Mombo Loyal S&P Readers,
A lot has happened since we last wrote so we'll get right into it...
Our last two and a half weeks were supposed to be busy but smooth until graduation on the 31st. Busy they were, but smooth, certainly not. We spent an entire day passing out fliers in our "target" (i.e. poor) neighborhoods advertising interview day, where we picked the next crop of students. Pat almost passed out from the heat, but eventually more than two hundred fliers were taped up, handed out or posted throughout Moshi. Several women ran away from Pat as he chased them down trying to inform them about GHTA. It was fairly hilarious. In the end, these fliers led to about two hundred people showing up on Saturday, March 3 for forty-four slots. There were seven of us interviewing, so that's about thirty interviewees per person. Believe us, that's a lot of interviewees. We worked for eleven hours straight before it was finally done. Over the course of the next four days the seven of us discussed and fought for or against different candidates trying to reach our magic number. After a good amount of haggling forty-four names were finally selected. We were proud to be given the responsibility of helping to choose the future class of GHTA, and we are happy with our selections. Of course it will be other volunteers who will be teaching them and not us, so if one of our students is a bust we'll be long gone and no one can hold us accountable!
With the future of GHTA decided, we took off the following weekend for the Usambara Mountains. The Usambara are part of the Great Rift Valley that stretches from Syria in the north to Mozambique in the south. That is epic. They are located about halfway between Moshi and the ocean. It's main town, Lushoto, was the summer governing capital for the German colonial power. Like Darjeeling for the British in India (as explained in a blog somewhere around a year ago!!), the whities couldn't take the summer heat and moved court up to a cooler climate. The Usambara are gorgeous. Rising almost three thousand feet from the Maasai Steppe, it used to be pristine rain forest that went on for miles. While what remains of that is now protected and a tourist attraction, most of it was cut down over the last fifty years to make way for farming villages. We stayed at a lovely old German home called Muller's, a truly bucolic place. The temperature was still hot in the sun during the day, but cooled off to a perfect high-fifties at night. Our first full day was spent with Victoria's (our mother hen) friend/Usambara guide Kiki. We walked a solid fifteen miles or more through a part of the preserved rain forest and then through some of most remote yet picturesque villages we've ever seen. Multiple times children in the school uniforms were walking by minding their own business. As soon as they saw us they would stop in their tracks, turn a hundred and eighty degrees and sprint back to their village screaming "MZUNGU MZUNGU!!!" Mzungu (wazungu in the plural, but many people do not differentiate) means foreigner in Swahili. After the initial shock wore off, many of the children would follow us for a mile or so. One time Pat surprised them by stopping short and running after them while screaming a monster scream. The kids went wild. We hope that one of the kids didn't go too wild and pee his pants, but we can't be sure. The kid in question was so surprised he jumped about three feet in the air before he realized he should be running away from the crazy ghost-looking man. Many of the children have rarely seen white people, and we only walked through these places because Kiki is from there and is friends with Victoria. All in all it was a fantastic and (yet another) eye-opening day. The following day we did absolutely nothing. It was perfect. We lounged around and read, took naps, and walked around the beautiful gardens. We left the Usambara re-energized and ready to finish up our time at GHTA. We couldn't have foreseen the bad luck the was to befall us only two days later...
We were robbed. We are a small NGO, and everyone knows about us. Everyone knows we offer computer class. We were a target. We cannot be sure if it had anything to do with the disappearance of the money during our heated debate, whether someone cased the place during the interviews, or if it was just an opportunistic robbery. We tend to believe it was purely opportunistic. Either way, they took fourteen computers (including two personal computers from Alex and Victoria), five cameras (including ours), five ipods (including ours), four mobiles, and about $500 in cash. At first we were extremely down, but we knew this was an act done out of desperation. In the end we really didn't lose much; a camera and an ipod and some cash. All of that is replaceable. The worst part about the whole thing is that our computer class can no longer function. The GHTA board is deciding what to do, but that class may be discontinued indefinitely.
