Communication, Gender & Youth Power

After spending two weeks teaching about HIV/AIDS, health, and life skills the challenges of stigma and discrimination against those infected with HIV/AIDS and gender inequality have again proven themselves a serious reality. Throughout these two weeks we have challenged the students' views on nonviolence, gender equality and human rights. For many, these were not entirely new ideas but others remained firm in their beliefs that it is acceptable for a man to occasionally beat his wife, that men have more responsibilities than women, and that people infected with HIV/AIDS should not be allowed I the classroom, to teach or to learn.

In the classroom, the girls in general were more reluctant to answer questions than the boys. They spoke very quietly and were not likely to make eye contact with the teacher, often smiling and bowing in shyness before finishing a reply if they were so brave as to raise a hand. The day camp lesson plan included many group activities, included presentations and skits in front of the class. All students struggled with this task of speaking in front of their peers, resulting in our constant prodding for them to speak up- Sauti! Sauti! -which only caused some to become even more quiet. People here tend to speak in low tones anyway; conversations between two people are often only murmurs that cease to exchange greetings if someone enters the room or walks within close proximity. I have become extremely conscious of my own volume and the volume of conversations with other American volunteers and have quite frankly found the level and tones to be quite harsh and headache-worthy compared to the soft tones of Tanzanians.

It is interesting to observe the students' passive speaking styles which completely contradict their physical behaviors. Playing sports and games quicklyturns aggressive with pushing, hitting and tackling. This style of playing is common for both boys and girls although more extreme in boys, as is typical throughout many cultures. While conversations may be quiet and have minimal eye contact, there is more physical touching: friends of the same gender hold hands, calling a person to come includes grabbing the wrist to lead the person where to go, and setting a hand on a shoulder or around the waist is common during conversation.

At school the students have duties appropriate to their gender role: girls carry water for chai and boys bring firewood to the kitchen. All students clean the classrooms, using buckets of water to wash the floors. During a lesson on delaying pregnancy we discussed daily tasks and responsibilities, comparing this list to another with the many additional tasks of parenting. The students reported that their day begins early, for some at 5am, to wash dishes, bathe and prepare water and firewood for the day. Some have a breakfast of chai and bread or leftovers from dinner before walking to school, while others go to school without the food. School ends around 3pm and the students sometimes play sports and games or socialize with friends for a bit before returning home to gather more water, wood, wash clothes, sweep/clean, cook dinner, eat, and finally study until they can no longer stay awake. Cooking and cleaning are exclusively duties for girls, while boys help with other tasks until they have gone through puberty when in which they are expected to help with the work of their parents or the family business.

During another lesson we compared gender expectations for boys and girls. It was during this lesson that some boys expressed their belief that women have fewer responsibilities than men. However, the girls in class were ready to challenge this belief and did not take long before we had a debate between the genders about roles and expectations concerning what work is, what a man wants in a women and a woman in a man, and what one should wear. Despite their frustrations and protests, the girls remained passive in their communication style and more aggressive physically as they shook their fists or applauded in dis/agreement. The boys were more likely to speak their mind and would stand to defiantly make a point. Being in the classroom setting this debate remained under control, although only a thin line separate it from chaos.

I think the ultimate challenge of teaching is wondering if the information being learned in the classroom is being put to action when the desks are empty and students leave at the end of each day. The post-surveys proved that the majority of students understood what we taught them about HIV transmission, steps for prevention and how to make decisions that will lead to a happy, healthier life, but will the students be confident with their knowledge? Will they have enough food to eat well balanced meals and remember to boil their water to prevent water-borne illness? Will they avoid peer pressures to have sex while in their youth, during which 60% of HIV infections occur? Will the girls break the tradition of being submissive to men when they are being mentally and verbally abused? One can drive their self crazy wondering about answers to these questions. I am encouraged by a few students, particularly one determined girl who stood proudly with the scouts to sing the school anthem every morning- the only girl in the troupe of ten- she constantly took notes throughout class, was always ready to express her views when called on, and has set her goals high to be a civics and biology teacher to help improve her society. She and and a few other students are the youthful promise of change that consoles my sometimes pessimistic worries about the spread of disease, hunger, stigma and discrimination that can destroy family networks and communities in Tanzania and all around the world.

An Update Concerning Pictures and My Personal Status

I have failed to explain why uploading pictures has been such a slow process.  To begin with, the slideshow on this page was not as easy to add pictures to as I expected.  So, I created a flickr page (accessible on the left column) to show my pictures from.  However uploading pictures to my flickr photo stream is an extremely slow process with the poor internet connection that I typically have.  Since becoming more comfortable in my surrounding neighborhood, I have learned about more internet spots which has led me to my current location at a swanky tourist hotel.  Sitting in the ground level lounge, I am on the threshold that divides the inside lounge from the outside lounge, the latter which is ornamented with posh black wicker chairs holding dark orange cushions for both comfort and added decor.  Beyond the lounge lays a lush golf course with Tanzania's most beautiful trees planted in the most aesthetically pleasing positions for visitors.  The drink menu is a nightmare for people like me who cannot make decisions easily when it comes to ordering (so instead of spending countless minutes debating between drinks I have not yet tried, I surpassed the menu and ordered the consistent Chai Masala, served in a ceramic white pot with a plate of peanuts- all of this which only adds more sophistication to this luxurious setting).  

