We put the ZZZ's into Zanzibar!

This will be the most boring blog post yet.

Which is AWESOME!

We went to Zanzibar this past week in search of some rest and that is exactly what we found, in abundance (Oh, the sweet abundance of it!)

We landed in Stone Town on Sunday, went on a spice tour (wow, who knew we could spend four hours talking about spices, the use of spices, the medicinal use of spices and also the history of spice). I was very happy to head on up north to the beach at that point.

Then we found Kendwa. Sweet, wonderful Kendwa. With her unassuming ways, her restful bandas and her lazy, lazy days.

We slept, we ate, we...well actually that's about it!

Then we migrated to Jambiani...another beach...only to repeat the therapy.

Check out the pictures on Lisa's Facebook page. I know I will be to relive the...mmmm.

Drama, Drama, Drama....

Last week of a thirteen week term! I should have known there would have been some grand finale's. Here are a few...

Monday-Wednesday not to bad. Did the Insanity workout video that Scott, Lisa's brother sent. I literally thought I was going to drown in my own sweat!

Then Thursday hit!

I sent a student to our local clinic because she was complaining of headaches and chest pain...not uncommon for this time of year. In the mean time, I was getting ready for our new woodworking club (which is always fun...but a mess when I'm involved!), teaching and doing other stuff at the school. I had had a lot of coffee on Thursday, but when I saw Ben drinking some in the afternoon, I thought I needed another cup. Oh, what a bad idea! You know that "twitchy" feeling you get when you have too much coffee...well I was there.

Just as we were about to begin clubs, we had an unexpected visitor show up, handing out gifts, but throwing off the flow of things a bit. No sweat, I've become used to interruptions.

Then, as clubs were ending, I had the typical 54 students around me. "Teacher can I have some seeds for my garden." My saying, "Oh, yeah....I forgot about that...". "Teacher may I keep this thing we just made?" "You betcha" (which I am always convinced really gets lost in translation). "Teacher, teacher, teacher....." It's fun for reals. That "buzz" is part of what I like about teaching here. Or was that the last cup of coffee....

Anyway, in the midst of all the end of day stuff, one student said..."Teacher, you're needed outside. A student is passed out there." Crap.

So, I ran out and sure enough there was a student down with a few others around. We loaded the student up, took her to the local clinic and then on to the district hospital. This is when I got really angry.

This was my first experience with the Monduli District Hospital. Let me just be succinct in saying I would not feel comfortable going there for many procedures. What really struck me, though, was the ARROGANCE I perceived from the staff. We spent more time talking about who was the "big man" amongst all of us who accompanied our student than we did trying to fix the problem! I got yelled at to get out of the way...but only after they discovered I was "only teacher." "I am not!" I thought about saying. "I'm the chief medical officer at Orkeeswa...." Oh shut up, Seth! One more ego in this mix isn't going to solve anything!

Friday was the last day. Last days are hard for teachers. They makes teachers all over the world want to drink. I did enjoy our end of school party...we had a whistling contest and even gave away two of our very own chicken eggs as a prize to the top whistler amongst the teachers. Personally, I thought the maintainence guy should have won, but you know what they say about art, and all that... We even heard there were elephants near the school. One student came up to me and said "Teacher, I almost had to say goodbye to my parents. I walked between two elephants on the way to school today." You gotta love that! Anyway, we survived and were celebrating after school with the teachers and other folks. That's when we got the call. That student was still sick and needed to be seen to know if we needed to go to a different doctor. So, in the car I go...bouncing through the bush. The student lived WAY out there. We loaded the student in the Land Rover and off we went to Arusha. After some blood work and a couple more IV bags (man, I ought to start taking some of those IV bags instead of coffee...) the student was good to go. Unfortunately since it was 12:30 AM, I wasn't. Plus, I realized I had lost my wallet in the mix.

Finally, we dropped off the student and returned home about 2 AM this morning. I still havn't found my wallet and thank the stars above noone was attacked by elephants. Lisa had made some chocolate chip cookies...so I ate them by myself at 2:30 this morning with some tea. Don't get me wrong... I love this stuff! But, sweet, sweet beaches of Zanzibar, I hear you calling my name next week!

I Would Take It All Away

I would take it all away.

The mud. The mud that our students walk through every day to get to school. The mud that binds to their shoes and clothes and instantly covers everything. The mud the mamas must wash out of the kitchen and classrooms every day. The mud that coats the Land Rover and threatens to pull us off the road at a moment's notice. I would take away the mud.

