26.07.2011 Volunteers Attacked

26.07.2011

            Today the dala dalas were back out driving…for a matter of two or so hours.  It was just long enough for most people to get to placement and be stranded with no way back.  I woke up late and by the time I was ready to leave, I got wind that the dalas were back on strike.  Still, I was going to have Michael take me. As he was driving me through town we saw men dressed in green standing in the back of government police trucks.  They were holding large guns.  I initially just typed AK47s but I’m not sure what they were, besides big.  There were large groups of men gathered on the side of the streets, huddled and talking.  I recognized a few of them as dala dala drivers and conductors.  As we were stopped at a light, I looked around me and started noticing things I never had noticed before because when I’m in the dala dalas, it’s too crowded to see out the windows.   There were boys with rotten teeth in the streets between lanes sniffing glue and waiting for cars to stop at the light so they’d have windshields to wash.  One ran up to Michael’s window and started washing it with dirty, brown water.  Michael was yelling at him from the window to stop and turned on his windshield wipers to stop him.  He kept going, so Michael gave him a 100TSH coin.   And we drove away, he had to turn on his wipers again to clear away the streaks left by the dirty water. 

            Michael took me back home rather than to placement because of all the people in the streets.  Really, I would have only been at my placement for a matter of an hour anyways, and then I would have had to of walked a couple hours or take a botabota (small motor bike with crazy drivers who never stay on the road) back home.  On the way back, we saw a dala dala driver who was operating.  Other drivers ran in front of him to make him stop, and started beating him and the conductor. Some drivers were trying to operate, because it is their only source of income, and others were making them pay.  A woman was in the back, and she jumped out and ran, without turning around. There were also reports of tear gas and small riots.  Our director suggested us to all stay inside.

            It was a very good thing that Michael suggested staying home.  As soon as we got back, we got a call that some of the volunteers had been attacked by locals.  Steph, Jo, and Becky had asked me earlier in the day if I wanted to walk to town with them.  I had said no because I had decided to go to placement.  These were the three girls who got attacked.  Three men came running up to them, and shoved Jo to the ground in the middle of the street.  One climbed on top of her and tried to steal her fanny pack off her waist.  She was the only one of the three who was seriously hurt. The other two were hit and shoved, and their bag straps were ripped, so they were jostled, but otherwise fine.  One even planted a punch on one of the burglars. They called Michael, who immediately went to pick them up.  When Jo got back to the house, I dressed her wounds.  Her back was seriously hurting her but she didn’t want to go to the hospital, and it didn’t seem like she needed to, so I have her pain meds and told her to lie in her bed with a small pillow in the small of her back or on her side with pillows between her legs. 

            As I was helping Jo, she was crying and saying she didn’t want to be here anymore and she’s never been a victim before.  She doesn’t want to go to placement again, and was talking about changing her flight to leave as soon as possible. She is supposed to have a month left here.  I wonder what she will decide to do.  It is sad that she paid thousands of dollars to be her to help the very community which harmed her.  It is stories like these that make tourists not want to visit, and tourists are such a large source of income.  Perhaps that is why the other local men who were near and saw the mugging came and dragged the muggers off the girls.  They started beating them and kicking them.  I wonder if they are okay.  I hope they are, especially after I heard about another volunteer, Chloe, whose purse was almost stolen.    

            Chloe was walking home and had a bag around her shoulder.  It didn’t have anything of real value in it, just water and paper and school supplies.  A man came up from behind her and tried to steal it.  She screamed, and in response men from the community came running to help her.  They beat the man, relentlessly kicking him in his abdomen and face.  She saw what was happening and tried to stop them from killing this man who tried to steal the purse.  They shoved her off, and told her that this was how they deal with problems.  I think this happened to her a few months ago.

            The dala dalas are on strike for three reasons.  They want designated stops, want a log book, and demand that the corrupt police stop stealing from them.  Every day, the dala drivers and conductors must pay the police up to a third of their income.  If they refuse, they are arrested.  There are at least 50 drivers currently in jail because they refused to pay (according to a news article I read today).  I support their fight for fairness, but hope things are back to normal soon.