Week 12

Monday, October 22nd, 2007
Meaghan and Doug were still gone for their Safari and Isaac was leaving in the afternoon, so I had a lot of running around to do on my own. I started my day writing up my blog for the week and then headed to Tilapia to meet with Isaac and Nicholas for a quick lunch before Isaac had to head off to go back to Canada. We saw Isaac off safely and I headed back into town to an internet café to check emails and post my blog. I came home after an unsuccessful time at the internet and put together the English Lesson for the Mamas. I headed off to Mabatini by myself and it was very strange not having Meaghan walking with me. The lessons went well and I got word from Meaghan that she and Doug were just coming into town at that time. I really wanted to go home to see them and hear all their exciting stories, but I had to deliver 7L of yogurt amongst the various people going to Tunza for yoga. The container was extremely heavy and I had help carrying it down to the base of Mabatini by Mama Cesilia. I went to Tunza for yoga and distributed the yogurt and came home as soon as it was over. I was overwhelmed by the photos and stories of Meaghan’s and Doug’s Safari and am so excited for my own in December. (Please read Meaghan’s blog about the amazing animals that they saw, there’s an attachment on my blog page). We all had an early night and Meaghan and I were sharing a bed because Doug was sleeping in my room.

Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007
I began my day with a quick work out (I haven’t been able to get any in while Ivan and the faculty have been here, so it felt very good to work my body) but I was rained out just as I was finishing up. Our apartment had barely any food in it since we had not eaten at home in a week, due to all the meals out with our visitors. Meaghan and I spent the morning doing project work at home until Mr. Tito came by. Mr. Tito makes various artworks with batiks and we all bought a bunch of cards to send home. Afterwards, Doug, Meg and I went to the Buswelu Primary School to give the head master some cards and letters from their partner school in Canada, Tecumsen School. We distributed some postcards for the children to write for the Canadian children which we would bring home in December when our term is over.
We then went for lunch at Kuliana’s Pizzeria and then to the internet café. Meg and I sent Doug home to go for a trip to the city market with Ruben while we had out Swahili lesson until 5pm. After our class, we went to the international pool for a quick swim before going home to make a nice dinner with all of our fresh vegetables. After dinner we played a quick game of ‘Cow Trade’, Ruben’s favorite game and then went to bed.

A street performance in front of our apartment.

Wednesday, October 24th, 2007
Meaghan and I spent the morning doing project work and then headed into town with Doug. We spent the afternoon picking up some souvenirs for Doug to bring home, and it also gave Meaghan and I a chance to get some of those things as well. We bought a few wooden sculptures at the Gatsby Souvenir Shop just down our street and then walked through the Masai market to buy some beads and bracelets. We made a quick stop at the NBC bank to get some shillings out for our Zanzibar trip coming up soon. Meaghan and I got some passport pictures done for our Visa renewal and then went to lunch at a small and very affordable restaurant. We were very dehydrated from walking around in the hot sun and we all chugged a huge 1.5L water bottle. We then headed into the city market to bargain for some masai blankets. Bargaining is one of my favorite things to do, as long as the vendors are reasonable and friendly about the situation. We were very success and happy with our purchases. We headed home and picked up some groceries on our way.
We were all fairly exhausted from walking in the heat and had a short rest at home before going to Mabatini for the English Lesson. Doug had expressed interest in going to see the Tanzanian Brewery and so I made arrangements to go there after the English Lessons with the Mamas. Meaghan’s mom had dropped off several cases of glasses for the Mamas who were far sighted and they had fun trying them on in the Kitchen.
We had a very quick tour of the Brewery and walked over to Tunza for dinner. Ruben met us there and we didn’t stay long before going home to bed.

The mamas and us with the new eye glasses.

Thursday, October 25th, 2007
Meaghan and I had a very productive morning working from home and we were able to put together the yogurt recipe booklet, finished up the Visa extension letter, the yogurt order forms for the hotels and restaurants, and the Tukwamuane information sheet to add to the yogurt package.
Afterwards, Pendo was able to take Doug, Meg and I up Bugando hill to visit Sikitu and her family and we delivered a package from Dallas (a former WHE intern). The hills here are very steep and it quite a work out to climb especially on a daily basis for those who work in the city. On the way home we passed Pendo’s sister who was making and selling buns and we were given one to try. They are very good, but extremely oily.
We then went into town to find an internet café and had to go to 4 different places before finding one that had internet. Meaghan and I then went to our Swahili lessons and Doug went home for a bit of a rest. He would meet back with us to go to Yoga at Tunza Lodge after our lessons.
We met up with a few of our friends to head over to Tunza. The yoga lesson was great and we stayed for dinner. When we got home I was very excited and surprised to find a package waiting for me from home in Toronto because it had been over a month since it was sent and I had lost hope for it to arrive here.

Sikitu and her mother

Friday, October 26th, 2007
Ruben, Doug, Meaghan and I woke up early to go to Sekou Toure for a tour around the hospital by the Matron. We walked through the reception, waiting room, pediatric ward, the operation theatre, and the HIV ward. The electricity was out for the morning and the hospital does not have any generators so the operation theatre was not operable when we visited. The parts of the hospital that we visited were surprisingly clean and each mother and child had a whole bed to themselves in the pediatric ward.
Doug, Meg and I walked home to have a quick and early lunch, made the English test for the Mamas, and then headed off to Mabatini. Most of the Mamas were at the local primary and secondary school selling and serving the students their lunch. Even though the Mamas get a monthly salary from the project, it is only approximately a dollar a day, which is not enough to support their families and so they usually take on additional jobs to help support themselves. In the future, Meaghan and I are working towards expanding the yogurt production so that the revenue can pay for the many bills, generate an income for the project to continue to expand and give the Mamas a better wage so that they do not have to take on other jobs.
We then headed to the ‘Forever Angels’ orphanage and had a great time with the children. We were all feeling very exhausted by the time we were on our way home and I think it’s a combination of the intense sun and the very full days we’ve all been having over the last 2 weeks.
When we got home everyone was feeling very lazy and tired. We had a few friends come over and we got ready for the Halloween party at Tilapia later that night. Meaghan, Claire and I were pirates, Doug was a rugby player, and Manuela was a baseball player. We made a very good dinner of Ugali and a vegetable stew. The Halloween party was a lot of fun, but there weren’t too many costumes. Some included a zebra, roman emperors, a geisha, and a ballerina.

