9th of December 2008

Today was Tanzania's independence day, where bright uniformed soldiers marched in intricate formations around the countries national stadium watched by all the hierarchy past and present of Tanzanian society. It may be a day of celebration within the country but I have just had the most worry filled, dangerous of days since I started this epic and have come to realise that the sacred, precious values that we uphold in New Zealand and other more developed countries when it comes to human rights and the importance of life are not shared in this country. I have far too many examples of this in daily life but for me today broke the camels back. You ride, walk or drive along the road and you will see people suffering, whether it is a lack of medical care or a lack of a general understanding present in the common society. People drag themselves around with badly wounded limbs and sick children, same in serious mental and physical states not bothering to seek medical help or prevent the deterioration of their positions, they risk their lives daily in amongst traffic and confronting the elements without proper food and water. Woman will run in front of massive trucks narrowly escaping a grisly end, truck drivers, car drivers and bus drivers will not even hesitate to hit a vehicle or person in their path, give way rules do not apply! You think you have a right to the road, your wrong. Woman will pass their babies around in over crowded vehicles, seat belts are unheard of, standing in a speeding van that is more than driving recklessly is the norm, not eating showering or drinking in a beating sun, exposed to all sorts of diseases and insects, T.IA they say= this is Africa. For a week now Dar-es-Salaam has been without water, that means nothing no tap, shower etc, wells are drying also, those that cannot afford to buy water suffer I have seen many on the streets crowding round stagnant puddles filling buckets, rushing to burst street pipes and any filthy hollows that could contain any sign of this precious liquid, I cannot believe the lengths these people must go to... I have really only just began to mention their ever present struggles, struggles due to under developed infrastructure, legal systems including enforcement, political corruption and lack of properly directed policy initiatives, there are so many problems.

Mariam has been suffering from differing levels of malaria now for over a month, contracted by mosquito bites, it has finally culminated in her being very ill, she has been vomiting the whole day and night, so we took her to the hospital this very night. This reluctant attitude to seek medical help is common in Tanzania, people believe they can tough it out even when they are very wrong, this approach can often be deadly. Medical treatment is really cheap here especially for basics like malaria, yet still people cant afford the low prices. I joined Mariam in the hospital to get a few scary looking bites seen to by the doctor, some foreign bug had taken to me while i was asleep and my feet had reacted angrily, the doctor had no idea what the bites were but prescribed me some cream, which i would use, if i perceive no change I will definately consult others. The bites look like large Egyptian eyes. Jim has broken out in an aggressive full body rash, looks like over night he instantly got both chicken pocks and the measles, red spots everywhere, the doc thinks its heat rash, fingers crossed it isn't too bad cause i would hate to get the same thing. There is danger at every turn, you have to think twice about every single thing/place/situation, it scares me to death sometimes, you can never be too careful in tropical Africa. I have been bitten by mosquitoes now so often i can't count, it is unavoidable, they are everywhere but I have never fallen sick and take anti-malarial tablets everyday.

I have decided to give up the bike, it is far to dangerous to brave the roads and footpaths over here and every moment I hit the roads I immeadiately regret it, i found myself consciously praying that I would make my final destination, drivers are too crazy, way too crazy...

I decided that I wanted to stay at Mrs Jennifer's tonight after the worrying day, as I was traveling by taxi to the place we were involved in an accident, it was such a shock. My taxi was hit by a speeding land rover complete with bull bars, it spun our car around, completely munching, crumpling the front bonnet, the taxi driver was yelling what I believe were Swahili swear words and I was just thankful that this was a somewhat minor accident, I was safe, the land rover didn't stop, I walked the remaining kilometre shaken and stirred, I am okay but it is scary that such a thing could happen... friends, teachers and many others have been quite supportive....