This is my last post from Morogoro.
On Monday we get on a bus to go to Dar es Salaam for a day of debriefing with the staff and Zanzibar volunteers. Then I get on a plane for Montreal. I'll be in Montreal for six days and back home on November 29th.
This past week has been filled with goodbyes. We had our last English and Computer class which Nicole and I filled with a review activity and the post-tests. (Michael was recovering from malaria, but he is now feeling fully recovered!)Then on Thursday we had the final graduation for those that had attended enough classes to get the certificate. It was great to be able to recognize their hardwork. Then we took a bunch of pictures with the students. On Wednesday we took the Good Governance class on a fieldtrip to learn about Governance in Tanzania and also had post-tests and a graduation ceremony. We also stopped by the drama practice to say goodbye.
Yesterday we went to the Faraja Trust Fund meeting (our partner organization, a local Tanzanian NGO) where they gave us certificates of appreciation and t-shirts to thank us for our work. It was really sweet. Then we had our regular YCI weekly meeting where we debriefed the week and got our personal evaluations (mine was surprising similar to my Emotional Intelligence results for those of you reading from the SPDC so I think Makho was pretty accurate). Finally last night we went to dinner at the Oasis Hotel with the YCI staff. It was probably the best meal we've had since leaving Canada so it was definitely a nice evening. We also saw tons of bats flying overhead and frog decided to hang out under Makho's chair so it was a cool night.
This weekend we're just saying our goodbyes to our families and packing.
I'll try to post at least once more about my time in Dar es Salaam and Montreal.
Thank you to everyone who has been reading this! I've loved hearing from all of you and it's really helped me feel connected to life back in Canada. I can't wait to see you all in person in just over a week!
Love, for the last time, from Moro!
Melissa-
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
Busy Week
Hello everyone!
This last week has been quite busy so I'll just give you a quick update. I can't believe how quickly the time has gone! In one week exactly I'll be landing in the Amsterdam airport for a six-hour lay-over before I get on a plane to Montreal!
Last week was our last normal week of programming. This week we are mostly doing post-tests to help access what the students have learned during our time here and graduation ceremonies, as well as a visiting the drama club one last time to say goodbye and having a debrief dinner with the Morogoro YCI staff. Then we have a free weekend (no plans yet but I'm sure it will be filled with goodbyes) and Monday we get on a bus to meet up with the Zanzibar staff and volunteers in Dar for another debrief session. Then that night Stephanie, Nicole, Tyler and I all head to the airport to catch our flights (Michael is traveling after and Evan's plane leaves Tuesday evening).
The Side Street School class that Gasto teaches with the help of Michael and Nicole ended last week. For English class I finished up the curriculum that I'd drawn up during the first week here (seems like so long ago!) on Tuesday and was going to do review on Thursday. The problem was that we were locked out of our classroom and the Basic class had to leave early to go to the Internet cafe for a practical Computer class. So the few Intermediate students that showed up (it was raining so many students stayed home) and I all sat in the Chamwino Youth Center office having discussions to practice their English. I asked them questions and had them ask me questions. It was actually really great because at one point I told them that they could leave because we'd been working for an hour and they all asked if we could practice some more! It was really great for me because I know for most of these students the Computer class is way more interesting and exciting for them (most of them have never touched a computer before this class) and yet here were these students wanting to stay for extra English practice! :) I've been trying new ways of making the class more interactive and exciting for the students including silly variations on Simon Says and giving them skits to act out. The skits have been great because the students really enjoy it and some of the shyer students have become more outgoing and will speak in English in front of the whole class! The English class has definitely been the class with which I've had the most responsibility and therefore the changes that I'm seeing are the ones that make me the most proud. Two students from the last phase's Intermediate class were able to get jobs because of the skills that they had learned so I look forward to hearing about what lies ahead for the students we've been working with.
For Good Governance on Wednesday we had a guest speaker come to talk about Women in Governance. Then Michael and I taught about Governance in Canada. We talked briefly about things like the structure of the Canadian government, Quebec separatists (which is similar to Zanzibar wanting to separate from the rest of Tanzania) and the Sponsorship scandal as an example of corruption in Canada. Then we did an activity where each group was given a short description of a different canadian province/region (including relative size, resources, main issues etc.) and they had to come up with two laws to present to the group that would be a benefit to their area. The students actually did really well, some even identifying needs in their province that weren't clearly explained in their notes (ex. one girl representing BC talked about the need for services in rural communities).
On Friday we had our last HIV outreach event, a talent show in the local community of Mafisa. We did condom demonstrations, handed out information booklets (which people wanted so badly that they were pushing and grabbing so badly that Gasto had to grab the booklets and run away until they calmed down!) and Michael participated in one of the skits on condoms that we've helped with in the past.
