Thursday, June 28, 2012

Nililala fofofo


So much has happened in a week that I don’t really know where to begin. Here’s the short summary: 

Tanzania is seriously awesome.

My lab partners Inka and Charlotte and I practicing our soldering 
Since my last post, my roommate Christine and I moved from the TCDC hostel into Mamma Gaude’s house (Mamma G, as she is known among the EWH students). Mamma’s family lives in Dar es Salaam, but she lives here at TCDC in a quaint house with her informally adopted daughter Rafia (age 28). As far as amenities go, we lucked out. While the other students living off campus are taking cold bucket showers and defecating in holes, Christine and I are living the high life with hot showers, flushing toilets, Wi-Fi(though patchy and unreliable), and amazing food made by by Rafia, a former cook from the island of Zanzibar. Every night at dinner, we watch the Tanzanian Parliament. Mamma G and Rafia both speak English, but they have become less tolerant of English around the house as our Swahili improves. Our talks with Rafia mostly consist of us practicing our Swahili with her and Rafia laughing hysterically when we say something totally wrong. We must sound so ridiculous.

My sister Rafia and I at the Usa River Market
While the standards of living are much different here than they are in America, I have found myself adapting surprisingly well. My bed is as hard as a rock, but every night nililala fofofo (“I slept like a log”). The internet and technology is limited, but I am starting to enjoy feeling free from my smartphone and the evils of facebook. The hot water in the shower only lasts about three minutes, unless someone took a shower before you, in which case it is ice cold. I see this as great encouragement to conserve water.

The grounds around TCDC are well kept. There is a makeshift gym and basketball court near the back, and a beach volleyball court near the tea hut. There is a bar connected to our main classroom. I was watching some of the locals play volleyball the other day. I was thinking I might go over and join them, until I realized how good they were and that I would probably get my ass kicked. There are small adorable monkeys climbing all over campus. They often play on the roof of Mamma G’s house.

The bedroom I share with Christine at Mamma Gaude's house
We had our first Swahili lessons on Friday, taught by this ridiculously awesome man named Kisangji, who likes to throw a double thumbs up and say bomba bomba (“ok ok”) after every sentence. Since then we have split up into smaller groups, mine taught by Mama Frieda.

Our engineering lessons are taught by a Peruvian man named Miguel. Miguel is hilarious without even trying. His English is iffy, which makes lessons on the finer points of electrocardiograms entertaining. We have started counting how many times he points to something and says “eh, what is dis?” in an hour long lecture. I believe the record is 22. Basically, Miguel is awesome.

The lab so far has been very basic. How to solder, how to wire an extension cord to a plug, introduction to Ohm’s Law….. yeah…..


Monkey friends at TCDC
I am happy to say that I found myself a running partner, a girl from Canada named Raelyn. Yesterday, we ran to Usa river market. If you ever want to feel like a celebrity, be a nzungu msichana (“white girl”) running down a busy street in Tanzania. Stares, cars honking, high fives from children,“Mambo!” “Hujambo!” constantly.



Hard at work.....
My first weekend in Tanzania proved to be fantastic. On Saturday, the entire group, 24 of us plus Miguel and Ben, boarded several dala dalas (these super sketchy green minibuses used for public transport) and headed up a steep and rocky unpaved road to visit a traditional village. I still don’t understand how the dala dalas survived the trip.

We were greeted by our hosts, and of course, we had tea. It’s a thing here. Nothing gets done before we have tea.

After tea, we were taken around the village by our hosts. They explained to us that they were part of a local organization that supports schooling for the village children. The initial money to build the school was provided by an American foundation years ago, but since then the school relies almost entirely on donations. 

The village around the school consisted of mudhuts surrounded by fields of coffee, beans and banana trees. Laundry lines were draped between the huts. The cattle were contained using corrals made out of sticks and various mismatched materials. We were told by our hosts that the cattle typically live inside the house with the family at night. All food was cooked over a small fire pit in the center of the hut. The hut was divided into small rooms by walls of sticks. There was something very intriguing and comforting about this simpler way of life. I felt like I had stepped back in time. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

These kids posed for pictures like champs
Inside the hut. In the background is the bed where
the women and girls sleep.

Let me just say, there are few things cuter than African children. Every house we’d pass, barefooted children would run out frantically to greet us, picking flowers along the way to hand to the girls. One proudly brought us a dead gopher he caught using a trap made out of sticks. Gross, but impressive.

