Monday, December 3rd, 2007
Meaghan and I started our morning with our blog reports, putting together an employment contract for the new translator, and the English lessons for the day. We called the Principle of the Secondary School in Buswelu to see if the cards sent with the WHE faculty were signed by the students yet. He dropped by but said that he would put them together for next week. We photocopied the English lessons and got ready to go into town.
We had to pick up the passport photos of the Mamas for the NGO application, use the internet and go grocery shopping before the English lessons at 3pm. We were able to accomplish everything with a bit of struggle, the internet has not been great over the last little while.
We went into Mabatini and had a good English lesson. We then went straight to yoga at Tunza and everyone was really tired or sick. For dinner, we had plans to go to a friend’s place to attempt to make sushi again. This time it worked out much better because they actually had all the proper ingredients, except for the raw fish which was substituted with canned spicy salmon and tuna.
Meaghan and I started our morning with our blog reports, putting together an employment contract for the new translator, and the English lessons for the day. We called the Principle of the Secondary School in Buswelu to see if the cards sent with the WHE faculty were signed by the students yet. He dropped by but said that he would put them together for next week. We photocopied the English lessons and got ready to go into town.
We had to pick up the passport photos of the Mamas for the NGO application, use the internet and go grocery shopping before the English lessons at 3pm. We were able to accomplish everything with a bit of struggle, the internet has not been great over the last little while.
We went into Mabatini and had a good English lesson. We then went straight to yoga at Tunza and everyone was really tired or sick. For dinner, we had plans to go to a friend’s place to attempt to make sushi again. This time it worked out much better because they actually had all the proper ingredients, except for the raw fish which was substituted with canned spicy salmon and tuna.
Our Mamas making yogurt in the Mabatini Kitchen.
Tuesday, December 4th, 2007
This morning was a bit slower than usual because most of our projects are waiting on others to contact us for the next stage. But we were productive in using the internet and making the English lessons for tomorrow. Meaghan and Mama Joyce typed up some meeting minutes regarding the TASAF application to build a cow banda and supply dairy cows for the Mamas.
We went into town and tried to use the ‘fast’ internet but it was down and so we headed to the Regional Commissioner’s office to meet with Mr. Ndassa about our NGO application. We brought all the necessary documents with us for the application and Mr. Ndassa will review it and hopefully send it to Dar es Salaam. He was just newly appointed to this position and so is unclear on certain steps but he is getting advice from Mr. Kiamba (the former NGO director).
After visiting the Regional Commissioner’s office we stopped by the internet café shortly before going to our Swahili lesson. Meg and I went home after our lessons and got ready to go out and treat ourselves to a dinner at Tilapia.
Wednesday, December 5th, 2007
Meaghan and I got up early this morning to attend a meeting at City Council with Mr. Luanda. He took us and Mama Elizabeth to see 4 possible plots in Nyamongoro for the Mamas to purchase. We were only interested in 2 of the 4 because they were closer to the main road. The pieces of land are quite large (over 4,000m2) but will be good for the future if the project needs to expand or rent out shops for extra profit.
We dropped by Mr. Ngowi’s office to hand in some TASAF meeting minutes and to inform him about the new WHE intern, Stephanie Irvine, who will be taking over the Tuwamuane project in January.
We stopped by the internet café and then came home to rest a little before going to Mabatini for the Mama’s English lessons. Most of the Mamas are getting much better with their English (some still struggle with basics because they do not have much schooling, even in Swahili) but I think they could use more oral lessons. It is difficult to implement this because only a few Mamas are at the Kitchen when we are there and so handout sheets of homework are more practical.
In the evening, Meaghan and I were invited to a family gathering of the bride and groom’s relatives. The wedding is on Sunday and most of the relatives have arrived from the UK, Kenya and India. It was amazing to see all the traditional Indian attire with all the vibrant colors. Everyone was singing and dancing, it was such an amazing atmosphere.
Left to right: Jodi, Anya, me, and 'Uncle'.
Thursday, December 6th, 2007
Happy Sinter Klaas!
Both Ruben and Meaghan celebrate the Dutch Christmas and so I was lucky enough to get my shoe filled with goodies this morning.
We started the morning with project work at home and using the ‘slow’ internet downstairs. We made the English test for tomorrow and followed up with meetings scheduled for next week.
We went into town and ran a few errands before going to our second last Swahili lesson. We had a very good lesson and then made our way to Tunza for yoga lessons. Today’s class went much better than on Monday and I felt much more energetic. I made a quick visit to a local tailor nearby to check up on some items and then came back to Tunza for dinner with a group of friends.
Friday, December 7th, 2007
One week until my mother comes to visit!
The electricity was out for most of the morning which made project work at home a bit difficult. We were not able to print or photocopy the English lessons and my computer’s battery life is really bad. I did manage to do some work on my internship and orphanage report.