Outside of programming, our homestay family has been great. Our Mama was telling us that soon we will be in Canada and that we will see our mothers and they will give us big hugs. Then she told us that she would miss us! We told her that we would miss her too. Nicky has been totally full-of-beans lately so we've been having lots of fun chasing each other around the courtyard. We've had pasta a few times recently as our Mama is trying to feed us some Canadian food which is really sweet. Unfortunately no one has had the heart to explain to her that we don't usually just eat cooked noodles so we've been having plain spaghetti noodles. It's still good and reminds me of home and I'm touched by the effort that she and the whole family has made to make us comfortable.
On Saturday Nicole and I took the bus into Dar es Salaam to attend our homestay brother Paulo's college graduation. He had invited us because his family couldn't attend. He met up with us in Dar and we took two daladalas and a ferry to get to his college. He graduated with a diploma of Economic Development. He was so happy and kept telling us where we could take pictures of him "if we wanted to". :) The president of Tanzania was supposed to be the guest of honour which would have been cool but he wasn't able to make it. In true Tanzanian fashion, the ceremony started two hours late but Nicole and I found a spot to sit and read until it started. Now Paulo is working towards a Bachelor of Economics and is hoping to move on a get his Masters and PhD so he can be a college professor. It's really exciting for him and his family and we were glad that we could go and take pictures to show them. I brought a picture frame from home intending to give it as a gift along with a picture of us and the family so we'll definitely also be printing off some pictures of the graduation to give them as well.
After we got home from the graduation Michael, Paulo and I went to a local club (which they call a disco) and met up with Makho and his girlfriend Maggie. It's really just a big open space with some tables and chairs playing lots of R&B, Bongo Flava and House music. We danced for quite a while and it was a lot of fun. Last night Nicole, Michael and I decided to go out for dinner so we walked to a restaurant called Dragonnaires hoping for pizza. Unfortunately they only have pizza on Fridays so we had pasta instead but it was still good. However Michael wasn't feeling well so after we got home he went to the hospital with Makho and it turns out he has malaria! Malaria, if caught early and properly treated, is just like a bad case of the flu. Michael's already feeling a little better this morning and will hopefully be fully recovered in a few days. Malaria is really a problem for those who can't afford to see a doctor and get the appropriate medication (which costs about 15,000 TSh, less than $15 Cdn).
Sorry for the long post. This past week has been super busy writing up Final Activity Reports. I'm still finishing up Lesson plans for all my English classes and then on Friday we'll have to submit final drafts of our Reports and our Creative project (a photo slideshow from our time in Tanzania, this is something the YCI staff in Toronto use for marketing).
I'm very excited to see all of you when I get home in less than two weeks! I've still got some time before I see you so keep those e-mails coming! I love hearing about life back in Canada.
Love from Moro,
Melissa
This last week has been quite busy so I'll just give you a quick update. I can't believe how quickly the time has gone! In one week exactly I'll be landing in the Amsterdam airport for a six-hour lay-over before I get on a plane to Montreal!
Last week was our last normal week of programming. This week we are mostly doing post-tests to help access what the students have learned during our time here and graduation ceremonies, as well as a visiting the drama club one last time to say goodbye and having a debrief dinner with the Morogoro YCI staff. Then we have a free weekend (no plans yet but I'm sure it will be filled with goodbyes) and Monday we get on a bus to meet up with the Zanzibar staff and volunteers in Dar for another debrief session. Then that night Stephanie, Nicole, Tyler and I all head to the airport to catch our flights (Michael is traveling after and Evan's plane leaves Tuesday evening).
The Side Street School class that Gasto teaches with the help of Michael and Nicole ended last week. For English class I finished up the curriculum that I'd drawn up during the first week here (seems like so long ago!) on Tuesday and was going to do review on Thursday. The problem was that we were locked out of our classroom and the Basic class had to leave early to go to the Internet cafe for a practical Computer class. So the few Intermediate students that showed up (it was raining so many students stayed home) and I all sat in the Chamwino Youth Center office having discussions to practice their English. I asked them questions and had them ask me questions. It was actually really great because at one point I told them that they could leave because we'd been working for an hour and they all asked if we could practice some more! It was really great for me because I know for most of these students the Computer class is way more interesting and exciting for them (most of them have never touched a computer before this class) and yet here were these students wanting to stay for extra English practice! :) I've been trying new ways of making the class more interactive and exciting for the students including silly variations on Simon Says and giving them skits to act out. The skits have been great because the students really enjoy it and some of the shyer students have become more outgoing and will speak in English in front of the whole class! The English class has definitely been the class with which I've had the most responsibility and therefore the changes that I'm seeing are the ones that make me the most proud. Two students from the last phase's Intermediate class were able to get jobs because of the skills that they had learned so I look forward to hearing about what lies ahead for the students we've been working with.