The hunger. If there is no food at home, kids don't eat. I am naïve enough to think that most of our students eat at home. I know that some don't. I know that until morning breakfast, they don't have much, if anything in their bellies. I would take away the hunger.

The stress. Everything is geared toward these high stakes tests. If they don't pass these tests, they don't continue this education. End of story. The kids know this better than anyone. Add on the realities of life too. Relationships. Family. Work. All of it adds up. Our kids handle it pretty well, but I know stress is a constant companion. I would take away the stress.

The sickness. As the medical guy, I look at some weird stuff. It's escalated since the rains began. Waterborne illness. Infections. Coughs. No problem if you can get in right away and see a doctor and then get the proper medications, right? No problem… if it were possible to not walk in the mud every day. But of course…it's not. I take it hard when they are sick. I don't like it. I'm guessing they aren't that fond if it either. Still, some things I say "I just don't know what to do about that…" I would take away the sickness.

The hard life. Sometimes I look around and see these struggles and it does make me sad. I don't like to see my students walking in the rain. I don't like to see my students having to grow up so fast. I would take away this hard life.

I would take it all away.

But I don't get to make that call.

We had an all school show and tell about the clubs students participate in. Each group stood up and shared a bit about their club. Everyone was in a good mood, respectful toward their fellow students and teachers. Afterward, each student received a lollipop from their club advisor. Unfortunately, during the event one girl got sick and I was trying to attend to her. I gave out as many of my lollies to my woodworking club folks before looking after the sick girl, but I managed to miss one of my club members. I was busy with the sick girl and had quite a few "helpers" standing around which seemed to add to the chaos of the situation. I was feeling a bit stressed by everything. In the midst of things, my club member found me and quietly tapped me on the shoulder and said "teacher, I didn't get my lolly. Could I have one." It wasn't one of those snotty "I didn't get…blah, blah" retorts you might get from a teenager. Nor was it demanding. It was a simple request for something that was hers. And it was so innocent that it caught me off guard.

Maybe God gives us mud so we can learn perseverance. Maybe we get sick so we can care for one another. Maybe what I see as a "hard life" is just developing the character of someone in ways I am too limited to understand.

Or, maybe it's just mud.

 

Oh Heck, I’m Up to My Neck…in MUD!

The rain has finally come to Monduli! It was about 3 weeks later than normal and obviously affected life all around!

The Dust

Rain did come to this area over one month ago. It was a good downpour. Unfortunately, it didn't last. It did encourage people to plant their maize – mostly used for their own consumption. The plants shot up with the moisture. Then, they immediately started to wither under the sun. Just as soon as the rain started, it stopped. Dust returned everywhere. Talks turned to the widespread drought that covered the area two years ago. The sky would cloud up and then produce nothing. We even planted the entire school garden, only to have nothing germinate except lots of weeds. The implication, the one that no one really spoke of, was that people would starve. In the States if a crop fails maybe prices increase a bit in the grocery store. Here, when most of the crops go directly to feed your family, if they fail, the consequences are far more grave.

The Sub-Saharan Depression

Whether it was because of the lack of rain or just the grind of school, there was a heavy cloud hanging over our house. We volunteers were grouchy toward each other. The students, while almost always courteous, had a bit of an edge to them. The work just wasn't fun. It was work. It was virtually impossible to find a reprieve. We were tired out, fed up, and generally frustrated. I can't help but think that a fair amount of that influence came from the lack of rain and the emotional effects it carried. Thankfully, we remained civil toward each other. I think we all sort of understood that this wasn't normal. And, in the words of that famous person Anonymous, we knew that "this too shall pass."

The Rain

Finally the rains came! Last week, with a torrent, they came. Buckets and buckets fell from the sky. The change in the air was obvious. The students were quite literally jubilant! Even Form 3, who usually growls at anyone who tries to be the least bit cheerful with them responded. "Good morning Form 3!" Lisa would say. They cheerfully responded with, "Good morning, Teacher!" What the…. That never happens! The rains just create a hum in the air. I can remember at home in Wyoming this same thing would happen. When people are so closely connected to their surroundings, major changes like this have an obvious effect. Maji ni uhai – Water is Life!

