Before describing the day’s activities, there are two major events to report: FIRST It has rained during each of the last two nights. What a difference a little moisture makes. The day’s heat has been reduced by 20 degrees, the dust has been dampened and the air is clean and fresh, the landscapes have greened up slightly, and everyone (including us!) seems energized. It feels like a different country. Tanzanian friends tell us that these are merely “Teaser Rains” and that the true rainy season is still a month away. Be that as it may, it is great to see what the country looks and feels like when it receives moisture and isn’t so bone-dry.
SECOND It was announced today that Kirk has set an all-time world’s record by eating watermelon at 47 consecutive meals (including breakfasts)! The old record was 44 set by a Maasai warrior in 1653. The watermelons here are juicy and sweet, deep red, and not too mushy. Kirk cannot resist. It is believed that when he leaves Moshi on Saturday his record of 63 consecutive meals with watermelon will never be equaled! The Association of Tanzanian Watermelon Growers is expected to acknowledge this achievement by awarding Kirk its annual honor for A Distinctive Lifetime Accomplishment of Major Significant to Tanzania’s National Viability.
Jean received a much more serious and meaningful honor today when the Executive Director of the House of Learning where she works asked if she would be able to extend her teaching service by two weeks!
Jean is doing a remarkable job of helping students prepare for their national qualifying exams, and the school she’s at recognizes and greatly appreciates her teaching skills. It was difficult for Jean to tell everyone that as much as she would like to stay, she is obliged to leave Moshi as scheduled.
Since this is the last week that we are in Moshi, we are working hard at completing the list of things that we want to accomplish while here. This afternoon Jean took care of two “to do’s.” #1… she bought some cloth in an African print, and then took it to a seamstress who will make a long caftan. Several female CCS staff members wear similar dresses, which they call “Butterfly dresses,” and they look elegant. Jean decided that she wanted one made for herself to bring home. #2… Jean also wanted to visit the huge Lutheran church here in Moshi and take a few pictures. It is a lovely church and would fit into any city in the US, except that there was a huge and highly visible Coca Cola sign inside the sanctuary, behind the last pew. Seemed really strange, but might be a new fund raising idea for American churches!
The young volunteer from Connecticut who took Jean shopping this afternoon led the two of them to a café which served yogurt shakes. Jean ordered a mango yogurt shake which was totally refreshing! What a great way to celebrate a good afternoon of shopping!
Kirk’s day was less eventful.
The teaching of ABC’s and simple addition went well, and so the children were rewarded with stickers in the shapes of pink and red hearts. As usual, the stickers were plastered on their foreheads, where they will stay for a couple days.
Near the end of the morning, while the children were playing, the teacher at the TunaHAKI orphanage asked Kirk for a private conversation. Kirk had suspected that this would happen before his departure on Friday. The teacher (a 26 year old named Deo) would like to get married and finish his college education but has no money to do either. He described how difficult and hopeless his life is without the prospect of a decent paying job that he needs before he can be independent and support a family. Deo says he is very depressed because he has no idea where he will ever find the money he needs to be a happy adult. He then asked if Kirk would sponsor him for two years at Tsh 800,000 ($550) @ year. Deo is a very decent and likable fellow with lots of potential. And Kirk truly feels sorry for him.
There are literally tens of thousands of young men in Moshi living under the same hopeless and depressing circumstances. These are some of the same conditions that give rise to the kind of protests and revolts that are taking place in northern Africa. At some point, the generation of young people in their 20’s and 30’s decides that there is no longer anything to lose in confronting their governments.
Kirk had expected for the past week that he would be approached by Deo.
His situation is heart-wrenching because there truly seems no way out of his dead-end life. This is the same fellow whose family cannot raise or borrow enough money to pay for their father’s surgery. Kirk would have been seriously inclined to become Deo’s sponsor and for $1100 invest in his future as a teacher and devoted family man. The chances are good that things would have worked out. Nonetheless, Kirk had to tell Deo that Cross Cultural Solutions has a policy that strictly forbids volunteers from contributing money to the organization they work with and its employees. The thinking is that the passing of money would quickly distort the relationship of CCS volunteers and their work to Moshi’s nonprofit community. We are here to offer our time and skills, not to be quick financial fixes. It was a difficult and disheartening conversation that left everyone feeling sad.
It’s time for bananagrams, M&M’s, and a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow we try again to climb up Mt. Kilimanjaro. We’ll see how far we get.
Love you all,
Mama Jean and Babu
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