Last "Work" Day

Mambo Vipi!!!


I hope everyone is doing fantastic - I hear the weather at home is beautiful!

Today I've just been writing reports and finishing up because tomorrow is my last day in Zanzibar!! Holy shitake mushrooms this has gone by fast!  Tomorrow will consist of a little bit of work, the House of Wonders (an old Palace, now a museum!, and tallest building in Zanzibar), and lots of goodbyes!  Thursday I catch the ferry to Dar es Salaam, and Saturday I board my plane to Canada!!! It's going to be a whirlwind!

I hope I get a chance to write again before I leave, but internet will not be as readily available, so I might only get a chance to wrap up after I'm home.

This past weekend I was a tourist! Ben and I hit up Mbweni ruins on Saturday, Mtoni and Marahubi ruins on Sunday, and then went to Changuu Island on Monday (better known as Prison Island).  I'm a little tired to say the least.

Saturday is a little embarrassing.  But I'll tell you about it anyways.  Mbweni ruins is easily accessible if you go to Mbweni Ruins Hotel and then ask from there - okay, easy peasy.  Because we like to travel cheap (and we're both students, you know), we decided to take the dala dala there instead of a taxi.  Our Zanzibar books told us that it's not hard, get off at the Mazizi Police Post, walk 800m, turn right and walk another 900m.  Okay.... but there are no signs.  So we walked around for a considerable amount of time.  Found nothing, got a little lost, grabbed a soda, called it a day and headed back to town.  We just hung out in town for the rest of the day.  Soooo... we failed.  What we should have done is just bit the bullet and taken a taxi, but instead we never got to visit Mbweni - but the long walk in the sun roasted both of us.  So as I headed off to my GET meeting at ZANGOC for 4pm, Ben had a nap.  (However, we did go to Zanzibar Coffee House which is a really cool place, and just re-opened because low season [May] has ended)

Sunday was WAY more successful.  We went to Mtoni and Marahubi ruins, which we found easily.  Mtoni ruins were the best - they are pretty well preserved.  We were the only people there and didn't have a guide so we walked around at our own leisure, taking our time, getting some great photos, and exploring all that we could.  It is on the beach and so peaceful and beautiful.  Then we walked about 1km to Marahubi, where we had to have a guide (who was a little stressful, it wasn't as enjoyable).  There is not as much preserved at Marahubi, so it was a smaller place to explore, but the pillars which supported the balcony at one point remain, which are neat to see all lined up.

Monday morning we went to Prison Island - it takes about a half hour to get there by boat and there isn't as much to see as brochures or the internet allows you to believe.  The prison on the island was originally built for that purpose - as a prison, but it never got used for that.  Instead it ended up acting as a Quarantine station to all those visiting Zanzibar; the boat would dock at Changuu and visitors (some 600, 300, 876, etc) would be quarantined to Changuu anywhere from 8 to 20 days for yellow fever, plague, any number of contagious diseases.  After they were allowed to move on to Zanzibar.  Unfortunately, the place has been reconstructed and the island mostly consists of the hotel that is there now (including the old Prison), so you cannot get a feel of what it used to be like.  However, there is a gorgeous beach and you have the option to go swimming with dolphins, snorkelling, diving, etc.  

The real attraction, from my point of view, is the tortoises.  There is a tortoise sanctuary in the middle of the hotel - a lot of land so the tortoise have lots of room to move about.  You pay about $4 US admittance and walk around among the tortoise - there are paths you're supposed to follow but you can walk off of them and get closer to these huge creatures.  They really are magnificent - people call them 'modern dinosaurs' (or something close to that) because they are an old species and kind of have dinosaur-y qualities.  Some of the tortoise were so big I thought they were going to jump up and be all like, "Hey, I'm Raphael, nice to meet you - want some pizza?" (ahem, TMNT).  They are a rare species, and I believe are only in one other place in the world - none of them living in the wild anymore.  

Then I went to work for the afternoon.  

Back to report writing I go - and will be home in FIVE DAYS.  Craziness.  Lots of love to everyone!! 

