Ujamaa Hostel, Part II

With the exception of my arrival posts, I’ve tried to keep away from the “this is what I did today” posts. However, a number of you have been asking in your emails about questions related to daily life in Arusha, so I thought I’d break course from my usual routine by doing a Q&A style post that answered some of the most common questions I’ve received.

1) What is your daily schedule like?

For the most part, life at the hostel is very simple. I usually wake up each morning between seven and seven-thirty (never a set time, as I don’t have an alarm clock) and after cleaning up, make it to the breakfast table sometime just before eight. After breakfast, I head out for the day to either the Umoja Centre or the orphanage. I usually make it back to the hostel sometime around five o’clock, which leaves me an hour and a half before dinner. Occasionally, I try to squeeze in a workout before dinner, which mainly consists of jumping rope and doing a few bodyweight workouts.

Weekends vary quite a bit, just as at home, and depend largely on whether there are any special events planned. I’ve used weekends to go on a couple of waterfall hikes, attend a Christmas fair, attend a confirmation and a wedding, and visit Arusha National Park, to name some of the more interesting examples (although the occasional day lounging around the hostel feels good every now and then as well). Also, I tend to go out once a week for some social time, which usually ends up being Thursday nights at my favorite bar, Via Via.

2) What is life like around the hostel? What do you actually do at night since you have to be in before dark?

Dinner is usually over by about seven, so I have quite a few hours between then and bedtime, usually elevenish, to hang out at the hostel. While the entertainment options available at the hostel are a far cry from anything at home, they’re actually more than I dared hope for before arriving. They have a TV and DVD player with a large collection of DVDs (highlights include a couple seasons of “Friends”, about fifteen of the James Bond movies, and a collection of the best of Leonardo DiCaprio), a decent selection of books, a few board games, and amazingly, an acoustic guitar. Add to that the fact that I brought my own books, my ipod, and a couple notebooks for writing, and I actually have a pretty decent array of choices for how to spend my time.

That being said, life around the hostel, as well as how I spend most of my free time there, depends largely on how full it is. I've found most travelers to be fairly social, so when the hostel is full I usually spend quite a bit of time at the kitchen table, in the living room, or out on the porch exchanging stories or playing cards or board games. Conversely, when I’m alone I usually spend more time watching DVDs, studying Swahili, reading, writing, or working on lesson plans / donation strategy.

3) How are the other people staying at the hostel? What are they like, and have you made many friends?

The other travelers staying at the hostel have varied greatly in most aspects, including age, country of origin, and length of travels. However, I think it’s fair to make a few generalizations. First, while I’ve met people up into their sixties, most guests have tended to be in their twenties and thirties. Also, most came from western countries, such as the U.S., Canada, Australia, or Europe. Since arriving at the hostel, I’ve more or less been the only person staying for more than two weeks. Instead, most other hostel residents are simply passing through Arusha on a trip across Africa, or in a few cases, the world, that spans several months. I think this will change, however, after the New Year. The hostel advertises itself as housing for long term volunteers, and I’m told that after the holidays there will be many more long-term guests like myself.

Despite the wide range of diversity, I’ve enjoyed nearly everyone’s company who has passed through Ujamaa, and have made many friends in the process. Keep your fingers crossed that this trend continues with the longer term residents that will be arriving in January; otherwise I could be in for a long couple months.

4) Overall, what are your thoughts on your trip thus far?

I’m extremely happy with my time in Arusha thus far. While my typical days may seem rather uneventful, or even routine, I would argue it’s actually the complete opposite. With the differences in culture and the language barrier, even very simple things, such as buying fruit from a street vendor for the first time, tend to end up being a rather interesting, or in some cases, frustrating, experience. And as I said, with new travelers consistently rotating in and out of the hostel since I got here, I am never at a loss for new friends and new stories.

I certainly won’t glamorize things too much here though. Arusha does have its negative aspects, some of which will be the subject of future posts. And I do miss certain comforts from home, chief among them a fast food restaurant that will make me a huge steak burrito with rice, black beans, cheese, and hot salsa in about three minutes flat for little more than $7.00. However, the experience has more than exceeded expectations so far, and it’s hard to imagine that it will do anything other than continue to do so.

