tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20213331145651567772024-03-13T12:52:51.180-07:00ALISON HEADS EASTA collection of journal entries by intern Alison Chen for the Western Heads East project, a University of Western Ontario community response to the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa.Alison Chenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06612027832107461234noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021333114565156777.post-23845881468283964182008-01-30T10:51:00.000-08:002008-01-30T13:32:13.904-08:00Week 20 - 24Mom's Birthday: Dec. 24, 2007<br /><a href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DrrGwxnAI/AAAAAAAAAc8/JNYNgFUkcbY/s1600-h/PC240003.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161384298748681218" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DrrGwxnAI/AAAAAAAAAc8/JNYNgFUkcbY/s400/PC240003.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Safari: Dec. 25 - 27, 2007</div><br /><div>Serengeti</div><br /><div><a href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DqH2wxm7I/AAAAAAAAAcU/uohKLfJsstE/s1600-h/PC260275.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161382593646664626" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DqH2wxm7I/AAAAAAAAAcU/uohKLfJsstE/s400/PC260275.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DqJGwxm8I/AAAAAAAAAcc/AYc4fplBg5g/s1600-h/PC260280.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161382615121501122" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DqJGwxm8I/AAAAAAAAAcc/AYc4fplBg5g/s400/PC260280.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DqLGwxm9I/AAAAAAAAAck/N7ImruA86-g/s1600-h/PC260303.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161382649481239506" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DqLGwxm9I/AAAAAAAAAck/N7ImruA86-g/s400/PC260303.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DqMGwxm-I/AAAAAAAAAcs/EioWtRqNqIk/s1600-h/PC260272.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161382666661108706" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DqMGwxm-I/AAAAAAAAAcs/EioWtRqNqIk/s400/PC260272.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DqNmwxm_I/AAAAAAAAAc0/hzIUmZhshL0/s1600-h/PC250008.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161382692430912498" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DqNmwxm_I/AAAAAAAAAc0/hzIUmZhshL0/s400/PC250008.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><br /><a href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6De7GwxmqI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/-T7uKxfIT0Q/s1600-h/PC250090.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161370279975426722" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6De7GwxmqI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/-T7uKxfIT0Q/s400/PC250090.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6De8GwxmrI/AAAAAAAAAaY/vsmUIN4_aQs/s1600-h/PC250126.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161370297155295922" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6De8GwxmrI/AAAAAAAAAaY/vsmUIN4_aQs/s400/PC250126.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6De9WwxmsI/AAAAAAAAAag/CPvXiMDSB2k/s1600-h/PC250132.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161370318630132418" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6De9WwxmsI/AAAAAAAAAag/CPvXiMDSB2k/s400/PC250132.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6De-mwxmtI/AAAAAAAAAao/3iShIu3slBg/s1600-h/PC250180.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161370340104968914" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6De-mwxmtI/AAAAAAAAAao/3iShIu3slBg/s400/PC250180.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6De_2wxmuI/AAAAAAAAAaw/4nnqXfI5HQk/s1600-h/PC250183.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161370361579805410" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6De_2wxmuI/AAAAAAAAAaw/4nnqXfI5HQk/s400/PC250183.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DcKWwxmkI/AAAAAAAAAZk/tVG4BOqIfDk/s1600-h/Copy+of+PC260274.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161367243433548354" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DcKWwxmkI/AAAAAAAAAZk/tVG4BOqIfDk/s400/Copy+of+PC260274.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DcK2wxmlI/AAAAAAAAAZs/sLWW9ciW3rI/s1600-h/PC250017.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161367252023482962" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DcK2wxmlI/AAAAAAAAAZs/sLWW9ciW3rI/s400/PC250017.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DcMGwxmmI/AAAAAAAAAZ0/WTbzk7aSFRs/s1600-h/PC250027.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161367273498319458" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DcMGwxmmI/AAAAAAAAAZ0/WTbzk7aSFRs/s400/PC250027.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DcPGwxmnI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/I3wP8d35vcY/s1600-h/PC250059.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161367325037927026" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DcPGwxmnI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/I3wP8d35vcY/s400/PC250059.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DcQGwxmoI/AAAAAAAAAaE/iUIE6n_m7vI/s1600-h/PC250068.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161367342217796226" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DcQGwxmoI/AAAAAAAAAaE/iUIE6n_m7vI/s400/PC250068.JPG" border="0" /></a> <div>Ngorongoro</div><div><a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DZcmwxmfI/AAAAAAAAAY8/4m6AZSRja20/s1600-h/PC260427.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161364258431277554" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DZcmwxmfI/AAAAAAAAAY8/4m6AZSRja20/s400/PC260427.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DZd2wxmgI/AAAAAAAAAZE/GrzL4WGg5yM/s1600-h/PC260442.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161364279906114050" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DZd2wxmgI/AAAAAAAAAZE/GrzL4WGg5yM/s400/PC260442.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DZemwxmhI/AAAAAAAAAZM/yKO8pU6FJEU/s1600-h/PC260416.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161364292791015954" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DZemwxmhI/AAAAAAAAAZM/yKO8pU6FJEU/s400/PC260416.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DZfWwxmiI/AAAAAAAAAZU/HrqOHjk2vZ8/s1600-h/PC260474.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161364305675917858" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DZfWwxmiI/AAAAAAAAAZU/HrqOHjk2vZ8/s400/PC260474.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DZkWwxmjI/AAAAAAAAAZc/0UOJfAX1UNs/s1600-h/PC260508.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161364391575263794" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DZkWwxmjI/AAAAAAAAAZc/0UOJfAX1UNs/s400/PC260508.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DYMmwxmaI/AAAAAAAAAYU/B6gJksvPzN4/s1600-h/PC260370.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161362884041742754" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DYMmwxmaI/AAAAAAAAAYU/B6gJksvPzN4/s400/PC260370.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DYU2wxmbI/AAAAAAAAAYc/oY-0YzIOi5c/s1600-h/PC260424.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161363025775663538" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DYU2wxmbI/AAAAAAAAAYc/oY-0YzIOi5c/s400/PC260424.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DYVWwxmcI/AAAAAAAAAYk/Ez62icWrJvo/s1600-h/PC260576.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161363034365598146" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DYVWwxmcI/AAAAAAAAAYk/Ez62icWrJvo/s400/PC260576.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DYYWwxmdI/AAAAAAAAAYs/wvd_4y-eNb4/s1600-h/PC260530.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161363085905205714" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DYYWwxmdI/AAAAAAAAAYs/wvd_4y-eNb4/s400/PC260530.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DYZmwxmeI/AAAAAAAAAY0/_fGj72mZBPk/s1600-h/PC260485.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161363107380042210" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DYZmwxmeI/AAAAAAAAAY0/_fGj72mZBPk/s400/PC260485.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DWWmwxmVI/AAAAAAAAAXs/5yahcLpz_Ls/s1600-h/PC270584.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161360856817178962" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DWWmwxmVI/AAAAAAAAAXs/5yahcLpz_Ls/s400/PC270584.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DWXmwxmWI/AAAAAAAAAX0/_dUFjLp40Ls/s1600-h/PC270593.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161360873997048162" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DWXmwxmWI/AAAAAAAAAX0/_dUFjLp40Ls/s400/PC270593.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DWa2wxmXI/AAAAAAAAAX8/Ln3yjS0me-E/s1600-h/PC270594.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161360929831623026" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DWa2wxmXI/AAAAAAAAAX8/Ln3yjS0me-E/s400/PC270594.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DWcGwxmYI/AAAAAAAAAYE/Pe6797nR2ew/s1600-h/PC270598.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161360951306459522" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DWcGwxmYI/AAAAAAAAAYE/Pe6797nR2ew/s400/PC270598.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DWdmwxmZI/AAAAAAAAAYM/DWzrwhd0-ug/s1600-h/PC270605.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161360977076263314" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DWdmwxmZI/AAAAAAAAAYM/DWzrwhd0-ug/s400/PC270605.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Zanzibar: Dec. 28 - Jan. 4<br /><div>Stone Town</div><div><a href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DUNWwxmMI/AAAAAAAAAWk/NmUaBc5n_mE/s1600-h/PC280616.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161358498880133314" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DUNWwxmMI/AAAAAAAAAWk/NmUaBc5n_mE/s400/PC280616.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DUOWwxmNI/AAAAAAAAAWs/uj_tT3_9qGs/s1600-h/PC290621.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161358516060002514" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DUOWwxmNI/AAAAAAAAAWs/uj_tT3_9qGs/s400/PC290621.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DURmwxmOI/AAAAAAAAAW0/4V0JE9vmzNA/s1600-h/PC290625.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161358571894577378" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DURmwxmOI/AAAAAAAAAW0/4V0JE9vmzNA/s400/PC290625.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DUUmwxmPI/AAAAAAAAAW8/Bk4j5bqqpXE/s1600-h/PC280607.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161358623434184946" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DUUmwxmPI/AAAAAAAAAW8/Bk4j5bqqpXE/s400/PC280607.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Paje Beach<br /><a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DTOmwxmHI/AAAAAAAAAV8/ev8SwICUUJ0/s1600-h/P1020674.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161357420843341938" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DTOmwxmHI/AAAAAAAAAV8/ev8SwICUUJ0/s400/P1020674.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DTPWwxmII/AAAAAAAAAWE/x1sjOAsQIMQ/s1600-h/P1020740.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161357433728243842" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DTPWwxmII/AAAAAAAAAWE/x1sjOAsQIMQ/s400/P1020740.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DTQGwxmJI/AAAAAAAAAWM/4CtY1qXvf-s/s1600-h/P1020758.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161357446613145746" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DTQGwxmJI/AAAAAAAAAWM/4CtY1qXvf-s/s400/P1020758.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DTR2wxmKI/AAAAAAAAAWU/nwVpmLTwnJ8/s1600-h/P1020767.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161357476677916834" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DTR2wxmKI/AAAAAAAAAWU/nwVpmLTwnJ8/s400/P1020767.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DTTGwxmLI/AAAAAAAAAWc/m5OcQTZ-3aA/s1600-h/P1030784.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161357498152753330" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DTTGwxmLI/AAAAAAAAAWc/m5OcQTZ-3aA/s400/P1030784.JPG" border="0" /></a> <div><a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DR-mwxmCI/AAAAAAAAAVU/TetkejFVA_w/s1600-h/P1030886.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161356046453807138" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DR-mwxmCI/AAAAAAAAAVU/TetkejFVA_w/s400/P1030886.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DR_2wxmDI/AAAAAAAAAVc/OCoJw_b2BXw/s1600-h/P1030896.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161356067928643634" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DR_2wxmDI/AAAAAAAAAVc/OCoJw_b2BXw/s400/P1030896.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DSCWwxmEI/AAAAAAAAAVk/LIj3c5kqu_U/s1600-h/P1030907.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161356110878316610" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DSCWwxmEI/AAAAAAAAAVk/LIj3c5kqu_U/s400/P1030907.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DSDWwxmFI/AAAAAAAAAVs/CLniB1ghL2E/s1600-h/P1020663.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161356128058185810" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DSDWwxmFI/AAAAAAAAAVs/CLniB1ghL2E/s400/P1020663.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DSE2wxmGI/AAAAAAAAAV0/y0Er5mnpuhI/s1600-h/P1020671.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161356153827989602" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DSE2wxmGI/AAAAAAAAAV0/y0Er5mnpuhI/s400/P1020671.JPG" border="0" /></a> <div>Uganda: Jan. 6 - 11</div><div><a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DQYmwxl9I/AAAAAAAAAUs/A0TTxFOD6n8/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+032.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161354294107150290" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DQYmwxl9I/AAAAAAAAAUs/A0TTxFOD6n8/s400/Mwanza+07+032.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DQaGwxl-I/AAAAAAAAAU0/QyNmxDdSmSA/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+084.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161354319876954082" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DQaGwxl-I/AAAAAAAAAU0/QyNmxDdSmSA/s400/Mwanza+07+084.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DQbWwxl_I/AAAAAAAAAU8/xssaY07cZdI/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+275.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161354341351790578" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DQbWwxl_I/AAAAAAAAAU8/xssaY07cZdI/s400/Mwanza+07+275.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DQdGwxmAI/AAAAAAAAAVE/9GxQrdrWQuY/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+279.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161354371416561666" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DQdGwxmAI/AAAAAAAAAVE/9GxQrdrWQuY/s400/Mwanza+07+279.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DQeGwxmBI/AAAAAAAAAVM/0EogFPR0P70/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+090.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161354388596430866" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DQeGwxmBI/AAAAAAAAAVM/0EogFPR0P70/s400/Mwanza+07+090.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Kampala</div><div><a href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DPD2wxl5I/AAAAAAAAAUM/ImJGO72lI80/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+004.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161352838113236882" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DPD2wxl5I/AAAAAAAAAUM/ImJGO72lI80/s400/Mwanza+07+004.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DPHGwxl6I/AAAAAAAAAUU/itVvmIzQZ7Y/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+017.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161352893947811746" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DPHGwxl6I/AAAAAAAAAUU/itVvmIzQZ7Y/s400/Mwanza+07+017.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DPIWwxl7I/AAAAAAAAAUc/3E4LMJDyNwg/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+025.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161352915422648242" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DPIWwxl7I/AAAAAAAAAUc/3E4LMJDyNwg/s400/Mwanza+07+025.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DPJmwxl8I/AAAAAAAAAUk/rKwFmjHKagg/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+014.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161352936897484738" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DPJmwxl8I/AAAAAAAAAUk/rKwFmjHKagg/s400/Mwanza+07+014.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Lake Bunyonyi</div><div><a href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DN7Gwxl0I/AAAAAAAAATk/3CUAWZ3_I9Q/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+098.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161351588277753666" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DN7Gwxl0I/AAAAAAAAATk/3CUAWZ3_I9Q/s400/Mwanza+07+098.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DN7mwxl1I/AAAAAAAAATs/uVVaEazMFhk/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+099.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161351596867688274" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DN7mwxl1I/AAAAAAAAATs/uVVaEazMFhk/s400/Mwanza+07+099.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DN8Wwxl2I/AAAAAAAAAT0/BrAmWPcAwnI/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+120.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161351609752590178" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DN8Wwxl2I/AAAAAAAAAT0/BrAmWPcAwnI/s400/Mwanza+07+120.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DN92wxl3I/AAAAAAAAAT8/tov7x9gOuLQ/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+137.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161351635522393970" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DN92wxl3I/AAAAAAAAAT8/tov7x9gOuLQ/s400/Mwanza+07+137.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DN-Wwxl4I/AAAAAAAAAUE/IiycoRhvggg/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+162.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161351644112328578" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DN-Wwxl4I/AAAAAAAAAUE/IiycoRhvggg/s400/Mwanza+07+162.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="left">Entebbe Zoo<br /></div><div align="center"><a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DMxmwxlvI/AAAAAAAAAS8/pQybhaZXvvc/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+391.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161350325557368562" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DMxmwxlvI/AAAAAAAAAS8/pQybhaZXvvc/s400/Mwanza+07+391.jpg" border="0" /></a> Crocodile<br /><a href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DMyWwxlwI/AAAAAAAAATE/t91qY-YEr4w/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+413.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161350338442270466" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DMyWwxlwI/AAAAAAAAATE/t91qY-YEr4w/s400/Mwanza+07+413.jpg" border="0" /></a> Vervet Monkey<br /><a href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DMzWwxlxI/AAAAAAAAATM/BFn8fQpHqTk/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+434.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161350355622139666" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DMzWwxlxI/AAAAAAAAATM/BFn8fQpHqTk/s400/Mwanza+07+434.jpg" border="0" /></a> Vervet Monkey<br /><a href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DM02wxlyI/AAAAAAAAATU/XfCKCIMRSkM/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+364.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161350381391943458" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DM02wxlyI/AAAAAAAAATU/XfCKCIMRSkM/s400/Mwanza+07+364.jpg" border="0" /></a> Shoebill Stork<br /><a href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DM3GwxlzI/AAAAAAAAATc/d2FgCLCy0gE/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+353.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161350420046649138" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DM3GwxlzI/AAAAAAAAATc/d2FgCLCy0gE/s400/Mwanza+07+353.jpg" border="0" /></a> Stork<br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DLXmwxlqI/AAAAAAAAASU/5DT7dwmLC2A/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+296.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161348779369141922" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DLXmwxlqI/AAAAAAAAASU/5DT7dwmLC2A/s400/Mwanza+07+296.jpg" border="0" /></a> Crown Crane<br /><a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DLYmwxlrI/AAAAAAAAASc/_P_QhfFrPOE/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+316.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161348796549011122" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DLYmwxlrI/AAAAAAAAASc/_P_QhfFrPOE/s400/Mwanza+07+316.jpg" border="0" /></a> Red Tailed Monkey<br /><a href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DLZ2wxlsI/AAAAAAAAASk/9KnXtW3E0So/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+337.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161348818023847618" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DLZ2wxlsI/AAAAAAAAASk/9KnXtW3E0So/s400/Mwanza+07+337.jpg" border="0" /></a> Lion<br /><a href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DLa2wxltI/AAAAAAAAASs/uE49gcwEFiw/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+346.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161348835203716818" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DLa2wxltI/AAAAAAAAASs/uE49gcwEFiw/s400/Mwanza+07+346.jpg" border="0" /></a> Rhino<br /><a href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DLcGwxluI/AAAAAAAAAS0/3XRczxzygpk/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+371.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161348856678553314" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DLcGwxluI/AAAAAAAAAS0/3XRczxzygpk/s400/Mwanza+07+371.jpg" border="0" /></a> Gorilla<br /><br /><div align="left">London: Dec. 12 - 18</div><div align="left">Greenwich</div><div><a href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DJ0GwxlmI/AAAAAAAAAR0/hMGwIiQvZCU/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+484.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161347069972158050" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DJ0GwxlmI/AAAAAAAAAR0/hMGwIiQvZCU/s400/Mwanza+07+484.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DJ1WwxlnI/AAAAAAAAAR8/ze07xtoKK1U/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+483.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161347091446994546" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DJ1WwxlnI/AAAAAAAAAR8/ze07xtoKK1U/s400/Mwanza+07+483.jpg" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div align="left">Warwick Castle<br /></div><a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DJ3mwxlpI/AAAAAAAAASM/jQgqUYNYVFw/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+664.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161347130101700242" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DJ3mwxlpI/AAAAAAAAASM/jQgqUYNYVFw/s400/Mwanza+07+664.jpg" border="0" /></a> <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161347104331896450" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DJ2GwxloI/AAAAAAAAASE/Etai41AXokc/s400/Mwanza+07+603.jpg" border="0" /> <div align="left">London City</div><div><a href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DIcGwxlhI/AAAAAAAAARM/pT2bdVo7524/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+439.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161345558143669778" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DIcGwxlhI/AAAAAAAAARM/pT2bdVo7524/s400/Mwanza+07+439.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DIi2wxliI/AAAAAAAAARU/GjQ0jLAVrqQ/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+446.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161345674107786786" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DIi2wxliI/AAAAAAAAARU/GjQ0jLAVrqQ/s400/Mwanza+07+446.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DIlWwxljI/AAAAAAAAARc/mZF1eTVnNHw/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+451.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161345717057459762" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DIlWwxljI/AAAAAAAAARc/mZF1eTVnNHw/s400/Mwanza+07+451.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DIl2wxlkI/AAAAAAAAARk/J7GiKL5IT_k/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+458.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161345725647394370" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DIl2wxlkI/AAAAAAAAARk/J7GiKL5IT_k/s400/Mwanza+07+458.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DImmwxllI/AAAAAAAAARs/az-RjGxSxmU/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+501.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161345738532296274" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R6DImmwxllI/AAAAAAAAARs/az-RjGxSxmU/s400/Mwanza+07+501.jpg" border="0" /></a></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Alison Chenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06612027832107461234noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021333114565156777.post-8790982446413867382008-01-28T19:40:00.000-08:002008-01-28T21:08:45.002-08:00Week 19This was the last week of WHE project work and Meaghan and I had an incredible experience working with the Yogurt Mamas and the Mwanza community. It was definitely difficult to say goodbye to the group but Meaghan and I are extremely encouraged that the yogurt project will be sustainable in the near future and will continue to expand and help more HIV and AIDS patients. The Mwanza community will continue to greatly benefit from the support of the University of Western Ontario and I am very thankful to be given the opportunity to be a part of this amazing project.<br />This week was really busy wrapping up project work and preparing for my mom to arrive. It was very busy but also really productive. Over the next few weeks we were able to organize how the new land would be purchased, confirm our TASAF application, rewrite the constitution for the NGO application, extend my Visa, and Meaghan’s family donated money to buy the Kitchen a new fridge.