Associazone Casa Famiglia Rosetta Onlus

Most of my days consist of much toddler mayhem - a.k.a. these three adorable faces! From left to right there is Basilisa, Imakulata, and Ester. The first two are twins (which I didn't find out until two weeks into the program...) and the only two at the orphanage who are not HIV positive. They are 15 months old and won't be staying at Casa Famiglia much longer (to protect them from possible infection).

They keep all of us busy with trying to catch them from falling off of benches, stairs, plants... you name it, they'll climb up on it! Also they always seem hungry but never willing to sit down long enough to be fed, and while we are cooking outside we really have to watch our vegetables/knives/pots 'cause they'll get their grabby little hands on anything they can pick up. They definitely keep the Sisters on their toes though, and everyone loves the babies of the house very much. In the mornings when we arrive its bath time, and then food time, and then they usually run around like mad while everyone else tries to prepare lunch for the other children. I can already tell when which one is crying, and oh the faces they make sometimes... of course though - everyone loves to dance in the kitchen!

A quick note about Casa - a few years ago an Italian Parish Priest visited Tanzania and saw a need for an AIDS counselling centre. He went about trying to find a house for his mission, but when he found the place where Casa Famiglia is today - he changed his mind about his mission! The house is located very close to Bombo Regional Hospital and he decided to start an house for HIV/AIDS orphans instead. At first he tried to employ people to run the house, but after about two years he applied for support from the Sisters from Collegina Familia (a parish connected to one in Italy). The Sisters all volunteer their time and come from communities all over the country. So the Catholic Diocese of Tanga along with the sisters began to go out to the villages and streets to ask for help from the City Council leaders. The leaders of the villages and Christian communities listed all of the orphans in their areas and the Sisters visited teach family to see who had the greatest need. The most serious cases were taken in by the Sisters to come and live at the orphanage, and they have been running like this for 3 years.

The wonderful thing about Casa is that the Sisters know every child inside and out. Where they come from, which village their family is living in, and which members of their family are still around, or in need of support. They provide support in food or finances for family members that are in need, and periodically go out to check up on everyone. The hope is that once the children have to leave Casa, the organization will be able to provide school fees or other help for the childre, but that their communities will be in charge of their care. Most of the financial help for the orphanage still comes from the Italian Priest (the chairman of the organization) but the community of Tanga is also a great help with food or supplies whenever funds are late in getting to Tanzania. Surprisingly (at least for me) the two greatest expenses of the orphanage are:

1.) Running the car (which takes children to school/hospital, transports guests, and goes around to all the villages etc. to check up on families)
2.) Milk! (The medicine the children have to take must be taken with milk or they get really sick)

So here is just some info about where I'm working :) Much love from all the children and Sisters!

Observations continued...

10.) I have found the supermarket (eureka!) and they have Romany Creams :):):) (the best cookies ever from S.A)

11.) I am really, really terrible at washing clothes by hand...

12.) Awesome thing about Tanzania: riding on the back of someone's bicycle is a completely legitimate method of public transportation (boda boda's)

13.) Found coffee!! And realized why people here don't drink it very often - its hot :

14.) Any function (weddings, first communions, etc.) is very formal and involves much fanfare. Also much chakula! (food).

15.) Saying something to me in Swahili the first time and I don't understand it, standing closer and yelling it (still in Swahili) is not a magic translation tool. This also does not work for English to Swahili translation. Darn.

16.) I uploaded some photos on this computer at the internet cafe to try and get them online... now they are the screen saver.

17.) It is incredibly difficult to turn down drinks, or food, or anything someone offers to you by saying karibu (you are welcome).

18.) Everyone I meet tells me karibu na Tanzania (you are welcome in Tanzania!)

19.) I walk too fast.

20.) It is always acceptable to answer your cellphone anywhere (except church).

21.) Coconut juice is a natural laxative.

22.) Tanzanians always peel tomatoes and potatoes.

23.) I am too weak to make Ugali for 30 people. (It takes ridiculous strength to stir that stuff!)

...to be continued

Saturday Journal

There is a goat outside my window right now that sounds like it is seriously in distress... Meanwhile I am sitting on my bed waiting for Asnati to "shower" so we can go out to the market. New observation: There is more than one mosque within earshot of my bed. Morning call to prayer = 5 AM wake-up call. Everyday... but the sounds of this place are beautiful.

My host mama has a hair salon so she sat me down and braided my hair (like corn-rows) on our livingroom floor last night. Feels like I got a face-lift :) Also I look slightly bald... but everyone here loves it and keeps telling me I look like a real African haha. Asnati has extensions and had to sit for 4 hours to get her hair done (mine only took 2)... don't think I'd ever be able to sit through that! Oh dear I am getting tired already - I miss drinking coffee! So far I've only seen instant and my family seems more into drinking tea. Pole sana (so sorry, i.e. poor baby...) Off to the market!

