Dar

  I have had a nice few days in Dar before heading to Iringa.  I have a driver, Miraji, who is exceptional, comes early, knows where everything is, and has a nice car.  He will take me to Iringa on Saturday too.   Wista's Inn is also a very comfortable place to stay, nice beds, good air conditioning, plenty of hot water, great breakfast, and robust wireless in your room, all for $40/night.

Wista Breakfast

 The first day I met with someone at the Embassy about a Community Self Help grant for a water project at Lukani Dispensary.  This was one of the 2013 UMN Engineering projects and a good bore hole has been drilled but we still need a submersible pump with solar power system.  I met with a nice woman named Mike, perhaps a daughter of Johny Cash, who had very helpful suggestions for improving our application. In the afternoon, I stopped at TPH Bookshop and the manager there helped me select books, mostly in Swahili, for preschool, primary, secondary, and village adult.  Some of these I will bring to Kising'a using funds LCP donated a couple years ago for books and others will go to a preschool at Kihesa for Betty Wolf's group, the Huruma Orphanage, and Image Secondary and Namnyaki Secondary school for Maasai Girls which I will be visiting later.

I by chance had two former students come up to me, pretty amazing to run into two students in a town of 5 MM people.  Nelson is working doing graphic design for an Ad Agency in Dar and Patrock is doing web and IT support for a NGO working in Iringa.  I saw him at the Wista's restaurant where he was visiting someone from the NGO staying here.  I thought to take his photo after forgetting to take a picture with Nelson.  I had 80 students in the two semesters I taught at Tumaini and it makes me feel good when I see or hear of them finding good job opportunities.  I still chat online with at least one of them each week.

Patrock

The second day I met with the Peace Corps Coordinator for Tanzania to discuss a position with St Paul Partners for extending Peace Corps Volunteers.  PCVs serve a little more than 2 years in a primary assignment either in Education at a secondary school or as community organizers for health and environment or sustainable agriculture.  There will be 40 Education volunteers finishing in September and about a third of them are interested in extending with a NGO like us for another year.  Lenny gave me instructions for putting together our job posting and we hope to be able to hire another volunteer.  The Peace Corps pays salary, handles visa and medical insurance, and we just need to provide housing.  We have had three volunteers work with St Paul Partners and the experience has been great for all involved.

