Monday, January 31, 2011

Dear Family and Friends,

This was a very intense and full and beneficial day of orientation activities. Jean and I are very tired, but will go to sleep this evening with huge smiles on our faces.

First of all… I have been renamed “Babu” which means grandfather in Swahili. I am the oldest of the 35 volunteers that make up the current group, and I am very, very old in the eyes of most Tanzanians. The average age at death here is 45 for women and 43 for men, so I am considered an ancient specimen and am being accorded the respect and awe that is accorded the elderly!

Before I describe the day’s activities, I want to tell you that there are three ways of telling time in Tanzania. The first is “rooster time.” The roosters in our neighborhood (and apparently in most places) are accustomed to crowing at the same time each day. For example, the rooster in our compound crows at 4:45, 5:45, and 6:45 in the morning. So far, we could set our watches by the crowing, so dependable are our highly educated roosters! The second way of telling time is like we do in the US and the western world. Here, it is mostly foreigners and organizations such as airlines that use this way of telling time.

The third way is to begin 12 hour cycles at sunrise and sun set. This is considered Tanzania Time. As you probably know, Tanzania is close enough to the equator (3 degrees south) that the day is almost perfectly divided between daylight and darkness. So, our 7:00 am is 1:00 in the morning in Tanzania Time; 9:00 am is 3:00, 12 noon is 6:00 in Tanzania Time, etc. Likewise, our 7:00 pm, or one hour after dark, is 1:00 in the evening in Tanzania Time. Etc. The funny thing is that no one is hardly ever on time, but no one here is ever late. Just “delayed!” And there are millions of reasons for being delayed… and no one is ever upset. Things are very laid-back.

The Tanzania we’ve seen so far is very rural and agrarian, and quite poor and underdeveloped. We may have underestimated eastern Africa’s poverty and underdeveloped economy. We’re certain that there are middle and upper classes here in Moshi, or Arusha, or in the handful of other “large” cities of Tanzania and we will make a point of seeing where they reside. But so far we are impressed with the depth and extent of the country’s poverty.

In many ways, Tanzania feels to Jean and me like it is at the same stage of development that Korea was when we lived there in 1970-71. We learned today that only 15% of Tanzania’s adult population earns a reliable paycheck that can be depended on from month to month. Apparently to a very great extent, this 15% supports the rest or at the least is their extended family’s safety net. One lady privately complained to Jean and me this afternoon that after she has paid to keep her extended family alive, there is hardly enough left to send her children to school. We sensed that she resented the situation, but being one of the few in her family to receive a regular pay check she feels seriously obliged to support the others.

Presenters at today’s orientation sessions talked about being dressed appropriately (aka modest attire) when we leave the Cross Cultural Solutions Home-Base, being sure that we know which kind of time telling is being referred to when we make appointments, how to greet the various types of people we’ll be in touch with, how to handle individuals who may want to abuse our friendship by asking for special
favors or financial support, how to say yes and no to invitations (in Tanzania, no one ever says no, so there are various ways of saying yes that may actually mean no!), the meaning of body language, how to bargain effectively when in a public market, and how to give and receive directions in a culture that does not use maps or street names/addresses.

Before lunch, time was devoted to personal goal setting. Jean and I each developed three specific, measurable goals for our Cross Cultural Solutions experience. Once a week we will meet with our program director to review how we are doing with our goals and also discuss areas of concern or disappointment. CCS is doing its best to make sure that we feel satisfied and that our time in Tanzania is worthwhile and beneficial.

After lunch, we were each introduced to the individual who will be our supervisor when we begin our volunteer work tomorrow morning. Jean and I feel that we are partnered with very capable, devoted, and personable individuals who run seriously under-resourced but effective nonprofit organizations. We’ll describe our actually experiences during the days ahead.

Later in the afternoon, the entire group of volunteers was transported to a village outside Moshi. For two hours we were hosted by the village chief and the “village mama” who walked with us on the winding direct walkways/roads, took us to the public market, answered questions about governance and the election of public officials, life style, economics, land ownership, and religious life. We saw a few houses that were “upscale” but life for most in the village of Rau is very basic. We were fortunate enough to be invited to enter several homes (some did not have electricity, only a few had indoor bathrooms or plumbing, and all seemed to include chickens). And I stopped by the village bar for a few minutes and for 40 cents was able to enjoy a bottle of banana beer, the local brew, with two of the local guys.



We returned to Home-Base around 6:30 pm, showered, and enjoyed another wonderful meal of vegetables, beef, salad, and fruit. Jean and I are eating well, enjoying new friendships with delightful folks from all over, and getting great nights of sleep beneath mosquito netting. All day and night there are unending animal sounds, Muslim calls to prayer, Christian church bells, and various vehicular noises. By the way, Tanzania is evenly divided between Sunni Muslims and Roman Catholic and Lutheran Christians. The country is proud that relations between its Muslim and Christian populations are said to be peaceful.

My pre-bed snack is 8 M&Ms! And then it is to bed. “Lala salama”… which means sleep well and sweet dreams!

With our love,
Babu and Jean