African Weddings

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2009

Last night I had the opportunity to attend a wedding with my friends Witness and George, two Tanzanians I've met during my time in Arusha. But before I really get into the post, I must preface with two points. First, I only attended the wedding reception. The wedding ceremony itself took place the previous day, and was attended only by the close friends and family of the bride and groom. Second, although I didn’t specifically ask, this didn’t strike me as a wedding which most Tanzanians could afford. That being said, I would imagine that, similar to American weddings, the actual rituals within the ceremony are similar, regardless of its size or grandeur.

So, I had originally planned on writing about the differences between American and Tanzanian weddings, but was surprised to find that in many aspects they are actually quite similar. For instance, the reception was held outside on the grounds of a resort a few miles outside of Arusha, with large tents containing table settings for a few hundred guests surrounding a dance floor area. Throughout the course of the night there were drinks, dinner, dancing, gifts, and a number of ceremonial rituals performed by the bride and groom. All pretty standard for something you might find in the U.S.

Even the ceremonial rituals, which I thought might be the most interesting aspect of the wedding, were strikingly similar to those in American wedding (e.g., such as toasting with champagne), and those that were different didn’t exactly strike me as all that exotic. For instance, instead of the bride and groom cutting the cake and feeding each other a bite, it is customary for them to cut the cake and serve it to their parents and other members of their family. Even some of the bigger differences, such as the absence of wedding parties, didn’t seem to alter the feel of the ceremony all that much. While I’m sure I’m vastly oversimplifying, and that there were actually some interesting and complex African traditions, I either failed to observe them, or they were subjects that were beyond my skill to explain in a compelling manner (or more likely, both).

What I did find extremely interesting, however, was the conversation I had with George about the African customs surrounding a marriage proposal. To put it succinctly, it’s expensive for a guy to get married in Africa. To even officially ask for a woman’s hand in marriage, a man must first provide the food and drink (i.e., a goat and several crates of beer) for a large family banquet, where he then meets the extended family and receives their blessing to marry the woman. Then he must ‘pay’ the father and mother of the woman, sometimes in cash, but more often in the form of cows. As could probably be expected, the more educated and beautiful the daughter, the more cows she costs (I didn’t think about this afterwards, but you know how lots of women in the U.S. kind of have that unspoken rivalry about who has the bigger diamond in their wedding ring? I wonder if African women have a similar thing over how many cows it cost their husbands to marry them). Finally, once all this is done, it’s then the groom’s responsibility to pay for the actual wedding ceremony as well.

I think I would have found this all completely mind-boggling if I hadn’t run across a book a few days prior, African Friends and Money Matters, that explains at a high level the theory behind the African males having to pay his future in-laws to marry their daughter, as opposed to the American system [imported from Europe] where the parents actually assist the newlyweds. I thought the author did a great job of explaining it, so I’ve selected a few excerpts from the introduction section of the book:

“Take dowry and bridewealth as examples of how history and resources are reflected in present day culture and economic practices. Dowry for females and portion for males developed in Europe as a means for keeping the capital that families had accumulated within the family tree. Capital was passed from the older generation to the younger one, so that the young people could maintain the place of the family in society. Daughters were given dowries, the eldest son received the land holding, and other sons received portions in money or goods. There was inherent fear that if the young were not given the financial means to make a good start in life, then the whole family would suffer from a declining economic base.

In Africa the economic conditions were very different. The population was low in relation to land, which was abundant, but the land required large inputs of labor for subsistence farming. So labor was a key commodity, and women were the key workers…So when a woman married, and thereby usually joined her husband’s family, it meant that a very valuable worker was lost. Bridewealth was paid by the groom’s family to the family that was losing the worker as compensation for the loss...Thus, in Europe wealth was transferred from daughters’ parents to the daughters themselves in order to give newlyweds a good start in their family life. In Africa the system was different. Wealth was transferred from the family of the groom to the family of the bride. The newlyweds received no wealth. In fact, they had life-long obligations to materially assist the bride’s family.”

I think it should come as no shock that I vastly prefer the Western system. Not simply because I’m a guy who is probably looking to marry in the next decade, but more because looking forward, as a potential future father, the cost of paying for a wedding and helping my daughters (or sons) get established in their new lives appeals to me much more than any gifts I might otherwise receive from my daughter’s future husband. Further, the thought of being comfortably established in my own life (as I hope to be at that point), yet taking what little my daughter’s fiancé has himself strikes me as not only wrong, but borderline offensive.