The Mud

An obvious side effect of the rain is mud. How shall I describe the mud? You know those Betty Crocker tubs of frosting? Picture something like "Dark Fudge" or something like that. You know that same creamy, smooth texture and dark black/brown color? Well, picture the road being covered in that and trying to navigate a Land Rover through it. That's what is created when it rains here. We spun off the road on Friday. Everyone piled out (I say piled because we usually stack 10 extra bodies on the Land Rover). Even the principal ripped off his suit coat and went to digging. We went off the road right next to a family's boma (house). I was sure at any moment we would tip over and crash through their mud wall! Finally after much digging and being covered in mud, literally, we got unstuck. Students standing around were laughing. But then, they had to walk home through it. The road turns into a river of rushing muddy water crashing down from the hills above. The going becomes slow. Easy trips into the school become a battle every morning and night. Ah the fun!

The Disease

Right along with the water comes the disease. If you are constantly wet and sleeping in and near mud, chances are good you'll get sick. This has happened around here for sure. I've seen quite a few cases of water-borne disease, malaria and of course the ongoing battle of parasites. I don't know what you do about it either. Even Lisa is sick now; hacking up a lung. I think our epically long walk yesterday didn't help.

The Epic Walk (followed by the epic blisters!)

Yesterday we walked to the end of the Earth. Its name is Lendikenya. Unfortunately, because of the mud, we decided to wear the rubber, calf-high boots. We were following a student to her boma and she didn't seem to be having any problems. Lisa and I on the other hand were in full sweat mode! By the time we arrived, we had walked nearly 6 miles there and I was covered in sweat. But, it's always worth it! Her dad is a farmer and her mother a primary school teacher. They were happy to have us there and even killed a chicken for us to eat. We had a great conversation, as translated through our student. Lisa told them about her father, Jeff, who is a farmer. They decided Jeff needed to come visit them if he ever came to Tanzania! Finally, after filling our stomachs with tea, makande (corn and beans cooked together) and chicken, we began our return journey. Thankfully Ben was able to meet us about 2/3 of the way into the trip. I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have made it all the way home! Right now, I have a blister about the size of a quarter on one foot. Lisa has one that looks like a small marble on her foot. But, ha ha ha Seth, this is how most people get around here. My tender-footed ways wouldn't last very long without the aid of a car and some serious foot crème!

The Healer - Baba Loliondo

There is a faith healer that EVERYONE is going to near Loliondo. He makes a drink, blesses it, and people are cured. The five things it cures are tuberculosis, AIDS, cancer, diabetes and ulcers. People are flocking up this rough, long, dusty (well now muddy) treacherous road by the thousands. Once they arrive, the queue is so long, a few die just waiting for the dawa (medicine). He charges 500 shillings per person for overhead costs. Transport services are charging hundreds of thousands of shillings to get you there. Don't tell people that you don't believe in it, either. This is grounds for a healthy debate and eventual ridicule from the obvious polarizing effect such an emotionally charged issue can create. Also, don't go to the knock-off healer in Moshi. His dawa doesn't work.

A Cocktail of Events from here in Monduli

Kilimanjaro 1/2 Marathon

We spent last weekend in Moshi taking students to compete in the Kilimanjaro Half Marathon and 5-K fun run. We had eight boys, Lisa and Ben compete in the half and six girls plus Peter compete in the 5-K fun run. I was too busy drinking Coke and eating cashew nuts to be bothered with running! It was fun to take kids on their first overnight trip. We slept in classrooms at International School Moshi the night before the race. We also ate an enormous dinner in their cafeteria. I say enormous because it was a buffet and those Maasai boys can put away the food! It does make you wonder where it all goes because they are so skinny! We did have one boy finish with a time of 1:20 in the half...pretty darn fast. Maybe it was the food...

School Inspection

We had a random school inspection this week. I equate it to the horsemen of the apocalypse descending on your school which is soon followed by much wailing and gnashing of the teeth. I guess this is the way Tanzania does quality control for their schools. Basically the inspectors (two of them in our case) show up unannounced and look at all of your paperwork, interview some students and watch a few teachers do their lessons. Everyone is hustling and bustling around to find all of the right forms, etc... And, at the end of the day, their score doesn't mean much. Nevertheless, it was a stressful 24 hours when they arrived.

Crazy Friday

Yesterday was just crazy. First, we had scheduled all of the student's parents to come help at the school. This is supposed to be a regular occurance and is an effort to have the school become truly a community run effort. But, yesterday many of the parents did not show. So, students were sent home to get their parents. To be clear, this meant that students had to walk home for several kilometers in the hot sun, find their parents, and bring them back to school. I was gone for part of the morning tending to a sick kid (I'll talk about that more later). When I returned, it was crazy! Students and parents were everywhere! I think the point was to send a message to the parents that we are serious about their attendance at these things. However, from a western perspective, it didn't make much sense.