We wanted topographic maps to support our water projects and help with well site placement.  We heard that they could be purchased at the Government Mapping Office and this led to an adventure in inefficiency that took the rest of my day.  I first went to the Ministry of Land building and although no one spoke English they did understand 'map' and a Muslim woman with a beautiful dress and head scarf took me up a few floors to sit in an office until someone speaking English came and said I needed to go to another building.  He sent me with a young man that was experienced in GIS and very interested in job opportunities and who took me to an office in another building with 7 or 8 men at desks with computers.  I sat next to an older gentleman who had maps and map indexes on his computer.  What I was looking at was digital tif maps about 1 GB in size that they sell for about $17.  I could not tell from the index very well which maps we would want and I asked him to email me a copy of the index file (I had to help him use gmail and add an attachment).  I tried to use the index file with Google maps to identify the ones we would want but could not get cell reception for internet in this big building.  He explained that to purchase, I needed to go to him to select maps and get an order sheet signed that I can use to make a deposit in the Government Bank of Tanzania account, then come back with the pay slip and he would prepare the maps but I would need to bring a big flash drive or a bunch of DVDs.  We really wanted paper maps and somehow I talked to someone on the way out who pointed me to a little building in the back with a sign that said Map Store.  There was a man at a front desk and a dingy back room lined with rows and rows of paper maps with maps for all of Tanzania.  Paper maps here were 6000 tsh, about $3.50, and just what we wanted.  I asked for a block of maps (48 maps in a 6x8 grid) that would cover all the areas we work in.  He went back and started pulling maps and miraculously he had 45 of them in stock.  He filled out a order form and sent me to Bank of Tanzania to pay, or so I thought.  BOT was closed for lunch so Miraji and I went back to the book shop and picked up our book order.  I went back to BOT and went through security and upset a guard because I had returned 10 minutes early to get in the expected line.  I finally found where there were tellers and only a couple people.  The BOT bank building is a massive tower built by a Danish company and as fancy an office building that you could find anywhere in America.  To get into the room with tellers, I had to step into a door in a round tube which caused the door behind me to close and momentarily I was in a tube with just enough room for me and my backpack until the inner door opened.  I went to a teller and she told me that I cannot make a deposit here, only the account holders can make a deposit to their account.  This didn't sound like what I was told, or at least understood but after a few consultations with others, she sent me back to the Ministry of Land.  Once there I found they had a branch for NMB bank where I could make a deposit to the BOT account.  This meant sitting in a line of chairs and advancing one each time someone went to the window.  I got my valued pay slip and was told to go to another window for a receipt but after standing in another line for a bit found out that I was supposed to go back to the Map store instead.  While waiting in line, I saw a public service announcement given by an albino man asking people to not harm albinos.  Africa still has witch doctors which tell people that body parts from an albino bring good luck, kind of like a morbid version of our rabbit foots.  The video had pictures of fresh wounds of Albinos with missing fingers and limbs for graphic effect.  They also had a lot of video of a horrible bus accident near Iringa where 42 people were killed when the bus swerved to avoid a pothole (potholes here are major) and collided with a container truck.  The container crushed most of the bus.  Fortunately, the road to Iringa has been improved and is much safer but not a fun thing to think about 2 days before hitting the highway.  I took my precious payslip back to the Map store and the man was not there but I could see my maps carefully rolled up into a nice bundle.  Someone went to get the man and he took my slip and gave me a receipt, the last important piece of paper, and I left with my maps 20 minutes before he closed.  The desk at the map store was stacked with maps requested by others who didn't manage to complete the process, probably for people with less patience than I.

Map Store

Today, I am going to take a boat out to Bongoyo island to check it out as a R&R place for future group visits.  I will meet Vivian and Brian at Slipway where the boat returns and we will go to dinner at one of the nice restaurants on the pennisula where high end Tanzanians and Embassy people hang out.  Vivian was a member of LCP quite a few years ago and Brian now is in Form III (9th grade) in a UK curriculum program.  It will be fun to see them, then tomorrow, Miraji and I will travel to Iringa. God Willing or Insha'Allah as they say here.

Kising'a Visit

Tom Hansen from BKB and Pastor Msigwa, the DIRA/BKB liaison, gave me a ride to Kising'a to see the construction results.  We visited the new building at Kidamuka preaching point which was built a year ago and they are completing the finishing work.  A beautiful building in a beautiful location.

Kidamuka preaching point.  Sue and I helped carry foundation stones in 2011.

Beautiful inside of Kidamuka church.  Glass for windows is next.

The new main church for Kising'a was just a stone foundation when we first visited in 2006 and now has a roof with the metal sheets just purchased.  The congregation has outgrown the current church building, especially for occasions when they have members gathered from all the preaching points.

Outside of new main church building.

Inside of new main church building.  Will be able to accommodate 300 to 400 worshipers.

Last year I saw a new water source that Sajeni, one of our sponsored students, had discovered.  The source is a small spring high on a ridge and Sajeni laid about 2 KM of pipe to bring clean water to the edge of Kising'a.  This time we climbed the ridge following the path of the mostly buried pipe to see the source.  The hike was steep and fortunately, we were able to cross over the ridge to get to a road that was easier to return.

Sajeni

Girls carrying clean water for the dispensary from the outlet

Water Outlet at edge of Kising'a

On the way we passed many pine seedling beds for forest planting.

A lot of pressure in the pipe and Sajeni has to repair leaks by wrapping tightly with strips of inner tube.

Climbing with Emiry, Yoramu, and Pastor Wihale. Yoramu and Emiry are sponsored students and helped with translations.

