12/28/18, Only a few days left in 2018 so I'd best get a blog out. As most of you know I am back in my village after a few weeks in Dar for my snakebite. It was an interesting series of events that taught me a few valuable lessons, but now I am back home trying to pick up where I left off. That is not too easy to do, even my Swahili took a big drop after the six weeks of not using it (3 weeks in America and 3 weeks in Dar). We were just starting the village medical volunteer program and the primary school renovations before I left. Both will have to wait until after the holidays to get going again because people are very busy right now with the holidays and the start of the rainy season.

Life in a farming community like this revolves around the planting and harvesting seasons. When the rains begin everyone heads to their farms to plant their crops. I'm included in that, while I was away my neighbor had the field around my house cleared and planted with corn. We also planted Moringa trees (photo). This tree meets many of the nutritional and functional needs of the villagers, and grows rapidly in this type of arid environment. The second photo is of a meeting we had with some of the mamas to review the benefits of the Moringa tree, how to plant, and how to maintain. I also distributed seeds to these mamas and the others who showed up later. We also discussed trying to get the chicken coop project started again after the unfortunate death of my previous counterpart.

On a more personal level, my battle with the local mice has entered a new phase. Mice in the house becomes a real problem because they love to destroy my food supplies. I have tried various techniques with limited success. Putting food in containers (never have enough), and mouse traps (never caught one yet). My best luck has been just a bucket with water. During the dry season they would just fall in (sorry animal rights activists). Then I learned to put a stick across the top with food dangling down by thread. That worked good for a while.......until now. Apparently they are not only smarter than me, but pretty big too. The picture shows the bucket with the stick. It pulled the stick to the side and ate the bread. But the tomato has been eaten where it hangs. How could a little mouse reach down that far and eat something round? I picture a velociraptor or maybe one of those hyenas (a very small one).

So my next plan will be much more complex (see diagram). Since it is around Christmas I'm going with the Santa milk and cookie plan. So it sits in the chair and has to have a cup of tea. When it picks up the cup that frees the pendulum which swings striking the bowling ball which slides down the ramp hitting the book which falls over and puts an end to this charade. Thinks he's smarter than me huh?

On a more positive note, I made my first loaf of banana bread. It was delicious, and I ate most of it before I thought to take a picture of it. Not bad for a pan on coal stove if I do say so myself.

From my house to yours Happy Holidays and Happy New Year.

Now where do I find a small chair and bowling ball....

Brian

12/11/18 I figured I would give another post to answer some questions and provide an update on my foot.

We think it was a Southern Stiletto snake. It is unique because it has fangs that extend out of the side of its mouth and can strike from the side, hence the name stiletto. If you remember I never saw the bite and I know it didn't strike full on with two fangs, but it did hit my foot from the side and there is only one puncture wound. So basically I was shanked. Figures I had to run into a gangsta snake.

The swelling on my foot has gone down to almost nothing. The only problem is that there is still pain when it is on the floor, and it turns a deep shade of blue when it is down. They assure me this is normal and that it will decrease in time.

I am currently staying with an expat host family who volunteered to take me in. I'm hoping to head back to my ville soon, but will have to wait until the foot is recovered well enough to get around, and the Peace Corps doctors give me the thumbs up.

I hope everyone is enjoying the cold weather and getting ready for the holidays.

Peace, Brian

12/6/2018 It's been a long time since my last post.  The time has certainly gone by quickly. Since my last post I have conducted training for volunteers from the villages, been to America and back, and now I find myself sitting in a hospital in Dar es Salaam writing this blog post.  I guess I should probably start there and work backwards.

On Tuesday, just after returning from America for emergency leave I was bitten by a snake. This is what happened: my home is so hot during the night that I have to leave the windows open but when it rains the wind blows it right in the house so about 4 or 5 AM I got up to shut the windows. I turned the light on to check for creepy crawlies then opened the door to look outside. The snake must have been just outside the door and I didn't even notice it until I felt it going over my foot. My reaction was to step back which is when I stepped on it. I chased it around the house a little bit until I noticed the blood on my foot and figured out that it bit me. Didn't even feel it. After killing the snake I carried it to my neighbors house and he transported me to the local clinic for IVs, then the district hospital for anti venom. I took an ambulance to the local airport (picture a Model T on dirt roads) and a flight to Dar and here I am. The foot is swollen and painful but I have been trying to move around some. Not sure how long I will be here in Dar, but I don't think I will be heading back to my house until I have recovered enough to take care of myself again.