<br />I said goodbye to Meaghan and welcomed my mom to Mwanza. We began our journey throughout Tanzania, Uganda and London, England for the next month. I hope you enjoy the photos and you can contact me with any question you may have about my trip.<br /><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5160742549030278546" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R56kAWwxlZI/AAAAAAAAAQM/dYujdESPTyE/s400/a+(1).JPG" border="0" /></p><p align="center">Dinner at our house with the Mamas</p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5160742630634657202" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R56kFGwxlbI/AAAAAAAAAQc/Gdm4NjOEdD4/s400/CIMG0253.JPG" border="0" /></p><p align="center">At the airport saying goodbye to Meaghan</p><p> </p><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5160742471720867202" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R56j72wxlYI/AAAAAAAAAQE/OjErHGKx3Sw/s400/a+(32).JPG" border="0" /></p><p align="center">Welcome to Mwanza Mom</p>Alison Chenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06612027832107461234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021333114565156777.post-26826446911384757082007-12-10T03:06:00.000-08:002007-12-10T03:49:13.683-08:00Week 18<div align="left">Monday, December 3rd, 2007<br />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.<br />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.<br />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. </div><br /><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5142301996298954994" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R10ga6kuaPI/AAAAAAAAAOc/7-0hcvubgLI/s200/DSCF0036.jpg" border="0" /></p><div align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Our Mamas making yogurt in the Mabatini Kitchen.</span></div><div align="left"><br />Tuesday, December 4th, 2007<br />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.<br />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).<br />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.<br /><br />Wednesday, December 5th, 2007<br />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.<br />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.<br />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.<br />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.<br /></div><br /><div align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5142302009183856898" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R10gbqkuaQI/AAAAAAAAAOk/mC298gaDZx0/s200/Mwanza+07+008.jpg" border="0" /></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Left to right: Jodi, Anya, me, and 'Uncle'.</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"></span> </div><div align="left">Thursday, December 6th, 2007<br />Happy Sinter Klaas!<br />Both Ruben and Meaghan celebrate the Dutch Christmas and so I was lucky enough to get my shoe filled with goodies this morning.<br />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.<br />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.<br /><br />Friday, December 7th, 2007<br />One week until my mother comes to visit!<br />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.<br />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.<br />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.<br />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.<br /></div><div align="center"><br /></div><br /><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5142302017773791506" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R10gcKkuaRI/AAAAAAAAAOs/gKQThYYBXCc/s200/Mwanza+07+040.jpg" border="0" /></p><div align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">The henna party at Tilapia.</span></div><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5142304865337108770" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R10jB6kuaSI/AAAAAAAAAO0/Ma_3XpyzXHY/s200/Mwanza+07+042.jpg" border="0" /></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Getting my henna done.</span></p><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5142304873927043378" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R10jCakuaTI/AAAAAAAAAO8/rl7Rs1hOA9M/s200/Mwanza+07+064.jpg" border="0" /></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Kiran's intricate henna on her arms and legs.</span><br /></p><br /><p><br />Saturday, December 8th, 2007<br />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.<br />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.<br /><br />Sunday, December 9th, 2007<br />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. </p><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5142304882516977986" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R10jC6kuaUI/AAAAAAAAAPE/PbHBNwrlLLA/s200/Mwanza+07+103.jpg" border="0" /> <span style="font-size:85%;">Showing off my henna.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5142308541829114194" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R10mX6kuaVI/AAAAAAAAAPM/NEbi4hmqT3E/s200/Mwanza+07+134_edited.jpg" border="0" /></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">The wedding dress.</span><br /></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5142308550419048802" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R10mYakuaWI/AAAAAAAAAPU/CIDEwk_PCxU/s200/PC090059.JPG" border="0" /><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">In the temple.</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"></span> </div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5142308559008983410" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R10mY6kuaXI/AAAAAAAAAPc/xrC7UnsygSE/s200/PC090063.JPG" border="0" /><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">The bride walking into the temple.</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"></span> </div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5142308576188852610" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R10mZ6kuaYI/AAAAAAAAAPk/O8Gs7vn0WeI/s200/PC090093.JPG" border="0" /><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">The after-wedding gifts.</span></div><br />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.Alison Chenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06612027832107461234noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021333114565156777.post-63739642404860623132007-12-03T02:47:00.000-08:002007-12-03T03:23:43.537-08:00Week 17<div align="left"> Monday, November 26th, 2007<br />Meaghan and I spent the morning working on our blog, writing up the English lessons for the afternoon and finishing Stephanie’s VISA letter. Stephanie is the next WHE intern that will be coming in January, 2008. I was still not feeling very well and so I went into town to go to a small clinic and get checked for Malaria. Thankfully I do not have Malaria again and am wondering if I had it the first 2 times because I had very similar symptoms as the last times.<br />I met up with Meg at the Pizzeria and had a quick snack before going to NIMR for our meeting with Mr. Temu and his staff. Mr. Temu is the director of the microbiology lab and is in charge of preparing the probiotics to go into our milk. We had a very productive meeting sorting out the days of the week that all the deliveries, culturing and pick-ups will happen. Unfortunately, one of our mamas was late coming to the meeting but she came in time to speak with Mr. Temu to clarify what day and at what time she is supposed to come to pick up the milk at NIMR.<br />We then went to Mabatini to give the Mamas their English lesson, to get the Tukwamuane Mama’s constitution and to get Mama Paskwalina to sign Steph’s VISA letter. At the Kitchen, the Mamas invited us to eat ugali with dagaa (small dried fish). It was very good but very filling too. We decided not to go to yoga today and stayed in with a movie.<br /><br />Tuesday, November 27th, 2007<br />Meg and I started our morning getting our meetings for the day in order. We then headed into town to use the internet before our meetings. I was able to post my blog and pictures and read my very full inbox before going to our meeting with the Vice President of the Tanzanian Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Batenga (former Chairman). We had a few questions about distribution of yogurt products in Mwanza to send to Ivan LeMintier from Danone.<br />We stopped by World Link to inquire about flights for Stephanie afterwards, then headed to City Counsel to meet with Mr. Luanda. Mr. Luanda is the replacement for Mr. Tukay while he is away on business trips. We were informed that the new piece of land in Nyamongoro is allowed to have 4-5 non-grazing cows on site. This was very good news to hear because we will be able to build the cow banda that TASAF will support on our new plot of land. Mr. Luanda told us he would have quotes, sizes and location of the new plots ready for next week and that we would complete the purchase of it within one month. We left his office and went straight to see Mr. Ngowi (TASAF coordinator) to give him the good news. We found out that our TASAF application would have to be pushed back until January because it requires us to own the plot of land first before getting our application approved. This will mean that if it is accepted construction will begin in early March.<br />We then went to our Swahili class for 2 hours. The evening was spent at our friend’s house, Tini, because it was her birthday. We brought some Champaign and flower for her. She cooked an amazing dinner of pea soup, tomato pasta, zucchini pasta, risotto, and ice cream with a mango puree.<br /></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5139699470171215010" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R1Phb9PRlKI/AAAAAAAAANc/1F9tQsKJ8vY/s200/Mwanza+07+009.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Tini's birthday dinner.</span></div><br /><br /><br /><br />Wednesday, November 28th, 2007<br />I am very excited because my mother is leaving to come visit Africa in 2 weeks today. The morning was spent organizing our expenses and making the English lesson for the day. We made plans to meet with Mr. Kiamba (director for NGO application) for the afternoon.<br />We went into town and booked Steph’s flight from Dar to Mwanza for January 4th, 2007, which means that I will have about a day to show Steph around Mwanza before I leave to start my journey home. We went to the internet café for a little while to send out update reports home. We had a quick bite to eat then headed to the Regional Commissioner’s office to meet with Mr. Kiamba. We were informed that he no longer was in charge of that department and so we were brought to Mr. Ndassa. He went through our Constitution and it seemed in order and we only had a few things to complete before we could apply for the Tukwamuane Women to become an NGO.<br />We then went to Mabatini for the English lessons and to pick up yogurt for our friends and us. We then went to Isamilo for a swim because we had missed our normal swim yesterday. We made a very good noodle stir fry at Claire’s before going home.<br /><br /><br /><br /><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5139699478761149618" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R1PhcdPRlLI/AAAAAAAAANk/nV5GrMIoDXY/s200/PB300007.JPG" border="0" /> <span style="font-size:85%;">Half an hour of heavy rain.</span></p><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><p><br />Thursday, November 29th, 2007<br />This morning we made the English test for tomorrow and set up a meeting with a potential translator this morning, Gracie. I spent a while photocopying and binding the Mama’s Constitution for their NGO application and required 5 copies of a 34 page booklet. Meaghan sent some email home at the internet café near our apartment. Gracie came over just as Meg and I were both finishing up and we had an interview with her. She is a very qualified individual and speaks English very well. She has just recently moved to Mwanza because her husband got a job here, actually working with a close friend of ours in the agricultural department, and is currently unemployed. Meg and I will draft a contract up for her and hopefully she will be able to help Stephanie out with translations with the Mamas especially because she is coming by herself.<br />We had to also refill our gas tank this morning which turned out to be more difficult than we expected because all the stores have now changed the canisters for the gas and our current one is too old. So Meg and I had to run around town trying to find the best price and also having to take out money to pay 110,000 Tsh (~$100) for a new tank and gas. We were finally successful and came home with our new tank. We had lunch at home before heading back to World Link, to pay for Steph’s flight, and for our Swahili Lessons. We went to Tunza afterwards for our Yoga class and stayed for dinner.<br /><br />Friday, November 30th, 2007<br />I cannot believe that it is already the end of November and our time in Mwanza is closely coming to an end. I am sad to be leaving but feel proud that Meg and I have put in progress so many big steps to start expanding the Mama’s project.<br />We made plans for Mama Elizabeth, Paskwalina and Joyce to meet at our apartment for 9:30am this morning, but as usual they were a bit late. We had plans to walk through town and distribute yogurt order packages at various restaurants and hotels, get their photos taken for the NGO application and look for various fridges to purchase for the Kitchen because they are running out of space to hold the yogurt. We accomplished it all before the afternoon and went with the Mamas to the Kitchen in Mabatini afterwards. We picked up 6L of yogurt to bring to the Forever Angels Orphanage. We spent a few hours volunteering at the orphanage and then had to come home to cook a huge dinner for Pendo, her mother and her 8 children. It turned out that she had 11 children come (not all hers) and they had a great time with the coloring books that Meaghan had brought with her from Canada. Meaghan, Pendo and I made cooking bananas in a tomato sauce, rice, and fish. It was a great meal and a great way to thank Pendo for all her hard work and for inviting us to her mother’s place for dinner last month. We were very tired after they all left and stayed in for the night.<br /><br /><br /><br /></p><p></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5139700878920488130" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R1Pit9PRlMI/AAAAAAAAANs/PxRZhMZ_oIs/s200/PB300008.JPG" border="0" /> <p align="center"> <span style="font-size:85%;">Meaghan cutting cooking bananas.</span><br /><br /><br /></p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5139700900395324626" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R1PivNPRlNI/AAAAAAAAAN0/QJMzKdKVXD4/s200/PB300012.JPG" border="0" /></p><br /><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">The children having a great time with the coloring books.</span></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5139702545367799010" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R1PkO9PRlOI/AAAAAAAAAN8/wBy5U_cBItM/s200/PB300024.JPG" border="0" /> <p align="center"> <span style="font-size:85%;">Our delicious dinner.</span> </p><p align="center"><br /></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5139702553957733618" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R1PkPdPRlPI/AAAAAAAAAOE/t-cy5HdbNGQ/s200/PB300063.JPG" border="0" /><br /><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Group 'timer' photo, which I clearly missed.</span></p><br /><p><br />Saturday, December 1st, 2007<br />Today is ‘World’s Aids Day’ and our Mamas are joining with Kivulini at the CCM Kyrumba Stadium to sell yogurt and celebrate the festivities there. We will join them later in the day.<br />We started our morning supporting our friend Jenny for a soccer tournament that she organized for students at various schools. There were 6 teams in total, 4 boys and 2 girls. The spectator stands were full and everyone was having a great time watching and dancing to the music being played.<br />We had a quick lunch and then headed to the Stadium to visit our Mamas. Unfortunately by the time we got there they were just packing up but it was still great to see all the HIV testing stands and live performances. Meg and I then took a dala-dala to Tunza to relax a bit on the beach. We went to Yun Long Restaurant for dinner and then stayed in to watch a movie. </p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5139705002089092354" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R1Pmd9PRlQI/AAAAAAAAAOM/iH_CUf8tqdg/s200/PC010083.JPG" border="0" /> <div align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Jenny and her girls soccer team.</span></div><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5139705010679026962" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R1PmedPRlRI/AAAAAAAAAOU/GZZ67iafCP4/s200/PC010088.JPG" border="0" /> <div align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">World Aids Day.</span></div><br />Sunday, December 2nd, 2007<br />We woke up early again today to go to church in Mabatini with Mama Paskwalina. The church is always very crowded but it is a very lovely service. We went home after dropping by the Kitchen and having chai with the Mamas and packed our things to go to Tunza for the day.<br />I went for a run at Tunza and then got to work painting the entrance wall for the bulletin board. Meaghan helped paint but it was difficult because they had just put in some plants in front of the wall and we were trampling around them to paint. It turned out very well and we had a nice afternoon there. We decided to go home for dinner and a movie so we would have an early night before our week began. Ruben left this evening to go to Dar to get his residence permit and will be gone until Friday if all goes well.Alison Chenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06612027832107461234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021333114565156777.post-57562479544472391202007-11-27T00:01:00.000-08:002007-11-27T00:39:05.716-08:00Week 16<div align="left">Monday, November 19th, 2007<br />Meaghan and I spent the morning writing our blogs, putting together pictures to post and making the English Lesson for the mamas. We then headed into town to the internet café and we were able to accomplish all our tasks in 1 hr. We then had a quick lunch before going to City Council for our meeting with Mr. Tukay, the City planner, for 2pm. We waited until 3pm before he showed up and then he took us to see the Director to explain our project. Mr. Tukay had some meetings to attend before going with us to Mabatini to look at the Kitchen, so Meg and I waited patiently. Little did we know he would make us wait until 5pm just sitting on couches not knowing when he would show up. So, we finally went to Mabatini and then to an area called Nyamongoro with Mama Paskwalina where there is potential land that the project could purchase to expand the project. The area is about 7 km from Mabatini, but is along the main road that the dala-dala travels. We headed back to Mabatini and spoke with the Mamas about their thoughts of the location and they agreed that it would not be too far to travel, about 500 Tsh (<$0.50) each way. This to me seems like a lot to spend on transportation when they only make $1 per day from the project. Meg and I left the Kitchen and went home to get ready to go to Jenny’s place for dinner. We had missed Yoga but were able to join the group for a really amazing dinner with fried rice, shrimp, egg drop soup, pineapple, salsa and chips, vegetable stir fry, cassava chips, guacamole, and the best part was chocolate cake with cookies and cream ice cream. We had a lovely evening and watched ‘A Beautiful Life’ on a projector. </div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Tuesday, November 20th, 2007<br /><br /><br />Meg and I spent the morning arranging meetings with Kivulini about EDFO, Moishi, CV letters, the Mama’s constitution, and contractors in Nyamongoro. We were able to get a CV template and a name of a woman who does architectural designs. We then headed into town to get some groceries for the house. We dropped off our groceries and then headed back into town. I had to meet a friend to book our safari trip together in December. We then had to go to our Swahili lessons for 3pm. We went swimming after class and then to Claire’s place for dinner. We made a very interesting meal of a sweet potato stew. We had an early night because Meg and I were both feeling very tired all day.<br /><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5137432549339551810" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R0vTrzDp2EI/AAAAAAAAANE/qkHp8UBbsbo/s200/PB120002.JPG" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Internet lessons.</span></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5137432540749617202" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R0vTrTDp2DI/AAAAAAAAAM8/fIjuujURUoE/s200/PB120001.JPG" border="0" /><br /><br /><br />Wednesday, November 21st, 2007<br /><br /><br />Today was a busy but extremely successful day! We got up early this morning and made arrangements to meet with Mr. Ngowi, TASAF coordinator for 9:30am. We picked up Mama Paskwalina in Mabatini on the way to City Counsel. She finally had all the applications, street leader meeting minutes, and signatures put together to give to Mr. Ngowi. Mr. Ngowi had been waiting, as we were too, for the meeting to happen and he had been busy putting together an action plan, diagrams, and a budget for our application. We were requesting dairy cows and all the equipment and tools to run a cow shed. Mr. Ngowi had broken down all the expenses from spades to training and cows to labor costs. It was extremely well organized and we were to receive 4 dairy cows and 1 bull if the application was accepted. Mr. Ngowi was extremely supportive and positive that the grant would go through. We left his office with his assistant and driver to pick up Mr. Moishi, an agricultural surveyor, to see if there was an appropriate place to have the cow Banda. Unfortunately the abandoned cow shed on Mama Paskwalina’s land was too small for what the project was proposing and we would have to find another place to build upon.<br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5137434950226270290" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R0vV3jDp2FI/AAAAAAAAANM/ywNqEOFzCZI/s200/PB210010.JPG" border="0" /></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Mama Paskwalina (the chairperson)</span></p><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5137434967406139490" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R0vV4jDp2GI/AAAAAAAAANU/ML78onqSfeI/s200/PB210007.JPG" border="0" /><span style="font-size:85%;">The abandoned cow shed.</span><br /></p>We came home and Mama Paskwalina, Omar (from Kivulini), and I went to Nyakahoja to speak with Mama Sofia about drawing some drafts of our new Kitchen that we are hoping to start construction soon after getting our new piece of land. We waited while Mama Sofia was in a meeting and decided to reschedule for another day when she was less busy.<br /><br />The day was not over yet for Meg and I because we had a meeting planned to meet with representatives from the German Embassy about another possible grant that would go towards building our new Kitchen. A friend, Tini, who has build a preschool and will be the principle of the school has been supported by the German Embassy and was asked to show them several other ‘grass root’ level organizations who could benefit from their support and she thought of us. We gave the two gentlemen a tour of our kitchen and gave them some background information of the Tukwamuane Women and what the grant would be used for. The meeting went well and we will now spend the next month filling out the application and finding a suitable piece of land to build on.<br /><br />Our evening was spent at the Kivulini Kitchen celebrating a friend who had finished his contract in Mwanza and it was also his birthday.<br /><br /><br /><br />Thursday, November 22nd, 2007<br /><br />We had another busy day today and went to Mabatini first thing to pick-up Mama Paskwalina to take a dala-dala into Nyakato to meet with Father Nico. We then went all together to Mahina to get the CD4 data from the HIV+ population. As we expected, only 3 individuals of the entire group had come with their information. So, we would have to reschedule to get all the stats of the participants. We got dropped off in Nyakato to meet with Dr. Sokombi at Heifer International. He gave us some useful information to send to Mr. Ivan from Danone. We stayed for an hour or so and then went back to Mabatini on a dala-dala to pick-up yogurt from the Kitchen and to help them with their English lessons from the previous day.<br /><br />We came home to gather some things for the rest of the afternoon and then headed into town to use the internet and for our meeting with Dr. Temu, Director of the Microbiology lab, at NIMR. NIMR takes approximately 30 minutes to walk to from our apartment, so it was very disappointing and frustrating to hear that Dr. Temu had not arranged a meeting with the appropriate parties and would reschedule for next week. We had our Swahili lessons later on and then went to Tunza for yoga. Meaghan and I came home right after and had a very nice and relaxing night in and watched a movie.<br /><br /><br /><br />Friday, November 23rd, 2007<br /><br />We had a meeting with Maimuna, the director of Kivulini, this morning and informed her of our progress for the week and had some questions answer. We made the English test for the day and headed to Mabatini to distribute them and also pick-up yogurt for the Forever Angels Orphanage. The children at the orphanage were so cute and were singing ‘Happy Birthday’ for one of the volunteers there. They had cake and played with balloons. We had to come home a bit earlier than normal because I had a meeting with Mama Sofia at 4pm. I called up Mama Elizabeth and Paskwalina and went with Omar to help translate the meeting. Her office is just behind our apartment and so it is very convenient for me to go and visit her when need be. We explained what we wanted the Kitchen to consist of and drew a very rough draft of an example of what the Kitchen could look like. Mama Sofia would put together 3-4 drafts for the Mamas and WHE staff to look at and give feedback about them for Thursday. In the evening Meg and I went to Jenny’s place again for dinner and a movie. We had pasta and banana splits and watched ‘Catch and Release’.