HanWurz

After spending the last eleven weeks in the mountains and desert valleys surrounding Arusha arriving on the coast of Indian Ocean was extraordinarily refreshing.

To begin our trip we took a bus from Arusha to the coastal Tanzanian town Tanga. We arrived in Tanga in the late afternoon and checked in at our motel. The Inn By The Sea held up to its name and was situated right on the bay with beautiful views of the coast on the other side. Upon our arrival we headed to the local beach club next door for some much needed seafood and a swim in the almost too warm ocean. The trip was already off to a start too good to be true. The next day we had big plans to go explore some bat poop filled caves….but we quickly got distracted by the prospect of more beach time. With the caves an abandoned thought we piled into a dala-dala, procured some Konagi, and headed towards the promisingly beautiful beaches in the neighboring town of Pangani.

After a long bumpy dala ride the six of us arrived at Peponi Beach Resort where we would be camping for two nights. Let’s just say that for a mere ten dollars a night we could not have stayed anywhere more amazing. Our tents (complete with mattresses and pillows) had ocean views and the resort was small and set in the jungle but had a pool, bar, and great (and cheap) restaurant….oh and did I mention that the whole thing was situated on a gorgeous beach leading out to the Indian Ocean? It was paradise. That night after a good deal of swimming in both the ocean and pool we sat down for one of the best meals I have had in Tanzania. While the food wasn’t all that much more expensive than local food in Arusha I had some of the best fish I could imagine. Just in case we weren’t luck enough already the next morning we set off for a private snorkeling adventure on the resorts “dhow” sailboat named Pepi. The six of us and a couple we had met at the resort set out on a beautiful wooden sailboat with a crew of three guys from the resort. We leisurely sailed to two separate coral reefs to snorkel. The reefs and sea creatures that resided in them were some of the most amazing and unimaginable things I have ever seen. I saw more types of fish than I have ever seen in my life as well as amazingly brightly colored coral. After thoroughly sun burning our backs while snorkeling for several hours we sailed off to lunch. The crew took us to a bright white and completely uninhabited sand bar in the middle of the sea. We were all a little awestruck as they proceeded to set up a shade shelter for us to eat our lunch in. After eating a shrimp, mango, and avocado salad in the middle of our isolated sand island we swam for a while in the most clear and turquoise waters I have ever seen before heading back to shore- watching the tide swallow our island as we sailed away. This amazing sailing, snorkeling, and lunch on a private island adventure was probably the best $12 I have ever spent.

On Tuesday we said our sad goodbyes to Peponi Beach Resort as two people headed home to Arusha and Chris, Sam, Andreas, and I went on to Mombasa, Kenya. The roads were only a little bit sketchy and our journey to Mombasa wouldn’t have been bad at all…except we got left at the border. The four of us were in line to get our visas, just finishing up as we saw our bus driving away without us…and with all of our suitcases on board. This seemed quite peculiar- as we were the only four white people on board and sitting right in the front of the bus it didn’t seem possible that they would have just forgotten us. After being offered the explanation that we were taking too long (something we had no control over whatsoever) I used some choice language at a man from the bus company. Luckily though I had little luck with the bus man in figuring out our situation a sympathetic boarder patrol officer called the bus and demanded their return. With our belongings once again in our sight we proceeded towards the bustling beach city of Mombasa.

It felt great to be in a big city again- the hot and muggy air, tall buildings, and hoards of people and traffic, felt good after being in small cities and villages for so long. After a long taxi ride from the seemingly random street corner where our bus dropped us off we arrived at Mombasa Backpackers. Yet again we had found paradise. A block away from the beach the old colonial mansion hostel was just what we needed. We checked in at the bar and proceeded directly to the huge pool within the big, grassy garden out back. We spent the night relaxing, swimming, and playing cards and some beer pong with Peace Corps volunteers and travelers from all over the world. It was a haven for young people working and traveling the world on the cheap whether from South Korea, England, Germany, Australia, or even good ‘ol Columbia City (yup…I met a crazy guy from Seattle who claims to have “squatted” in Columbia City Theater for many years in the ‘90s). The next days we spent hanging on the beach and exploring down town Mombasa. We spent an afternoon walking through beautiful Old Town, which is a historical Muslim community of old and winding alleyways right by the sea. While I still felt that I was in an African city the large buildings, chain stores, and faster movement of the people made it apparent that Mombasa was quite a bit more developed than anywhere I have been in Tanzania.

