Well we've been informed that we don't have to teach monday or tuesday next week due some local tribe celebrations so we decided that instead of scratching ourselves for four days, that we'd go ahead and book a four day safari into the serengiti! So we will be sleeping under that stars along with all the wild africa has to offer come Saturday.
Our teaching project has been coming along nicely. We have our own separate makeshift classrooms and teach math and english to the different groups, based on their ability level. Nothing fancy, just simple addition, substraction and this week I started multiplication! Not as difficult as I thought it would be, as they seemed to get the hang of it very quickly indeed. We both love it there and the kids are really great.
Our second project that we had organized in Moshi through a local hostel has fallen through...due to lack of independent funding by the owners of the orphanage. So thats left us with the job of finding a suitable NGO(Non-governmental organization) that provides volunteer projects to guys like us. Yes we will stay where we are if we don't get another one sorted somewhere else...but we know that staying in the one place for 3 months would be very tough come the time to say goodbye arrives. You do get attached to these little kids knowing that they've got so little and yet have so much life in them. So a month will be fine, unless we don't get something else sorted before we leave....which is Feb 12th.
Ok so I'll update this wedensday or thursday next week with the Serengiti news and reviews :)
Ciao
Thursday, 29 January 2009
Monday, 26 January 2009
Settling in!
Friday 23rd Jan. Well we have finished our first full week of volunteer work. We are positioned and a pre-primary school called Meru view. It got its name as its located at the foot of Mt Meru, which is the fifth largest mountain in Africa.
The school is very basic. It was set up by a local man called Ba Ba Juma four years ago, who decided that enough was enough. He wanted somewhere for the little orphans who were been looked after by various friends and relatives in the village to have somewhere to go to learn basic English and creative skills. So with this goal in mind he went about and built a basic three classroom school along side his house.
Funds for this project were limited for him since he way paying for it himself and the government didn’t want to hear from him. But at the moment he has three local women who act as teachers. They have good basic English grammer and they get the job done. Currently there are 26 kids at the school, ranging from 3 to 7 years of age.
Most of them are orphans with the exception of one or two.
So that’s where myself and Florence have and will be positioned for the month we’ll be in Arusha. We are in the process of teaching them simple English grammer. The classes are segregated according to their ability so as to allow each child the chance to learn at the correct level. Most of them however know a lot of grammer already, which shows that the system there, however basic, is in fact successful.
So with half of the money in which we raised before we left Ireland, we will be able to really make a big difference to this little school. We aim to buy them better materials for the school, learning aids, footballs, and maybe some new clothes for each child there.
The owner, Ba Ba Juma is a really good man. In a country where corruption is saturated everywhere, its good to see that there are men who like Ba Ba Juma are not money orientated. He has done everything there himself and has provided a safe heaven for hundreds of children over the past four years. We are delighted to be working alongside someone who has done so much for so little in return.
The other news during the week was the huge fatal accident on the outskirts of the town on wedensday afternoon. A four vehicle collision saw over 20, yes 20 people killed! It happened on the road in which we travel daily to the school. From what we heard, a bus full with passengers hit a truck in which the breaks had failed on a bridge. Another two cars were involved and resulted in all four vehicles smashing over the barriers on the bridge and down the 50+ foot drop onto the rocks beneath. It was horrific to see the bus after it had been lifted up by a crane. It was crushed to half its size. 20 were definitely confirmed dead as a result and many more critically injured.
As I already said, its mayhem on the roads in Tanzania. In the week and a half that we’ve been here, we’ve already come across three accidents! Seemingly they are so frequent that its become second nature around these parts.
We’ve started to pick up bits and pieces of Swahili!! Swahili is the first language in Tanzania, followed by English. So one of the teachers at the school has been giving us basis Swahili phrases which is a big help when trying to explain to the kids something we want them to learn in class. It would be nice after the three months to have the ability to converse in Swahili for a minute or two, but I’m not holding my breath!