We were able to print the English test but were unsuccessful in getting them copied so we just went to Mabatini and gave the Mamas some Shillings to print it themselves. When we got to the Kitchen we saw Mr. Ndassa there making corrections onto the Tukwamuane Women’s constitution. I was a bit frustrated but also grateful that he had some insight to writing the constitution better. I was frustrated because we had gone to his office 2 times with the constitution and he said it was fine, so we made 5 copies of the 34 pages and had it bound (costing ~20,000 Tsh) and now there were errors in all the copies. However, it is better to have it done the correct way than to have it sent back from Dar and having to re-due it afterwards.
We then picked up yogurt for the Forever Angels orphanage and spent some time with the toddlers. They were a bit grumpy today because they had their naps much earlier than usual and were getting very tired by the time Meg and I came by, but they were still so cute.
We came home and rested a bit before getting ready to go to the henna party. Many of the guests to the wedding are invited to get henna done. It was a great experience and I was really impressed by how quickly and beautifully the ladies apply the henna. The evening included an amazing buffet and dancing for the evening.
Happy Sinter Klaas!
Both Ruben and Meaghan celebrate the Dutch Christmas and so I was lucky enough to get my shoe filled with goodies this morning.
We started the morning with project work at home and using the ‘slow’ internet downstairs. We made the English test for tomorrow and followed up with meetings scheduled for next week.
We went into town and ran a few errands before going to our second last Swahili lesson. We had a very good lesson and then made our way to Tunza for yoga lessons. Today’s class went much better than on Monday and I felt much more energetic. I made a quick visit to a local tailor nearby to check up on some items and then came back to Tunza for dinner with a group of friends.
Friday, December 7th, 2007
One week until my mother comes to visit!
The electricity was out for most of the morning which made project work at home a bit difficult. We were not able to print or photocopy the English lessons and my computer’s battery life is really bad. I did manage to do some work on my internship and orphanage report.
We were able to print the English test but were unsuccessful in getting them copied so we just went to Mabatini and gave the Mamas some Shillings to print it themselves. When we got to the Kitchen we saw Mr. Ndassa there making corrections onto the Tukwamuane Women’s constitution. I was a bit frustrated but also grateful that he had some insight to writing the constitution better. I was frustrated because we had gone to his office 2 times with the constitution and he said it was fine, so we made 5 copies of the 34 pages and had it bound (costing ~20,000 Tsh) and now there were errors in all the copies. However, it is better to have it done the correct way than to have it sent back from Dar and having to re-due it afterwards.
We then picked up yogurt for the Forever Angels orphanage and spent some time with the toddlers. They were a bit grumpy today because they had their naps much earlier than usual and were getting very tired by the time Meg and I came by, but they were still so cute.
We came home and rested a bit before getting ready to go to the henna party. Many of the guests to the wedding are invited to get henna done. It was a great experience and I was really impressed by how quickly and beautifully the ladies apply the henna. The evening included an amazing buffet and dancing for the evening.
The henna party at Tilapia.
Getting my henna done.
Kiran's intricate henna on her arms and legs.
Saturday, December 8th, 2007
Meaghan and I were able to sleep in today but we felt very badly for Ruben because his flight was delayed. I woke up and wrote in my journal and had breakfast before going to the internet café. We then headed into town to pick up some souvenirs for when we go home to Toronto.
We then came back to the apartment and watched a very festive movie, ‘Elf’, before getting ready to go to our friend Riian’s birthday party. Ruben arrived just before we left and had bad news that his luggage was left behind in Dar. Despite his unfortunate situation and being extremely tired from his travel delays, he decided to join us at the birthday party. We didn’t stay out late because we knew tomorrow would be a very busy and full day of weddings.
Sunday, December 9th, 2007
We got up early to get dressed for the wedding ceremony. We were lucky enough to borrow some Indian clothing to not stand out too much. The temple was beautiful and the gowns were even better. The bright colors are amazing to see all together and are tailored with so many beads and sequins. The bride, Kiran, had an amazing skirt and top on with colorful beading everywhere. The ceremony was different than anything I’ve experienced before and it was lovely. We had a quick lunch reception and went home to rest before the dinner reception in the evening.
Showing off my henna.
The wedding dress.
In the temple.
The bride walking into the temple.
The after-wedding gifts.
Meg, Claire and I got our hair curled at the saloon below the apartment and it turned out very well. Meaghan, Claire and I all wore dressed made by local tailors and they turned out very well. The evening was very nice but a lot of the relatives were completely exhausted from all the partying in the previous week leading up to the wedding, including the bride and groom.
1 comment:
Hi Alison. Hope you are well and ready to head home. See you back in Toronto.
joe
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