4H, Bus Rides, and Zanzibar

Swahili phrase of the day: Habari yako? (How are you)

By popular demand:  My blog.  I decided that in the long run, this will be better than sending out update emails.  Same information, just in a different format.  Also, part of my job here and with the Global 4-H Network is to link the U.S. and Tanzania 4-H Programs.  A great way to start that process is through a blog, which I am able to share easily with other (innocent and unsuspecting) 4-Hers all over the country…or just my grandparents.  (WARNING:  Larger captive audience = more painful writing).  My hope is that this blog will serve to inform and hopefully entertain as well.

The name of my blog “Udongo uwahi ungali maji” is Swahili for “Work while the clay is still wet.”  (Unless you type it into Google Translate, then it says “Soil water is still promptness”…doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.)  When looking up some Swahili phrases, I found a lot to choose from, such as “If you knew what the bees had eaten, you wouldn’t have tasted the honey.”  While this is equally applicable to life, it just doesn’t strike message that I want to send. 

To work while the clay is still wet is to shape youth while they are not yet set in their ways.  That is how 4-H began, by educating youth about new agricultural practices because their parents would not accept them.  And in Africa, it has very much the same purpose.  More than 42% of Tanzania’s workforce is employed in agriculture (compared with 2% in the U.S.) and in many undeveloped countries the percentage is even higher.  In addition to agricultural practices, 4H members in Tanzania also learn sewing, cooking, woodcarving, entrepreneurship, record keeping, and a host of other “life skills”. 

Ok, I’ll get off my soapbox now and get on to the important information, like what I had for breakfast (a roll with peanut butter and jelly and a banana).  Or that today I had the unique experience of sitting in my room, hearing a crash, and going into my bathroom to find that my toilet tank had fallen off the wall and onto the floor.  That’s right…off the wall and onto the floor.  You see, in Tanzania, if you are fortunate enough to get a toilet, as opposed to a “squatty-potty” (a.k.a.- hole), it will most likely be made of plastic.  Such is the case with mine and the tank hangs on the wall, with a (plastic) pipe that connects to the bowl.  Lucky for me, my floor is a drain, so, no problem there.

In other news: Bus rides into the city of Tanga, about 5 miles away (the longest 5 miles of your life), have quickly become my most and least favorite part of Tanzanian life.  Riding the bus is sort of like buying a tent, except the opposite.  When you are looking at a tent and it says “fits 4” what it really means is fits 1 ½ regular people, or 3 imps and a newt.  With busses you may think it fits 10, but really, you just aren’t using your imagination.  And just when you think “well at least we can’t stop and pick up any more people” 18 more board the “bus”.  These busses are really just 15 passenger vans (or smaller) and fit approximately 37.  It is a great way to get to know people…if only you could move your head from side to side.   

Tomorrow, Collin and I leave for a little trip to Zanzibar (no bus rides, just airplane) and we will return on Sunday with, I’m sure, many more stories and pictures.