Pasaka (Easter) Break

April 5-8

The past few days have been some of the most incredible in my life. For our Easter break, we had two options: to go on safari, or to visit an NGO in a village in southeastern Tanzania. We didn’t originally have a choice, but after Jenny (our program director) mentioned she had some friends who ran an NGO, a few of us got pretty excited. Last month we had dinner we these friends and they told us a little about what they did. They definitely convinced me that I wanted to go.

Thursday morning, we arose before dawn to begin our 12 hour journey across the country. There we five girls from the program, Jenny, and her house worker Mikah, whom we’ve all grown fond of. He’s around our age, speaks some English, is Masai, and acts like a big brother to all of us. Luckily, we didn’t have to travel in a bus. Instead CIEE hired a large safari car for us to ride in. Driving across the country was once again a very neat experience. To leave the chaos of Dar and see other parts is absolutely glorious. We even got to drive through a national park where we were able to see elephants, giraffes, zebras, and baboons. There were plenty of baboons along the way as we also traveled through mountains. We made several stops and eventually turned off of a main road in the region of Mufindi. The sky grew darker and we were driving on an absolutely awful road for about two hours in the darkness. We could see that it was freezing outside and we were surrounded by forests and mountains, which sounded like heaven. The region is famous for its tea fields, which were vast expanses of short bush-like plants rolling over hills. Unfortunately we were all a little too exhausted to take it all in. 

We arrived at the house of Geoff and Jenny (another Jenny) at around 7pm. Jenny climbed into our car and accompanied us to where we would be staying. It was definitely not what I was expecting! We were greeted by a woman named Upendo (meaning love in Swahili) and her seven year old Steve. The house was two stories and was absolutely delightful. The upstairs had a kitchen and a large room with leather couches, a dining room table, a  huge fireplace and lots of puzzles and books for the guests who stayed there. The downstairs had two large rooms with king size beds and a few bunk beds with accompanying bathrooms. We were all ecstatic. It almost felt like we were on a family vacation in a cabin in the mountains. I slept incredibly well that night, especially when the cat that belongs to the house decided to cuddle with me.

The next morning, we arose early to the wonderful smell of coffee. FRESH COFFEE. Something I had not had since arriving in the country. We’ve been drinking instant. We also discovered there was a door out to the balcony that overlooked a gorgeous view. Rolling greens hills, tea fields, and fog: three of my favorite things. We could not believe our eyes. It truly looked more like Wales, not what I expected at all from Tanzania! Upendo made us a delicious breakfast, and then we hit the road early to begin some of our volunteer work.

Jenny and Geoff have worked under the Fox family, who are a British family that have lived in the region for many, many years. Since Jenny and Geoff have been there, they have already accomplished a huge amount of work. The region of Mufindi is one of the poorest areas of Tanzania and about 45% of the population has been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. Jenny and Geoff have been an entire children’s village where kids live with a few mamas who help to take care of them. They have also opened a clinic that serves a large part of the population, or those who are willing to seek treatment. Many are simply not willing to do so because of varying factors. 

On our way to the clinic to help out, our car got stuck in mud while we were going up a hill. The whole hillsides of this area are turned to slush during the rainy season. We also happened to arrive during the especially wet and foggy season. We all had to get out of the car and trek up the hill, being extremely careful not to slip along the way. It was quite the adventure. Geoff was the driver and was able to aptly pull out of the mud and continue up the hill. He says it’s a lot like driving in snow. When we arrived to the clinic we were told that it was to be visited by about 150 people that day who were seeking medication and checkups. Usually there would be about 300 but because of the rain, there would be far fewer. We all received various jobs, mine was filing. It was interesting doing filing without computers. They simply do not have the capacity to do that yet, but are hoping to someday. My job was to organize a particular box of files. About five minutes in, I realized I was organizing the files of those who had died during the past two years. I swear my heart skipped a beat when I realized this. All I had seen was the numbers I was cataloguing, not the people whose lives had ended.  

Each person who came into the clinic needed to bring a form with them that stated the date, what medication they were on, the day they’re supposed to visit, and their weight. If they did not bring this card, they could not receive treatment because otherwise the doctor could not supervise the condition of their health. What was especially sad to me was the fact that many of the people that came in were extremely drunk, but really, can you blame them? Their lives seemed to be ending as they knew it. Many have been ostracized by their families or villages. Some have been abused by their husbands who also gave them the disease, and many are struggling each day to survive. However, if you drink alcohol while taking certain medications for HIV/AIDS, it cancels out anything the medicine accomplishes. I’m sure this gets extremely frustrating for those who are attempting to help these people. 

