My Climb to New Heights

After we said goodbye to our friends from YCI, the three of us from Morogoro and Adriana from Zanzibar flew out to Kilimanjaro Airport and spent the night in Moshi. Celebrating the end of our project and the beginning of our post-project travel we shared a toast and a couple Kilimanjaro Lagers before heading to bed for a last nights rest at sea level.

The peak of Kilimanjaro

Day One: The Trek Begins
In the morning we met our guides and porters and headed to the village of Marangu to begin our climb. We checked in with the national park's rangers and warden and began our adventure and ascent through the rain forests of Mount Kilimanjaro. Unable to see the summit due to the cloud cover, it was hard to comprehend exactly what we had gotten ourselves into.

Got our permit and we are clear to climb! Myself, Adriana and Julie

Hiking through the rain forest was majestic (a word that will repeat throughout this blog) with a sense of nostalgia. Even though the trees were different and the wildlife was exotic, walking through the woods gave me such a feeling of home. My favourite past time consists of a walk through nature with good friends and either great conversation or thought-provoking silence.

During the first day of hiking we met our guides Richard and Filbert. As I climbed I shared great conversation with Filbert getting to know him and what his life looks like as a guide on Kilimanjaro. The others were hiking ahead and I decided to stay the pace of Filbert, who climbs the mountain on a weekly basis. After sharing my story and how I got there, Filbert and another guide began to ask me questions about HIV/AIDS and I found myself spending more valuable time with just a couple more locals continuing the work I set out to do in Tanzania, educating on the people on HIV and the importance of getting tested, taking ARV's, dispelling myths and promoting safe sex.

After two hours we had reached our picnic area for lunch, a small clearing in the woods with a toilet area and a couple picnic tables. As we consumed our boxed lunches and traded our snacks much like school children, I heard a rustle in the woods. I let out a "noise" of shock when I saw behind my new friend Sam, there was a creature coming through the bush with a rat like face and red eyes, only much bigger with large teeth. I yelled to Filbert, looking for those magical words "it's ok, it's just a...", which I was glad to receive only the end of his sentence was "...mongoose but be careful, they bite and not very nice." Although they were quite skittish, we watched as they continued to grow in numbers and strategize how they would get to our food. We escaped the mongoose invasion and met back up with Richard, our head guide, for the final hour of our day.

Mongoose eyeing up my lunch

As we were hiking, Adriana expressed that she was a little upset she hadn't seen any monkeys in the rainforest and before I could recount my story of my previous hike through the forest in the Ulugurus, a monkey appeared in a tree to our immediately left, causing quite a startle. Before we could laugh about the coincidence of our conversation and nature, we reached for our cameras and snapped a few photos of the little blue monkey that was greeting us from his branch. As he continued to pose, we continued to take pictures until we were reminded of how far we had to keep hiking for that day.

Blue monkey popped out to say hello

We continued up the trail a little further and reached our first camp; the Mandara Huts at 2723m/8934ft amsl. We settled in to our cabin, a small a-frame with three beds on the floor and one bunk and enjoyed tea with our new British friends, Sam and Marianne.

After a small excursion to the Maundi Crater and visit with the black and white colobus monkeys, we had dinner and retired to our hut for the night. I fell asleep anxious for the days to come as the following day we would hike above the 10,000ft amsl point, which is when you can start to feel the effects of altitude sickness and oxygen depletion.

Making fashion faux pas at 9000ft above sea level

Black and White Colobus Monkey

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep."
- Robert Frost

Day Two: Pole Pole Dada na Kaka
Much like any other day, I was up before everyone else at 5:00am. It was a chilly morning, one like a late autumn day back home but when I walked outside,  my breath was taken by the beauty of the sun rising up from beneath the clouds. Adriana and I watched as the sun came up and then quickly returned to our sleeping bags to warm up before we were called for breakfast.

Following our breakfast and tea, we packed our bags and began hiking our last leg through the rainforest. As we left the forest behind us we quickly got a glimpse of both sister peaks of Mount Kilimanjaro, Mwenzi and Kibo. It finally put things in perspective. I was awestruck.

We hiked for 3 hours, "pole pole" (slowly), until we reached our lunch area at 11,000ft amsl. All I could think was , "so far so good." We had passed the 10,000ft point and although you could feel the lack of oxygen, and it would only get worse, none of us were feeling ill at this point. Adriana and I took the last part of our day hiking very slowly with Filbert. As we trekked, he pointed out different shrubs, plants, flowers and wildlife that were unique to Kilimanjaro and at some points made it feel like we had left planet Earth.

White Necked Raven of Kilimanjaro

Lobelia Trees of Kilimanjaro

"Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast."
- Phil Dunphy

The cloud cover continued to grow until we could barely see more than ten feet in front of us. We could hardly see the huts in the distance but they were there and we reached them "faster" not having to watch them slowly get closer and closer.