After visiting the village, our hosts guided us on a hike up a nearby mountain (they call it a hill, I call it a mountain). From the top, we could see all of Arusha town and Kilimanjaro off in the distance.

We were taken back to our host’s house, where we were served lunch consisting of the usual delicious food: marinated rice and potatoes, fresh fruit, beans, cooked vegetable sauces, and parachichi (“avacados”).


The adventure was not over. After lunch we hiked an hour to a waterfall, passing through the shade of the banana trees. 

On Sunday, we went to Church. Christine and I came out of our rooms wearing khaki pants, since neither of us packed dresses. Mamma G was not satisfied with our outfits, so she provided us with matching Kangas (a type of wrap skirt with colorful designs) bearing the words “Child of God” in Swahili.

We went to a Pentecostal church down a dirt road lined with huts and farm animals. I was expecting Church to last maybe an hour or so. I was wrong.

The service lasted 3.5 hours, all in fiery passionate Swahili. At one point, the minister pointed to Christine and I, motioning for us to come forward. We stood at the front of the room, overlooking a sea of curious Tanzanian church people. We were prompted to introduce ourselves in English. I don’t think they understood a word I said, but after I was done speaking they clapped and cheered enthusiastically nonetheless. Tanzanians could teach us Americans a thing or two about singing. The youth choir sang with such emotion it almost brought me to tears. Three and a half hours was a little excessive, but I’m really glad I went.

After Church, our sister Rafia took us to the Usa River market, where we had lunch consisting of an entire plate of fresh fries and a bottle of coke. All soda is served in recycled glass bottles. We walked around the market, where the locals constantly greeted us with friendly words. One young man at a clothing booth asked Christine a question in Swahili. She stared at him confused, while he and his friends burst into laughter. Rafia later told us the man had jokingly asked Christine to marry him.

My blog has over 500 views! Thank you everyone. I really appreciate your support and interest. We are going on an overnight safari to the famous Ngorogoro Crater and Terengerie National Park this weekend, so many animal pictures to come.

The power just went out, as it usually does around this time. Time for bed. Lala salama. 


The hike up the "hill" to see the view of Arusha
Town.



Christine and I at the top. View of
Arusha in the background. 


Inside the dala dala

Thursday, June 21, 2012

I'm Alive!

After over 24 hours of flying, I arrived safely in Tanzania yesterday afternoon local time. The second flight, a 13.5-hour from Washington D.C. to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia was brutal. Though I was exhausted, I couldn't sleep on the plane and reading seemed like too much work, so I watched four movies and listened to African music on the in-flight TV (so much for that GRE study book). I also talked for about 3 hours to the woman sitting next to me, a pastor from Zimbabwe. She had many interesting stories, but it's always a little awkward talking to devout Christians when you are a heathen non-believer such as myself.... especially on a 13 hour flight where there is no escape. But she told me I was a blessed child and that god would look after me while I was here in Tanzania because he sent me here to help people, which was good to know.

When I arrived at the Addis Ababa airport, I had my first African bathroom experience, which really wasn't that bad. I was pleased to find that it wasn't just a hole in the ground. It was almost a real toilet. But just to be clear, this airport was no Washington Dulles. Culture shock #1.

While waiting for my flight to Kilimanjaro at Addis Ababa, I unexpectedly found a group of six other people from my EWH group, or rather, they found me wandering around looking lost and weary. Good thing I was wearing the T-shirt. What a relief. 

Most of the students are from Duke University and other U.S. schools, though there are many from different countries as well, including Canada, the UK, Germany, and Turkey. All extremely cool people, and equally unsure about what exactly we were getting ourselves into. 

We boarded the plane to Kilimanjaro, and arrived at the airport 2.5 hours later. We met Ben, our EWH "on the ground coordinator." After obtaining visas, we boarded a semi-sketchy looking safari van and headed 30 min down the road to the language school, formally known as MS TCDC (Training Centre for Development Cooperation in Eastern and Southern Africa, don't ask me what the MS stands for). 

