Power to the People

I was so kindly reminded by my aunt that I have not written in a while. Voila, my overdue blog post!

Things have been going around here. I can tell time is passing by because I find myself stuck inside most afternoons due to the heavy rains that grace Tanzania every “spring”. School is going well. I do not have as many students as I thought I was going to have. Come to think of it I don't know the actual number of students I currently teach, but it equates to roughly three sections of 80 kids.

One morning last week a parade of villagers with jembes (hoes) walked through the school grounds. According to my headmaster they were on their way to dig a trench for the new water supply. The water is going to be rerouted from another source, although as this plan was being hatched the water magically started flowing from the pipes around school again! As the villagers were digging the trench they cut through a PVC pipe that housed the electricity to the teachers' houses. How they cut through PCV with a jembe and did not think twice about it, I will never know. The electricity was eventually fixed by myself and a few of the male teachers. The whole experience actually produced two good things. One, I got to spend some QT/ Cross Cultural time with the fellow teachers. I attempted to explain to them that this sort of thing would never happen in the States. In fact, we rarely lose power unless there is a huge storm or everyone in NYC decides to turn on their air conditioners and blows the grid the middle of a heat wave. The second positive thing to come out of patching up the electricity was showing the other teachers that a woman can use a knife and knows something about wiring.

Last week, I went to Tukuyu to check the PO Box. To my delight, I received a Peace Corps newsletter and my VOA calendar! ( If you are thinking this is pathetic, you are right). On my way home, I jumped on the coaster as usual and was stuffed into a seat. The coaster is set up with two seats on one side and one seat on the other side of the aisle. In an effort not to waste space there is also a jump seat that drops down to seat a total of four full grown adults across. These four seats quickly become five due to conductors who want to make more money out of their trip. Most of the time there is no room to “sogea” or squeeze over and my experience last week was no exception. Normally I do not complain when they make me move to squeeze one more person in. On this particular trip, however, there was a hefty gentleman to my right and no room to move. The conductor tried to add another person, but thankfully the people in my row explained that they would not pay or would get off the bus if he tried to shove another body in our row. After hearing this loud exchange and realizing we got our way I got a little too excited (or was really delirious, not sure), fist pumped and yelled, “power to the people!!”. As everyone was staring at me the conductor turned around, parted two people in my row and stuck another body in between me and the stay-puff. Lesson of the day, don't celebrate too early and the conductor will always get his way.

Lately there has been much discussion in East Africa about aid from Great Britain. According to many countries over here Britain will not/ is threatening to with hold aid from countries who do not want to change their views or laws concerning human rights, namely gay rights. Somehow this topic came up in the teacher's lounge one day. A teacher was saying how he was listening to the news and he could not understand why someone would protect gay rights unless he himself was gay. I was not going to involve myself in the conversation (theme of this blog), but I felt the need to set the record straight, that someone who stands up for gay rights is not necessarily gay. Some of the teachers at my school think that Great Britain is attempting to, “make [Tanzanians] gay”. They are scared that the only thing keeping them safe from being overtaken is their culture in which it is illegal to be homosexual. I feel this issue is important because it has two sides. Tanzanians are very protective of their culture. In some ways I can see how their culture has been stripped down in the past few decades because of a need to keep up with other developing countries and new technology. As some teachers explained to me, Tanzanians feel the government's job is to protect and promote culture and if that means turning down aid from developed countries, then so be it. I think it is brave of them to tell Britain that they do not need financial aid. I think it is naive to think that homosexuals do not deserve the same rights as everyone else. I also think it is naive to think that establishing equal rights to homosexuals will allow them to “take over” and “cause an end to the human race”. Eventually I explained that I think it is a human right to love whom ever you want. After this confession I received a whole bunch of Bible quotes and that is where I decided to leave the conversation. Often I find myself realizing that no matter how much sense I think I make when arguing my point of view, people here will not understand where I am coming from. They are either deeply rooted in their culture, they feel they are being attacked or they rely on a really old book . I wish I could show them that forward thinking and culture can go hand in hand. Maybe culture could even be preserved by forward thinking...

Speaking of forward thinking, last week I was roped into judging an inter-school debate. Mporoto Secondary came to our school to debate the topic of corporal punishment in schools. It was actually really interesting because the debate was in English and because it was on a topic I feel very strongly about. The students mentioned all of the big pros and cons I have been struggling with since I became a teacher here. Apparently the students are more aware of the situation than I thought they were. One question that was asked during the debate, but unfortunately did not receive and answer was, “What method of discipline should replace corporal punishment in schools?”. For some reason the students could not come up with an alternative. I was again surprised because they are the ones on the wrong end of the stick (literally), but I really cannot blame them. I still have yet to come up with an alternative that would work in all situations. I truly believe the whole education system might need to be changed if the schools wish to eliminate corporal punishment.