J

Part of Mtoni Ruins - can see where it burned here

On the boat ride to Changuu Island (I DIDN'T GET NAUSEOUS, it's a miracle). You can see Stone Town in the back, along with the House of Wonders (the tall pillar right beside my face)

GIANT tortoise! 

First thing's first, I want to welcome Ella Maxwell to the world!! She is beautiful and I am so sad I missed her first couple of days - I can't wait to meet her!  Baby and Mom are both healthy and happy!

Now here are some pictures!

Asha - a ZANGOC employee and just wonderful all around

Shaib at the YCI office, just chilling

Some participants at Women's Leadership Training

WLT

Raifa facilitating WLT

WLT

Stone Town is full of huge, gorgeous doors.  Just be careful, the spikes on them actually hurt (just ask my rump)

Stone Town

Stone Town

Ben and I were in a shop and the little boy put his shoes on! Mtoto nzuri sana!

House of Wonders - previously a palace of a Sultan of Zanzibar (Sultan Bargash, I think)

Stone Town - on the right is part of the Old Fort

Kahawa - nothing better! (coffee)

So excited about coffee. Always. 

Picking out food at Forodhani Gardens Night Market - I had some baracuda, Mahi Mahi, and Zanzibar Pizza (mango and chocolate - yuuuum!)

One week left in Zanzibar - Home in 9 days! Canada in 10!

Lots to do before then! 

Monday

Salaam Alaikum!  (Peace be upon you - a common greeting in Zanzibar)

With Monday morning brings the end of WLT!! It was successful - our tactic was to invite two women from each NGO with 10/11 NGOs per day.  This way we invited 20 per day, with the hopes of 12 showing up every day.  Thursday we had 12, Friday we had 18, Saturday we had 20, and Sunday we had 10.  However, not as many confirmed as those that showed up, and so the numbers (especially Friday and Saturday) were more then we expected - fantastic!

Needs Assessment is still progressing, with the goal of having all of the NGOs completed by Saturday June 2nd.  Around half are done, which is pretty good progress for all of the logistics of finding time when the NGO members are available, as well as the people assigned to visit them.  Hurrah! It is all getting done.

Now I have to write 3 reports.  Yippie!  And I arrive home in 13 days - which means I board the plane in 12 days (24 hours of travel, more Yippie!).

Before I give a more detailed update about the projects and results of my programs (in another post), I wanted to shed a little light on education, from a book that I borrowed from Ben: The Betrayal of Africa - Gerald Caplan.

"As anyone who's visited an African school can attest, just attending school is hardly the same as getting an education.  With few exceptions, and especially in rural and city slum schools, students are likely to endure wildly overcrowded classrooms, few learning resources, lack of clean water and proper sanitation, no separate toilets for girls, no capacity to feed hungry children, not enough teachers, teachers who are untrained, unmotivated, badly paid, often absent, and teachers who use harsh, authoritarian methods of discipline to hammer home their teacher through memory work alone".

Here are more of the facts: A lot of schools do not have clean water for the students, but comes out of a spout in the middle of the "school-yard", many of the toilets do not have doors or appropriate waste systems so the waste ends up on the ground around the toilets.  Some classrooms are packed with 100 students (- 100 students! I don't think I could even fit 100 students into my elementary school classroom in Ontario.)

In 2005 barely 60% of children in sub-Saharan Africa went to primary school. This is the lowest enrolment anywhere in the world - more than 40 MILLION African children received no schooling - that is almost half of the school-aged child population.  

Don't forget the gender inequalities - 2/3 of those who do not receive an education are girls.  In terms of secondary school, only 27% of boys and 21% of girls attend. If you want to talk university, only 6% of males and 4% of females attend - for a comparison, 2/3 of students in rich countries go to post-secondary institutions. 

This is just the tip of the iceberg - and obviously different countries have different statistics, because even though a lot of people like to think Africa is one big mash of a place, it is actually 54 separate nations. 

However, in my own experiences (this year and last year in Morogoro) I witnessed these practices in the school system of Tanzania.  Overcrowded classrooms; teachers not trained; teachers who do not care; harsh discipline - often involving being beaten with a stick; children being let off of school early, not coming to school; teachers not showing up for school; a tap in the middle of the school buildings that serves as drinking water and a place to wash your hands; bathroom stalls (a building on its own, not in the school) missing doors so people watch while you use the washroom; inadequate bathroom sewage so waste is no drained properly, or at all, spewing out of the stalls. 

