Hey Everyone,
I'm sorry that I haven't been keeping up on my blogs lately, but getting to the internet the past few weeks has been challenging. I'm officially done with my internship now, and I've left Mwanza too. Now I'm in Dar es Salaam waiting for my flight tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I thought I'd just do a fun little list of facts about Tanzania that you may or may not already know...here it goes:
1.) Tanzania is home to the Serengeti, Mount Kilimanjaro, and the "spice island" of Zanzibar.
2.) There are over 175 tribes/ethnic groups in the country and most of them have their own language. That means that people are learning their mother tongue, Swahili, and English if they make it all the way through secondary school.
3.) The average wedding dowry usually consists of cows or money and is given by the groom's family to the bride's family.
4.) The Maasai people believe that every cow in the world belongs to them. In fact, they oftentimes steal cows from other people.
5.) It is common for two people of the same sex to hold hands in public, but it is frowned upon if there is public affection between the opposite sex.
6.) When twins are born, the first one is always named Kulwa and the second is always named Dotto.
7.) If a thief is caught stealing in public, he/she is beaten horribly by everyone around (before police come) and sometimes even beaten to death.
8.) There is a small albino population in Tanzania, and they are oftentimes discriminated against and even killed. Some traditional medicine doctors pay big money to get the body parts of albinos.
9.) Tanzania only gained independence in 1961 after being colonized first by the Germans and then by the British.
10.) Swahili time is different than the clock/time we're used to. It coincides with the sunrises and sunsets (i.e. 1:00 is when the sun comes up)
Monday, July 27, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
saba saba
Hamjambo wote,
Just a short blog today, not a whole lot of time! This past Tuesday was a national holiday here (Saba Saba--seven seven), so I didn't have to work. It was nice to have the short week, and the days continue to fly by. It's hard to believe that I only have two weeks until I come home! Work is still going well. I'm beginning to wrap everything up by writing some final reports and the like. I'll try and write a longer blog next weekend, but until then...take care!
-Ben
Just a short blog today, not a whole lot of time! This past Tuesday was a national holiday here (Saba Saba--seven seven), so I didn't have to work. It was nice to have the short week, and the days continue to fly by. It's hard to believe that I only have two weeks until I come home! Work is still going well. I'm beginning to wrap everything up by writing some final reports and the like. I'll try and write a longer blog next weekend, but until then...take care!
-Ben
Saturday, July 4, 2009
4th of July
Happy 4th of July to everyone back home (or abroad)!
I won't be going to any parades or watching any fireworks. In fact I won't even be able to have a nice BBQ outside, but I am going to hang out with the few American students that are here. I work with one student from Maryland, and there are two other students here from Atlanta staying at the same hostel as me. We're all going to go out to lunch or something, so at least we'll get to celebrate a little bit :).
Work's been going well. The grant is finished and now we sit back and wait for the decision. However, it could take up to 10 weeks for the foundation to decide, so I'm not counting on knowing the result any time soon. It's just nice to have it completed and give me a chance to work more with the health education services of my organization. Sadly, I find that many of the youth enrolled in Shaloom's youth center programs know little about HIV. I feel that lack of education is one of the biggest factors contributing to the epidemic here in TZ. Only 5% of girls complete secondary school in Tanzania, and boys are not much better at 7%. Furthermore, the teachers who are supposed to teach about HIV in school are oftentimes shy when it comes to discussing the subject. Many students tell me that their teachers just skip talking about HIV. Also, some of the ones that do try to teach it are giving the wrong information. People still believe many myths about HIV and that's just adding to the stigma.
Gender inequality is another big factor contributing to the problem. Women are lower on the social hierarchy and are left with fewer rights than men. There is little negotiation for sex, condom usage, or the decision to get tested for HIV. What makes it worse is that most women are economically dependent on men to provide for them and their families. If the women has something she doesn't like about what the man is doing or wants to leave him, that just isn't a possibility. What will she have if she leaves him? Women are still largely left out of the workforce and they depend on their husbands to make the money. Also, many women are beaten by their husbands and they fear that consequence as well when considering questioning their authority. There really needs to be a cultural change that puts women on more of an equal level to men. It starts with education, because if more girls can finish school then more could potentially join the workforce and start to gain respect and independence.
