Tuesday 27 December — An early wake up from a damned loud rooster from next door at about 4am.
After brekky a quick check of emails, and Loveness arrived not long after 10am to pick us up to go to her place. We decided we wouldn't drive, that we could walk as it's not far away - Loveness didn't believe us at first - and so up the hill we went, on the bit of our road near the hotel we didn't know about. To a t-junction, where, if we go left, it's the way to Loveness' house as well as the church, and if we go right and follow it to the end, it hits the road that the orphanage is on! 15 minutes each way from here … easy!
It was a rather warm walk, as the sun was out, noticing some rather large houses here and there, all walled and gated of course, as well as a new hotel being built not too far from the Otakef - problem is of course that the roads are crap, and if they want hotel guests to get there in relative ease and comfort, those roads need to be graded and drained properly, even if tarring them is not possible. Where is the money for proper roads around here? This is meant to be a modern - and growing - city of some 1 million-plus people!
Anyway, we arrived at Loveness' place, which is one room in a building of 2 rooms - here are other buildings which people rent rooms in, all owned by one man who lives nearby. Her room is about 3m square, does not have running water, but has electricity and a light, a nice room with a double bed and a couch, tv/dvd player and a table with shelf below holding all her kitchen stuff; she doesn't have a gas cylinder, using a kero cooker. Her clothes are all around the room on hangers, there are 2 big covered piles behind her bed which I guessed to be suitcases or bags of clothes. She showed us a pile of photographs - many were damaged from when her room was flooded during some storms a while back.
Loveness was going to make lunch for us, pancakes with fruit, so we walked to a nearby shop - a small pub - to buy some fantas, having a little chat with the people inside. Returning, we had to wait ages as each pancake took forever to cook, finally c10 were made and we hoe'd in, feeling tired and hungry, all the while trying to chat and find out more about Loveness and her life, with difficulty as her english is not all that good, and most of the time we wondered if she understood what we were asking.
Anyway, it was a pleasant time, and when we were done, time to leave for NOCET, so Loveness accompanied us to the t-junction, and reminded us to not turn left, not turn right, but go straight ahead! We said our goodbyes and headed off, again passing by some large walled, gated houses, set in between banana crops, banana and coffee crops, small shops - with almost every 2nd or 3rd one being a hair dressing salon - small shacks and houses, etc, saying hellos and waving, or returning greetings as we walked along.
Finally reached the junction of the road which NOCET is located, and walked up the hill, attempting to surprise the children as we normally arrive by car. We were spotted and immediately surrounded by kids wanting hugs and cuddles, holding our hands … awwwwwwww! It was great to see them all again, as well as Joyce, and some of the neighbours we normally see. It was quite warm so we sat down and of course started up on the tickles and general foolishness, with tons of laughs and giggles and squirming - there is one tiny little poppet that has taken a shine to me, maybe 5-6 years old, hardly anything to her, who just wouldn't leave me alone, she is so cute! One of my favourite things to do is to pretend I'm really tired and make as if to fall asleep with silly snoring and then sit up quickly with a "roaaaarrr" and most of the kids just fall over themselves to get away and squeal … it's so funny, and it works every time, haha.
Samwel arrived on the back of a motorbike about an hour after we were there. Anyway, suffice to say, I got very hot, sweaty and grubby, my white top was quickly changing to a shade of dirt with each minute, but it was so much fun! More for whom, me or the children? Don't know, haha. At one point we were shown some new clothes that Joyce had bought for the children, much of it looked fantastic and we could imagine just how gorgeous the kids would look when they're put on! Can't wait, probably on Saturday at church!
