St Jude's testing - Aug 2010 (Arusha, Tanzania)

Every year from Aug through to December, St Jude's school open's it's gates every Friday to the children of Arusha to sit exams for their chance to gain entry to the school. St Jude's promotes the opportunity on local radio stations and of course its a very very popular and busy day at the school.

Local families who get the opportunity to send one of their children to the school will be very lucky as this will be a great help to not only the child's job prospects but also the income that they can bring in to support the family - it's different in Africa to Western countries - the family unit works together to put food on the table, pay for bills and family occassions like weddings, births and deaths.

So I was very excited to be a part of one of the Friday entrance testing days at St Jude's. There's alot to be organised amongst not only the admin staff but our security, teachers and gardeners who help chaperone and translate on the day. Buses need to be moved off site, security stepped up and processes organised. On the day I was to do primarily the photography of the day unfolding and then once things quietened to help monitor the children sitting their exams to help with questions, prevent cheating and accompany children to the toilet.

At around 12.30pm I went to the main gate and the crowd of mothers and children was already 200 strong at least! The parents waiting area in the main driveway was roped off and only children were allowed through to the waiting area. The gardeners and security staff did a great job chaperoning the children who obviously get restless, need water, toilets and often have a little cry as they want their mum's. All children are told to bring their own pencil so we check that before they enter they have a sharp pencil to complete their exam with. It might sound crazy that we cant supply pencils, but you must realise we have a few hundred children every Friday between August and December which would equate to too much money that the school as a charity cannot afford. Often we find ourselves sharpening pencils for the children who must press down on those things real hard!

It was a mass of colour outside the school gates. The children patiently sitting in the shade waving their pencils in the air and occassionally at their hopeful mum's in the crowd beside them. The mama's are beautiful - many in their best clothes and their children too as this is a big event for them and if their child is accepted today there will be great celebrations. The variety of kanga prints (African material that the women wear with bold African patterns) is amazing and eye candy for me. I absolutely adore the women who wrap the kanga around their heads - they look so elegant.

As th children start to move in lines with the hand on the shoulder of the person in front of them its just adorable, mums are waving and I imagine saying good luck, some of the children are proud and you can tell they are not sure what exactly all the fuss is about but they have their mum's attention and in a big family that's what counts. Some children see me - the only "muzungu" outside at that point and use it as their opportunity to practise their English. There is one little boy in particular with a gorgeous smile and I can see he is determined to talk to me, he's in his best clothes and only a tiny frame of maybe 8 years and with a huge smile as he walks in his line past me he says "Good morning madam, how are you today?" I can tell he's been practising this phrase and he decides since he did so well the first time why not say it a few more times to me since I'm smiling back at him and asking how he is. He melted my heart but I must continue with the photos and not show any preference by talking with them.

Some of the children are just too young to do the exam, let alone the reading test which is part one of the day. One girl was so cute and maybe 3 years - how was she going to read?? We tell the parents the minimum age, but they ignore trying their luck, so we give them the chance since they have travelled all the way but this little girl just stares at the paper and sweetly smiles at the testing teacher - she melts our heart and I take her photo as she is too cute. One little boy is in his probably only suit - it's beige and linen and makes us all smile.

Not only was it a fashion parade of kanga's that day with the mothers, but the other eye candy was the fantastic hair-do's on the children. I find myself going crazy taking photo after photo of these amazing hair-do's - I never imagine hair braids could have so many variations, I wonder if they have a menu card at the salon or does everyone know the name of each style?!

Most of the children are in the gate and still more pour through. Parents are outside now and can only see the sea of heads that contains their little one. We continue to keep the children in lines and based on height our gardeners place the children in lines according to approximate class levels. All the children have short attention spans and within moments of being in perfect lines they are in awe of the children's playground and the huge grounds of the school and the lines go astray along with children wanting to play. We all have a giggle as we try to keep them in lines and get them to focus on what they are here to do - but it's so adorable as they are in a zombie-like state looking at this playground equipment the majority have probably never seen.

Further ahead in the lines one by one the children are given a passage written in swahili and asked to read it to the teacher - this helps us do a fast cull as the children must be able to read Swahili to be considered for the exam. We would love to take all the children, but the fact is that each child needs several sponsors to be able to afford to attend the school and have their education paid for - and since this is a big investment of both money and resources, the school needs to be sure that the child has some promise of being able to apply themselves to their studies successfully.

The written exam which for obvious reasons I cant detail here, but I will say its very basic and things that children should know at the ages we are testing. Again it was interesting to observe the children in these conditions, because we and their parents understand how critical this exam is for their future - if they get through they have a very promising future ahead of them. But the number of children who sit there in a daze staring out to the playground or at just a fly going past was amazing and my heart sank that they were not focused. I found myself tapping on their papers to get their attention, smiling and pointing to parts of the exam to encourage them to keep going. Some children would get stuck on one part and they would just sit there staring at it, so I would encourage them to move onto other parts and come back at the end.

Of course some children are cheating and trying to copy off the person next to them - this is obviously not permitted and they will loose their opportunity straight away so we try to avoid temptation and keep them apart. Once they complete this exam in the allocated time frame we take and mark the papers and double check them. Those children who are not successful are sent out with a thank you note and welcoming them to try again next week and those that are successful are gathered together and brought outside doing a little song and dance celebration for the parents to join in!

Unfortunately though, the process is not over and these children and their families are now subject to house checks to ensure that the children really are in need and deserving of a free education as we have found many people who can afford to pay for tuition trying to send their children to the exam to get entry to the school. Again I cant detail exactly how we worm these families out but we do thankfully and provide a seat in class for a child in much need.

Being apart of the testing is absolutely amazing, I realised yet again just how important St Jude's is to the future of these children. One of my colleagues fought back tears as she had to accompany the children who were not successful and it was breaking her heart - it was breaking all our hearts but we knew why we had to say no and we knew that some of these children would be a yes.