To finish off our week of getting to wear shorts, basking in the sun, swimming in the ocean, eating fresh seafood, and partying until the sun rose, we headed to Diani Beach- home to the nicest beaches in Mombasa- with some new friends we had collected at Mombasa Backpackers. Sure enough the white sand of the beach was as stunning as any post card I’ve ever seen. We spent the night in a hostel called Stilts- that was in fact rooms in tree houses built on stilts in the jungle. After hanging out in our tree houses for a while, playing drinking games and feeding bush babies bananas, we went down the street to the renowned beach bar 40 Thieves. Opening right onto the beach with sand floors, good drinks, and great dancing it was the perfect way to end our trip before the looming eleven hour bus ride back to Arusha the next day.

I feel incredibly lucky to have seen a whole different side of East Africa than I could have imagined from living in Arusha. However, it’s good to be ‘home’ and I am looking forward to heading to a village at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro for my last week of training. It’s hard to imagine that in just over three weeks my mom and Zach will be here and that just a week after that I will be on a plane to Seattle.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, can’t wait to see you all soon! Much love, Han

I have begun to get a little sad with the realization that (due to my upcoming week long vacation to the coasts of Tanzania and Kenya) I only have one week of field work remaining. However, I feel incredibly lucky that I got to spend one of my last weeks of field work in the village of Oldepes. 

Before leaving for the village people seemed to tell us, or perhaps warn us, continuously how excruciatingly hot the area we were going to was. With this in mind as I was packing I only threw my rain coat in my bag at the last minute. This turned out to be a life saving decision…I don’t think I have ever seen heavier rain than I did the first day we arrived in Oldepes. As I laid in my bed at the guest house, looking out the window at the crazed thunder storm I was slightly nervous that the thin tin roof above me wouldn’t make it through the night. 

Needless to say, the roof did in fact make it through to Tuesday and we set off to train. I was teaching a community group about food drying and nutrition for the week with Darby, Noreen, and Joyce. The group of Massai men and women we were working with were some of the most kind people I have not only trained, but spent a week of my life with. Though many of them only spoke Massai, and not Swahili, they made an effort to communicate and show their appreciation for what we were teaching them. This really struck me when a woman approached me during a practical to ask if she could take some extra nails home. In the past, we have had some problems with people stealing materials or taking more than their share. However, when I told this woman that we would be passing out supplies to each person on Friday she not only promptly put them back but continued to find spare nails on the ground and return them to me. I was truly inspired by this woman, who had very little in terms of her own material possessions, and her willingness to respect what we were doing. I can’t say if I would have been as honest as her if I was in her shoes. 

The village of Oldepes is situated at the base of a small mountain called Mt.Longido. The mountain creates a beautiful green backdrop to an otherwise quite dry desert area. During our training’s on Tuesday we spotted a huge waterfall on the side of the mountain that had been created by the massive rainfall the night before. We mentioned to our trainers that if it was possible we really wanted to hike up to the waterfall that afternoon. The trainers got in on it too and soon found a man in our training willing to take us on the hike.

As we set off up the mountain that afternoon we spotted several Dik Dik (tiny antelope like animals) and noticed an amazing change in scenery as we went from dry desert land into the rainforest. The man showing us the way turned out to be an excellent and knowledgeable guide, making sure to point out various plants, rocks, animals, and historical significances of what we saw. About half way to the waterfall, he led us into a Massai boma where the young men go to live for a month or two after circumcision. Seeing a boma like this- on the side of a mountain, with only a large overhanging rock for shelter- was an experience I will never forget. The men living there had created a wood-thatched box to hand their meat in and the ground was covered in the remanence of the many cows consumed in the area. The air still smelled of the herbs they brewed into medicinal soups and the walls portrayed cave paintings imitating those in the history books I have read. After standing in awe of this for a long period of time we continued our journey towards the waterfall. Upon reaching the base we stood in wonder of the beauty. However, two of our trainers, Joyce and Joan, had a bigger plan on their minds. The two woman took off their shoes and scrambled up the rock face to where the water was thundering down on the rocks below. Us American girls stood apprehensively at the bottom contemplating just how dangerous going up there would be. Within a few minutes we climbed up the rocks and were standing under the waterfall- dancing, screaming, and soaking wet. That moment moment, under the waterfall, with the friends I have made here, is one that I will remember for the rest of my life. 