Our pirate costumes for Halloween.

Saturday, October 27th, 2007
Meaghan, Doug and I went to Pendo’s home in the morning with her children, nieces and nephews. We had plans to get produce in town to cook lunch at her mother’s place. We spent some time at Pendo’s home and took lots of pictures all together. I walked with her 3 sons to the local market to buy cooking bananas, tomatoes, onions and cucumbers. I came back to children scrambling all around Meg and Doug while they were reading from their English text book. We set off all together to Pendo’s mother’s place, Maimuna, and took a daladala for a 20 minute ride up an area that I was not familiar with. The daladala was so packed that there were 25 people and 4 chickens in a 14 person seated van. When we finally got off, we walked for another 15 minutes to Maimuna’s house. She is an incredibly friendly and hospitable woman. When we got there, we were put to work straight away peeling cooking bananas and chopping tomatoes and onions. While Pendo was cooking the bananas, Maimuna was teaching Meg and I how to weave straw to make mats. The lunch was very good and also very filling with bananas in a tomato sauce with pineapples. After lunch some of the children cleaned the house and Pendo got her hair braided by her mom. We said goodbye to Maimuna after a long visit and headed home on the daladala again.
Meaghan, Doug and I got home and started packing for our camping night in Igombe. Doug had to pack all his things because he had a flight to Dar the next morning and would be dropped off at the airport. Camping was great and we had a feast of noodles, hamburgers, sausages and steaks. I slept very well that night.

Pendo's family

Sunday, October 28th, 2007
I started a new journal book for today’s entry (my 3rd book now). We woke up early this morning to pack up all our camping equipment (tents, cooking utensils and pots, and our bags) to make it back in time to drop Doug off at the airport. Igombe is only about 45 minutes from the airport and it was a great way for Doug to spend his last night in Mwanza before heading off to Dar, Zanzibar, and then Amsterdam.
We headed off to Tunza afterwards to try wake boarding and were somewhat unsuccessful, at least at getting up out of the water, but we still had a great time. We spent most of the day on the boat and in the evening went to Tilapia for a quick dinner before coming home early to go to bed. I was exhausted from all the excitement throughout the last 2 weeks with Ivan, the faculty, and then Isaac and Doug staying for a longer stay, but it was great fun and very productive.

Week 11

Monday, October 15th, 2007
Today was a very busy and interesting day taking Ivan (the Danone consultant) around Mwanza and to some of the large factories. We started off by going to one of the milk suppliers of the Yogurt Kitchen in Buswelu (very close to the Forever Angels orphanage) and watched the milking process. From there, we went to Mabatini to see the yogurt making process by the Mamas. We stayed for a bit while Ivan asked the Mamas questions about the start up of the group and about challenges that the project has faced in the past and what they are currently interested in.

The cows waiting to be milked

Cows being milked

Ivan, the interns and the Mamas

Afterwards, we went to the Mwanza textile factory, Mwatex, and watched the entire process of making Khangas and Kitenges from when it just begins as cotton fibers. It was extremely interesting to see the many steps it takes to make one piece of fabric and it makes you appreciate the labor that goes into it.

Processing into thread

The many spools of thread

Aligning the spools of thread

Process of weaving the thread into fabric

The template

Pattern stensil to print from

Printing process

The kitenge after printing

Khangas

We then stopped briefly at SIDO (small industries development organization) and spoke with Damian Chang’a, the regional manager of Mwanza. Our Yogurt Mamas have worked several times with SIDO with preservation training and the trade fair, and we will continue to use their support in future endeavors.
After visiting SIDO, we stopped the U-Turn Supermarket to see the various dairy products available and then to Kivulini to pick-up some reports and documents for Ivan to take back to France with him.
Our next stop was to the Tanzania Breweries and had a quick tour of the factory and had an informational guild of the steps to make the various brands of local beer. The most popular brands that they make there are Castle, Tusker, and Safari.

Processing the beer

The taste room

We were able to have a short rest and snack before our meeting with Ivan about our project and then dropped him off at Isamilo Lodge for dinner with Chairman Batenga of the Mwanza Regional Chamber. We had a brief drink and chat with the Chairman and he expressed great interest in the Yogurt Kitchen and its great work for the HIV population. We exchanged contact info and would discuss further involvement in the near future.

Tuesday, October 16th, 2007
This morning Meaghan and I spent catching up on regular tasks that we have not had time to do this week such as blog write-ups and laundry. We headed into town around noon to go to the immigration office to find out the steps to extend a volunteer VISA, which seems very complex and expensive. We then went to the bank, travel agency, and the Serengeti Expedition for Meaghan to pay for her safari next weekend. The internet café was our next stop and we had to go to a couple of places because the internet was down. We could only stay for 45 minutes and then had to rush off to our Swahili lessons without having lunch, so we picked up some buns from the pizzeria to munch on while going to our lessons.
We had a new student with us at our class today (Manuela), but we had met her before at Tunza, and she is a German girl teaching disabled children in Pasiasi. We are a bit intimidated by Manuela because she’s had 2 years of Swahili lesson before coming here as compared to our 2 months of lessons. I think the lessons were pretty easy and boring for her but she is a very nice girl and I have made plans to go on a safari with her and her family in December when my mom comes to visit.

