3/24/20 Update! A lot has happened since my last post and it's time for an update....from America. That's right, I am back sitting in Allentown. Most of you know at least part of the story, so let me bring you up to date.

We had the soccer match and our village team lost. The rivalry between the village team and the private secondary school team is intense. Most of the students at the school are wealthy in comparison to the villagers, and unbeknownst to me, the village team has never (or rarely) won a game. The students did not hesitate to rub the village teams (and villagers who were present) face in it. They gathered together around us cheering and chanting, so I took the only possible recourse........and challenged them to another game.

During the next two weeks before game number two I started to prepare for my departure from Tanzania. After two years in my village I was scheduled to fly to America On April 5th. My preparations included: identifying who would receive my household stuff (chairs, buckets, pans etc), meeting with counterparts and friends, closing a few projects, and having a farewell meal cooked by the wasichana (girls). I met with the health volunteers and gave them prizes for the work they did in their villages, provided the local primary school with a donated computer, and purchased the wasichana a school uniform so they wouldn't get punished for not having one (or the one they were wearing was rags).

Three quick stories about this: #1 the only place to buy the uniforms is at a market that comes to town once week called Gulioni. It was maybe three kilometers away and I had initially thought to walk the distance. The girls were very excited about going to it and showed up in their finest clothes. This included shoes that were borrowed from their mothers or sisters. It was obvious that we were not going to be making the walk so through my counterpart, I contacted a teacher who owns a van. When they found out about the vehicle the wasichana were all excited because none of them had ever been inside a car. The excitement was palpable as we waited for it to arrive, and they ran and jumped in like it was a ride at a fun park when it pulled up. The experience itself was a little less exciting as the ride took 10 minutes each way, and the shopping took even less time, but it was quite an event for them.

#2 I decided to have mbuzi (goat) at my departure meal. Food is a significant thing to the Sukuma, most likely because of its scarcity at many times of the year. Most of their serious community events revolve around food, and serving goat makes it an even more important event. The goat was purchased days in advance and stood around bleating (is that what goats do?). I seriously tried to avoid it and felt guilty about what I knew was going to happen. I actually have not eaten much meat during my time here due to the expense and challenge of keeping it without refrigeration. The morning of the meal the girls were at my home early thinking they were going to do the slaughter, but we paid a local guy to do it. They were very excited about the prospects, and wanted to watch the whole process. They ran for buckets and bowls to collect the blood, and I watched them cook it up and eat it like it was caviar. They were knowledgeable about how to cook every part from the intestines to the brains, and the meal for my close friends and counterparts was a great hit.

#3 I had been working with an NGO for some time teaching teachers how to use computers in their classrooms. They had several trainings over the two years that I had assisted with. They were using the RACHEL program which is hardware and software designed to give teachers in rural schools access to the internet. (Remote Area Community Hotspot for Education and Learning) This NGO (ASMK) is trying to improve the quality of education for children in the Sukuma region and is operated by the friends and family of the Sokuma Chief. This organization provided the local primary school with a computer and continues to work with teachers to improve the quality of education for the children. There are many challenges faced by school employees and students in Tanzania, and this is not the place to have that discussion, but someday. The school received their computer on Tuesday, March 17th, and after all that work, I had to miss it.  I left that morning for Dar because of the Corona virus.

I'm sure that most of you have heard that the Peace Corps evacuated all 7,000 plus volunteers from around the world. Just prior to this evacuation I was actually talking with the Peace Corps about extending my stay in Tanzania a couple of months in order to avoid the hysteria. I think many of us knew that the safest spot for any of us during the pandemic was in our rural villages far from international travelers and problems. Of course, the evacuation order cancelled all discussion, and I was given a short time to get ready and move out. I travelled to Dar as Salaam and, after booking a new flight On Emirates, was on my way to America.

The problems associated with my early departure continue to mount. My original flight wants to issue credit for another flight rather than reimburse. It needs to be from and to the same place.(Tanzania to America????) All of the medical outprocessing that is normally done in Tanzania was passed on to our doctors in America, and we all know the status of healthcare here right now. Additionally, after a recent treatment of Albendazole in Africa I have significant heartburn, and my sinuses are really bothering me (hot, wet weather to AC and cold weather). All this adds up to the wrong time to be seeking medical support.

The story continues. I'm not sure how things will go here, hell I'm not even sure I didn't pick up COVID 19 in the airports or on the planes. Time will tell. I am watching for symptoms and trying to self isolate, but as most of you know, that's a pain all on its own (though there are some elements of quarantine that are similar to living in the savannah). I will continue to make posts as long as the story goes on.

By the way, the Village of Negezi won the second game and the villagers and the team were going crazy when the school team and all of its supporters stalked off the field. There was a big celebration in the village that night. That doesn't happen very often.

Mwana Kangwa

Photos:
#1 The health volunteers meeting to discuss people in their villages. Each one shared information on who was sick and what they did to help.

#2 The soccer team eating lunch. It was beans and rice for 30 people. This is one way to serve the food, on a big plate where each person digs in with their hands. Eating with hands (right hand) is very common.