Homboro Huts - 12,208ft above sea level

Feeling a little nauseas after dinner I was happy to just rest in my sleeping bag and get to know Sam and Marianne who had joined our cabin for the night. After taking a Gravol however, I drifted quickly out of the conversation and into lala land.

Day Three: Crossing the Saddle
Once again, the early bird caught the most glorious worm. I was up to see another spectacular sunrise above the clouds at 12,208ft amsl. It was too breathtaking to not wake the others and drag them out to see it. After we spent a while admiring the sheer beauty of the moment, it was time for breakfast. Today was going to be a challenging day and we had a lot of mountain to cover in a short period of time.

Sun rise at the Homboro Huts

We began our hike through the last pieces of the moorlands, leaving all vegetation behind. Hiking ever so slowly, we enjoyed the best views yet of Kibo and Mwenzi as we reached the saddle between the two peaks. It was magnificent. The two sister peaks, side by side, with a swooping saddle of tundra connecting them. As we passed the sign that read "Last Water Point" my anxiety level rose in both meanings of the word. Never had I hiked so high to reach a point of no water, which makes you fear the unknown and yet the pride of making this far only made be more motivated to reach the top!

Kibo - Saddle - Mwenzi

This picture speaks for itself...

After a quick lunch with the Kilimanjaro Four-Striped Mice, which one might assume was the offspring of a grass mouse and a chipmunk, we continued traversing the saddle and made a final ascent to the Kibo Huts at 15,466ft amsl at around 3:00pm. Everyone at this point was feeling the lack of oxygen and your body constantly reminded you of that. You begin to relax when sitting down for dinner but when you try to "hurry" to the outhouse, you are quickly reminded of the altitude with light-headedness, nausea, headaches, and spotty vision.

Four-striped mouse

Feeling cold and tired after dinner, we all had to go to sleep (nap) as we were to awake at 11:00pm and begin our summit trek at midnight.

Day 4: Summit or Bust
I didn't sleep a minute during the time we had but the rest of the group awoke at 11:00pm as planned and we all put on as many layers as we had and all of our winter gear with our headlamps acting as the finishing touch. Richard and Filbert came to get us shortly after and we began our trek as scheduled at midnight. The stars were mesmerizing and you could not help but to stare straight up at them as we left camp. While you could not see the peak or the people in front of you, the glow of the moon on the snow gave an ambiance of light to our journey. As I looked for the peak, which I knew was the shadow of darkness, void of stars, I saw a falling star streak downwards and disappear in the dark. I made not so much a wish but a promise to myself that I would reach the summit that night.

As we started walking, I made sure I started my breathing pattern. Slow, smooth breaths with each step I took, taking a deep breath every five feet or so. We started to head up the slope, which you could feel but you couldn't see. All I could see was Adriana's feet in front of me with my headlamp.

About an hour into the climb Adriana felt ill and turned back. As she left, she told me to "keep going, you can do it." With that we left her in the company of Filbert and back into the darkness they would descend to the Kibo huts where she would be able to rest. People began to ask the guides questions like, "how much longer?" and "can we stop for a break?" but all I could do was keep quiet and focus on my trek, visualizing myself at the summit with that notorious sign of victory that red "Congratulations, you have reached Uhuru Peak."

During our break at the Hans Meyer Cave (17,254ft.) there were quite a few people beginning to get increasingly ill, and unfortunately, soon after, Julie made the trip back to the Kibo huts with our guide Richard. Left with the guides of our new friends Sam and Marianne, Duncan and I continued to trek up the steep slope of Kibo.

As we hiked, I would look down the slope every once in a while to see the majestic view of small headlamps in small groups criss-crossing and ascending the mountain behind us. At one point, soon after the halfway point, I noticed one lamp was passing the others. As it got closer, I heard someone call my name. "Mambo, Beni?" It was Filbert! He had taken Adriana back to the huts and returned to help Duncan and I reach the summit. My drive and motivation was strengthened with the return of a trusted friend and as he took the lead of our dwindling group, he shot me a smile and a wink, as if to stay"good job, keep going."

As we continued hiking, step by step, Filbert would check in with me to see how I was doing. As we neared the top of the crater, we had passed all other guides and hikers and with fresh fallen snow, there was no path to follow up over the rock face. On hands and knees, Filbert led the way to reach Gillman's Point at 4:46am (18,763ft amsl). Technically, once you have reached Gillman's point, you have reached the top of the mountain but Uhuru Peak is the official summit.

After a quick break for water, Filbert got Duncan and I to start trekking the edge of the massive black crater in hopes to reach the true summit by sunrise. With my visual of me at the sign, and the immense feeling of pride that would accompany summitting, I ignored my lack of oxygen, splitting headache (understated), increased heart rate and exhausted body.

View of Mwenzi peak from Kibo

As the sun rose, the views at every slow blink changed and were all so beautiful but it was the view of the new sign that made everything worthwhile. Although I had envisioned myself standing under the old wooden sign when I reached the summit, I was just as happy to read and stand beside the new one.