Wednesday, October 17th, 2007
Meaghan and I started the morning making an English lesson for the Mamas and dropped it off early in the morning, instead of in the afternoon, because the Western faculty was arriving today. We had a brief stay at the kitchen before going to the internet café for a bit and then picking up Ruben at the apartment to go to the airport. The faculty came in around 1pm and was surprisingly full of energy. They had a really great time in Kenya seeing the new site for their separate Yogurt Project that the World Bank has funded for 2 years. The Mamas in Kenya were very enthusiastic and had a very good business sense for the project (one Mama was in school for her MBA). The faculty included Dr. Gregor Reid (and his daughter Jennifer), Dr. Isaac (and his PHD student Mary-Anne) and a Western staff member Douglas.
We dropped off the faculty at Tilapia to unload their luggage and settle into their new accommodations. Meaghan and I took Dr. Gregor and Jennifer to spend some time at the Forever Angels orphanage and they had a great time with the children and the ‘bubbles’.
We made plans to have dinner with Chairman Batenga again tonight because he showed so much enthusiasm for our project and wanted the faculty to discuss possible connections with people at the regional level. Chairman Batenga was able to organize a meeting with the Regional Administrative Secretary the next morning to see if he would write a letter of support for the Danone project to be hosted in Mwanza.
That night, Meaghan and I were extremely excited to receive our pumice stones and gifts sent through the faculty from the previous interns, Missy and Jackie. Thanks girls!

Thursday, October 18th, 2007
Meaghan and I got up early to go to the Mabatini Kitchen to tell the Mamas of our change in plans because of the new meeting we had scheduled with the Regional Administrative Secretary this morning. We then went to Tilapia to pick up the faculty before going to our meeting. The group going to the meeting was Dr. Gregor, Isaac, Doug and I (Meg and I played rock, paper, and scissors to see who would go and I won). The meeting was very positive and the Secretary was happy to help. He suggested having me attain information from his assistant, Dr. Sarakikya, to write a letter with statistics about Mwanza. This job turned out to be a bit more tedious than I expected because the sources of information were coming from various places and I had to do most of the research via the internet while I waited for specialists to help me. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the meeting in Mabatini and the theatre performance that Ruben had arranged with a local group that was concerning HIV, hopefully I will be able to see it another time.
I had a very late lunch but managed to complete the letter and send it back and forth to various parties to have it edited and approved. I would have to wait for it to be printed with the letter head and then signed and emailed out to the respective parties.
That night, we had dinner at Tilapia with Simon (a microbiologist at NIMR who prepares the bacterial cultures for the probiotic yogurt) and Dr. Mwanga (also from NIMR). I had washed my bed sheets for Doug to sleep in my bed for the next week (he is staying longer to travel around Tanzania) and because I didn’t want to dirty them slept with Meaghan that night.

Friday, October 19th, 2007
I had a bit of a restless sleep because it was very hot in Meaghan’s room and with the window open made it somewhat noisy. We went to the Mabatini Kitchen with the faculty for a final visit before they left to go back home (including Dr. Gregor, Jennifer and Mary-Anne). Doug will stay for another week and Dr. Isaac will be with Ruben and I until Monday. I spent a bit of the morning running back and forth going to the Regional Commissioner’s Office to finish off, sign and sent the letter of support. Meaghan and I went to the airport to send off half of the faculty and it was a short but very successful visit. I then went back to the Regional Commissioner’s office and was finally successful in getting the letter completed with the letter head and also getting it signed by the Regional. In the afternoon, Meaghan, Doug and I went to the orphanage again, but this time with the 6L of yogurt for the children. We spent a while playing with the children and after came back to Tilapia to meet with Dr. Mwanga again for dinner and also one of Isac’s classmates, Nicholas.
Meaghan and Doug leave for their safari tomorrow and were busy packing for their trip because they would have to leave by 7am.

Saturday, October 20th, 2007
I woke up very early with Meaghan and Doug and I was so excited for their safari adventure, and also a bit jealous. Isaac, Nicholas, Ruben and I went to the market to pick-up a few souvenirs for Isac to bring home. Afterwards I made plans for Isaac to meet with Dr. Changalucha and we had a very brief meeting to go over the plans for the new Yogurt Kitchen in Kenya.
Afterwards, Ruben, Isaac and I went for lunch at the Pizzeria and then Ruben went back home to get some work done to prepare for his clinical study to begin on Monday. Isac and I spent all afternoon walking around the city buying small gifts for him to bring home and were very successful in getting some very nice things. We went back to Tilapia for a rest and to do some work. I brought my laptop to Tilapia and finished up some Swahili lessons and emailed a bit, this was the first time I was able to get the internet on my laptop (because I always go to the internet café).
For dinner, Isaac, Nicholas, Ruben and I went out to a new restaurant that served Indian and Chinese cuisine, The Diner. It was very good and we were able to get back to Tilapia in time to watch the Rugby World Cup with South Africa vs. England. South Africa was victorious and there were many excited fans in the bar.

Sunday, October 21st, 2007
I got up early to go visit the Nyakato Roman Catholic Church where Nicholas is a priest at with Isaac. The service was in Swahili and they had a beautiful choir that was breath taking. We were lucky enough to get a tour around the area with Nicholas and then stay for lunch with several other priests. Isaac and I bought some very nice Rosaries from some local community and had them blessed by the priests.

Getting our Rosaries blessed

We dropped Isac off at Tilapia to catch up on some work and I went to Tunza for a rest by the beach. Isaac and Ruben joined me in the afternoon and we had a nice dinner there before heading home.