<br /><br /><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5137430324546492402" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R0vRqTDp1_I/AAAAAAAAAMc/VjJghpNpzUU/s200/DSCF4032.JPG" border="0" /></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Yunice in her kitenge.</span></p><br /><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5137430333136427010" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R0vRqzDp2AI/AAAAAAAAAMk/ryX4n3usw8c/s200/DSCF4039.JPG" border="0" /></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Playing with the balloons</span>.</p><br /><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5137430341726361618" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R0vRrTDp2BI/AAAAAAAAAMs/j55ul3S_NxY/s200/DSCF4042.JPG" border="0" /></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Michael with his balloon.</span></p><br /><br /><p><br />Saturday, November 24th, 2007<br />I was not feeling very well this morning when I woke up and decided not to join Meaghan for camping at Kijereshi. I stayed home and had a very restful morning. I managed to get myself out to walk to the market and pick-up some groceries for dinner tonight. I came home pretty tired and watched a movie. I went back out later on and met up with Ruben at NIMR. He gave me a ride home on the back of his bicycle and it was quite fun. We relaxed for a while then started making dinner. I had bought a fresh Tilapia for dinner and filleted it to be pan fried. We had it with a tomato sauce, rice and a cucumber salad. After dinner we watched ‘Ocean’s 13’ and had an early night.<br /><br />Sunday, November 25th, 2007<br />I went with Ruben, on his bike again, to the New Mwanza Hotel for the church service that he usually goes to. The service was very passionate and full of energy. I was not used to that kind of service but was a pleasant change. It was not in a church at all, but rather in a room next to the restaurant and only had about 25 people present.<br />I had a tea at the Pizzeria before heading home. I spent a little time on the internet then got some things together to go to Tunza. I walked out to Airport Road and then took a dala-dala to the Tunza entrance then walked another 20 minutes to the lodge. A trip by taxi costs at least 7,000 Tsh (~$7) and I did it for 250 Tsh (~$0.25), but it took about an hour to get there. When I got there I relaxed for half an hour before getting to work and repainting some of the Tunza entrance wall. I still have a project to paint the other wall and the reception area, but that will be for another weekend.<br />I came home after having dinner at Tunza, just after Meg got home from her camping trip. She said it had been raining a lot but had a great time. I went to bed early again and hope that I will be feeling better soon.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5137432527864715298" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R0vTqjDp2CI/AAAAAAAAAM0/G2KNG5YYM1Q/s200/Mwanza+07+052.jpg" border="0" /></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Painting the Tunza wall.</span></p>Alison Chenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06612027832107461234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021333114565156777.post-57743979782905007672007-11-19T01:10:00.000-08:002007-11-19T02:16:37.720-08:00Week 15Monday, November 12th, 2007<br />Meaghan and I began our morning writing up our blogs and sorting out pictures from the week before. When we were done we headed into town to post them on the internet. The internet was surprisingly good and we were able to post all the text and pictures, and check our email. We then went to the post office so I could send some letters home. We had a quick lunch before heading home to pick up the English lessons and went straight to Mabatini. We were running a bit late and so decided to skip yoga in the evening and spend more time at the Kitchen. The English lesson went well and we were invited for dinner of rice and beans. We then took Mama Cesilia and Mama Asha to the internet café near our apartment and taught them how to use the internet and access their gmail account that Meaghan set up for them. Cesilia and Asha are two of the younger members and they are also very bright. They were able to learn all the steps very easily despite never using a computer before. In the evening, Meaghan and I stayed in and watched some DVDs that Meaghan was sent from home. It was a very quiet and nice evening in.<br /><br />Tuesday, November 13th, 2007<br />We began the morning with project work and calls out to make appointments with various groups that can aid with our project. We had a productive meeting with Maimuna (Director of Kivulini) about meeting with the landlord, our utility bills, TASAF, EDFO, Moishi and charity groups who we have been in contact with. Maimuna is a wonderful woman and is well respected in Mwanza. She was a great help to us and arranged a meeting with our landlord and give us some contacts and great advice about certain interests. We also got in contact with another organization who were interested in supporting a charity group and were looking to the Tukwamuane group as a possible candidate.<br />We made other plans to meet with the Principle Planning Officer, Mr. Kiamba, about registering the Tukwamuane group as an NGO. There are several steps that we must take to complete this process and we hope to get a good start on the application before we have to go back to Canada. The next interns to come will have to carry on the projects that have been started by us and I know they are very capable of doing a great job. One of the difficulties with the internship position is that we are only here for a short period of time and many things, such as grant proposals and expansion of the project, can take many months and sometimes year to implicate.<br />We then went to the Pizzeria for lunch and then to the internet café until our Swahili lessons began. In class we learn the connective words for ‘of’ and the various meanings of ‘kwa’. We went for a swim after class at the international pool and then to dinner at the Yacht Club.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5134477714919118690" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R0FURzDp12I/AAAAAAAAALU/nFmEdyePkPc/s200/Mwanza+07+044.jpg" border="0" /> <span style="font-size:85%;">The large and disguisting birds at Saba Saba.</span><br /><br /><div align="left"><br />Wednesday, November 14th, 2007<br />This morning we scheduled a meeting for the afternoon with Dr. Sokombi from the Heifer institute to obtain more information for Ivan Le Mintier from Danone. We made the English lesson for the day and did some printing of documents. We went into town after to use the internet and get some prices for my trip with my mom in December. I will have to go back a few times in the next few weeks to sort out all the details. I met Meaghan at home and she was busy trying to get a taxi, who knew how to take us, to the Heifer institute. We headed off and when we got there Meg called Dr. Sokombi and he regretted to tell us that he was not at the building but driving somewhere and would not be back for another hour and a half. So Meg and I took the dala-dala to the Mama’s Kitchen and rescheduled our meeting for another day. At the Kitchen we had our English lesson and picked up yogurt for us and our friends.<br />We came home and finished up some photocopies of Yogurt brochures while waiting for Mama Asha and Cesilia to meet us for another internet lesson. We visited the tailoring shop that is just down our street to see if our dresses were ready. We have found a tailor who makes very nice, modern designs for a very reasonable price. Meaghan’s Charity Ball dress was made by this lady. We came home to find Ruben starting dinner and he decided on a ‘sweet’ dinner of chapattis and baked bananas with chocolate sauce. We managed to convince Ruben to save the bananas for dessert and let us make a vegetable medley for the main course. We had another quiet night in and watched ‘About a Boy’ before going to bed fairly early.<br /><br />Thursday, November 15th, 2007<br />We spent the morning running around trying to get information and contacts for various projects Meaghan and I are taking on. We were able to meet with our landlord and Maimuna helped to mediate the conversation because she could not speak English. We were able to renew our contract with her for another year which is great news because our apartment is a perfect location between the Kitchen in Mabatini and the city. Meaghan and I tried to set up meetings this morning but were for the most part unsuccessful in confirming anything. Amongst the many things we are taking on we are trying to organize packaging and labels for the yogurt, delivery and culturing of the probiotic milk, getting a plot of land near Mabatini, organizing grants to pay for the construction of the new building, getting information from Heifer, applying Tukwamuane as an NGO and a business, sending out yogurt order forms and information to larger companies, getting our product certified by TBO and TFDA, organizing a delivery system with the Chairman, and many other smaller projects.<br />We then headed into town to use the internet and so I could go to the bank to take out shillings to pay for some of the flights my mom and I will be going on. I had to go to 2 different flight agencies because they book different flights. We had lunch at the Pizzeria again, but the prices are so reasonable and the profit goes to charity that it would not make sense to walk 15 minutes to go home and then another 15 minutes to come back into town for our Swahili lessons.<br />After our Swahili lesson we went to Tunza with Claire for yoga and to deliver the yogurt to our friends. We stayed for dinner afterwards but headed home right after for an early night’s rest.<br /><br />Friday, November 16th, 2007<br />We left this morning at 9:30am to go to Mabatini to drop off the English tests and to pick up 20L of yogurt! Six liters is going to the Forever Angels orphanage and 14L we are donating to the Charity Ball dinner tomorrow evening. We got a taxi to take us and our 20L to Andie Wilson’s home, member of the Charity Ball committee, to drop off the 14L of yogurt and then to City Council so that we could meet with the Mayor about getting a plot of land for the Mamas. We had a short but pleasant meeting with the Mayor and he set us up with a meeting with the City Planner and he will come by Mabatini on Monday to survey the size needed and the general area that we are looking for.<br />After our City Council meeting we went to the orphanage to deliver the yogurt and see the babies and toddlers. There were a lot of women there interviewing for a day care position at the orphanage. We were told that it was a bit hectic at the home for the entire week because they have been having interviews and also got 3 new babies. There was a thunderstorm while we were there and so all the kids were moving indoors to play. Many of the rooms are being renovated and extended to prepare for more babies and toddlers to come to the home. They currently have about 20 but are hoping to double the number in the next few months. They were given yogurt for their snack again today and were so adorable.<br />We came home after a long day and had a nice evening in. </div><br /><br /><br /><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5134482267584452466" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R0FYazDp13I/AAAAAAAAALc/JMVnM0gZ9nQ/s200/Mwanza+07+034.jpg" border="0" /><span style="font-size:85%;">Haji making a big mess.</span><br /></p><br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5134484664176203650" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R0FamTDp14I/AAAAAAAAALk/_JzbIvJEyww/s200/Mwanza+07+033.jpg" border="0" /><span style="font-size:85%;">Gracie and her sippy cup of yogurt</span>. </div><br /><div align="left"><br /><br />Saturday, November 17th, 2007<br />I slept in this morning and had a great day getting ready for the Charity Ball tonight. Meaghan, Claire and I went into town in the mid-day. Claire was looking for fabric and ribbon to make some clothing out of and so Meg accompanied her. I went to the bank and then to pay for the second flight and then to another travel agency to book my return tickets. Unfortunately the stores were all closing and I would have to do it another day. We met back up for lunch then came home to finish getting ready for the Ball.<br />Charity Ball was at the BOT (Bank of Tanzania) this year and they decorated it very nicely. It reminded me of a high school prom or semi-formal event. The ticket included a beverage and a very good buffet. We spent the beginning of the evening helping sell raffle tickets for the draw later in the evening. After dinner, there were auctions and raffle draws with an intermission of dancing and then some more draws. The ‘Tanzanites’ played live music and were very good. The evening was very nice and the dancing was especially fun. </div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5134485411500513170" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R0FbRzDp15I/AAAAAAAAALs/S0PWy56j5b4/s200/Mwanza+07+059.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Ruben, Claire, Meaghan and I all dressed up.</span></div><br /><br /><div align="center"><br /></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5134486279083906978" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R0FcETDp16I/AAAAAAAAAL0/P150jzp4UNg/s200/Mwanza+07+065.jpg" border="0" /></div><br /><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">At Charity Ball with our friends.</span><br /></div><div align="left"><br />Sunday, November 18th, 2007<br />I woke up late this morning after a long night, but had promised Mama Asha to go to her home to visit her family. Her sister came by the apartment at 11am and we walked together to their home. We looked at some pictures of her family and past interns that visited her home and she gave us some chai tea and some fruits and bread. We took some pictures together and I was really surprised when they ‘attacked’ me and put dark make-up on my eyebrows. They did the same to Meaghan and then proceeded to paint our nails. It was very unexpected but hilarious at the same time. </div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5134490539691464642" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R0Ff8TDp18I/AAAAAAAAAME/9R872AtC0bc/s200/Mwanza+07+151.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Mama Asha's family.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5134492880448640994" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R0FiEjDp1-I/AAAAAAAAAMU/gVdpdLiLYNo/s200/Mwanza+07+155.jpg" border="0" />Paintin my nails...<br /></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5134492128829364178" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/R0FhYzDp19I/AAAAAAAAAMM/uTMDs37cSSg/s200/Mwanza+07+152.jpg" border="0" /><br /><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">... and painting my eyebrows.</span><br /></p><br /><br />We walked home and rested a while before taking a taxi to Tunza. We got a ride with one of the regular drivers outside our apartment, Jane. (The next part of the day I will never forget for the rest of my life and am very thankful that no one was seriously injured). While driving down Airport Road there were, as usual, a group of people standing in the median trying to cross the road. I clearly remember a little boy, about 8 years old in a lime green t-shirt, hesitate to cross as our car was coming close and Jane slowing down but then picking up speed again after seeing the boy pull back. At the very last second the boy darted in front of the car without any time for Jane to stop and we hit him going about 40 Km/h. There was a brief second where he was out of sight and I was thinking the worst. But then he appeared crawling off the road and he did not seem to be seriously injured. He stood up, rubbed his head and then Jane got him into the car with an older relative of the boy. We took him to the hospital but he was only looked at briefly before being told to come back later for x-rays. Meg and I were dropped off at Tunza and Jane took the boy back to the hospital. I really hope there were no internal injuries and that he was well looked after. I could not believe how calm and unshaken the boy was. He did not shed one tear or complain, he only had a bump on the back of his head.<br />The reason we were going to Tunza in the first place was to celebrate Ross’ birthday and so we stayed for dinner and then went home shortly afterwards. We had a pleasant evening but I could not stop thinking about the little boy. Driving in Mwanza is pretty dangerous because the rules are not strongly enforced or made at all. You have to be very careful in a car or just being a pedestrian.Alison Chenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06612027832107461234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021333114565156777.post-395628214731076102007-11-12T01:21:00.001-08:002007-11-12T01:56:42.459-08:00Week 14<div align="left">Monday, November 5th, 2007<br />We got up early to have breakfast and finish packing to go back to Mwanza. While we were paying our bill we realized that they had forgotten to charge us for an entire day’s meal including both lunch and dinner for Meaghan and me. Lucky for us. The trip felt longer than it was and I was happy to come back and see the Mamas. The flights were pleasant, especially because I fell asleep on both of them. We had an unexpected 1.5 hour delay in Dar es Salaam but were given lunch vouchers for an Indian buffet. The food was amazing and we were hungry so the delay actually worked out to our benefit. We got into Mwanza around 6pm and just unpacked our things and relaxed for the rest of the night<br /><br />Tuesday, November 6th, 2007<br />I was feeling quite tired this morning but I got myself up to start writing up my blog. Meg and I worked till noon then set out to the internet café to post and check emails. We ended up at a new café and it worked very well for me, but Meaghan was having a lot of difficulties with her computers. We had a quick lunch and walked to U-turn to pick up some groceries for dinner. We had our Swahili class from 3pm to 5pm and then went to the International School for a swim in their pool. We then went to Claire’s place and made a simple pasta with vegetables and tomato sauce. </div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5131882520568719474" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Rzgb9muI6HI/AAAAAAAAAKc/tUoPTdV7ULg/s200/Mwanza+07+003.jpg" border="0" /> <p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Swahili lessons with Mr. Gaudence.</span><br /><br /></p><p align="left"><br />Wednesday, November 7th, 2007<br />Meaghan and I started our morning with WHE project work. She put together the brochure about the benefits of yogurt, specifically probiotic yogurt, and information about the Tukwamuane group with all the changes suggested by the WHE faculty. I prepared the English lesson for the Mamas today and made appointments for this week. We went back to the internet café to finish up some emails and to upload pictures onto our blogs. We had a nice lunch at the Pizzeria and then went to the supermarket to pick up groceries for the apartment. When we got home we did not have much time before going to Mabatini, but we were able to have a much needed short rest. I had been feeling really tired and the hot weather did not seem to help.<br />Meaghan and I had our arms full walking to the Yogurt Kitchen; 3 containers, 10 English lessons, a clock (to replace the one that broke), and 10 spice boats from Zanzibar. Before leaving for Zanzibar the Mamas requested gifts for us to bring them and I find it interesting how many local individuals think that Meg and I are here in Mwanza to bring money and gifts. The Mamas gave us a very warm welcome back and were extremely happy with their gifts from Zanzibar. We taught them the English lesson and stayed for some rice and beans before going home with 9L of yogurt between Meaghan and I (6L on my head). We got home feeling very exhausted and had a very quiet night in.<br /><br />Thursday, November 8th, 2007<br />Meaghan and I woke up early this morning to meet with Dr. Changalucha about the delivery process of the milk and probiotics. Meg and I have been trying to schedule the 3 parties (delivery, culturing, pick-up) to complete their tasks on time so that it does not interfere with the next step. All of the individuals seem to understand yet it does not get done on a regular basis and so Meg and I set up this meeting with Changalucha to see if he could enforce our recommendations. We will get back with him after he has had a few meetings with the parties involved.<br />After going to NIMR we had planned to meet with Joseph Mlinzi from City Council, but he was not getting back to us. I had been feeling extremely tired and dizzy all morning and so I decided to drop by Nyakahoja clinic to get checked up just in case. I was diagnosed with Malaria again and so I was glad to have found out sooner than later. I purchased my medication and then we headed off to City Council to see if we could meet up with Mlinzi. We met up with him briefly because he had to rush off to another meeting, but we were able to get some information about registering as a business and getting help with our TASAF application which we will have to follow up with next week.<br />We went back to the internet café to try and print off the application forms to register the Tukwamuane women as a business but there were so many various applications depending on the level you are applying for that we weren’t sure which one our group belonged to. So we will go to the Regional Commissioner’s Office next week to speak with a knowledgeable party about this issue.<br />We went home for lunch and got our things together for the afternoon. We had to pay for our new set of Swahili lessons, bring our Swahili notebooks, the yogurt to distribute to the yoga crowd, and bring the gifts that Jackie and Missy sent for friends. Our Swahili lesson went well but I was still feeling very tired and was not feeling all there. The yoga lesson was the same, I did the movements but not full out. Jenny (the yoga instructor and Missionary) brought her girls soccer team (>10 girls) to yoga and so every mat was turned sideways and had 2 people using it. It was a nice change and quite a site.<br />We spent the evening at Claire’s place playing board games with Janine, Henk, Jenny, Meg, Claire and I and ate pizza. </p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5131883899253221506" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RzgdN2uI6II/AAAAAAAAAKk/sArj2pabtTs/s200/Mwanza+07+006.jpg" border="0" /> <p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Another amazing sunset at Tunza.</span> </p><p align="left"><br />Friday, November 9th, 2007<br />I was not feeling well this morning and so I slept in a bit. Meg made the English test for today and I started writing up some growth statistics for the children at the Forever Angels orphanage. Afterwards, Meg and I headed off to Mabatini to pick up the 6L of yogurt to bring to the orphanage. We spent a few hours with the children at Forever Angels and were finally able to see them eating yogurt and they were so cute. They really did enjoy it so much and had it with small pieces of fruit.<br />We left the orphanage to meet up with Mama Paskwalina and Father Nicholas to go to Mahina and meet with a group of PLWA (people living with AIDS). Nicholas was acting as a translator for us and he was a great help. We asked the group if we would be able to obtain some health statistics about their CD4 levels in order to send the anonymous information to Canada. We listened to some concerns that the group had and if there were any difficulties in obtaining the yogurt that they receive daily free-of-charge. Despite the donation of yogurt, the group was paying a small amount to make up for the transportation fee (dala-dala) and the time that the individual is away from their job. Some of the individuals did not receive yogurt daily because they could not afford the small cost.<br />We came home after a long day and made a simple dinner. A few friends were planning on going out for the night but I was not feeling up to it and so stayed home and went to bed very early.<br /><br /></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5131884938635307154" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RzgeKWuI6JI/AAAAAAAAAKs/JK1XHCOrcXI/s200/Mwanza+07+015.jpg" border="0" /> <p align="center"> <span style="font-size:85%;">Joseph enjoying a good cup of yogurt.</span><br /><br /><br /></p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5131886201355692194" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RzgfT2uI6KI/AAAAAAAAAK0/LKxJBHyv754/s200/Mwanza+07+020.jpg" border="0" /></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Mmm Mmm Good (Charlie)</span></p><br /><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5131888202810452146" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RzghIWuI6LI/AAAAAAAAAK8/rrmDwNqyYnI/s200/Mwanza+07+023.jpg" border="0" /></span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Got 'Maziwa' Michael? </span></p><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5131889809128220882" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Rzgil2uI6NI/AAAAAAAAALM/qVStLe-F8qk/s200/Mwanza+07a+030.jpg" border="0" /></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Charlie, Gracie and Michael.