerkats, warthogs, and all sorts of birds.  I think my favorite animals were the lion cubs and the elephants.   Thanks to Chui’s amazing eagle eyes and ridiculous driving skills, we were up close to almost every animal we spotted.

Sneaky leopard under the car

Sunrise game drive

Our last night was spent in a campsite on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater with awesome views inside the crater.  We had some exciting visitors at dusk- a family of elephants was right next to our car and a bunch of zebras were hanging out outside our tent all night long.  I was pretty close to getting attacked by an elephant since I didn’t see him and walked right by without noticing.  Another guide had to get my attention and tell me that there was a gigantic elephant 10 feet behind me!  Obviously, instead of running away my reaction was “Oh my god!! Can you take a picture of me?”

Elephant invasion!

Zebras at our campsite

On Monday we drove through the Crater all day and finally saw a few Rhinos which completed the “Big Five”- lions, leopards, elephants, buffalo, and rhinos.  I think Chui said they are endangered and there are only 22 left in the Ngorongoro Crater so we were very lucky to have seen three!  It was such an amazing trip spent amongst great company.  I will be adding many more pictures on facebook in the next few days so keep an eye out for them! And if you ever find yourself in Africa, a safari is a must!

YOU can help Save Africa too!

Getting to know the kids and staff at Save Africa the past two weeks has been such a pleasure.  We have a lot of fun playing games and running around- no day is like the day before and although I am the “teacher” here, I have been learning so much more from these kids than I feel like I am teaching them.  Each day is rewarding in its own way whether it’s realizing someone can now write the letter ‘G’ because you took the time to show them how or you finally got the little boy to stop crying by putting a simple flower in his hair.  These moments are what help us get through the days and remind ourselves we are making a lot of small differences because sometimes it is difficult to find those moments amongst all the chaos.

Working at the orphanage has been a lot harder than I originally envisioned.  There are a lot changes that need to be made and a ton of obstacles to overcome along the way.  Matt, Karina, and I have been trying to brainstorm some overall goals for the orphanage and figuring out ways in which we can meet those goals in our short 3 months here.

Yesterday, we removed the barbed wire fence that surrounded the front yard of the orphanage.  Yes, you read that correctly- there was a barbed wire fence in front of a school that houses 50 kids.  The kids were tripping over it, cutting their hands and feet open by walking into it, and some were even sitting and swinging on the wire.  The teachers and project managers didn’t see anything wrong or frightening with this fence but we immediately asked if we could take it down and replace it so that they could avoid further injuries and infections.  Next week we will be buying and putting up chicken wire in its place so they are still following the required property boundaries.

The barbed wire fence

Something as simple as pencils cause huge problems at the orphanage because there are not enough for all of the kids to have their own.  Once the teacher hands out the exercise books, the kids go crazy trying to get their hands on one of the few pencils that are circling around.  If they aren’t so lucky, they have to wait around until the others are done and this usually leads to fights and more distractions.   Most of our time is spent shooing kids away from jumping on us while trying to help the kids with pencils complete their exercises.  We have been trying to bring pencils with us to school everyday but the kids go through them so quickly because they lose them or sharpen them too much.  We have also been shopping around for a sturdy pencil sharpener to screw into the wall so the kids can’t play with it or lose it but we have yet to find exactly the one we are looking for.

Waiting for a pencil :(

As I have mentioned in a previous post, the group is divided into a baby class and a pre-unit class.  The pre-unit class is more advanced and teaches the kids reading and math skills.  The teacher in the pre-unit class seems to have a good grasp over the children and is able to deliver lessons that are at the level of all the kids in the class.  The baby class is where we have seen most of the issues because there are 35 kids in the class and they are all at different stages of development.  The older group knows the alphabet, counting, and can write well but they are not at the pre-unit level yet while the younger kids are struggling to keep up since their fine motor skills have not been completely developed.  Because there are so many kids in the baby class, the younger ones go unnoticed and are not given the full attention they need to learn letters, numbers, and writing skills.  This week, Karina, Matt, and I divided the baby class in half and took the younger children outside.  From there, we split them into three groups of 5 so that each of us could give more attention to them.  We are hoping this method will be more efficient in helping these kids learn how to write and recognize letters and numbers.  It will also allow the teacher in the baby class to create lessons that are a little more advanced for the older kids.  We will be buying more pencils, notebooks, and exercise books so we can create new lesson plans for the younger groups and hopefully get some of them writing so they can join the baby class again.