For Good Governance on Wednesday we had a guest speaker come to talk about Women in Governance. Then Michael and I taught about Governance in Canada. We talked briefly about things like the structure of the Canadian government, Quebec separatists (which is similar to Zanzibar wanting to separate from the rest of Tanzania) and the Sponsorship scandal as an example of corruption in Canada. Then we did an activity where each group was given a short description of a different canadian province/region (including relative size, resources, main issues etc.) and they had to come up with two laws to present to the group that would be a benefit to their area. The students actually did really well, some even identifying needs in their province that weren't clearly explained in their notes (ex. one girl representing BC talked about the need for services in rural communities).
On Friday we had our last HIV outreach event, a talent show in the local community of Mafisa. We did condom demonstrations, handed out information booklets (which people wanted so badly that they were pushing and grabbing so badly that Gasto had to grab the booklets and run away until they calmed down!) and Michael participated in one of the skits on condoms that we've helped with in the past.
Outside of programming, our homestay family has been great. Our Mama was telling us that soon we will be in Canada and that we will see our mothers and they will give us big hugs. Then she told us that she would miss us! We told her that we would miss her too. Nicky has been totally full-of-beans lately so we've been having lots of fun chasing each other around the courtyard. We've had pasta a few times recently as our Mama is trying to feed us some Canadian food which is really sweet. Unfortunately no one has had the heart to explain to her that we don't usually just eat cooked noodles so we've been having plain spaghetti noodles. It's still good and reminds me of home and I'm touched by the effort that she and the whole family has made to make us comfortable.
On Saturday Nicole and I took the bus into Dar es Salaam to attend our homestay brother Paulo's college graduation. He had invited us because his family couldn't attend. He met up with us in Dar and we took two daladalas and a ferry to get to his college. He graduated with a diploma of Economic Development. He was so happy and kept telling us where we could take pictures of him "if we wanted to". :) The president of Tanzania was supposed to be the guest of honour which would have been cool but he wasn't able to make it. In true Tanzanian fashion, the ceremony started two hours late but Nicole and I found a spot to sit and read until it started. Now Paulo is working towards a Bachelor of Economics and is hoping to move on a get his Masters and PhD so he can be a college professor. It's really exciting for him and his family and we were glad that we could go and take pictures to show them. I brought a picture frame from home intending to give it as a gift along with a picture of us and the family so we'll definitely also be printing off some pictures of the graduation to give them as well.
After we got home from the graduation Michael, Paulo and I went to a local club (which they call a disco) and met up with Makho and his girlfriend Maggie. It's really just a big open space with some tables and chairs playing lots of R&B, Bongo Flava and House music. We danced for quite a while and it was a lot of fun. Last night Nicole, Michael and I decided to go out for dinner so we walked to a restaurant called Dragonnaires hoping for pizza. Unfortunately they only have pizza on Fridays so we had pasta instead but it was still good. However Michael wasn't feeling well so after we got home he went to the hospital with Makho and it turns out he has malaria! Malaria, if caught early and properly treated, is just like a bad case of the flu. Michael's already feeling a little better this morning and will hopefully be fully recovered in a few days. Malaria is really a problem for those who can't afford to see a doctor and get the appropriate medication (which costs about 15,000 TSh, less than $15 Cdn).
Sorry for the long post. This past week has been super busy writing up Final Activity Reports. I'm still finishing up Lesson plans for all my English classes and then on Friday we'll have to submit final drafts of our Reports and our Creative project (a photo slideshow from our time in Tanzania, this is something the YCI staff in Toronto use for marketing).
I'm very excited to see all of you when I get home in less than two weeks! I've still got some time before I see you so keep those e-mails coming! I love hearing about life back in Canada.
Love from Moro,
Melissa
Monday, November 9, 2009
Safari!
Saturday the Zanzibar volunteers traveled to Morogoro where we got picked up for our safari at Mikumi National Park. We arrived at the park in the afternoon for our first game drive. We all figured it would be hard to see animals and we would have to keep our eyes peeled and maybe we would catch sight of some cool animals. This was certainly not the case. There were animals everywhere! Once we were in the park we saw lions, elephants, giraffes, buffalo, zebras, baboons, antelope, red-backs, hippos, crocodiles and various birds. We got out of the truck at the hippo pool to watch the hippos and the crocodiles.