Lastly, there is poverty. More than half of Tanzania's population lives on less than $1 per day, and there is also a very high unemployment rate. The fact is that HIV/AIDS is much lower on the list of important things when you are just struggling to keep food, shelter, and water. Plus, many people here are still dying from other diseases such as diarrhea, parasites, and malaria. Many Tanzanians are just not putting HIV in the forefront of their minds. And how can you blame them?
Nevertheless, 1 in 14 Tanzanian adults has HIV and there is still not enough awareness. Because of the stigma associated with the disease, many people don't even acknowledge that someone has died from AIDS. They explain many AIDS related deaths with other explanations and deny that it was what killed them. But it all comes back to education. If education was improved, women could begin to achieve more rights, unemployment could decrease, and more people could be aware of HIV. However, the government does make secondary school free to students. Primary school is free but secondary school involves fees that many students can't afford. The government claims to not have enough money to make it free and there is little hope for it changing any time soon. CCM is the dominant political party and no other party is even close to rivalling it in attaining a parliamentary majority or a presidential bid. In the meantime, all of these discussed factors must be addressed. As they say here, "pole pole" (slowly) things will progress.
Best,
Ben
I won't be going to any parades or watching any fireworks. In fact I won't even be able to have a nice BBQ outside, but I am going to hang out with the few American students that are here. I work with one student from Maryland, and there are two other students here from Atlanta staying at the same hostel as me. We're all going to go out to lunch or something, so at least we'll get to celebrate a little bit :).
Work's been going well. The grant is finished and now we sit back and wait for the decision. However, it could take up to 10 weeks for the foundation to decide, so I'm not counting on knowing the result any time soon. It's just nice to have it completed and give me a chance to work more with the health education services of my organization. Sadly, I find that many of the youth enrolled in Shaloom's youth center programs know little about HIV. I feel that lack of education is one of the biggest factors contributing to the epidemic here in TZ. Only 5% of girls complete secondary school in Tanzania, and boys are not much better at 7%. Furthermore, the teachers who are supposed to teach about HIV in school are oftentimes shy when it comes to discussing the subject. Many students tell me that their teachers just skip talking about HIV. Also, some of the ones that do try to teach it are giving the wrong information. People still believe many myths about HIV and that's just adding to the stigma.
Gender inequality is another big factor contributing to the problem. Women are lower on the social hierarchy and are left with fewer rights than men. There is little negotiation for sex, condom usage, or the decision to get tested for HIV. What makes it worse is that most women are economically dependent on men to provide for them and their families. If the women has something she doesn't like about what the man is doing or wants to leave him, that just isn't a possibility. What will she have if she leaves him? Women are still largely left out of the workforce and they depend on their husbands to make the money. Also, many women are beaten by their husbands and they fear that consequence as well when considering questioning their authority. There really needs to be a cultural change that puts women on more of an equal level to men. It starts with education, because if more girls can finish school then more could potentially join the workforce and start to gain respect and independence.
Lastly, there is poverty. More than half of Tanzania's population lives on less than $1 per day, and there is also a very high unemployment rate. The fact is that HIV/AIDS is much lower on the list of important things when you are just struggling to keep food, shelter, and water. Plus, many people here are still dying from other diseases such as diarrhea, parasites, and malaria. Many Tanzanians are just not putting HIV in the forefront of their minds. And how can you blame them?
Nevertheless, 1 in 14 Tanzanian adults has HIV and there is still not enough awareness. Because of the stigma associated with the disease, many people don't even acknowledge that someone has died from AIDS. They explain many AIDS related deaths with other explanations and deny that it was what killed them. But it all comes back to education. If education was improved, women could begin to achieve more rights, unemployment could decrease, and more people could be aware of HIV. However, the government does make secondary school free to students. Primary school is free but secondary school involves fees that many students can't afford. The government claims to not have enough money to make it free and there is little hope for it changing any time soon. CCM is the dominant political party and no other party is even close to rivalling it in attaining a parliamentary majority or a presidential bid. In the meantime, all of these discussed factors must be addressed. As they say here, "pole pole" (slowly) things will progress.
Best,
Ben
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Religion in Tanzania
The country is pretty diverse when it comes to religion. It is roughly split half and half into Christian and Muslim, but there are also people still practicing their traditional religions from before colonialism. Most of the Muslim population is found along the Indian Ocean coastline and in major cities. The mosques play the call to prayer everyday over loud speakers so you can always hear them no matter where you are in the city.
