Another Thursday in Moshi

Dear Family and Friends,

This was another very fascinating day in our adopted home town of Moshi where the women are strong, the men are engaging, and the children are countless and as cute as buttons!

There was nothing special about Jean’s work today except that the Director of the House of Learning asked that she teach all day rather than just in the morning. Jean’s masterful teaching skills are recognized and valued, so her supervisor was quite pleased when Jean agreed to teach in the afternoon as well as in the morning. By 4:00, Jean was an exhausted puppy, so she returned to the Home-Base late this afternoon and immediately took a well deserved nap.


This was an unusually warm day, even by Moshi’s standards. I think this may be the reason why so many of the children at the orphanage where I work were unruly. There were more than the usual number of fights and pestering each other. Since the teacher and director didn’t show up again today, I was responsible for discipline and trying to teach numbers 11-20 and letters P to Z in English. The kids tried very hard but ran out of steam. And so did I. One little boy from the neighborhood came to class with knife wounds on his right arm. He said that his mother had hurt him. It was decided that a neighbor would take him to the police. Perhaps we’ll find out tomorrow what happened.

Jean stayed at her school, but I returned to the Home-Base for lunch. After doing some hand laundry I decided to walk to the town centre where I walked about for a couple hours. The vast part of the city’s commercial activity takes place out of doors and on the street, so it is very interesting and easy to view.
I saw everything imaginable… from barbers to sewing machine ladies making bags and dresses to vendors selling shoes, clothing, toys, auto and bike parts, and cosmetics. I stopped by an ATM to withdraw 300,000 Tanzanian shillings from my checking account in the US. I thought I was a rich man until I figured out that Tsh 300,000 only amounts to $200.00! Anyway, after the walk-about and picture taking, I went to an Internet Café to quench my thirst with a coke in a class bottle and read the New York Times. I was pleased to learn that the TEA Party is giving Republican leaders a run for their money.


Finally I stopped to see the bus station. Scores of buses that connect Moshi with the rest of the country and Africa were coming and going. What a noisy and chaotic zoo. There was nothing going on that resembled order and discipline. Every bus was met by vendors hawking a variety of goods and “professionals” trying to get their clients the best seats on always packed buses. It appears that buses don’t leave the station until they are full. For the most part, there are no schedules… except on the high priced elite buses.

After work tomorrow, Jean and I will travel by bus to Arusha (a major city that is 45 miles to the west) and stay at a very nice and air-conditioned hotel for two nights. This will be our Valentine’s Day celebration! We’ve decided that we would like a Tanzanian “bus experience” so we will take one of the local buses that I spotted this afternoon. We’ll let you know in the next blog posting what the experience ended up being like.


I find Tanzania’s heat to be debilitating and dehydrating. I drink as much water as I can absorb but still feel the physical effects of not having enough liquids in my system. By mid-afternoon, I am exhausted and listless. I see Tanzanian men and women working so very hard all day long under a scorching sun and wonder how in the world they do it. It’s a tough life for most Tanzanians. No wonder their bodies give out when they are in their 40s. By the way, I learned yesterday that the primary cause of death in Tanzania is malaria, and that one of five children die of malaria.

To reward ourselves for the very challenging day we had experienced, Jean and I and a group of other volunteers who were also feeling like the day had been very rough decided to have the evening meal at a local watering hole named “The Watering Hole! The Watering Hole is owned by a guy who was born in Tanzania of American parents and went to college at Texas A&M. It’s located on a river bank and after dark shows movies on a large outdoor screen. It is a very popular spot. Because we were so tired, Jean and I didn’t stay for the movie but we did enjoy a cheeseburger and fries and a chicken quesadilla and four large bottles of beer. Jean is already in bed and fast asleep, and while it has been difficult for me to sleep soundly when the weather at night is so hot I plan to do so tonight. There was a reason for all the beer! On the way home, we learned that the taxi driver’s wife had just given birth to their first child and that he was headed tomorrow to the village where his wife’s family lives to pick his wife and the baby up. It was all very sweet.

We love you all… and wish we could sit together and talk about all we are experiencing. It seems impossible that next week is our last week as Cross Cultural Solutions volunteers. The experience has been very enriching and enjoyable… and the time is passing very quickly.

Lala Salama… fo fo fo!

Babu and Mama Jean