It was pretty funny because my homestay family is always playing these gospel music videos where all of the choir singers are in matching outfits, dancing and singing with weird backdrops or green-screening. When we were at the hippo pool there was a group filming a gospel video! It was so funny and we took lots of pictures to show our family.
Our truck had a roof that lifted up so we got to have a great view throughout our safari. Our driver was really good at pointing out animals and stopping so we could get good pictures. Sometimes the animals were so close! At one point there were huge elephants on the road right in front of our truck we were all a little nervous but it was amazing! The first night we stayed at a guesthouse near the park. Nicole and I were so excited because the room that we shared with Stephanie had 3 single beds so we didn't have to share! (We've been sharing our bed in Morogoro for 6 weeks now and enjoyed the extra space)That night Tyler and I watched an intense stand-off between a lizard and a giant grasshopper. Eventually the grasshopper flew away but it looked for a while like it was going to be the lizard's dinner.
The next day we got up early for another game drive (some of the animals like the lions are more active early in the morning). It was on our way to the park on the second day that we saw the lions. There were two males and one female and it apparently they had just had a big meal because our driver explained that the day of a big meal they will mate every 15-20 minutes! This will continue with decreasing frequency for the next 5 days until it's time to eat again. One male was alone as apparently the other was the stronger one and had won the right to mate with the female.
Then we continued on our second game drive. It was amazing and I kept thinking how crazy it was that we were so close to these wild animals. Then we had lunch at a restaurant in the entrance to the park and got to watch buffalo and elephants at a nearby watering hole cover themselves with mud to help protect against the sun. It was really cool. I also had a great time with the Zanzibar volunteers. We all assigned each other "spirit animals" although I'm not sure if I like being compared to a baboon! :)
After the safari the Zanzi volunteers checked into their hotel in Morogoro and then they walked around with us, meet our homestay families and saw the town. Then we went for dinner and played pool back at the hotel.
Now there's just two weeks left before we leave Tanzania. I can't believe how fast the time has gone and I'm sure the next two weeks will fly by! Our Final Activity Reports are due in one week so any spare time we get this week is going towards working on those, writing up what we accomplished over the last two months and our recommendations for the next set of volunteers (who will arrive in January and continue the programs that we've been working on). Although I'm sure I will be sad to leave and I've really loved this experience, I'm definitely looking forward to going home, seeing my family and friends and being clean and cold for an extended period of time. This week is our last HIV/AIDS outreach event, the Ushujaa 'Courage for Life' talent show. Next week we finish our classes and have our graduation ceremonies.
Then on the Monday we take a bus to Dar es Salaam and meet up with the Zanzi volunteers for a day of group de-briefing before everyone starts leaving. I'll be flying as far home as Montreal and then spending a few days there before returning home to Vancouver on November 29th (less than 3 weeks away)!!!
Keep those e-mails coming as I still love reading them!
Happy Birthday to all November birthdays including Dad, Justin and Emily! (Sorry if I forgot anyone)
Love from Moro!
Melissa
It was pretty funny because my homestay family is always playing these gospel music videos where all of the choir singers are in matching outfits, dancing and singing with weird backdrops or green-screening. When we were at the hippo pool there was a group filming a gospel video! It was so funny and we took lots of pictures to show our family.
Our truck had a roof that lifted up so we got to have a great view throughout our safari. Our driver was really good at pointing out animals and stopping so we could get good pictures. Sometimes the animals were so close! At one point there were huge elephants on the road right in front of our truck we were all a little nervous but it was amazing! The first night we stayed at a guesthouse near the park. Nicole and I were so excited because the room that we shared with Stephanie had 3 single beds so we didn't have to share! (We've been sharing our bed in Morogoro for 6 weeks now and enjoyed the extra space)That night Tyler and I watched an intense stand-off between a lizard and a giant grasshopper. Eventually the grasshopper flew away but it looked for a while like it was going to be the lizard's dinner.
The next day we got up early for another game drive (some of the animals like the lions are more active early in the morning). It was on our way to the park on the second day that we saw the lions. There were two males and one female and it apparently they had just had a big meal because our driver explained that the day of a big meal they will mate every 15-20 minutes! This will continue with decreasing frequency for the next 5 days until it's time to eat again. One male was alone as apparently the other was the stronger one and had won the right to mate with the female.
