Halloween in Morogoro

Despite the fact that Tanzanians don't celebrate Halloween (most have never even heard of it) yesterday still ended up being one of the coolest Halloweens I've ever had.

Yesterday was Play Day, a once-a-month event hosted by our partner organization Faraja Trust Fund at their Home Based Care Department. Unfortunately we're only in Morogoro for one of them as we leave right before the next one in November. This has been something that I have been looking forward to since reading about it in the blogs of past volunteers, so I'd been looking forward to this day quite a bit!

For Play Day, about 50 children who are HIV-affected (most are infected with HIV themselves while others have been orphaned by the disease) come to the center with their caregivers to play games, have fun, eat a healthy lunch and enjoy being children in a stigma-free environment. As volunteers we went to the center bringing toys and games we'd brought from Canada including soccer balls, crayons, playdough, stickers (which the kids loved!) etc. At this time Godfrey and Gasto also spoke with the children who were 12 years old and above about HIV, talking about living responsibly with the disease and answering their questions. Makho has been doing this presentation for years and the children have really grown to trust him and be open with him but unfortunately he is sick right now but from talking with the children after I think they were still able to learn from the presentation.

That afternoon we got to do something that hasn't been done at previous Play Days. YCI had been asked to find a way of including the older youth in a more active way to encourage them to come out to Play Day and attend the presentation. To do so we got to take all of the older youth in a daladala to the Rock Garden. This is a secluded area with tons of trees and rocks that, when it rains which it has been lately, fills with water to create beautiful swimming holes. All of the kids got a soda and then we separated the boys and girls (most of them don't have proper swimwear so this meant they didn't need to worry about modesty) so they could enjoy an afternoon of swimming. I spent time swimming with the girls and they had such a blast splashing around.

It was so great to see because these kids have been given a really tough life, through no fault of their own. I was so glad that YCI got to give them a chance to just enjoy an afternoon and be kids. Other than during the HIV presentation there was never any mention that these kids were sick (although there is counselling available at the center) and the presentation was really to encourage them that with the proper knowledge and medical care they can leave fulfilling and happy lives. It's really upsetting to think about it too much, the unfairness of it, how hard life is for these kids. It's something I really tried not to think about during the day, in order to just help them enjoy the day as much as possible. However it's definitely upsetting because these kids deserve every chance and opportunity, just like kids all over the world, but for the most part they won't get it.

This is why I really respect the work being done by YCI and Faraja. While I'm just here for two months getting a taste of what life is like for people living with HIV, they deal with it everyday. I'm really proud to have been able to help even a little bit and I know that the pictures that I have from Play Day are going to be some of the ones I look back on most fondly.

After the Rock Garden Michael, Nicole and I decided that we needed to do something to celebrate Halloween so we went to Pira's a small grocery store in town and bought some chocolate. A few days ago we'd got CD's with a collection of Bruce Willis and Will Smith movies on them so we sat down with our chocolate in the YCI office and watched The Sixth Sense. Later that night we went out for sodas and watched the Man Utd vs Blackbyrn soccer game (if I haven't mentioned this already soccer is HUGE in Tanzania). Overall it was a pretty great day.

It's so hard to believe that I will be home in exactly 4 weeks! I finish my time in Morogoro 3 weeks tomorrow and take the bus out to Dar es Salaam. There we have a de-brief with all the staff and the Zanzibar volunteers and then we fly home. I'll be stopping in Montreal for a few days and then it's home to Vancouver!

Next weekend the Zanzibar volunteers are coming to Morogoro and we're going on a two-day safari at Mikumi National Park so that will be really exciting. After that we'll be wrapping up our programming, writing our final activity reports and saying our goodbyes. I just know the time is going to fly! There hasn't been a day yet where I don't wake up and pinch myself in total disbelief that I'm living in Tanzania. It has been a very cool experience and I'm exciting for what's still to come.

Love from Morogoro!
Melissa