So I bought myself a kanga (kind of like a sarong with two parts), and a traditional kitenge (to make a dress out of for church). That place is incredibly busy with yelling and bodies and stuff everywhere! Piles of clothing and random underwear hanging and shoes and housewares etc. Glad I had someone to lead me around! On the way back we stopped at a salon that is owned by Asnati's friend. Everyone still seems pretty amused by the "mzungu" and the fact that I have no clue what they are saying. They also seem to feel the need to comment on my "huge" legs... hint?

Then, as if out of nowhere, two guys shoed up on bikes with bags full of nailpolish. I knew Asnati wanted to get her toes re-polished but I was not quite prepared for the procedure. One of them plopped down in front of me as well, pointing out some designs that I could choose from. Slightly dumbfounded at this point I just chose a plain pink but Asnati got something fancier that looks almost airbrushed! In conclusion I payed about $1.50 for something that would have cost me over $20 in Canada - and had my toes painted by a guy! Then back home of course for some ugali and samaki (fish). Woot for productive days :)

Cellphones!

My phone number in Tanzania is officially:

011 255 653 080 999

...not that I would expect any of you to call me because it must be RIDICULOUSLY expensive but I may be able to recieve text messages :) yay!

Observations in Tanzania...

1.) There is no such thing as hot water

2.) The most highly advertised products are from cellphone companies

3.) There is no such thing as a schedule

4.) Cross roads at your own discretion

5.) Learn to love eating with your hands (but not your left hand!)

6.) Toilet paper is a very scarce commodity

7.) The drink of choice is soda

8.) Everyone greets everyone!!

9.) I am getting better at showering out of a bucket

...to be continued

Africa Time

I cannot believe it has been a week already since we've left Vancouver - and I've just found a computer with internet!! So sorry to all of you who have been waiting for updates - but now that I know where this place is I will try not to get caught up in "africa time" where everything runs pole pole (slooowly).

So when we arrived in Dar es Salaam on Thursday afternoon, Jamie and Dan and Mr. Shayo (the coordinator here in Tanzania) met us on our way out and we hopped in a dhala dhala (think mini-bus/van) on our way to the bus station to catch our bus to Tanga. Mind you this is after about 30 hours or so in transit already and we are pretty beat. After a six hour bumpy ride on a super crowded bus we arrived at Mr. Shayo's guesthouse in darkness. Here was our first introduction to the bathroom's in Tanzania, in which most of the toilets are muslim (think... squatting). Food was first but we all needed a good night's sleep. The next morning (day 2) we woke up to have chai (tea and/or breakfast) and to head off to Pangani where we had our orientation! Remember how I mentioned the first bus ride was bumpy? K well the second one was insane!! The roads are pretty terrible that way but of course this one was only two hours and we weren't as tired - so it was no problem.

Pangani was beautiful and we had time to get used to the weather (and get over some jet-lag) while meeting our counterparts and preparing for our work placements. My counterpart is fantastically nice and her name is Asnat - when I figure out how to post pictures on this thing I promise to try to get some up soon!! So after a few days at the beach and becoming familiar with some Swahili greetings we were more used to the children calling out mzungu! mzungu! (white person) whenever we walked by. On the way back to Tanga we took another dhala dhala in which we crammed 15 or 16 people - at least it made the bumpy ride a bit quicker!

Last night after we returned from Pangani (day 6) we finally met all of our host families and moved into their homes with our counterparts. My host father's name is Deo and he works with the youth in Tanga through the Catholic Diocese. Ollie and his counterpart will also be working at the youth center as part of their work placement. Tomorrow we will visit everyone's work placements to become a bit more familiar with our surroundings and so that we will know where everyone will be volunteering for the next few weeks. In my host family very little English is spoken, so some of the communication has been difficult! I mostly sit and look like I have no clue while everyone chuckles at my expense. Asnat definitely tries to help me, although she is still working on her English as well!

I promise to try to get some photos up as well as posting another update sometime this week. For now I must head home before Asnat falls asleep on me... I think I am still running on Vancouver time, I swear I don't really wake up until 11 or 12 at night! A huge THANK YOU once again to all of my donators and supporters - I couldn't be here without you! Asante sana (thank you very much).

On our way!

Hello all -

Well after about 10 hours in Heathrow Terminal 4 I think Arend, Sara, Ollie and myself are about ready to get ourselves to Africa!! So far everything has been great and we have not run into many difficulties - minus some issues with the supplies we were bringing over! Originally we knew that because our tickets had "missionary" status we were each allowed a third bag containing supplies, but when we went to check in with Air Canada in Vancouver they told us that this was not possible! Well we figured out a way to bring about half of the books/supplies with us but the rest will have to be sent over at a later date.

Our flight to Nairobi arrives at 6:30 AM local time tomorrow morning and we should arrive in Dar Es Salaam around 9:20 AM if all goes according to plan. Thank you all for the prayers for our safety during travel, hopefully we will be able to update you on everything in Tanzania very soon. Kwa heri!!