"Congratulations!
You are now at Uhuru Peak
5895m AMSL
Tanzania
Africa's Highest Point
World's Highest Free Standing Mountain"

The million dollar picture!

Filbert and I with the new sign at the summit of Kibo - Mount Kilimanjaro

After taking our pictures with the sign it was time to descend. The weather is unpredictable at the top and can change very quickly. Filbert led us back around the crate to Gillman's point and we began our descent. When I reached the Kibo huts I was so happy to rejoin my two girls and our Brits for some juice and breakfast. After a short rest we had to begin the descent to the Homboro Huts, where we would sleep the night.

Day Five: Final Descent
Back across the moorlands and down through the rainforest we finished out five day trek in torrential rain. Although it would be easy to complain that we were soaked through from the rain, Adriana and I spent our time thinking positively of our climb and the rain.We checked back in at the ranger station and the warden issued certificates to those who summitted.

After a nice comfortable van ride back to the hotel, we said thank-you to our guide Richard and spent some time with Filbert (over a Kilimanjaro Lager, or two) before giving our final goodbyes.

I have never accomplished such a challenge in my life. Kilimanjaro, although a non-technical climb challenges you physically but also mentally. I used to mock those black posters you see in schools and offices with the one powerful word in bold white print, like "Motivation," "Effort," or "Accomplishment" and yet now I understand exactly what they mean. Imagine one of those posters with a man hanging from the edge of a cliff, it might seem silly to equate the man's challenge scaling a rock face to your own but that is not what it is about. Whether your challenge is finishing a project, climbing a mountain or living with a disability, as a visible minority, or with a positive HIV status, you have the right to feel all of those same feelings and emotions without people belittling your efforts and accomplishments.

Pride; Motivation; Leadership; Accomplishment; Life; Air; Success; Achievement; Strength; Determination; Patience; Inspiration. I repeated these words to myself as I climbed, visualizing myself reaching my goal and I did.

May you accomplish any goal you set out to do.

"Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right"
- Henry Ford

See you soon Canada!

On October 2nd I left home for an adventure in Africa; on November 28th I completed my work in Morogoro, the most amazing experience of my life; on December 2nd at 6:34am, I summited the tallest free-standing mountain in the world; on December 6th I experienced wild elephants, lions and other majestic animals in their natural habitat; and on December 14th I will arrive home to my family and friends...sad to leave TZ but something tells me I will be back.

Spending a couple days on Zanzibar before I fly out, sweating profusely in 34 degrees as I type (but I am not complaining....loving it).

Miss you all, see you soon!

 xoxo

Going off the grid for a while...

As we get ready to fly out of Dar es Salaam and head to Kilimanjaro, I have said my final goodbyes to most of my friends I have met and turned in all of my technology. I will be phoneless and internetless for the next 10 days while I am climbing Kilimajaro and I am on safari. I wanted to leave you with my schedule so while I am not in contact you can try to imagine where I am and what I am doing. 

We fly to Moshi, Tanzania tomorrow at 4pm and stay in a hotel for the night...and then the adventure begins and here is the itinerary that we were provided by our tour operator:

Tuesday, November 29th

Arrive at the Kilimanjaro or Dar es Salaam International Airport. You will be met at the airport and transferred to the Springlands Hotel or similar hotel in Moshi for your overnight.

Wednesday, November 30th

After breakfast and a briefing from your guide, leave Moshi at 9 AM, drive for 45 minutes to the Marangu Gate on the eastern side of Kilimanjaro, register with the national park, and begin hiking at 10:30 AM. In the rainforest, look for towering Eucalyptus trees, bird life, and Colubus monkeys. At these lower elevations, it can be wet and muddy, so gaiters and trekking poles will help. Shorts and t-shirts should be sufficient, but keep your rain gear and warmer clothing handy. Stop halfway for lunch, and reach the Mandara Huts at 2 or 3 PM. Unpack, rest, and have some tea or coffee. A 15 minute side trip to Maundi Crater is a good way to see the surroundings including Northern Tanzania and Kenya. Dinner is served during the early evening at 7 PM. Bathrooms with running water are available.

Thursday, December 1st

Wake to a 7:30 AM breakfast, and pack for your next trek. Break camp by 8:30 AM, hike for an hour through rainforest glades, then follow an ascending path through heathland where you can look for giant lobelias and groundsels. Continue up into open moorlands where small shrubs are the main vegetation. Stop halfway for lunch, where you can enjoy amazing views of Mawenzi. Arrive at the Horombo Huts by 3 PM, where you can see Kibo’s summit. Rest, unpack, and prepare for dinner. Bathrooms with running water are available. 

You may start to feel the effects of altitude here, and to aid your acclimatization, you can choose to spend an extra day resting at Horombo or climbing to a basecamp below Kibo’s sub peak Mawenzi.