The road to TCDC was an experience in itself. Tanzanians drive on the left side of the road, and there seemed to be little regard for traffic rules. I opened the large window and leaned my face out. The air was amazingly refreshing after being stuck on a plane. The weather was mild and slightly humid. The sides of the roads were covered in endless fields of sunflowers and corn. We passed Mt. Meru, the much smaller sister peak to Kilimanjaro. There were many little homes scattered about in between the fields, some more established than others. There were many people walking and biking on the sides of the roads. Many were women carrying large loads on their heads and children leading packs of goats, donkeys, and cattle. People dressed for the most part in "normal" clothes (jeans, slacks, polo shirts and t-shirts), though some were dressed more traditionally in tribal clothing. We passed the small town of Usa river, which consisted of shops haphazardly put together with mismatched paint and bricks. Many people were just hanging out and socializing outside the shops in plastic lawn chairs, often with a beer or soda in hand. They often waved and smiled at us as we passed, especially the children. People here are extremely friendly and welcoming, even to complete strangers. Despite having very little, Tanzanians seem genuinely happy. Culture shock #2.

Sunflowers everywhere! Mt. Meru in the background.
Sorry I haven't taken many pictures yet, this is the best I got. 
We met our host parents and more students with EWH. My host mother is Mamma Gauda, an incredibly friendly woman who insists we call her Mom and gives great hugs. Her home was full tonight, so my roommate and I and a few other students are staying at the cottages on campus until Friday, then we will move in with her. 

The cottages are luxurious by Tanzanian standards. The room has two comfortable twin beds with canopy mosquito nets, old wood floors, a shower with semi-hot water, a flushing toilet, and a sink. And wireless internet! I was expecting dirt floors, hole in the ground, and bucket showers, so naturally I feel pretty spoiled. When I move to Mamma Gauda's house the conditions may not be as nice. Many Tanzanians don't have running water or electricity in their homes. The TCDC is an oasis in the middle of poverty.  

Many of the other students are already with their host families, some a 30 min drive away from the school. The six of us who are staying in the cottages for the first nights have our meals prepared by Christopher, which so far have been quite good. Different, but good. We have fresh fruit with every meal, fresh squeezed juice, and a main course consisting usually of rice and mixed vegetable sauce with meat. The bananas are smaller and sweeter. The oranges are all green, but still delicious on the inside. Tonight for dinner we had what I think was leek and potato soup with rice and cooked vegetables. I don't know if this is actually traditional Tanzanian food, my guess is that when I eat with my host family it will be different. Probably more meat based, which will be interesting for my formerly vegetarian stomach. I'll try (almost) anything once. 

I slept amazing the first night. I awoke only once to the sound of crying babies, and learned today that there is an infant orphanage next door to the cottages. They care for orphaned babies until age two, when they are either returned to their families or adopted. 

After breakfast, we started class at 8am, but today it was just an long introduction and tour. Tanzanians are big on tea time, which they have twice a day. Basically, everyone stops whatever they are doing and goes to have tea and socialize together for a half hour. Which is awesome. Americans really need to adopt this tea time thing. 

I went for a run after the second tea, which consisted of running laps inside TCDC. Inside the school we are very safe. The area around the school is also considered safe, but I was still a little worried about going outside alone. I ran a little down the road outside of TCDC between the school and the orphanage. Some people gave me funny looks, but they always waved and smiled at me. A van tightly packed full of little boys dressed in school uniforms drove past me, and when they saw me they all leaned at the windows smiling and waving hysterically at me, yelling "Karibu!! Karibu!!" (Hello/welcome). This made my day. Running is very much an American thing I guess (culture shock #3). In other countries, people assume if you're running you must be being chased by something or you've just robbed someone.  Maybe tomorrow I'll be brave enough to venture outside the walls with a friend....or four. 

I have adjusted amazingly well to the time change (10 hours ahead of California). The bugs really aren't that bad, but I do have one massive mosquito bite on my face. Cute. Pray for no malaria. 

Tomorrow is our first day of formal classes. Swahili in the morning, engineering labs in the afternoon, in between lunch and tea. I can't wait to start learning from Swahili. Though most people speak some English here, I feel really stupid talking in English. I feel like a "silly american," you know?

And with that I'll leave you with the fun fact of the day: you all know at least one Swahili phrase. "Hukuna Matata." It means no worries. And if you don't, then, well, I'm sorry you seriously missed out on childhood. You may also know this one: "asanta sana (thank you very much) squash banana (squash banana) wewe nugu mimi apana (I'm a monkey and you're not)." Doesn't really make sense Rafiki. 