While I am on the topic of corporal punishment, today was a rough day at school. I was busy in the staff room grading exams when one of the new teachers came into the room leading a form one student with a stick in his hand. He proceeded to make the student get down into plank position and hit him with a stick on his rear end until he cried. The entire time the student was crying and begging the teacher to stop. After about the fifth smack I looked up and felt the need to intervene. Besides the fact that the student was in physical pain, the whole scene was really disrupting. The teacher let the student go and then turned his attention to me because I had asked him to stop. He was claimed the student had cheated and I asked him if I had not said anything when he would have stopped. Unfortunately the conversation escalated amongst background laughter from the internship teachers. I should mention here that the internship teachers are not used to me being “American”, so what they were witnessing, someone going against the grain, was probably hysterical. The argument, by this point, ended with me explaining that the Tanzanian Ministry of Education says that the only person who is allowed to punish the students using corporal punishment is the headmaster. The teacher just laughed in my face. Now, I am know full well that I should not get into with other teachers, especially over the matter of punishments. I have been putting up with the same scene for over a year now and frankly my patience is wearing very thin. Just the other day at the school of another volunteer a student had to go to the hospital because a teacher beat her so hard. I honestly feel the need to step in when I see a teacher is clearly just picking on a student and taking out their aggression on the student. That is when things go from bad to worse very quickly. I do not think I would ever forgive myself if a student was hurt that badly and I did not step in if I could have.

Alright well I guess that is it for now. Going to enjoy a nice cup of warm, homemade, soy milk. Ah the joys of being a volunteer! I hope everyone is doing well at home! Miss you all! Happy Leap Day!

All my love from TZ!

Technologic

Do you realize if it weren't for Edison we'd be watching TV by candlelight? -Al Boliska

This morning I decided that the laundry basket in my bedroom needed to be emptied as it was starting to over flow onto the floor. The last couple months I have been slow to do laundry because of the on going water issues in my village. I am not sure how many of you realize this, but it takes me about 40L of water to do a whole load of laundry. This may not seem like much, but it can take me upwards of an hour just to get the water, then I have to hand wash all the clothes. Let's just say I would give up many precious things for a washing machine at this point in my service.

Alright, so on to the real point of this post. I arrived at the local water spout at 8:30 this morning. As usual there were about five or six dirt encrusted children sitting around waiting their turn to use the spout and a few adults as well. Two teenage girls were sitting around the spout dressed in the traditional mix of goodwill donated clothing and kitenge. They were talking about something and then one pulled out a cell phone and started taking pictures of her friend or sister. I thought this was pretty interesting. I was not intrigued by the cell phone, they are everywhere here, but by how familiar the act of whipping out a cell phone and snapping a picture is to teenagers the world over. Just goes to show how alike we all are.

The cell phone also reminded me that many people in America have this notion that many countries in Africa are still stuck in the “stone age”. While I have found this to be somewhat true, in the sense of the“if it isn't broken don't fix it” mentality of many Africans; I have also found it to be remarkably untrue. I will admit that there are times when I find technology here laughable because it seems so out of place. For instance, when a mama, layered in vitenge, shoeless, is out on her plot of land using a hoe that looks like it could have been used more than 100 years ago and she answers her cell phone. However, I really cannot laugh at the fact that I am surfing the internet right now thanks to my usb modem or “dongle” as it more affectionately known by PCVs. I also cannot laugh at the fact that I own a blender and a hot plate, two things that I really love having here. Many people here also have computers, granted most of those people do not live in my village. In fact, the other day I was on the coaster home from the post office and the woman sitting in front of me had her netbook out and was watching movies. Given this is the first Tanzanian I have seen open a computer on a bus and I was wondering if I would ever see it, but it just goes to show that technology is becoming more available here. I do wonder, however, if the availability of electricity, or rather lack there of, will eventually hinder the progress of technology in some African countries like Tanzania. Many people here do not have reliable electricity let alone any electricity. Which begs the question why would you spend money on a TV or a computer if you do not have reliable electricity? You wouldn't. This is probably why many people here who could potentially afford to own such items do not have them. I think that if the power supply in Tanzania becomes more reliable we will begin to see an increase in the number of computers, especially in schools. I think the price of such technology would eventually drop if there was greater access to electricity due to supply and demand. It will be interesting to as availability of power increases if there is an increased use of computers and other modern technology. I guess time will tell.