Student Sickness

We have had quite a few sick students lately. Many of them are pretty serious. Some are simply because boiling water is such a difficulty. It requires finding fuel (likely wood or charcoal) and burning it. Plus, most of the time the water really doesn't make the local folks sick. But, around this time of year, for some reason, there are more bacteria in the water and people get sick. I've visited a couple student's homes now and the scene is really sad. I think I've already voiced my frustration with the sanitation and water situation here. However, lately it has taken on a whole new and very sinister head from what I have seen.

The Chicken Coop

In light of the craziness of this week, one very cool thing stands out. I asked the Form 2 (sophomores) class to take care of the chicken coop. I read off the names of the groups in class and gave a general overview of my expectations. I thought I would have to remind, cajole, yell, kick and scream for a while to get them to take care of the chickens. So, I was really surprised when one student came to me with the key to the chicken coop. I asked him why he had it. He said he went and took it from another student so he could take care of the chickens like I had asked. My jaw must have been on the floor! He not only had listened to my instructions, but he had also taken the initiative on his own to make it happen. Sometimes just some simple things like that really strike you.

Seven Year Itch (caution sensitive material below....ha ha ha!)

I have sensitive skin. Everyone who knows me knows how frequently I get poison ivy. For some reason, I have been itchy for about the past month. And not just a little bit! I don't know whether it's the dust or the unclean water I shower in or the clothes that don't really get rinsed of their suds very well... but something is getting me! And getting me from head to toe! Now, I know many of you don't want to know this. But, as an accurate and thorough blogger, I felt obliged to share ALL of my woes with you! So, there you go. Have a scratch for me.

Garden and Livestock Projects

I'm pretty excited about some of the things happening around the school. We're trying some different projects in the garden and also some possible livestock projects. In the garden we are developing a distribution plan for grey water that will go to the fruit trees. We are also using plastic drinking water bottles to irrigate other trees and bushes around the campus. In the near future we are hoping to establish a drip irrigation system throughout the rest of the garden so we're not so dependent on the unpredictable rains. There is also the very real prospect of building a barn for dairy cattle, goats and sheep. I'm hoping all of these things come to some fruition while I'm here because they sound like fun challenges.

Football and Netball Matches

In addition to teaching English, Lisa has been coordinating the athletic events. For the past two weeks we have taken the students in to Monduli (7 dalla dalla busses full) to play football and netball. Football means soccer. Netball is like basketball, but with significant differences. These festivities are a fun way to see our kids in a different dynamic. Plus, they are really good! Our boys football team won last week against the best team in the district!

American Football in Tanzania

Lisa started an American Football club. She teaches them the basics of the game. Sometimes they watch football movies. I think someone sent us the Super Bowl so I imagine that will be enjoyed soon. My hunch is this may be the only American Football being played in Tanzania, if not Africa! However, soon there will be an American football match between Iowa (Drake University) and Mexico (no idea what team there) in Arusha! These two teams are coming as part of an aid program of some sort. We are hoping to take Lisa's students there to experience what I'm sure is bound to be an interesting event.

What the french toast....

Teacher quits - life goes crazy for a while!
We were heading to work last Monday. Typical Monday, a little crazy, trying to pick up everyone, running a little late, dodging chickens in the road...nothing out of the ordinary for most of us on a Monday.  Then, the news hit us - one of the new teachers quit.  It's 8:05.  School begins in 25 minutes.  Just to be clear, there are not a whole line of substitute teachers you can call in a pinch to come fill in.  So, we (by we, I mean Ben) scrambled and rearranged everyones schedule to fill the holes.  The teacher didn't give any notice...just said I won't be back next week.  The news, unfortunately, didn't reach us until the LAST minute!  So, long story short - Lisa is now teaching all 3 forms of English!  To say she's busy now is a bit of an understatement.

Teaching - highs and lows
Teaching has been busy these past couple of weeks.  The principal was out quite a bit last week dealing with some issues and, of course, that teacher quit. So, the rest of us were scrambling trying to cover classes.  I love to teach through experience. If I can go on a field trip, build something, do something, etc... with my students I'm happy. Unfortunately, here I've fallen into the 'ole lecture and notes trap.  I make up all sorts of excuses - lack of resources, language barriers, loads of content to cover in short amounts of time....oh yeah, and the students insist on taking lots of notes!  But, I know there's a better way.  Finally on Friday, we did an activity I was happy with.  We put four eggs on end and stacked books on top of them to show the strength of the shape of eggs.  We kept piling on books (the new textbooks were part of them on top of the eggs!).  Just as the bell rang, the  eggs exploded under the weight of probably 40 books.  The kids yelled and jumped back.  I had egg all over the place. It was great!