If you have been reading my blogs and thinking about sponsoring a child I hope this has helped you consider or even action it. As you can hear there are alot of people involved behind the scenes at St Jude's and without sponsorship funds we would have to close the school, which means closing the futures of 1300+ children and the loss of incomes for 300+ local Tanzanian staff. Please consider sponsoring a child, teacher, bus or boarding room today and make a world of difference to not just one child but their community and the future of their country. Thanks for reading x

10 Days in Zanzibar - heaven!

Zanzibar is a place I often heard of as a child like Timbuctu and Madagascar and I never really thought that they existed outside of the story books. Well Zanzibar does and it’s perfect! I decided that my trip to Tanzania would not be complete without a few days on this island so I traded up the opportunity to go on yet another safari and put this money towards 10 days by the see with just me!

For approx $240 AUD return you can get a 1 hour flight with Precision Air from Arusha airport to Zanzibar International airport. Most of the workers here go into town and pay the travel agent cash only to organize flights, accommodation etc but me being me decided to organize my own itinery and flights. Thanks again to the user friendly www.rumbo.com I was able to quickly work out which airline covered this route and book it using credit card, unlike the painful travel agents here.

Arusha airport is about a 30 min drive from town and 25,000 taxi ride (yes muzungu price as it should be much cheaper). I was a little nervous at the airport as we sit outside in diamond wire fenced off areas and wait for them to call us up – there’s no departure board - ok there is a chalkboard but it hasn’t been updated in a while. Checking was only one counter open for all destinations (Dar and Zanzibar ) and you remember those old scales you could stand on and put money to weigh yourself outside supermarkets – well that’s how they weighed your bag then some guy carries it off for you.

Some Italians nearby (and there were many for this next part of the trip) anyway, these Italians had the giggles as they watched staff push and pull out on of the smaller planes for people to board – glad this was not my flight but I certainly was worried when I saw it! The Precision Air plane came and it was smaller but brand spanking new – thankfully! The ride was smooth and I even got to see the snow-capped tops of Mount Kilimanjaro .

I wasn’t too sure what to expect in Zanzibar , all I knew is that it was Ramadan and the majority of Zanzibarians are Muslim so many businesses would be closed and that I should be covered. I was greeted by a young guy holding a A4 paper with my name scribbled on it and followed him to his van. It was as usual a little crowded with touts fighting for business but I’ve decided when I arrive in new places now, I’m a little over the excitement of getting a good deal for a transfer, so avoid the headache and pay a little more for the luxury ;). I had booked him through Eco & Culture Tours and was really happy with the manner they dealt with me over the email – fast, courteous and we understood each other. It took us about 20 min to get into Stonetown where I would stay for the first 4 days of my stay – it was not as “Arabian Nights” as everyone was making it – more a bunch of run down buildings with the white paint peeling and rusty corrugated iron roofs.

I arrived at the Hotel Shangani and was pleased with the façade and hoped the inside was equally as welcoming. It wasn’t over the top and at $55USD per night perhaps it was a little steep in comparison to guest houses near-by, but I got my own bathroom, TV, double bed, fridge and mosquito net – as well as a nice sunset view from my room. I could hear the call to prayer from my room - although I must admit it lacked the exotic sounds of those in Istanbul, Turkey.

I went for a walk around Stonetown that night and decided to sample the food at the Lonely Planet recommended Archipelago - part owned by an Australian woman. The servings are generous, reasonably priced and the staff polite. I was just disappointed that the ambience just didnt exist - I was really hoping for something with a Zanzibar feel rather than a typcial cafe from back in Australia. Also there were only a couple of true Zanzibar dishes on the menu and I found this a common problmen throughout the area - then again can I dare say this is true for all cafe's targeting tourists throughout Tanzania? I also tried Monsoon - the staff harassed me on my first night in town with all sorts of compliments and then when I decided to give them a chance a few days later the place was empty and I just didnt feel like I was in Zanzibar with a menu of burgers and salads.

I had a cocktail during happy hour at Livingstones - another Lonely Planet recommendation and at least this had some ambience, great staff and a perfect sunset location on the water - if you enjoy watching the locals argue about who is unloading the trucks and their goods as they come off the ferry - which I thoroughly enjoyed the circus! Strangely enough one night I ended up in a Indian restaurant and I must say the chicken tikka rocked! It's on the corner opposite Monsoon and Archipelago and is beautifully decorated. Everyone says that you must try the foods at the evening food market in Fordhani Gardens along the water and yes I agree. It;'s got a great atmosphere with tourists and locals out enjoying the cool evening air and a stroll within these gorgeous parklands - a real treat if like me you have come from Arusha where the closest thing to a park that I can find is a golf course!

It was actually perfect for a romantic stroll but on my first evening through this area I had to deal with a carload of Rasta's abusing me for not talking to them - needless to say my pocknt knife was ready to go in my hand as I put my head down and walked quickly to a well lit area as I was a woman alone at night - not so smart. In the actual gardens there are loads of stalls set up after sunset serving fresh seafood BBQ skewers of fish, meat, octopus etc. Zanzibar pizza - which I forgot to try so have an excuse to go back for - like I needed one! These markets reminded me of those in the main square of Marrakesh, minus the madness and with a more relaxed and romantic feel. I did get to enjoy these gardens on my last night in Zanzibar after befriending a girl working at the dive store I went out with that day and it was a beautiful walk complete with much missed ice cream :)

As usual I crammed so much into my itinery for the 10 days in Zanzibar, but I have no regrets I really had a lot to do. I managed to find a great local tour company - Eco Culture Tours - they were the one's that arranged my arrival pick-up from the airport as well as a half day city tour, dhow boat out to Prison Island and Blue Safari snorkel trip.