We have the weekends to ourselves, so that will give us the chance to do a bit of sightseeing, tours etc.. We’ve nothing planned for this weekend as of yet so maybe tomorrow(Saturday) we’ll go into town and organize a tour for Sunday.
So until the next update folks….
Ciao
The school is very basic. It was set up by a local man called Ba Ba Juma four years ago, who decided that enough was enough. He wanted somewhere for the little orphans who were been looked after by various friends and relatives in the village to have somewhere to go to learn basic English and creative skills. So with this goal in mind he went about and built a basic three classroom school along side his house.
Funds for this project were limited for him since he way paying for it himself and the government didn’t want to hear from him. But at the moment he has three local women who act as teachers. They have good basic English grammer and they get the job done. Currently there are 26 kids at the school, ranging from 3 to 7 years of age.
Most of them are orphans with the exception of one or two.
So that’s where myself and Florence have and will be positioned for the month we’ll be in Arusha. We are in the process of teaching them simple English grammer. The classes are segregated according to their ability so as to allow each child the chance to learn at the correct level. Most of them however know a lot of grammer already, which shows that the system there, however basic, is in fact successful.
So with half of the money in which we raised before we left Ireland, we will be able to really make a big difference to this little school. We aim to buy them better materials for the school, learning aids, footballs, and maybe some new clothes for each child there.
The owner, Ba Ba Juma is a really good man. In a country where corruption is saturated everywhere, its good to see that there are men who like Ba Ba Juma are not money orientated. He has done everything there himself and has provided a safe heaven for hundreds of children over the past four years. We are delighted to be working alongside someone who has done so much for so little in return.
The other news during the week was the huge fatal accident on the outskirts of the town on wedensday afternoon. A four vehicle collision saw over 20, yes 20 people killed! It happened on the road in which we travel daily to the school. From what we heard, a bus full with passengers hit a truck in which the breaks had failed on a bridge. Another two cars were involved and resulted in all four vehicles smashing over the barriers on the bridge and down the 50+ foot drop onto the rocks beneath. It was horrific to see the bus after it had been lifted up by a crane. It was crushed to half its size. 20 were definitely confirmed dead as a result and many more critically injured.
As I already said, its mayhem on the roads in Tanzania. In the week and a half that we’ve been here, we’ve already come across three accidents! Seemingly they are so frequent that its become second nature around these parts.
We’ve started to pick up bits and pieces of Swahili!! Swahili is the first language in Tanzania, followed by English. So one of the teachers at the school has been giving us basis Swahili phrases which is a big help when trying to explain to the kids something we want them to learn in class. It would be nice after the three months to have the ability to converse in Swahili for a minute or two, but I’m not holding my breath!
We have the weekends to ourselves, so that will give us the chance to do a bit of sightseeing, tours etc.. We’ve nothing planned for this weekend as of yet so maybe tomorrow(Saturday) we’ll go into town and organize a tour for Sunday.
So until the next update folks….
Ciao
Monday, 19 January 2009
Tanzania at last
Its 7pm on Friday and I’m here writing this at our hostel in Arusha. We arrived yesterday from Nairobi after 8 hours of a pure and utter hell of a bus journey. The main road from Nairobi to Arusha is nothing more than a dirt road. Imagine 8 hours of constant jumping around, been thrown about in your seat while the seat your in stinks of sweat and is almost damp and you’ll get the picture. Apart from this slight inconvience the trip itself was very scenic with the Serengeti spanning out to our right as we entered Tanzania. Along the way we passed dozens of little towns which are home to the Maasai people.
The Maasai today remain the most familiar of African people to outsiders. Instantly identifiable, Maasai men drape themselves in toga-like red blankets, carry long wooden poles, and often dye their hair with a red pigment and style it in a manner that has been compared to a roman helmet. And while the women dress similarly to many other Tanzanian women, their extensive use of beaded jewellery is highly distinctive too.
When we arrived in Arusha we were met a crowd of flycatchers who beg you to go on safari with their company. And since Arusha is the safari capital of Africa you could only expect this to happen. While initially intimidating, they left us alone once I informed them that we were not rich tourists but merely volunteers. They still chance their arm none the less.