Travels to America. My step father passed away after some time in hospice care. I tried to make it back in time but it took me five days to get back. I got to see many people during my short time home and I really appreciate the support and love. I was not really aware of how much I needed the physical and spiritual break until I got there. I ended up putting on more than 10 pounds in the 2 weeks. To everyone I got to see, thank you for your love and support. For everyone I didn't get to see, I'm sorry and I owe you some time someday. I will make it up to you when I get the opportunity. May he rest in peace.

Training for the villagers. If you remember from my last post I was going to set up a training for basic medical response for the local subvillages. Well we had the training and it went great. There were 13 volunteers from the villages, my counterpart Peter, the Community Health Worker, and the doctor. I taught basic response and assessment, Peter taught about the 4 classes we taught together in the villages (HIV, malaria, water safety, and washing hands) the health worker taught about nutrition, the doctor taught about maternal health. After six hours of training and team building activities we were ready to start visiting the villages to teach about healthcare and getting the villagers the care they needed. Unfortunately that was just before the travels and hospitalization. The next phase will have to wait until things are going a little smoother.

Well that's it for now. Never a boring day here in Africa. I will keep you updated on my progress as often as I can.
Peace,
Brian

Photos: the foot, the snake, the training, the love of my life.

10/6/18 It has been over a month since my last blog, and what a month it has been. I started this blog while still in the states with the intention of chronicling my time in Africa with the Peace Corps. I promised  people that I would try and keep it as genuine as I could so that they could get a feel for the whole experience. I don't see any reason to hold the latest experience back, and I think that he would truly like to know that people all over the world are thinking of him.

So the reason that I am starting my photos with the same photo from my last blog entry is that it shows Daudi and myself graduating from training together in August. This is important because since that time he has passed away. He went into the hospital with stomach pain, had surgery, and lived two days.  He was born in 1987, had a wife and two children, one three years, and one 6 months.

Far be it from me to criticize the health care system from another country. I think some of my posts demonstrate the conditions that people face, and I do think that the healthcare workers do the best with what they have. The problem is they have very little. I recently spoke with a doctor who told me about the shortages of diagnostic tools. There are no ultrasound machines and very few glucometers in our entire district containing many healthcare clinics. I won't even mention Xray or MRI machines.

I have decided that I would also mention the mourning period and funeral. I want to talk about it because it is so different from ours, and because I was asked to explain our own system numerous times. I think there is definitely something to be learned from them in this area. Immediately upon learning of his death I was summoned to his house. Upon arrival I found many people sitting around in chairs and on the ground. They seemed to be just doing their own thing, some talking, some playing cards, and some just sitting there. I didn't really know what to do so I just sat there with everyone else. At some point during the day his wife and children arrived and were ushered into the house. We just stayed there, community members coming and going until you needed to leave, then you just left. The next day we were back again. Just sitting around, this day included the students who also sat in their own groups and talked. Later in the day the body arrived and we had a more formal funeral like we would recognize. The third day we were off to his home city by bus for the actual burial.

If you haven't figured it out yet, the reason we sat around was to show support for the family. The whole community came and went. There was food and conversation and intense discussions about his family and the school and what was going to happen next. It's not a cheerful picture. His wife will receive some money, but not enough to sustain them for long. For that reason the hat was passed around several times for donations, and people gave even though they don't have much themselves. His passing was a community loss, and the community mourned together.

So this blog post is a Memorial to Daudi Pastory. He was a good man, honest, hard working, and a good family man. It was a pleasure to have worked with him for this short period of time, I just wish it could have been longer.

Please take a minute to say a prayer for him. He was very curious and used to ask many questions about America. I know he would be proud to know that there were many people on the other side of the world thinking and praying for him. Maybe that will make you all a member of our little community.