</span></p><p><br />Saturday, November 10th, 2007<br />I was able to sleep in a little and was feeling much better. I was glad to have stayed in the night before. I had a relaxing morning and took a walk through Mlango Mmoja to see if there was anything interesting there. I found 2 skirts that I wanted to use the fabric of and have tailored into a shirt and a dress. Meaghan and I got ready to head into town to look for material to make some clothing and went with Claire and Lauren. We had a good time in the market and got home in time for a quick lunch then to head over to Tunza for a relaxing evening and a South African dinner (Pojkie). </p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5131889048919009474" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Rzgh5muI6MI/AAAAAAAAALE/Lqm7Sp7xdJ8/s200/Mwanza+07+043.jpg" border="0" /> <p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">The 'Tunza Special'.</span> </p><p align="left">Sunday, November 11th, 2007 (Remembrance Day)<br />Again, I was able to sleep in today and spend some time writing in my journal and reading my book. Meaghan, Claire and I headed to Tunza for the day and stopped by Saba Saba on the way. The weather was grey and was about to storm at any second. We read our books and played scrabble for a bit then headed over to Major’s house to watch a movie while the weather got worse and worse. After the movie we went out to dinner at an Indian/Chinese restaurant called, ‘The Diner’ and the food was very good, but took a very long time to come. We were all very tired after our meal and went home to have an early night. </p>Alison Chenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06612027832107461234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021333114565156777.post-21264409823184841682007-11-06T01:32:00.001-08:002007-11-07T01:03:00.721-08:00Week 13<st1:date year="2007" day="29" month="10" st="on">Monday, October 29<sup>th</sup>, 2007</st1:date> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>It was Ruben’s birthday today and Meaghan and I both wished him a happy one before he left for the day to Sekou Toure.<span style=""> </span>We would have dinner with him later in the evening.<span style=""> </span>I was feeling very tired but had to catch up on my journal and blog writing for the last few days.<span style=""> </span>Meaghan put together the English lesson before heading off to the immigration office to get our Visa’s extended.<span style=""> </span>It was really hot outside today and we were sweating buckets just walking around town.<span style=""> </span>We were given a bit of a hard time with the letter that we put together because it was not addressed to the particular address, but after explaining that we did not have time to get a new letter and have it signed by Mama Paskwalina they just wrote the address and it was fine.<span style=""> </span>Most of the time it seems like people make up rules just to make things more difficult when it does not have to be.<span style=""> </span>After getting the letter sorted out we still had to go back to pay the $100 USD even though we had it with us at the time, but they could not give us a receipt until the papers were reviewed.<span style=""> </span>So we were told to come back tomorrow (Kesho).</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>We then walked to several internet cafes to find one that was working but had no luck.<span style=""> </span>We went to the supermarket to pick up an instant cake mix for Ruben’s birthday, had a quick lunch and went to the travel agency to try and book a hotel in <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Zanzibar</st1:city></st1:place>.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>We then went to Mabatini to give the English lesson and pick up 7.5 L of yogurt to distribute to the Tunza crowd (Wazungu- foreigners or white people).<span style=""> </span>We were invited to eat some rice and beans by the Mamas.<span style=""> </span>We left Mabatini with our 7.5L of yogurt on my head and I carried almost all the way back to the apartment, ~10 min walk, with the bucket on my head.<span style=""> </span>I really notice how weak my neck it because I can barely keep it steady while holding it with my hands while many of the locals can do it without holding the bucket at all.<span style=""> </span>We had a bit of trouble finding a taxi, but we eventually did and headed to Tunza for our routinely Yoga lesson but found out it was Pilates instead.<span style=""> </span>Before class I stored the yogurt in the kitchen fridge and asked if I could borrow the oven to make Ruben’s cake.<span style=""> </span>It was a chocolate fudge cake and it turned out really well.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>After our lesson we went to Isamilo Lodge for Ruben’s dinner and it was Claire, Major, Meaghan, Tini, Ruben and I.<span style=""> </span>We had a nice meal and surprised Ruben with the cake.<span style=""> </span>He was very happy and it was a great night.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RzA3jxunPzI/AAAAAAAAAIY/BEg8a7zBwyE/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+025.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RzA3jxunPzI/AAAAAAAAAIY/BEg8a7zBwyE/s200/Mwanza+07+025.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5129661063358791474" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><st1:date year="2007" day="30" month="10" st="on"><span style="font-size:85%;">Ruben's birthday wish</span></st1:date></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RzF8CxunQBI/AAAAAAAAAKE/jXcmVjyACNA/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+029.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RzF8CxunQBI/AAAAAAAAAKE/jXcmVjyACNA/s200/Mwanza+07+029.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5130017837702135826" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><st1:date year="2007" day="30" month="10" st="on"><span style="font-size:85%;">Meaghan, Ruben and me at Isamilo Lodge.</span><br /></st1:date></p><p class="MsoNormal"><st1:date year="2007" day="30" month="10" st="on">Tuesday, October 30<sup>th</sup>, 2007</st1:date></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>We finished up some project work this morning before heading off to town for the day.<span style=""> </span>We went to several internet cafés but they were all down again.<span style=""> </span>We grabbed a quick lunch and organized ourselves financially for our trip to <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Zanzibar</st1:city></st1:place>.<span style=""> </span>We stopped by the Post Office to send some letters home and then headed to Immigration again to pay the $100 USD and get our Passport stamped.<span style=""> </span>We were able to pay and get a receipt, but it would take another day to get our Visa stamp, so ‘Kesho’.<span style=""> </span>Meg and I decided to try the internet café at the Post Office and it was actually working, but very slowly.<span style=""> </span>This is were I realized that I left my <st1:stockticker st="on">USB</st1:stockticker> flash stick at Karibou Corner and went back to see if it was there, but it was gone, that’ll teach me.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>We then went to our Swahili Lesson and picked up some produce on the way for our ladies’ dinner of Greek food.<span style=""> </span>We paid a friend for our Charity Ball tickets for November 17<sup>th</sup> and are going to be donating some yogurt to the dinner and are hoping that it will help persuade them to approve our application for the Tukwamuane Women (Yogurt Mamas).<span style=""> </span>After the lessons we went for a nice swim at the International pool then to Claire’s home for dinner.<span style=""> </span>Our Greek dinner was really tasty and a great change from the normal vegetable medley and tomato sauce.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><st1:date year="2007" day="31" month="10" st="on">Wednesday, October 31<sup>st</sup>, 2007</st1:date><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RzF9PhunQCI/AAAAAAAAAKM/U4-19m-sYiw/s1600-h/a+%288%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RzF9PhunQCI/AAAAAAAAAKM/U4-19m-sYiw/s200/a+%288%29.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5130019156257095714" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>HAPPY HALLOWEEN!</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>Meaghan and I woke up early to go with Mama Paskwalina to the SIDO office to meet with Damian Chang’a by the daladala.<span style=""> </span>We spoke about many interesting steps for the project to take in the near and distant future.<span style=""> </span>We discussed applications for registering as a business, TBS and TFDA approvals, health inspector visits, delivery service and packaging possibilities, and also expansion of the current Community Kitchen.<span style=""> </span>While we were leaving SIDO a woman approached Mama Paskwalina and wanted her to bring 20 L of yogurt to them to sell in the area.<span style=""> </span>This was really motivating to see because the word about the yogurt is there we just need now to make larger quantities, have correct packaging and safety approval and also delivery services to these areas farther away.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>We then went to the Yogurt Kitchen to hand out the English Lessons to the Mamas and to get the 6 L of yogurt for the Forever Angels orphanage.<span style=""> </span>Meaghan and I just dropped off the yogurt because we had to get finish up a few tasks in town and get home to pack for our trip to <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Zanzibar</st1:place></st1:city> tomorrow.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>We first went to the internet café but it was down again so we went to NBC Bank to take out shillings for our trip and to convert it into USD.<span style=""> </span>We spent a while at the bank trying to convert our money but it seemed to be more difficult than expected.<span style=""> </span>Luckily, I had met a banker earlier in the week and he was able to help us find a place to change USD at a good exchange rate.<span style=""> </span>Afterwards we went again to the Immigration Office to finally have our Visas stamped and we were successful.<span style=""> </span>I am happy to not have to go back there for another 2 months.<span style=""> </span>We walked by the supermarket, after attempting the internet again but not having much luck, and bought some snacks to bring to <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Zanzibar</st1:place></st1:city> with us so that we could save a few shillings on the way.<span style=""> </span>We came home and began packing while Ruben made dinner for us and his friend Tobius.<span style=""> </span>It was very good and a nice way to spend an evening before going away.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><st1:date year="2007" day="1" month="11" st="on">Thursday, November 1<sup>st</sup>, 2007</st1:date></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>I was so excited for our trip and so paranoid that we would miss our flight that I kept waking up in the morning every 30 min from <st1:time hour="5" minute="30" st="on">5:30am</st1:time> and on.<span style=""> </span>We grabbed a taxi to the airport and were extra early because we had the same flight time as Doug and his was moved up 1 hour earlier than expected and he almost missed his flight to <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Dar es Salaam</st1:place></st1:city>.<span style=""> </span>The flight was very smooth and we arrived on time in Dar.<span style=""> </span>On the flight I sat next to a very nice man who worked for the Tanzanian Government as an Ambassador but was working from <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Belgium</st1:place></st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Germany</st1:place></st1:country-region> and was visiting his family in Mwanza.<span style=""> </span>Coincidentally, he knew the Regional Administrator Secretary of Mwanza (whom I spent an entire day writing a letter for him to support) and he was also classmates with the late Minister of Gender and Children.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>While at the Dar airport waiting for our next flight to <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Zanzibar</st1:place></st1:city>, Meaghan and I were able to go to the internet café to check emails and post our blogs and pictures.<span style=""> </span>We gave Missy a call to wish her a happy birthday and it almost made us miss our flight because we were distracted by the phone conversation and not listening to the announcement being made on the PA system.<span style=""> </span>The flight to <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Zanzibar</st1:place></st1:city> was only 20 minutes but much more comfortable than the ferry that we heard makes many people sick from the rockiness.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>We got a taxi to take us to the same hotel that the former interns stayed at, Jambo Guesthouse and it was very clean and affordable.<span style=""> </span>We settled in and then went for a walk to the <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Forodhani</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">Gardens</st1:placetype></st1:place> to check out the seafood kebabs and the nightlife there.<span style=""> </span>It was very exciting and had an energy in the air like no other I’ve felt before.<span style=""> </span>Everyone was trying to be your best friend and sell you the same ‘authentic’ souvenirs as the vendor next to them.<span style=""> </span>The seafood was a bit disappointing for our expectations, but the experience was new and exciting.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RzA4txunP1I/AAAAAAAAAIk/_el5Q8c4fkw/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+046.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RzA4txunP1I/AAAAAAAAAIk/_el5Q8c4fkw/s200/Mwanza+07+046.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5129662334669111122" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">At the Forodhani Gardens for a seafood kebab dinner<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RzBHRhunP9I/AAAAAAAAAJk/TNwuOi0Rwx0/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+117.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RzBHRhunP9I/AAAAAAAAAJk/TNwuOi0Rwx0/s200/Mwanza+07+117.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5129678342012223442" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">The narrow roads in Stone Town, Zanzibar.</span><br /></div> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><st1:date year="2007" day="2" month="11" st="on">Friday, November 2<sup>nd</sup>, 2007</st1:date></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>Meg and I got up early to shower and have breakfast before our spice tour.<span style=""> </span>We took a 15 person van and it was full.<span style=""> </span>Our tour was very interesting and it was fun to try all the various spices, fruits and vegetables on the way.<span style=""> </span>Some of the things we saw included jackfruit, a curry plant, coriander, nutmeg, coco, a henna plant, vanilla bean, a pepper corn tree, a lipstick tree, lemon grass, and a cinnamon tree.<span style=""> </span>We also went to see a Persian Sultan’s bathhouse and then had a nice lunch consisting of rice (with many spices), vegetables, and a fish curry.<span style=""> </span>There was an extended part of the tour that took you to Bububu beach for an hour or so, but Meg and I opted out and took a daladala back into town.<span style=""> </span>We walked around the market and then through the town and found some great shops that sold scarves and spices at a very reasonable price.<span style=""> </span>We came back to the hotel to rest for a bit and put down all our purchases.<span style=""> </span>We had some snacks and juice, which we brought with us, and then got ready to walk through the streets some more.<span style=""> </span>We were more interested in looking at the architecture of the buildings, the narrow streets, and the beautifully designed doors.<span style=""> </span>We did end up buying a few paintings and souvenirs to bring home as well.<span style=""> </span>Meg and I went for a very nice dinner looking over the beach while the sun was setting.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RzA-ixunP3I/AAAAAAAAAI0/8YnSI2XbIv4/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+103.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RzA-ixunP3I/AAAAAAAAAI0/8YnSI2XbIv4/s200/Mwanza+07+103.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5129668742760316786" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><st1:date year="2007" day="3" month="11" st="on"><span style="font-size:85%;">Various fruits that we were able to taste on our spice tour.</span></st1:date></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RzBCtRunP6I/AAAAAAAAAJM/-_3m5yCNK8M/s1600-h/PB020062.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RzBCtRunP6I/AAAAAAAAAJM/-_3m5yCNK8M/s200/PB020062.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5129673321195454370" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><st1:date year="2007" day="3" month="11" st="on"><span style="font-size:85%;">Clove at various stages of maturation.</span><br /></st1:date></p><p class="MsoNormal"><st1:date year="2007" day="3" month="11" st="on">Saturday, November 3<sup>rd</sup>, 2007</st1:date></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>We set off for Kendwa Rocks this morning via the Daladala.<span style=""> </span>The beach is in the Northern region of the island and is said to have the nicest beaches.<span style=""> </span>It took approximately 1.5 hours to get to the area and another 20 minutes to walk in.<span style=""> </span>It would not have been such a bad experience if it was not sweltering outside or if the road wasn’t as bumpy and rocky as it was.<span style=""> </span>Pulling our suitcases was a bit of a challenge and it may not have been worth saving ourselves 5,000 Tsh or so, but it was an adventure needless to say.<span style=""> </span>When we arrived Meg and I were both dripping with sweat and just wanted to jump into the Ocean to cool off.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RzBD8RunP7I/AAAAAAAAAJU/wWd00QXVT9Q/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+145.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RzBD8RunP7I/AAAAAAAAAJU/wWd00QXVT9Q/s200/Mwanza+07+145.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5129674678405119922" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span><span style="font-size:85%;">Our very hot journey to Kendwa Rocks.</span><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Our banda was small, just consisting of a double bed, a chair, and a table, but it was very lovely and adequate.<span style=""> </span>We got into our bathing suits immediately and to the beach.<span style=""> </span>The first sight was picture perfect, just like the post cards.<span style=""> </span>It was a very nice beach with white, fine sand and water that was an incredible color.<span style=""> </span>I spent most of the day floating in the salty <st1:place st="on">Indian Ocean</st1:place> or laying on the beach.<span style=""> </span>It was so relaxing and just what Meg and I needed.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RzBBPRunP5I/AAAAAAAAAJE/L4apcqNEPlo/s1600-h/Mwanza+07+182.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RzBBPRunP5I/AAAAAAAAAJE/L4apcqNEPlo/s200/Mwanza+07+182.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5129671706287751058" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Meaghan and I at Kendwa Beach.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RzF-PBunQDI/AAAAAAAAAKU/iI_fCUicyHQ/s1600-h/PB030118.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RzF-PBunQDI/AAAAAAAAAKU/iI_fCUicyHQ/s200/PB030118.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5130020247178788914" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><st1:date year="2007" day="4" month="11" st="on"><span style="font-size:85%;">Kendwa beach.</span><br /></st1:date></p><p class="MsoNormal"><st1:date year="2007" day="4" month="11" st="on">Sunday, November 4<sup>th</sup>, 2007</st1:date></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>Meg and I got up early to have a nice breakfast before our snorkeling session from <st1:time minute="0" hour="10" st="on"><st1:time hour="10" minute="00" st="on">10am</st1:time> – <st1:time hour="13" minute="00" st="on">1pm</st1:time></st1:time>.<span style=""> </span>While driving out in the boat to the reef where we would snorkel we saw two pods of dolphins and it was amazing to see them so close.<span style=""> </span>The snorkeling was just as good and I was fortunate enough to get a waterproof camera from my dad just before I left to come to Mwanza.<span style=""> </span>I took many pictures but most of them did not turn out until I started to dive down closer to the fish to get a clear picture.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RzA19hunPyI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/4CaRzMnt46A/s1600-h/angel+fish.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RzA19hunPyI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/4CaRzMnt46A/s200/angel+fish.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5129659306717167394" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span><span style="font-size:85%;">An angelfish</span></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RzA_vhunP4I/AAAAAAAAAI8/g6LVAYAcLv8/s1600-h/PB040288.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RzA_vhunP4I/AAAAAAAAAI8/g6LVAYAcLv8/s200/PB040288.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5129670061315276674" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Meaghan and I snorkeling in the Indian Ocean.</span><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">We came back to the beach and had a pleasant day of swimming, tanning, walking to various other resorts and playing volleyball.<span style=""> </span>The food was very good and not too expensive either.<span style=""> </span>I got a henna design on my leg by some local ladies on the beach.<span style=""> </span>We had a very relaxing evening with a French-Canadian group that we had met in <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Stone</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">Town</st1:placetype></st1:place> earlier in the trip.</p>Alison Chenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06612027832107461234noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021333114565156777.post-40192292334706486862007-10-31T06:00:00.000-07:002007-11-07T00:41:20.343-08:00Week 12Monday, October 22nd, 2007<br />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.<br /><br />Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007<br />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.<br />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.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RzF4rRunP_I/AAAAAAAAAJ0/ysvHRQP_zTk/s1600-h/Alison+makes+a+new+friend+2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RzF4rRunP_I/AAAAAAAAAJ0/ysvHRQP_zTk/s200/Alison+makes+a+new+friend+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5130014135440326642" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">A street performance in front of our apartment.<br /><br /></span></div>Wednesday, October 24th, 2007<br />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.<br />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.<br />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.<br /><br /><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5127817714934955762" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RymrCxunPvI/AAAAAAAAAH4/YNc5BkVQ_N0/s200/DSCF4002.JPG" border="0" /><span style="font-size:85%;">The mamas and us with the new eye glasses.</span> </p><p><br />Thursday, October 25th, 2007<br />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.<br />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.<br />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.<br />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. </p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5127819694914879234" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Ryms2BunPwI/AAAAAAAAAIA/bliib5KzpY8/s200/DSCF4007.JPG" border="0" /> <p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Sikitu and her mother</span> </p><p align="left"><br />Friday, October 26th, 2007<br />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.<br />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.<br />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.<br />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.</p><p align="left"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RzF5fRunQAI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/lPqWMyJnS_E/s1600-h/DSCF4077.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RzF5fRunQAI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/lPqWMyJnS_E/s200/DSCF4077.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5130015028793524226" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Our pirate costumes for Halloween.</span><br /></p><p align="left">Saturday, October 27th, 2007<br />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.<br />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.<br /></p><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5127822662737280786" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RymvixunPxI/AAAAAAAAAII/RnlsoyVsCp4/s200/DSCF4134.JPG" border="0" /><span style="font-size:85%;">Pendo's family</span></p><p><br />Sunday, October 28th, 2007<br />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.<br />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.