Clothing and food are not plentiful amongst the children at Save Africa.  The program coordinators try to have breakfast and lunch available to the kids everyday but sometimes they are stretching to find something to give them.  The food they are fed is not the most nutritious so we are going to start cooking some meals at home to bring into school for the kids- rice, beans, pasta, and some other traditional Tanzanian dishes.  We would also love to be able to buy/donate some children’s clothing to the orphanage since most of the kids wear the same ripped and dirty clothing everyday.

A long-term goal for the orphanage is to buy another bed for the children to sleep in.  Of the 50 kids that we work with on a daily basis, 12 actually live there full time.  They have two sets of bunk beds for the older kids and 4 or 5 of the younger ones all sleep in one full sized bed together.  They are quickly going to outgrown that so we would love to be able to put money towards another bed.  In the near future, they have also talked about adding on another room to the orphanage- either a bedroom or a kitchen.  Right now, all the laundry, cooking, and cleaning is done outside.

The backyard at the orphanage where all the laundry, cooking, and cleaning is done...hopefully the site of a new bedroom or kitchen.

At the end of most chaotic days, we leave frustrated and exhausted however, I know deep down that we are really making a difference to these kids.  It is obvious that they do not get the love and attention they need at home so they look to us for hugs and affection. I love being able to put a smile on their faces by just listening to them but I can’t be here forever.  Hopefully the small changes we are making will improve the overall environment and turn those frowns upside down!  In general, conditions at Save Africa are not great and I would love to see some big changes over the next few months.  I think that most of the goals we are setting for ourselves are attainable with a little bit of fundraising.  If you have been at all affected by my descriptions of the orphanage and Africa so far, I ask that you please consider helping the cause by donating.  Unfortunately, receiving packages here is unreliable so the best way to help out is to donate money so we can buy everything we need here.  I will begin to keep a running list of exactly what I am spending the money on so you can see the difference you are making!! Just a few dollars goes a really long way so any amount is appreciated J

A place to call home

While I am completely convinced that I have been here for at least three weeks, only one full week has gone by.  The people here really make you feel right at home and I have been welcomed with open arms into their culture already. It is impossible to walk down the street without people coming out of their houses to yell “Karibo” (welcome to my home) and there are always kids in the streets that are genuinely happy to see us so they can practice the few phrases they know in English. I am trying to blend in as much as a white girl with freckles can, I even follow the rules of covering my shoulders and knees when out in public! The weather has been gorgeous everyday- cool in the mornings/evenings and about 85 during the day with no humidity.

My house is very homey and the staff and other volunteers make it even more fun. There is a kitchen, 4 dorm style bedrooms with bunk beds & mosquito nets, two bathrooms, a dining room, and a living room.  We have running water, electricity (most of the time), western style toilets, and even a TV!  However, options for showering are not exactly ideal- we can take a cold shower, a bucket shower, or rinse off with a small hose in the shower. I have been opting for the bucket showers and it has been quite an adjustment!  First my house mama has to boil half a bucket of water on the stove and then I mix it with cold water to get the temperature just right. And after that, well, I’m sure you can figure out the rest…

My neighborhood is safe during the day but we are not allowed to walk around after dark and must take cabs past 6pm.  Zaki, our security guard, stays up all night long to watch guard and keep us safe. He is from the Masaii tribe so he’s not messing around.  While he is scary enough to ward off any intruders, he is so funny and happy all the time.  He is always laughing, dancing, and teaching me new Swahili words…he really brightens up my day.

On Saturday, a bunch of us went to the Moshi hot springs to go swimming.  It was one dalla dalla, a bus, and a tuk tuk away from home but totally worth the trip. Tuk tuks are these crazy little cars, kind of like a golf cart, that drive around the dirt roads easily (but not necessarily safely). I was pretty sure I was going to fall out 90% of the time; it was really fun though. The views while we were on the tuk-tuk were amazing, we could see Mount Kilimanjaro for most of the ride.  Every time the clouds separated and revealed the snow covered summit, I got butterflies in my stomach knowing that in just a few weeks I will be climbing to the top!!

