Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Mtwara

Mtwara!! So my friend and I decided to extend with the UN WFP (world food program) here in Mtwara and we are really pumped. I got into the University of Detroit Mercy for their MCD (Masters in Community Development) and I asked to defer until second semester and they agreed!! So I signed a contract with WFP to work until December on their cash transfer pilot project. We are living in town now which is crazy different from the village, I mean electricity and water!! It has been hard not having the same community that living in a village brings but it is really nice to be doing bigger programs and learning more about international development. We use our bikes to get everywhere and we are getting in “beach body” shape because we living about 10mins from the beach! Our area of town is legit surrounded by the ocean and we can even take a small boat with our bikes to get to white sand beaches that go on for as long as you can see!! Work is crazy for now because we are trying to get 2200 people on the same page when the only reliable form of communication is word of mouth but it is fun! We go out to the villages often and we are close to being fully functional. Our program pairs nutritional lessons with a cash incentive. At first I thought that this program wasn’t very sustainable but now that I am in it I am really for it. We are giving the education on how to have a nutritious meal with things that can be locally grown and how being healthier affects your child that you are breastfeeding (the program is for pregnant women and people breastfeeding). We are then pairing the education with money that they can then go buy the food that will help them become more healthy. We are allowing them to make the decision to buy the food and invest in their child’s nutrition or to use the money for other things, either way its their choice and we are hoping they chose to change their diets in thus experiencing behavior change. Behavior change is something that i have been working on for the past two years and it is not a simple thing. People, no matter where they come from get set in their ways, think about all of the studies that come out that you don’t listen to, I mean really do you drink 8 glasses of water a day? I am happy and I am pumped to see the program get off of the ground! Hope all is well with everyone back home  I got to get back to work!

Moving on up

Getting ready to move was super super crazy! I had to figure out what to do with all of my things that I could not take and then try to figure out how to fit the rest into bags! If you have any experience with tz you know that traveling can be stressful. I was able to fit all of my things into a big backpack, a big duffel, a smaller backpack and a Rubbermaid container. I was surprised that I was able to fit it all but in the end this was WAY too much haha. I first had to take a bus from milo to njombe, from there I put all of my things at the stand for the next bus and took that bus to Iringa. I spent a few nights in Iringa hanging out with friends and saying bye then jumped on a bus to Dar. The bus from Dar left at 7am but I had to get there at like 6:15am because I was traveling with 2 other friends and all together we had 19 bags!! We got to the standi and starting trying to get all the bags in and it created a scene because normally you are only allowed 1 maybe 2 bags per person. To be able to shove all of the bags in and get seats we had to have a game plan so one person fought her way in and saved seats and then us 2 were running back and forth trying to make sure our bags were not getting stolen and more importantly that our bags were getting onto the bus to dar. We were maybe in hour out when our bus starting having problems and we were forced to stop and wait for another bus, this was a HUGE problem because what were the odds that they just had another bus sitting around that could take us to dar? We sat around and then climbed into the drivers seat and took pictures and then sat some more and then out of nowhere a bus pulled up to take us to Dar. This was when crazy when to crazy, you see even though your ticket says you will sit in A1, if you are late you are not sitting there haha. We had one person legit shove her way onto the bus to secure 3 seats in a row. While she was doing that me and my other friend ran one at a time with bags to the new bus to make sure our bags didn’t get lost or left behind. This took some time and a lot of passing things up through the window but in the end, we had 3 seats and all of our bags were on the bus!! Crazy life that we live huh? Anywho it was all worth it because once in dar there is AMAZING food everywhere and plenty of friends to share good conversations with!

Friday, August 24, 2012

Sorry for the wait, but im movin up

6-1-2012 Vil life is just so different than life in the states and its hard to explain but I will try in this blog. Imagine if there were no cars and we had to walk around instead of driving and to add to that there is no electricity so there is no reason to be in your house. There isn’t too much light in the house so cutting your veggies and other things is easier outside. So imagine that everyone is outside all the time so you get to talk to everyone every day. But since you talk to everyone every day you know all of their business, so there isn’t any such thing as a secret. Also there isn’t any “work” in the vil so everyone is in the farm most of the day. Not many people have money so going to town is not a normal event. I have some older friends that have never even been to town (only place with electricity or a post office). Also since you have been in the vil your whole life you know everyone and anyone. I can ask my counterpart who someone is and no matter who it is she will know them. This closeness helps in time of need like when a funeral happens. When someone dies the whole community chips in with work and also some money, it is a common rule that everyone gives 200sh or more. Women help cook and make sure that guests are fed and the men dig the grave. Its cool to see how the vil comes together in times of need, something that doesn’t/wouldn’t happen in the states. I always surprise my villagers when I tell them that I can’t name everyone on my block. Another thing about the vil is that there is dirt everywhere, it takes awhile to get used to the fact that you have to scrub your feet all of the time because you walk on dirt to get anywhere. In the States you never walk on dirt, its all cement. In the states it is cold but its not the same, we don’t really just hangout in the cold, we are always indoors which is heated by electricity while here it is just as cold inside or even colder. Many differences but all in all it both are very nice places to live, Hope all is well and sorry this is so late! Amy