</p>Alison Chenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06612027832107461234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021333114565156777.post-58225397636716119082007-10-22T01:39:00.000-07:002007-10-23T04:09:59.563-07:00Week 11<div align="center"> </div><div align="left">Monday, October 15th, 2007<br />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. </div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5124476000330149842" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Rx3LxYuxb9I/AAAAAAAAAGU/A_ZKueiOIPE/s200/Mwanza+07+049.jpg" border="0" /> <span style="font-size:85%;">The cows waiting to be milked</span></div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5124477366129750002" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Rx3NA4uxb_I/AAAAAAAAAGk/r6UtPP-2qcw/s200/PA150030.JPG" border="0" /></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Cows being milked</span><br /></div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5124476786309165026" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Rx3MfIuxb-I/AAAAAAAAAGc/3vvPaT-aMGA/s200/Mwanza+07+050.jpg" border="0" /><span style="font-size:85%;">Ivan, the interns and the Mamas</span><br /></div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center"> </div><div align="left">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. </div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5124478650324971522" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Rx3OLouxcAI/AAAAAAAAAGs/8HIAV6BQbHE/s200/PA150038.JPG" border="0" /></div><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Processing into thread</span><br /></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5124479285980131346" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Rx3OwouxcBI/AAAAAAAAAG0/xE8jFVKa3B8/s200/PA150045.JPG" border="0" /> <p align="center"> <span style="font-size:85%;">The many spools of thread</span><br /></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5124480411261562914" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Rx3PyIuxcCI/AAAAAAAAAG8/HSsZb3DMbxc/s200/PA150049.JPG" border="0" /><br /><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Aligning the spools of thread</span></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5124484929567158386" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Rx3T5IuxcHI/AAAAAAAAAHk/aXnJmJEy6Zo/s200/weaving.JPG" border="0" /><br /><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Process of weaving the thread into fabric</span><br /></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5124473865731403682" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Rx3J1Iuxb6I/AAAAAAAAAF8/k3ybNoDJlbA/s200/draft6.JPG" border="0" /> <p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">The template</span></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5124481274549989426" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Rx3QkYuxcDI/AAAAAAAAAHE/0p43-3c9OTA/s200/PA150068.JPG" border="0" /> <p align="center"> <span style="font-size:85%;">Pattern stensil to print from</span><br /><br /><br /></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5124485981834145922" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Rx3U2YuxcII/AAAAAAAAAHs/va6qQ3yyrgg/s200/printing.JPG" border="0" /> <p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Printing process</span><br /></p><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5124475188581330882" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Rx3LCIuxb8I/AAAAAAAAAGM/58C94e-hY0Q/s200/kitenge.JPG" border="0" /><span style="font-size:85%;">The kitenge after printing</span><br /></p><br /><div align="center"></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5124474557221138354" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Rx3KdYuxb7I/AAAAAAAAAGE/9t6vVoVJxj8/s200/khanga.JPG" border="0" /> <p align="left"> <span style="font-size:85%;">Khangas</span><br /><br />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.<br />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.<br />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. </p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5124482966767104066" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Rx3SG4uxcEI/AAAAAAAAAHM/jhosdsCKO9Y/s200/PA150093.JPG" border="0" /> <p align="center"> <span style="font-size:85%;">Processing the beer</span></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5124483649666904146" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Rx3SuouxcFI/AAAAAAAAAHU/nHtIZz7InC4/s200/PA150116.JPG" border="0" /> <p align="left"> <span style="font-size:85%;">The taste room</span><br /><br />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.<br /><br />Tuesday, October 16th, 2007<br />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.<br />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.<br /><br />Wednesday, October 17th, 2007<br />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.<br />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’.<br />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.<br />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!<br /><br />Thursday, October 18th, 2007<br />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.<br />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.<br />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.<br /><br />Friday, October 19th, 2007<br />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.<br />Meaghan and Doug leave for their safari tomorrow and were busy packing for their trip because they would have to leave by 7am.<br /><br />Saturday, October 20th, 2007<br />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.<br />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).<br />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.<br /><br />Sunday, October 21st, 2007<br />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. </p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5124484272437162082" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Rx3TS4uxcGI/AAAAAAAAAHc/v-yHrXeIWNc/s200/PA210131.JPG" border="0" /> <p align="center"> <span style="font-size:85%;">Getting our Rosaries blessed</span> </p><p align="left"><br />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.</p>Alison Chenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06612027832107461234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021333114565156777.post-75300945619645555922007-10-16T03:59:00.000-07:002007-10-18T04:21:13.817-07:00Week 10Monday, October 8<sup>th</sup>, 2007<br /><p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.</p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>It will give the faculty a good review of what to be expecting on their visit to Mwanza next week.</p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We also had a few dresses made at a local tailor shop and went to pick them up today.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We were very pleased.</p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>I was fortunate enough to get a few shots in and actually hit the target, which the Massai were extremely excited about.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>In the evening, Meg and I finished up more project work at home before heading off to bed.<br /></p><div align="left">Tuesday, October 9<sup>th</sup>, 2007</div><p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We would try again later in the day at a better internet place.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We went into town to send off some letters and grab lunch at Kuleana.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We then went to the bank to take out cash for Meg’s safari and then to the internet café again.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>After the disappointing internet session, Meg and I went to our Swahili lesson to complete our test and have our 2 hour class.</p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Ruben met up with us for both swimming and dinner.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>On the way to Claire’s house after swimming, we got some fresh sugar cane and had it raw for the first time.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>It was really sweet and refreshing, but a little difficult to tear off the outer core.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>For dinner, we made a vegetable and meat chili with rice and beans.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We also experimented with chocolate chuck cookies for dessert, which turned out quite well.</p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5122224282120843058" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RxXL2IuxbzI/AAAAAAAAAFE/Bk4G46jrz8M/s200/DSCF4335.JPG" border="0" /> <p align="center"> Trying raw sugar cane for the first time.<br /><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left">Wednesday, October 10<sup>th</sup>, 2007</p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left">I started my day with a good workout on the roof top.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>After getting ready for the day I worked on a lesson for the Mama’s English lesson later today.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Meg and I headed to NIMR first thing to meet with Simon to check on the viability of the probiotic bacteria.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Simon told us that the bacteria have been growing very well and showed us the smear sample.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.</p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>After NIMR, we went to the internet café again, but the internet was down at Marllcom so we tried Karibou Corner.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We picked up some groceries on our way home and had a quick lunch before heading off to the community kitchen in Mabatini.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Kivulini volunteers their skills to several small businesses all over Mwanza and specifically works with Women’s Rights Organizations.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Our English lessons went very well and we also discussed the upcoming plans for the Danone Consultant’s visit this coming weekend.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>On our way home, we received a call from Claire inviting us to a dinner at her co-worker’s home in Capri Point.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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’.</p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left"> </p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left">Thursday, October 11<sup>th</sup>, 2007</p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>This morning Meg and I were determined to shrink down the Charity Ball application file and email it out.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.</p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We then went for a quick and cheap lunch close by and then picked up some groceries.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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</p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>In the afternoon we had our Swahili lesson and then went to Tunza for our regular yoga class.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We then went out to dinner at the New Mwanza Hotel with Janine, Henk, Claire, Meg and I.<br /></p><div align="left"><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="left">Friday, October 12<sup>th</sup>, 2007</p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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</p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We went with Mama Paskwalina to see where the milk supplier was located for when the Danone Consultant arrived tomorrow.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>It was a very hot day outside and the children had a great time playing in a small pool of water... of course naked!<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>They were extremely cute.</p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>We spent the rest of the afternoon making dinner for our 10 guests.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>I was in charge of making Chapatis and made 40 in total.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We also had ground beef, guacamole, a vegetable mix, beans, and of course yogurt.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We also made some very tasty potato wedges.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Claire made banana bread that tasted really good but unfortunately collapsed while trying to flip it out of the pan.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>After dinner, we headed off to Tilapia, but it was really quiet there and we did not stay long.</p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5122631174437564242" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Rxc96Yuxb1I/AAAAAAAAAFU/XDxgSR-cWJM/s200/PA120006.JPG" border="0" /> <p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Our 'Thanksgiving' dinner</span><br /><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left">Saturday, October 13<sup>th</sup>, 2007</p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>I was able to sleep in this morning and had a very lazy morning.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We did not accomplish much in the afternoon because we were waiting around for the Danone Consultant, Ivan, to arrive at 5:30pm.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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).</p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>After Mabatini we went to the airport to pick up Ivan Le Mintier.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>He has visited 3 other locations in Africa, including Kenya, Senegal, and Malawi and will decide on one area to build.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span><br /><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.</p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>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.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left">Sunday, October 14<sup>th</sup>, 2007</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Meaghan accompanied him to the Hindu clinic and I waited at the church for them to arrive.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>After the eye drops, he was feeling much better.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We headed back to the Community Kitchen to speak briefly with the Mamas about his project and their history with WHE and Tukwamuane.</p><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5122228474008923970" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RxXPqIuxb0I/AAAAAAAAAFM/NvWokJja-Zk/s200/Mwanza+07+010.jpg" border="0" /> Ivan meeting some of the Mamas at the Mabatini Kitchen. </p><p>After the Kitchen, we dropped Jimmy off at Kivulini and Meg and I went for lunch at the Pizzeria with Ivan.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>It was interesting to see how these places are doing now that they are not functioning in their original ways.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>There was one family that was acting as ‘security’ for the factory and they were living off the land and farming some tomatoes.</p><div align="left"> </div><div align="left"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5122631947531677554" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Rxc-nYuxb3I/AAAAAAAAAFk/msCJ1q3LeE0/s200/Mwanza+07+021.jpg" border="0" /></div><div align="center">Bunnies</div><div align="left"> </div><div align="left"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5122632273949192066" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Rxc-6Yuxb4I/AAAAAAAAAFs/uCTETt4NN6k/s200/PA140009.JPG" border="0" /></div><div align="center">Pigs</div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5122632617546575762" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Rxc_OYuxb5I/AAAAAAAAAF0/-zNrkHOtwFM/s200/PA140013.JPG" border="0" />And of course... cows</div><div align="center"><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5122631591049391970" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Rxc-Souxb2I/AAAAAAAAAFc/tIPYvREkrfg/s200/Mwanza+07+042.jpg" border="0" />The abandoned Dairy Factory<br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>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.</p></div>Alison Chenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06612027832107461234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021333114565156777.post-62259540615845442032007-10-08T02:15:00.000-07:002007-10-08T03:06:20.923-07:00Week 9<div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center"><br /><br /></div><div align="center">Monday, October 1st, 2007<br />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.<br />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.</div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center"><br /></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5118903366162935570" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Rwn_fYuxbxI/AAAAAAAAAE0/YD4d0HPRD-o/s200/PA030002.JPG" border="0" /><br /><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">The Mamas studying very hard for their English Lesson</span></div><br /><br /><br />Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007<br />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.<br />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.<br />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.<br /><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5118900273786482418" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Rwn8rYuxbvI/AAAAAAAAAEk/eAcBDPhtC1Q/s200/P9300080.JPG" border="0" /><br /><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">The Mamas working very hard at the Trade Fair</span><br /></p><br /><div align="left"><br />Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007<br />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. </div><br /><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5118901240154124034" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Rwn9jouxbwI/AAAAAAAAAEs/GeolVpfGZh0/s200/Mwanza+07+097.jpg" border="0" /></p><br /><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Meaghan, Beatrice and I in our apartment</span><br /></p><br /><br /><p>Thursday, October 4th, 2007<br />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:<br /><br />-green and purple toilet paper<br />-squatting toilets (and also seated ones)<br />-people who ‘hiss’ to get your attention<br />-wearing headlamps to bed after climbing into our mosquito nets<br />-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)<br />-cold showers<br />-watching DVDs on laptops<br />-popular music: 50 Cent, Vengaboys, Celine Dion, Shania Twain, Backstreet Boys<br />-constantly dirty and calloused feet<br /><br />Friday, October 5th, 2007<br />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. </p><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><br /><div align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5118898336756231906" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Rwn66ouxbuI/AAAAAAAAAEc/JTSzb9LKLW8/s200/DSCN4189.JPG" border="0" /><span style="font-size:85%;">Our lovely feast at the Gold Mine in Buhimba</span></div><br /><br /><div align="left">Saturday, October 6th, 2007<br /></div><div align="left">Happy Thanksgiving Weekend! </div><br /><div align="left">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. </div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5118904474264497954" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RwoAf4uxbyI/AAAAAAAAAE8/buqX0aZcDhE/s200/PA060074.JPG" border="0" /> <p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">One of the huge holes where gold and ore was dug out of and </span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">is now filled with ground and rain water<br /></p></span><div align="left"></div><div align="left">Sunday, October 7th, 2007<br /></div><div align="left">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.</div>Alison Chenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06612027832107461234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021333114565156777.post-92171508379181524722007-10-01T03:53:00.000-07:002007-10-03T03:50:21.758-07:00Week 8<div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center"></div><div align="left"><br /><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="left">Monday, September 24, 2007</p><div align="left"><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>Meaghan and I spent the morning doing project work, English lessons for the Mamas and writing up our blogs for this week.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We then headed off to the internet café to send some emails and updates out and post our blogs.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We picked up some groceries on our way home and were exhausted when we returned home because of the hot day.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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. <span style="font-size:0;"></span>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).<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>When we got home Beatrice (a Kivulini volunteer) was helping Ruben translate a questionnaire for his project work.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>For dinner, we made a delicious chapati pizza with tomato sauce, zucchini, lunch meat, and cheese.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We had a quiet evening in and started my second journal book. </p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5117058287570313938" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RwNxZrWY4tI/AAAAAAAAAEU/g8Jde4hxMvE/s200/DSCF0031.JPG" border="0" /> <p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Mama Leah, Paskwalina, Elizabeth and I at the Yogurt Kitchen</span><br /><br /><br /><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left">Tuesday, September 25, 2007</p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>I received a very nice phone call from a friend this morning.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>It’s always nice to hear from home once in a while and get some bearing on what is going on in Toronto.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left">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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We also stopped by a few airlines to get quotes on trips to the Serengeti, Zanzibar and for faculty air flights.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Meg and I stopped by the Pizzeria for a small snack of a plate of fruits and scones.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We spent that time brainstorming about creating packages to send to Hotels and Restaurants to purchase the Mamas’ yogurt on a regular basis.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We also did some last minute cramming for our Swahili test later today.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We then set off to the supermarket again to pick up some groceries for our Mexican dinner tonight at Claire’s.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Afterwards we went to the ‘good’ internet café near the International Language School to upload pictures and send more emails home.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We had our Swahili class at 3pm until 5pm.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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).<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We brought Ruben some left-overs home and finished some project work for the hotel/restaurant order forms and went to bed fairly early.</p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" align="left">Wednesday, September 26, 2007</p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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).<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>I cut almost 300 squares for the cups and despite the easy task it took most of the morning to do.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Ruben made plans to go to the city market to buy some fresh produce.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>I ordered whole Tilapia with spaghetti and vegetables and it came as 2 large plates full of food for only 4000 Tsh (<$4.00).<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We rushed home to drop off our groceries and left over food, and headed to Mabatini for the Mama’s English lessons.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.)<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>On the way home, Meg and I picked up some fabric to give to Pendo as a gift for Ramadan.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Unfortunately, Pendo has Malaria and tried to show her appreciation for the gift but was feeling very under-the-weather.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Meg and I stayed in for the evening and the Bugando ‘Popcorn’ boys came by for a short visit.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>They like to look through my music list and pick out songs to listen to.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left">Thursday, September 27, 2007</p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Meg, Ruben and I were invited by the Mamas and we were there from 9:30am till 12pm.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>The sun was extremely strong and Meg, the Mamas and I were sitting directly in the sun.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Meg was not feeling very good later that day and I think she may have got a little sun stroke.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>The organizers for the event invited us to sit in the VIP area, but only a few seats were under the shade.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We were very fortunate to have the Prime Minister of Tanzania attend the event along with many other speakers.