Friday, December 2nd

Wake to breakfast as usual, but if you wake early you can get some great photos of the sunrise. The first part of the day’s hike climbs through the dwindling heathland that blends into a moonscape as you enter the sweeping saddle connecting Mawenzi and Kibo. When you stop for lunch, and later when you cross this surprisingly large saddle, you can examine the summit climb up Kibo that you will be starting in just a few hours. Be careful to notice any signs of altitude sickness. There is no running water at the Kibo Huts.

Saturday, December 3rd

Wake at midnight to a light breakfast, then prepare for your summit ascent. The goal is to climb before dawn so that you can reach Uhuru Peak shortly after sunrise. Leave at 1 AM, switchback up steep scree or possibly snow, and reach Gilman’s Point on the crater rim at 5,861 m/18,640 ft between 5 and 7 AM. Here, views of the fabled crater and its icecaps greet you. Another 2 hours of hiking along the crater rim near the celebrated snows takes you to Kilimanjaro’s true summit, Uhuru Peak, by 9 AM. This is Africa’s highest point, and you would have to travel more than 3,000 miles toward the Himalayas to find a higher peak! Be sure to have your picture taken at the summit to show your friends. After your summit stay, descend back to the Kibo Huts, have lunch, rest, collect your things, and re cross the saddle to the Horombo Huts. Eat dinner and get some well-deserved sleep! 

You do the beginning of this climb in the dark with headlamps or flashlights. It will be very cold until you start descending, so you will need all of your warm layers. This is, by far, the most difficult part of the trek. Slowly slowly, or, “pole pole,” and an optimistic attitude will get you there!

Sunday, December 4th

Wake as usual, pack, and descend through the moorland to the Mandara Huts. Have lunch there then continue your triumphant recessional down through lush forest to the park gate, which you should reach around 2 or 3 PM. Remember to tip your guides, cooks, and porters since you will be leaving them here. A vehicle will take you back to the Springlands Hotel in Moshi, where it is definitely time for celebration!

Monday, December 5th

The drive from the Springlands Hotel to Lake Manyara National Park takes about 4 hours. After having a picnic lunch in Manyara, you start a late afternoon game drive, which is the best time to view animals in this park. When you approach it from the east, the Rift Valley escarpment looms on the horizon forming an impressive backdrop to the lake. In the tall trees of the ground water forest, monkeys leap from branch to branch, and on the escarpment, elephants stand in the shade. Other animals frequently seen are zebras, impalas, monkeys, giraffes, buffalos, hippos, and others. Overnight at the Highview Hotel or the Twiga Campsite – full board.

Tuesday, December 6th

The drive to Serengeti National Park via Olduvai Gorge takes 3 to 4 hours. Olduvai Gorge is an archaeological site located in the eastern Serengeti plains, in which early human fossils were first discovered. It has an amazing landscape that resulted from the same tectonic forces that created the Great Rift Valley millions of years ago. Then in the late evening, drive to and overnight at the Ikoma Wild Camp or Seronera Campsite  - full board.

Wednesday, December 7th

After breakfast, venture into the Serengeti’s wilderness corners for a full day of game viewing in the park. With a picnic lunch beside you, take your leisure while exploring this world heritage site, where earth’s largest concentration of plain game still roams free! In the late evening, go to the Ikoma Wild Camp or Seronera Campsite for rest, dinner, and overnight.

Thursday, December 8th

After breakfast, drive to Ngorongoro Crater for a game drive inside the crater. This is the best place in Tanzania to see black rhino as well as prides of lion that include the magnificent black-manned males. There are lots of colorful flamingoes and a variety of water birds. Other game that you can see includes leopard, cheetah, hyena, other members of the antelope family, and small mammals. In the late afternoon drive to Highview Hotel or Simba Campsite for Dinner and overnight.

Friday, December 9th

The drive from the Highview Hotel to Tarangire National Park takes two hours. This park is spectacular in the dry season when many of the migratory wildlife species come back to the permanent waters of the Tarangire River. Huge herds of wildebeest, zebras, elephants, elands and Oryx gather to stay in Tarangire until the onset of the rain when they migrate again to good grazing areas. In the late afternoon, drive back to the Springlands Hotel in Moshi.


Saturday, December 10th-12th
We fly from Kilimanjaro to Stonetown in Zanzibar.


Tuesday, December 13th 
We will catch a ferry back to Dar es Salaam and catch our plane at 11:35pm, arriving home at 3:35pm on Wednesday, December 14th.

See you soon friends and family! xoxo

Tutaonana Morogoro

As my time comes to an end here in Morogoro, I am saddened to say goodbye but proud to see the change we have made in the lives of the people we have worked with. As my first development project, this experience helped me dispel myths and stereotypes about international development and Africa. Although this experience has shown me I am maybe not ready for a career in international development, it has also reignited a spark and a drive to follow my true passion of advocacy. Whether that will be advocating for children, women, people living with special needs, visible minorities, LGBT individuals, or any other person or group in need, I know that I will continue to support others in a capacity to help them see the best in themselves and life. Every day is a gift.