For Christians, there are several denominations here, but Roman Catholic is the dominant one. People are very involved with church, and in some cases it's amazing how closely their lives are tied to the church community. And on Sundays they sing and dance very enthusiastically!
In Mwanza the religious diversity is even more noticeable due to the Hindu population. Ever since the time when the railroads were built here, Indians have moved to Mwanza and made it their home. Today there are a few Hindu temples mixed in with the many mosques and churches here in Mwanza. This mix of religion gives the city sort of an oriental feel at times, however it's cool how well they all get along with one another. They seem to coexist peacefully together, and they try to keep their religious differences out of their day to day dealings with one another.
For Christians, there are several denominations here, but Roman Catholic is the dominant one. People are very involved with church, and in some cases it's amazing how closely their lives are tied to the church community. And on Sundays they sing and dance very enthusiastically!
In Mwanza the religious diversity is even more noticeable due to the Hindu population. Ever since the time when the railroads were built here, Indians have moved to Mwanza and made it their home. Today there are a few Hindu temples mixed in with the many mosques and churches here in Mwanza. This mix of religion gives the city sort of an oriental feel at times, however it's cool how well they all get along with one another. They seem to coexist peacefully together, and they try to keep their religious differences out of their day to day dealings with one another.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Another Home Visit
Greetings blog followers!
This past week at work I've been trying to finish up my grant proposal, but we went two days without power this week so that made it difficult. Next week I should have it completed and submitted for certain.
But I also got the opportunity to tag along on another Home-Based Care visit this week. This time we walked to some houses clear up in the hills of Mwanza. Mwanza is a very rocky and hilly city, and the families that live up in the hills are usually the poorest of the lot. There are no roads to these houses, no electricity, no running water, and no privacy from your neighbors. Furthermore, when I say "houses" I am actually referring to mud shacks. These buildings are small, with patchy roofing and lacking all the luxurious amenities that we're used to back home like stoves, refrigerators, etc. Imagine your entire family living and sleeping in the same one room house all the time! Also, to get water they must walk all the way down and then back up the hills with buckets of water from Lake Victoria. Needless to say, their lives are already tough.
However, the families we visited have even more daily hardships to endure as they are all HIV clients of ours at Shaloom and must adhere to specific ARV drug regimens. One family in particular stood out to me...It was a mother, two sons, and a daughter living together. All of them have HIV. One son is very young, but the other son and the daughter are older. The daughter though, is paralyzed on the whole right side of her body. She suffered a stroke and was left unable to move her right side. Apparently she's making good progress, because she can now feed herself and stand up on her own--things that she was previously unable to do without help. She can't speak anymore, but she can understand everything people tell her and is able to acknowledge them with noises and gestures. I was struck by her cheery demeanor and determination. As we entered the house, we waited for her to enter the room. She insisted on getting into the room on her own power, so we waited as she slid on the ground, pushing her body along with her left arm. Finally, she made it into the room and lifted herself onto a chair. She was so happy to do it on her own and also pleased to see that we'd come to visit her.
This woman will never be able to leave her house unless someone carries her down the hill, because no vehicles can make the journey, she can no longer speak or walk, and all she has is her family. But she still finds joy in the little things of life, and that was refreshing to see. What you begin to realize here is that most of the problems we have back home pale in comparison to the challenges many Tanzanians face every day. Too often we worry about the silly trials of life, and we fail to be truly thankful for all we have. I will surely think of families like these whenever I am stressed or upset in the future.
This past week at work I've been trying to finish up my grant proposal, but we went two days without power this week so that made it difficult. Next week I should have it completed and submitted for certain.
But I also got the opportunity to tag along on another Home-Based Care visit this week. This time we walked to some houses clear up in the hills of Mwanza. Mwanza is a very rocky and hilly city, and the families that live up in the hills are usually the poorest of the lot. There are no roads to these houses, no electricity, no running water, and no privacy from your neighbors. Furthermore, when I say "houses" I am actually referring to mud shacks. These buildings are small, with patchy roofing and lacking all the luxurious amenities that we're used to back home like stoves, refrigerators, etc. Imagine your entire family living and sleeping in the same one room house all the time! Also, to get water they must walk all the way down and then back up the hills with buckets of water from Lake Victoria. Needless to say, their lives are already tough.