Photos:
Daudi and I graduating in August.
The body arrives, the students line the road leading to the school and his home.
The funeral service included many different religious, political, and educational leaders.
A beautiful sunrise out my front door. No matter how bad it gets, it still rises everyday.

8/25/2018 Hello again from Tanzania. It has been quite a while since my last blog so I have a lot to tell you about. First off, we are right in the middle of the dry season. I thought it was dry when I first arrived, imagine my surprise when I found out it was actually the rainy season. The struggle for water is an everyday occurrence here. The river is nearly dry, there are very few wells, and there are no other sources of water. They do find water by digging into the riverbeds. When the dry season began they had to dig only a few inches, now the holes are so deep you can barely see the person. My host and I buy water from a man with a wheel barrow who delivers weekly. As you can guess it is quite soupy and requires boiling and filtering. The local people do not have that luxury and as I learned from my survey, diarrhea is a fact of life in nearly every household.
At the end of my last blog I think I mentioned a project. The Peace Corps places us in our villages with the expectation that we will work with the community to identify needs that we can work together on with the possibility of getting grants for monetary support. Obviously the needs are significant in many areas, but the two areas I have chosen to begin focusing on are nutrition and health. My survey showed me that most families do not have enough food throughout the year leading to poor health, and they are dealing with a wide variety of injuries and lots of diseases with little medical support.
So here's the plan: my counterpart and I will begin going to each sub village teaching about diseases, injuries, and sanitation. Each sub village (there are six) will select two volunteers who we will train as something like first responders. Their job will be to communicate with their respective villagers in order to identify sicknesses and injuries which they will then be communicated to the local doctor through a network that we will develop. These volunteers will also help educate and support the people who are most in need, such as those with mental disabilities. I hope to set up a daycare of some type to help provide some of these poor souls a place to go at least once in a while.
The next project is Chickens and Bees believe it or not. My second counterpart is a teacher at the local secondary school. We have permission to build a chicken coop and bee apiary on school property. The students will help build and maintain both projects (would never happen in America). Since this grant has a gender orientation most of the work will be completed by girls. Here's the plan: the girls will learn organizational and business skills at the same time they are learning about chickens and bees. Some of the profits will go into providing scholarships for girls and helping the school get things like water and electricity. Additionally, there is a community component where we will get the women from the villages to help build and maintain the project. In return they will get reduced prices for chickens, eggs, and honey, as well as support for the construction of their own chicken coops. Not unlike a co-op at home. This one will be overseen by a committee that we are just now creating.
Sooo plenty to do. In addition to this I am teaching a few classes at the primary and secondary levels, and still taking my Swahili lessons every week. There are a few other things that are on hold for now until I can get these projects rolling.
I hope everyone back home is enjoying the last of the summer. Fall is coming, and I know I'm going to miss it a lot. Hey, maybe it's time for Halloween in Tanzania!I
Tutaonana baadaye,
Brian or Mwana Kanywa (my village name)

Photos: How dry can it get? We have another month in the dry season
We traveled to Morogoro by bus for 14 hours for training in grant writing and chickens and bees.
In the graduation photo on the left is Clement, the trainer and Daudi, my counterpart. Hopefully you can still recognize me, although I think I might have changed a little in the last six months.

Couple of photos taken on my way to church this morning. They have dug deep into the riverbed. Don't know how deep it will get before the dry season is over.

July 22, 2018. Hello again from Tanzania. After a short absence I am back in full gear with the blog. I have been very busy since the last post, but I'll save that for later. First, Let me show you dinner. Beef stew! In the photos I show you all the fixins, tomato, mchicha, onions, bullion cube and the beef. They all go together in my little jicho (stove) for more than an hour.  The beef is straight from the butcher in what they call a mix. That means it has bones, bone fragments, tendons and everything else you can imagine in it. It all needs to be cut apart, marinated for a couple of hours, and then cooked for a couple of hours. That's because the meat is so tough it's like chewing on leather. I have to use my jicho for this because my gas stove would use up the gas too fast cooking for two hours. Today I washed my laundry as well. I'm getting pretty good at that too, it's really about the rubbing together of the cloth between your hands that gets the dirt out. The Tanzanians are very good at it, I'm getting better I think.