Girl Challenges
Girls here have a rough life.  I don't think that's a biased statement.  They are expected to work from the time they get home until well after dark, leaving little time for studying.  They are constantly harassed for different things, but one seemingly constant thing is sex.  In general, they just seem to have additional burdens on their shoulders that males simply do not have to bear.  We lost two girl students from school this past week to some unfortunate circumstances.  Our director has said these girls face a battle every single day of their lives.  At first I thought perhaps he was just a bit of a "women's lib" sort of a guy.  But, after spending some time here, I realize what he says is so true.


Valentine's Day and other Muslim holidays
I know Valentine's Day is not a Muslim holiday. But, whatever we celebrated today was!  So, we did not go to school. Instead, we worked on school stuff in the morning here at the house and at school. Then, this afternoon we went into a place near Arusha called TGT.  There, we played squash, swam and ate nachos.  It was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon!  Unfortunately, I may have hit a few of the speed bumps a tad hard on the drive home (there are about 25 speed bumps between here and Arusha!).  Lisa was not a bit happy especially when we realized something punctured the side of our water jugs and got water all over the groceries and her shoes!  Woops!

Into the Clouds

Mount Kilimanjaro rises beautifully from the plains below. If you are in Moshi, you can usually get a really nice view of the snow capped peaks. You can view it, that is, until the clouds start rolling in. Around mid-morning, the heat of the sun causes moisture to be driven from the savannas and forests below the mountain. Those clouds, of course, head toward the peak which ultimately occlude the view. Pretty quick, those lucent and majestic views are, quite literally, lost in the clouds.

I remember reading a book by John Eldridge called waking the dead. In it he describes a similar experience he had in Alaska. A mountain, beautiful when you are able to view it, but for the most part lost in the clouds. John compared that to how he spent a great deal of his "Christian life" - moments of clarity but quite a lot of confusion and uncertainty. At the time of reading it, I couldn't really relate to John's description. Yet, more and more, I think I understand what he was talking about.

On a small scale, our vision of water had been fogged in. For nearly a month now we've been fighting no water at our house. The stories ranged from "not enough pressure due to the dry weather"to "it's a broken relay pump" to "we're just not sure!" At the end of the day we were stuck driving with buckets to go fill them up so we could have water. Some people would tell us we could just fill water from the hydrant outside our house, but we thought it was a ridiculous suggestion since we believed the hydrant and our regular water source were connected. Finally, after a month of this headache, someone solved the issue. It turns out, if you just hook a hose up to that hydrant, sure enough it have water! Plus, there was plenty of pressure. We could fill our upper holding tank in a couple of hours from that hydrant. Misinformation and misjudgments had led to missed opportunities, at least for a hot shower, on our part. Never fear though, we are making up for lost time. I think roommate Ben has taken three showers a day since we found our new water trick!

On a more critical level that concept of being clouded in can also apply. Sometimes I get a glimpse of what it is I think I'm supposed to be doing here. When I'm in the classroom and things are clicking, I think "yeah baby...this is it!" But, all to quickly the clouds start rolling in. As a teacher there are many things that make this a tough place to teach. Language barriers, lack of resources, etc... can make even a seasoned professional struggle. Then, I look around the village at the huge issues - lack of water (seriously, not just Seth being too lazy to drive a little bit in a nice cushy car), lack of education, lack of fill in the blank. Then I think of my own personal shortcomings, fears and just plain issues. Soon, the clouds start rolling in. By Friday afternoon, that mountain peak is a vague apparition that seems like only a faint memory.

There are probably a fair number of very successful people who have figured out ways to stay clear, even in the fog. I know Moses spent a good deal of time in the fog. I'm always thankful when a pilot is able to navigate through a thick cloud bank too. But for me, I suppose I just need to stay fixed on those clear, vivid moments when the view spreads out before me. I should remember the confidence that comes along with those times of clarity. Chances are good there will be more clouds rolling in again this week. Since I haven't figured out a way to see through them, I pray I can find a point to keep my eyes fixed until the clouds lift again.