I can’t believe I have been in this country for a whole month. Today I have the day off as my roommates begin the school year at St. Peter Claver High School, so I thought I’d catch up on my correspondence! I apologize for the delay as we’ve been traveling with limited internet access! This entry will be pretty long (sorry) but I’ll try to keep the rest short and frequent.
Tomorrow I will start my placement at the Village of Hope. All the details are not yet clear, but I will find out more when I go tomorrow! I’ll save all that for the next entry and fill you in on the past month instead…
Part 1: Visit to Ihumwa
Laura and Sean made friends with a wonderful family last year that lives in a village outside of Dodoma called Ihumwa. Charlie, the dad, is a cook at St. Peter. They generously invited us to come stay the night in their home. It was so cool to spend time in the village, playing with all the kids, preparing meals, showering/using the bathroom outside, going to the market, etc. We definitely stood out as “wazungu” (white people) there even more than we do in Dodoma. A hilarious moment was when Laura tickled a baby that was staring at her and he jumped and cried as if the monster under his bed reached out and grabbed him. Don’t worry, all the mamas around laughed and thought it was hilarious as they consoled him!
I am excited to visit Ihumwa again, especially when I know more Swahili and can hopefully learn a little bit of the tribal language, Kigogo.
Part 2: Retreat in Tanga
The 11 American Jesuit Volunteers came together for a week in Tanga for a beautiful retreat. The location was AMAZING. We each had our own rooms located right on the coast. I hadn’t realized that I’d never seen a sunrise over the ocean, being from the West (best) coast. It was gorgeous and inspired me to get up early to run! Our time in Tanga was spent getting to know each other and our intentions for our greater time together in this country.
Part 3: Christmas in Dar
After our retreat, we traveled together to Dar es Salaam (2nd years: Shea and Cat, 1st years: Cait and Beth). While we were in Tanga, massive floods in Dar es Salaam, taking many lives, homes, and infrastructure. The volunteers were very lucky and their house only had a little water. However, the primary school (Gonzaga) where Cat and Beth work was inundated. Although we arrived only a day or so after the floods, the Sisters who run the school were already at work determined to have it ready for the children to come to school on the 9th, showing true resilience that I am coming to find is characteristic of many in Tanzania. Our group helped in the little way we could by washing the hundreds of uniforms that were muddied in the floods. I will contact the Dar volunteers for an update on the school and community to let you know how they are doing.
The experience of the floods showed me how truly isolated from information I am, even within Tanzania. None of us knew of the floods until we arrived in Dar, whether it be because of our lack of access to information or the media and governments efforts to keep news of the devastation quiet. To stay informed, I’m going to have to been proactive.
As for Christmas, it was great to be together! However, I very much missed home. I had a few “woe is me” moments thinking about how I was hot and sticky and uncomfortable and didn’t understand the language and missed my family and missed my friends and on and on. Having the perspective of the 2nd year volunteers really helped. They said the first Christmas away is MUCH harder than the second and they felt the same way one year ago. They still miss home, but in a different way having created another home for themselves in this country. I am hopeful that I will do the same!
Part 4: New Years in Moshi
My almost home… Maybe it was because of all the mental preparations I had done, or maybe because there were hills, but I felt very comfortable in Moshi (2nd years: Andy, Moryah, and Liz). It also helps that Liz did a JV Domestic year in San Francisco and Moryah is from the East Bay! The town is much quieter than Dar and has a much more western feel, most likely due to tourist influence. I was able to go for runs in the morning in Moshi with views of Mt Kilimanjaro. Definitely had a “moment” there and am excited to visit again. A few of us are looking into traveling for the Kilimanjaro Marathon, Half Marathon, and Fun Run at the end of February.
For New Years, we had ourselves a raging dance party wearing moo moos and having a few mixed drinks. It was not a trolley in SF, but it was a blast! Please see facebook for more pictures!
On New Year’s Day, we were invited to share in the Silver Jubilee for three Christian Brothers celebrating the 25 years since their ordination. During the celebration, I had concurrent and opposite feelings: being so happy to be there and excited about learning traditions and having new experiences, and having the overwhelming feeling wanting to go home and be somewhere where I know appropriate things to do and say. It will be interesting to see how these types feelings wax and wane as I continue my time here.
Part 5: Back in Dodoma
Happy to be back! I think part of the intention of having us travel so much is to make somewhere you’ve only been for a week feel like home already J. We had our beds put together and are currently working out the kinks of being “new home owners.” We have had a couple of floods from pipes bursting, and are working out the bill-paying, trash, rent, cleaning, cooking, etc. systems. I think we are all excited to establish some routines and get to a “normal schedule” here!
A NOTE ON TRAVEL: In Tanzania, one travels on a bus, and it takes forever to get anywhere! Examples: Dodoma to Tanga: 11 hours, Tanga to Dar: 7 hours, Moshi to Dodoma: 16 hours (normally about 12, but we were delayed about 4 hours when the police decided to stop ALL the buses to check licenses… it was a long day). However long/uncomfortable these trips are, I have been EXTREMELY lucky (knock on wood) that I haven’t been getting carsick at all!
If you made it this far, bless your patience and thank you for reading! Please feel free to ask questions about things you’d like to know! I thought it would be obvious to me what to share, but it is trickier than I expected. So please help me out.
Peace, love, and hugs,
Hannah
Hannah! That all sounds very exciting! I miss you a ton Brucie :)
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