I finally completed my survey and paper. It was a real challenge. Getting people organized and walking from house to house with an interpreter and government official  was a real eye opener. We visited families that have never seen a medical person, let alone a white person. The condition of some of the people are difficult to imagine. Here are just a few of the things I found: untreated diabetes causing massive wounds on extremities, a broken arm that has been broken for a year, mentally disabled children living in terrible conditions, and HIV, TB, malaria, and diarrhea a common occurrance. I will provide some of the photos, but I will not show some of the worst.

HIV/AIDS.....24 of the 46 households we visited had someone currently or in the past suffering from it. I say currently or past because many of the family members have already died from it. Some survey examples: A house with parents but no children, do we count the three children who died from AIDS in our survey or not? A family of many children which includes children from her sisters household, but her sister died from AIDS. Do they count as family members or not? Should I count her sister? How about a household where the mother and father are HIV positive, but the children have never been tested and they don't look very well. Do they count as HIV positive or not? Now maybe you can see the dilemma, and get a feel for the amount of work to be done.

Did I mention that my brand new laptop died? The hard drive went. I am working from a borrowed laptop, that was a real challenge too.

PS I have a hyena story. Probably everyone has one, but I'll share mine too. When the dry season began the hyenas started coming around more frequently. I can lay in my bed and listen to them moving around and calling at night. At first I didn't recognize what they were doing, but now I have listened to them enough to understand. They make a grunting type noise that stirs up all of the dogs in the area. The dogs here just roam free without very much support (different story for a different time). The dogs bark and come up to the savannah where the hyenas are, and my house is. Then the hyenas eat them. I have heard that a few times too. The thing is, last night the hyenas were past my house toward the village more than in the past. There are no more dogs around me.
How's that for a story?

Reality does reach out and slap you in the face here.
Until next time!
Brian

June 20, 2018 Greetings once again from Tanzania. I have kept myself busy by continuing to learn Swahili and learning how to survive in this environment. I think I sent a photo last time showing my weight loss. I still remain at that weight, but I have learned to cook a variety of food using the readily available local ingrediants. My favorites would have to be the Irish Potato soup and the spaghetti. I greatly appreciate the two care packages sent by MJ and Brianna. The Jiffy Pop popcorn was a big hit. It was hilarious watching the kids run when the tin foil expanded. They thought it was going to blow up, but they loved the popcorn. They had never had anything like that before, and ate the unpopped quernals even though I told them they shouldn't.

At the end of the last issue I think I mentioned a survey. In addition to learning the language and survival techniques we are actually supposed to be doing a job here. As a health volunteer I am supposed to assess the needs of the community and use this information to decide upon the projects I will work on for the next couple of years. I might have mentioned that there seems to be plenty of work, but further details are found through conducting a survey. This is required by the Peace Corps, and the information is shared with both them and with our community.

The creation of the survey has been a real challenge. There were numerous meetings with the village leadership, the clinic doctor, and with my tutor. Here is the plan: there are six subvillages in my village and each one has a leader. My escort/interpreter and I will walk from house to house with the sub village leader and ask the families the questions. We will do one sub village every other day for two weeks. We are currently in the middle of the process and things seem to be going well. My original thought that there was a lot of work to be done has been strongly supported.

The survey covers topics like nutrition, safe water, education levels, family structure and responsibilites, and a variety of health topics (HIV, AIDS, Malaria, diarrhea, pregnancy, and long term health problems of any type).  We have been able to determine that their water is not treated, Malaria and diarrhea are a constant problem, mothers are having their babies in their homes without medical professionals, there are many children and adults suffering from untreated health problems, and there is a total misunderstanding about HIV and AIDS. Additionally, the family structure is generally male dominated with the women doing the majority of the work, but have very little say.