The half day city walking tour and Prison Island tours were both with my own private guide and affordably priced under $100 USD each. He took me on the slave trade walk, where they used to unload the slaves kidnapped from different parts of Africa and transfer them by sea bound in shackles around the neck, wrists and ankles and march them a good few kilometeres through town to the now St Monica's cathedral, where they were placed 50 persons per concrete room with a low ceiling and no food, water, lights or toilet. It was really sad and even the tour guide said that most Zanzibarian's have ancestors who experienced this terrible trade and it's soemthing they dont like to remember or talk about. It reminded me of the school in Cambodia where they torchered so many innocent people during the genocide.

After this historical insight her took me through the spice markets since the island is very well known for their trade in this as well as the central market where locals bargain daily for fresh fruits, vegetables, fish and meat. My guide was a little worried to take me into the meat market incase I would feel ill as it's open air and the stench of hot meat swarming with flies - but I insisted he take me through as I'm becoming immune to such smells and sights after witnessing the kids playing with guts in Kathmandu, the severed camel head in Fez, Morrocco and the open air butchers I see daily in Arusha. I really wanted to take photos but only managed to sneak one since its a very conservative Muslim community and I didnt want to upset anyone.

That afternoon I travelled out by dhow boat with my guide to the privately owned Prison Island - no longer operating as such a thing, but now accomodation for tourists as well as home to the huge land-dwelling turtles imported from Seyechelles, weighing in excess of 100Kgs each and ageing between 150-200 years old. I couldn't beleive how fast these guys moce - I had a handfull of fresh spinach leaves and I feared for the safety of my hand as I was charged by a grouple of these giant tutles all wanting a feed - it was a slow motiuon charge!

As we walked around the island, my guide and I discussed how he felt about the fact that a) it's Ramadan b) it's a Muslim city and all the tourists paraded around in bikinis on Prison Island and the surrounding beaches of Zanzibar. He said he did understand that it's culturally acceptable for us back hom, but was a little annoyed that tourists dont respect local customs and at least cover up once they have finished their swim. I really struggled to see girls walk around in bikini's in front of men who are trying to focus on Ramadan only to have naked bodies parading around them! So when the time came for me to swim and go out for a snorkel with my guide I was a little stressed about how to handle the situation so decided to wear my boardshoarts and singlet top into the water and then wrap up once I had finished my swim in a Kanga both around my hips and shoulders. I later decided to buy a rash vest from the divwe shop to wear for the rest of my swims on the island rather than feel disrespectful in just a bikini top or singlet top.

My snorkel of Prison Island was nice - a little scary since I have a fear of open water and here I was jumping off a dhow into the middle of the ocean by myself and totally going against my odd's minimising policy of always swimming in the ocean around big groups of people in order to minimise my chance of shark attacks :) I stayed close to the boat but once under the water didn't really care too much about sharks eating me since the coral and fish were so beautiful. I saw an abundance of sea urchins and starfish and these cute little zebra fish. I love the fact that my camera goes underwater as I have gone so snap happy this trip!

The following day I was driven out of town approx 45min to an area called Fumba where the dhow boats loaded with approx 14 tourists depart everyday as part of the Blue Safari tours. I think the owner is a Dutch lady and she is making a killing! She employs local staff to take out a dhow to different island for snorkelling and a delicious lunch on a private island. My boat had a mixture of Russians and Italians - there are an sbundance of Italian tourists in Zanzibar and I'm sad to admit that the majority of them are rude travellers. The family on my boat complained that they were getting wet on a boat (?!) and then I noticed that the wife's figers were laden down with heavily encrusted diamond rings - in Africa!!! Needless to say I changed boat as soon as we got to our first destination and met a lovely South African couple whom I became their 3rd leg for the day. The wife admitted as I was leaving she wanted to take me home and look after me - I have a feeling she was missing motherhood, but they were very sweet and we had some great conversations - like I learnt South Africans have a whole vocab of slang going on and I wrote out so many words in fits of lafter as they told them to me.

Aside from the great Eco Culture Tours, I thoroughly recommend One Ocean Dive Centre in Stonetown and also with a branch in Matemwe. You can get the 7am shuttle from Stonetown with them for $10USD and it takes an hour to their Matemwe branch where at 8.30am you board a dhow out to see for a fantastic if not the best snorkelling I have ever experience in the WORLD! Move over Great Barrier Reef I say - I felt like I was in an aquarium there was soooooooooo many fish around me - I just had to put my hand out and I could touch them. I saw sea snakes, puffer fish, octopus and so many fish I have never seen in my life. As we stepped out from the Matmwe dive centre onto the beach it took my breath away - I had only seen photos of white sandy beaches so beautiful and the sand was so soft. All I kept saying was wow and smiling. We boarded the boat and thank goodness I took sea sickness tablets as everyone was looking green about 30 min into the choppy ride. We dropped off the divers at one point then boarded the dingy boat to a reef that was mindblowing - I just cant describe the beauty of the marine life.

This reserve is called Mneba Atoll and I would snorkel and dive there a million times over and over again! Our snorkel guide was brilliant - there was me and a couple on their honeymoon and we would follow him around as he dove down to point things out to us. I was of course miss snap jap happy taking a million photos of everything that moved. One fish even came up to the camera and smiled - I was so happy. The whole hour of snorkelling here I had a dumb grin on my face and kept swallowing water because I would get excited and dive under forgetting to blow out. On the boat wwe were given a delicious feast of fresh fruit, samosas, chapati and some other local cuisine. I really didnt think that Indian food played such a huge part in the Zanzibarian cuisines - of course Im very happy about that fact!

