To all those who wonder just how you celebrate the holidays in a small Tanzanian village, well, you really don't. I mean, there is church, obviously. My village is predominantly Christian, with few traditional animist beliefs intermingled. There is no decorating of trees (even though there are pine trees near my village,) there are no exchanging of gifts, and of course, no christmas cookies or fruitcake.
In some of the bigger towns or cities, you can find artificial christmas trees and shiny banners saying merry christmas . .. or my favorite "merry crrysimas" . . . misspellings go unnoticed at times. I received a text message from a Tanzanian friend that said "Heppy Klisimas" . . . many people here mix the "l" sounds with "r" sounds and vice versa . . . My name has also been written "Klistina" at times.
The one question that villagers have asked me multiple times is "what will you eat on Christmas?" Those who can afford it will have rice or pilau with meat. I joined up with a few volunteers in my region and we cooked a small feast together (stuffing, roast pork and beef, home-made bread, spinach salad, home-made cakes and pies all cooked over charcoal or wood-burning stoves) . .. along with a gift exchange and plenty of lounging around and watching christmas movies. (Yes, there was electricity at the guesthouse where we stayed . .. and access to a vcr and dvd player!) My highlight of the day, however, was hiking to a small waterfall near the town of Njombe, where we were staying. I can't say i've ever been able to do that on any previous Christmas.
Of course, I missed my family and friends back home . .. to the point where I had to lock myself in the bathroom for a little bit because I thought I was going to cry. I mean, how could I go through Christmas without my mother's home-made pasta and fried calamari?! But I was fine, it didn't really feel like Christmas, just a nice holiday, an excuse for us volunteers to get together and "do American things." There was no snow, just a bit of rain . .. I made a small tree made out of toilet paper rolls and biscuit wrappers. those are kinds of things you do when you're bored in the village and it's rainy season ;)
I was stricken with some bad news last week of my Host mother's sudden death due to a car accident on her way up north to Moshi. She was so good to me, and I was just talking to another PCV about visiting her next year, and sending her a christmas card . .. and some pictures of us together from my three month stay with her. I found out on the day of her funeral, which was an eight-hour bus ride away, so unfortunately I could not go to say "goodbye" to her. It's an unfortunate thing that we have to deal with death a lot in the peace corps . .. but we were warned in training, "you will lose many friends here" . . . and so far I have lost two.
But loss is often followed by birth . . . and on that note, I watched my cat give birth to five kittens. I woke up one night to hear her making an unusual sound . .. and then when i rubbed my eyes and figured out what was going on, I grabbed my headlamp and a pair of rubber gloves and sat there . .. wondering if i had to do anything. instead, i just rubbed her belly between contractions of each birth . . . and after two hours, was proud of myself for being a good "grandmother." I'm happy to say I have five healthy kittens . .. and have found good homes for each of them.
So, yup, that's what I've been doing the past month . . . making christmas trees out of trash and mid-wifing kittens . . . but as far as volunteering goes . . . I did participate in a batik workshop (a wax-dye process for fabrics) and plan to make a possible income generation project for my orphaned girls group. I have been researching and planning more projects, and will be attending a two week training in January for project implementation and grant writing. . . yeah, i don't even know where to begin to write grants, so this seminar will be more than helpful.
I have been receiving packages of used books for the library project, and i know that three more packages are sitting at the post office waiting for me to pick them up, and I thank you all so much for your donations! I am so very appreciative. At this point, I dont' think I need any more books from home, but instead I need to find a way to get more books written in Swahili. So, if you have some of those stashed away, you are more than welcome to send them. ;)
Happy Holidays to you all back home. . . and remember, someone in Africa is thinking of you all and actually misses the snow and warm fires back home. Traveling is a wonderful, eye-opening experience, but it never expels the need to be with family and friends, especially during the holidays.
love and peace, cris
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Thursday, December 4, 2008
A time to "pumzika"
pumzika, it means rest. And unfortunately, I haven't had much of it lately, but I'm planning on much of it for the next, say, month or so . . .