That being said, I’m hesitant to label one system as better than the other. As the author pointed out, these two traditions arose from very different cultures and economic conditions. The Western culture allows for many parents, hopefully like my future self, to be in a position to assist their children at their time of marriage. But what if I were an African, headed into my later years without the comfort of retirement savings or pension plans (which are very uncommon here)? I would be declining in physical capabilities if I was a manual laborer, and even if I did have a knowledge-centered career, I wouldn’t want to go on working forever. Would I be so disinclined to receive payment for my daughter’s hand in marriage then? I have to imagine I wouldn’t.

I think this topic is a perfect example of two very distinct traditions that can be widely misinterpreted by members of the opposing culture if it’s not properly understood how each arose. I don’t think I will ever fully agree with this particular African tradition, but in taking the time to recognize where it originated, I at least have a basic understanding of it. And when dealing with two distinctly different cultures, I think that simply understanding, rather than acceptance, can be a satisfactory goal.

Thoughts on Traveling

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2nd

Just a short post today, which is really just an excuse to share with you one of my favorite videos that a friend sent me about a year ago. This video was made by an American guy in his early 30s, Matt, who loved travelling. One day while travelling he and his friend had the idea that it would be a good idea to video record him dancing like a complete idiot. After posting the video on the Internet, he then went on a second extended trip to dance in other cities, and then eventually got a company to sponsor a third worldwide tour, where he not only recorded himself dancing, but also got other people to dance with him. Not a bad way to get someone else to pay for your travels.

At any rate, even for experienced travelers, which I would consider myself far from, learning to survive in foreign countries full of people who speak another language and have completely different customs can be daunting or even, at times, just plain exhausting. Nonetheless, I think this video is a good reminder that even though each of us comes from a culture with it's own unique languages, religions, customs, and traditions, that in spite of all these differences, at the most basic level, we all come from a mutual genetic make up, which allows us to share in similar thoughts, dreams, and emotions. And because of that, even something as basic as dancing like a complete idiot can bring us together to celebrate the common joy and happiness of simply being human. That's my theory, at least.

So without further delay, here is the link:

http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/

Just click on the play button of the video found under "Dancing 2008", and be sure to have your audio turned up.

Enjoy!

African Transportation

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28TH

Leave the house. Walk 10 minutes. Get into an overcrowded "L" car and spend the next 20 minutes fighting for shoulder space with various people, briefcases, and handbags. Pray during that time that I don’t wind up standing next to someone who smells like they missed their morning show. Manage to somehow squeeze myself out of the train car, where I then walk another 10 minutes before finally arriving at my destination. Such was my daily commute when I worked out of my downtown office in Chicago. Now here I am, ten months later, halfway across the planet doing relief work in one of the poorest countries - in essence almost the complete polar opposite of my life in Chicago - and yet my daily commute, for all practical purposes, has remained virtually unchanged. The only real difference is that, rather than crowding myself into an "L" car full of people with handbags and briefcases, I’m instead crowding into a ‘dala dala’ -literally translated, minibus- full of people carrying sacks of grain, rice, and vegetables (and yes, it smells like a few of them missed their morning showers here as well) .

I have come to form a love-hate relationship with these mini-buses. On the positive side, they are both an extremely efficient and extremely cheap way of getting from the downtown area of Arusha to its surrounding areas. Depending on whether I’m headed out to the orphanage or to teach at the Omoja Centre, I pay either TZS 500 or TZS 300 (~$0.40 and $0.25, respectively). On the other hand, they drive with a recklessness I am betting would even make a few Chicago cab drivers nervous. Oh, and did I mention they were crowded? Having spent plenty of time on the dala dalas, I’ve estimated that most of them (some vary slightly in design) would sit 14-16 comfortably, including the driver and the door operator / money collector. However, it’s rare that they squeeze less than 20 people into each van, and on several occasions I’ve counted no less than 22 passengers (24 people total). For the first few weeks I was convinced this was the maximum threshold for the number of human bodies that could be squeezed into something that officially has the word ‘mini’ in its title. However, I must confess that on this specific occasion, I vastly underestimated the resourcefulness of the African people. Last Sunday, against all odds, we at one point squeezed in 28 people and…wait for it…THREE SMALL KIDS! I am still completely dumbfounded at this miraculous feat, and at the same time can only hope that I never have to experience such an uncomfortable sensation ever again.