Then we continued on our second game drive. It was amazing and I kept thinking how crazy it was that we were so close to these wild animals. Then we had lunch at a restaurant in the entrance to the park and got to watch buffalo and elephants at a nearby watering hole cover themselves with mud to help protect against the sun. It was really cool. I also had a great time with the Zanzibar volunteers. We all assigned each other "spirit animals" although I'm not sure if I like being compared to a baboon! :)
After the safari the Zanzi volunteers checked into their hotel in Morogoro and then they walked around with us, meet our homestay families and saw the town. Then we went for dinner and played pool back at the hotel.
Now there's just two weeks left before we leave Tanzania. I can't believe how fast the time has gone and I'm sure the next two weeks will fly by! Our Final Activity Reports are due in one week so any spare time we get this week is going towards working on those, writing up what we accomplished over the last two months and our recommendations for the next set of volunteers (who will arrive in January and continue the programs that we've been working on). Although I'm sure I will be sad to leave and I've really loved this experience, I'm definitely looking forward to going home, seeing my family and friends and being clean and cold for an extended period of time. This week is our last HIV/AIDS outreach event, the Ushujaa 'Courage for Life' talent show. Next week we finish our classes and have our graduation ceremonies.
Then on the Monday we take a bus to Dar es Salaam and meet up with the Zanzi volunteers for a day of group de-briefing before everyone starts leaving. I'll be flying as far home as Montreal and then spending a few days there before returning home to Vancouver on November 29th (less than 3 weeks away)!!!
Keep those e-mails coming as I still love reading them!
Happy Birthday to all November birthdays including Dad, Justin and Emily! (Sorry if I forgot anyone)
Love from Moro!
Melissa
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Volunteer Blogs
I haven't been able to post any pictures because I left my camera cord at home and apparently the special kind of USB that I need isn't sold in Morogoro.
So in case you're curious I'm posting the website addresses of the blogs of some of the other volunteers. They all have pictures that might help give you an idea of what life in Tanzania is like.
http://michaelwithoutborders.blogspot.com/
This is Michael's blog, one of the Morogoro volunteers. This is probably the most useful one and he's got some great pictures of the YCI staff, Morogoro and some of our programming. His blog also has links to mine and the other volunteer blogs.
http://www.getjealous.com/stephinzanzibar
This is Stephanie's blog, one of the the Zanzibar volunteers.
http://etrippel.blogspot.com/
This is Evan's blog. Evan has some beautiful pictures that will give you an idea of what I saw on my weekend in Zanzibar.
If any of you are looking for someway to procrastinate from studying for midterms I just gave you hours of well-wasted time! Your welcome! :)
Miss you all! I'll be home in a month!
Love
Melissa
So in case you're curious I'm posting the website addresses of the blogs of some of the other volunteers. They all have pictures that might help give you an idea of what life in Tanzania is like.
http://michaelwithoutborders.blogspot.com/
This is Michael's blog, one of the Morogoro volunteers. This is probably the most useful one and he's got some great pictures of the YCI staff, Morogoro and some of our programming. His blog also has links to mine and the other volunteer blogs.
http://www.getjealous.com/stephinzanzibar
This is Stephanie's blog, one of the the Zanzibar volunteers.
http://etrippel.blogspot.com/
This is Evan's blog. Evan has some beautiful pictures that will give you an idea of what I saw on my weekend in Zanzibar.
If any of you are looking for someway to procrastinate from studying for midterms I just gave you hours of well-wasted time! Your welcome! :)
Miss you all! I'll be home in a month!
Love
Melissa
Programming Overview
Here is an outline of the programming that we're doing in Morogoro.
Business Communication Class
This consists of two components, an English and a Computer class, each at a Basic and Intermediate level. The classes meet twice a week for two hours total. There is also a Continuing class for students that have completed both levels held weekly at a local Internet cafe. If the students attend at least 10 of the 13 classes they get a certificate of attendance. Apparently these certificates look really good on the student's resumes and two of the students in the Continuing class had to drop out because they got jobs! I have been running both English classes with Godfrey to help act as translator. So far this has been one of the most rewarding programs. Due to the structure the volunteers are able to have significant involvement in the planning and implementation. It's been great witnessing the improvement that is already evident. Even if the improvement is only in the confidence level of some of the students it has been really cool to see!
HIV Club
Nicole and I were supposed to attend weekly meetings with a pre-existing secondary school HIV club but so far this hasn't happened. School examinations and other miscommunication has kept this and Good Governance from starting and this has been both frustrating and disappointing. There is still a chance that we might be able to work with a different school but we're not sure. The idea was for us to be there to share any information we've researched and help the club in anyway we could.