More play and Sheryl was having a bit of a chat with Samwel, Loveness and Joyce - Sheryl had woken up wondering why Agrey wasn't on the NOCET list of kids, and wondering if there were any more! Oh nooooooo! Played for maybe another hour before it was time to say bye, and visit a nearby house, to meet Flora's family - her grandmother looks after 10 grandchildren there. Bloody hell. Apparently Flora's mum has had children by a number of men, each of whom have disappeared. Just another story we're getting used to hear about. On our way out Loveness greeted a man and they held hands for a while as they talked - he's Agrey's dad - and we said hello and he asked where were are from, etc. We parted ways with Samwel, who returned to assist Joyce. And on our way down the hill we passed by Elizabeth on the way to NOCET and greeted her.
And on we walked, back the way we came, again more greetings and waving to children, etc. We parted ways with Loveness at the t-junction, and on to the hotel, where we collapsed at the outdoor setting, with cold drinks, and Judy joined us. We chatted for a while about today's events, ordered dinner, then to our room for a much-needed [cold] shower, aaaaaahhhh! Changed, relaxed, Sheryl caught up on emails, while I watched the news.
We will probably tell Samwel we don't need the car anymore - we haven't driven it for 5 days, last Wed, Sat, Sun, Monday and today - the money should go to the kids for their fees and uniforms, that the car was an unexpected, expensive cost for us, etc. After dinner I caught up on emails and then diary for the last couple of days. Peter Makemo should return tomorrow and we hope to have yet another meeting with him.
Wednesday, 28 December — As we were finishing brekky Isaac joined us for a short while, and at point asked if we might consider his plan for the future to assist in developing an orphanage in a rural area - he says here in urban area there are many forms of support, but almost nothing in the rural areas, which are pretty much neglected.
Sheryl did a Google search on Tanzanian education, finding out that school fees for primary school are supposed to be free - as the government has decreed - but, because they don't have enough money to cover things like uniforms, equipment, desks, textbooks, food, matron, security, a fee needs to be levied on parents. It is against policy for children to be refused attendance for non-payment of fees, but as those fees I listed are non-government education department ones, then there's a catch-22 situation … poor families on less than AUD1 a day find it almost impossible to cover basic primary school fees, which can range from TZS20,000–40,000 for the year. When children reach secondary school age, the situation regarding "fees" becomes almost verging on the ridiculous, being at least 10 times the primary school fees. There has been a boom in school building, but not enough teachers, who are paid low wages - perhaps between TZS200,000–400,000 a year – classes are overcrowded, average teacher-pupil ratio being 50:1 – non-payment of fees means a student is sent away, not able to attend. We read that less than 1% of students that complete secondary go on to university. Don't know if that percentage is solely for government schools, or includes private schools. Another fact we read was that there is a low tax base here in Tanzania, with more than half the population being under the age of 18. Education is the key for the population to better themselves, be more skilled, start businesses, employ people, for tax to be collected. I often wonder just how much of tax is not collected due to the scale of the cash-only and barter economy here - but, how can you do extract tax from people living hand-to-mouth?
James and Upendo arrived; after a while James off down the hill to buy bread and other bits'n'pieces so we can make sandwiches for lunch. On his return, to the kitchen to make cheese, tomato, cucumber and coleslaw sandwiches, which we shared with soft drinks. Spent a few hours working on various things, like perusing an AUSaid grants submission form, talking about budget forms, etc. It rained very heavily mid-afternoon as well. Upendo left c3 or so, when the rain had stopped. For the next few hours Sheryl, Samwel and James went thru the figures for school fees, trying to pin them down as accurately as possible; Stella and Diana were sitting in the lounge, watching tv, and James asked them from time to time. It was another long, drawnout session, and I could tell it was wearing Sheryl down, and it was frustrating me as well, as James and Samwel were continually conversing between themselves, or Samwel making or taking calls to get info … I'm just amazed that Sheryl hasn't spit the dummy as yet as I definitely would have! As Sheryl has said many times, they - meaning Samwel - simply do not have the skills, or thought processes to manage a business or organisation professionally, as he has come from a very poor background, and those skills are simply not taught, nor does there seem to be the imagination, or capacity for having the intuition to think "I need to keep accurate financial records", not only for his business, but for NOCET.