View of Kisinga from top of ridge.  Notice bright roof of the new church on right edge of village.

The major project for this visit was to start a small library in Kising'a.  LCP generously contributed funds for books and the library.  I purchased books when I arrived in Dar (see TPH Bookstore).  There was a lot of excitement about the books.  A locked storeroom next to Pastor Wihale's house will be converted to be used for the library.  They already have some book shelves.  Many books are for children in both Swahili and English, some of the books are in both languages.  Pastor Wihale returned to Iringa with me on the bus and we purchased for solar charged reading lights for the library.  It is important to be able to use the library at night because people spend the daylight in the shamba's (fields).

Pastor Wihale working with Stephano with a Hesabu (Math) workbook.

Rushwa (age 5) reading a Swahili ABC book.

Library room, the big bags of maize are owned by the parish and will soon be shipped to Iringa for sale.

We purchased four of these solar lights for the library when we returned to Iringa.  They cost 40,000 tsh or $25. 

I was in Kising'a for the weekend and enjoyed attending Church.  I was lucky because this weekend was women's celebration weekend and they had three choirs present for an afternoon competition.  The service lasted 3 hours and 15 minutes and one of the women gave a very animated 30 minute sermon.  I have no idea what she said but the congregation was very attentive and laughing at times.  I will never complain if our services run over an hour.  I said a few words about my visit and read a letter from Pastor Joy for Pastor Wihale and the Kising'a congregation.  Yoramu translated the letter for the congregation.  After lunch we went back to church for a Choir competition.  That evening a pastor and his family from Idunda arrived at the house after a six hour walk from Ipalamwa.  The Pastor's family cleared out a room for them and they took the bus back to Iringa with us the next morning.  The bus leaves at 5 AM and started blaring the horn at 4:20.  Pastor Wihale had a 5 AM prayer service every day except Sunday and his daughter Anna was up to conduct the prayer service this morning. I attended the service once on a previous trip and it is a nice quiet service with some singing and a drum in total darkness with a couple candles.  (I will see what Pastor Joy thinks about a 5 AM daily prayer service for LCP).

Shoulder to Shoulder thank you for the books.

Congregational photo at front of church at end of service.

The LCP photo that was in a letter from Pastor Joy and inspired the Kising'a congregational photo.

Sunday school happens before the service and these kids were just let out.

The three choirs from Madisi, Manillo, and Isele preaching points.  Isele (in blue) won a close competition 55 to 50 to 45. Each choir performed three songs and I have video of the singing that I will bring back.

Sunday afternoon is social time.  This is Festa and his wife.  Festa is the evangelist for Luhapo preaching point., a remote preaching point about 10 km away.  His wife is conducting a Kindergarten there so the children do not have to walk two hours each way to school in Kisinga'a.  She walks an hour each way to Luhapo every week day.  Msale is another remote preaching point also doing their own Kindergarten and I brought some books for both kindergartens separate from the library.  Festa's wife is apparently an Obama supporter.

This handsome couple is from Msale.  I took this picture about 6 PM and they were just preparing to leave for Msale, a 3 and a half hour walk.  The last two and a half hours will be in the dark.

Getting off the Kising'a bus in Iringa.  Vito Laini means "smooth thing".  It took just over 3 hours to return and I was able to purchase two seats with Pastor Wihale's help.  The bus aisle is totally packed by the time it arrives in Iringa.

Iron Sheets for Kising'a

Our visits to Tanzania usually spark some activity on Church projects.  This is partly because we can bring some financial help and partly because they like to proudly show some progress when we visit to celebrate together.  This trip is no exception.  I texted Pastor Wihale that I was coming a few weeks before I left and they have been busy framing the roof for the new main Church building in Kising'a.  The building site is a beautiful location on a hillside overlooking many homes of Kising'a.  It was just a foundation ring when we visited in 2007 and we have been watching the walls grow over the years.