Good Governance
As I mentioned this was postponed due to school examinations, however we have now been able to start this and had our first class on Friday. Godfrey runs this for the most part and Michael and I are involved in researching prior to each class and helping run activities and discussions. This class meets two a week for 2 hours and covers 6 modules of information regarding good governance meant to educate students on their local government and encourage them to get actively involved. We cover topics like corruption, politics and women and youth in government. I'm really glad that this class has now started and look forward to some interesting discussions with the students.
Street Side School English Class
I am not involved in this program but I can explain it a little. Gasto, the Tanzanian volunteer that we work with in many of our programming, teaches an English class at a local school for students that have had to drop out of regular school due to family pressure or finances. He teaches the class for one hour four times a week. Twice a week Nicole and Michael accompany him to these classes and help him in the implementation of the class. Often they will play games with the students at the end as well.
Faraja Office Work
This is something all of us are supposed to be a part of but so far we haven't been too involved. Michael is supposed to be helping them with their website and we're all supposed to be helping edit translated stories of local street children but there has been a hold-up on Faraja's end and we have been busy and haven't really sought out other work to be done the way we should. This is definitely something we'll have to get going on before we leave!
Play Day
I just described this event in my previous post so I won't go into too much detail. All of us are involved in this monthly event at the Home Based Care Department, playing with children who are mostly HIV-positive, so they can enjoy a day of fun and lunch in a stigma-free environment. There is counselling available and an HIV presentation for children twelve and older on how to live responsibly with HIV and on how they can still live healthy happy lives despite their status. Then we took the older youth to the Rock Garden for an afternoon of swimming and fun. This was definitely one of the most enjoyable and rewarding things I've done so far in Morogoro.
HIV Outreach
There is a drama group that Gasto is a part of, that helps YCI and Faraja put on this outreach events. We attend their practices weekly taking part in drama exercises and skits. At first we were all shy and unsure, especially because the vast majority of it is in Swahili. However we are all gaining our courage and have even taken part in some of the skits at the outreach presentations.
Once a week we have some kind of outreach event, either at a secondary school, in a rural community or a local Ushujaa 'Courage for Life' talent show. Each of these events varies a little but there follow the same basic idea. Usually the drama group does several skits around various themes of HIV/AIDS whether Prevention, Condom Use, Stigma etc. So far both Nicole and I have participated in these skits, usually as the silent fiance of one of the drama group members as he convinces others that condoms in Tanzania are just as good as condoms in America! This has certainly taken some courage on my part but has actually ended up being quite fun. I get to act a little "gangsta" and sometimes throw in my limited Swahili. We also usually present some facts about HIV in Canada. Tanzanians are interested to learn that HIV isn't just in Africa. Usually there's some kind of talent component either dancing, singing or rapping and we give out prizes that the volunteers brought from home. Makho and Godfrey act as MC's and Makho is actually a really good rapper so sometimes he raps as well. If we're allowed we do condom demonstrations (we've only had one secondary school say that we couldn't do them) and give out condoms to the crowd. We also do a pre and post survey of 5 questions to 10 random audience members (5 boys and 5 girls) in order to help gauge whether they learned anything and if the event was a success. (We do Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) tests for our classes too but this usually takes the form of a writing test)
It's been great so far and I've been really amazed at the work that YCI does. I've been so impressed by the staff as well as all of the M&E and Reporting procedures in place to ensure maximum efficiency and success.
Love!
Melissa
Business Communication Class
This consists of two components, an English and a Computer class, each at a Basic and Intermediate level. The classes meet twice a week for two hours total. There is also a Continuing class for students that have completed both levels held weekly at a local Internet cafe. If the students attend at least 10 of the 13 classes they get a certificate of attendance. Apparently these certificates look really good on the student's resumes and two of the students in the Continuing class had to drop out because they got jobs! I have been running both English classes with Godfrey to help act as translator. So far this has been one of the most rewarding programs. Due to the structure the volunteers are able to have significant involvement in the planning and implementation. It's been great witnessing the improvement that is already evident. Even if the improvement is only in the confidence level of some of the students it has been really cool to see!
HIV Club
Nicole and I were supposed to attend weekly meetings with a pre-existing secondary school HIV club but so far this hasn't happened. School examinations and other miscommunication has kept this and Good Governance from starting and this has been both frustrating and disappointing. There is still a chance that we might be able to work with a different school but we're not sure. The idea was for us to be there to share any information we've researched and help the club in anyway we could.
Good Governance
As I mentioned this was postponed due to school examinations, however we have now been able to start this and had our first class on Friday. Godfrey runs this for the most part and Michael and I are involved in researching prior to each class and helping run activities and discussions. This class meets two a week for 2 hours and covers 6 modules of information regarding good governance meant to educate students on their local government and encourage them to get actively involved. We cover topics like corruption, politics and women and youth in government. I'm really glad that this class has now started and look forward to some interesting discussions with the students.