We met a little 11 month-old in a remote village in the mountains and her little hand would not let go of my HIV awareness dog-tags. It was almost too much.

My experience here in Tanzania has been invaluable. To put into words how this experience has and will continue to affect my life and decisions is a very hard thing to do. I started this blog with a famous quote by Gandhi, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others,” and now I understand the quote in a whole new meaning. 

 We were the first group of volunteers in YCI's new office in Kilakala, Morogoro and we decided to leave our mark and provide our youth, staff and future volunteers with a sense of who we (YCI) are, why we are here and the beauty of what we do. Julie and I with the help of Duncan and local youth painted a mural to welcome people into YCI's space and offer them not a sight but a feeling of what our home is about. Using a book from home as inspiration, we painted a mural in the hallway. We chose a tree as it is a symbol of growth and strength. A tree alludes home and they are recognized as a sign of life. With its deep roots and exposed limbs trees teach us to hang onto to where we came from and to use that as a base for reaching out into the world and experiencing what life has to offer. As a sign of health, environment, and growth (education), our tree represents our values and where they meet and blend with those of Youth Challenge International. Volunteer. Innovate. Change.

Julie and I hard at work painting our mural

Painting complete and ready for clean-up

Our youth helped us with the opposite wall of words related to YCI and why we are here!

 On Thursday, we held an open house to welcome our partners, volunteers, peer educators, and community members to our new office and express our thanks for their help and open arms. It was a great opening/send-off that included smiles, laughter, and an impromptu dance-off between our drama group, peer educators, and us white people. While the first two groups performed with amazing talent naturally, we decided to make a last minute download of Cotton-Eyed Joe and showed our African friends our “special” moves. They laughed, some children cried.

I got to play with Christian at our open house, one last time. He is too cute and will be missed.

With our hearts on our sleeves we had our last dinner with Mama, Nasreen and Dula and I was very happy to hear one of my duck friends were not the main course! I also said my good-byes to those loyal, web-footed friends of mine I spent so much time getting to know. I will miss Mzungu, Mumble, Gloria, Thing One, Thing Two, Bruce Wayne, Ashes, Julie and Duncan. While I lost Joe, Michelina, and Bobby Joe to the stomachs of the meat-eating members of our household, I will remember them as good friends who sacrificed their lives for the satisfaction of Duncan and Julie’s cravings for meat.

Duncan, Mama Jasmine, Me, Nasreen, and Julie. My Morogoro Family.

The people I have met along this part of my journey will forever have an impact on my life as I will continue to reflect on my time here in Morogoro. I have had the privilege of working with some amazing youth during my time here, who want nothing more than to better themselves, their communities, and their country. From the lessons in selflessness of Frankie to the motivational drive for change of my girls’ club in Chamwino, I hope to bring my new found respect and love for life home to Canada and to share it with all of you.

I want to say thank-you to all of you who helped me get here, those who supported me while I was here, and to those of you who will take this opportunity to examine your own life and maybe reflect on just how much we have, and how very little we need. As I say my goodbyes to underprivileged children and youth and I see how happy and grateful they are for how little they have, I am on the brink of tears out of true enlightenment to life and why we exist.

Joseph and I comparing skin colour, hand size, language and culture and yet we laugh, smile and tickle the same way.

I leave Morogoro having learned so much from so many but the one rule I will live my life by is to love unconditionally, no matter what. Family, friends, people, community, country, health, sun, rain, moon, animals, food, water…and the list can go on. Love life unconditionally and no matter how long you live for it will be a life of purpose and satisfaction knowing that every day you lived and that you were grateful for that because that is enough.

Tutaonana Morogoro, meaning we will meet again.

For now it is goodbye.

Asante.

Rafiki yangu, your friend,

Ben

Girl Power

 YCI has been working in partnership with Faraja Trust Fund for a while now and in past volunteer phases our volunteers have worked with the Faraja Girls’ Club in Chamwino. For our time here we didn’t really have any direct programs planned involving the Girl’s Club but after we met this unique group of girls and they expressed such an interest in learning from us and helping their community, we couldn’t resist.

Anna (she's fierce), Myself, Mwanahawa (President of the Girls Club), and Joyness (YCI local volunteer)

The Faraja Girls Club is made up of twenty female youth from the Chamwino community. These girls are intelligent, motivated and passionate. Not all of them completed school and some are living in hard conditions but their dedication to meeting once a week and working with little resources to benefit women and their community is something to admire.

Me and my girls after their Small Business Training

 One area CIDA and the Global Youth Partnership is focusing on is Environmental Sustainability. I conducted a knowledge assessment of the girls in the club and discovered there was not only a lack of knowledge pertaining to the environment but also a lack of awareness regarding the link between our environment and our health. The girls recognized that they knew little and made it very clear they wanted to know more.