Sheryl did look thru the AUSaid paperwork James had brought along, and the major point she made was that no aid organisation is going to simply hand out money without really accurate/professional financial paperwork, and that each child needs a folder/envelope with their personal details, DOB, name of parents, date and info of death of parents, birth certificate, scholastic records, etc. I doubt that they have even thought this necessary, and they're running an orphanage! I find it incredibly difficult to have any patience, and my impatience at things is simmering below the surface! Have to watch myself, my reactions to things said and done, etc -my energy level;s are low, am probably getting over our time here, being away from home, missing friends and family, missing all our comforts, our day-to-day lives … I'm itching to hit a tennis ball, continue with my business, continue with the photographic course, make a start on 2012 …
One good thing to come out of the meeting was that Samwel said that he now has 4 Tanzanian sponsors, including Martin - the driver [big fella in a suit we met at Samel's lunch], the accountant in Dar es Salaam, Isaac, and someone else … yeeharrr! But then he turned things on its head when he mentioned that Joyce knows of 2 children in a vulnerable position, who's father has died in a car accident, one child in nursery school age, the other to start form 1 … and the temptation to take them on, to which Sheryl politely said "no", then the notion of hiring a security guard for the new house as Samwel says Joyce is alone there with the children, and that hoodlums would break in, not hurt anyone, but want to steal - with Sheryl saying, there's a wall and gate and better protected than the present NOCET rooms! Where's the danger going to come from? And then the idea of an electric fence, and I said "what's the use of one when the electricity goes down?" … better to get a dog, like a terrier. OMG, I'm ready to rip heads off! There's already the pent up frustration about the ridiculous education system here, the cynical side of us coming to the conclusion that it's been devised to keep the poor uneducated so that they will never rise up and question those in authority …
Not long before it was time for Samwel and James to leave, we farewelled them as darkness was descending.
There were a few guests here tonight, 2 men and a lady, looked like they were here for work, as well as 2 other men who shared a room …
Thursday, 29 December — We got up lateish, waited on James, Samwel and Upendo, as one, 2, or all of them were due here around 10 or so. Chatted with Judy in the lounge, I was feeling quite tired and pretty much over everything, I am ready to go home, AGAIN! Upendo sent a text message: she can't make it today as her sister-in-law gave birth to a child, but the baby died, how sad. We waited until c11:45, so we deiced to find the local stationery shops - Judith told us of one down the bottom of the hill and to the left, but it turned out to be a secretarial, printing service, etc. We walked further up the road to a small set of shops that held a fashion shop as well as a small supermarket - we bought about half a dozen things, including some stuff for the bolognese for next week.
We decided to have lunch at a local hotel that we've spotted that has a restaurant, stopping at a couple more small stationery shops, which didn't have ledger books at all. To the hotel, City Link, where we felt "aaaaahhhh", as it's bigger than Otakef, staff in more professional looking uniforms, and we thought would have a better range of food for lunch. A handsome young waiter gave us a menu and asked what drinks we wanted. We were quite excited to see a good long menu list, but when we asked the waiter what we wanted, pretty much everything was unavailable, so we settled on 2 x vegetable lasagne. There were 2 tables with people there, one x 4 Italians, another with an African family.
Our phone went off, it was Jimmy asking where we were, as he and Samwel were at Otakef, but his call cut out. When he called again I took it and he said they were on the main road, and again asked where we were, me saying we were there for a nice quiet lunch - hint, hint - but couldn't not tell him where we were, him saying they'd be with us in 30 minutes, damn! So, back to Sheryl with that news … we just can't be left alone when we want it! Not much more than 5 minutes later they arrived, much to my annoyance.