Street Side School English Class
I am not involved in this program but I can explain it a little. Gasto, the Tanzanian volunteer that we work with in many of our programming, teaches an English class at a local school for students that have had to drop out of regular school due to family pressure or finances. He teaches the class for one hour four times a week. Twice a week Nicole and Michael accompany him to these classes and help him in the implementation of the class. Often they will play games with the students at the end as well.
Faraja Office Work
This is something all of us are supposed to be a part of but so far we haven't been too involved. Michael is supposed to be helping them with their website and we're all supposed to be helping edit translated stories of local street children but there has been a hold-up on Faraja's end and we have been busy and haven't really sought out other work to be done the way we should. This is definitely something we'll have to get going on before we leave!
Play Day
I just described this event in my previous post so I won't go into too much detail. All of us are involved in this monthly event at the Home Based Care Department, playing with children who are mostly HIV-positive, so they can enjoy a day of fun and lunch in a stigma-free environment. There is counselling available and an HIV presentation for children twelve and older on how to live responsibly with HIV and on how they can still live healthy happy lives despite their status. Then we took the older youth to the Rock Garden for an afternoon of swimming and fun. This was definitely one of the most enjoyable and rewarding things I've done so far in Morogoro.
HIV Outreach
There is a drama group that Gasto is a part of, that helps YCI and Faraja put on this outreach events. We attend their practices weekly taking part in drama exercises and skits. At first we were all shy and unsure, especially because the vast majority of it is in Swahili. However we are all gaining our courage and have even taken part in some of the skits at the outreach presentations.
Once a week we have some kind of outreach event, either at a secondary school, in a rural community or a local Ushujaa 'Courage for Life' talent show. Each of these events varies a little but there follow the same basic idea. Usually the drama group does several skits around various themes of HIV/AIDS whether Prevention, Condom Use, Stigma etc. So far both Nicole and I have participated in these skits, usually as the silent fiance of one of the drama group members as he convinces others that condoms in Tanzania are just as good as condoms in America! This has certainly taken some courage on my part but has actually ended up being quite fun. I get to act a little "gangsta" and sometimes throw in my limited Swahili. We also usually present some facts about HIV in Canada. Tanzanians are interested to learn that HIV isn't just in Africa. Usually there's some kind of talent component either dancing, singing or rapping and we give out prizes that the volunteers brought from home. Makho and Godfrey act as MC's and Makho is actually a really good rapper so sometimes he raps as well. If we're allowed we do condom demonstrations (we've only had one secondary school say that we couldn't do them) and give out condoms to the crowd. We also do a pre and post survey of 5 questions to 10 random audience members (5 boys and 5 girls) in order to help gauge whether they learned anything and if the event was a success. (We do Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) tests for our classes too but this usually takes the form of a writing test)
It's been great so far and I've been really amazed at the work that YCI does. I've been so impressed by the staff as well as all of the M&E and Reporting procedures in place to ensure maximum efficiency and success.
Love!
Melissa
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
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
Friday, October 30, 2009
Stories from Morogoro
So I thought I would quickly share some random recent events in Morogoro. This includes getting sick which is one of the not-so-cool things about living in Morogoro (that way you’re not all too jealous)! ;) As I am writing this I have a cold. Which is pretty understandable considering I high-five about twenty kids a day some of whom have snotty noses and no amount of hand sanitizer seems to be able to save me. Of course that is not the worst, after my last “mysterious African sickness” I also have experienced another random illness. About a week ago I woke up at 3am feeling nauseous. I ended up throwing up (in the bucket that now stays in our room) and fell back asleep. The next morning I woke up feeling perfectly fine but it’s definitely unpleasant. Fortunately though my homestay family, all of the YCI staff and my fellow volunteers have been really great helping me when I get sick, checking in on me for regularly for several days afterwards and offering to take me to the hospital.
One cute story, I also had one night where I couldn’t sleep because I had a cup of coffee at 4pm (their coffee is definitely stronger here). Around 4:00am I decided that since I was awake I would go outside, read my book and watch the sunrise. (I think I was expecting some sort of magical Lion King moment which definitely didn’t happen, but the sky changing colours was still very pretty!) So my family regularly wakes up at 4:30am to start their daily activities and was shocked to see me awake. They were immediately so concerned and wouldn’t believe me that I couldn’t sleep because of the coffee. They were convinced that there was some problem that I wasn’t tell them about and Paulo even phoned Godfrey to see if I’d mentioned to him if anything was wrong. Somehow Gasto, the Tanzanian volunteer that we work with here, heard that I had malaria and I got a very concerned phone call from him asking if I was alright. It was very sweet and I felt bad for causing everyone so much worry.