Well I guess that is enough rambling for the moment. Today is Sunday, which means I have yet another week of school ahead. Sometimes it seems like time never moves here and then again, looking back, it has moved surprisingly fast. At least this week I do not have to do a lab three times over with 50 kids each time... that will test your patience.

Hope things are going well at home! Just a reminder that Monday begins Random Act of Kindness week! Try to do a RAK every day next week. It can be as small as holding the door for someone, saying “Good Morning” with a smile or giving some a compliment!

All my love from TZ

Guerrilla Warfare

Where to start? It's only been a week or two since my last blog post, but as we have already established – events here come in waves.

I guess it is best to start with the sad news first. About a week ago my neighbor passed away. She left five children (one was three weeks old), a husband (a teacher at my school), a sister and many friends. No one is really sure what the cause of death was, but I guess it does not matter. I think what does matter however is how when tragedy strikes a community pulls together. I was actually amazed how similarly affairs are taken care of here and in America. The only thing I found a little different was the separation of the sexes. The day Mama Anna passed away all of the women who were close to her flocked to her house and the men sat outside. I should admit here that I become a very awkward person when I heard someone has died and go to visit the family. I never know what to say or do. Come to think of it... who really does? So, I dreaded going to the family's house, but I reminded myself I signed up for the entire experience – good or bad. As is custom, I wrapped myself up in my most colorful fabric, took my shoes off, greeted all of the women sitting on the floor in the house, sat against the wall and cried. To make matters worse one of the older woman directed me to sit next to Mama Anna's children who, as one can imagine, were inconsolable. I did my best to comfort them by rubbing backs, but like I said not really my specialty. I will miss Mama Anna. She was such a friendly woman. She  always smiled and waved whenever she saw me. She was also the only Tanzania woman I saw play physical games with her kids and for that she gets huge props in my book.

The last thing I would like to say about the funeral was the procession to the church. After people gathered at the family's house we all piled into lorries, students, teachers, friends, family. Lorries are big trucks that they transport potatoes and other produce in. It has a metal bar roll cage covering, but it is more or less a glorified pick up truck. Once we started rolling one of the older female students next to me started to sing. It quickly turned into a call and response song to which I wished I knew the words. It was absolutely beautiful to hear them all singing. As we climbed up the green mountain side and I stared out from the lorrie I realized how truly special my experience here has been so far. I have been accepted into a community with open arms, no questions asked. I am expected to celebrate with the community as member and mourn as a member. At school I am treated no differently than the rest of the teachers. My issues matter just as much as theirs. At this point I feel I could not ask for more – I have blended into the background.

Now for some happier news. This week our from VI A-level students graduated! Yesterday was the sherehe (party) for which I assumed my normal role in the kitchen. I know I have complained about being a woman in Tanzania before, but graduations are the one exception. Why? Well instead of having to sit at the head table with the Mkuu, Guest of Honor and other male teachers I get to hide in the kitchen and no one cares. In the kitchen I am usually placed on some sort of “baby task” (i.e. peeling carrots, cleaning peppers, cutting cabbage), but I do not mind. The rest of the time is spend gossiping, involuntarily inhaling smoke from the wood fires and being the unofficial food tester. Not too shabby.

Graduation went off without a hitch... four hours later than planned. Apparently the guest of honor decided that showing up at 2pm was much better than showing up at 10 am. About halfway through the ceremony I decided I had had enough smoke and loud music, so I went home for awhile and reappeared just in time to greet the guest of honor and be offered a beer, which I politely declined.

Not too much else to report from here. Today we had a staff meeting. We discussed the fact that the villagers think the teachers will be leaving the school because of what happened to Mama Anna and all of us being, supposedly, superstitious. We also discussed an issue that has plagued our school for a few weeks now. According to my head master there is a rouge ex-form IV student who hides in the bushes and ambushes form I students on their way to and from school. He attacks without warning and steals their notebooks. We were told to keep a lookout for him. If we see him, we are to capture him and bring him to the school office. I have two things to say about this:
1. I am amazed that I understood this whole scenario as it was explained in Swahili.

2. This story made me laugh so hard I almost had to leave the staff room. Apparently no one else thought a kid using guerrilla warfare to target only high school freshman and steal their notebooks was funny.

Oh! Almost forgot. I survived my 25^th birthday with the help of some awesome friends. They planned a BBQ, made me wear birthday glasses and even baked me a cake with Nutella frosting and candles! Thanks again Anna, Anne, Kat, TJ, Eric, Brandon, Andrew, Hannah and Jess!

Hope February is treating everyone well back at home. It has started to rain more here, but is still unseasonably cold for summer time. I just hope May, June and July are not too cold.

All my love from TZ.