I was as excited as a little kid at Disney World for the first time when we finally got to there.  It was sooo beautiful- the water was crystal clear blue surrounded by these exotic trees and the best part was that there was a rope swing!!  After realizing that we hadn’t all died and gone to heaven, we took turns trying to do flips off the rope swing.  No one was successful. After exploring a little bit, we found out that you can camp along the river for the weekend so we are definitely going back soon. I guess I could say that week one was a success.

My first week at Save Africa

Today was my third day at the orphanage and I am already exhausted!  The kids are adorable, little balls of energy- after I figure out a way to keep up with them, I am going to find a way to smuggle them all back to the US with me.

On Tuesday, Matt, Karina, and I were escorted to the orphanage by one of the TVE staff members.  She kindly did the commute with us so we knew where we were going.  It’s about a 20 minute walk and two dalla-dallas away from our house so leaving at 7:15am gets us to work around 8:30am….a little tardy in NY, but we are right on time in Africa time! The orphanage managers met us at the dalla-dalla stop and walked us down the dirt roads and through the small town until we were warmly welcomed by a swarm of 50 smiling faces running through the field and directly into our arms.  I have never felt more like a human jungle gym (even at all those crazy family parties at Nana’s).  “Teacher, teacher, teacher! Bebe, Bebe! (pick me up)” is what I hear all day long.

I am assuming that not much affection is given to these children at home so they are looking for it from anyone that will give it, even Wazungu they have only known for a few minutes. Most of the kids show up in the same clothes everyday with holes and stains all over. For some, their only meal of the day is the small cup of porridge they are fed at 10am but despite all of this, they seem to be very happy and willing to learn. I guess that is what really matters.

On day one, we were given a quick tour of the 5 room orphanage (2 small classrooms, 2 bedrooms, and an office) and then just played with the kids for a few hours.  There is a big field in front of the orphanage so they can run around and play/climb all over us.  I was so happy when I saw the kids kicking around soccer balls and that there was a soccer goal post set up.  It is going to be a fun 3 months! 

Yesterday, we observed the two classes so that we can hopefully start teaching next week. I do not have any teaching experience but I was already able to identify a few changes that need to be made to the structure of the class so that the teachers can be more efficient.  The kids are split into two classes- baby class and pre-unit, I was observing the baby class so the teacher was reviewing numbers and the alphabet as well as singing a few songs in English. The teachers and kids know a little bit of English but not enough for us to fully converse. The placement managers, Pascal and Francis, speak a fair amount of English so at least we can communicate with them. I have started Swahili classes for 6 hours a week for 4 weeks and I have already learned so much.  I’m sure I will be able to communicate with the kids pretty well by the end of my time here in December.

Thursdays are “farm days” so we went with Pascal to the orphanage farm about a 15 minute walk from the school.  We walked through fields of all sorts of crops and passed by all different kinds of homes, it is unbelievable how many people can live in such a small space and be so comfortable.  After scaring a few more children with the color of our skin, we crossed over the Usa River and arrived at the section of the farm that belongs to the orphanage.  They grow vegetables for the children who live at the orphanage full time so that they have food for dinner. We watered the crops and tilled the soil…barefoot (easily the highlight of my day).  After that, we walked to Pascal’s friend’s house to cut down some sugar cane; it was delicious!  The land and mountains are so beautiful in this part of Arusha!

 My first week has been very busy getting adjusted to the new schedule.  A lot of time is spent on the dalla dalla or walking from my house to the other volunteer house but these are the best ways to get to know the city. We make the best of our time, homework and studying on the dalla dalla and drinking traditional Tanzanian Tusker beers on the walk home, no time is wasted J I am happy with my placement at Save Africa so far because while it will be challenging, there is a lot to be done.  It sounds like some of the other schools are a lot more established so I am hoping we can really help make a difference at this orphanage.

Jambo Rafiki!