The only materials they need from the outside are cement, iron sheets, and nails.  They make their own bricks and cut their own boards.  They need iron sheets now to complete the roof.  I met Pastor Wihale and Mponzi, the Parish treasurer, to buy 80 iron sheets and some nails and arrange transport to Kising'a.  This meant starting at the bank to withdraw some construction funds that had been transferred to the parish account from our BKB account for Kising'a.  This took about an hour with a line of 30 people and only one or two tellers at different points during that hour.

 We hunted for a place that had Simba Duma (Lasting Lion) iron sheets and Pastor Wihale called to arrange transport.  With all things arranged, we bought 75 iron sheets, 12 kg of nails, and 5 translucent sheets that provide natural lighting from the roof.   Kind of like the sky light in our Church at home but without the flies.

I had sent a few Kiswahili children's books home with Pastor Wihale when I met him last weekend and he said that the family gathered and were reading them last night.  Stephano is starting to read Kiswahili and Rushua was enjoying the pictures.  I will go to Kising'a on Friday Oct 11 and bring the rest of the books for the library.  I am really looking forward to showing them to children and seeing how they like them.  Asante to those who contributed for the library, I think this is going to be a great project.

Walking the church foundation in 2007

Video of men cutting boards in Kising'a from a previous visit.  Anyone want to trade their table saw for this?

Simba Dumu, "Lasting Lion" brand sheets

Translucent sheets for sky light, they cost 50,000 tsh (~$30) which is twice the iron sheets.

Me, Mponzi, and Pastor Wihale with sheets waiting for transport.

Mwangaza Workshop

The Mwangaza staff came down from Arusha to conduct a workshop for teachers from the Iringa Diocese schools.  Mwangaza is a Lutheran partnership for education that has developed a program for how to teach in Tanzanian Secondary Schools where students are learning English, the language of instruction, at the same time they are learning content.  24 teachers from 6 diocese schools are attending the week long workshop along with the new headmaster for Ipalamwa school which is scheduled to reopen in November.  Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church provided financial support for the workshop.  The conference is being held at Huruma Orphanage so we are supporting the orphanage as well as the teachers. 

Children on a rotating swing at the orphanage.

L2R Allen, the Mwangaza driver, John Kavishe, Thomas, a volunteer from MN, and Salome.  John and Salome are the Mwangaza instructors.

Mwangaza has adapted Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) for Tanzanian schools by creating their own 118 page manual.  SIOP is a designed to teach students who are learning the language of instruction while they are in school.  In the US this approach is needed for immigrant students who may not speak English when they start school.  In Tanzania it is needed for almost everyone since they speak Kiswahili in primary school and must learn English when they start Secondary School.  The teachers estimate that 90% of the incoming students are in the Entering Stage of Language acquisition, which means a vocabulary of 0 - 500 words.  The only exception would be the few that come from an English medium primary school.  The picture below is a page from the Mwangaza book that describes this stage and strategies for teaching students.

Stage 1 Language Acquisition and Teaching Strategies

The Mwangaza approach incorporates language objectives into lesson plans for all subjects so all teachers become English teachers.  Many strategies for communicating with English learners have been presented as well as general learning strategies such as building background and connections with students experiences and techniques to enhance learning of lesson content.  I will bring a copy of the Mwangaza manual home with me.  The workshop runs from 8 AM to 4 PM and the teachers have arrived promptly with 100% attendance.  I have been impressed by their attention and willing participation.  The Mwangaza staff have said this group of teachers is unusually cooperative and eager to participate and this is making the conference very successful.

The conference room at Huruma.

John teaching.

Group work.

We discuss what we are learning in pairs and then form a circle and pass the football around.  Each person has to say what his partner said about the topic.

Lunch, the women at Huruma have served us Chai (tea in the morning), lunch, snack, and dinner.  The food has been great with a good variety from day to day.  Big bowl of rice this day and ugali the others.