Lots of goings-on, for village life, that is. I have been busy trying to finish Peace Corps now mandatory VSA (village survey assessment, or something like that) which entailed going from house to house interviewing people and their needs, problems, etc. I have been planning to have testing and information for World AIDS day, organizing songs and skits with my orphan girls' group "kikundi cha kipepeo" and my PLWHA group, and trying to get plans together for holiday trips. Along with all of that, the power has been off and on in the towns that have it, due to storms and such (yes, it does rain in Africa . .. especially during the months of December-April) and internet has been on sporadically, which makes writing and sending my VSA report very trying. I have been completely devoid of energy . . . and have had many unmentionable trips to the bathroom . .. so now i'm in town, just back from the visit to the regional hospital, with the final verdict. amoebas. now i'm just waiting for response from my Peace Corps Medical officer to see what medication i should be taking for that. I feel fine now, but yesterday was another story . .. and with a 5 hour bus ride from where I was trying to write my report in Makembako, to the other side of the region in Iringa, with my head-throbbing from tanzanian music being blared on the Coaster, it was a fun trip into town . ..
I had testing done at a local clinic in makembako, but of course, they told me it was malaria. they always say malaria. So thus, i had to haul myself back into public transport for a more reliable opinion. Oh, and did I mention I was attacked by little biting ants the other day?! not fun. really.
So, it's been up and down, but I'll focus more on the ups. I was able to get something together for World AIDS day. It didnt' go quite as planned, but at least, it went. The nurses showed up . .. a good 4 hours late . .. (pretty good for Tanzanian time) and it rained, so the skits and songs that were planned just didnt' happen. I was able to speak a little on AIDS prevention but got a lot of blank looks and giggles. Luckily, I had the nurses there to reiterate what I said in better Swahili . . . We ended up testing 200 people, and of those, 18 were HIV positive. ( considered a low number for my region.) However, there are over 2000 people in my village and its subvillages together, and the demographic with the most rapidly growing rate of HIV transmission is young adults- which very few showed to be tested. For next time, I need to focus on how to get young people out to be tested. And children . .. I need to plan a separate day devoted to just testing children, as there are so many orphaned by this incurable disease.
Thanksgiving was great. Of course, I missed my family and friends back home as much as I missed my mom's homemade stuffing, but we made the most of it with what we could. Most of the volunteers in my region were invited by a former PCV who now works at a nearby orphanage, set way up in the rolling hills near the Udzungwa Mountains, among miles of green tea plantations. It's absolutely breath-takingly beautiful there, but the cabride to get there was . .. umm . . . adventurous, if you could call it that?! We had a puppy with us . .. that got a little carsick from the bumpy ride, and we had to have several stops due to the puppies' indigestions. . . as well as the fact that we could not find the place! As soon as we did, our cab blew out a tire . .. bad luck, but at least we had arrived! We all pitched in and cooked a dish or two ( I made potatoes, half of which spilled on the bumpy ride) and a lopsided chocolate mocha cake which made up for the lack of potatoes. We had a feast! No turkey, but we did have some pretty damn good ham . .. and potatoes, soup, cornbread, green bean casserole, etc. No pumpkin pie . .. but we managed apple and mango/pineapple! mmmm . .. yeah, we ate a lot. It was a nice break from rice or ugali. Barely being able to move after dinner, there was no loafing around and watching football, but instead, we took a torturous but beautiful hike up the mountains to wear the proprietors of the land (British ex-pat tea estate owners who also run an orphanage) have a lodge and beautiful gardens, including a tennis court and croquet lawn. what? in Africa? yes. Yeah, I have never played croquet before, but I can now say I first played in Tanzania . .. of all places. Sure it may all sound so "colonial" but honestly, these people are doing wonderful things, and it was kind of nice to have a little break from village life and sip wine, eat a big meal, and hit around a croquet mallet.
The next day we had a little party at a friends' village, and it was great to have a mix of Americans and Tanzanians eating and drinking together . .. which somehow ensued into a freestyle rap throw-down between one of the PCVs and a local teacher. absolutely hilarious. I'll let you all know when the album comes out, because apparently, there are plans in the works :)
I thank you all for your support, letters, and messages you've been sending. It keeps me floating, head above water, everyday. I miss you all, but I can't wait to share more stories and pictures with you when I return. I am thankful for all of you. Happy Belated Thanksgiving, and Happy Holidays!