The first few days in Arusha have been amazing!  I was greeted at the Kilimanjaro airport by a few very nice TVE employees and was then driven back to the volunteer house where I will be living.  Right now, there are 4 other volunteers living in the house along with a cook, house manager, and security guard.  We are served 3 very filling meals a day which each take about 4 hours to prepare- all the meals are made from scratch by our house cook J  Believe it or not, avocados are served with lunch almost everyday!! Anddd there is a big tub of peanut butter! I guess that plan to drop a quick 10 pounds while I am here has already gone down the drain.

I slept most of the day on Saturday trying to recover from the very long trip and then on Sunday a few of us walked around Sakina (the part of Arusha we live in).  The main roads are paved but all of the neighborhoods are down windy dirt roads that do not have names so it is very easy to get lost. Good thing we brought Nancy, one of the house managers, with us!  We wandered through a bunch of roads around our house to say hi to everyone and learn the walk home from town.  All of the kids were coming out of their houses to stare at us and follow us around because it’s not so often that “Mzungu” or white people are hanging around.  One little girl even started to cry and run away because she was scared of us, she had never see a white person before!  We let her touch our hands so she could see we weren’t any different but I’m pretty sure we still thought we were scary monsters.

I have already learned a bunch of basic phrases in Swahili and I start language classes tomorrow so hopefully I will be able to have a basic conversation soon. Many people here speak English but I think the kids and employees at the orphanage speak only Swahili so it’s important that I start learning quickly. Zaki, the security guard, and Hilda & Elouisa (the cooks) have been teaching me a lot of short phrases so in return I taught them how to do the Chicken dance, which they think is hilarious.  Tomorrow I will show them how to do the Electric Slide and the two of the girls from Mexico are teaching everyone the Macarena. I asked Lillian and Celia if they would speak Spanish with me at night so I can practice that too- before you know it, I will be tri-lingual! (and maybe a better dancer?)

Today I had orientation where I met all of the other volunteers that are starting their placements tomorrow.  Most volunteers are in their young 20s but there are a few volunteers that are a little older than that and one lady who was celebrating her 75^th birthday by volunteering for 3 weeks!  In our group there are volunteers from all over the US, Norway, Canada, Mexico, Ireland, Australia, and England and we are placed at a bunch of different schools, orphanages, and clinics around the city.  After getting to know everyone, all 23 of jumped into a “dalla dalla” and enjoyed a very crowded and sweaty, 10-minute ride to the city center.  The “dalla dalla” is a system of vans that operate similar to buses in the US but they are much smaller and are totally cool with piling in an absurd amount of people, even if they are hanging off the side of the car. They also only cost 300 shillings for one ride, the equivalent of about 20 cents- can you believe that!? Walking through the city was a little hectic for the first time, especially in a big group of Mzungu but it isn’t even close to the size of NYC so I’m sure I will get the hang of it pretty quickly.

Tomorrow I start working at Save Africa Orphanage with Matt, my friend from NY, and Karlina, one of the girls in my house from Norway.  The orphanage houses about 70 kids ranging from the ages of 3-7. Only 12 of the kids sleep there over night and the rest go home to their relatives or foster families.  I spoke with a girl today who had been working at Save Africa for the last 5 weeks; she said it’s a little disorganized and there are a lot of crazy kids but it was really fun. I guess our work is cut out for us! 

See ya in 3 months!

The day has finally arrived!! After what seems like years of anticipation, many tearful goodbyes, and two cancelled flights later, I'm leaving for Tanzania!  I really didn't think this day would ever come but it's here and I couldn't be more excited.  I'm excited for the new and interesting friends I am going to make, I am excited to be exposed to a completely different culture, and I'm really excited to meet each of the beautiful kids I will be working with everyday.

But what I am most excited for is this journey into the unknown.  Sure, I have a basic idea of what I will be doing and where I will be living but for the most part, I know just as little as you do.  I mean, how do you gauge expectations when you find out your address is Sakina Kibanda cha maziwa, house plot #200? Is that real, how do you even pronounce those words!? Oh man, I have made a huge mistake. Just Kiddddding!  These are the types of things that give me that flutter of excitement. I have no idea what to expect and finally for one of the first times in my life, the unknown doesn't really scare me all that much.

Here goes nothing...