Our hostel is basic enough and although we expected that, we didn’t expect the toilets to be build into the floor or for their to be a severe lack of water both hot and cold. I don’t know how they expect people to feel comfortable sitting on the ground while on the toilet with cockroaches the size of apples(no joke) frequently visiting your side. Not very hygienic to say the least but we’ll deal with it. Another discomfort that we expected is the lack of fresh air. With temperatures in the early 30’s the rooms can get very, very sticky and I know this will cause many sleepness nights until we adapt to the environment!
I unfortunately got very sick last night with classic food poisoning. We traced it back to the liver I eat(flor didn’t eat it!) while in Nairobi. Beatrice had got liver from the local Butchers that would make a dump look like heaven. Since she didn’t have a fridge, the liver was left out all night and served to us the next day as breakfast! Now, If I had any common sense about me I would have realised that the meat was not refrigerated during the night and I would have politely declined the poison. But no, me and my hungry mouth had to go and sample the dose.
Needless to say I paid for it dearly from 5am this morning and all today. Luckily enough we brought the required medicine and so finally after 12 hours of diarrhoea, stomach cramps and dizziness I’m coming around
Although try sitting on one of those toilets with a bad dose of the runs and you’ll quickly understand the meaning of a quick evacuation!
Any who, I’m off to sleep and hopefully tomorrow will be a healthier day!
Ciao.
The Maasai today remain the most familiar of African people to outsiders. Instantly identifiable, Maasai men drape themselves in toga-like red blankets, carry long wooden poles, and often dye their hair with a red pigment and style it in a manner that has been compared to a roman helmet. And while the women dress similarly to many other Tanzanian women, their extensive use of beaded jewellery is highly distinctive too.
When we arrived in Arusha we were met a crowd of flycatchers who beg you to go on safari with their company. And since Arusha is the safari capital of Africa you could only expect this to happen. While initially intimidating, they left us alone once I informed them that we were not rich tourists but merely volunteers. They still chance their arm none the less.
Our hostel is basic enough and although we expected that, we didn’t expect the toilets to be build into the floor or for their to be a severe lack of water both hot and cold. I don’t know how they expect people to feel comfortable sitting on the ground while on the toilet with cockroaches the size of apples(no joke) frequently visiting your side. Not very hygienic to say the least but we’ll deal with it. Another discomfort that we expected is the lack of fresh air. With temperatures in the early 30’s the rooms can get very, very sticky and I know this will cause many sleepness nights until we adapt to the environment!
I unfortunately got very sick last night with classic food poisoning. We traced it back to the liver I eat(flor didn’t eat it!) while in Nairobi. Beatrice had got liver from the local Butchers that would make a dump look like heaven. Since she didn’t have a fridge, the liver was left out all night and served to us the next day as breakfast! Now, If I had any common sense about me I would have realised that the meat was not refrigerated during the night and I would have politely declined the poison. But no, me and my hungry mouth had to go and sample the dose.
Needless to say I paid for it dearly from 5am this morning and all today. Luckily enough we brought the required medicine and so finally after 12 hours of diarrhoea, stomach cramps and dizziness I’m coming around
Although try sitting on one of those toilets with a bad dose of the runs and you’ll quickly understand the meaning of a quick evacuation!
Any who, I’m off to sleep and hopefully tomorrow will be a healthier day!
Ciao.
Nairobi, Kenya
So finally I get a chance to update this! Since I’ve brought my mini laptop for the trip I can type out my blog whenever and then transfer it here when I get the a café.
Well, where to start! We arrived in Nairobi at 8am Tuesday morning, where we were met by our contact or “fixer” if you like. We choose to get one of these fixers simply because of the fact that Nairobi is such a dangerous city. Beatrice was our guides name and she was going to put us up in her house for the two nights we were there. Her house was located about 1 hours drive from Nairobi so she arranged for a friend to come and drive us there.