Week 10

Monday, October 8^th, 2007

Meaghan and I began the morning very productively and completed a large portion of the first draft to the Cost/Benefit Report and the Charity Ball application. The Charity Ball happens in November and individuals purchase tickets to a semi-formal dinner evening and the money raised are distributed to various charities. Meg and I were applying for a grant to help pay for the initial milk costs to provide probiotic yogurt to approximately 50 HIV+ individuals distributed among 7 different communities in Mwanza. These patients are currently receiving yogurt free-of-charge from the Mabutini Kitchen and are picking up about 10L a day, depending on if they are able to travel to the kitchen and are well enough.

Meaghan has been putting together a Cost/Benefit Report, which summarizes what we have been working on for the past 2 and a half months. It will give the faculty a good review of what to be expecting on their visit to Mwanza next week.

Later in the afternoon, we headed into town to post our blogs, check and send emails, book Meaghan’s Safari for next week, and pick up some pictures we had developed. We also had a few dresses made at a local tailor shop and went to pick them up today. They were very well made and most of them we exactly what we had in mind with only a few minor exceptions that could be altered easily. We were very pleased.

We were very productive in the day and were able to make it to yoga at Tunza in the evening after the Mama’s English lessons. After our yoga class, the Massai usually take a few minutes to practice their aim with the bow and arrows and sometimes they let the ‘wazungu’ (foreigners) try. I was fortunate enough to get a few shots in and actually hit the target, which the Massai were extremely excited about. In the evening, Meg and I finished up more project work at home before heading off to bed.

Tuesday, October 9^th, 2007

Meg and I went to the internet café early this morning to send off the Charity Ball application, but the internet was extremely slow and the file was too large to send. We would try again later in the day at a better internet place. We went into town to send off some letters and grab lunch at Kuleana. We then went to the bank to take out cash for Meg’s safari and then to the internet café again. The Charity Ball application was still too large to send out and we would have to try and condense the file when we got home. After the disappointing internet session, Meg and I went to our Swahili lesson to complete our test and have our 2 hour class.

After our lesson, we decided to go for a swim at the international pool in Isamilo and for a nice dinner at Claire’s home. Ruben met up with us for both swimming and dinner. On the way to Claire’s house after swimming, we got some fresh sugar cane and had it raw for the first time. It was really sweet and refreshing, but a little difficult to tear off the outer core. For dinner, we made a vegetable and meat chili with rice and beans. We also experimented with chocolate chuck cookies for dessert, which turned out quite well.

Trying raw sugar cane for the first time.

Wednesday, October 10^th, 2007

I started my day with a good workout on the roof top. After getting ready for the day I worked on a lesson for the Mama’s English lesson later today. Meg and I headed to NIMR first thing to meet with Simon to check on the viability of the probiotic bacteria. Simon told us that the bacteria have been growing very well and showed us the smear sample. We discussed some of the irregularity with the delivery and pick-up of milk to and from the lab and have set up a routine for all parties to have their tasks accomplished by.

After NIMR, we went to the internet café again, but the internet was down at Marllcom so we tried Karibou Corner. It was working, but we were still unable to send out the Charity Ball application and we were getting frustrated with having to rearrange the file and the photos on the application. We picked up some groceries on our way home and had a quick lunch before heading off to the community kitchen in Mabatini. At the Kitchen, Meg and I were surprised to find some Kivulini staff there helping the Mamas learn how to keep proper accounts of their finances. Kivulini volunteers their skills to several small businesses all over Mwanza and specifically works with Women’s Rights Organizations. Our English lessons went very well and we also discussed the upcoming plans for the Danone Consultant’s visit this coming weekend. On our way home, we received a call from Claire inviting us to a dinner at her co-worker’s home in Capri Point. Meg and I eagerly accepted because we were too tired to think about making dinner and had a very lovely and authentic Ethiopean meal of ‘Shudo’.

Thursday, October 11^th, 2007

This morning Meg and I were determined to shrink down the Charity Ball application file and email it out. We also had to visit the immigration office to inquire about renewing our VISAs, go to the bank, and pick up some more groceries for our dinner party on Friday. We did not get any useful information from the immigration office about the renewal process because we did not have our Passports with us, and for some reason they are not able to give us price quotes or approximation of the procedure without it. A lot of the time the color of our skin makes many processes more difficult and more expensive because we are not familiar with the way things work in a foreign place and are not fluent in the language.

At the internet café we were actually successful in sending out the Charity Ball application after about half an hour of waiting for the email to upload. We then went for a quick and cheap lunch close by and then picked up some groceries. Many of the local ‘Wazungu’ have been extremely kind and hospitable to Meaghan, Ruben and I and we wanted to show our appreciation with a belated Thanksgiving dinner with a Mexican theme of fajitas and potato wedges

In the afternoon we had our Swahili lesson and then went to Tunza for our regular yoga class. We then went out to dinner at the New Mwanza Hotel with Janine, Henk, Claire, Meg and I.

Friday, October 12^th, 2007

This morning Ruben and I worked out together and I helped show him several exercises because he was only familiar with skipping, push-ups and sit-ups. This year I worked as a personal trainer at school and at home and so I have a large repertoire of exercises to do outside of a gym without any equipment

We went to Mabatini to pick up yogurt for the children at the Forever Angels orphanage and to drop off the English test for the Mamas. We went with Mama Paskwalina to see where the milk supplier was located for when the Danone Consultant arrived tomorrow. We met with the owner of the ‘farm’ (it was really only about 10 cows in the backyard of her home), Edina, and one of the distributors, Laurent, and they were extremely friendly. From the milk supplier’s home Meaghan and I walked to the orphanage, which was very close to each other, and spent a few hours with the children. I was able to get the growth data for the children old enough to consume the yogurt and I will begin plotting the information to see if the yogurt actually has an impact on the growth rate for these kids. It was a very hot day outside and the children had a great time playing in a small pool of water... of course naked! They were extremely cute.