Our second snorkel was equally as beautiful but with a few more snorkellers from other boats coming around. At one point there were these huge reefs that looked like cactus plants maybe 10mts below us and we swam over them I felt so insignificant but mesmerised! The water was so clear!!! We didn't manage to see the school of dolphins the divers saw on the way back, but I had my fixed of dolphins when I did the Blue Safari the day before and they had come up to the boat.

At the end of the day we pulled into a beach and had to get a daladala back to Matemwe as the tide was too low for the dhows too take us in. As we pulled into the shore a swarm of local kids ran towards our boats as they obviously know they will get paid to carry all the dive tanks and gear - all hell broke out and it actually got scary for a few seconds as they were just grabbing at everything and fighting to ensure they got to carry something. One of the white guys freaked and pushed a kid over who was getting rough - I didn't like that scene one bit and was closing to whacking him in the head with a tank I was eyeing off. Eventually they calmed down and all carried the gear up to the daladala's - we loaded into the back with the gear and prepared ourselves for a 45 min bumby ride along a dirt road back to Matemwe. It wasn't so bad as I befriended an Italian from Rome who works for Cisco,s o we hit it off and started talking our heads off. We were so similar in personality, life expereiences and interests that it spun me out. Then we found out we were both staying at Nyota Beach Bungalows, so agreed to do dinner that night.

The dive centre gave us a lift to our hotel along with an Israeli couple on their honeymoon. All four of us blabbed our heads off and the Israeli's later invited us to their bungalow for lunch - they only eat Kosher so had brought a cooker and food from Israel with them. We ate the most delicious falafel, labne and some other great food - who would have thought in the middle of Africa!!!

Nyota Beach Bungalows are a small but very cute traditional beach bungalows with an amazing set-up right on the water. The thing that killed it for everyone though and I think the business will struggle in the future if they dont sort it out - the rooms are cheap at only $40USD per night but the food and drinks are ridiculous. $2USD for a bottle of water and you have to select for a small preset lunch and dinner menu each day and pay $12-$15USD for really average food of tiny portions. This is also where I need to say single female travellers be warned... it was the perfect location for a couple or group of friends, but single women need to be careful. That night at dinner my Italian friend and I were joined by the owners friend who helps out in the restaurant at night. We are talking about a kid - 22 (sorry Luke)he was polite enough and we had a good chat between the three of us. So the next night when my Italian friend had left and I was eating dinner alone we sat and he taught me the traditional Tanzanian boardgame with rocks - i love it! Many of the staff joined us at some point but then he started towards the end making comments and I started to feel uncomfortable so excused myself for sleep. Within 10min I hear a knock at my door and I think surely it could not be him, so I wait and this time the kncoking is harder. I get up to answer the door and there he is asking to come in and spend my last night with me!!!!!!!! At first I laugh thinking he's joking but then I see he is deadly serious and I'm thinking how do I get him to leave. I'm starting to worry once he wont take no as an answer and am looking at my bed to see where I left the damn pocket knife! I'm thinking he could push me in through the door any second, but them am arguing with myself saying he's only a kid he's harmless.

After he begged me to change my mind and Im not exaggerating he really was begging and saying that I leave tomorrow why not have company - he finally understood I wasnt happening and was wasting his time. I shut the door and moved every piece of furniture I could across it and then attempted to cover the window with a towel as a curtain - needless to say I didnt sleep much that night and was very happy to leave the next day. It's a real shame as its a gorgeous place just the cost of things and this little adventure with him screwed things up. Not to mention they charged me $25USD to get to Kendwa a 23km drive away but there was no other taxi's around.

Kedwa and Nungwi beach are perfect - there are not as picture postcard perfect as Matemwe, but the calm water and open air beach bars make it perfect for swimming all day and lazying on the beach beds. I really really really became lazy here for the first time in my life! I finally learnt to take it easy and not oreganise activities. Granted I did book another snorkel tour with the dive centre but I cancelled as I just wanted to laze about. I checked into a perfect room for $65USD per nite - exy but worth it. It overlooked the beach bar and had my favourite daybed on the outside balcony which I feel asleep on that night listening to the african drumming down on the beach. I changed rooms the next day as it wasnt available and did a bungalow down on the beach - its a fair walk to the beach but directly infront and I had my own hammock. I really loved it there and was spewing that I would miss the full moon party the following night.

For mny last couple of nights I headed back to Stonetown to do the dhow cruise and sunset - which I realised is nice but a)more romantic with a partner rather than a family from Oregon and b) you get better photos from the shore of the dhows with the sunset behind them. Then I got a taxi to Mtoni Marine where on Saturday nights they have a delicious seafood beach bbq for $25USD along with live performances of traditional tarab music and Zanzibar dances - it was again very romantic alone ;) But I loved it.

I spent the night watching TV for the last time before I headed back to Arusha and enjoying the endless channels of Bollywood movies - god bless Zanzibar! I really love it there and would love to live there anyday! It has the best fusion of my 3 favouriet cultures - India, Africa and the Middle East. I'll be back Zanzibar just stayt there!

St Jude's sponsor child home visit - July 2010

Back in around 2009 through my dance school – World Fusion Dance Company – we started sponsoring a student and teacher at the School of St Jude in Tanzania. We held a fundraiser concert to raise money for the sponsorship and I have continued it since travelling. I always dream like my World Vision sponsor that I could one day visit my sponsor child and see how the money was helping her education (if at all – which we all fear right?!).

So as soon as I arrived at the school to commence my volunteer placement, I enquired about a home visit. By the time I actually went out to meet her and her family, I had already been working at the school for 2 weeks and had actually even been taking photos in her class – so I saw and knew who she was, but she never knew that I was her sponsor.

The day finally came to get the school bus on a Saturday morning and we were to pick her and her mother up from a designated stop on the normal school bus route so they could direct us to their home. We drove down a dirt main road around 20 minutes from our school and there stood my very timid sponsor child with her mum who was dressed elegantly in a yellow and black African Kanga outfit including the African style turbans. They guided us just around the corner to their home which was typical for the poorer areas of Arusha with 1 bedroom mud with homes in adjoining clusters of 3-4.