Our meals arrived, it was actually spaghetti with vegetables, 2 large plates, Sheryl asked Samwel and James if they would share one plate if Sheryl and I shared one, but they declined and ordered fish and chips, grrrrrr. So we ate our meals, and the discussion turned to Upendo's sister-in-law, apparently this is the second time she has lost a child after birth, this one was born alive, but died after a few hours. This lady has diabetes, and the babies were still in-utero 10 months - we heard even 11 months, but isn't that impossible? She didn't ope for an operation or inducement as she didn't want an op - we asked about that, apparently surgeons have a very bad reputation, regularly taking alcohol when operating, thereby making mistakes and causing many deaths; nurses can't do anything - report malpractice - as the doctors/surgeons are their bosses … the best Tanzanian surgeons are working, or improving their skills, overseas … so it's no wonder noone wants to be operated on over here! But, how sad that this woman's babies have died, for whatever reason.
This country is driving us mad now, as we are hearing too many stories regarding corruption, or about poor services, hardship, etc. Of course the lunch was another freebie for Samwel and James, but this time they actually said thanks! Off over the road to another stationery shop, where Sheryl bought a couple of folders, then back to Otakef, where Sheryl again - and hopefully for the LAST time - went thru the figures with Samwel and James, basically the bottom line is that if Loose Change can attract 50 sponsors then all is well for NOCET for 2012. This went on for quite a while, as again there was much to-ing and fro-ing between Samwel and James, but we think Samwel is feeling much relieved as a result of the assistance Sheryl will be organising once we return home. They eventually left, with Sheryl asking what time to be at NOCET tomorrow as it will be moving day - we need to be there at 9am, so we can walk the children to their new home; Samwel has organised a van to move all the NOCET stuff.
Friday, 30 December — Struggled to get up, Sheryl saying she woke at 4 and that it had rained all night and was still raining when we got up. She had a cold shower and I decided not to bother, just had a shave. We had our meusli, then we had to wait and wait, and it was almost when we needed to leave that the rest of our brekky arrived, rushed that down, then it was time to leave, and thankfully the rain had stopped.
It was nice and cool, yet still muggy as we walked to NOCET, the roads very mushy the closer we got to NOCET. As we arrived we notcied that some of NOCET's stuff was already being dismantled onto their porch. So, after about 15 minutes, we were ready to leave, and so it was time for the children to say goodbye to their neighbours and friends, which was a little sad - didn't see my little poppet around. S, hand in hand we started walking down the hill, and bumped into Elizabeth, who had to go to NOCET for a short while so we waited for her. Once she caught up with us we continued on, and after about half an hour we finally reached the new NOCET house.
The kids were so excited once a man arrived with keys to open up! We all settled in to the wait for the van to arrive with the - pathetically few - NOCET belongings. There were a bunch of neighbourhood ladies filling up their big buckets with our water, and I wasn't sure that that was riight! The gardener was there, and wasn't telling them to stop! Asked Elizabeth if she knew if this was OK … no real answer. We played with the kids in the lounge area and faces were lined up on the window, of neighbourhood children and a young lady, so there was a bit of face-making and joking with them, and eventually there was a big gathering of kids out there, and found out that the older lady was Esther [19], a neighbour. Found out the names of more of them as they were leaving.
The van finally arrived along with James and Samwel and Joyce. Told James about the water business. Later he said that apparently there was an arrangement between those ladies and the past renters for the water, but I think it was a bit cheeky for them to be filling up when the previous renters were gone, and so no payment to thosee renters! Hopefully the water and electricity bills will be settled at the end of December and NOCET will not have to cover anything that has been "stolen" by those neighbours.
The garden was looking good, the gardener was there with 2 other ladies, continuing work, which Samwel had organised. The only real problem we can see is the running water in the ensuite bedroom wall, behind the tiles oif the bath, that's causing damage! Samwel said a plumber was due today to fix it - we hope it will be in fact fixed PROPERLY.