We spent the rest of the afternoon making dinner for our 10 guests. I was in charge of making Chapatis and made 40 in total. We also had ground beef, guacamole, a vegetable mix, beans, and of course yogurt. We also made some very tasty potato wedges. Meg and I were worried that we didn’t have enough food, but realized that we had made way too much and would be eating leftovers for the next week or more. Claire made banana bread that tasted really good but unfortunately collapsed while trying to flip it out of the pan. After dinner, we headed off to Tilapia, but it was really quiet there and we did not stay long.

Our 'Thanksgiving' dinner

Saturday, October 13^th, 2007

I was able to sleep in this morning and had a very lazy morning. Meg, Claire and I took a walk into town so look at some of the kitenge material and then came home to prepare a lunch of… leftovers. We did not accomplish much in the afternoon because we were waiting around for the Danone Consultant, Ivan, to arrive at 5:30pm. At 4pm, Meg and I went to Mabatini to speak with the Mamas about some changes to Ivan’s schedule and to make sure that some of them were at the Kitchen tomorrow morning (the Kitchen is usually closed on Sunday mornings and especially because it will be the day of Ede, which marks the end of Ramadan).

After Mabatini we went to the airport to pick up Ivan Le Mintier. Ivan is a Danone Consultant from France and is interested in starting up several yogurt kitchens (larger than our Mamas, but not factory size) in one area in Africa to target high stressed areas. He will be setting up the Kitchens very quickly and will create a yogurt that is specific for malnourished children of the areas and making them very affordable for the community. Ivan’s objectives are very similar to WHE’s because he is not interested in sending money to developing regions, but rather teaching the skills to sustain a business and replicate it in a systematic fashion. He has visited 3 other locations in Africa, including Kenya, Senegal, and Malawi and will decide on one area to build. Earlier in February, Ivan and his team began a similar project in Bangladesh and is in the processes of opening 50 other small ‘factories’ throughout the area.

We brought Ivan to his hotel at Tilapia and after he dropped off his luggage we had a pleasant discussion about his project over tea. In the evening, he met with Maimuna (the director of Kivulini) to inquire about several other groups and the problems that they have encountered being in Mwanza. He was very interested in knowing about the health status of the people in Mwanza, specifically the children, and the approximate number of milk suppliers/ farmers. Because Mwanza is a very rapidly developing area these figures are difficult to obtain and especially because most of the milk suppliers are not registered as a business, it makes it hard to even estimate any numbers. Maimuna helped set Ivan up with several reports and contacts to help him acquire some of the information he was asking about and it was a nice dinner.

After dinner, Ivan was very interested in catching the England VS France rugby match and so Meaghan and I stayed to watch the game with him before he went to bed.

Sunday, October 14^th, 2007

We went to pick up Ivan this morning at 9am and he was excited to go to the Mabatini Catholic Church service with Mama Paskwalina and us. The service was slightly delayed because it was Nyerere Day and also because of an additional collection to build homes for the priests within Mabatini. Unfortunately, we had a 30 minutes wait before our service was to begin and because Ivan was having pain and trouble seeing this morning he decided to have them looked at. Meaghan accompanied him to the Hindu clinic and I waited at the church for them to arrive. Ivan was able to get eye drops and they told him it was not an infection, but he still did not know why his eyes reacted as they did. After the eye drops, he was feeling much better.

Meg, Ivan and Jimmy (a Kivulini staff that volunteered to help translate for the weekend) was able to make it to church for the collection and Eucharist, but because of the late start and the extended service we were not able to stay for the entire mass. We headed back to the Community Kitchen to speak briefly with the Mamas about his project and their history with WHE and Tukwamuane.

Ivan meeting some of the Mamas at the Mabatini Kitchen.

After the Kitchen, we dropped Jimmy off at Kivulini and Meg and I went for lunch at the Pizzeria with Ivan. We were able to speak about our roles, difficulties, and accomplishments with the project and it was interesting to hear his advice on several issues. After lunch Jimmy came back to take us to an agricultural farm that was once run by a religious group called the ‘White Fathers’ and then to an abandoned Dairy Factory. It was interesting to see how these places are doing now that they are not functioning in their original ways. The Kimkumaka agricultural farm is now being primarily used to help educate students at the St. Augustine University and now that the ‘White Fathers’ are no longer running the area the machinery has not been kept in working order. The abandoned Dairy Factory was closed very suddenly and all its equipement was sold because the owner was not seeing a fast enough return in the business and had many other projects in progress as well. There was one family that was acting as ‘security’ for the factory and they were living off the land and farming some tomatoes.

Bunnies

Pigs

And of course... cows

The abandoned Dairy Factory

In the evening, Ivan had a scheduled meeting with the former Brewery president at Tilapia Hotel and Meaghan and I had a nice quiet night in.

Week 9

Monday, October 1st, 2007
Meaghan and my day began with project work at home and writing up our blogs for the week. We also made the lessons for today’s English class with the Yogurt Mamas and photocopied more of the brochures for the Trade Fair. Afterwards, we set off for town and to the travel agency to get quotes for various trips that Meg and I are planning to do while we are here, as well as book our trip to Zanzibar, but unfortunately the internet was down and we could not book today. We then went to 2 different internet cafes before finding one whose internet was working. Afterwards, we came home to pick up the English lessons, brochures, and empty containers for yogurt before going to Mabatini. After the lessons, the Mamas, Meaghan and I had some rice and beans for dinner before going home. We met up with 2 of the Bugando boys on our way out and they had letters to give to the Yogurt Mamas and the Street Leader of Mabatini to request permission to sell their popcorn and other crafts outside of the Yogurt Kitchen. It will be a few weeks before they get an answer, so we will have to wait and see what their answer will be.
We came home and Ruben had had a busy day buying items for the apartment, such as gas for our stove, a water filter, detergent, and he got the TV repaired so that he can watch DVDs on it. Meg and I were not hungry since the Mamas had fed us and we had a very early night.