Inside was one room with no adjoining kitchen or bathroom – one room which mum dad and 2 kids sleep, eat and live within. It was very tidy and appeared to have everything they really needed. Inside she has a kerosene burner which is the norm for cooking inside or a wood/charcol fuelled fire outside. I didn’t take notice if they had electricity there but I am guessing not as it’s not very common for most poorer areas of Arusha.

Through my interpreter from the school I was able to ask questions to the mother and vice versa. She actually could speak a little English so we were very happy to communicate and especially when we realized she was only a year younger than me with 2 kids! She asked about my family history and I asked about their’s. I learnt that she has been doing a tailor course so that she can start sewing as a means to bring money in because currently only the father works as a truck driver in Arusha.

Slowly my sponsor child came out of her shell. She pulled out all her report cards and some of her exercise books with homework for me to see and promised to keep studying hard. We have realized that these children look at their sponsors as people who at any moment could end their education. They know that they are sponsored which pays for their education so they think if we see they have bad marks (below 80%) that we may not continue to sponsor them!

They took me for a walk around their neighbourhood. As they don’t have any taps with running water in their house or within the group of houses, they go to a mosque next door that has a well which they purchase a small bucket of water for approx 80 shilling. One thing I found frustrating was the stream at the back of the neighbourhood which many people take the water to wash their clothes and some to boil and drink – it was full of rubbish – people just dumping it in as well as the endless breeding ground for malaria. I watch everyday as people throw rubbish onto the roads, into gardens, around their homes, into creeks and even whilst I was in a boat in Zanzibar a fisherman threw plastic bottles into the ocean. It really kills me to watch a nation choke themselves and their environment on rubbish and create preventable situations that arise to disease. Im hoping that slowly the next generation that we see coming out of the likes of St Jude’s are educated and responsible to understand the damage they are doing. I’ve often joked about doing a “Clean up Arusha Day” just like we have in Australia and we all agreed it’s never going to happen. There are no apparent rubbish collections in the neighbourhoods, so people do the best they can and burn the rubbish, leaving the charcol and bit left over for the local chickens and goats to sift through.

Sorry got off track – so it was a great insight into the way many of the locals in Arusha are living – I must say that even though my sponsor child and her family did not have a lot of belongings, their home was immaculate and everything decorated with doilies, plastic flowers or tributes to god. Her mother took great pride in what they have and this is often reflected when we step into many of the sponsor childrens homes and even the boarding rooms at the school, where the children have carefully decorated their beds and walls with cards and pictures.

I walked away that day not depressed but happy to know that the money I’m using to sponsor her is going where it is supposed to and it really is giving her and the rest of her family a chance for a healthier and more opportunistic future.

Next blog….. Zanzibar!

Just another Sunday in Arusha... hospital & markets!

Just another Sunday in Arusha… volunteers lazying around on the grass trying to lap up what rays of sunshine we can steal from mother nature. One of the girls really hasn’t been well and I felt like I was following suite too – we decided it’s long enough for her feeling like this and since she’s home to Ireland in a couple of days it’s more affordable to see a doctor here and get treated then if she leaves it until she gets home.

It was only my 2nd week in Arusha but I had heard that the process to go to hospital here was a painful one. In Australia we call them medical centre’s and here they are hospitals – there’s both private and the proper public hospital. One of the girls got “Arusha belly” and got to experience the public system first hand… join one queue to get a ticket, then sit in another queue and shuffle along in that order, see the doctor, then queue to get tests, queue to pay, queue to see the doctor again then queue for medicines – this process averages 4-5 hours! The smart thing I have been told is to get there as early in the morning as possible to get them when they are fresh and when most people haven’t made it out yet. Apparently they aren’t even qualified Doctor’s as such – it sounds like a diploma level – eek!

So off we drove to a private hospital and I braced myself for a long wait – strangely enough we were the only people there, luckily this volunteer is a Kiswahili teacher back home in Ireland so it’s a joy to watch her converse with the locals. She explains the symptoms to the receptionist then off she goes to the “Bleeding room” for blood tests and we wait for the doctor to give her the results (in that way it was more efficient than Australia waiting for a few days), she was given antibiotics and she paid less than $40 for everything! The “hospital” itself was really more a medical centre – it was a single storey house with beautiful gardens and one wing of the house had a few beds along with a security guard out the front. Still you clearly don’t come here for major aliments.

So not wanting to waste our Sunday sitting around completely, we decided its time to go to the crafts market in town. This was my first visit there. It’s a block of land packed with souvenir sellers for tourists. Under normal circumstances I would hyperventilate and go crazy shopping, but travelling for a year you learn restrain – but I really didn’t want too! Oh and of course there is the fact about your bag and if you are a follower of this blog you will know just how much I love my bag J

There are masaai women sitting on rugs making those beaded collars, beaded gift boxes and earrings; endless amounts of wood-carved animals, traditional batik paintings and every african souvenier you desire. I was purely price shopping to see what they would charge me when i come back. I did decide to buy kanga (african kind of sarong the women wear in 2 pieces. The highlight of the day came from one young shop owner who when i asked the price, he quoted me 35,000 - keeping in mind its about 5-6,000 for a pair!!! I instantly started to laugh and asked him if he was "kicha" meaning crazy in Kisawhili. He realised that I knew it was too much so i gave him a chance to drop his price - he went to 25,000 - I started to walk off still laughing and he grabbed me saying "ok ok how much you pay" I then took great delight in telling him that I had only just bought a pair of kanga the previous week for 6,000 and then he still tried to sell it to me for 15,000 saying he has "better quality" needless to say I kept walking and laughing and ended up buying a pair and a half from two different shops at the price I wanted. Then out of nowhere as I am ready to leave, he charges up saying that "ok madam you can take them for 6,000" I tell him "sorry friend you are too late i have spent all my money" all the stall holders were standing around to see what was going on so I raised my voice and said "next time dont try over-charge the muzungu with 35,000 for a kanga - you should have seen their faces - ha ha hilarious.