Usiku mwema! (goodnight!)

Friday, June 15, 2012

Hujambo!

In case you don't know where Tanzania is (yeah I had
to look it up too, no shame), located on the eastern coast
in prime safari areas, and home to Africa's highest peak
 and popular climbing destination Mt. Kilimanjaro
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Hello and welcome to my blog! My name is Laura, and I am a student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo studying electrical engineering. This summer, I have the privilege of traveling to Tanzania with the Engineering World Health Summer Institute Program, in affiliation with Duke University.

So......... what am I doing way over there?

Here is the short summary:

The purpose of the EWH SI program is to provide young engineers with a chance to live in a developing country with a local family, learn a new language, and use newly acquired technical skills to repair medical equipment in a nearby hospital, in order to improve the quality of healthcare in areas of great need. The first month I will take classes on medical device repair in developing countries and learn Swahili. The second month I will relocate and work independently at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Arusha, Tanzania repairing broken medical equipment and other projects. The program is completely voluntary. Though I will not be paid for my work, the experience is sure to be invaluable.

If you would like to learn more about Engineering World Health and the Summer Institute Program, here is a link to their website: http://ewh.org/index.php/programs/institutes

Detailed map of Tanzania. I will be staying in Arusha, located
at the base of  Kilimanjaro 
A little bit about me and why I decided to spend this summer in Africa: I spent the last two summers interning at Pacific Gas & Electric Co., first at Diablo Canyon in Avila Beach and then more recently at the headquarters in downtown San Fransico. Both were amazing experiences. Working at PG&E gave me insight into what it was like to work as an engineer in the "real world," or whatever that means. The experience was empowering: people respected my knowledge and treated me as a co-worker, not just a student. They valued my opinion and my work. It was there that I realized how valuable an engineering education really was......and that there was so much more I was capable of. As appealing as it is, when I graduate, I'm not quite ready to take a desk job at a big engineering company. I have discovered that my dad really was right: with an engineering degree and a lot of hard work, the possibilities are pretty endless. I want to continue my education, see the world, and discover what really matters to me and truly makes me happy, which is a pretty scary thing. I want to make a difference in the world blah blah blahhh.....inspiring right? Which is why I decided to spend this summer a little differently.

Einstein once said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results (one of my favorite quotes of all time, simple yet genius). And if you want to make a change in your life and find what you were really meant to do, you have to do new and challenging things and really push your comfort zones. When I received my acceptance into the EWH program a few months ago, on the outside I was thrilled, but on the inside I was filled with doubt and insecurity. A tiny part of me was hoping I wouldn't get accepted, and then I could go back to my cushy engineering job for the summer. No luck. I'm hoping for a life-changing mind-opening other-worldly reborn again kind of experience. I'll let you know how that goes.

I created this blog to keep my friends, family, and any one else interested up to date on my trip. Here I will be recording my experiences, thoughts, and pictures of my travels over the next two months. I am so excited to share my adventures with you, and I really hope you enjoy reading about them. Comments, questions, advice, and kind words are always welcome and appreciated.

Not my picture.... but I'm not leaving Tanzania until I see some elephants.

And for the boring stuff, here is the program schedule:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Schedule (June 20 - August 19)

EWH Summer Institute begins (June 20)
All participants meet at Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) in Tanzania, no later than 10PM. Meet host family.

Usa River, Tanzania (June 21 - July 18)
June 21: Orientation to Tanzania and EWH, Classes begin


Schedule for Monday-Thursday:
8:30-12:30         Swahili lessons
12:30-1:30         Lunch break
1:30-2:30           Lecture: Introduction to Medical Instruments and Measurements
2:30-5:30           Laboratory: Working in Developing World Hospitals

Schedule for Friday:
8:30-5:30 Field work in local hospital

June 23: Group Visit to an African Village

Host Hospital (July 19 - August 17)

July 19: Travel to host hospital
July 20 – August 17: Work in host hospital, 8:00 - 5:00 or as determined by your hospital supervisor

End of Program Conference (August 18 - August 19)
August 18: 3:00PM All students return to Usa River, Tanzania for presentations and discussion
August 19: 3:00PM Conference concludes

EWH Summer Experience ends (August 19)
3:00PM Shuttles to Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) in Tanzania
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Much more to come. For now, kwaheri! (still working on that Swahili....)