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span><br /></p><br /><br /><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5117049418462847634" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RwNpVbWY4pI/AAAAAAAAAD0/Mt_Eak971gA/s200/DSCF4174.JPG" border="0" /></p><br /><br /><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">The Prime Minister's visit to the opening</span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">of a new Secondary School in Mabatini </span><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>After the event, we went to the Kitchen to cool off with some yogurt then headed home.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We had a little snack, recovered from being dehydrated all morning, and got ready for our Swahili class.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Drawing out the lettering took as long as it took for our dinner to come.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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).</p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5117052588148712098" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RwNsN7WY4qI/AAAAAAAAAD8/d_5gvuWrkcE/s200/DSCF4181.JPG" border="0" /> <p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Meaghan and I working on the Trade Fair sign</span><br /><br /></p><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal">Friday, September 28, 2007<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We met with the Mamas to go over financial matters for the entire morning.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<br /></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<br /></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We breaded some eggplant and made a tomato sauce for dinner.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We went out to Tilapia for a little while to listen to some live music and relax with a few friends.</p><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal">Saturday, September 29,2007<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Meaghan and I spent a lot of the morning cleaning up the kitchen and washing an huge bucket full of dishes.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Tonight we are attending a ‘J’ party at the teacher’s loft near the International School in Isamilo.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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’.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Meaghan was dressing as ‘Jane of the Jungle’ and I was being the rap artist ‘Lil Jon’.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>After dinner we finished getting our costumes ready and Claire drove to the party.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.</p><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5117053649005634226" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RwNtLrWY4rI/AAAAAAAAAEE/IwyC5_52jUo/s200/DSCF4197.JPG" border="0" /></p><br /><br /><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Meaghan and I dressed up for the J-party</span><br /></p><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal">Sunday, September 30, 2007</p><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>The service was in Swahili and so was difficult to understand, but the live music and choir were absolutely beautiful.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>After the service, we went with Mama Paskwalina by the daladala to the trade fair at Saba Saba (in the direction of the airport).<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Many businesses were very impressed by the yogurt with probiotics because dairy products are very scarce in Tanzania.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>It was a very hot day outside and that may have helped the Mamas sell the yogurt because it is so refreshing.<br />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).<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We had run out of gas for the stove today and so preparing a dinner was going to be very difficult for us.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Luckily, Claire offered to have us over and we eagerly accepted.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>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.</p><br /><p class="MsoNormal"></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5117054868776346306" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RwNuSrWY4sI/AAAAAAAAAEM/JNbhIj4hBzE/s200/P9300081.JPG" border="0" /><br /><br /><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Mama Elizabeth and Joyce preparing lunch at the Trade Fair</span></p>Alison Chenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06612027832107461234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021333114565156777.post-8910074980925443922007-09-24T02:41:00.001-07:002007-09-25T04:04:59.690-07:00Week 7<div align="center"> </div><div align="left">Monday, September 17th, 2007<br />Meaghan and I began our morning with some project work at home despite the beautiful weather outside. We then stopped by the bank to withdrawal some Shillings, to the market to pick up a few fresh vegetables, and then to the internet café to upload my blog and send out some emails. On the way to the internet café we dropped off some pictures to be developed off our USB key and picked them up on our way home. We got home and made a quick lunch before heading out to Mabutini to teach the Mamas their English lesson. The streets were more empty than usual and we suspected because many Muslims celebrate Ramadan and stay home during certain hours to pray. In the evening, we went to Tunza for yoga on the beach and then went home right after to make dinner. I had brought with me some seaweed and with all the fresh produce that we bought earlier in the day Meaghan, Claire and I experimented with sushi! We put cucumber, avocado, hot dogs, tuna, and a spicy sauce into the roll and it was surprisingly good. We stayed in for the night and watched Ratatouille and went to bed. </div><div align="left"> </div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5113706430668005954" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RveI57WY4kI/AAAAAAAAADM/cmNCobo87f4/s200/DSCF0005.JPG" border="0" /> <div align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Our sushi dinner at home</span></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><div align="left"><br /></span> </div><div align="left">Tuesday, September 18th, 2007<br />Meaghan and I have begun preparing for the WHE faculty, coming to Mwanza in mid October, but their main objective is to begin a similar yogurt project in Kenya. They will be sending a few of the Mamas to Kenya to teach the women there how to make probiotic yogurt properly. We were able to get to the internet café again today to finish up our emails and to upload a few more pictures onto our blogs. We then headed to our Swahili class to write our test and have a 2 hour lesson. Right after class Meaghan and I rushed off to catch the daladala to the airport to pick-up our new roommate, Ruben. When we got there Ruben had just arrived and we brought him to his new home so he could settle in and have a shower before we took him out to dinner. Ruben has been to Mwanza for a month a couple years ago and stayed with former interns (Jamie and Ellena), and so many of the locals within Mlango Mmoja recognized him and greeted him warmly. Meaghan and I took Ruben to Tilapia for dinner (the place where we went on our first night here) and we had a great time getting to know each other. We had all met briefly before coming to Mwanza at Meg’s and my commencement ceremony at Western Ontario. </div><p align="left"><br />Wednesday, September 19th, 2007<br />I woke up early today and had a great workout on the roof. The weather has been looking much better than last week’s rain. Meg and I let Ruben sleep in as much as possible, although his time change is only 2 hours from the Netherlands where as Canada is a 7 hour difference and a much longer flight. We began the day with project work at home and then took Ruben to the city to pick up a few supplies for his clinical trial work. He was fairly familiar with the area because he has been here before, but it was still good for us to help him get a few things done a bit more efficiently. We came home after picking up a few groceries and I made fried rice for lunch. Beatrice joined us for lunch and then was kind enough to accompany Meg and me to the Yogurt Kitchen to speak to the Mamas about pricing, deposits for containers, and the application for TASAF. We had generated a few possibilities for price changes and left it up to the Mamas to decide which one would be plausible for the local communities to afford while still making some profit. The Mamas were also interested in starting a deposit charge for people who do not supply their own container to carry the yogurt in. They are finding that many people take them and do not return them and the containers are becoming scarce. The TASAF project is a program, that if accepted, would allow all the HIV/AIDS patients in Mabutini to receive the probiotic yogurt for free and the expenses to pay for these individuals would be covered by the project for 1 year. There are many steps before our application can be approved and informing the street leader to gather and have at least 70% of the community giving support to these HIV/AIDS patients to receive the yogurt is only one of the steps.<br />We came home after a long meeting in Mabutini (without even giving them their English lessons) and had a short rest before we went with Jody (a Canadian Kivulini employee) to climb to Bugando and visit some of the boys that are supported by Kivulini. Meg and I refer to them as the ‘popcorn boys’ because we thought that they were in charge of the popcorn stand across from our apartment, but we were told that they had a popcorn stand but the police stopped them from selling because of their location. The boys were street teens but have raised money to put each other and other street children through school and their English is very good. Bugando is at the top of the hill just across the main road from our apartment and it is a beautiful view. The boys walked Meg and I home and we stayed in for the rest of the night. </p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114094798790779522" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RvjqH7WY4oI/AAAAAAAAADs/BUaQaNVdvKY/s200/P9190023.JPG" border="0" /> <p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Some of the 'Popcorn Boys' at their homes in Bugando<br /></span></p><p align="left"><br />Thursday, September 20th, 2007<br />Meaghan and I woke up a bit tired from the long day we had yesterday but began project work right away. We had a meeting at the City Council building set up by Mr. Mlinzi (Mayor’s assistant) with a lady in charge of SACCOs and with the man who video taped the Minister’s visit. We spent a while waiting around and trying to find the right people to visit with, but when we actually met up with them the meetings were very brief and we did not get much information in the end. SACCOs is a program designed to help organizations set up loans with a bank to be distributed and paid back with interest within the group. The Yogurt Mamas already have an account where they do this, but it isn’t recognized and it would probably be beneficial to be part of SACCOs in the future if the group wanted to take out really big loans for project expansion and growth. Currently, the Mama’s group is not big enough (~10 Mamas) to be a part of SACCOs (20 member minimum).<br />Ruben has been busy meeting up with his supervisors at the Sekou Toure’s Hospital, but we managed to bump into him on our way to the internet café, which was not working at the time. So we decided to grab a bite to eat at a small restaurant before heading to our Swahili lesson. After our lesson, Ruben met up with us again to go to yoga at Tunza and he actually participated in the class and liked it. We stayed for a little while and introduced Ruben to most of the Tunza crowd.<br /></p><br /><br /><p align="left"><br />Friday, September 21st, 2007<br />We headed off early in the day to Mabutini to teach the Mamas their English lesson from Wednesday and to hand out their tests for the week. We picked up 6L of yogurt for the orphanage and another 2L for us. Meaghan and I took turns carrying the bucket on our heads and we were making quite a scene walking down the main street.<br /></p><p align="left"></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5113708256029106770" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RveKkLWY4lI/AAAAAAAAADU/0VOAoC1yDf8/s200/DSCF0037.JPG" border="0" /><br /><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Carrying the 6L bucket of yogurt the traditional way </span><br /></p><div align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">with Mama Elizabeth helping me out.</span></div><br />Claire met us at home and we all set off for the Forever Angel’s orphanage. Ruben’s stomach was not feeling well so he decided to stay home and maybe go to the market later in the day. We spent a good portion of the afternoon at the orphanage with the children and it was a really hot day. When we got home I had a quick snack and then took a walk into the market by myself. I had a bit of an eventful trip because the market was closing just as I got in and the gates were being closed to stop people from getting in and allow the store keepers to put away their produce. I had a bit of trouble getting out, but managed to use the little Swahili I know to escape the market. On my way home, the daladala station was empty because they were on strike and there were pick-up trucks taking passengers home. Ruben and Pendo were making us a very nice dinner of cooked bananas in a tomato sauce with rice, I was very impressed. After dinner, we sat down and played a Dutch card game that Ruben brought for us called Koe Handel (Cow Trade). It was very fun and I was too tired to do anything else but watch a movie, and even then I fell asleep.<br /><br /><br /><br /><p><br />Saturday, September 22nd, 2007<br />Meaghan and I have been trying to plan a day to sit in the sun and do nothing, but the weather had not been agreeing with us, but today was the day! We spent the morning walking through the market and buying some fabric to make clothing and bags from. We then had a quick lunch and headed off to Tunza for a day at the beach. I was a very enjoyable day and in the afternoon we had a barbeque with chicken, vegetable kebabs, roast beef, coleslaw, fruit salad, and a chocolate cake. We made a bonfire, roasted marshmallows and lay at the beach all night. We had decided to sleepover on the beach by the fire and it was actually a very good sleep despite the early rising of the sun. </p><p><br />Sunday, September 23rd, 2007<br />Jan (the owner of Tunza) put us to work early in the morning and our task was to design a pattern to paint on the entrance booth into Tunza. He had a few ideas of what he wanted and I improvised with the colors that he wanted to include. One coat of paint took all morning, but we stopped for breakfast and lunch. </p><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114093531775427186" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Rvjo-LWY4nI/AAAAAAAAADk/-FVsXug36Gk/s200/Mwanza+07+046.jpg" border="0" /><span style="font-size:85%;">Painting Tunza's entrance wall</span></p><br /><p>During the painting, there was a huge funnel cloud over Lake Victoria coming inland, but thankfully it died off before reaching any land. I have never seen a funnel so defined, close, or big in my life, it was amazing. </p><br /><p></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5113715566063444578" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RveRNrWY4mI/AAAAAAAAADc/MJ2M4bo7UVE/s200/Mwanza+07+038.jpg" border="0" /> <div align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">The funnel cloud at Tunza Lodge.</span></div><br />After lunch we took a short hike over large rocks to a peninsula on Lake Victoria, and it was a great view. We were planning on going out in the boat and possibly doing some wake boarding, but the water was too choppy so we enjoyed the beach instead. Meg and I came home for dinner and made chipati with a tomato sauce and vegetables and had a very early night’s rest.Alison Chenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06612027832107461234noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021333114565156777.post-65236998335776250152007-09-18T03:31:00.001-07:002007-09-18T04:07:58.353-07:00Week 6<div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="left">Monday, September 10, 2007<br />I woke up this morning feeling very tired and slow. I tried to get a workout in, but was sweating so much without doing very much. I got ready for the day and started with some project work before heading into town to run errands. On the way, we passed a couple of Muzungus (white people) who looked lost. We stopped to help them and found out that they were from Spain and were trying to find the city market. So Meaghan and I took them there and they were very grateful. After our errands, we came home for a quick rest before going to Mabutini to teach the Mamas their English lessons. (During that time we got some light bulbs and we now have light in one of the bathrooms and in the pantry. We are still working on the other bathroom and the kitchen because the sockets are broken. Very exciting.) We stayed there for quite a long time and by the time we got home we were both very tired and decided to make a nice pasta dish and watch a movie at home, The Constant Gardener.<br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div align="left"><br /></div><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5111495421907295010" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Ru-uAR3R2yI/AAAAAAAAAC0/WpZwI4Ce5G8/s200/P9100066.JPG" border="0" /><span style="font-size:85%;">The Yogurt Mamas doing their homework</span></p><p align="left"><br />Tuesday, September 11, 2007<br />I was feeling a little bit better this morning after having a good night’s rest. We had a full day of project work around the city and spent most of it walking. By the time we came home we had just enough time to grab some dinner ingredients, bathing suits, and Swahili books. We went to our Swahili lessons and then for a quick swim at the International School’s pool and then to Claire’s place to make dinner. Some very exciting news that we heard was that Matt Damon and Ben Affleck were visiting Mwanza for the next 2 days and were actually staying at the Tilapia Hotel. We were very tempted to go there to see if they were having dinner at Tilapia, but decided not to be celebrity stalkers. After getting home that night and changing into our pj’s, Meg and I got a text message saying that Ben was going to Tunza and that we had a ride there if we wanted. So seeing how this was now our second chance to meet a celebrity, we jumped on it and got dressed quickly. At Tunza, we kept our distance from Ben because he had tons of people going up to him and harassing him. I was again feeling very tired, but at the end of the night Ben and I were standing next to each other and he turned to me and introduced himself. That was pretty cool, but I didn’t have the guts to ask him for a picture. I was exhausted when I got home, but happy to have gone out to see my first real celebrity in person.<br /><br />Wednesday, September 12, 2007<br />I was not feeling well when I woke up this morning. It felt like the beginning of a cold, which I get at every season change. Throughout the day I felt worse and worse so while running our errands in the city I stopped by the Nyakahoja Clinic to get checked out. I had Malaria (2 rings) which explained my tiredness over the last few days, and also a sinus infection. I’m not really sure if I actually had a sinus infection though because the doctor only felt my glands and looked at my tonsils saying, ‘they’re a little pink’. So I took the Malaria and anti-inflammatory medication by stayed away from the other ones prescribed. The interns here before us warned us of misdiagnoses just to sell more drugs and make a profit from patients.<br />Some of the errands that we had to do included getting signatures from Kivulini, Tukwamuane, and a doctor from Sekou Toure Hospital for a grant proposal to expand the yogurt project to Mahina. When I got home from the clinic, I had a quick turn-a-round to head to Mabutini to teach our English lesson. I wasn’t feeling too bad, just tired with a sore throat. When we got home we stayed in for the night and watched a movie with our dinner and headed to bed nice and early.<br /></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5111497006750227250" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Ru-vch3R2zI/AAAAAAAAAC8/3CQOV-8o89Y/s200/P9100065.JPG" border="0" /><br /><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Mamas making buns to sell with the yogurt</span></p><br />Thursday, September 13, 2007<br />I had a slow start this morning, feeling a little bit worse and the rainy weather outside didn’t help. We spent the morning trying to fax the signed letters for the proposal but the numbers we not working and we ended up scanning the files and emailing them, which actually was a lot cheaper than faxing (up to 3000 Tsh a sheet, ~$3/sheet). Meaghan was also not feeling that great because her throat was randomly tightening up, making hard for her to breathe and eat. So I forced her to go to see a doctor and he gave her some anti-inflammatory pills which seemed to help. While Meg was seeing the doctor I had gone to a new internet café to scan and email the letters home. The internet was the best I’ve seen so far and the place was empty. It was great and even though a bit far from our apartment, it is close to a grocery store and our Swahili class, we will definitely be going there again. After getting the letters sent home, Meg and I went home to grab a quick snack before our Swahili lessons. We learnt all about verbs in the present tense. After our lessons, we went to Tunza for our yoga lesson on the beach and some archery lessons with some of the Massai. I brought Janine and Jan (manager and owner of Tunza) some yogurt to sample, and they really liked it and want to begin serving it to their customers for breakfast.<br /><br />Friday, September 14, 2007<br />There was a huge thunderstorm last night and the rain was teaming down on the roof above us. I have never heard rain coming down so heavily for the entire night. It was a relaxing sound, but also made it difficult to sleep because it was so loud. This morning the repair man came with Pendo (our housekeeper) to change the light sockets and bulbs in the kitchen and bathroom. Afterwards, we headed to Mabutini to drop off the Mamas English tests (we are planning on doing lessons on Mondays and Wednesdays and having a review test for the Friday). We also had to pick up 5L of yogurt for the children at Forever Angels. The container was quite heavy and Meaghan and I took turns carrying it, but for my turn I carried it on my head like a true Tanzanian. We had lunch at home and then set off to the orphanage for the afternoon. We spent the evening on the roof of Claire’s place with a bunch of her CRS co-workers watching ‘Derailed’ on a projection screen. It was a very enjoyable evening.<br /><br />Saturday, September 15, 2007<br />Today started off very slow, but I was feeling much better. I made a big breakfast of crepes for Meg and I and procrastinated having a cold shower. We finally got out to the supermarket to restock our very bare shelves. We were waiting to hear about our potential camping trip for one night. We finally got the call and Claire, Meg, and I met up at Tunza to go camping with Major and Jan. There were supposed to be a bunch more coming that evening, but they all decided not to come. We camped in Igombe at a historic site on Lake Victoria, only 45 min. out of town. We bought some fire wood, set up our tents, made a stew, and cooked some tilapia fish. The night was a bit wet and cold, but inside my sleeping bag I was nice and toasty.<br /><br /><br /><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5111492849221884674" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Ru-rqh3R2wI/AAAAAAAAACk/Z9hBcdo2S0E/s200/DSCN1771.JPG" border="0" /><span style="font-size:85%;">Getting some fire wood from a local resident</span></p><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5111498376844794690" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Ru-wsR3R20I/AAAAAAAAADE/Hcn0l4NG6Us/s200/DSCF0854.JPG" border="0" /> <p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">By the fire while camping in Igombe</span><br /></p><p><br />Sunday, September 16, 2007<br />We woke up to another rainy morning and decided to sleep in for a while and have instant noodles for breakfast. We took a while to pack up and clean everything before heading back to Tunza. Once there, we gave the new-born pups their first bath and it got us very wet as well. They are so adorable and have grown so much in one month. Jan was nice enough to offer us a hot shower in one of his resort rooms, my first hot shower!! It was amazing. We stayed there for a little bit and grabbed a quick snack and hot tea before heading home to experiment with a home-made apple crumble that turned out to be pretty good. Meg and I were both very tired from the camping trip and so we went to bed early to rest up for another busy week ahead of us. Ruben (a Danish medical student) will be coming to stay with us on Tuesday until we leave in December.