A young friend in the pictures below loves having the opportunity to be of help at the BCC Center in Pasua where he attends. Washing the dishes is his specialty and, according to him, his favorite thing to do. Having an audience and a camera pointed at him makes it all the better, as it would with any child.

So with great flourish, he begins by dipping each dish in the tub of sudsy water and giving them a quick swipe with his hand, which may or may not clean it. Then the dish is dipped in the rinsing tub. If it passes his inspection, it is then waved around in the air to dry. If not, the process is repeated.

Then he tries to set the clean dish on a ledge or a gravel area, but sometimes it lands in the dirt or it gets knocked to the ground by a passing chicken that pecks at it. The dirt on the freshly washed dish is then wiped off with his hand or dipped in the rinsing tub again. As for the chicken, it is shooed away by a couple of bangs on a small metal pan or throwing it at it.

Even though the whole process is not captured in pictures, try to imagine this young dishwasher adding more soap to the water after every few dishes, splashing it around with his hands, and then joyfully flinging suds through the air. He finishes by dipping most of the dishes in the rinse water again and stacking them for a staff member to take inside. Wouldn’t any child use a task like this for entertaining an audience!

Two years ago I wrote an entry about Upendo, a little girl who was unable to walk without assistance. She crawled on the floor sometimes, but preferred to be on her feet, grabbing hold of furniture to steady herself. I lowered the handles on my walker and put her hands on it to see what she would do. To the surprise of everyone present she took off at a pretty fast pace, circling the room over and over again. Last year was much the same. I couldn’t even find a Tanzanian made walker for her to use. They are pretty scarce.

Well, today I went to the Karanga 1 center where she attends. The first thing out of the mouths of the staff after greeting me was “Upendo is walking”! Not only is she walking, she is doing a little dancing. She is so proud of herself! I also saw each of her parents because they were present next door to apply for micro-loans. Needless to say, they were thrilled!

Here are two pictures of Upendo.

- Barb

During a recent visit to the dentist I was thinking of a story I was told in Tanzania, and so I shared it with him. A friend of mine had the opportunity to try out a strand of dental floss sometime in the past and liked how it felt and its purpose, but had not had any since. When Rich and I were preparing to return to the states a few weeks ago, I kept out unused supplies such as dental care items to give away. Needless to say, this particular friend was given the dental items. The reaction was one of such gratitude and happiness.

Once again, I had come across a situation which served as one of many reminders that a seemingly very small item for me may be an out-of-reach luxury item for someone else.

- Barb

I am sure Tanzania, specifically Moshi, is not unique, but walking throughout downtown Moshi or having dinner at an expat restaurant one thinks, “Surely all these young people can’t be climbing Kilimanjaro or getting ready for a safari.” After a while you start seeing some of the same people over and over around town. Not being one who is particularly bashful, I started introducing myself and asking what their names are, where they are from, and what brings them to Tanzania?

In my unauthorized, unfunded, and highly unscientific street level survey I estimate that 9 out of 10 are young women, predominantly from Sweden, Norway, Finland, Germany, Australia and the US. Seventy percent are in Tanzania for less than three months and their volunteer work is tied to their university studies. Thirty percent are on a “gap year,” and ten percent are trying to “find themselves.”

They travel around town in small groups and sometimes with maybe a bit too much skin showing for the local culture. You find them in the afternoons lined up at the ATMs, at Vodacom buying credit for their knock-off local cell phones, and carrying all their things in the standard shoulder bags sold on the street made of bright African prints. They also house themselves in small clusters in local hostels, ride in the local dala-dalas (very over-crowded taxi vans) and spend a great deal of time at the Kilimanjaro Union Coffee Shop on their laptops. A few even find time to buy a pass at a local high-end safari club to go swimming during the hottest part of the day.

You may think I am making light of them … just the opposite. These incredible young people, remember mostly young women, line up to volunteer at the vast number of orphanages, AIDS programs, local hospitals, and in some cases our program, Building a Caring Community. We occasionally have more volunteers than children at a center. In a time when our society far too often focuses its energy on consumerism, I find these young women and men truly inspiring.