love,
cristina
Lots of goings-on, for village life, that is. I have been busy trying to finish Peace Corps now mandatory VSA (village survey assessment, or something like that) which entailed going from house to house interviewing people and their needs, problems, etc. I have been planning to have testing and information for World AIDS day, organizing songs and skits with my orphan girls' group "kikundi cha kipepeo" and my PLWHA group, and trying to get plans together for holiday trips. Along with all of that, the power has been off and on in the towns that have it, due to storms and such (yes, it does rain in Africa . .. especially during the months of December-April) and internet has been on sporadically, which makes writing and sending my VSA report very trying. I have been completely devoid of energy . . . and have had many unmentionable trips to the bathroom . .. so now i'm in town, just back from the visit to the regional hospital, with the final verdict. amoebas. now i'm just waiting for response from my Peace Corps Medical officer to see what medication i should be taking for that. I feel fine now, but yesterday was another story . .. and with a 5 hour bus ride from where I was trying to write my report in Makembako, to the other side of the region in Iringa, with my head-throbbing from tanzanian music being blared on the Coaster, it was a fun trip into town . ..
I had testing done at a local clinic in makembako, but of course, they told me it was malaria. they always say malaria. So thus, i had to haul myself back into public transport for a more reliable opinion. Oh, and did I mention I was attacked by little biting ants the other day?! not fun. really.
So, it's been up and down, but I'll focus more on the ups. I was able to get something together for World AIDS day. It didnt' go quite as planned, but at least, it went. The nurses showed up . .. a good 4 hours late . .. (pretty good for Tanzanian time) and it rained, so the skits and songs that were planned just didnt' happen. I was able to speak a little on AIDS prevention but got a lot of blank looks and giggles. Luckily, I had the nurses there to reiterate what I said in better Swahili . . . We ended up testing 200 people, and of those, 18 were HIV positive. ( considered a low number for my region.) However, there are over 2000 people in my village and its subvillages together, and the demographic with the most rapidly growing rate of HIV transmission is young adults- which very few showed to be tested. For next time, I need to focus on how to get young people out to be tested. And children . .. I need to plan a separate day devoted to just testing children, as there are so many orphaned by this incurable disease.
Thanksgiving was great. Of course, I missed my family and friends back home as much as I missed my mom's homemade stuffing, but we made the most of it with what we could. Most of the volunteers in my region were invited by a former PCV who now works at a nearby orphanage, set way up in the rolling hills near the Udzungwa Mountains, among miles of green tea plantations. It's absolutely breath-takingly beautiful there, but the cabride to get there was . .. umm . . . adventurous, if you could call it that?! We had a puppy with us . .. that got a little carsick from the bumpy ride, and we had to have several stops due to the puppies' indigestions. . . as well as the fact that we could not find the place! As soon as we did, our cab blew out a tire . .. bad luck, but at least we had arrived! We all pitched in and cooked a dish or two ( I made potatoes, half of which spilled on the bumpy ride) and a lopsided chocolate mocha cake which made up for the lack of potatoes. We had a feast! No turkey, but we did have some pretty damn good ham . .. and potatoes, soup, cornbread, green bean casserole, etc. No pumpkin pie . .. but we managed apple and mango/pineapple! mmmm . .. yeah, we ate a lot. It was a nice break from rice or ugali. Barely being able to move after dinner, there was no loafing around and watching football, but instead, we took a torturous but beautiful hike up the mountains to wear the proprietors of the land (British ex-pat tea estate owners who also run an orphanage) have a lodge and beautiful gardens, including a tennis court and croquet lawn. what? in Africa? yes. Yeah, I have never played croquet before, but I can now say I first played in Tanzania . .. of all places. Sure it may all sound so "colonial" but honestly, these people are doing wonderful things, and it was kind of nice to have a little break from village life and sip wine, eat a big meal, and hit around a croquet mallet.
The next day we had a little party at a friends' village, and it was great to have a mix of Americans and Tanzanians eating and drinking together . .. which somehow ensued into a freestyle rap throw-down between one of the PCVs and a local teacher. absolutely hilarious. I'll let you all know when the album comes out, because apparently, there are plans in the works :)
I thank you all for your support, letters, and messages you've been sending. It keeps me floating, head above water, everyday. I miss you all, but I can't wait to share more stories and pictures with you when I return. I am thankful for all of you. Happy Belated Thanksgiving, and Happy Holidays!
love,
cristina
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