Wista's Inn and trip to Iringa

I stayed at Wista's Inn for the first time and was pleasantly surprised to find a quiet oasis in loud and hectic Dar es Salaam.  This is the new recommended stay in Dar for our Bega Kwa Bega groups and is close to the road on the way to Iringa and also close to the big bus terminal at Ubungo. 

Wista's Inn front entrance.

Courtyard in front of my room.

Flowering hanging vines, I had to duck to go in my room.

"We are victims of situation", click to enlarge

Trucks and Buses in Tanzania often have sayings on them, frequently about trust in God or Allah which is especially important on Tanzanian roads. I thought this one captured the African psyche well with "We are Victims of Situation". Life is a struggle for many people here and they often are resigned that this is just the way it is. Quite different from American hope and optimism and expectation for better.

Why did the Zebras cross the road?

We saw a lot of wildlife on the drive through Mikumi including these Zebra crossing the road in front of us. We also saw many giraffes with one about 10 yards off of the road, a large group of warthogs, two elephants, Cape Buffalo, Impala, and wildebeest. You are not allowed to stop for pictures in the park without paying park fees (unless you are breaking for animals) so it is hard to snap photos at 70 km/hour. Still it is always fun to see animals.

Greek Salad lunch in Iringa, I am eating well.

Iringa University (Tumaini) Science Building, all floors in place.

I took the dala dala bus up to Iringa University (formerly Tumaini University) and was lucky to catch Richard Lubawa.  The science building, under construction since 2009, is getting closer with mostly finishing work remaining.  They plan to start the Science Education program in the 2014-2015 school year.  Right now they are looking for help acquiring laboratory equipment and hoping to find a PhD scientist from Europe or the US to come for at 2-3 years full time to get the program started.  A professor from Finland came full time for 2 years to start the Information Technology program and they hope to repeat that model.  The syllabus I worked on the last few years with the Education Department has been approved.

TPH Bookstore in Dar

Our Church donated funds to start a library in our partner village of Kising'a.  We especially want young Children to start learning the joys of reading.  I visited TPH Bookstore in Dar which stocks books from a publisher, Mkuki na Nyota (Spear and Star), that is producing high quality books in English and Kiswahili at affordable prices for the Tanzanian market.  I purchased a nice selection of Children's picture books in Kiswahili and books for older children in both Kiswahili and English.  The thin picture books cost 4000 tsh ($2.50) and the larger books ranged in price from 6500 to 10,000 (~$4 to $6).   Several of the children's books are available in both Kiswahili and English and I will bring back some books when I go home.

TPH Bookstore on Samora Ave

Bookshelf of Mkuku Na Nyota books, don't you wonder about Kisa cha Mbwa na Panya (Story of the Dog and Rat)

The Chameleon who could not change her Colour, click to enlarge photo to read English version

"My Sister Julie"  HIV awareness story book in Kiswahili

English version of My Sister Julie, click to enlarge to read.

Saa Ngapi (What time is it?)  Saa Moja means 1 AM.  Notice the clock, in Kiswahili our 7 AM is 1 AM because that is the first hour of the day in a place on the equator where the day is about 12 hours all year long.  Maya is having chai (tea) and mkate (bread).

Books from TPH on the lower shelf and table top, books I brought from home on the top shelf.  Click to enlarge photo if you want to read titles. (warning large photo)

TPH is conveniently located on Samora Ave between Mkwepu and Azikiwe Streets.  3 blocks away, on Ohio and Sokoine, is Steers, a western style food court with hamburgers, pizza, salad, and Chinese food stations.  Within walking distance are the National Museum (which is really worth visiting), the beautiful bright yellow downtown Lutheran Church on the harbor, the fish market, and the Zanzibar ferry terminal.  Our BKB groups could have a nice day in Dar visiting the National Museum and TPH Bookshop with lunch at Steers.  This also might be a nice way to recover from jet lag with an easy day before the long drive to Iringa.

TPH Bookshop on Facebook 
Mkuki na Nyota Publisher Children's online catalog