However, the families we visited have even more daily hardships to endure as they are all HIV clients of ours at Shaloom and must adhere to specific ARV drug regimens. One family in particular stood out to me...It was a mother, two sons, and a daughter living together. All of them have HIV. One son is very young, but the other son and the daughter are older. The daughter though, is paralyzed on the whole right side of her body. She suffered a stroke and was left unable to move her right side. Apparently she's making good progress, because she can now feed herself and stand up on her own--things that she was previously unable to do without help. She can't speak anymore, but she can understand everything people tell her and is able to acknowledge them with noises and gestures. I was struck by her cheery demeanor and determination. As we entered the house, we waited for her to enter the room. She insisted on getting into the room on her own power, so we waited as she slid on the ground, pushing her body along with her left arm. Finally, she made it into the room and lifted herself onto a chair. She was so happy to do it on her own and also pleased to see that we'd come to visit her.
This woman will never be able to leave her house unless someone carries her down the hill, because no vehicles can make the journey, she can no longer speak or walk, and all she has is her family. But she still finds joy in the little things of life, and that was refreshing to see. What you begin to realize here is that most of the problems we have back home pale in comparison to the challenges many Tanzanians face every day. Too often we worry about the silly trials of life, and we fail to be truly thankful for all we have. I will surely think of families like these whenever I am stressed or upset in the future.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Talent Show
Mambo vipi? (how's it going, what's up?)
This week Shaloom put on a talent show for the youth registered in our program. The goal was to let the children have a good time and also to raise a little money. It was pretty hectic getting it all organized this week, but it all came together in time for the show on Friday afternoon. The kids did a great job with the acts. Two of them acted as MCs and some of the actual acts included: singing groups, a theater group, and discussion panel, and traditional dancing with drums. The theater group and discussion panel both talked about HIV/AIDS education, and I was particularly happy with the discussion panel. That group took one of the brochures that I made and integrated the information into the act. They also promoted the brochure and we distributed them to guests on their way out.
I also got to play a little role in the show, as they appointed me "prop/stage manager" at the last second before the show started. It was pretty fun, I just took the props on and off the stage whenever they needed me to. Also, I was able to recruit a young boy to be my assistant, but he was special because he was one of the children that Carol and I taught English to the last time we were in Mwanza in 2007. It was great to see him again, and he turned out to be a big help during the show!
The fundraising part went reasonably well too. Our coordinator did a power point presentation that served as an overview of our organization and many guests responded positively and dontated generously. We were also blessed with a very pretigious guest of honor, The Regional Commissionor of Mwanza. I didn't know who he was before the event, but apparently his duties are similar to a mayor's. Regardless, people were very excited to have him there, and he was nice enough to make a speech asking the audience to donate money or make a pledge.
So all in all it was a success. Even though it was stressful to run and a little unorganized, we still raised some money. And even more importantly, the youth had a ton of fun!
However, as on most days here there are happy stories and sad stories to tell. As I was walking to work on Wednesday morning I saw a horrible accident. A young boy no more than 8 or 9 was hit and run over by a mini-bus only about 30 yards away from me. A crowd of people surrounded the accident as the boy was stuck underneath the bus. Eventually they were able to pull him out, but I didn't see him moving. They just picked him up and put him in the bus that hit him, then they were off to the hospital.
I couldn't help but think about how they may have been doing more harm than good by picking him up the way they did. Spine/neck injuries can be worsened very quickly if you handle someone like that in the wrong way. The problem is that there is no 911 to call...no emergency vehicles to come to the scene of accients...only a volunteer crowd of onlookers who do their best to get the victim to the hospital as quickly as possible.
I know one thing for sure...I will be extra careful crossing the street here from now on. Pedestrians don't have the right of way here, and the traffic drives on the opposite side of the road, so it's sometimes difficult to gauge the traffic when you're used to the way the traffic flows back home.
Don't worry mom, I'll make sure to look both ways before I cross the road :)
Take care everyone! Enjoy the new iphone that i heard was just released in the states yesterday!