This is 'the Africa' most people think about from the Western world. This isn't true for every place, and in fact some of the schools I visited had adequate toilet facilities, and regular hours, for example.  But the statistics point to the same phenomenon of inadequate education systems in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa - in large part due to SAPs (structural adjustment programs) by the IMF and World Bank. There are a lot of factors at play, and I by no measure know the solution to the problem.  What I do know, however, is the appreciation for education and knowledge from people who are not given it: when you have to fight to attend school, you do not take it for granted.  

Education. School. Grades1-12. Post-secondary education. The availability of OSAP and bank loans. These are things which, in Canada, are either mandatory (school) or easily attainable (loans to attend school).  There are misfortunate and poor people in Canada, I know this.  And attaining education is not easy for them, and I am not reducing their hardships or their experience or their lust for knowledge and education.  But nothing compares to the appreciation of education and knowledge from those who do not have easy access to it.  

So for today, when you read this, think of your education.  Think of the days you whined and cried to your parents because you didn't want to go to school, because your teacher was mean, because you didn't care; or when you were just too lazy to get up for that 8:30am lecture.  Then think of all the other places in the world where children do not get an education because they cannot afford the annual $12 USD school fee (ex: Kenya at one point in time); where there is no school in their rural village; or where children go to school during the day when they can, and work all night selling plastic bags at the market or nuts in the traffic-jammed street of the big city.  

Think of all the people in the world where education is a dream, not a reality.  

Remember how fortunate you are.  Then get dressed and go to school. 

WLT

First day down! Three to go!

Other than a bit of a slow start at the beginning because the attendees were late (alas, Swahili time), day one of women's leadership training went pretty smoothly.  At first the GET team wanted to hire a facilitator for this training ---> expensive and unnecessary.  I convinced them that by working together the GET members could facilitate the training.  This way, they get a little more education on leadership training for women, as well as facilitation skills for the future.  Raya - a GET member, SMOOCH member, teacher, and mother of three - was the facilitator for the morning session.  She is fantastic! I think she could do all four days and it would be wonderful.

One of the things I've been pushing for is having the women on the GET team facilitate the training for WOMEN's leadership training.  It's a hard battle to win.  They agree, say "yes, yes", but then assign one male and one female to facilitate together.  Alas, I lost the battle.

In today's session Raya and Juma were facilitating.  However, Juma had to go to work in the morning and so Raya had the floor to herself.  This reduced the possibility of her voice being subdued by Juma, who facilitated in the afternoon.  What I am most worried about is the men cutting the women off and dominating the facilitation of the training.  Even though these men are part of the GET (remember, gender equality team), and are progressive thinkers in terms of gender in their culture, it is still a large concern for me for the rest of the training - but we'll have to see how that goes.  My fingers are crossed.

We then had lunch and moved into the afternoon session.  While the morning was more content, the afternoon was filled with group work/activities.  Juma did a good job with the activities, which were designed to facilitate self-confidence and empower the women to see how they can make a difference.  Using the tools and language that was discussed in the morning session.

Both facilitators did a wonderful job - Raya is a teacher and is a natural in front of a crowd, and Juma was nervous but did a good job.  The 4 sessions of leadership training are the same everyday - they feature around 20 different women each day.  So four different groups get the same training.  This way we can concentrate more on the content and have better facilitation with smaller groups (& save money on venue costs).

There's a quick little recap of what's going on with me and women's leadership training, and another early start to the day tomorrow!
Siku njema! (have a great day).
love love love,
Jamie

Weekend Trip

Hujambo!