We were also able to take a tour of the hospital area. Actually, it’s not technically a hospital, which means they get very little support from the government. They are in the process of building a few more buildings to establish it as a hospital. They are beginning a program where they will bring in doctors who wish to volunteer and treat the members of the community. It sounds like it will be a wonderful program and there is a lot of integration happening with the community itself. 

After volunteering at the clinic, we visited several peoples’ homes who were willing to share their story with us. At the first house, we met a man in his mid-thirties who waited too long to get checked for HIV and developed a fungus in his brain that resulted in a stroke. He is now paralyzed on his right side and could barely engage with us. His mother was there, along with a caretaker. There are two people, one man and one woman, who volunteer to help take care of people who are suffering from particular diseases. This man travels to around forty homes to help take care of people whose families have a hard time caring for them. He showed us what the paralyzed man does for exercises each day. A physical therapist from Finland who lives in the region visits every few months to check in on how he is doing.  We were allowed to ask questions and I asked how he spent his day. He couldn’t even reply, and his caretaker replied that he basically only does his exercises. 

In the next house we visited, there was a younger man and younger woman. In the region of the Rift Valley, there is a disease known as “Mossy Foot”. Apparently it comes from a mineral found in the volcanic dirt in the Rift Valley. Many farmers farm their land without shoes and this mineral infects the body. It produces sores that do not heal and a reaction similar to elephantitis. It eventually can take over the entire immune system and combined with HIV it is a huge problem in the area. The two people we met had obviously been suffering both mentally and physically because of this awful disease. It is so sad that this is something that can be prevented so easily by just wearing shoes, but even that can be tremendously difficult to accomplish. 

The care worker accompanied us to a third house where we met a woman who tested herself for TB, and in the process found out her HIV diagnosis. Her husband had already been diagnosed and she was not aware. Her four children and mother were also there and we watched as the care worker instructed what she needed to do to take care of her health. He mostly focused on the fact she needed to visit the clinic regularly and that she needed to eat a balanced meal. He explained to her that certain foods have nutrients that can keep her healthier. The mother seemed pleased to have us visiting, but it still felt a little strange as this woman was getting advice that could help to save her life. 

After we finished our house calls, we returned to the lodge where we were staying. On the way back we came to a hill that the car had trouble going down because of the mud. So we got out and trekked down, two of the girls wearing flip flops. What an adventure! I did fall once, but it was into the grass and I didn’t get too muddy. As we arrived and got out of our wet clothes, Upendo made us some lovely fresh tea, which was grown in the region. We drank tea, looked at the view, did a puzzle, and sat by the fire. It was definitely a great vacation especially after the emotional experiences of the day.

The next day we rose early again and ate another wonderful breakfast. I hadn’t had scrambled eggs since I’ve been in TZ, so that was delightful. We then headed over to another part of the organization where they distribute powdered milk to mothers with HIV. We received a tour of the facilities then took another tour of the entire children’s village they have on site. There are five homes for children of different ages. All have a permanent mother that live in the house, so that the kids do not rely only on the people that come to volunteer and visit. After our tour was finished, we go to play with the kids, which was an absolute blast! I LOVED IT. We spent about 5 hours coming up with fun things to do with them, including “Tembo, Tembo, Twiga” which is “Duck, Duck, Goose” except it means “elephant” and “giraffe”. We had a blast! 

Once again we returned home and relaxed the rest of the day. That night we went to Jenny and Geoff’s house and hung out with them. They’re simply wonderful. When I walked in and saw a quilt hanging on the wall, I asked about it. Jenny got really excited and asked, “Do you quilt?” I said that I did and she replied, “When can you come back?” It made me smile. I would like to come back and live in another part of TZ outside of Dar, and this would be the place, perhaps in a few years. They are working on a new project of quilts representing the people of the community. Apparently, I’m her woman. 

The next day was Easter. I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t get to church but I decided I was going to make it the best Easter ever on my own. I woke up before sunrise, grabbed the copy of “The Message” from the community bookshelf in the house, and sat on a boulder that overlooked the gorgeous view of the valley below us. I sang, meditated, prayed, and read while watching the sunrise. It was lovely!

Unfortunately we then had to leave our paradise. However, we decided to extend the trip for a day and visit Jenny’s village that she lived in during the Peace Corps. We walked alllllllllll around the village which was super cool, except I was not wearing the right shoes for that kind of excursion which caused my back to be annoying. I still enjoyed my time, but I ended up getting pretty sick because of the amount of pain. Oh well, life goes on. It was still delightful. Since we spent so much time in the village, we stayed another night in Iringa. It was cool spending some time in a smaller city. The next day we set out for our long journey back to Dar. None of us wanted to go back. 

Now three days later, we all still talk about how we want to return to the region. It was just such a wonderful place and I hope that one day I can return there.