In the next days in Oldepes we continued to befriend the people, enjoy the rains, and buy far too much jewelry and crafts from the mama’s in our training. My week in Oldepes will be one that I always think about when remembering and sharing my experiences in Tanzania. 

As for now? I am taking a week off to venture to the coast with some friends in search of the beach, the Indian Ocean, fresh seafood, and just a little bit too good of a time. More updates when I return from Tanga and Mombasa!

Much love and best wishes, Hannah

Prior to this trip I had never really had a chance to understand or examine educational systems or ideologies outside of the U.S.. However, after spending a week teaching in both a Massai village school and at a private program in Tanzania I have gained a new appreciation for the style of education that is prevalent throughout America. 

The educational system in Tanzania is based off of the traditional British education system. The style of learning that is found in classrooms here is read the book, write notes, and answer questions word for word as they were taught to you. While these kids know the answers word for word, there is little room left for creativity. Critical thinking skills are inexistent in most school settings here and children are rarely encouraged to share personal opinions or interpretations of what they are learning. This is especially prevalent when teaching in the village schools. When we ask kids questions they open their books and read the answer verbatim (that is if they do more than blankly stare at us). The children at the pre-secondary school preparation class in Arusha that we have been teaching this week are more participatory and creative with their answers. However, the atmosphere in the classroom is still quite different. 

The ramifications of this highly formal education system are evident outside of the classrooms that we teach in as well. When working with very intelligent and educated trainers to build hafiers the other week my classmates and I encountered are stark example of the way people are trained to think. The soil in this area got very rocky part way through digging a hafier in Natolia. Myself and some other volunteers suggested that instead of going by the standard measurements and digging it one meter deep we make it a little shallower and wider to avoid the rocks. This would not effect the overall volume of the hafier and would require the same amount of plastic as the standard measurements. However, the concept that this would take the same amount of plastic (that was already pre-cut to fit the standard measurements) was lost on our trainers and we continued to chip away at rock for another day. 

Seeing a school system where people are not encouraged to “think outside of the box” has made me truly value the teachers and schools that have encouraged me to think this way throughout my life. 

To begin I would like to apologize for my lack of updates in the last few weeks. On the other hand, I don’t feel so sorry because I have just simply been too busy with my work here and have been (somewhat blissfully) without internet access.

For the last three weeks I have been teaching sustainable agriculture to community groups in villages. The first week we drove out to a village called Olyodonwas each day to conduct the trainings and returned to Arusha in the evenings. Darby, Goodluck (our Tanzanian intern and translator), and I were assigned to “SA follow ups” for the week and upon our arrival in the village Monday morning really had no clue what we would be doing. As it turned out, no one really knew what we were supposed to be doing. This resulted in us helping out with digging and lining hafiers for the week. Hafiers are pretty much huge trenches in the ground that we then line with plastic tarp to collect and store rain water. This is an extremely useful tool for the farmers that we teach sustainable agriculture techniques to because it gives them the water they need to implement these practices. The idea behind the program is that the community members dig the ditches and then GSC supplies and helps to install the plastic once they are completed. However, by the end of the day on Monday we realized that pretty much the whole village had the wrong measurements for the hafiers. This resulted in a week of digging (or you know, hacking away at rocks), dust, hot sun, and blisters on my hands (Tanzanians don’t believe in wearing work gloves). I have never done more manual labor in my life (let alone in an ankle length skirt) but I have also never felt more rewarded. An especially cool part of this experience was that it involved going around to peoples houses, giving us a rare opportunity to actually go around and see where people live. Upon completion of our work many people graciously offered us gifts of chai or bananas as a sign of thanks. It was a very cool experience to see how these people who have so little to treat us with such hospitality and kindness. Initially I was kind of disappointed that I wasn’t actually teaching any classes however, as the week went on I realized that doing the hafiers was a great way to be introduced to the rural people and culture in Tanzania.