The Mamas studying very hard for their English Lesson

Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007
We had a very nice visit from Beatrice this morning and she had brought gifts for Meaghan and I all the way form Arusha. They were beautiful beaded sandals that Beatrice’s mom picked up for us on her business trip.
Last Friday Meg and I were not able to bring yogurt to the ‘Forever Angels’ orphanage so we went today to Mabatini to pick up the 6L they require weekly. We have begun to implement a 2000 Tsh fee for 1L, as opposed to 1000 Tsh for 1L of yogurt, to those individuals who can afford it (ie. Hotels, Restaurants, ‘Wazungu’, Orphanages). We had a bit of a delay getting to the orphanage because our taxi driver’s car broke down and had to borrow someone else’s car. But we managed to get there but did not have time to hang out with the children because we had to get to Saba Saba for the trade fair. Saba Saba was much slower than on Sunday because it was a weekday but it was nice to support the Mamas and be present at their event. Most of the Mamas were getting very tired from having to work both events and transport all the yogurt back and forth from the Kitchen.
After the Trade Fair, we took the daladala into town and grabbed a quick lunch so we could have time to go to the internet café before our Swahili class. After our class Meaghan and I were feeling very tired and decided to go home to cook dinner instead of go for a swim at the International pool. We spent the night finishing up some project work and then went to bed.

The Mamas working very hard at the Trade Fair

Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007
The morning began with a heavy rainfall which luckily came and went fairly quickly and we were able to go into town to book our trip to Zanzibar. We tried to take out cash from the ATM to pay for our flight to Zanzibar on November 1st, but unfortunately the thunderstorm knocked out the internet and the bank machines were not working properly. After going to 4 banks and having no success, we decided to count our losses and try again on tomorrow. We stopped by the Pizzeria for a quick snack and then to the internet café in hopes that it was working at this time and it was, but very slowly. Even though we did not accomplish very much this morning, we were rushing around town all morning. We then came home to pick up the English Lesson for the Mamas and headed to Mabatini. After our visit to the Kitchen, Meg and I came home and got ready to go out to dinner with Beatrice because it was her last night in Mwanza before she headed to Dar for University. Her evening was delayed because she needed to do many last minute errands before her bus left at 5am. So, we had a very late dinner, but it was very nice to say goodbye to her and thank her for all the work that she had done for us and the project.

Meaghan, Beatrice and I in our apartment

Thursday, October 4th, 2007
We tried again today to get money out of the ATM to pay for our Zanzibar trip and were successful on our 2nd try. We went to the travel agent and were able to book our flights. I will need to go back soon to book the trip that my mother and I will be going on in December at the end of my stay in Mwanza. We then went for a quick stop at the internet café to send off and check a few emails and came home to get a start on some project work including budget management reports, a Charity Ball application for funding, and writing up an information letter about the Tukwamuane Group. We did not have much time to get much progress on the reports because of our Swahili Lesson. After Swahili, we went for our routinely yoga lesson at Tunza beach and came home early. I was writing in my journal before going to bed and was thinking of many things that are very different here than from my life in Toronto or London, Ontario that I would not necessarily mention in my blogs, here are a few examples:

-green and purple toilet paper
-squatting toilets (and also seated ones)
-people who ‘hiss’ to get your attention
-wearing headlamps to bed after climbing into our mosquito nets
-extremely funny kitanga prints (ie. fabric with umbrellas, hands and fingers, chickens, keys and key holes, spatulas, high heels, the President’s face, champagne bottles)
-cold showers
-watching DVDs on laptops
-popular music: 50 Cent, Vengaboys, Celine Dion, Shania Twain, Backstreet Boys
-constantly dirty and calloused feet

Friday, October 5th, 2007
Earlier in the week Meaghan and I had made plans to go to a Gold Mining camp site for the weekend with Janine, Henk, Claire and the miners. We were leaving at 3pm for a 3.5 hour drive and so we had a lot to do before noon. We started our morning by going to Mabatini to pick up some yogurt for the orphanage and to drop off their English test. We got a ride to Forever Angels and spent an hour with the children. Afterwards, we came home and dropped by a local tailor to see if the dresses we ordered earlier in the week were ready. The dress maker is extremely nice and only charges 8000 Tsh (<$8) per dress and the material is only about 4000 Tsh. Meg and I gave her pictures from magazines for her to follow and we hope that she is able to make a ‘modern’ style dress. We came home and made some lunch and started to pack for our weekend in Buhimba. Meaghan received a call from Canada to discuss some details for the Faculty meeting in 2 weeks. We were caught off guard when it was mentioned to Meaghan that an international consultant would be coming next week to look at our project and that we were to accompany him to various sites around Mwanza. Despite our lack of details, I am sure that Meaghan, Ruben and I will be able to be good hosts for our visitors stay. We headed off to Buhimba (approximately 3.5 hours away from town past the Serengeti), and Ruben had made plans to stay in a small village in Bunda for the weekend. The miners (4 at the moment) are from South Africa and they are currently not busy with work because the mine has been closed indefinitely. The gold miner work under the order of the government but the land that they dig on used to be used as an army base and so is owned by the military. The miners are mainly working as maintenance and security for the site until the government moves them to another site to begin mining for gold again. We unpacked our things into a house that has all the necessities and more. We had a kitchen (with a microwave), a living room (with a TV), 4 bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms (one with a bathtub and another with a shower, both with hot water). We could also drink straight out of the taps if we wished! For dinner, the South Africans made a nice bbq with ribs, sausage, potato and vegetable salad and cheese sandwiches.

