27th of November 2008

The school I am teaching at is called Dar-es-Salaam Independent School, it is a private school that is aimed at the middle classes of the community, but it does not charge a fortune. By western standards the school is under resourced and not the flashest, but by African standards it is brilliant. The school is run by the ex-pat British owner and headmaster Mrs. Susan Huckstable, there are a number of internationally educated teachers from all over the world: South Africa, England, Zimbabwe and Egypt to name a few and of course the school has a large local contingent of teachers who teach in both Swahili and English. The school is made up of about 450 students and runs from primary school right through to the end of high school, every year the waiting list is chocka full, parents are really hoping their children can gain the valuable and rare opportunity of education.

My job is multi faceted, I teach sports like rugby, football and basketball, I help kids with presentations and debates and because exams are looming I assist the secondary school with studies where I can. The primary school students are great, every day without fail I have a group of disciples pestering me for high fives and any form of attention possible. I teach them funny hand shakes and listen to their problems, sometimes you forget what it was like to be a kid, but spending time around these children does take you back, you learn to be more patient and understanding. The young kids cry at the drop of a hat, they complain about menial things and it is a challenge to work around wavering concentration spans to complete a lesson. But really the kids are great, you can't help but like them, once you see my photos you'll understand

Teaching sport in Africa is not like NZ, The humidity combined with the beating sun turns a 5 minute run into a sweat bath. I am hoping I will get used to it, but even the locals say you never get used to the heat, this is a hot summer even by Tanzanian standards so sport after lunch is a struggle. Teaching rugby is a laugh, no-one here is that familiar with rugby or how to play, but after only two days the school is really enthused about the sport, kids come up to me saying they love the sport and cannot wait to play. One of the teachers has asked me to do a seminar for him and a few of his friends in the community as they want to get a good grasp of the game so they can start club, the teacher really wants to coach... It's pretty cool how enthusiastic he is about it.

26th of November 2008

Last night I went to the American style mall, full of western style shops. This complex looks so out of place in comparison to the surrounding streets and residential areas, it look like someone cut out a slice of America and plonked it smack bang in the middle of Africa.

Being one of the poorest third world countries, you would think that prices in Tanzania would be quite low, but unfortunately this is not the case, Tanzania is dependent on foreign imports and investment, prices of food and other goods reflects this. The supermarket that I went to was full of foreign brands, there wasn't a single local brand to be seen. Foreign companies have a strangle hold on the Tanzanian economy, providing all the necessaries that any Government or business should. These foreign companies that hold the power are not interested in putting back into the community, they suck out the market share easily as there is no competition. For example, Tanzania is a country rich in water resources, they are surrounded by fresh lakes and rivers, yet no-one has developed the infrastructure to harness this and so the country continues to buy bottled water at quite a cost and guess who owns the main wbottled water company....Coca Cola. No surprises there. The Chinese especially are investing alot in Africa, people say due to lack of local produce that Africa is just a market, so investors like the Chinese have predicted the saturation of western and developing markets and are beginning to focus on product and investment expansion. So all the pricing of food etc is almost as high as it is in New Zealand and on a limited budget this is expensive. There are real problems here that I'm sure anyone could read about, but they hit you on a different level experiencing them first hand. Corruption here is a massive problem, as I write there are major multi million dollar corruption trials taking place and it is a trend that seems to have pervaded alot of Africa. there is no money here for education, earlier this month the university here temporarily closed due to student strikes as costs were too high and the government will not contribute much in the form of loans. Unemployment here is at 60 odd% some of those who are lucky to gain an education and a powerful job abuse their positions laundering money and following selfish policies. There is a real lack of nationalism here, some of it I think can be put down to tribalism and colonialism, the students know this and they want change. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer, the rich and the powerful seem uninterested in putting back into the country happy to just build large mansions and watch the story unfold. The general uneducated populace seem unmotivated. For change to come it will be hard and I think it will take a long time.

Stayed up last night getting an interesting insight on religion from a Pakistani student, Atiff and one of my flat mates Kate, she is polish. Atiff is Muslim and has studied the Koran in depth he has very strong opinions about religion, it is refreshing to get new perspectives.

25th of November 2008

The people here are amazing, I keep saying that they are so friendly because I cannot emphasise it enough! I am still living in Dar-es-Salaam in what I can only describe as an interesting living situation, I have meet numerous university students here both local and international, some of these are very intelligent characters, we have spent long hours solving the problems of our planet. The locals are only to happy to show me around, this provides quite a unique experience as I gain a local insight into the capital city. The streets and roads here often look similar to the mountain paths in the Kawekas and sometimes they aren't even to that standard. It is not uncommon to come across a burst sewer pipe in the middle of the street that has been left for days.

Transport here is crazy, you get the very rich driving around in expensive cars while the poor tend to rough it out in the various forms of public and private transport. Private transport involves a cheap ride in a 'tuk-tuk' or a 'dalla dalla'. I say that it is cheap, because it is cheap for the locals, but if you are recognised as a 'musungo' or foreigner (often giving away by your white skin) the price mysteriously triples, so as I keep saying the local help is invaluable. A 'dalla-dalla' is a rough looking van, kitted out with as many seats as possible operated by intimidating Swahili collectors. There is no set price so to use one you really have to speak Swahili to get a bargain, I have been picking up Swahili gradually thanks to the encouragement of my Aiesec friends, but as of yet I am not competent enough for independent life on the streets, still I'm loving the challenge.
Last night I went out for the first time in Africa, my friends took me to a Local pub then on to a local night club. There is no way I intend to get drunk here, but the beer does taste good. The night club was playing local music which I am really starting to enjoy, it sounds typically African with good rhythm. I was approached by a pimp in the night club pandering his wares, safe to say I wasn't keen. It was a good night, but I am very jet lagged now. This morning we (myself Mariam and Zac) approached a local school in an attempt to gain some form of volunteer work. We took a bus right out to the more wealthier side of town and asked for an audience with the principle. She is a lovely woman and seemed very receptive to the idea of having me on. She wants me to teach rugby, some guitar, English and more... I start tomorrow!!! wohoo.. to celebrate we headed to the beach, good times, on the way we spotted a spider as large as my fist, something I'm sure my mother would have appreciated and the colour of the thing definately signalled a warning. The beach was golden and beautiful, with palm trees, coconuts and canoes lying scattered about.