A few other random notes about African transportation:

- Just like our friends in Britain and Australia, they drive on the wrong side of the road here

- While ‘dala dalas’ are clearly the cream of the crop when it comes to driving like they don’t value their own lives, most drivers in general give little disregard to other vehicles, and especially pedestrians. Again, I am very much reminded of Chicago, and therefore am not sure whether I’m annoyed at their discourtesy or thankful for the small taste of home

- In spite of this, I have to admit that African road traffic is at least somewhat organized. In contrast to India, where I’m told roads are just a massive free-for-all, there are usually clearly marked lanes here to which the majority of drivers adhere

- Additionally, to prevent excessive speeding on main highways, they have numerous speedbumps leading into any small towns, as well as dangerous stretches of roads. These are extremely annoying as a passenger, but at the same time much preferable to the alternative of having drivers speeding at will through these areas

Volunteer Update

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25TH

I’ve now had almost two weeks to adjust to my new volunteer schedule, so I wanted to give a quick update as to how things are progressing thus far. First, things with the orphanage are going extremely well, although to be honest there isn’t a lot to report at this point. Working with the kids has been great, and for better or worse, I have now added both changing a poopy diaper and getting spit up on to my life resume. From a fundraising perspective, I have developed a project plan for my assessment, and have begun researching best practices and reaching out to friends for additional materials. I will begin analyzing historical donor data from the orphanage in the next week or two, with the hopes of compiling my recommendations by the end of the December so we can begin the implementation phase in line with the new year.

Teaching, in contrast to my work at the orphanage, has been much more challenging, although I definitely enjoy it and do not regret my commitment to the Umoja Centre in the least. There are two main difficulties that I am currently encountering. The first is the language barrier. Most students could only speak and understand the most basic sentences in English when they began taking classes at the center last April, and while their progress has been remarkable, it can still be a significant obstacle at times. This is especially true for the beginner class (there are two separate classes – beginner and intermediate – each comprised of 20 students), where not only do they have a more difficult time understanding, but are also more hesitant to raise their hands and ask for clarification when they don’t comprehend something. While this challenge is by itself difficult to overcome, it is greatly exacerbated by the other problem, which is the lack of resources with which I have to teach – namely, a projector. So not only do students not always understand what I’m saying, but when I want to visually demonstrate how to do something (a method that is extremely effective in teaching Excel) I have to either show them individually on each computer, or attempt to draw a picture of the spreadsheet on our whiteboard – a poor substitute, to say the least. Additionally, I don’t have a textbook for myself, let alone the students, and printing out my own lesson plans everyday for the students to follow along with just isn’t a feasible option.

NOTE: I don’t want to give a false, overly-negative impression of the organization or the resources at our disposal. The Centre opened its doors only this past April, and the programme director, Caroline, has done a remarkable job in obtaining funding for the most critical resources, including but not limited to the actual facility itself, all classroom and office furniture, computers, snacks for students (who often don’t even have the money to afford three meals a day), and perhaps most importantly, student sponsorships to pay for ongoing education for those students who successfully complete the program and are then able to go back in secondary school or are able to go into some sort of vocational training. (It's also worth pointing out here that I misunderstood the details of the program at the Umoja Centre initially, and therefore incorrectly described it in my email and blog post. Please see the note at the beginning of my post from Nov. 22nd entitled "Volunteer Activities" for the correct details of the program)

So, in spite of these challenges, there is some good news on the horizon. In addition to my teaching and lesson planning, I have also been using my business background to fill out a rather technical application for a grant for which Caroline has been told she will definitely qualify, provided the application is correctly filled out and submitted. Caroline has promised that she will earmark a portion of that money for a projector and screen, which means my biggest resource deficiency will hopefully be addressed by the time students come back from their holiday break in January.

In the meantime, I have come up with some alternative teaching methods that I will experiment with in the next two weeks. First, I have created an Excel workbook that contains instructions for everything that has been taught up to this point, and will be putting a softcopy of the document on each student computer so they can use it as a sort of ‘virtual textbook’. If this works well, I will continue to update the workbook with each subsequent lesson. Second, I am also going to be using a more activity-based approach to teaching Excel. I had planned to create and use activities from the onset, but what I am going to specifically try and attempt that differs from my original plan is to use these activities not just to review things we have already learned in class, but also to introduce new concepts. My thought is that this might lessen the language barrier difficulties by giving the students written instructions (again, via an Excel file) and letting them figure some things out for themselves through experimentation, rather than putting the entire burden on me to try and clearly explain everything in a way in which they will completely understand. I’m not entirely sure it will work out, but I can always go back to my first approach if it doesn’t.

And just as a final endnote, despite all the challenges, hardships, and hard work, I am absolutely loving my time spent volunteering at both the orphanage and the Umoja Centre.