The van was unloaded, and it didn't take long, just the stuff from the 2 rooms. The house still feels empty as they don't have any furniture, but the kids were mucking around with their balls and hoop and marbles, etc. Joyce busied herself getting the kitchen organised, while Samwel did stuff outside. The furniture was wiped down as it was caught in the rain on the van, and brought inside. The plumber arrived and attended to the ensuite leak.
Elizabeth brought back some meat, Sheryl asked Joyce if there was anything she could do, and Joyce got her to cube up the meat, some of which was stuff that couldn't be identified, but Sheryl thinks there was a piece of tongue and stomach lining, erkkkk, that she struggled not to gag. Eventually, around 2:30 lunch was served, both Sheryl and I didn't want the "meat", just the ugali and spinach/carrot, which we all ate together.
A young lady arrived, her name was Winnie, one of the children that NOCET assists with school fees and unifiorms, etc - she is 15 and started Form 1 next year. She was also fed, as was Samwel, as he had left for home, then returned.
About half an hour after lunch we decided to leave, as we had had enough and there was nothing for us to do, and I was getting a bad headache. So we said our byes, and headed off with Samwel escorting us thru the banana grove, said our byes to him and organised to be at church tomorrow for the 11 service. Home to the Otakef, collapsed, Sheryl got me a couple of aspirins, then made us cuppas, as well as one for Diana, shouted a soda for Stella. Relaxed, joked, etc, as Judy was away, so the mouse were playing. Diana is 24, has 2 younger sisters and a younger brother - she's the eldest - she studied french for a year at secondary school, and wants to undertake catering and hospitality next year, which is a 2 year course - asked her if she was going to work here next year and it looks like a "no" … wonder if Judy and Isaac know … Ordered spansih omelete x 2 for dinner.
Saturday, 31 December — A slow morning, brekky, then relaxed till it was time to get ready and start walking to the church for the 11am service, more as a chore than anything else, as well as hoping to see the orphan children in their new clothes. We overshot, walking up the hill past the new hotel being built, so we walked back down and turned at the rivulet, we were early, and as soon as we arrived a pile of children rushed to us to say hello, get cuddles and tickles and just shake or hold hands, it was very cute as so many had their Sunday best and looked so gorgeous; a little girl rushed to Sheryl and wrapped her arms around her waist - we didn't realise it was Zillpa, she was in a lovely girlie dress, and she was pleased to see us. Joyce looked lovely in a new dress, and greeted us warmly, and we saw and greeted Upendo as well. It was the children which made it worthwhile to turn up.
It was soon time to enter, and we were led to the front by some children, but the bench had bibles and personal stuff on it so I decided to go to the back, where there was plenty of space, found a spot next to a window and opened them, as it was so warm inside, we were both sweating, and Sheryl borrowed my hankie, I used my cap as a fan; a few children sat between Sheryl and myself; Ibrahim, the young IT student guy who was at Samwel's after lunch 2 weekend's ago, sat near us after saying a warm hello and greeting us.
The service was quite tedious as we couldn't understand anything, and there wasn't a piano player or excited choir singing as there was 2 weeks ago. Elizabeth sat nearby, ahead of us; a young boy in a pew in front of us kept looking at me and getting em to wink at him, but he just squinted or closed his eyes as he couldn't raise his eyebrows or wink, which was funny to see. At some point Ibrahim sat next to me and passed on the gist of what was being said every now and then.
The service was finally over, they were going to do some feet washing Passover thingy and we decided we should head off, so said our goodbyes, Samwel wanted us to go to his place but we declined, got Ibrahim's email address, took some pix of Daudi, Godrey and Daudi, then we hit the road, walking past a pub where after some hellos one of the guys help up an empty plastic sachet that contained alcohol and asked me to buy him on, but we said goodbye … now we know what all those empty sachets were, we see them everywhere, some are gin, I haven't looked too closely to see how much of the alcohol it contains, I guess it'd be at least a nip, 30ml or so.