</p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5111494335280569106" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Ru-tBB3R2xI/AAAAAAAAACs/OMfWM6TXHww/s200/DSCF0911.JPG" border="0" /> <p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Giving the pups their first bath</span></p>Alison Chenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06612027832107461234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021333114565156777.post-85164595083885010072007-09-11T00:57:00.000-07:002007-09-17T03:20:22.544-07:00Week 5Week 5<br /><br />Monday, September 3rd, 2007<br />Meaghan and I began the morning with a very intensive meeting in Mabutini with the Yogurt Mamas. We brought with us our dear friend Beatrice to help translate the meeting. We spoke mainly about the Mamas views of the Minister’s visit and preparations for more promotional events to bring acknowledgement to the project. The Mamas are going to be participating in a trade fair to promote the Fiti Yogurt along with the brochures (that we put together) to explain the benefits of probiotic yogurt. After the meeting, we went with some of the Mamas to the bank to take out funds to pay for their bills, including gas, electricity, milk, transportation, and coal. After the bank Meg and I went home to type up the minutes for the meeting and finish up project work. We also made a very nice zucchini stir fry and we are very proud of our creative/experimental cooking. Later that evening we headed over to Tunza for traditional South African beer bread and hot pot all made at the beach with a coal stove. The Masai were practicing shooting their bow and arrows and allowed me to try once, which landed just at the base of the target!<br /><br /><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5111115716733557458" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Ru5Uqh3R2tI/AAAAAAAAACM/893ZMFx-I_E/s200/P9090064.JPG" border="0" /></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Beautiful sunset in Kijereshi</span></p><p><br />Tuesday, September 4th, 2007<br />Meg and I didn’t get much sleep last night because of the very loud rainstorm and random noises coming from our neighborhood. Many of the local residents have told us that the rainy season starts in November so I am hoping that all the rain we’ve been having over the last few days is not indicating an early rain season. We started the day off with project work at home and then went to the internet café to send emails home. The internet was especially slow today and Meg and I barely got anything done. After our lunch of couscous and a cucumber salad, we went to our Swahili lesson near Isamilo. We had a very exhaustive class because we are just getting started with sentence structure and grammar. The Swahili language consists of six noun classes that have different prefixes for the singular and plural forms of the nouns: ki-vi, m-mi, ji-ma, m-wa, n, and u class. The noun prefixes also correspond with the adjectives that they are being described by, very tricky at first but I’m sure they will start getting easier with practice. After our lesson we came home to meet with Joseph Mlinzi (Assistant to the Mayor) about the Minister’s visit. While waiting for Mr. Mlinzi to arrive, we had a student drop by, Mercy (Melissa and Jackie had given her funds to send her to school). Mercy is 14 years old and goes to school near our home, she lives with her aunt because both her parents passed away because of AIDS. She had not eaten in three days because her aunt accused her of stealing and was punishing her. Mercy denied the accusations and was feeling very hungry so we gave her some food to eat and take home with her. It is difficult to imagine going without food and not having any money to buy any, but it is a reality for so many children here in Africa. Many are without parents, a home, or food and are reluctant to enter into the accessible shelters or get a job because begging brings in more money.<br /><br /><br /><br /></p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5111114801905523394" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Ru5T1R3R2sI/AAAAAAAAACE/WBb0e02VBKc/s200/P9090013.JPG" border="0" /></p><br /><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Claire, Meg and I</span></p><br /><p><br />Wednesday, September 5th, 2007<br />The morning started off rainy, once again, and so Meg and I began our day with project work at home. We had protocols to retype, files to prepare for the Mamas and also their English lessons in the afternoon. There is a computer printer and photocopier conveniently located below our apartment, and we have become very friendly with them as we are regular customers. Once the rain appeared to have stopped, Meg and I set off for town to buy a thorough English-Swahili dictionary and send off some mail at the post office. We were a bit mistaken about the rain, because we ended up getting very wet by the time we had reached the post office. We then walked to Mabutini to give the Yogurt Mamas their English lesson, which took about 45 minutes to get there and was a great chance to see the Southern part of the city. After the lesson, we picked up some yogurt to give to ‘Forever Angels’ orphanage as a taste-test to see if the toddlers enjoyed it as a snack to incorporate it into their diets. Many children in Mwanza lack the proper dairy consumption, and with the added probiotics will hopefully help the children battle certain diseases that attack the body’s immune system.<br />Walking around all afternoon made Meg and I very tired and we decided to stay in for the evening and get an early night’s sleep.<br /><br />Thursday, September 6th, 2007<br />Meghan and I set off to the Forever Angel’s orphanage this morning and played with the toddlers and babies till their nap time at 11am. I was able to drop off the yogurt for the kids and will hear back shortly to see if they liked it. All the children are amazing and have a great appetite, so I have high hopes that they will like the yogurt as well. The orphanage has a wonderful collection of clothes and costumes and today many of the children had fancy dresses on (even the boys). After the kids were put to bed, Meg and I set of back home by walking 30 minutes to the main street to catch the daladala.<br /><br /><br /><br /></p><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5111110390974110370" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Ru5P0h3R2qI/AAAAAAAAAB0/tOjwcaJJahI/s200/Mwanza+07+098.jpg" border="0" /></p><br /><br /><br /><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Mwita dressed up as Snow White at the Forever Angel's orphanage</span></p><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><br /><br /><br /><p><br />At home, Meg and I made great sandwiches with salami, avocado, sun dried tomatoes, mayonnaise and a garlic chutney sauce. After lunch we went to drop off beakers at NIMR and then to our Swahili class for more grammar lessons. There are usually 4 students in our class; Claire (England), Christian (Germany) and Meg and myself. We have become very good friends, especially with Claire because she is the same age as Meg and myself. We, along with Claire, have made a habit of going to yoga at Tunza after our Swahili lessons on Thursday and it is a great way to meditate after a long day of work.<br />Today is also Meaghan and my one month anniversary from the day we left Canada to come here to Mwanza!<br /><br />Friday, September 7th, 2007<br />Meg and I were abruptly awaken this morning to Mama Joyce banging on our window and yelling ‘Maggie’ (Meaghan). We got up and let her in and all she wanted was our phone numbers, which we gave to her several times before. We got ready for the day and prepared some notes for our meetings at the City Council this morning. Mr. Mlinzi had set up several meetings with representatives for TASAF and SACCOs today to get a bit of information about the programs and to see if the Tukwamuane women could be possible candidates. We also met with Mama Joyce again to give her the admission fee for her to take part in a SIDO training session about proper preservation for yogurt. It is a 3 day course and she will come back and teach the other Mamas about preservation. For lunch, Meg and I treated ourselves to lunch at the Pizzeria and then went home to get our things together for a nice swim at the international pool with our friend Claire and made a very good pasta dish and garlic bread at her place for dinner.<br /><br />Saturday, September 8th, 2007<br />The weekend started with our 3rd attempt at making chipati. The first time we used maize flour, which is really to make ugali. The second time we used wheat flour and it made a very nice crepe but no chipati. Then, the other day we were shopping in Lavena and found Chipati flour (what a concept). And it was a success. I got a recipe from a chef at Tunza and it worked out great. Meaghan, Claire and I spent all day making chipatis to share with our friends at Tunza, along with a guacamole dip. In the afternoon we finished cooking and headed to Tunza for a nice boat ride out to the Tilapia Hotel. We all wanted to try wake boarding in the waters and I had never done it before. In the bay, however there have been several sightings of crocodiles that have eaten humans, so I was not eager to learn in that part of the water, maybe another place and time. That night we watched ‘the Phantom of the Opera’ and I was singing all the songs all night long.<br /><br />Sunday, September 9th, 2007<br />Today we made a trip out to Kijereshi again (near the Serengeti). We made a few stops along the way at Speke’s Hotel, the Stop-Over, and at a small community outside of Kijereshi that Meaghan and I named ‘Mishkaki corner’ (Mishkaki is a meat skewer that is grilled and tastes amazing). Along the way we got a flat tire and this was my first time changing a flat. We took another game drive later in the day and because of all the rain earlier in the week, the land looked very different and greener than the first time we went. Unfortunately we did not see many large animals, but the scenery was still very nice.</p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5111111924277435058" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Ru5RNx3R2rI/AAAAAAAAAB8/BrqV9Wxea_Y/s200/Mwanza+07+044.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">The flat tire we got on our way to Kijereshi</span></p>Alison Chenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06612027832107461234noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021333114565156777.post-65845000146398062102007-09-03T08:10:00.000-07:002007-09-17T03:40:58.239-07:00Week 4<div align="center">Monday, August 27th, 2007<br />Today has been one of the most hectic days so far in the project, trying to get prepared for the Minister’s visit tomorrow. Many of the events that we thought were taken care of turned out to be only plans and all of the booking had to be done today. We began our day at Kivulini for a meeting with several of the employees in charge of the events for the Minister. We planned out a schedule of events and wrote all the guests that would be attending. Kivulini had assumed that WHE would be paying for all the costs, but because of the nature of this project our budget was very tight and so they were kind enough to pitch in some funds to make this event the best possible given the limited circumstances.<br />We had to plan for tents, chairs, and the transportation to Mabutini, where the Yogurt Kitchen is located. We had booked two entertainment groups, but ended up only able to afford one. There had to be enough food and drinks to feed 100 people (including all guests) but under such a tight budget could only afford for 35 people, so we had to be very careful in deciding who was to join the meal at Kivulini Kitchen (KK). Meg and I organized getting the food and drinks for a reasonable price and also the transportation to KK. We were able to borrow the PA system from Kivulini, which saved us a good portion of funds.<br />To make things a bit tougher, that morning Kim and Missy weren’t feeling very good and Kim went to the clinic to find out that she has Malaria and an amoeba. However, she was able to meet with us at 1pm at City Hall to discuss the itinerary of the day, including the order of speakers and the afternoon events.<br />Meaghan and I were busy the entire afternoon running around town taking out money, ordering the food, ordering the drinks, contacting the entertainment group, printing up a pamphlet for the probiotic yogurt, finding the PA system, finding a video tape to record the events of the day, getting gasoline for the transport vehicles, finalizing the itinerary and emailing it to respective guests, and contacting the NGO’s that will be organizing the afternoon events. All in all, today was extremely busy and we hoped that all our efforts would result in a great visit from the Minister.<br /><br />Tuesday, August 28th, 2007<br />Today began very early (6:30am) to prepare for another very long and busy day. We began at Mabutini to decorate the Yogurt Kitchen and set up the tents and chairs at the local school yard. The Mamas were very cute putting up balloons and kangas around the room, and they also all wore their matching WHE t-shirts and kangas. The dancers were getting into their costumes and setting up the PA system while many of the school children and local community were enjoying the many visitors.<br /><br /><br /></div><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5111119114052688610" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Ru5XwR3R2uI/AAAAAAAAACU/aiEHkfdJLIY/s200/DSCF0525.jpg" border="0" /><span style="font-size:85%;">Local school children in Mabutini</span></p><div align="center"><br /></div><p align="center"><br />At around 9:30am, the Minister arrived and the Mamas and interns greeted her at the door of the Yogurt Kitchen with a very energetic cheer and a ‘vigele vigele’ noise (high pitched cry while wiggling your tongue back and forth) which I eagerly joined in with. The Minister proceeded into the Kitchen, signed the guestbook, and had a taste of the yogurt that the Mamas made. There was a brief discussion about the project and our goals for future expansion and stabilization tactics. We then headed off to the school yard where the tents, chairs, and entertainment were set up. The entertainment consisted of singers and dancers that were keeping the guests and spectators amused. There were speeches prepared by Joseph Mlizi, Kimberley, Mama Joyce, Mama Paskqwalina, the Mayor, and the Minister herself. There were intermittent singers and dancers to keep the festivities exciting, and at one point the Mamas, interns, and the Minister got up and began dancing in the middle of the crowd, it was very fun.<br />After the ceremony, the Minister, interns and Kivulini staff headed to Kivulini to visit the stationary store, legal office, and main office for a quick visit while the food was being prepared. There were approximately 35 guests for the lunch/ meeting at KK and Missy and I doubled as servers as well as guest to help get the lunch out quickly. Most of the meeting was completed in Swahili, but Meaghan did her best to keep good notes and obtain contacts to get the missing information. The Minister was very pleased by the proposal letter that Meaghan had prepared the night before and she seemed very excited to help expand our project. The lunch consisted of 16 fried chicken, 35 fried bananas, and potatoes, delicious. The afternoon was organized by the Kivulini staff to have the Minister visit TAHEA and MWDA organizations. Therefore, our part of the day ended up being extremely successful and all our hard work had paid off.<br />As if Meaghan and my day wasn’t tiring enough, we hurried off to our Swahili lesson at 3pm, having a test as well as a 2 hour class. We learnt about giving directions to certain buildings (and we have actually used it quite a lot while in taxis). We walked home and only had enough energy to prepare a pasta dinner before going straight to bed.<br /></p><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5111120716075490034" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/Ru5ZNh3R2vI/AAAAAAAAACc/mYbhZ6shbqc/s200/DSC02626.JPG" border="0" /><span style="font-size:85%;">Meeting with the Minister at the Mabutini Kitchen</span></p><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><p><br />Wednesday, August 29th, 2007<br />We had a bit of a late start this morning after the last few long, tiring days and the rainy weather did not help encourage us either. Missy, Meg and I went to the Yogurt Kitchen for Missy to say goodbye (she leaves on Friday morning) and then to meet up with a friend at Bismarc Rock for lunch at Yun Long Chinese restaurant. Directly after lunch we made a trip to the Forever Angels orphanage and spent a few hours with the infants and toddlers. We went home still exhausted from a busy few days and had a nice quiet dinner together before going to Tunza to say goodbye to Kim. She has her flight to Dar early the next morning. We made an instant chocolate cake at home and brought it to Tunza, it was really good.<br /><br />Thursday, August 30th, 2007<br />Kim left early this morning and Missy is to leave us tomorrow morning. Meaghan and I wanted to get a few last things done that required Missy’s help, but for the most part we wanted her to enjoy her last day in Mwanza. We started off at the clinic to get Missy’s results for a last check-up and for her to pick up Malaria medication in case she gets sick during her long trip home. It is more difficult and expensive to get anti-malaria drugs in Canada because it isn’t very common, so it has been recommended that visitors pick up medication before leaving the country to go back home. We then took a nice walk through the main city to pick up some souvenirs and a power converter from European outlets to American ones. We also picked up some fresh vegetables and fruits at the city market to make guacamole for lunch. It was delicious and I am very proud of us for being adventurous and creative with the fresh produce.<br />Meaghan and I went to our Swahili class while Missy decided to climb a tall hill just behind Mabutini. The climb was a great way for her to reflect on her trip without many distractions. She then met up with Meg and I at the International School, after our class, with a few other friends that we have made to go to Tunza for yoga on the beach and a celebratory night for Missy.<br /><br />Friday, August 31st, 2007<br />We sent Missy off at the airport this morning and it we were all very emotional. Even our housekeeper, Pendo, came with us. It was hard to say goodbye and to realize that it will only be Meaghan and I for a month until Ruben (Medical school student from Holland) arrives at the end of September. Missy, Jackie and Kim were so great at helping Meg and I get settled into the apartment, around town, and with the project and we’re so thankful that they were here. We took the daladala home and had a quick lunch while proofreading a paper prepared by a Kivulini staff member. We made the English lesson for the Mamas and set off to the Kitchen to teach. After the lessons we came home and met up with a volunteer from Kivulini, Beatrice, who has been really great with helping the interns translate between English and Swahili with the Mamas. She is a university student at Dar, but lives in Mwanza. She is leaving this Tuesday to go back to school and she invited us to her home near Nyakato for dinner. We helped her prepare an incredible meal of fresh Nile Perch, bananas, rice, and beans. It took a while to prepare on the coal stove, but the end result was very good.<br /><br />Saturday, September 1st, 2007<br />I can not believe that it is already September. Time seems to be flying by with all the busy project work. This morning we were able to sleep in a little, but began right away with cleaning and organizing the apartment. Meaghan and I moved into our new rooms and are feeling very independent now that all the other interns have gone back home. The afternoon was spent watching the sun set at Tunza and enjoying a bbq and get together at a friends place.<br /><br />Sunday, September 2nd, 2007<br />I was very rudely awaken this morning by screaming children running around the balcony of our apartment and also an uninvited guest hanging onto the inside of my bug net, a big cockroach. After the elimination of my pest, Meaghan and I got ready to go to church. We decided to go to the Nyakahoja Catholic Church and it was a very nice service. We picked up some groceries and fresh produce on the way home. The rest of the day was spent inside the apartment finishing up project work and resting up for another busy week ahead.</p>Alison Chenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06612027832107461234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021333114565156777.post-50221772094299985002007-08-27T13:38:00.003-07:002007-08-31T03:56:47.691-07:00Week 3<div><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><?xml:namespace prefix = st1 /><st1:date year="2007" day="20" month="8" st="on">Monday, August 20<sup>th</sup>, 2007</st1:date></p><br /><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>Today we started our day at NIMR to speak to Simone about ordering milk for the probiotic cultures to be put into the yogurt that the mamas make.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We are starting with 2L of probiotic milk that will last for one week of yogurt production and will slowly increase when the yogurt production increases as well.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>The cultures take approximately 18 hours to be prepared, so Meg and I will have to drop off the milk, or get it delivered, and pick it up the following day.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>After NIMR we dropped by the <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">International</st1:placename> <st1:placename st="on">Language</st1:placename> <st1:placename st="on">Training</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">Center</st1:placetype></st1:place> to inquire about starting Swahili lessons immediately.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>The classes are on Tuesdays and Thursdays from <st1:time st="on" minute="0" hour="15">3-5pm</st1:time> and a test to be picked up on the weekend that takes about 1 hour to complete.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We made a quick stop at the internet café to print off some documents for the Mamas and then went to the Yogurt Kitchen in Mabutini to teach English.</p><br /><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><?xml:namespace prefix = o /><o:p></o:p></p><br /><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><st1:date year="2007" day="21" month="8" st="on">Tuesday, August 21<sup>st</sup>, 2007</st1:date></p><br /><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>This morning Missy, Kim, Meaghan and I went to the Yogurt Kitchen to purchase the milk for Simone at NIMR.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Kim and I went to NIMR, while Missy and Meg went with the Mamas to the bank.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Kim and I were given 2L of milk in a lidded container and an empty 1L beaker.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>When we got to NIMR we realized that they needed another 1L container that could be used in an autoclave machine (one that won’t melt at high heat and pressure), so we set off to the Victoria Laboratory Supplies to buy more beakers.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>(It seems to be that there are a lot of small issues that I would never think to prepare for, but have to be resolved immediately.)<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>After we resolved the small matter we met up with Missy and Meg to finish up financial issues and to take out money for ourselves.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We made a quick stop at the post office and had lunch at the Pizzeria.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Meaghan and I spent an hour at the internet café before going to our first Swahili lesson!<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Our teacher is Mr. Gaudence and he’s very nice and makes us laugh throughout the class.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We learnt about numbers, telling the time (which is very difficult because they use sunrise to sunset as starting points of the day, a six hour difference), some greeting phrases, and a few basic rules to noun, adjective and subjective prefixes.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>It’s a bit overwhelming so I will have to study a bit before the test comes at the end of the week.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>The night ended with a nice BBQ at a friend’s place with some lamb, pork and salad.</p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5104814031183670226" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RtfxUJ0h69I/AAAAAAAAABU/YPBSA547L-8/s200/DSCF0487.jpg" border="0" /><span style="font-size:85%;"> Very excited to see a hedgehog</span><br /><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><br /><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><st1:date year="2007" day="22" month="8" st="on">Wednesday, August 22<sup>nd</sup>, 2007</st1:date></p><br /><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>I began this morning with a nice workout on the roof top of the apartment and then quickly got ready to go to NIMR to pick up the bacteria cultures with Meaghan.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Missy and Kim went to the Yogurt Kitchen first thing this morning to speak with the Mamas about the First Lady (Minister of Gender and Children) coming to visit on Tuesday.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Kim has set up this meeting and is responsible for her interest in building a new factory for the Mamas to produce the yogurt!<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>This is a great opportunity for the Tukwamuane organization and the yogurt project to expand.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>After Missy and Kim left the kitchen, Meg and I showed up with the probiotic cultures in the 2L of milk, which unfortunately spilt a bit during transit on the bumpy roads (we will have to work getting better containers to transport it).<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>The Mamas made us a wonderful breakfast of deep fried buns and chai tea.