Moving on, because that is what one must do after something so frustrating: Party! Luckily, we had a perfect excuse in Pat's birthday. We took it as a sign to pull together all of the wazungu volunteers and Tanzanian translators for a big Italian meal and a night of dancing. We always treat the translators for these types of events and so we always know they'll all show up on time. Thankfully all three of the current translators are practicing Muslims and so do not drink alcohol. Their Passion-fruit Fanta's helped keep the bar tab down.
We're now off to a week-long safari before coming back for graduation. Although we're more or less done with our teaching responsibilities, we're satisfied with our time at GHTA. It is fair to say we have learned just as much from them (if not more) as they have from us. We have made real connections, and that will not soon be lost. One of the most important parts of GHTA is the opportunities it provides its students. After all GHTA would be for naught if it didn't help improve at least some of their lives. GHTA runs a co-op in town where promising students get the opportunity to start their own business in whatever they come up with. A solid business plan has to be approved by the board (including Victoria, Monika the founder, and others) before a green light is given. In the co-op currently there is a women's clothing store, a shoe business, a hand bag business, and children's clothing store. GHTA also helped start a coffee business for two former students who are now flourishing, selling beans and ground coffee in many of the shops around town. There is a seamstress in town who is benefiting from GHTA, as well as several other students who have put in the leg work. Besides all of these success stories, every student who walks through GHTA gains something. GHTA provides all of the medical treatment for active students. Our student with AIDS, for example, gets all her treatment paid for. GHTA pays for glasses for those who need them. These things, besides the totally free education they are receiving (including the notebooks, pencils, etc - everything necessary to learn), is a major boost to their quality of life. Many of the students simply gain confidence in coming to school and being part of something as well. GHTA is making a difference in its small way, and we are proud to have been a part of its family.
For now we will enjoy what should be an amazing journey through some of the most spectacular national parks in the world. We have been looking forward to a real safari since we set out on our world tour more than a year ago. Stay tuned to how it works out in our next installment...
Until then,
S&P
A lot has happened since we last wrote so we'll get right into it...
Our last two and a half weeks were supposed to be busy but smooth until graduation on the 31st. Busy they were, but smooth, certainly not. We spent an entire day passing out fliers in our "target" (i.e. poor) neighborhoods advertising interview day, where we picked the next crop of students. Pat almost passed out from the heat, but eventually more than two hundred fliers were taped up, handed out or posted throughout Moshi. Several women ran away from Pat as he chased them down trying to inform them about GHTA. It was fairly hilarious. In the end, these fliers led to about two hundred people showing up on Saturday, March 3 for forty-four slots. There were seven of us interviewing, so that's about thirty interviewees per person. Believe us, that's a lot of interviewees. We worked for eleven hours straight before it was finally done. Over the course of the next four days the seven of us discussed and fought for or against different candidates trying to reach our magic number. After a good amount of haggling forty-four names were finally selected. We were proud to be given the responsibility of helping to choose the future class of GHTA, and we are happy with our selections. Of course it will be other volunteers who will be teaching them and not us, so if one of our students is a bust we'll be long gone and no one can hold us accountable!