True, they have resources to do this trip/experience, but two young women we met from Norway are starting a project for street children with their own money. Neither have family wealth, but it’s impressive that they’ve chosen to invest the money they’ve raised back home on this good work.

It’s hard to tell how these young people are perceived or accepted by the Tanzanians. I know some locals see them as cash cows to be milked, some see them as a necessary diversion in their quest to find international sponsors, but often new friendships are formed and relationships are maintained over the years. It’s not unusual to find volunteers who see their work at home only as a means to earn enough money to return to Moshi whenever they can.

Most importantly, their largest contribution to Tanzania and Africa may not be what they accomplish while they are here, but what they say to their friends, families and future colleagues about their experiences and the conditions in Tanzania. Hopefully, they can be a part of the most cost effective public awareness campaign ever created, and part of a truly select fraternity.

In April, we welcomed two great young people to Moshi, John and Melissa. As our first “International Fellows” from the Mosaic Collaborative for Disability Policy and Practice, they will work with Barb for a month prior to our return to the USA.  They will stay for one year to assist our BCC project partners and we’ll rejoin them next January until they leave at the end of March.

Post script: Not everyone is under 30. Barb and I have worked with some outstanding more mature volunteers, particularly an American physical therapist from Oregon and a retired lawyer from Boston who helped us think through improvements to our micro-credit program. One caution, some young people get involved with international volunteer programs whose major objective is profit. We’ve talked with several volunteers who found that once they arrived in Moshi,  there was no hostel, no viable volunteer position or on-ground support as promised. So if you know someone who wants to come to Tanzania, please encourage them to do so since no one will regret the experience; however, DO encourage them to do their research first.

Rich

We arrived two weeks ago from the wintery cold and snowstorms of the U.S. to the sizzling heat and dryness of the Tanzanian summer. Our friend, Kaaya met us at the Kilimanjaro International Airport and delivered us and our numerous bags to the town of Moshi, which we will call home until May. Moshi is in the Kilimanjaro Region of Tanzania, being on the south side of this beautiful snow capped mountain. Moshi’s population is about 175,000 with a mix of Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, and those who practice traditional native beliefs. They live, work, learn, and play in harmony which reflects the gentle quality of Tanzanians.

A week ago we moved into a comfortable house that is in an area of mixed housing; some upscale homes, some modest homes, and many homes of poverty-ridden families. We drive through the neighborhood hearing “jambo,” and seeing waves and smiles from the countless absolutely adorable children and their adult family members.

Throughout town from early morning to sunset, the simply constructed stands (kiosks) of strips of wood and used plastic woven bags are open to sell various wares such as strips of metal, used shoes, and brightly dyed fabric or produce such as mangoes, cucumbers, avocados, and tomatoes. Mangoes are very much in season, ripening quickly, and flying from trees in a strong wind or by people knocking them down. One walks at their own risk near these trees.

It’s within this environment that we, Mosaic staff and volunteers, have spent the last three years with our partners, the Lutheran Church in northern Tanzania and IMPACT developing a pilot project called “Building a Caring Community” (BCC). BCC was created to provide much needed services to children with disabilities and their families by developing a set of holistic supports at a neighborhood level. In the early stages of the project, it became obvious that extreme poverty combined with having a child with a disability resulted in the isolation of the mother and decreased her chances to improve the quality of life for herself and her family. As a result, the project focuses on activities that address the social, educational, and health needs of children in and out of their home. This provides economic opportunities to mothers or other caregivers through training and direct employment in the program, opportunities for accessing micro-credit loans, or working as a member of a parent cooperative that is designed as a Social Business. A more detailed description of this project can be seen by clicking Mosaic International on our blog page and viewing the film “Building a Caring Community… One Person at a Time” by clicking on videos.

Stay tuned for more snippets about Tanzania, including:

• Trivia questions

• Education

• Health

• Roles of micro-credit loans

• Up close and personal with our day centers: children, families, & staff

• Diversity of peoples

• BCC parent cooperative

• Plants and animals

• Moshi & surrounding area

• Rich’s jazzy vehicle

• Quotes

• And much more….