I have included photos of part of the survey. Most families were very patient and welcoming. We were always surrounded by many children in a wide range of dress and condition. One boy had severely pronated feet that were painful to walk on, another had a skin infection on his arches that bled and was painful, and another young woman is nearly blind but can't afford glasses. Neither of the children have been to the doctor. This information and the photos will be shared with the doctor. The photo of the elderly man is very unique. He visited us at one house. It wasn't until we were leaving that I was told that he is a witch doctor and the medicine he uses to treat HIV can be seen lying on the ground in the photo.

So the survey continues next week. The results should be very interesting, and I am confident that I will have plenty work to do in the near future.
Until next time,  Brian

5/25/18 Welcome to my next installment of life in Tanzania. It has been over a month that we have been at our sites. The process of adapting to life here continues.  I am continuing my tutoring lessons in Swahili, meeting new people, and trying to learn how to cook this type of food. I went from a high protein diet with minimal exercise, to a low protein diet with lots of exercise. The quest to find the calories I need is never ending, but getting easier.  I have dropped thirty pounds since my arrival in February.  I will say that my weight has stabilized and I have not gone down any in a couple of weeks, so don't worry, I've got it under control. I dropped 20 pounds the last two summers I went to summer camp so it's not too unusual, but I have to say 30 is my limit.  The photo is me in my home with a pair of pants that a few months ago fit nicely. I had to buy a whole new wardrobe.
My location here is pretty secluded.  In order to get large supplies I need to go to my "banking town" Shinyanga.  I am going to try and make the trip a couple of times a month.  The first photo is how we travel to town, one bus in, one bus back.  You miss it, you spend the night in town.  If you are going to do this in one day then you have three hours to run around and get everything done in time.  The next photo is a city shot with Peter in it.  Peter has been assisting me with pretty much anything I need. and putting me in touch with the right people.  He has been invaluable to me to this point, and will probably continue this way throughout my time here. I am much appreciative of his efforts and the efforts of everyone who provide me with guidance and support. This would not be possible without their help. The next photo is from the top of a building that has a restaurant on the top floor.  I have to say that it was the best tasting fish fingers and rum and coke that I have had in an awfully long time.
Well tonight it is spaghetti, and tomorrow I'm going to peddle my little bike to a local market that I have just recently heard about.  Looking forward to both events. And if you are wondering if I am actually doing any work yet, I'll save my house to house survey of my village for the next blog.  Until then, Kwa heri.

5/8/18 Well a few weeks into the new site, and boy has the learning curve been massive.  First off, I used to think I could cook.  Maybe in America, but with Tanzanian food I am a novice.  Trying hard to expand my knowledge of beans and rice, but it is a real challenge.  Second off, I didn't fully realize how well off we have it in America.  In Tanzania everything is a challenge: cleaning, cooking, fetching buckets of water, boiling water, washing clothes by hand, wow.  It actually takes a lot of forethought and effort to get it all done.  I used to think I was in decent shape, but doing this stuff everyday is kicking my butt.  Western soft I guess.  Third, when you are walking in the dark and hear what sounds like a horse running toward you, watch out, it might be a hyena.  Eerie feeling seeing one of those run by you just at the edge of your flashlight beam.
The first photo is Stanislaus and his family.  He is a retired teacher and my Swahili tutor.  When we agreed to tutoring he had just one request of me: speak English slowly.  I made the same request of him for Swahili - we talk very slowly, but it's coming along.
The second photo is of a community gathering with a group of volunteers that I have joined. The topic of the gathering is the prevention of violence against women and children (The photo is actually of us dancing before the meeting began). The community participants debated back and forth on things like women's rights, the paying of a bride price, and discipline for children.  It actually got pretty heated, and most of the men had a different perspective then the women, but at least they were talking about it.  I actually got a chance to address the crowd and talked about the cycle of violence caused by an abused child growing up to be an abuser, and the courage that it takes for men to break the cycle.  It was well received for the most part.  The debate was followed by a movie projected on a sheet on the wall.  The movie was about the effect that these cultural beliefs have upon an African woman and her family. It was actually very moving, and there must have been over a hundred villagers crowded around to watch it.  Luckily it had English subtitles. Well that's it for now.  Hope everyone is doing well back home, til next time!
Brian

