Technology Troubles in Tanga

Tanga 4-H Technology Training

I spent most of this week in Tanga (eastern Tanzania right by the ocean) with the Tanzania 4-H. Many universities are interested in doing research in Tanzania – especially with agriculture. One university took the approach to put information into the hands of 4-H district advisors through the internet. This is actually a pretty cool project and when it gets fully up and going, I think it will get some good results. I was hired by them to present the information on this project to the district 4-H advisors- about 30 Tanzanians. My tools to present were the internet, a PowerPoint which would be shown up on the wall through a projector. Now, anyone who does presentations on a regular basis knows that if something can go wrong with technology, it likely will. Well, true to many of your predictions, it did! That particular morning (and frankly the rest of the week), the electricity and internet kept going in and out. So, I would show a few slides, the power would go out. I show a few more slides, the power would go out. Ahhh! Thankfully the group was really patient. Plus, they were really excited about the concept of the web-page where they could get information on starting 4-H projects, etc… We also set up GMAIL accounts together. So, overall I think the training was a success. But, it's a good reminder of the realities facing this country.

A Nice Welcome Home

After being absent for most of the week, the students at Orkeeswa were very welcoming to me upon my return. This is one of many reasons why I like these kids! "Teacher, welcome back." "Teacher, we miss you in biology and agriculture…no one was there to teach us." I suppose it could just be flattery or something along those lines. But, our kids just seem to have a genuineness about them. I guess that's part of why I like working with them so much.

Girls Basketball in Moshi

Yesterday we did the 2 ½ hour drive to Moshi for a girl's basketball tournament. The girls played really well winning all but one game. Plus, when they did win it was by a really large margin! It is fun being with them because of the new experiences they are having. For instance, when you sit in a car for 2 ½ hours and you aren't used to it…you vomit! At least two girls had that experience anyway. They like to sing at the top of their lungs too! They usually sing the same 4-5 songs over and over again…mainly because they can never remember all of the words. It was, however, a little distracting as I was trying to navigate the narrow, dangerous roads. I'm sure anyone who has traveled with students can appreciate what I'm talking about.

Frightening Trip Home in the Dark

Last night we dropped the girls off at their homes because it was dark. I did not know how much fuel we had in the tank (which has been an issue lately…we've run out of gas twice in the past week…dumb volunteers…why don't you just put fuel in the darn thing!) and getting a flat tire on these thorns is always a concern! Plus, the headlights are pretty dim on the Land Rover. So, needless to say, we were set up nicely for an adventure. The last girl we dropped off lives way out in the bush. We pulled off from the "main road" onto what we thought was her driveway, only to discover it was nothing but huge rocks, thorns and washouts. We backtracked, drove down the main road some more, and made another attempt. Just as we were about to back track again, we noticed a Maasai woman waving her hands. It was a member of the students family, although the headlights were so dim she couldn't make out who it was. We followed her as she literally ran in front of us to show us the path. After we unloaded the last girl we headed for home. Unfortunately, we still couldn't find the right path. Once again, just as we were about to get REALLY stuck, a couple of Maasai warriors, including one of our students arrived to help. And again, they ran in front of us to show us the way. It began with four. Then, a couple more arrived to make six. Pretty soon, we had at least a dozen Maasai from this family, including children and that same mama, running in front of us in the headlight to show us the path. At one point, I had to "gun it" to make it up a steep hill. The mama thought I was going to run her over and dove off the road – hitting someone else on the way. Oh, those times you long for a camera! We finally found the main road and made it back to our home last night relatively unscathed.