So that was that day - not exciting I know but I thought it was good to give an insight into "hospitals" and tourist trap markets in Arusha

As I have been doing with most of the 3rd world countries I’ve visited over the last couple of years, I find myself heading off to yet another orphanage, this time about a 20 minute drive out of Arusha. The orphanage is called Cradle of Love and they have about 50+ children under 4 years – 7 of which when I was there were actually true orphans. This is apparently the only orphanage in the area that will take in babies – there was a 15 day old baby there when I visited!

This orphanage is probably one of the best I have visited in terms of facilities, but it is founded by a Westener whose husband I hear is also on the board for the Adventist (I think) church group next door (the land which the orphanage is built on belongs to the church group is what I was told). Usually when you think orphanage you think drab, grey, cement buildings – well this is actually a massive 2 storey home or mansion which a mustard rendered façade.

A group of us from the school went and we were lucky enough to scab a ride with one of our school buses on its way out to the Usa River campus. We were greeted at the main gate by a security guard who walked us in and we were so happy to see a pile of smiling faces plastered to the window greeting us. We were met by a lovely American lady who had only been there a few weeks and was now running the show for a few weeks until the Director returned later in the month. For someone who was clearly dumped in the deep end she appeared to be coping well.

We were taken into the reception area and asked to wash our hands, store our items and be prepared for screaming kids. Now I’ve worked in childcare so should be fine I thought, ha ha the difference is in Australia we have programs to keep the children busy and quiet, here they are trying to cope with the sheer number of children compared to number of staff. It was like a zoo, kids held onto your legs as you dragged them around and they all fought for our attention to be picked up – it took all of two minutes and each of us had a child on each hip (I mean 2 kids for 2 hips!) plus one of two latched onto your legs.

Although the facilities clean, they are well fell – to me it was very apparent that these children craved loved and attention – and rightly so. There’s no shortage of visitors to the orphanage and local staff are employed for consistency for the feeding, changing and sleeping routines but if only they had enough regular people staff to do cognitive skill building, social interaction etc. The teacher in me just wanted to write a program then and there and start taking charge J But the main point is they have a safe and clean home and regular food and nappies that are changed regularly.

One thing we were told to be prepared is that the children have bad nappy rash as nappy rash cream is just too expensive along with formula. I didn’t get to see, but apparently the scarring on the gential areas of these children was horrendous, due to the nappy rash cream being given to only those babies most in need. People who visit keep bringing toys and clothes and they really don’t need anymore – they have so much they need nappy rash crème, wipes and formula – all of which they can buy much cheaper locally so it’s better visitors make a monetary donation. And there’s no need to wonder if the money goes where it is supposed to – just take a look at the number of children to feed, the nappies to buy, staff to pay – it’s going where it should.

So we placed ourselves on the floor and within seconds I turned into a playground climbing frame with kids all over me. All of them again fighting for my sole attention and of course all wanting me to read different books to them. Their concentration levels are non-existent, I cant get past page one without them fighting and trying to rip the pages – I’m thinking of my story telling days in child care and how quietly they would sit cross-legged on the floor. It’s just that no-one has done this with them daily here – they are left to get the attention they need from their daily visitors and staff are too exhausted to cope. I know kids should be kids, but at this age I really believe they need structure and discipline or they are going to run wild and have no boundaries for life and what’s happening in Africa now will just continue.

Anytime you put a child down they would scream incessantly to be picked back up but being the cold hearted so and so I know it’s better to be strong and not cave in. After I got the shock of my life as a carer wheels out this L shaped wooden high-back seat with a young girl with I think cerebal palsy tied to the chair. I understand they need to restrain parts of the body to help correct posture – but on a wood L shape seat with no padding and just random tying? I was really disturbed and knew it wasn’t right. They untied her and lay her on the mat – the carer went and sat with the other carer’s and the little girl was on the mat alone as all the other children are too busy trying to get attention of their own.

I manage to pick her up – she’s quiet heavy and I’m worried to hurt her. All her muscles are so contracted and she’s turned in – I sit her in my lap for sometime, then after a while decide to lie her on the mat and massage straight her arms and legs – it took two of us a good 10 minutes of this for her muscles to relax and hands turn out – within a few minutes though she was stiff and turned in again. I have since spoken to a visiting physio about her and asked her to go visit and see if there is anything she can recommend.

Before long it was lunchtime and somehow there was organized chaos – the toddlers started queuing at the kitchen door and babies must have felt the food excitement in the air. There was a row of high chairs and a weird table with bucket seats cut into it – we sat a row of kids and the babies we are feeding 2-3 at once and the toddlers behind me I’m trying to teach them how to hold the spoon to feed themselves – it was crazy but it all worked. One little boy was so determined he didn’t want my help and ended up wearing the food! I loved lunchtime they were just too cute.

One by one we took them to the sink, washed their face and took them for nappy changes – ha ha got out of that one! Most of them were put in their cots and left to sleep. I remembered as a kid I loved mum patting my back to sleep so stood between two cots while trying to get them to lie on their bellies so I could pat them to sleep. I was no sooner in trouble for doing so and had to leave them to cry themselves to sleep as they just don’t have the staff to pat them to sleep everyday.

I also found out this day that they place newborn babies to sleep on their bellies – SIDS doesn’t appear to be a problem here and the babies fall straight asleep?