4/28/18 Hello again from Tanzania.  I have been at my site for about a week now. Getting settled and continuing to try to learn Swahili.  We had our graduation ceremony on the 19th, and left for the closest city to our site the next day.  We spent a few days in the city buying the big essentials: bed, bicycle, stove etc.. and came to our site on Monday.  Now I am trying to get adjusted and meet the local village people.  I start at the dispensary next Monday, start with a swahili tutor next Tuesday (a retired teacher), and will visit a women's empowerment group meeting that same night. Things are busy, especially trying to figure out how to live - the power has been out in the village for a couple of days, no phone, no electricity (I don't have electricity at my house anyway).  The nights are long and dark here, but I don't mind.  It's a lot like backpacking.  I'm going to have to really change my cooking and eating habits though.  Still trying to work through that.  Thank god for Ramen and peanut butter and jelly.
A titantic battle occurred in my house yesterday - I kept hearing a box move, so I looked and found a gecko battling a scorpion. I waited until it was quiet then moved the box and the gecko came running out - my new best friend! Photos: my host family at the graduation ceremony with our matching clothes, my kitchen (I have a table coming today), my new wheels. I have lost a lot of weight, but that doesn't mean I'm in good shape.  Those hills are a challenge.

4/9/18 Hello again from Tanzania.
Been a real busy week.  The end of training is approaching so we have many projects and assignments due.  Today we took our second Kiswahili exam.  It was tough, but I think I did ok.  I hope so anyway.  We move out of our host homes in less than a week and back onto the training post for a week until graduation, then its back to our site for the next two years.  I figured I'd give a little more details of my house for any of you thinking about visiting me.   

It's a a two room little house with an attached storage room, toilet, and room for bucket bathing.  The inside needs some painting and mosquito screens on the windows.  The little courtyard is good for privacy but not much else.  I hope to start a little garden, and my neighbor has offered me a chicken.  Not sure if I'm ready for that yet.  I will be purchasing furniture and solar power when I get there, and a bike is absolutely essential.  Everything is about 2 kilometers away, not a bad walk, but boy does that sun get hot.  Well, I'll let you know how I did on my test, and my next post will hopefully have graduation ceremony photos.  Talk to you soon!

P.S. I came out to use the toilet at night and I saw something move down there.  Oh well, it seemed to move slowly so we can probably outrun it!

Well, I made it back from my site visit. It has been a long week and it's good to be back. Let me tell you a little about my site - it's close to Shinyanga which is a pretty but town. It takes 12 hours by bus to get to Shinyanga, then another 45 minutes by smaller transport to my village. this is a semi arid region that gets very little rainfall, but we are currently in the rainy season. My little house is on a government agricultural site where they run a thresher almost constantly for sorghum, which along with sunflowers and a few other drought resistant crops are the main crops up here. The land is very flat and dry, but there is a river close by where they get their water during the dry season. I got a look at the river and it is more like a small creek, and remember this is the rainy season.
My house has two rooms, no running water or electricity. The nights I spent in the house were just fine, it doesn't get very cool here (although it is 5-10 degrees cooler than here in Morogoro), and it is about 50 feet from the closest (and only close) neighbor who is actually my host. This experience was very much like backpacking for those who have done it, living out of my backpack while moving between the site and various guest houses. One thing they have plenty of here is sun, so I will be purchasing my solar panel as well as all my furniture and a bicycle as soon as I come to stay in a few weeks. I forgot to mention, I actually have a little walled in compound with an attached storage room and chop (toilet hole/shower). It is a decent enough set up, and it definitely has potential.
My host Mshamu introduced me to the various dignitaries in both villages. This included the police, the magistrate, the doctor at the zahanati, the principal at both the secondary and primary school, the village leaders from both villages, and the Economic Development Council from my village. Everyone was very welcoming and I got to practice my Swahili greeting over and over again (I need a lot of work).
My photos: my home, the Economic Development Council, the zahanati, the secondary school.
Well that's it for the edition. I'll write more as time allows.
Until next time!