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.