I designed a workshop on the environment and environmental sustainability. The girls participated in the active learning seminar to increase their knowledge of our earth, air and water and how our environment affects our livelihoods, health and community. 

Environmental Sustainability Workshop - unfortunately we would have more pictures but our photographer dosed off during the training.

After the training was complete, I proposed the question to the girls, “how would you like to use your new knowledge and how can we help you succeed?” They expressed an interest in a community event of some kind so that they could share this information with their family, friends and community. We planned to hold a community clean-up event for November 11, 2011 (Remembrance Day), which was just another day here but for me it was an even bigger reminder of how much freedom I have today thanks to the dedicated and selfless men and women of the past. It is because of the freedom we have in Canada that I am able to be here, helping others, a world away.

The girls expressed an interest in making signs, banners, posters, etc., to promote the day’s events. We supplied them with everything they needed to do so and as the “cherry on top,” we had t-shirts made up at a local shop for the event. These girls are amazing young women and they will make a difference in their community and country. Gender roles in Tanzania still present a gap of inequity between men and women and empowering these ladies to “change” (not themselves but their community, country, and beyond) is an awesome experience. The t-shirts had “Girls Club” on the front with YCI logo and on the back, “Mazingira Bora, Maisha Bora,” which translates to “Better Environment,  Better Health.”

 

The girls, one 7 months pregnant, some dressed in fierce heels, collected 15 bags full of garbage from the area around their community with the help of us and local volunteers. As we picked up garbage, neighbourhood children came running and joined in, community members expressed their gratitude, and the girls gleamed with pride.

Never thought I could be so happy picking up garbage!

Neighbourhood children joined in and made the experience that much more successful!

It was a team effort - Girls Club, YCI and local volunteers

The Girls and their garabage, or triumph it depends on how your look at the world.

I am going to miss my girls from Chamwino but I know they will continue to help themselves, their family, their friends, their community and their country. To have so little and to dream so big is something we can all gather inspiration from.

A Day in the Life

So, I am pretty far into my experience here in Morogoro and I thought I would share what my typical day looked like for all you people back home (who have probably started scraping the frost from your windows in the morning on your way to school and work).

I usually wake up at 5:30-6:00 to sounds of the local roosters and the bright sun that shines through my window. I start every day by greeting Dada Diana as she feeds the ducks, prepares our tea (homemade black tea with freshly picked/crushed lemon grass) and washes the dust from the entire house. I like to take my time in the morning, sometimes taking my tea (and my malaria pill) outside to enjoy the morning sun and watch the clouds dissipate from the peaks of the mountains. I “enjoy” the standard breakfast of a freshly baked bun and Blue Band (it’s a margarine like spread, a couple ingredients away from plastic, subtitled “medium fat spread” on the container) with my second cup of tea and then get ready to head to work.

Sometimes when we are really lucky, instead of bread and butter, we get fresh fruit (papaya, finessi (jackfruit) and banana). To the left you will see our homemade tea with lemongrass and my anti-malarial.

Julie and Duncan rise a little later and sometimes I tend to walk to work alone, enjoying my time to enjoy the sights along the way. I find people are a lot more friendly if I walk by myself, as they are a lot less shy to say “Mambo?” or “Habari za asibuhi?” to one lone white person than a group of three English speaking mzungus. I walk past the chickens in the brush of the forest with their chicks tossing fallen leaves aside to forage for food and sometimes meet the odd cow or goat along the way. I have my favourite duka (store) that I like to stop at for a “Maji Kili Kubwa” (big bottle of Kilimanjaro water) and sometimes a fresh and ripe “Chungwa” (orange). The store clerk usually sees me coming down the road and greets me from a distance as “Hey Mista Beni” (most Swahili words end in vowels and so people tend to add an a, e, or i to the end of my name, it’s charming). He tries his best to say the few words he knows in English and I use my limited Swahili to find out how his morning is going. From there it’s a short walk down the dusty red road to my office.

When I get to work I am greeted by our boisterous grounds keeper, Babu Boko (Grandpa Boko). After unlocking the gate with a great skeleton key, it is very necessary to walk through the three rooms and open all of our windows to let the little morning breeze carry away the stale hot air from the night. Depending on the programming for any given day, sometimes if we don’t have training or programming, this is when I will take my quiet time alone in the office with our shared internet stick and only fully working computer to answer emails from back home and update my blog. Julie and Duncan usually join me in the office shortly after and we start our work day.

YCI's office in Kilakala, Morogoro

Julie and I in our office probably the first week in TZ. Still new at things. Notice how short the door frames are. Now imagine how often I hit my head passing from one room to the next.

Unless we are hosting a training session or have meetings in town, we usually use the mornings as planning time, taking advantage of the lack of activity. From there we might have to run errands in town, which range from getting photocopies made, to buying water/snacks for training sessions, or connecting with local groups to discuss our projects. A trip to town is a 20 minute daladala ride, 300tsh each way and if you are planning to head into town you make sure you are able to run a bunch of errands because it is a journey to get to town, get around town, and return back to the office.