Our lovely feast at the Gold Mine in Buhimba

Saturday, October 6th, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend!

Although Meaghan and I are not in Canada right now we are definitely eating as if we are back home. The miners have been wonderful hosts and have been feeding us very well with omelets, bacon and cereal for breakfast and hamburgers and fries for lunch. We had a nice rest by the pool in the morning and went for a drive around the mines in the afternoon. The holes where the miners extract the ore and gold from are huge and amazing to see because most are filled with rain and ground water up to 60 meters deep or more. There were several plots that the miners had been digging from and they all are now abandoned except for a few with illegal miners. We were also able to see the huge machines that extract the gold from the ore in an extremely complex process. Basically, the ore is put on a conveyer belt that brings it into a large contraption that crushes all the materials into a fine powder which is then brought into a tank of Cyanide. The Cyanide melts the gold (and not the ore) and then brings it into a take with Carbon Dioxide which absorbs the gold and allows the gold to be made into bricks. These bricks are approximately 90% pure and require about 2 million Liters of Diesel a day and 7 generators to function. When the government decides to move to another site, the miners will have to take apart the entire system and rebuild it under the exact floor levels as it is now in the new location and will take approximately 2 years to complete. After the tour around the area, we came back to the main lodge to watch some Rugby and play Jenga. Dinner consisted of lamb chops, steak, sausage, and delicious scalloped potatoes. It was a really great night.

One of the huge holes where gold and ore was dug out of and

is now filled with ground and rain water

Sunday, October 7th, 2007

I was able to sleep in a little before going to get breakfast and attend a very small and short ‘mass’ with the miners in the dining hall. It was more of a bible study session where prayers were said and a passage from the Bible and an interpretation of the passage. It was nice to see that even though the miners are very secluded they are still able to keep their beliefs strong and united. Before we left Buhimba to go back to the city, we had a very special lunch of ox tail stew. It was very good but I was too full from breakfast to have seconds even though I really wanted to. The 3.5 hour drive home gave us all a chance to take a nice nap after our eventful weekend. We came home to an empty apartment (Ruben was still out of town until tomorrow) and finished up our journals and blogs to prepare for a very busy week ahead of us.

Week 8

Monday, September 24, 2007

Meaghan and I spent the morning doing project work, English lessons for the Mamas and writing up our blogs for this week. We then headed off to the internet café to send some emails and updates out and post our blogs. We picked up some groceries on our way home and were exhausted when we returned home because of the hot day. We had a very quick lunch and then headed off to Mabutini to the Yogurt Kitchen to teach the Mamas English and check up on the yogurt production. We bought some yogurt for the house (we usually pick up about 4-6L of yogurt per week now that Ruben is living with us). When we got home Beatrice (a Kivulini volunteer) was helping Ruben translate a questionnaire for his project work. After dropping off the yogurt, Meg and I went downstairs to the internet café around the corner to finish up some of our tasks that we couldn’t get done in the morning, but the internet was very poor. For dinner, we made a delicious chapati pizza with tomato sauce, zucchini, lunch meat, and cheese. We had a quiet evening in and started my second journal book.

Mama Leah, Paskwalina, Elizabeth and I at the Yogurt Kitchen

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

I received a very nice phone call from a friend this morning. It’s always nice to hear from home once in a while and get some bearing on what is going on in Toronto.

Meaghan and I made a trip into town to get cups to sell yogurt at the trade fair for the Mamas this weekend and went to a supermarket (Lavena), a drugstore, an Indian supermarket and finally to U-turn, where we were successful in finding the correct size of cup. We also stopped by a few airlines to get quotes on trips to the Serengeti, Zanzibar and for faculty air flights. Meg and I stopped by the Pizzeria for a small snack of a plate of fruits and scones. We spent that time brainstorming about creating packages to send to Hotels and Restaurants to purchase the Mamas’ yogurt on a regular basis. We will include an order form, brochure about the benefits of probiotics, information about the Tukwamuane group, and a list of recipes that use yogurt as a main ingredient. We also did some last minute cramming for our Swahili test later today. We then set off to the supermarket again to pick up some groceries for our Mexican dinner tonight at Claire’s. Afterwards we went to the ‘good’ internet café near the International Language School to upload pictures and send more emails home. We had our Swahili class at 3pm until 5pm. Meg and I went with Claire to the International pool to swim a few laps before our Mexican dinner of fajitas with ground beef, vegetables, tomato paste, guacamole, and of course yogurt (to substitute for sour cream). We brought Ruben some left-overs home and finished some project work for the hotel/restaurant order forms and went to bed fairly early.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Meaghan and I woke up feeling very tired this morning because we were awaken by random banging noises on our roof very early this morning. We began our day with typing up the Swahili notes from yesterday’s lessons, finishing up the Mamas’ English lessons for today, and cutting up squares of tin foil to use as lids for the cups of yogurt being sold at the trade fair (Saba Saba). I cut almost 300 squares for the cups and despite the easy task it took most of the morning to do. Afterwards, Meaghan and I made another trip to the Lavena supermarket, our kitchen tends to be empty all the time and it will take a little getting used to living with an extra person who can eat a lot. Ruben made plans to go to the city market to buy some fresh produce. Meg and I treated ourselves to a lunch out at Aspen Hotel and the food took a very long time to get prepared, but it was very good. I ordered whole Tilapia with spaghetti and vegetables and it came as 2 large plates full of food for only 4000 Tsh (<$4.00). We rushed home to drop off our groceries and left over food, and headed to Mabatini for the Mama’s English lessons. We brought with us the cups and tin foil lids and did our best to go over all the necessities for the trade fair (ie. Cooler, container, transportation, banners, pricing, documentation of sold yogurt, etc.) We told the Mamas that Meg and I would take care of the banner if they supplied us with the information to be painted onto the sign.