Along the way, we saw shanty town after shanty town. Conditions for living that could only be described as below basic. These houses were made from bits of wood, metal and any other material that could make walls etc…
When we arrived at the community when Beatrice lived we discovered that not only were myself and Florence the only white people there, but that most of the people there never saw a white person before! So you can imagine the looks and stars we were getting.
Our accommodation was in the form of a flat, which had no fridge, shower, kettle or oven. “Welcome to Africa” I muttered to myself. At least she had a toilet, as no toilet would have been very tricky for Florence to work through.
Anyways, cutting to the chase, that evening we visited a christian apolostic mass, in which Beatrice was a prominent member of. The mass was one of those you see on films where from start to finish its preachers shouting the word of God, singing his praises etc. It lasted a full two hours and in that time we were standing up while there was not one break in the mass. People were running around the shed(church) waving their arms in babbling to themselves. It was hysterical to be honest. We enjoyed it something shocking. I was told that I could take photo’s and videos if I wanted to I immediately went into Christy Regan mood and snapped away happily for the next 30 minutes.
The next day, we went to visit the Nairobi slum, which is one of the largest slums in the world. Its also home to the “glue kids”of Nairobi, for any of ye that saw Ross Kemps documentary called Gangs.
Conditions in these slums is hard to imagine unless you actually witness it. Words couldn’t describe what it felt like to be there and seeing all this poverty and lack of basic hygiene. While the slum isn’t a safe place by any means, we had Beatrice at our side who told us what to do and not do. Again with not a single white person for miles and miles we felt very intimated by the constant verbal abuse and gibes that was thrown our way. But sure they know no better.
Before we left for Tanzania, Beatrice had arranged a visit to a local orphanage where the kids were told about us and they were looking forward to seeing us. So when we entered the makeshift house, we were greeted with roars and screams from the little boys and girls there. There must have been about 40 of them ranging from 3 years to 11 or 12 years of age. Again, they had never seen a white man before so they were touching our skin and having a really good laugh at myself and Flor….but in a good way. So this was our first introduction to what we’ll be doing for the next three months. The kids were so full of life despite the conditions in which they find themselves subject to.
Before we left them, we had to take a load of photos of them. They never saw a camera before either so seeing themselves on camera was another first for them. Heartbreaking stuff to witness but we’ve somehow got to develop thick skin if we are to get through the 3 months here.
Anyway, I’m writing this as I lay on my bed here outside Nairobi. Its 7pm Wedensday evening and we’ve a very early start at 4.30am to get a local bus which will take us on the 8 hour trip across the border and into Arusha in Tanzania.
So until then,
Ciao
Well, where to start! We arrived in Nairobi at 8am Tuesday morning, where we were met by our contact or “fixer” if you like. We choose to get one of these fixers simply because of the fact that Nairobi is such a dangerous city. Beatrice was our guides name and she was going to put us up in her house for the two nights we were there. Her house was located about 1 hours drive from Nairobi so she arranged for a friend to come and drive us there.
Along the way, we saw shanty town after shanty town. Conditions for living that could only be described as below basic. These houses were made from bits of wood, metal and any other material that could make walls etc…
When we arrived at the community when Beatrice lived we discovered that not only were myself and Florence the only white people there, but that most of the people there never saw a white person before! So you can imagine the looks and stars we were getting.
Our accommodation was in the form of a flat, which had no fridge, shower, kettle or oven. “Welcome to Africa” I muttered to myself. At least she had a toilet, as no toilet would have been very tricky for Florence to work through.
Anyways, cutting to the chase, that evening we visited a christian apolostic mass, in which Beatrice was a prominent member of. The mass was one of those you see on films where from start to finish its preachers shouting the word of God, singing his praises etc. It lasted a full two hours and in that time we were standing up while there was not one break in the mass. People were running around the shed(church) waving their arms in babbling to themselves. It was hysterical to be honest. We enjoyed it something shocking. I was told that I could take photo’s and videos if I wanted to I immediately went into Christy Regan mood and snapped away happily for the next 30 minutes.
The next day, we went to visit the Nairobi slum, which is one of the largest slums in the world. Its also home to the “glue kids”of Nairobi, for any of ye that saw Ross Kemps documentary called Gangs.