Duncan and I hard at work planning, in our quaint office built for three.

The daladala "stand" downtown Morogoro Town.

 We try to go home for lunch as much as we can but with our projects we usually only make it home twice a week. When we don’t go home for lunch, we usually go for “Wali na maharage na mboga” (rice, beans, and greens), my favourite. There is small house around the corner from our office called the Lome Tea Room. The girls there really know how to cook beans and rice and they are super friendly to us when we need to eat (usually in a hurry).

A couple days a week we travel to Chamwino to facilitate the WASH clubs with the three primary schools and our peer educators. This means we are finished in the office by 12:30pm, we go and grab a bite to eat and start our journey to Chamwino. Chamwino is two daladalas away from where we work and the daladalas that drive out to Chamwino are in worse condition than those we regularly take to and from town. If we are taking a lot of supplies to WASH clubs we can grab a cab; let the bartering begin. Taxis here do not run meters and you have to agree on a fare before you start driving. Automatically, most taxi drivers see us and set the fare extremely, outrageously high. I fire back an amount in Swahili and instantly their facial expression changes to “oh, maybe I can’t take advantage of these mzungus.” We argue and barter until a fair fare is settled, then we head out to the “peri-urban” community of Chamwino.

Julie, Joynec, Me and Frankie in the back of a taxi on our way back from Chamwino.

When we don’t have WASH clubs, we facilitate training sessions at our office or hold group meetings for both our girls’ club and drama group. Programming usually occurs in the afternoon/evening; closing our office at around 5:30-6:00pm. Our walk home usually includes conversation reflecting on the day’s activities and admiration and awe over the view of the mountains. For some reason, they never get old. On the walk to work, we walk away from the view but the walk home, as the sun sets is stunning and marvelous. 

This is Christian, one of the neighbourhood children from around our office. They often sneak in our gates and try to see what the mzungus are doing. Christian likes to play in our dirt pile and he showed up with this John Deere shirt the other day. Too cute.

Julie and Duncan on our walk home from work.

We call out “Hodi” from the other side of our gate or we call dada to come and let us in. As we walk to the house from the gate we try our best to converse with dada as she escorts us back up to the house, greeting my duck friends along the way (we have 9 now and yes I have named them all). By this time Mama is home from work and Nasreen is home from school. After greeting everyone and debriefing on our day, we all head off for some needed quiet time, which always includes a shower (cold but needed). As you sweat during the day you skin becomes a magnetic for the red dust that floats in the air when a car or truck flies past you. We all come home looking like we have just received a Jersey Shore spray tan.

Once clean and refreshed, I visit with mama, read my book, play with the ducks, help Nasreen with her homework or try to check some e-mail before sitting down to dinner at about 7:30pm. Between Mama and Dada, we are spoiled when dinner comes. Although dinner is simply a starch, a main dish and a piece of fruit, they somehow blow our taste buds away with their different seasonings and spices. Nasreen usually picks me a fresh hot pepper for my dinner, and laughs when I tear up in the heat of the pepper. 

I forgot to wash my hands after cracking my "pilipili" (hot pepper) open at dinner and I touched my eye. Nasreen thought it was the best thing in the world but it was probably one of the most painful things I have experienced.

Julie and Duncan tease me that I am like an old man because after dinner I usually get ready for bed, crashing at around 9:00-9:30pm. Getting up early and not stopping all day is draining and I enjoy getting my 6-8 hours of well deserved/needed sleep. I usually journal/blog or think about home a little bit as I fall asleep to a few favourite playlists on my ipod (one in particular is very nostalgic and leaves me with a smile on my face as my eyes close for another day away from home).

Blogging before bed under my mosquito net of course.

Escape to Zanzibar

Youth Challenge International currently has volunteers working in three different regions in Tanzania: Arusha, Morogoro and Zanzibar. As you probably read in my previous post, we all traveled to Tanzania together and spent a few days getting to know each other before we split up and traveled to the three very different and equally unique project locations. On our last night in Dar es Salaam, we agreed that we would try our best to meet up half way in Zanzibar to reunite and spend a day or two on the Indian Ocean.

From Left to Right: Makho (Manager in Morogoro), Duncan, Julie, Shaib (Manager in Zanzibar), Avishka, Adriana, Christine, Tasha, Me, Nicole, and Linda (Manager in Arusha) - Taken our second day in Tanzania before we split up

The girls in Zanzibar (Christine, Adriana, and Tasha) were able to set everything up for a great weekend on the north coast for us, as team Morogoro and Arusha took care of our own travel and transportation to the island.

Our journey started by wrapping up programming last Thursday afternoon and catching a three hour bus ride from Morogoro to Dar es Salaam. Julie, Duncan and I landed in Dar at about 7pm and caught a taxi to our hotel, the Jambo Inn. By Canadian standards it would probably be considered a really nice hostel but either way it was cheap and exactly what we needed (three beds and great Indian food).