I hope everyone had a fantastic long weekend at home!  I, on the other hand, had my first 'adventure' of my trip - a little overdue, I think.
Ben and I started off by going to Jozani Forest.  That was an adventure in and of itself.  We chose to take the cheapest means of travel - daladala.  However, when the dala's go out to the villages they are not usually the small van/bus type that you find more in the city, but these trucks.  So it's a truck with a long back on it, covered. So you climb in and have to duck, and there are benches around the perimeter of the truck.  However, people travelling have things to take back and forth, and when your only means to get around is the daladala you have to have somewhere to put it all.  Alas, the roof of the covered truckbed is also a "shelf" - people put bicycles up there, stacks of wood, harvested seaweed - Ben and I saw a dala drive by with a fridge on the top! (amongst other things).  It's ridiculous how many people they pack into this form of transport.
So, this is what we used to get to Jozani - and the ride was a little longer then we anticipated, but we arrived safely.
We got to Jozani, paid our fee, met our guide Mwiny, grabbed some bikes and took off.  Bikes!  It was great to ride around a bit on the bikes, relaxing and definitely cooler.
So there are three parts to Jozani - the mangrove boardwalk trail that is the only one of it's kind in Zanzibar, the smaller forest section where the black monkies and Red Colobus Monkeys (and Blue) are, and the HUGE forest in the opposite direction that you feel so inconsequential because of the beauty and enormity of it all.
We did all three.
It was low tide when we were there so there was hardly any water to walk through on the boardwalk, however there was a lot of mud underneath us and crabs everywhere! They were so cute, scooting along sideways.  But when it's high tide the water rises about 2m and even covers some of the forest we walked into after.  The Mangrove trees are beautiful - the vines all twisting and coming out almost like a Menorah at times.
After that we biked back to almost where we started and just walked into the forest. There wasn't really a path that we were following, then BAM!
monkeys.
They were right above us.  Some snoozing, some grooming, a couple just looking at us.  Adorable.  Their tails are so long - longer then the length of my leg.  I know I was mesmerized - I wasn't expecting to be so close to them, and it didn't bother them one bit.  We moved on to another path and the monkeys we encountered here were even closer - so close that I could have touched them.  We kept inching closer to get some good pictures, and almost to see if we could touch them, and they just kept eating, or hanging out - we did not phase them in the least.  They are SO beautiful! After we hung out with the monkeys for awhile, we headed back to the main lodge/restaurant to go to the big forest.
You can walk for hours in it, but we chose a shorter path to follow just for a little taste.  Mwiny told us that at night it isn't safe in the big forest because VooDoos come in and collect plants for their magic, and they are unsafe to be around at night.  Good thing it was about 2pm!
The forest was so quiet and so beautiful - so immense.  I could have hung out there the whole day.  You could have filmed Indiana Jones in there.  There were all kinds of trees, and some eucalyptus trees as well, which as smooth and beautiful.  If you stood still and stared at the forest roof you could see the tops of the trees swaying with the rhythm of the wind.  Breathtaking.
After we grabbed some grub and started the 1km hike to the Zanzibar Butterfly Center.  It doesn't sound so exciting, I know.  BUT the ZBC is a community project.  Because people who live in the more rural villages do not have means to an affordable income, they resort to activities that will make them some money, but degrade the forest - like making charcoal, which kills trees essential to the diversity and survival of the forest.  So, this ZBC started.  What they did was teach those in the community who were willing, how to collect and harvest caterpillars into cocoons.  The ZBC then buys the cocoons off of the butterfly farmers, providing them with a steady and decent income.  The ZBC sells the cocoons to butterfly sanctuaries all over the world, and it is non-for profit, where the income from visitors at the sanctuary is the money used to pay the farmers in the village.
Not all of the cocoons are sold though, they are placed in the sanctuary where the butterflies eventually emerge.  It is a big enclosure in the forest surrounded by a net - protecting the butterflies from harm and allowing them to live.  It is beautiful.  So peaceful.  I just sat on the bench for awhile and watched the butterflies fly around me.  A little slice of heaven really.
They have about 20 different kinds of butterflies, and Alfred (the expert who was working there Saturday) can identify them from their cocoons.  So many colours and shapes.  I got some great shots! (despite not having my fancy camera, pole sana).
After the ZBC we sat by the road and waiting for the daladala to come back - there are many running at the same time, but because we were far from town the last one goes about around 5.  It was just before 4 when we went to wait for the dala, and we finally got on one around 4:30.  And packed-in we were.  Like squished s'mores.
We got back to StoneTown, grabbed our overnight bags, dinner at the Green Garden (yuuummm! I had a whole avocado to myself and it was heaven), and then called by taxi friend Modi to take us to Jambiani.
We stayed at the Kimte Beach Resort and it was wonderful.  It is run by a bunch of Rastas who are the chillest, nicest people every - plus we were the only two at the hotel since it is low season right now.  We only arrived after dark so we couldn't see the beach - we went to walk down and discovered it was low tide.  (I didn't realize until morning how low low-tide is!!) But the stars were out and they were so bright I could have slept on the beach..... bus alas, I don't get along well with the mosquitos!
Sunday morning was a relaxing one, to say the least.  We had breakfast at the restaurant (part of Kimte) on the beach, tried to walk out to the water but it was too far (that's how LOW), so walked to a dhow that was chillen on the sand.
There were a lot of people sprinkled over the beach - some even as far out as the ocean.  They are seaweed harvesters.  They get up about 1 or 2am and harvest seaweed until about noon when the tide comes in.  And boy did it come in fast! Unfortunately, we were leaving as the tide came in, so no swimming happened.  However, on our walk to the dhow I did get my feet wet with the Indian Ocean and it was fabulous!! Haha.
Our ride back on the daladala was just as adventurous as it was the day before, and it took a long time because we were a lot farther then Jozani.  And so, I was late for my first meeting, almost ever.  As in 45 minutes late.  I've learned from last year being in Morogoro and this year being in Zanzibar that when you say the meeting is at 3, people come for 3:30 or 4.  However, I am still on time, it's something that I just can't stand - when I'm late.
I ran to the office and (a little surprisingly) most people were there.  The meeting went well.  Women's Leadership Training starts on Thursday and so now we are kind of rushing to make sure the attendees are attending.  Which is started to stress me out a little bit.  Plus some of the people I work with are trying to marry me off (I'm pretty sure it's all in good fun, so I just laugh, but I keep telling them the door is shut and locked and they can't marry me off, just in case).
Monday brought with it lots of preparations and content finalizing, NGO contacts, and confirmations.
Today is more of the same thing and WLT is going to be upon me before I know it - literally!! Yikes!