On the way home, Meg and I picked up some fabric to give to Pendo as a gift for Ramadan. Unfortunately, Pendo has Malaria and tried to show her appreciation for the gift but was feeling very under-the-weather. Meg and I stayed in for the evening and the Bugando ‘Popcorn’ boys came by for a short visit. They like to look through my music list and pick out songs to listen to. Ruben then came home with lots of produce from the market and we made a very nice dinner of pasta with lots for vegetables in the sauce.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

I got up early this morning to start the day with a good workout before getting ready to attend an opening ceremony for a new Secondary School in Mabatini. Meg, Ruben and I were invited by the Mamas and we were there from 9:30am till 12pm. The sun was extremely strong and Meg, the Mamas and I were sitting directly in the sun. Meg was not feeling very good later that day and I think she may have got a little sun stroke. The organizers for the event invited us to sit in the VIP area, but only a few seats were under the shade. A large majority of Mabatini came to the event and I could only imagine how hot they were, pushed up against each other and in the sun as well. We were very fortunate to have the Prime Minister of Tanzania attend the event along with many other speakers. The occasion was similar to when we organized the Minister’s visit, but the entire presentation was in Swahili and a bit difficult to follow at times.

The Prime Minister's visit to the opening

of a new Secondary School in Mabatini

After the event, we went to the Kitchen to cool off with some yogurt then headed home. We had a little snack, recovered from being dehydrated all morning, and got ready for our Swahili class. Directly after class we went to Tunza for yoga on the beach and to use their paint to make the sign for the Mama’s trade fair. Drawing out the lettering took as long as it took for our dinner to come. We decided that it would be a bit difficult to actually paint at Tunza because of the wind blowing dirt and leaves onto the wet paint and also the dogs trampling over the fabric, so we decided to go home and do it indoors. Meg and I spent the night finishing the painting and left it out over night hoping that it would dry in time for the trade fair (we used oil paint).

Meaghan and I working on the Trade Fair sign

Friday, September 28, 2007

Meaghan and I were very tired this morning from our eventful previous day, but we had lots of project work to do this morning and had to be up early. We met with the Mamas to go over financial matters for the entire morning. Unfortunately there are many issues to consider and people to wait for before getting things accomplished and therefore can take a long time to complete certain tasks. Sometimes work can get very frustrating here in Mwanza because you are relying on other people to do their job first before you can complete your own.

Our water and electricity has been turning off sporadically through out the day and it was making working and eating quite difficult but at least we have a gas stove and can cook some things. We spent the afternoon finishing some financial work, writing an English test for the Mamas, writing up our Swahili lessons and journals for the day. We decided not to go to the orphanage today because of all the work we had to do, but we will go earlier next week to deliver their yogurt to them for the children.

Meg and I went to the internet café and just as websites were coming up the power went out and we had no idea for how long we would be without electricity. We came back home and started to make an early dinner and thankfully the water was back so we could boil water to wash the vegetables. We breaded some eggplant and made a tomato sauce for dinner. We went out to Tilapia for a little while to listen to some live music and relax with a few friends.

Saturday, September 29,2007

I was able to sleep in a little bit today and really needed it from the busy work week we had and the busy one we will have next week and the following one as we are preparing for the faculty from Western to come. Meaghan and I spent a lot of the morning cleaning up the kitchen and washing an huge bucket full of dishes. Tonight we are attending a ‘J’ party at the teacher’s loft near the International School in Isamilo. It is Jason’s birthday (a teacher at the International School) and all the guests are asked to be creative and dress up as anything beginning with the letter ‘J’. Meg and I went shopping in Mlango Mmoja (second hand market just across from our apartment) and found a few pieces of clothing that we could use for our costumes. Meaghan was dressing as ‘Jane of the Jungle’ and I was being the rap artist ‘Lil Jon’. Our costumes were very fun to make and we had our friends Claire and Lauren come and get ready with us as well, they were being a jellyfish and a janitor. Before going to the party we had dinner across the street at Aspen Hotel and the food took a very long time to come (1 hour) but again was very good. After dinner we finished getting our costumes ready and Claire drove to the party. We had a great time and there were some very creative costumes: Julius Caesar, Jack and Jill, Jelly beans, a Journalist, J. Lo, a Jungle (they wore huge leaves), and a bride that was jilted.

Meaghan and I dressed up for the J-party

Sunday, September 30, 2007

We woke up early this morning to meet Mama Paskwalina at the Yogurt Kitchen to walk over to the Mabatini Catholic Church for 9:30am. The service was in Swahili and so was difficult to understand, but the live music and choir were absolutely beautiful. After the service, we went with Mama Paskwalina by the daladala to the trade fair at Saba Saba (in the direction of the airport). When we got there, the mamas had set up everything from the day before and had the sign up behind them with their table with displayed yogurt, they looked very professional. Meg and I brought the brochures for the Mamas to give to potential customers that described the group, what probiotics are and why they are beneficial to a person’s health. The Mama’s table was one of the busiest with customers and Meg and I were so proud and happy that the Mamas were representing themselves so well. It was really good for the project because there were businesses from all over Tanzania and they were able to make connections and display all their hard work. Many businesses were very impressed by the yogurt with probiotics because dairy products are very scarce in Tanzania. It was a very hot day outside and that may have helped the Mamas sell the yogurt because it is so refreshing.
Meaghan and I stayed there for about 4 hours and had lunch with the Mamas and looked at all the different booths before walking to Tunza for a very short visit (30 min). We had run out of gas for the stove today and so preparing a dinner was going to be very difficult for us. Luckily, Claire offered to have us over and we eagerly accepted. Meg and I went home right after dinner and after finishing up some project work and scheduling for the upcoming weeks, we headed off to bed.

Mama Elizabeth and Joyce preparing lunch at the Trade Fair