Another story is from when I was walking home the other day. Usually when we walk around we got a ton of people yelling “mzungu” and “mwenda” so we’re pretty used to it. This day though I had a guy come up and start walking with me as I was going home for lunch. He asked my name and where I was from and immediately said that I couldn’t possibly be from Canada because “there’s no one named Melissa in Canada” don’t I know. He then started quizzing me on the capital of Canada and the prime minister’s name as if he could catch me in my lie! It was quite funny actually. Then when he learned I’m a science student started asking me questions about Newton and Einstein. Meanwhile another guy started walking with us who was a lot more annoying. He immediately started asking me if I had a boyfriend in Canada, telling me that I can’t trust him because he must be lying to me. He told me that Africa is my real home and that I need to start having African children. He was also pushing me to give him my contact information (when I lied and told him I didn’t have a phone he tried to get me to give him the contact information of one of my friends in Canada….don’t worry I didn’t give him any!). Finally he told me that as long as he could “get a white girl” then his life would be good. It didn’t matter if she was from Belgium or Canada that he just needed a white girl. This was when I lost patience and told him that I was not that girl and that he and the other guy had to leave me alone.
Fortunately this by no means represents your average Tanzanian who really is just interested in how we are doing and welcomes us to Tanzania. This guy was just an extreme like any pushy guy back home. We were told by Micah to expect some of this and just to be very blunt that we are not interested. So far this seems to have worked because I haven’t seen him since and have definitely not let this one experience affect my view of Tanzanians as a whole. Really now I just share this story because I find it quite humorous. Unfortunately I'm running out of time at the internet cafe so I've got to go but I hope to give you all an update of my programming soon. Also some of the volunteers are going on a safari to Mikumi Park next weekend so expect an update about that as well!
I love my e-mails from home so keep them coming!
Love from Moro,
Melissa
One cute story, I also had one night where I couldn’t sleep because I had a cup of coffee at 4pm (their coffee is definitely stronger here). Around 4:00am I decided that since I was awake I would go outside, read my book and watch the sunrise. (I think I was expecting some sort of magical Lion King moment which definitely didn’t happen, but the sky changing colours was still very pretty!) So my family regularly wakes up at 4:30am to start their daily activities and was shocked to see me awake. They were immediately so concerned and wouldn’t believe me that I couldn’t sleep because of the coffee. They were convinced that there was some problem that I wasn’t tell them about and Paulo even phoned Godfrey to see if I’d mentioned to him if anything was wrong. Somehow Gasto, the Tanzanian volunteer that we work with here, heard that I had malaria and I got a very concerned phone call from him asking if I was alright. It was very sweet and I felt bad for causing everyone so much worry.
Another story is from when I was walking home the other day. Usually when we walk around we got a ton of people yelling “mzungu” and “mwenda” so we’re pretty used to it. This day though I had a guy come up and start walking with me as I was going home for lunch. He asked my name and where I was from and immediately said that I couldn’t possibly be from Canada because “there’s no one named Melissa in Canada” don’t I know. He then started quizzing me on the capital of Canada and the prime minister’s name as if he could catch me in my lie! It was quite funny actually. Then when he learned I’m a science student started asking me questions about Newton and Einstein. Meanwhile another guy started walking with us who was a lot more annoying. He immediately started asking me if I had a boyfriend in Canada, telling me that I can’t trust him because he must be lying to me. He told me that Africa is my real home and that I need to start having African children. He was also pushing me to give him my contact information (when I lied and told him I didn’t have a phone he tried to get me to give him the contact information of one of my friends in Canada….don’t worry I didn’t give him any!). Finally he told me that as long as he could “get a white girl” then his life would be good. It didn’t matter if she was from Belgium or Canada that he just needed a white girl. This was when I lost patience and told him that I was not that girl and that he and the other guy had to leave me alone.
Fortunately this by no means represents your average Tanzanian who really is just interested in how we are doing and welcomes us to Tanzania. This guy was just an extreme like any pushy guy back home. We were told by Micah to expect some of this and just to be very blunt that we are not interested. So far this seems to have worked because I haven’t seen him since and have definitely not let this one experience affect my view of Tanzanians as a whole. Really now I just share this story because I find it quite humorous. Unfortunately I'm running out of time at the internet cafe so I've got to go but I hope to give you all an update of my programming soon. Also some of the volunteers are going on a safari to Mikumi Park next weekend so expect an update about that as well!
I love my e-mails from home so keep them coming!
Love from Moro,
Melissa
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