During the second two weeks of field training we camped in the yard of a family in a village called Samaria. Darby, Goodluck, and I conducted sustainable agriculture trainings to community groups in the village. We were assisted by a wonderful and kind GSC trainer named Edlitruda who we came to love hanging out and training with. This was a great experience and allowed me to learning a ton about sustainable agriculture as well as how to teach adults in the most effective way possible. When we weren’t teaching we had a great time playing cards with the GSC trainers, learning Swahili, and stargazing. The second week was somewhat less relaxing as we were waking up at 5:30am every morning to vaccinate the village’s chickens in the rain and mud. I’ve never really been all that into chickens however after a week of holding, chasing, and vaccinating hundreds of chickens I can say without hesitation that I do not care for the dirty, mean, shit covered creatures all that much. On a more positive note, we had a very cool experience as we were dropping off plastic for a hafier at a Massai woman’s house. The mama had just returned from a big celebration and was dressed in traditional clothing and jewelry. The mama let us try on her elaborate jewelry and take pictures, though I felt a little ridiculous wearing the giant necklaces and holding a stick it was a pretty remarkable experience.

In between our two weeks in Samaria most of our group, along with our professor Dr. John, went on a two-day safari to the Nogorongoro Crater and Terengerie National Park. Both parks were cool however Nogorongoro was especially amazing. The park itself is a beautiful crater surrounded by an amazing rainforest that was covered in a misty fog as we drove in. We saw lions, giraffes, water buffalo, baboons, elephants, hippos, zebras, and pretty much every other awesome animal you could imagine (check out the pics- click them to enlarge!).

After our weeks in Samaria we spent the weekend in Arusha and then headed to a Massai village called Naitolia for the week. Due to the lack of water in Naitolia (they have to walk 14km every day just to get enough to drink) we stayed in a guesthouse in a nearby larger town. The guesthouse was definitely a welcome change after two weeks in a tent however, I did kind of miss the laid back atmosphere of staying in the village where we were working. If there is one thing that I will remember about Naitolia it will be the heat. The entire time we were there it was excruciatingly hot. However, the stars were absolutely beautiful and being in a Massai village was a good experience. I was excited to get to change things up and teach a community food drying and nutrition group as well as HIV/AIDS education to school kids. I really enjoyed working with the children in the village. However, it was a poignant experience, as the children would beg us for water as soon as class was over. I hated not being able to give these thirsty kids water however, there were simply too many children and I couldn’t give the little water I had to just one.

I have had more experiences in the last few weeks than I can begin to describe. I have learned more than I could imagine and cannot wait to continue into the next half of this trip (yup…it’s already half way over, so hard to believe!). I will admit that after three weeks in the village being in Arusha is a welcome change. It’s nice to be somewhere where there are more food options than rice and beans for every meal and I am already enjoying teaching HIV/AIDS education at a school here. However, I know I will be excited to get back to the village whenever I am sent away again.

Hope all is well at home! I will try to be a little better at updating my blog as I will be in town for at least the next two weeks.

Much love to you all, Hannah 

Last weekend a group of people and I went camping at Lake Chala, which is a little over an hour outside Moshi and lies on the Tanzanian-Kenyan border. We hired a random guide and a taxi driver to take us down the long, terrible dirt road to drop us off at the campsite for the weekend. The camp ground provided nice tents and also had real hot showers, a bar, and a restaurant (we were living the high life)! However, the truly amazing part was the lake itself. The campground sat near the edge of one of the most beautiful lakes I have ever seen- it was a true oasis in the middle of the bush. I was fortunate to get some good pictures of the view as we hiked around the edge and climbed down to swim, though they hardly do it justice. The water was warm and clear and the scenery was stunning. Seeing a heard of elephants just outside the campsite and having drinks with other campers around a big campfire at night made for a perfect weekend getaway.