It was a great weekend!  Apart from the little things to do in StoneTown, I plan on going to the Mbweni Ruins, Mtoni Ruins, Safari Blue, and Prison Island.  Lots to do in the next 2 and a half weeks - plus three reports!! Yaaaaay!
I hope everyone at home has a happy return to work today after a great long weekend!

Sending lots of upendo <3

Jamie

mangrove boardwalk

mangrove trees

bikeride

monkey!

again!

HUGE forest. Gorgeous.

Butterflies coming out of their cocoons

eating some fruit

low tide.

low tide and seaweed harvesters

feet in the ocean!

ps, if you click on the pictures they'll get bigger :)

Week 3!!

Waddup. Monday brings me preparing for the Women's Leadership Training, for a meeting tomorrow, and getting ready for a day trip this weekend.  

This past weekend we started the Needs Assessment for Gender Policies in the NGOs ZANGOC is associated with, as well as introducing them to the GET. Just judging from the ones that I went to, it went well - I'm hoping the other groups had just as much success.  Because one NGO we visited was only available in the morning, and the other was only available at 4pm I had quite the adventurous day.  I was partnered with Juma, he is a GET member and works with ZASO (an NGO for HIV/AIDS orphans and vulnerable children), and I had the pleasure of meeting his family.  I met his two younger sisters, their children, as well as his mother.  People are very excited to welcome you into their homes and introduce you to their friends and relatives, sometimes it can be overwhelming.  They were all very sweet and welcoming and happy to meet me, and the children were not scared of me like Katie is at home.  

Other then planning for WL training, as well as a meeting this week, Ben and I are going to Jozani Forest.  It is home to the rare Red Colobus Monkey, which is not so rare to see on a day trip.  I think we will also visit the Zanzibar Butterfly Centre and potentially Zala Park.  It will be a day full of animals!!! I'm excited.  