-Ben
This week Shaloom put on a talent show for the youth registered in our program. The goal was to let the children have a good time and also to raise a little money. It was pretty hectic getting it all organized this week, but it all came together in time for the show on Friday afternoon. The kids did a great job with the acts. Two of them acted as MCs and some of the actual acts included: singing groups, a theater group, and discussion panel, and traditional dancing with drums. The theater group and discussion panel both talked about HIV/AIDS education, and I was particularly happy with the discussion panel. That group took one of the brochures that I made and integrated the information into the act. They also promoted the brochure and we distributed them to guests on their way out.
I also got to play a little role in the show, as they appointed me "prop/stage manager" at the last second before the show started. It was pretty fun, I just took the props on and off the stage whenever they needed me to. Also, I was able to recruit a young boy to be my assistant, but he was special because he was one of the children that Carol and I taught English to the last time we were in Mwanza in 2007. It was great to see him again, and he turned out to be a big help during the show!
The fundraising part went reasonably well too. Our coordinator did a power point presentation that served as an overview of our organization and many guests responded positively and dontated generously. We were also blessed with a very pretigious guest of honor, The Regional Commissionor of Mwanza. I didn't know who he was before the event, but apparently his duties are similar to a mayor's. Regardless, people were very excited to have him there, and he was nice enough to make a speech asking the audience to donate money or make a pledge.
So all in all it was a success. Even though it was stressful to run and a little unorganized, we still raised some money. And even more importantly, the youth had a ton of fun!
However, as on most days here there are happy stories and sad stories to tell. As I was walking to work on Wednesday morning I saw a horrible accident. A young boy no more than 8 or 9 was hit and run over by a mini-bus only about 30 yards away from me. A crowd of people surrounded the accident as the boy was stuck underneath the bus. Eventually they were able to pull him out, but I didn't see him moving. They just picked him up and put him in the bus that hit him, then they were off to the hospital.
I couldn't help but think about how they may have been doing more harm than good by picking him up the way they did. Spine/neck injuries can be worsened very quickly if you handle someone like that in the wrong way. The problem is that there is no 911 to call...no emergency vehicles to come to the scene of accients...only a volunteer crowd of onlookers who do their best to get the victim to the hospital as quickly as possible.
I know one thing for sure...I will be extra careful crossing the street here from now on. Pedestrians don't have the right of way here, and the traffic drives on the opposite side of the road, so it's sometimes difficult to gauge the traffic when you're used to the way the traffic flows back home.
Don't worry mom, I'll make sure to look both ways before I cross the road :)
Take care everyone! Enjoy the new iphone that i heard was just released in the states yesterday!
-Ben
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Names
One last thing before I go...I thought I'd fill you in on how names work here.
My name is very funny to most people here, because your last name is supposed to be the first name of your father. They can't understand why Grace is my father's name and there are always laughs when I introduce myself. The concept of a surname/family name doesn't exist here, so it's difficult to explain.
If you're a mother, you are called Mama ____(whatever the first name of your first born is). So for example my mom's name would be Mama Ben. That's all everyone would have called her for the rest of her life after I was born. Fathers can be similar only using "Baba" instead of Mama.
Also, you can always just call someone kaka(brother), dada(sister), mama, baba, bibi(grandma), mzee(old man)--even if they are strangers.
For my name, Grace is funny but my first name is hard for them too. I'm not sure why, but many people don't understand Ben, so I oftentimes just say Benjamin. However, now many people just call be "Benja" haha. Oh well, as long as I know they're talking to me!
My name is very funny to most people here, because your last name is supposed to be the first name of your father. They can't understand why Grace is my father's name and there are always laughs when I introduce myself. The concept of a surname/family name doesn't exist here, so it's difficult to explain.
If you're a mother, you are called Mama ____(whatever the first name of your first born is). So for example my mom's name would be Mama Ben. That's all everyone would have called her for the rest of her life after I was born. Fathers can be similar only using "Baba" instead of Mama.
Also, you can always just call someone kaka(brother), dada(sister), mama, baba, bibi(grandma), mzee(old man)--even if they are strangers.
For my name, Grace is funny but my first name is hard for them too. I'm not sure why, but many people don't understand Ben, so I oftentimes just say Benjamin. However, now many people just call be "Benja" haha. Oh well, as long as I know they're talking to me!
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