Our three beds and mural covered room at the Jambo Inn

I awoke to the call of prayer at about 4:30am, as Duncan and Julie slept right through. We all had breakfast and left for the ferry by 7:30am. This past weekend was the Muslim holiday/celebration of Eib, and because 95% of the population in Zanzibar follow Islamic law, we were advised to get an early ferry over to the island. The ferry was a gorgeous boat and there was no question as to whether or not we were going to sit on the upper-deck. We left the port of Dar es Salaam, one of the busiest ports in the world, and set sail for Stonetown/Zanzibar City.

Julie and I on the top deck of the ferry

The Tanzanian Flag

For those of you who don’t know:

Zanzibar is one of three islands off the coast of Tanzania, in the Indian Ocean. Zanzibar (Unguja) is the largest of the three and has a rich but dark history as a central location for the slave trade. Zanzibar was one of the main exporters of spices and slaves from Africa. At the peak of the slave trade there was more than 50,000 African slaves traded out of the island every year through the different slave markets. Now Zanzibar is a World Heritage Site and known best still for its exports of spices but also for its amazing white sand beaches and crystal clear waters.

Coming in to Stonetown

The view of the city from the water was mesmerizing.

We made it through customs and set out to meet up with the girls. From my experience, Stonetown reminded me of an old European city, with its tall buildings, all connected and you have little sense of direction once you venture into the maze of narrow streets. We met an older gentleman who offered his assistance to guide us to the House of Wonders, which was our rendezvous point.

Duncan and I walking the streets, every street quickly looking like the last.

One of the world famous, hand-carved, Indian inspired doors of Stonetown

The architecture was gorgeous.

 Reunited with team Zanzibar, we spent an amazing afternoon exploring Stonetown and had an excellent lunch on a rooftop restaurant called the House of Spices. The Arusha girls (Avi and Nicole), having been the farthest away had to fly in for the weekend and landed at around five o’clock. Once we were all together again we had a daladala drive us to the north coast of the island, destination Nungwi Beach.

Lunch at the House of Spices - Christine, Adriana, Duncan and Myself

Our appetizer was a nice touch and had awesome presentation, definitely picture worthy.

Adriana, Nicole and Myself - Reunited and it feels so good...haha

Arriving after sunset and in the middle of a power outage, the driveway to our hotel/resort was lined with palm trees lit up by torches hanging from the walls. It looked like a movie set or an episode of Survivor. We were escorted by torch light to our thatch-roofed bungalows and then taken to the beach for dinner on the sand!

We slept two to a thatch-roofed bungalow - they were simple, cheap, yet luxurious and exotic!

Myself, Nicole, Tasha, and Julie at the beach-side restaurant

Day two on the island was a lot less activity as we all pretty much headed for the sand (lathered up) and attempted our very best to get rid of our farmers’ tan lines we had accrued over the past five weeks. This being a tourist destination, and not one of our local program locations we were able to show more than our arms and face to the sun.

Nicole and I taking a stroll along Nungwi Beach

Adriana, Myself, Nicole, Christine, Duncan's towel, Julie, and Avi trying to get rid of tan lines.

To the right, the locals call the "really expensive mzungu hotel" and to the left, paradise.

The sand was like baby powder, or possibly whiter and softer; the water, I can’t even describe; the sun was hot and the heat was dry; and the people were more than welcoming and friendly. We spent the day in the sun, and Nicole and I met a friendly tour guide on the beach named Captain Iceman. We talked politics, history, sociology and eventually we talked about his boat. He ran a sunset cruise down the coast in a traditional Zanzibar Dhow boat that would take us out for an unreasonably cheap price by Canadian standards. Instead of taking a taxi to dinner and drinks down the beach we chose to support Captain Iceman and had him cruise us down the coast, at sunset to our destination for the evening. We had dinner, drinks and definitely a lot of dancing to both Bongo Flava and Top 40 hits from back home.

Boat ride in the Dhow on the way to Kendwa (best "taxi" ride ever).

My buddy Nicole and I posing for the camera.

Our sunset and our boat leaving after dropping us off at the beach.

Our daladala picked us up in the morning and on our way back to Stonetown, the rain clouds moved in out of nowhere and we were met with flooded roads and streets at every corner. From the daladala to the awning of a local shop, maybe five feet, we were drenched from head to toe, inside and out. We said our goodbyes as we caught our ferry and the girls headed off to the homestay and the airport. 

After a two hour ferry boat ride from Stonetown back to the mainland, a taxi to the bus in Dar es Salaam, a four and half hour bus ride to Morogoro and one last taxi home, we were still damp from the morning's downpour, tired and ready for bed.

Such a great weekend for the memory books and I am definitely sharing this experience with some amazing individuals.

Avishka, Adriana, Nicole, Christine, Myself and Julie - And Duncan behind the lens again