Home, at the hotel, collapsed for a short while, took my boots off as quickly as I could, I was so hot, and then changed into my shorts and sports shirt, just to cool down, had a cold drink with Sheryl on the grassed area. To our room and Sheryl started keying in documents, while I relaxed and watched the news.
nWe decided that towards 4pm - midnight Melbourne/Canberra time - we'd go to Wal Mart to buy some icecreams as our low key New Year celebration. Sent texts to Ev and Stacey, Dino and Lucio, George and Susan and the Siiteri's to wish them Happy New Year. Got my boots on, then we walked down the hill to Wal Mart - noticed there was a good range of frozen meats and sausages in their freezers - bought a couple of icecreams and ate them outside, unfortunately Sheryl's looked like it had melted and then refrozen, so she wasn't all that happy with it. We finished them, then walked to the nearby big petrol station, which had a supermarket, so we had a look and found nice icecreams, so we bought 2 more, and ate them outside, yummmm.
We walked a little further towards the Moshi direction, then over the road and returned, bumping into Isaac at the bottom of the hill in his 4WD, a quick greeting, headed back up the hill to the hotel, where again to our room, relaxed, Sheryl checked emails - she read out the ones she received; Ev's had 5 pix attached, which were of Cam, which was very cute, he certainly has grown and Sheryl doesn't want to change any more over the next 12 days before we see him again!
Reflections - you're kidding, Pier actually reflected? Naaaaaaa … !
So, it's New Year back home in Melbourne, and I wish we were back there with family and friends, having a simple dinner with drinks and yummy food, chewing the fat on what plans for 2012, etc. I wonder how we'll be with material things, the plans we have with making our house more of a home … I know we will treasure what we have a whole lot more, and reinforce just how fortunate we are to be living in Australia.
As Sheryl has mentioned to many in her emails, wonder how our reaction will be to overfed, overspoilt, overindulged students and children and teenagers and people generally … we will miss our new friends, especially the children we have met at and thru NOCET, and those on our walks who greet us or run up for a cuddle or to hold our hands … so, mixed feelings really, it will take a long while to process everything we have seen and experienced while on our 9+ weeks away, especially here in Arusha.
Our lives are much the richer for being here, and we know our small efforts go a long way to assist some desperately poor and underprivileged children, and adults. So, hope that those who have pledged support to Loose Change will come to the party and together something amazing will develop over the next 12 months, to assist NOCET stabilise, and then plan for sustainable growth. Do keep an eye out for messages Sheryl will send you. I know Sheryl will be keen to get back there as soon as our savings permit, to check up on how things are progressing, and perhaps even to bring along some visitors to see for themselves …
As for me, a person who truly doesn't ponder and mull and reflect on stuff, I have been surprised at how well I've coped with being away from home for so long. Don't get me wrong, I have missed home, our space, my coffees, tennis, my studio, even my work, all the niceties and comforts, family and friends, the freedom not to have to worry too much about anything in general. You can see why people here are so weighed down: life is hard, it's a slog. I have demonstrated a level of patience that I didn't know I had, perhaps it's acceptance of how things are, and having little expectation. The children of Arusha have disarmed me, and I have become quite the child myself - yes, I know Sheryl has said that "it's beautiful to watch" - they are simply easy to be with, delightful, mischievous, accepting, generous, inquisitive, warm, joyous, love attention, cuddles, tickles, smiles … not a complaint or a whinge about anything, they'll eat what's put in front of them, wear their tattered and torn and grubby clothing, make do with whatever they can lay their hands on for "toys" - the house thy have just moved into may well be the first ever time in their lives that they will have access to running water and electricity and inside toilets! For me that's a mind-blowing thought.
Happy New year everybody! Thanks for being so generous and kind with your thoughts and wishes and support and emails ands messages, they've certainly kept us going and have loved hearing from you. We miss you and can't wait to spend time with you again once we return … not long now … hugs and kisses, handshakes and embraces from the wazungu kitcha [crazy westerners] in Arusha!