Living here can be hard, you are constantly in fear of the dreaded mosquito, you sleep within cramped nets, in a heat that is not dissimilar to an oven, I could write forever on my malaria paranoia, I'm taking anti-malarial tablets daily, but I still worry. I think I'm drinking as much as I am sweating and applying sunblock and repellant like its going out of fashion. The drinking here is from bottled water, so much bottled water, Tanzania must spend a fortune on bottled water it's like gold over here. I wash my clothes in a bucket full of water gained from a local well, using the fantastic wonder soap, but you could not drink this water or the tap water. I shower, when there is water available, in what looks like a bathroom, really, I am living well! The food is great I tried the local dish 'pelou' last night, Mariam and a Kenyan girl Buryial- (pronounced burial) definately did the local Swahili cuisine justice, I look forward to enjoying more of this type of food. They have interesting soups and vegetable mixtures and delicious fish dishes and the way they do there rice is great! Every minute here feels like an adventure, I'm glad to have work now and will start tomorrow by catching an early bus at 5 am, should be good times.

24th of November 2008

I landed in Tanzania today, what an experience the last few hours have been. The further away from western society you go the less European it really is, funny that. On my flight from Hong Kong I met loads of really friendly people like Peggi and Mbala, full of attitude these two half sisters from Zambia made my airport wait a breeze. These ladies were both very well educated and funny, Mbala is studing for her MBA and Peggi already runs a succesfull business and they were obsessed with the clothes the had purchased in China. Needless to say I got the complete run down on African and especially Zambian history as well as some tips on African fashion.

On the plane I sat next to a resident from Hong Kong named Roberta, she also had started her own business as a tour guide in Kenya showing Asian tourists around. I was so very grateful to have such interesting company for my 14 hour flight, Roberta was a wealth of knowledge and has been to Tanzania many times so she gave me plenty of ideas.
When I finally arrived in Tanzania the heat hit me, it is unrelenting and is sitting in the mid 30's as I speak, no wind. My organisation was late to the airport so I was stranded for a while, this was quite a scary experience as the people seemed to just see me a source of money and exploitative opportunity. Luckily Isac and Mairiam arrived before I started to really worry. Experiencing a third world country properly for the first time is something else, the infrastructure, standard of living and many other things are so different. Mariam head of organising my internship is a charming young woman with a fantastic African smile, her and 'zac' the sincere and intelligent counterpart, bore the brunt of my many questions and have proven to be great hosts so far.

Unfortunately though, they have brought me bad news. The principle of my intern host-school has closed the school early for the year and I will now not begin working there until mid Janurary. This has thrown a spanner in the works, I will be living in Dar-Es-Sallaam now for a while flatting with organisation members. Don't worry Mum, the complex is safe, trust me. Mariam and I plan to raise some other form of volunteer work to tie me over in the mean time.. she presently has high hopes for this plan and doesn't seem perturbed. I really feel like they have my best interests at heart. The news has a silver linning as it gives me more time for travel. With a good budget and a bit of organisation this could turn out for the better. So despite the set back, the heat, the many possible diseases and my current exhausted state, my spirits remain high...

Did I say the heat is unrelenting.

23rd of November 2008

In transit, waiting at one of Hong Kong's international airports. They are pumping out the Christmas carols already. I'm in a strange place. Ive lost all sense of time and when I'm supposed to be sleeping, every flight I catch the time changes its hard to keep up. It feels like I'm chasing time backwards across the world. This may possibly be the longest 23rd of Nov I ever have! Still its exciting, international flights have changed alot since I last flew, now days you get your own personal T.V set with a choice of so many different options.. I watched a documentary on African wildlife photographers, their work is amazing, not to mention time consuming. I have a love hate relationship with flying, I love to travel, but I hate turbulence. At times I felt like I was on a rollercoster. We had a couple of rough patches on the way to Hong Kong, but I suppose I'll get used to it all pretty soon. I'd better get used to it as I have over 16 hours of flying left! Thanks to a brief negotiation period with Australian immigration I was lucky enough to be able to catch up with my uncle Chris and cousin Emily who met me at the airport in Sydney. We had coffee and solved the worlds problems. Em has just gotten back from her own international adventures, they sound amazing, I really must hear her full story at some stage, she was looking great despite only getting home from town 3 hours earlier. Chris is his usual funny self, he cracked jokes until it was time for me to go and even gave me a kite to impress my African students with. Having never flown a kite, fingers crossed I can do it justice. Off to catch my connector through to Kenya and hopefully some sleep.

22nd November 2008

Well tomorrow will be big , it's the beginning of an adventure. I keep saying, "pinch, pinch", it just doesn't seem real and probably won't do until I'm well in to the trip. Ive had a week full of goodbyes, good friends and family, food and wine, I'm packed, ready and am counting down till 3 o'clock tomorrow morning. I have a rough plan for the 3 months ahead, I say rough because I don't really know what to expect. There is so much I want to see, but I think it is the unknown that will surprise and excite me the most. Africa here I come, what a thought!