Conditions in these slums is hard to imagine unless you actually witness it. Words couldn’t describe what it felt like to be there and seeing all this poverty and lack of basic hygiene. While the slum isn’t a safe place by any means, we had Beatrice at our side who told us what to do and not do. Again with not a single white person for miles and miles we felt very intimated by the constant verbal abuse and gibes that was thrown our way. But sure they know no better.
Before we left for Tanzania, Beatrice had arranged a visit to a local orphanage where the kids were told about us and they were looking forward to seeing us. So when we entered the makeshift house, we were greeted with roars and screams from the little boys and girls there. There must have been about 40 of them ranging from 3 years to 11 or 12 years of age. Again, they had never seen a white man before so they were touching our skin and having a really good laugh at myself and Flor….but in a good way. So this was our first introduction to what we’ll be doing for the next three months. The kids were so full of life despite the conditions in which they find themselves subject to.
Before we left them, we had to take a load of photos of them. They never saw a camera before either so seeing themselves on camera was another first for them. Heartbreaking stuff to witness but we’ve somehow got to develop thick skin if we are to get through the 3 months here.
Anyway, I’m writing this as I lay on my bed here outside Nairobi. Its 7pm Wedensday evening and we’ve a very early start at 4.30am to get a local bus which will take us on the 8 hour trip across the border and into Arusha in Tanzania.
So until then,
Ciao
Saturday, 17 January 2009
hi
I've already typed out two updates for this but I did so on my mini laptop so I'm just trying to find a internet cafe that has the facilities to allow me to hook up my memory stick to it and copy and paste it here! Simple you may think, but I can assure you that in Tanzania nothing is as simple as you may think! It just saves me emailing everyone individually and all that :)
Friday, 9 January 2009
Off on Monday!
Well the time has finally arrived for us to depart to East Africa! It only took a whole 11 months to get here!
First of all, I would like to thank everyone on behalf of Florence and myself for all the kind words of advice, donations, and general help with the planning of this trip. It means alot to us to be able to arrive at the orphanages with €2500(fundraised) to donate to those poor orphans who need aid fast.
I won't go naming this or that one as I don't want to leave anyone out, but THANK YOU for all the help and advice.
We start our journey Monday. We fly to Heathrow, then its a 10 hour flight to Nairobi in Kenya, where we'll stay for 2 days and get acquainted with the African culture before we cross the border into Tanzania by local bus(which we were advised is much safer...but longer....7 hours :(
I only hope that there's a decent internet connection in the internet cafes so that I can update this blog and do emails etc. I reckon I could live for three months without food, but not without the internet!!
I am also going to be shaving 30 years of hair growth tomorrow as part of a deal I made with myself about going volunteering. I said that I'll shave my head before I go, so no way of getting out of it now :)
Anyways, cherrio folks and next time I post we shall be in Tanzania and have received our welcome dance by the locals.....video here!
Ciao!
First of all, I would like to thank everyone on behalf of Florence and myself for all the kind words of advice, donations, and general help with the planning of this trip. It means alot to us to be able to arrive at the orphanages with €2500(fundraised) to donate to those poor orphans who need aid fast.
I won't go naming this or that one as I don't want to leave anyone out, but THANK YOU for all the help and advice.
We start our journey Monday. We fly to Heathrow, then its a 10 hour flight to Nairobi in Kenya, where we'll stay for 2 days and get acquainted with the African culture before we cross the border into Tanzania by local bus(which we were advised is much safer...but longer....7 hours :(
I only hope that there's a decent internet connection in the internet cafes so that I can update this blog and do emails etc. I reckon I could live for three months without food, but not without the internet!!
I am also going to be shaving 30 years of hair growth tomorrow as part of a deal I made with myself about going volunteering. I said that I'll shave my head before I go, so no way of getting out of it now :)
Anyways, cherrio folks and next time I post we shall be in Tanzania and have received our welcome dance by the locals.....video here!
Ciao!
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