#3 The goat (mbuzi) being prepared for cooking. The slaughter of the goat was quick. While it is a challenge for some people who are not used to it to watch, it is a cause of interest and celebration for the people here. The girls wanted to crowd around and watch the whole gory process, as well as grab the best parts as they became available.

#4 Here are the wasichana in front of the van for their first ride. They were very excited about it even though it was over fairly quick. They each got a uniform to wear after I had heard that they were punished for not having the school uniform.

#5 They surprised me showing up for the trip to the market in their best clothes. I didn't realize that it was a big event for them until that morning. I made copies of this photo and gave one to each. I wrote rafiki milele on the back, which I also taught them to say in sign language.

#6 Seems like I always leave behind those important to me. The wasichana are holding up a sign for the MOSH club, another group that will always be special to me.

Video:
The soccer match
The victory celebration after the match

2/10/20 I'm not sure why I do this to myself. We are getting close to the end of our tour, and many volunteers are relaxing and taking it easy. On the other hand, I'm staying very busy and have a pretty good challenge ahead of me.

The problem is that the mamas from the Negezi Village group of health volunteers are having difficulty with the villagers recognizing them as trained volunteers. The mamas from Ukenyange (a neighboring village) don't have this problem because they have been operating together in some capacity for some time now. Part of the agreement to attend the three day training we had was that they would visit their neighbors and share information and knowledge. This becomes a problem when the volunteers aren't recognized as being trained. So the challenge is to find a way to increase their presence and status in their subvillages. The question is...how to do that? The answer is.....soccer.

Soccer games draw villagers out of their homes and villages at an astounding rate. They love to watch their home team play....and their village team needs a soccer ball. What a coincidence, I just happen to have one that I received through participating in the Malaria challenge.

So here's the plan: I'm going to sponsor a soccer match between Negezi and the neighboring village. The Negezi team will get the soccer ball for participating. At the beginning of the match we will introduce all of the health volunteers and tell the villagers what they are trying to do. As an additional benefit for me, the small group of girls who I have been working with on nutrition and business will prepare a meal of beans and rice to be served to our team before the match. While the mamas doubt their ability to do this (they are only 11 or 12 years old) I have had them cook this exact meal in large quantity before and I am completely confident they can.

So members of both of my projects will benefit from this soccer match, and I feel good about ending my service to with the Peace Corps on a high note. Now let's see if I can pull this off.

Photos:
#1 Wasichana practicing cooking at my house
#2 Meeting with both health volunteers and wasichana together (wasichana hiding a little at top),

1/9/20 Well it has definitely been a long time since my last post. It's high time to do another. This may be my last post since we will be leaving Tanzania soon. Not sure where my path will lead after this is over, but I look forward to the next chapter.

Since my last post several significant things have happened. Number one is that I received the funds for the chicken coop project, and unfortunately most of them were stolen. The police are involved, and the case has many twists and turns, but ultimately the story ends the same. It was very difficult telling the mamas about it, in fact one of the more difficult things I have ever had to do. The thief didn't get all the money though. We had enough to buy the chickens, and that's what we did. The challenges continue with this project as many of the chickens died from unknown causes. We are still working together to produce more chickens on our own. It has been a long difficult project, but the value to the mamas is high enough, so we won't give up, ever.

Volunteer medical training. I have been working with volunteers from each of the sub-villages since my arrival here almost two years ago. We have had multiple volunteer trainings and visited countless homes far from the beaten path. Our hope is that the knowledge that the volunteers have gained will spread among their sub-villages, reducing the incidence of disease, increasing the number of villagers who seek treatment from medical professionals rather than witch doctors or not at all, and developing knowledge about disease prevention. Toward that end, we had a grant supported training with district level healthcare professionals.

The training was intense, and the mamas were active participants. Just a little story about the training: one of the first questions the trainers asked me was where were the men? They said that men were the decision makers and they should be receiving this training rather than women. I explained that the women were more oriented towards their family and their community rather than self interest displayed from many of the men, and that the men did not want to work as volunteers but wanted to be paid. They accepted this explanation, and agreed that it was true, but they had never trained women before and they still had some doubts. Their doubts were unfounded. The mamas impressed both of them so much that by the end of the training they expressed their desire for more trainings of this type. It should be remembered that some of these women can't read or write, and one was a witch doctor herself.

In other news, the rainy season has arrived. It is amazing to me how quickly this area goes from brown, dry and dead to green, wet and alive. The farmers count on it, and the rains have started a little earlier this year. We are all hoping for the rains to continue, and the villagers lives depend upon it. I planted maize again this year, and my Moringa trees are flourishing. Let's hope the good fortune continues.

I'll be home soon. I hope to see everyone when I return.

Photos:
#1 Chickens arrived
#2 Chicks for the mamas
#3 Training the volunteer health mamas
#4 Mamas preparing the food for the training
#5 Wrapping the goat intestines for lunch
#6 Green farmland
#7 Getting my farm ploughed the old fashioned way
#8 Some of my farm helpers reaping their reward
#9 The sun has almost set on this adventure