We left our home base in two vans at 7:30 am after having breakfast. The two hour ride had only one incident: a female police officer stopped our van in a small village about half way between Moshi and Arusha. She was standing in the roadway and hit the side of the van or its back tire with a police club. Our driver pulled over immediately to see what he had done wrong. If we understand the explanation correctly, the police officer thought that our van was part of the local transportation system. As such, he should have made a stop at the near-by intersection. When our driver explained that he was driving a private van, showed her his license, and showed all of the various permits that are plastered to the side of the van, the policewoman became argumentative and belligerent. She was determined to charge him with something and began looking very hard to find the “something.” Eventually, she found a cracked cover on the turning signal. By this time, she was in our driver’s face and thumping his chest with her finger. And then she threatened to take our driver to the local police station!
The Tanzanian CCS female staff member (Mama Fatuma), who was with us in the van, got out and tried to talk calmly to the policewoman. Finally, Mama Fatuma offered the policewoman 5,000 Shillings, but was rebuffed. The next offer was 10,000 Shillings (approximately $7.00). The police officer stuck it in her pocket, walked away… and we were again on our way. These kinds of shake-downs are very common in Tanzania. This was the third such incident that we experienced in our brief time here.
We arrived at the Tribunal in Arusha and were met by two young Interns from Kenya. They took us to the visitor’s section of Chamber 3. There we put on headphones and listened to the trial of Mathieu Ngirumpatse who once was Director General of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Rwanda. He was captured in 1998 in Mali and has been on trial since 2005. It is estimated that a million members of the minority Tutsi tribe were brutally killed by the ruling Hutu tribe/government during a 100 day period in 1994. Some of the readers of this blog remember seeing the movie “The Hotel Rwanda” several years ago. It was a very sad and horrible chapter in human history.
Mr. Ngirumpatse and the prosecuting attorney had some harsh exchanges. One that all of us enjoyed was Mr. Ngirumpatse’s answer to a question in which he clearly said, “No.” The prosecuting attorney restated the question and Mr. Ngirumpatse said, “As I just told you, Yes.” Those of us in the Visitor’s Gallery almost burst out laughing!
After watching the proceedings for an hour and a half, the court took a break, so we were led to a conference room and were greeted by a Tanzanian who is the ICTR’s communications officer. He was proud of the fact that the Tribunal is setting historic precedents as it holds world leaders accountable when they torture and kill their own citizens. He cited Kenya’s recent election as an example of a peaceful political process which could have been drastically different if the Tribunal was not leading the way to hold politicians accountable for their actions.
We each were given a packet of information which told about the 62 Rwandans who have already been tried and the 20 more who will be tried by this tribunal before it concludes its work in 2013. We then returned to the Visitor’s Gallery to watch more of Mr. Ngirumpatse’s trial. The prosecuting attorney spoke in English, while Mr. Ngirumpatse spoke in French. We greatly appreciated the translation that we heard through the headphones. Even though we were in the Visitors’ Gallery behind a glass partition, we were only ten feet from the defendant and 20 feet from the prosecutor. It was a very strange feeling to be so close to the action.
After another hour of watching the proceedings, which we enjoyed tremendously, Kirk and I left the Tribunal with a great appreciation for the work that this court is doing. A short walk took us to the Yia Yia Restaurant on the grounds of the Arusha Museum Gardens. It was a lovely and lush setting. We shared a tuna and vegetable Salad, a serving of Tanzanian onion rings, and a very weak banana milk shake. We enjoyed good food and good company.
After lunch, the entire group of volunteers stopped by the Maasai Market. We had visited this same market last weekend and had a much better experience. Today the shopkeepers were very aggressive and invited us into their stall “just to look.” I accepted the invitation once and found that my way out was blocked. I finally pushed my way past the shopkeeper and didn’t enter another shop. Others in our group bought some machetes, beaded jewelry and wooden salad tongs.
Our next stop was the Tanzanite Experience Museum, a visitor center which explains the origins of Tanzanite, provides information about the Tanzanite gem, and sells cut stones. Since we have already purchased a Tanzanite stone, it was interesting to learn more about this gemstone and to ask questions about it. Tanzanite is said to have been formed over 585 million years ago and is found only in a small area between Moshi and Arusha. The source is expected to be depleted in 15 to 20 years. A few of our fellow volunteers enjoyed making a purchase.
While at the Museum we learned in regards to coal and gold mining that Tanzania is a rising star in East Africa. In fact, Tanzania is Africa’s 4th largest gold producer with huge reserves of iron, uranium, nickel, coal, iron, vanadium and titanium minerals. China has entered the mining picture here in a very large way and with huge investments in Tanzania’s mining infrastructure. Unfortunately, to date only 3% or so of the value of minerals mined and exported from Tanzania is reaching government coffers. The rest ends up in the pockets of government officials who award mining rights and as profits for companies, mostly foreign, that have purchased the rights. There is an estimated 1200 million tons of mineral reserves in Tanzania so let’s hope that the government and its social service and educational programs begin to benefit much more than they are currently.
The last stop was at a grocery store called Shop-Rite. Volunteers stocked up with snack foods and treats. Kirk purchased three puzzles and an assortment of candies to distribute to his class of children since tomorrow (Friday) is our last day at our volunteer locations. We then began the two-hour drive home through heavy traffic. We reached Moshi around 7:30, tired and hungry as bears!
When we arrived at our Home-Base we were greeted by an army of huge flying bugs. They were about the size of dragonflies and seemed to fill our eating pavilion. We learned that they were termites. Since the rain has come, they have grown wings and come out of the ground. After the queen mates with the male termites, all of them will lose their wings and the queen will begin a new colony. Some of the termite mounds that we pass when we walk into town are huge!
The second event of the evening was hearing about the deadly explosions in Dar es Salaam this evening. We’ve been told that the explosions were caused by outdated bombs that were being stored in a military warehouse. For some reason one of them exploded, beginning a chain reaction that resulted in the deaths of 20 people, injured 160 more, and closed the airport in Dar es Salaam. No one whom we talk with thinks that it was a terrorist attack. But no one is able to explain how a bomb could go off by itself.
We can assure you that we’re safe and hundreds of miles from the explosion. In fact, Dar es Salaam is an eight hour bus ride or a one hour flight from Moshi.
Tomorrow is our last day of work and on Saturday we’ll meet Margie and Hank Clark to begin our safari.
Love to all of you,
Mama Jean and Babu
Could you post a calendar or choronology of your visit so that we could see the big picture of what you are up to? Who is paying for this trial that lasts five or six years?
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