By 3pm we were famished and exhausted and decided it was time to go eat something. We went to a lovely garden café/restaurant near Arusha town called Blue Heron. It’s totally aimed at expats and tourists – including the prices I paid 15,000 TSH (<$15) for a burger and fries – again me eating local cuisine  But you cant beat the gardens were stunning with wooden benchseats with massive pillows sitting under jacaranda trees – it was too perfect for an escape from the madness of Arusha town.

After lunch I had my first “daladala” experience for the trip – they are mini vans that operate with a driver and conductor who collects your payment before you hop off. The minivan should sit around 15-20 people – we managed to squeeze on with the door slide wide open while we are driving and Im balancing on one foot only on the step outside the bus!!! I counted 27 people and had some big mamma’s butt in my face. Pick pockets are rife on these things so I’m watching for stray hands. They take great pride in their daladala’s and have slogans, stickers and music blarring – ours had a big screen sticker “fly emirates” and bob Marley pasted everywhere.

All in all it was a brilliant day, and of course exhausting but we had too much fun and I of course went baby photo crazy!!! Check them out www.cradleoflove.com if you want to help I’d suggest the best way is a monetary donation.

Next blog…. Hospital in Arusha & the craft markets

Masai Sunday - markets & village

So it was still my first weekend in Tanzania and at lunchtime on Sunday, I managed to pinch a seat in one of the St Jude buses that was taking a visiting tour group out to the markets and our head guard Lukmai's masai village.

We all piled on the bus and made our way out past Arusha airport for the 45min or so drive to the markets. We arrive to a massive dirt field covered in blankets on the ground with locals selling fruit, veges, 2nd hand clothes, traditional Tanzania fabrics, beaded masasi bracelets and household items like soap etc.

To the right of our bus in the football field their was a tiny goat market taking place - although by the time we had arrived most had been sold and only a couple were left. As St Jude's occassionally visit's Lukmia's family we take out a gift of a live goat to his family. So off he went to bargain with the sellers to get our goat... more about him later.

So this particular market is really only for locals, so it is quiet funny that a whole busload of "muzungus" pulls up and hop out. The majority of visitors in this group were older in their 50-70's. As soon as we got off I made a dash to leave the group and get in amongst the excitement - my skin colour is bad enough here without needing to standing in a pack of glowing white tourists ;) Also on this particular day there was a local mobile phone company with their green truck and promo dancers breaking some moves on their makeshift dance floor - a small crowd had gathered of young and old locals wanting to catch a glimpse of the excitement so I decided that's exactly where I wanted to be and walked right on over to the centre of the group with my small digital camera in hand.

I made the decision before I hopped off the bus that I would infact not pull out the huge Canon SLR I'm lugging around as it just dosent seem to rate to high in the popularity stakes here and totally ruins every photo opportunity as people get very camera shy when they see the lens pop out.

So there was me standing in the middle of a local only crowd who were bopping away in their masai blankets and sticks with massive earlobes that have been over-stretched from beaded earrings. Once people started to notice me I attracted my own crowd and an old Masai man in his 70's came over with a huge smile and several missing teeth to shake my hand and welcome me. He was very cute and I wanted to get a photo but know that just starts the roll of "support my family give me money" or paying for every photo.

The photo opportunities for the Canon just kept rolling by and it killed me as I kept seeing everything as photos but even with my small digital I knew its not appropriate to just walk up and take their photos!

I hadn't planned on shopping but knew that you dont pay more than 6,000 TSH for a Masai blanket so walked around asking prices and got everything from 25,000 down to 15,000. The blankets are ok - but I really love the Tanzanian Kanga and Kitenge material. The Kanga is about the size of a sarong and worn over pants like a long sarong, only you tie it above your bellybutton as only the "cheap" girls wear things on their hips I have been told. The Kitengei is like 6 metres of material that you buy to have dresses etc made and also has beautiful patterns. So I came across this one girl who decoratively placed all her fabrics in cones on her tarpoline and I absolutely loved her outfit - a black and yellow polka dot dress.

We started to bargain for one kitenge and I got her down to 6,000 - then I say to her - give me two for 10,000 and you have a good sale. She laughed at me but caved after 5min of me laughing back - thank you! Then I saw a heap of the other ladies from our bus so pushed them her direction and told her to remember my face as I will come shopping again and want special prices for bringing her so much business he he yes it's the European blood shining through!

I managed to take some sneaky shots of masai women in their blankets and adorned in their beaded jewels resting. I was wondering through the vege section and was again befriended by an elder - this time an old lady sitting on the floor selling her fruits. I greeted here with "Shikamoo" reserved for elders and she responded with "Marhaba". Then in the most impressive sales tactic she held my hand, touched my face and showered me with what I can only imagine compliments (I hope) and wouldnt let go of my hand as she started to ask me to buy from her, motioning she needed food for her family, every story under the sun - of course I couldnt work out exactly what she was saying.

Anyways I managed to free myself and headed towards the bus - not before buying a 2nd hand GAP business shirt for less than $3 and a black business shirt - these have proven to be my best and an invaluable buy as they go with everything are perfect for the conservative surrounds I'm in. As I'm waiting for our bus to load up our guard brings around a plate of cooked goat which was delicious even if a tadd fatty. Most people polietly tried one but didnt like it - I was there with the driver and guards feasting with oily fingers - such a lady! Then came the funny part - Mr Billy Goat gets loaded into our bus with us with a small rope around his neck - we tie him to the railing on the steps of the bus and he wasnt scared in the slightest. I didnt want to know what fate awaited him but he seemed happy to be getting all the attention.

We headed off on a bumpy dirt road towards Lukmai's village and approached a area of round mud huts with thatched roofs. The roads got so bad that at one point we had to unload half the passangers so we could get over a hump and then they hopped back on. Suddenly Lukmia is telling our driver Joseph something in Kiswahili and we realise that MR Billygoat is about to meet his new family as on of the boys from his tribe is walking towards us with a heard of goats. We untie him and open the bus door - he jumps out, bleats and heads off with his 40 or so new friends - it was very cool!