With the future of GHTA decided, we took off the following weekend for the Usambara Mountains. The Usambara are part of the Great Rift Valley that stretches from Syria in the north to Mozambique in the south. That is epic. They are located about halfway between Moshi and the ocean. It's main town, Lushoto, was the summer governing capital for the German colonial power. Like Darjeeling for the British in India (as explained in a blog somewhere around a year ago!!), the whities couldn't take the summer heat and moved court up to a cooler climate. The Usambara are gorgeous. Rising almost three thousand feet from the Maasai Steppe, it used to be pristine rain forest that went on for miles. While what remains of that is now protected and a tourist attraction, most of it was cut down over the last fifty years to make way for farming villages. We stayed at a lovely old German home called Muller's, a truly bucolic place. The temperature was still hot in the sun during the day, but cooled off to a perfect high-fifties at night. Our first full day was spent with Victoria's (our mother hen) friend/Usambara guide Kiki. We walked a solid fifteen miles or more through a part of the preserved rain forest and then through some of most remote yet picturesque villages we've ever seen. Multiple times children in the school uniforms were walking by minding their own business. As soon as they saw us they would stop in their tracks, turn a hundred and eighty degrees and sprint back to their village screaming "MZUNGU MZUNGU!!!" Mzungu (wazungu in the plural, but many people do not differentiate) means foreigner in Swahili. After the initial shock wore off, many of the children would follow us for a mile or so. One time Pat surprised them by stopping short and running after them while screaming a monster scream. The kids went wild. We hope that one of the kids didn't go too wild and pee his pants, but we can't be sure. The kid in question was so surprised he jumped about three feet in the air before he realized he should be running away from the crazy ghost-looking man. Many of the children have rarely seen white people, and we only walked through these places because Kiki is from there and is friends with Victoria. All in all it was a fantastic and (yet another) eye-opening day. The following day we did absolutely nothing. It was perfect. We lounged around and read, took naps, and walked around the beautiful gardens. We left the Usambara re-energized and ready to finish up our time at GHTA. We couldn't have foreseen the bad luck the was to befall us only two days later...
We were robbed. We are a small NGO, and everyone knows about us. Everyone knows we offer computer class. We were a target. We cannot be sure if it had anything to do with the disappearance of the money during our heated debate, whether someone cased the place during the interviews, or if it was just an opportunistic robbery. We tend to believe it was purely opportunistic. Either way, they took fourteen computers (including two personal computers from Alex and Victoria), five cameras (including ours), five ipods (including ours), four mobiles, and about $500 in cash. At first we were extremely down, but we knew this was an act done out of desperation. In the end we really didn't lose much; a camera and an ipod and some cash. All of that is replaceable. The worst part about the whole thing is that our computer class can no longer function. The GHTA board is deciding what to do, but that class may be discontinued indefinitely.
Moving on, because that is what one must do after something so frustrating: Party! Luckily, we had a perfect excuse in Pat's birthday. We took it as a sign to pull together all of the wazungu volunteers and Tanzanian translators for a big Italian meal and a night of dancing. We always treat the translators for these types of events and so we always know they'll all show up on time. Thankfully all three of the current translators are practicing Muslims and so do not drink alcohol. Their Passion-fruit Fanta's helped keep the bar tab down.
We're now off to a week-long safari before coming back for graduation. Although we're more or less done with our teaching responsibilities, we're satisfied with our time at GHTA. It is fair to say we have learned just as much from them (if not more) as they have from us. We have made real connections, and that will not soon be lost. One of the most important parts of GHTA is the opportunities it provides its students. After all GHTA would be for naught if it didn't help improve at least some of their lives. GHTA runs a co-op in town where promising students get the opportunity to start their own business in whatever they come up with. A solid business plan has to be approved by the board (including Victoria, Monika the founder, and others) before a green light is given. In the co-op currently there is a women's clothing store, a shoe business, a hand bag business, and children's clothing store. GHTA also helped start a coffee business for two former students who are now flourishing, selling beans and ground coffee in many of the shops around town. There is a seamstress in town who is benefiting from GHTA, as well as several other students who have put in the leg work. Besides all of these success stories, every student who walks through GHTA gains something. GHTA provides all of the medical treatment for active students. Our student with AIDS, for example, gets all her treatment paid for. GHTA pays for glasses for those who need them. These things, besides the totally free education they are receiving (including the notebooks, pencils, etc - everything necessary to learn), is a major boost to their quality of life. Many of the students simply gain confidence in coming to school and being part of something as well. GHTA is making a difference in its small way, and we are proud to have been a part of its family.
For now we will enjoy what should be an amazing journey through some of the most spectacular national parks in the world. We have been looking forward to a real safari since we set out on our world tour more than a year ago. Stay tuned to how it works out in our next installment...
Until then,
S&P
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