05.07.2011 Day Two of Placement

05.07.2011

Rita 

            Today was our second day at placement, and first day of using the dala dalas on our own.  We made it there perfectly.  I remembered the name of all the stops and knew enough Swahili to get by.  On the way home though, we got off to early.  We said shusha manzini at the first manzini rather that the second.  We just had to walk quite a ways.  It was a nice walk though; everyone here says hi to you and asks you how you are.  The children all smile as you walk by.  There are two men who work for each dala.  One collects the money and is in charge of getting people on his dala. The other drives.  The men who ride in back and get people to ride their dala hop off while it’s still moving and try to drag you into their dala, rather than another dala.  It’s crazy!  I was imagining mom on a dala today and started laughing.  Between the foreign language, the crazy driving, and the stuffing of so many people into such a small space, I think she’d start crying.  The TZS collector tried to rip me off on the green dala dala back to sakina.  Luckily, I had exact change.  I gave him 300TZS in coins and he said, “no, 400.”  I said hapana.  That’s the second time the green dalas tried to rip me off. I think from now on I will use my bills for the yellow dalas and my exact change for the green dalas.  It’s not the 5 cents or so lost that bothers me.  Rather it’s the idea of them taking advantage of me because I’m obviously not from around here. 

            Some of the children weren’t at the orphanage today.  Just about all of them were coughing.  They all wore the same clothes as they did yesterday.  I brought them their toys that I bought in the US.  They loved it, especially the stuffed animals and hair clips.  None of them had long enough hair so I clipped the pieces on their clothes.  They kept giggling and trying to steal them from each other.   I don’t know how many times I yelled hapana and acha today.  The cook at the volunteer house just taught me hapana gusa, which I think I’ll be using a lot.

            We taught numbers and letter today.  All of them can count to at least 20!  They were so eager to learn and I was so proud of them.  They wrote the numbers, recognized them, and said them in perfect English.  We also colored, sang, and danced.

            Mama Anna wasn’t there today.  She went to the hospital because she had stomach pains.  After the hospital she is traveling because her sister and law died yesterday.  She will be back on Monday. Spears was still with us though, which helped when we needed translations.

            It’s about 1330 right now.  Emmy, Angela, Ashlee, and I are going into town today to eat at McMoody’s.  It’s a McDonald’s rip off.  Burgers for 2000TZS!  We also need to use the ATM to get money for the safari we are going on Thursday through Sunday. 

            We’re back from in-town Arusha!  It’s really easy to get around, and if you don’t know the way, it’s pretty easy to ask for directions in Kiswahili. We didn’t got to McMoody’s but we did get a burger and pizza.  Not as yummy as in the states, but yummy the same.  We met up with Kiko, James, and Abdul.  We talked more about the differences in Tanzania and America.  They couldn’t believe it when I told them that parents had to send their children to school until they were considered legal adults.  He said that is crazy, that most children here don’t go to school and the parent’s wont get in trouble at all. Then I bought this awesome hat that reminds me of Bob Marley.  If only I had dreads…

            We took a tax back home because it was after dark.  The driver’s name is Chui.  He’s great.  He may be driving us during our safari on Thursday.  I hope he is!  He was fun to talk to.  He taught me a new word. Kichaa.  It means crazy.  I texted our driver Michael and told him he was kichaa.  Since I’ve gotten here, he’s been such a silly, silly kachaa.

            I just had a really interesting conversation with a fellow volunteer.  We were talking about whether or not being in Africa is the best way to help Africa.  Since I’ve been here I’ve noticed that many, if not all, of the schools, orphanages, and clinics rely on help via donations and mzungu teachers.  So much so, that they have come to expect help from white people.  When the children see us walking up, they run to us and hug us because they know they will receive love from us, but many of them also ask for candy, soda, or toys.  Do I think they should have these things? Yes.  Do I think I should buy it for them because they ask? No.  If I buy it for one child, I have to buy it for all the children.  If I buy it once, they’ll depend on me and other mzungu volunteers for more candy, soda, and toys.  They beg for things from us because they think all white people are rich, that we come from a land of such power and unlimited wealth.  Everything about us is a symbol for a better way of living.  We help them because we are empathetic towards the human race.  We believe that every child should have the right to be educated and every person should have access to clean water and enough food to sustain their bodies.  We volunteer and donate money because we believe that no person should be left without, just because of the location in the world in which they were born. However, does handing out these precious goods to people in need cause them to rely on us and therefore work less to earn these things themselves?  It reminds me of the issues we have back home with welfare and WIC.  Who do we say no to?  Can we deny children, men, and women who are dying in front of our eyes from starvation and preventable diseases food, medicine, and clean water?  If we deny them our help, will they pick up their arms and unite to fix these issues themselves?  Do they have the means and knowledge to do so?  How many people would suffer before this would happen, if it happened?  If all the mzungus left the schools, would they hire teachers for their children or would the children go without education?  I would love to find some more literature about these issues and key points.  Am I hurting Africa by being in Africa?