Week 5 - Hiking and Maneuvering the Roads

March 18-March 25

Drivers vs Pedestrians

Pedestrians definitely do NOT have the right of way here. Vehicles drive on the other side of the road which only exacerbates the fact that I am directionally challenged (the steering wheel is also on our passenger side). The bicyclists and motorcycles typically drive within a foot of the berm which is more often than not used as the walking path. They do this so the cars can easily pass. It is a bit unsettling to have them pass so close especially since many of them are carrying their wares on the back of their bikes. Cars honk out of courtesy – to let you know they are approaching or plan to pass. There is no road rage which is a definite positive!

I cross 2 main roads that are very busy. I always try to find a local person who is crossing and stay with them. If not, I look both ways a bzillion times before crossing. There are road police at these crossings but they do nothing but stand there.

In Moshi there are several round-abouts which feed 5-6 roads into a circle. These are the most intimidating of all because you have traffic going in all sorts of directions and not only cars, daladalas and buses but bicycles, motorcycles and vendors moving their large carts.

All of this makes my daily trek to and from the office an interesting challenge. There is one stretch where the walking path is raised and the path itself is rather narrow. Reminds me of being on a balance beam especially on one particular day when I straddled it by slipping in the loose dry dirt. It was quite dainty!! Fortunately no one saw me; I got up, brushed myself off and went on like nothing happened.

Sunday – David and I were able to hike in the afternoon. It was near one of the entrances to Mt. Kilimanjaro and was a very pleasant and beautiful 1.5 hour hike. It was different in that the beginning of the hike was through a lush green forested area, mostly up hill. Then we were in a flat area and there was a huge Catholic Church and school. Much of the rest of the hike was thru small villages. There would be an occasional small store. It is hard to imagine spending your life in such a remote area.

Catholic Church in the middle of Nowhere

Stream from bridge overlook

 There were about 25 people on the hike, mostly internationals of all ages including children. When we first arrived I introduced myself to a group and one couple introduced themselves. Other than that exchange no one talked to us which we both found quite odd; and even after the hike when people gathered for food. We decided to call Ibrah to pick us up. He said he would arrive in 15 minutes so we decided to start walking, thinking that it would still be light out for a while. Ibrah was delayed and did not arrive for 45 minutes by which time it was dark. The interesting thing was that as the hikers left the area we had at least 6 cars stop and offer us a ride back to town. 

Monday – Nie was not feeling well so I worked from home on some projects.

Tuesday – to Boma to take shoes to John. We stopped first at the preschool. Nie needed to talk to the day guard. The teacher was not there and the young woman in the classroom, I later learned, was the cook. I did not think she was the teacher because she was rather shy with the children. Nie asked me to be with the children so I just sort of took over. I was hesitant to go in the classroom at first because last time I was here one of the children was quite distraught seeing a Muzungu. However this time, although the child cried at first, I held out my hand and she touched it and was then fine.

Preschool - one of 3 rows of children (over 30 kids)

We went thru the alphabet. On the walls around the room were drawn pictures on 8x11 paper for each letter. They were in no particular order which had me all over the place. We also counted in English and I tried to teach them Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes.  My preschool repertoire is pretty lacking, especially with the language barrier. I started to go over colors and the next thing I know the children were out of their seats, singing a song and jumping. So when in Rome…. I just joined in. I then took pictures. All the children here are fascinated with cameras and if they see you with one will ask for their picture. The Swahili word is picha so it is easy to translate. I always show them the picture as they get tremendous delight in seeing themselves. Mirrors are not common in the poorer homes.

John with new shoes and a smile to melt your heart!!

We then headed to John’s school and met with the head of the school. Her office could not have been larger than 10x10. There was a board on the wall with charts that looked like class schedules, teacher info and the like. They were all done by hand. I saw no typewriter or computer. John came to the office and the shoes fit. His old shoes were so worn. The bottom of the insides had no covering and the foot area looked like a rubber waffle. I can’t imagine how uncomfortable that must have been for his good foot.

I decided to try the internet café in Soweto, which is really not a cafe but a room in a building. I want to upload my pictures to Shutterfly and not eat up my internet voucher. I was there about 30 minutes; when the electric went out. They told me to just come back when the electric came back on and I could finish my work and then pay. Total honor system – I love it!

Wednesday – Spent most of the time at the office helping Teddy learn how to use Excel for the Malaria project data base. She is a very intelligent young lady and caught on very quickly. Who would have ever thought I would teach computer skills, let alone Excel??

Thursday – I returned with Nie and Jonas to Boma. This time we were taking Victoria, a 10 year old girl, to a local medical clinic. Her family consists of mom, dad and 4 other siblings. Mom is in her late 30’s and pregnant with their 6^th child. The father repairs shoes and lives in Arusha because that is where he can find work. He comes home on the weekends. He does not make enough for them to live and take care of Victoria’s medical needs. Mom and kids live in a one room apartment attached to a store.