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Afterwards we made another trip with some of the Mamas to the bank to withdraw some money to pay for their bills, but there were some problems with our request and we had to come back the next day to complete the transaction (one word that is frequently used here is ‘kesho’, meaning tomorrow, because nothing is ever done right away but rather tomorrow, kesho).<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>After the bank we made a quick stop at home to prepare an English lesson for the Mamas and then headed directly to the Kitchen.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>The Mamas are always excited for the lessons, but today they were also eager to show us the labels that they have chosen for their yogurt that they produce.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We are hoping to get 100 labels made next week.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We came home after an exhausting day with handfuls of groceries and yogurt, prepared a simple meal of pasta and stayed in for the night.</p><br /><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><br /><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><st1:date year="2007" day="23" month="8" st="on">Thursday, August 23<sup>rd</sup>, 2007</st1:date></p><br /><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>We had great success at the bank today and the Mamas were able to take out funds to pay their bills and update their bank card.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>One of the Mamas (Mama Elizabeth) who was with us this morning was feeling very ill, having both Typhoid and Malaria.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>It is very common to get sick here in Mwanza, for both locals and visitors, but because it is so common the treatment is relatively cheap and readily available.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>The symptoms are also usually easily recognizable because so many people have had multiple incidences.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Luckily however, I have remained healthy and hope to for larger part of my trip here (knock on wood).<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Meaghan and I had our Swahili lessons again today and it consisted of saying polite requests, asking about how someone is doing, and naming the days of the week and months.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We met a new friend in the class, Claire, and she actually was sitting next to Kim on the plane coming from Dar (what a small world).<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>After the class we headed straight to Tunza for the yoga class on the beach and a nice boat ride while the sun set.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>The view was better than anything I could ever imagine.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>I felt as though I was in a fairy tale or a postcard.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103797012992748482" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RtRUV50h68I/AAAAAAAAABM/ystIt7zJTVA/s200/DSCF0350.jpg" border="0" /><span style="font-size:85%;"> Sunset at Tunza Lodge<br /></span></p><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><br /><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><st1:date year="2007" day="24" month="8" st="on">Friday, August 24<sup>th</sup>, 2007</st1:date></p><br /><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>This morning turned out to be a bit more relaxing compared to the previous days of the week.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Meaghan and I were able to brainstorm various strategies to help develop the project and bring in more income for the Mamas to be able to sustain the business without external aid.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We also found a great internet café that is just outside of our apartment and the management is very kind and the place is clean.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>So far it hasn’t been too crowded, which is seen at many of the other cafes in town.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>In the afternoon Meaghan and I went to the Yogurt Kitchen to give the Mamas their English lessons.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We are going to the Kitchen on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons and taking our Swahili lessons on Tuesday and Thursday, it is working out great so far.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>I am hoping to get to the Forever Angel orphanage at least once a week, but it is a fair distance away from our apartment and therefore takes a while to get there and back.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>In the evening, there was a going away party at Tunza for a Master’s student studying witchcraft and so we dressed up as witches and had a great time.</p><br /><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><br /><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><st1:date year="2007" day="25" month="8" st="on">Saturday, August 25<sup>th</sup>, 2007</st1:date></p><br /><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>We began the weekend very relaxed and were invited to Tunza for the day.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Meaghan, Missy and I were able to go out on the boat for a while and we found a great island with amazing boulder formations on it, and named it ‘Hangkip’ (Afrikaans for ‘hanging rock’).<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We got off the boat and found one huge boulder that was being suspended about 2 feet off the ground by smaller boulders and was able to slide underneath for a very cute photo.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We went back to the beach, had a nice lunch and a quick nap before going to a friends place for a bbq.</p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5104816114242808802" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RtfzNZ0h6-I/AAAAAAAAABc/UrT0z3AjwLM/s200/Mwanza+07+069.jpg" border="0" /><span style="font-size:85%;"> 'Hangkip' Rock<br /></span><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><br /><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><st1:date year="2007" day="26" month="8" st="on">Sunday, August 26<sup>th</sup>, 2007</st1:date></p><br /><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>Kim and I went to church this morning at <st1:time st="on" minute="30" hour="8">8:30am</st1:time>.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Kim has been playing the piano at the St. Nicolas Anglican Church for about a month now.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>The service was very nice and great that it was in English.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>When I got home, Meaghan and I spent a bit of time finishing up project work and then had a very nice walk to a small market not too far from our apartment.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We picked up lots of fruits and vegetables for our dinner and the next few days: oranges, bananas, a huge papaya, cucumbers, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and bread.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>We made a great dinner of pasta salad (pasta, tomatoes, cucumbers, and balsamic vinegar) and mashed sweet potatoes.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>The dinner was amazing while Meaghan and I snuggled up to ‘Because I said So’ and ‘Pretty Woman’.</p></div>Alison Chenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06612027832107461234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021333114565156777.post-83433014510942296942007-08-21T03:04:00.000-07:002007-08-28T09:45:27.838-07:00Week 2<div><div align="left">This week has been busy organizing project accounts and preparing for the transition of the past interns to leave and for Meaghan and I to take over specific tasks. Jackie is leaving this Saturday, so Meaghan and I were able to accompany her to various project sites that she has been affiliated with so she could say goodbye.<br /><br />Mon., Aug. 13, 2007<br />While the other interns were feeling slightly under-the-weather, I started my day with a workout and a long walk around town to get myself oriented with the city. Kim had gone to the clinic with Missy and found that along with her worms she also has Malaria, pole sana (very sorry). After returning, Kim and I went to the International Language School to inquire about Swahili lessons. We have been recommended by several past interns that Mama Salala (a large German woman) is an excellent teacher and we are planning on meeting with her early next week.<br /></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103787370791168914" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RtRLkp0h65I/AAAAAAAAAA0/ACXO41atO30/s200/DSCF0203.jpg" border="0" /> <span style="font-size:85%;"> TunzaBeach </span><br /><p align="left"><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span>Tues., Aug. 14, 2007<br />Kim left very early this morning to go visit a hospital in Bumbire, where she will be volunteering next summer. The trip there is 7 hours long and she will be back on Thursday, we wish her a safe journey. Jackie and Meaghan went to the clinic because they weren’t feeling well, while Missy and I went to U-Turn to pick up groceries. You can pick up a lot of similar canned and bottle foods in Mwanza however they can be quite a bit more expensive ($12 for a box of Frosted Flakes). Mwanza is about the same size of London, Ontario which means you can pretty much walk everywhere, and with the intense sun and hot weather this can get exhausting.<br />When Meaghan and Jackie came back from the clinic we found out that Meg has an amoeba and Jackie has Malaria. With everyone, but me (knock-on-wood), being sick we decided to keep the evening quiet so everyone could rest and feel healthy again.<br /><br />Wed., Aug. 15, 2007<br />I went for a walk this morning with a woman who works for Kivulini, Beatrice, and I came across a young boy that I met at the Yogurt Kitchen. His name is Singeah and he does not attend school. When asked about his parents he told us that they were both deceased and that he lives with his grandmother. When asked why he didn’t attend school he said that his grandmother cannot afford to buy his uniform or books. This situation is seen with so many children in Mwanza and the inability of a young mind to have the opportunity to gain knowledge it is a very difficult reality.<br />In the afternoon the girls and I visited the Yogurt Kitchen to have a brief meeting with the Mamas about the project. We are working to have a very open relationship with the Mamas and to help them to become independent of WHE. One of the main goals for this project is to have the yogurt production and distribution be sustainable on their own and also have profit coming in to strengthen the community. This includes having a strong relationship with each other and the organizations that they rely on. There are also business aspects of accounting and book-keeping which are necessary to maintain a strong business. These are only a few of the matters that we are working with the Mamas to ensure a strong, efficient, and proficient business.<br /><br />Thurs., Aug. 16, 2007<br />We were able to take a walk through the busy market today and I really enjoyed the electrifying feeling of the many vendors selling their fresh goods. I am considering using the market as a resource for part of my independent study, but it seems like it would be a difficult task to ask the vendors questions in such a hectic environment. I will have to rethink my project tactics. Missy and Jackie also took Meaghan and I through an area they call ‘Fabric Land’ because most of the stores sell either Kangas, scarves and/or material to make clothing and bags. There are an incredible number of fantastic seamstresses in Mwanza and they produce beautiful pieces. The girls have gotten several shirts, skirts, dresses, and over-the-shoulder bags made for such little money, relative to Canadian prices. I am very excited to have some pieces made for myself and friends back home.<br />At around 3pm the girls and I set off to an orphanage that Jackie and Missy volunteer at called ‘Forever Angels’. The project is run by Amy who self-funds the entire orphanage. Her program is very well organized and puts great emphasis on having local adoptions. I am hoping to work with her for my second part of my independent study where I will be monitoring the children before and after they consume the probiotic yogurt (Fiti) that the Yogurt Mamas make, on a regular basis. Amy has ensured that the children have their measurements taken weekly, which will help me plot the changes in health and growth for the children taking the yogurt. Many children at the orphanage generally get a well-balanced diet but do lack intake of dairy and therefore Calcium. We are hoping to start giving them the yogurt as soon as possible. The children are adorable with a total of 19 kids all under the age of 5 years old and they are working to expand the space to hold up to 40 children and infants.<br />Kim arrived home later this evening and she had an amazing experience helping out in the hospital and giving HIV tests. We met up at Tunza Lodge for another nice evening of yoga on the beach even though the weather was slightly overcast.<br /></p><br /><br /><div align="left"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103790321433701282" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RtROQZ0h66I/AAAAAAAAAA8/1T0RB3jD1V4/s200/Mwanza+07+017.jpg" border="0" /><span style="font-size:85%;"> Forever Angels Organization</span><br /></div><br /><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103785506775362434" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RtRJ4J0h64I/AAAAAAAAAAs/0ZbT_bSVnTk/s200/DSCF0192.jpg" border="0" /></p><p><span style="font-size:85%;"> Yoga at Tunza Beach</span></p><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><p><br />Fri., Aug. 17, 2007<br />We were finally able to take some time from project work to get to an internet café today. Even though we were there for 1 hour I wasn’t able to get many emails out because the internet is so slow. It does get a bit frustrating when we are used to the fast pace life of home, but it is also nice to take some time to reflect on your own and have time to keep detailed journals and blogs. Afterwards we went to the Yogurt Kitchen to meet with the Mamas and go over financial issues. It is remarkable to see how hard the Mamas work and how well they interact with each other. The Kitchen seems to be a popular place because there is always someone coming in to buy yogurt. The Mamas had special visitors that day from Women’s Rights Organizations around Tanzania. They came by to see what some of the women in Mwanza are doing for their local community and how they are empowering themselves. It was great that the Yogurt Mamas are getting recognition for their hard work.<br /><br />Sat., Aug. 18, 2007<br />We woke up early this morning to drop off Jackie and Kim at the Mwanza airport. Jackie was going back home to London, Ontario and Kim was going to Dar es Saalam for an Indian wedding. Kim went to school with a friend from Dar and her cousin was getting married and invited her to attend. She will be back Monday afternoon and I can’t wait to see the amazing pictures from the wedding.<br />Missy, Meg and I then took the daladala (public van bus) into town to use the internet quickly and to pick up some groceries. Later that day Danny (local marine engineer) took us to ‘Dancing Rock’ and the view was absolutely gorgeous. We stayed up at the top for a while trying to see the sun set, but a storm rolled in and we got totally drenched on the way down. After cleaning up at home we got ready for a night of dancing at Villa Park, it was very nice to have a night out. </p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103792490392185778" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RtRQOp0h67I/AAAAAAAAABE/extRZcGEUKE/s200/Mwanza+07+039.jpg" border="0" /></p><p><span style="font-size:85%;"> Meaghan and me at Dancing Rock</span></p><p><br />Sun., Aug. 19, 2007<br />I was able to sleep in today and made myself a big breakfast of eggs, hot dogs, and toast. I also had some freshly made popcorn, one of my favorite snacks because it is made by local boys across the street from our apartment and the money they make goes to their organization that is part of Kivulini. Their organization supports against domestic violence against women, raising money to send street children to school, and to support the community. Missy, Meg and I were invited to a bbq that was quite far away from our apartment and so took a bit of organizing to get there. We ate delicious curry chicken and a huge piece of bbq’ed lamb that we all shared. There weren’t any utensils so we really did feel like carnivores chewing off this huge chunk of meat.</p></div>Alison Chenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06612027832107461234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021333114565156777.post-43267980332488715502007-08-17T04:07:00.001-07:002007-08-28T09:07:10.953-07:00Week 1 in Mwanza<div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><div>Meaghan and I have finally made it to Mwanza, safe and sound with all of our baggage. Thank you to all my family and friends for all their best wishes and gifts before I headed off, they have been a blessing for me. I apologize for the lack of communication with home because the internet at the apartment is still not working yet. Things take a bit longer to get fixed and done here in Tanzania.<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103782753701325666" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RtRHX50h62I/AAAAAAAAAAc/YXscdeLFHAE/s200/Mwanza+07+015.jpg" border="0" /><br />Mon. & Tues., Aug. 6&7, 2007<br />We had a bit of a rocky trip departing on the night of Mon., Aug. 6th to Heathrow airport, which is so huge and confusing. We then had another red-eye flight to Nairobi, where I was feeling a bit under the weather, but surprisingly we didn’t run into any major problems. Our next flight had an unexpectedly long delay at the Kiliminjaro airport and we had difficulty getting a hold of the girls to let them know of our tardiness. With all of the confusion, we did arrive safely in Mwanza on Wed., Aug. 8th and after all the baggage checks and visa validations we were warmly welcomed by our new family in Tanzania.<br /><br />Wed., Aug. 8th, 2007<br />Kim, Missy, and Jackie have been amazing at giving us a tour of the area and letting us know the ins and outs of living in Mwanza. After a long trip and only sleeping about 5 hours in 2 days, Meaghan and I headed home near Mlango Mmoja and jumped in the shower before heading to Tilapia for a good meal. We tried our best to stay up as late as possible so that we could get adjusted to our jet lag.<br /><br />Thurs., Aug. 9th, 2007<br />Meg and I woke up early this morning to go to NIMR (National Institute for Medical Research) with Jackie and Kim to drop off the mother culture and CO2 packs with George. We are still looking into getting a freezer to hold the cultures at -20oC and keeping them sterile from the other blood and urine samples. Jackie, Meg and I then set off to Mahina, a community just outside of Mwanza that receives the probiotic yogurts for many of the HIV/PLWAs (people living with AIDS) patients. Many individuals living with HIV/AIDS have a difficult stigma against them because of the lack of education about the disease and the misconception of the way HIV is transferred. Jackie had a couple of enlarged photos and female condoms that were requested by one of the community members, whose husband would not wear condoms and is suspected to have HIV already. It was great to see the area and get an idea of how the members are living.<br />We then headed to Mabutini, where the Yogurt Kitchen is located, by the daladala (local van bus). Driving is pretty crazy and scary here because there aren’t always side walks and speed limits don’t exist. The horn is used to warn pedestrians and cyclists that cars are coming. Also, cars drive on the opposite sides of the street and takes a bit of getting used to. We dropped by the Kitchen for a quick meet-and-greet wit<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RtMvQp0h60I/AAAAAAAAAAM/mCpW3jrA-Qo/s1600-h/DSCF0053.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103474765891496770" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; CURSOR: pointer" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RtMvQp0h60I/AAAAAAAAAAM/mCpW3jrA-Qo/s320/DSCF0053.jpg" border="0" /></a>h the mamas that were working the kitchen and got to have a try of the yogurt being made, trademarked as Fiti. It is a plain yogurt, a bit sour, but very refreshing on a hot day.<br />Meg and I will be starting our Swahili lessons as soon as possible so that we are able to communicate with the mamas and with the locals on a daily basis. It will also make teaching English to the mamas much easier, however I am very impressed with the amount that they know already.<br />After lunch Meg, Missy, Kim and I headed off to the bank to take out some Tanzanian Shillings (Tsh) to use for groceries, transportation, and to purchase a cell phone which we went to go pick up directly after the bank. We stopped by the internet café briefly to send out a few emails and then went back home to get ready for a nice evening at the Tunza beach of yoga and dinner, it was amazing and a really great welcoming. We met a bunch of missionaries, locals, and volunteers visiting Mwanza: Major, Jan, Jenny, Danny, Laurene, Janine, Hank, and a bunch of German volunteers.<br /><br />Fri., Aug. 10, 2007<br />We woke up early this morning to go to the Yogurt Kitchen in Mabutini for 8:30am. Jackie was interviewing the mamas for her project and asking several questions about their biographies and what WHE has done for them and their community. All the responses were very positive, including their own personal education about HIV and for their families, personal empowerment with running the yogurt project, and also to help strengthen the community both financially and physically. At the Kitchen, there were many kids running around and only some in school uniform. Jackie informed me that even though school is free for everyone, the costs of uniforms and books prevent many children from getting an education. It is a frustrating situation because many of the children are eager to learn and have such potential for great things.<br />We had lunch and then headed to NIMR so that Jackie could interview Joseph Mwanga, (Senior research scientist with a PhD, MSc and Honors BA). It was a great chance for Meg and I to get acquainted with him and get a bit more information about the project at NIMR.<br />Meaghan, Jackie and I went back to the Yogurt Kitchen to teach some of the mamas English. It was a lot more difficult than I expected because of the language barrier, but the mamas did a really great job picking up the grammar lessons. The lesson was also a good way to get to know the mamas and see how far they have come in learning English.<br /><br />Sat. & Sun., Aug. 11&12, 2007<br />This weekend we were lucky enough to be invited to go camping at Kijerashi, just outside of the Serengeti National Park and we were able to see several wild animals: Zebras, Springbucks, Baboons, and Ostriches. We were driven in Majors truck with Missy, Jackie, Meaghan, Janine, Hank, Laurene, and I. We indulged in a fabulous diner and next day lunch of instant noodles on pieces of bread and peanut butter.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103783423716223858" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RtRH-50h63I/AAAAAAAAAAk/i_-HJ2OJt-A/s200/Mwanza+07+259.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103781516750744402" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_-oZI0jo97jU/RtRGP50h61I/AAAAAAAAAAU/GPmzpgiUgEo/s200/Mwanza+07+231.jpg" border="0" /></div></div></div>Alison Chenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06612027832107461234noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021333114565156777.post-78127996522632857392007-06-23T15:33:00.000-07:002007-06-23T16:30:37.317-07:00Fundraising Success<div align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">A very warm thank you goes out to all those who helped out with my successful fundraising events; garage sale, silent auction, and book sale. As well, I had overwhelming support from my family and friends, the Sport Seneca staff, and the members of the St. Augustine of Canterbury Church. (Watch for photos to be put up very shortly)</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span> </div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I am also very happy to announce that Meaghan's and my plane ticket has been booked, leaving August 6, 2007. We will be travelling through London, England and Nairobi, Kenya before getting into Mwanza, Tanzania.</span></div>Alison Chenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06612027832107461234noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021333114565156777.post-63818259390146745402007-06-16T17:44:00.000-07:002007-06-23T15:44:32.075-07:00Up and Running<div align="justify"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Hello everyone,</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">I'm happy to announce that my blog is finally up and running!!!</span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">I will be posting all my exciting events that occurs leading up to and during my internship in Mwanza, Tanzania.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Thank you for all your support and best wishes for my upcoming event. If you would like to know more about the Western Heads East project, please see </span><a href="http://www.westernheadseast.ca/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">http://www.westernheadseast.ca</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><br />God Bless,<br />Alison Chen</span></div>Alison Chenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06612027832107461234noreply@blogger.com0