Massai Land

  Editor’s note: Russel P. Participated in the HIV/AIDS Education and Prevention Program January 2008. Thanks for the post Russel!

It is Sunday morning March 9th and I have some free time. I am supposed to be on my way to the airport but my travel agent emailed me and said my plans had changed. my flight had been cancelled and rescheduled for Tuesday the 11th. Darn now I have to spend a couple more days in Africa while the folks back home are dealing with a snow storm. Chances are I would have gotten stuck in Washington D.C. As the locals say ”Hakuna Matata” I began to review the events of the last week and thought this would be a good time to write down a few things while they are still fresh in my mind. Dismas, my conterpart and translator was scheduled to return to Manyire where we had taught a class two weeks earlier. This time we were to conduct a class to a group of villagers in Massai Land. Our program coordinator thought it best if we stay in Manyire at night and travel to the massai village each day for flasses. There was little water in the Massai Village as it had to be carried in via 5 gallon buckets daily. Accomodations were also an issue as there was no place Dismas and I could share together. It was thought this might pose a problem with communication and possible safety. This is the same Massai Village that I visited a couple weeks ago with Norbert, a minister living in Manyire who helps coordinate setting up classes throught GSC. As the plan unfolded, I learned Norbert would be chauffeuring Dismas and I individually to the village from Manyire each day. I had travelled to the Massai Village on the back of Norbert’s motor bike before and fully knew what to expect, or so I though. As a time saving measure it was decided classes would be condensed from three days to two. Dismas and I arrived Monday morning by way of the GSC van and remained at the village while the van returned to Arusha.

Live from Tanzania!

Editor’s note: Samantha H. is participating in the HIV/AIDS Education and Prevention Program.  This summer she will also be a part of the annual youth day camp that focuses on HIV/AIDS awareness and life skills for Tanzanian young people. Thanks for the post Samantha!

I have been here in Tanzania now for 4 weeks and I absolutely love it. I feel very at home here, my host family has accepted me with open arms. In fact last weekend my host mama took me to Moshi, a town about an hour and a half from Arusha. I had been looking forward to going to Moshi since I had arrived in Tanzania because that is where Kilimanjaro is. For the past few weeks I have been telling my mama that I wanted to see Kilimanjaro and that was one ( of many) things that I had to see before I left. The entire day in  Moshi it was cloudy and you couldn’t see anything, needless to say I was disappointed.  It was about 4 pm and we were sitting outside when the clouds parted and there it was,  Kilimanjaro! I couldn’t stop smiling, my mama, knowing how bad I wanted to see Kilimanjaro couldn’t stop smiling either. Kilimanjaro was amazing, it is hard to explain, there were times when it didn’t seem real.

Working here is also a lot of fun. I didn’t expect people here to be as open as they are to our coming in to talk about HIV. But the women we have taught in community trainings that last few weeks were very open and not embarrassed to ask questions. The people we have taught have been very curious, and like I said they ask a lot of questions which is great because there are many myths about HIV here.  I am looking forward to the next three weeks because we are starting day camp in  3 secondary schools. It will be a nice change of pace, the last 2 community trainings have all been older women. While there are times that I do miss home there is no where else I would rather be!

Reflections from Tanzania

Editor’s note: Dan T. participated in the International Health Internship Program in Tanzania in the summer of 2007. Here are some of his reflections. Thanks for the post, Dan.

 

 Having never traveled abroad before, I was quite anxious before my journey to Tanzania. Soon after my arrival, however, all of my nervousness disappeared as both the beauty of Africa and the kindness of its people made the transition into my new lifestyle a smooth one.
One of the most valuable aspects of my experience was getting to work with the counterparts. I made great friends with many of them, and I still keep in touch with several of them to this day. This special group of people not only made volunteering possible, via their role as translators, but were also a wealth of information about Tanzanian culture. I remember during orientation week we did an exercise where we split into small groups of volunteers and counterparts to compare differences in gender roles between our respective nations. One comment that really stuck with me was when one of the counterparts posed the question, “Who (men or women) digs the graves?” In retrospect this question isn’t all that striking, but at the time it really made me more aware and more appreciative of the differences, large and small, between our two cultures.

Since my return home, hardly a day goes by where I don’t see something that reminds me of my trip. The nine weeks I spent there were easily some of the shortest and most memorable of my life. I suppose I still feel a little anxious from time to time, but now it is because I can’t wait to return to Tanzania and see my family and friends.

click here to be taken back to the GSC main website

Global Service Corps has gone Web 2.0!!

Global Service Corps is pleased to announce our new online presence on social networking sights. We now have pages on facebook, flickr, youtube and wiserearth. Join our groups to keep updated on GSC developments, connect with other volunteers, watch videos and discuss your GSC experience. Follow the links below to view and join our groups. We hope to see you there!