Thursday night Cheryl came to town to visit Ben and I (buuuut mostly me, because we hadn't seen each other since I arrived in country).  We went out for dinner - we started at the Africa House Hotel for some coffee, and it was beautiful.  It is a second story balcony that overlooks the ocean - the stars were out and so bright!! I was mesmerized, as I always am with the sky.  We were joined by Ben's friend Eric who is a psychologist working in Dodoma.  After, we moved over to an Ethiopian restaurant.  It was my first time eating Ethiopian and it was DELICIOUS.  You order different dishes and it is served on a circular platter on top of this spongey bread.  You eat the food with little rolls of this bread, and when you finish, you eat the plate!! Yummy yummy in my tummy.

So, that is the big stuff that has happened since my last post.  Other then that I had a dance party with Aisha, Neema, Ishaka, and three of the neighbouring children in our house last night, and I got henna-ed again, but this time it was piko and not on my nails.  

Sending lots and lots of upendo,

Jamie

ps- i LOVE reading all the comments!! Thanks for leaving them :)

On to week 2 ! (Wiki mbili?)

Nothing much to tell right now! 

The meeting with the GET team went well on Saturday - we planned out who would go to which NGOs for the needs assessment on which days, in which pairs, for the next 3 and a half weekends.  We were going to try and get it all done this week, but because the people who work in the NGOs that have partnered with ZANGOC (an umbrella organization), also have full-time jobs in addition to working for their NGO, so they are not reachable during most days.  

That leaves nights and weekends.

Nights are not ideal, so we went with weekends.  Two groups of two people will go out each Saturday and Sunday this month and visit two NGOs each - we will also use Saturday, June 2.  Meanwhile, I will gather up results and write a preliminary document.  Hopefully we will have time to conduct a validation and findings meeting with these NGOs, but I will be crunched for time that last week, so I may not be able to get it done.  If that is the case, the next Innovator, Ben, or the next Ambassadors to come in (that's what I was last year), can read my report and hold a dissemination meeting.  It's more of a curtesy to present what we found then anything else - but because the needs assessment questionnaire is pretty easy for me to translate and then collect the results as we go, the report can be written in the meantime, with the last session just being an add-in or confirmation.  

Because we have had to spread out the needs assessment, this means we can move up the women's leadership training.  I have to meet with some of the GET members, hopefully this week, to confirm this and get the ball rolling, but it makes more sense to do this.  Leave this week for planning (which I've started to do), and next week, and then start holding sessions the week after.

This weekend was a breather more then anything.  The three days of travel, and then right into work and meeting people had finally caught up with me and I was tired - I slept in both days, which is something I do not usually do - and just hung out.  Other then the meeting on Saturday, I did not do much of anything.  I was colouring with Ishaka, Neema, and Aisha for a bit on Sunday, and Mama painted my fingernails in henna, along with a little design on my hand.  She owns a Salooni (salon - hair, nails, etc) just three spots down from our house.  Painting finger and toe nails in henna is something that most women do here instead of nailpolish. They also paint the henna around your finger nails, so from after it looks like your nails are longer I guess, but it sort of looks silly on the white girl that I am.  But I like the henna on my actual fingernails.  I guess the last Innovator in Zanzibar (March, I think), stayed in my homestay as well and Mama painted piko (black henna, it's substance is a little different) on her hands, arms, and feet.  It didn't go so well.  It started to swell and get itchy - she had to go to the hospital and get injections for the reaction - she vowed to have no henna after that!  Poor girl!  But so far, so good for me (plus I've had henna and piko before, phew).

This week is mostly planning and getting some stuff ready for the first needs assessment this weekend.  The GET members doing the needs assessment have a meeting on Thursday at 4, and Cheryl (country project manager for YCI) is coming to Zanzibar Thursday to meet with me, and Ben, see how things are going.  Last year she arrived and starting working just before my group arrived - I haven't seen her yet since she was on holidays when I arrived last week.  

Other then that, I'm just at the YCI office in the mornings, and hanging around ZANGOC in the afternoon.  And hydrating adequately!! 

View from a restaurant/cafe Ben and I went to for some wireless internet Friday

Morning jolt of AfriCafe!

Lots of love from Tan.zan.ee.ah!

J