Arriving at the village there was a group of maybe 6 huts and lots of kids raggedly dressed come running towards us. Our visitor co-ordinator has the cookie bucket and hands out packets of biscuits and they go wild. I find a quiet place under the tree to start snapping - this time with my big camera and the kids happily pose - gotta love kids!!! Next thing I know they are all interested in my necklace, earrings and bracelets - only the earrings and necklace are silver so nothing too expensive but they decided they want them. I manage to keep my earrings and necklace, then one little girl takes off her masai bracelet and offers it to me in exchange for one of mine. So the swapping begins and I end up giving up my evil eye leather strap from Istanbul and get our driver to explain to the girls the purpose of the evil eye since they are also supersticious. Just before leaving one of the older girls abruptly instructs me to give back all their bracelets and gave me my Thailand one back - it was hilarious - deal off!

Whilst I was absorbed in the kids the others went off to meet Lukmia's two - yes two wifes - its very common here for Masai to have two and even some none masai give it a go Im told.

We had a brilliant day and lots of photos to show for it. Cant wait to go back and get more fabrics from my commission owing :)

Next blog... Cradle of Love Orphanage, Arusha

Lake Manyara Safari with the St Judes kids

So week one flew by with lots of photos to be taken of the kids in assembly, in class and on their way home. Now it was time for the super fun stuff... SAFARI! Arusha is known as the major drop-in point for tourists from around the world who come to Tanzania to experience the safari parks such as Serengeti, Lake Manyara, Ngorogoro & Tarengeri national park - and safari's are pretty much visited by tourists only, so you can imagine the expense!

I was super lucky that my first Saturday in Tanzania, needed me to go on safari with the kids to do some photography of their outing - we actually took the St Jude's buses into the Lake Manyara national park! Mostly tourists go with the drivers from their lodges or organised tours - so you see an abundance of them in open top landcruisers. We had 3 or 4 bus loads of St Jude's students who were super excited and only around 6 teachers to look after them all. I had prepared myself that this is a school excursion, so expect the headaches etc.

Not the case at all! You have never seen such well behaved children - ever! I'm talking that it got to the point that I had to look behind me to check that the kids were still in the bus. The teacher started the trip with a stern lecture on being quiet during the trip and once in the park so as not to scare the animals. When we drove past the airport, all the children lost their mind (quietly though) and were all staring in amazement at the aircraft - it was very cute.

We stopped just before arriving at the national park for some African ginger tea and these triangular donut spongey breads for morning tea. The funniest scene ever - the buses pulled up in some vacant land on the side of the road for morning tea, but as the drive had taken us more than 2 hours to get there, plus most of the kids had been waiting at the side of the road since 6am for pick-ups - they were busting for the toilet. So you just saw this mass of boys run and surround this poor tree and start peeing and then the girl decided they too couldnt wait and there was like 40+ girls running for trees at the back of the land and squatting shyly. Some girls got so excited that they ran over on of their friends and there she lay face into the ground like she had been run over by a steam roller. I ran over to peel her off the ground and wipe away her tears - of course then her friends apologise profousley. After killing the grass here we decided it was time to finally take them to the national park.

We pulled up outside and are greeted by our guides. The female teachers and I who had not been able to join the tree and squat made a made dash for the toilets. Just as we were so close there is a male cleaner in front of us walking so sloooowwwwly up the ramp, that I couldnt take it anymore and started saying at the top of my voice "emergency, emergency" that made him move - it also made him start laughing too!

It was only $30USD for us to actually have access to the national park since we had our own transport. Outside the park there were already baboons and some other type of monkeys roaming around, so the kids were starting to get excited. Once we passed security and drove into the safari park - it was just us and the animals. You should have seen the kids with their eyes peeled looking for the most popular animal of all in this park - the tree sleeping simba (lions). We lucked out this day and didnt see any, but everytime we drove past another tour group they would say they had just seen some around the bend - of course by the time we got there Simba was gone - but Im wondering if they were just saying it to keep the tourists happy!

We saw endless giraffee and impala's. The kids swear they saw hippos but Im still convinced they were rocks in the water. We saw zebras and flamingo's and a heard of elephants were right next to our bus.

You can actually camp in the national park grounds but I just think thats down right crazy!!! Lions prowling around, hyenas!!! You can even do guided walks with an armed ranger through the park, but Im not a fan of animals getting shot just because I need some adventure.

Whenever we saw animals the kids were so well behaved and they like me were hanging to see the lions but never game up hope. We had a short break at the hot springs - the water was really really hot and I forget this and nearly burned my face!!!

Lunch was beside the lake near the flamingo's - it was everyone's favourite pilau and rice that we had in massive plastic bins that were on the bus. Yes sounds glamarous, hence why I didnt want the meat as I thought it would be cold - I tried one piece and it was fine so gobbled it up with the kids who were amused that I sat eating with them and not the teachers.

As we were leaving the park we saw endless families of baboons and even one that was the since of a 4-5 year old child - I havent had my rabies shot so my window stayed closed!!

The drive home took us past some beautiful and typical African scenery with the round mud huts with their stick thatched roofs, too many Masai's and their goats grazing, quiet a few Masai women in traditional gear off to the water holes.

The kids were angels right until the very end. It had been an extremly long day on the road and in the bus for everyone - by the time we needed to refuel and drop off the last few children who must have been famished so I was feeding them arrowroot biscuits - everyone was exhausted but we had some amazing photos to show for it!!

Again this safari was enable by the generous St Jude supporters - if it were not for the donations these children may never afford to go on safari in their own hometown in their lifetime.

Next Blog... First weekend and not only do I go on Safari but the next day I'm visiting a Masai village and bargaining at the Masai Sunday markets!