They used to live in another area but moved to Boma for Victoria’s medical care. They wanted to be close to KCMC, which is the largest and best hospital in the area; and the only hospital able to care for her condition. She has been to the hospital for testing and her diagnosis had been unsure for several years. After a thorough conversation by Nie with the mother it was discovered that there were complications with her birth. Her diagnosis is Rheumatic Valvular Disease. She has difficulty walking and is just beginning to talk. She is also very skinny and small in stature. I looked up the diagnosis and it is a result of Rheumatic fever which can interfere with the physical and mental development of children.

While developed countries once had a significant burden of rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease, medical advances and improved social conditions have dramatically reduced their incidence. Many developing countries, as well as indigenous populations within developed countries, still carry a significant burden of rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease and there has been a resurgence in efforts to eradicate the diseases in these populations. (wikipedia)

The family could not afford to live in Moshi where KCMC is located so they are about a 40 minute ride away. There is a clinic in Boma where she gets monthly penicillin shots. Nie takes her every month to make sure she gets her medical care and to provide her with multi-vitamins which she takes daily. The cost of the vitamins and shots is about $8 per month. Victoria is to receive the monthly injections until she is 20 years old. The US couple who are helping John have also committed to help Victoria for 6 months.

Mom, Victoria & Me at clinic

Victoria with her Fanta

We arrived at the clinic and Nie stayed outside as she doesn’t like watching. It was a very stark bare room and the nurses were not very friendly. I went in with mom who laid Victoria across her lap and pulled her pants down. She immediately started to cry and became more upset as she received 4 injections in her bottom. I tried to hold her hands. Her wrists were so thin and fragile I thought they might break. Mom was unable to console her and sounded a little angry at one point giving her a smack on the bottom. I was not happy as this was where she got the shots and it had to hurt!! I shared this with Nie in the hopes that she will talk with mom. It was emotionally difficult seeing this poor child in so much distress. She is visibly not normal, although Nie says she has seen improvement. I hope to accompany her for the months I am here and see some progress too.

When we finished I asked if I could treat Victoria and her mom to a Fanta. This is a very popular orange soda. All the pop here comes in glass bottles. Jonas explained that we could only get one bottle because you either must drink the pop where you get it and return the bottle or if taking it, you must have an empty bottle to exchange. Nie only had one empty bottle. The bottles are all returned to the bottling company, washed and refilled for sale again! This is the first attempt I have seen at recycling – YEAH!!!! Now if we could just get them to stop using and burning so much plastic…..

On the way home I talked with Nie about birth control. It is available here and is free or very cheap. Many times families are so focused on daily survival they don’t think about long term repercussions. Nie talks with many of the families about family planning and safe sex and will to talk with Victoria’s mom. I was concerned that since she is a bit older she is at risk of more health problems. Men here are reluctant to get vasectomies. Birth control is also a very difficult issue. There is a lot of misinformation and women are leery because of what they have been told about side effects. Logic tells me that it costs much more to raise a child than it would cost for birth control. However, I am not thinking each day about where my next meal is coming from or what might happen to my child if I can’t pay for her medical care. There is no room to be judgmental.

Friday – I met Nie at the office and today we took the daladala to Pasua. She will do this several days next week until I am comfortable with knowing the route and can do it myself. We walked to the daladala stand (which is their bus stop). A daladala is like a very old VW bus. They are all falling apart. Many times they break down or the doors don’t work. On the trip to Pasua they had 20 people on board, many who had their baskets full of purchases form the market to sell from their homes. On the way home 24 of us were crammed in the daladala. I will try for a picture because you need to see it to believe it!!!

At the Children’s Center, I began work on the children’s profiles. TAFCOM has a page for each child which tells their story and includes their favorite animal, color and what they want to be when they grow up. I had a script in Swahili so I could ask the questions about their favorite things. Bisura was there to help me because I could rarely understand the child’s answer. It was quite amusing because I would ask my question and the child would look at me then look at Bisura and she would have to repeat. I don’t know if it was my pronunciation or just the confusion of a mzungu speaking Swahili. Some of the kids did understand me and I would be very excited when we could communicate.

It was very interesting asking about what they wanted to be when they grew up. Obviously they are just little people but many of their first answers were things like washing utensils, being a big sister, washing clothes, or helping their mothers. We would then give them other examples and they would sometimes answer differently, but sometimes not. In talking to Nie about this she agreed that is important to talk to them about different professions as these children have little or no exposure or knowledge of what their potential might be.

Saturday - I am refreshed today after a great night's sleep plus a nap yesterday afternoon. I don't think I realize what affect all the walking, my running and the heat have on me. Plus our mattresses are a 4 inch thick piece of foam. Went to the store and bought an apple for me and David and some Green Tea. I was excited about the apples because I have not seen any here until today and I was missing green tea. No electricity all day.

Sunday – Got some work done today in between bouts of no electricity. Went with Nicole to Nie and Jonas’ for dinner. Their son, Jovin, is now 7 and as adorable as ever. He showed me one of his school books on Communication and Technology and it was mostly about what to do in emergencies and the workings of cell phones and their usage.  Jovin attends a private school and studies 7 subjects. He is one of the top students in his class!