This is all a bit too much for me and I would rather not be sitting in such unnecessary comfort, but seeing that I need a strong wireless connection, I allow myself this privilege and upload the pictures as well as take time to answer emails that I have let pile up in my inbox (sorry, Mom).  Being at this hotel only reminds me of the different world that awaits for me when I fly back in August.  However, I am not yet ready to return to this world and am grateful for the five and half weeks of my stay in Tanzania that remain.  

As for the pictures- they have not been organized in the best possible way due to my rush in uploading, and the photo names may not be helpful for you to understand where they were taken.  So the order from the most recently uploaded pictures to the earliest goes as follows:

            - A hike to a waterfall on Sunday 07/01

            - Tarangire National Park (aka Safari) from my first weekend here

            - Kilimanjaro day hike from the second weekend

            - Village teaching in Engalaoni- my second week of teaching

            - Teaching at Integrity school - my first week of teaching

            - Various picture of the main office, my homestay, and the hostel I stayed at for my first few days 

I hope this helps to explain some of the pictures!  Enjoy.

Poli Shule

This is the second week I am teaching at Poli, a secondary school in a nearby village, as part of the two-week long HIV/AIDS, Health, and Life Skills Day Camp. The volunteers have been split into groups of two with one counterpart to teach 30 students per group. In total, we are educating about 180 youth. Having just finished week one, I already feel a strong connection with the students and the relationship which we are building together in the classroom. First thing in the morning, all the students gather to sing the national anthem and the school's song. Then we all disperse to our respective classrooms for teaching and games. After an hour and half there is a break, then an hour and half more of teaching before lunch. Everyday lunch is brought to the school by two women and one man who prepare it during the morning. The students are served after the teachers, translators, and staff and they are responsible for bringing their own plate. There is no cafeteria; everyone sits around the school field, a group of girls gather together behind the football goal, a handful of boys eat on the edge of the playing field by the corn growing on a nearby farm, while others take their food inside the classrooms to sit and eat. Four out of the five days we have been served some variation of rice and pinto beans with vegetables and bananas. On the exceptional day we ate makande (a local dish of cooked corn and beans) instead of rice.

I can honestly say that I have not grown tired of rice and beans despite its popularity at every roadside diner and frequency in my meals at home! All in all I have had no problem adjusting to the cuisine here, perhaps because it is similar to my diet in the States. My only struggle concerns the times of meals, particularly dinner which is preferred by my family to be eaten at 9:00 or 9:30pm. I am fortunate to have had almost thirty clif bars and a three pound bag of almonds to hold me over and now, since those are gone, a 1 kg (or 2.2 pounds) container of peanut butter and a jar of raspberry jam. Each day, I make it a little bit longer until I my body reminds me of my tendency for snacking and craves a small snack to hold me over.

When lunch is over and the students have finished washing their plates and running off some of the new food energy, we return to the classroom for seventy minutes more of lessons. At 2:45 the students gather into new groups where they practice arts, drama and music for 45 minutes in preparation for a show at the graduation ceremony where family and friends will gather to support their hard work.

After lessons today I talked with one of the science teachers who has worked at Poli for two years. The school was opened in 2009 and is government funded, meaning that students attend for free but their resources are very limited. Four rectangular buildings with classrooms sit around the center of the school lot. Two pit latrines are located behind one of the buildings and a one room “kitchen” sits to the side of the four buildings, next to the playing field. The science teacher explained that the one-walled, wooden structure with a tin roof needs more work before the kitchen is finished, and for that Poli waits for funds from the government. I asked the teacher how government schools compare to private and his answer helped to explain why the cycle of poverty is so difficult to break: in most government schools there is no library (how can you do research without books?), no science lab (how can you explain basic biology without understanding the microscope?), no computers, and sometimes no electricity even compared to the private schools which usually have all of this and more. Students who attend government schools like Poli tend to live in the same area- they may be friends, family, or at the very least the same tribe whereas private schools tend to be more diversified in where the students are from across the region. A more diverse community allows students to learn from each other in addition to learning from their teachers. As a result, students influence each other by competing for better grades, resulting in an overall stronger commitment to their studies. Furthermore, these students are more likely to excel on the national exam that is given to all students after completing their fourth year of secondary school, which thereby decides their acceptance into two more years of secondary school, and after that, a University.

Most private schools are very expensive (even after conversion to USD) so usually only those guardians with well paying jobs can ensure their children has the most conducive learning environment. The students who cannot afford private school usually also face challenges at home which further complicate their situation. Many have hours of chores and responsibilities such as getting water, cooking, cleaning, gathering firewood or taking care of younger siblings, all which may take precedence over studying and some may not have food to eat once they are home, resulting in the distracting pangs of real hunger throughout the day. But at least even these children have the privilege to an education compared to children who must stay at home and help their parents work all day instead of going to school.

These problems in education circle back to problems in the government. Considering the amount of minerals and natural resources that Tanzania is filled with and the number of national parks that caters to the tourism industry, Tanzania has great wealth. However without good leadership this wealth is not returned to the people who live here and the disparity between education opportunities grows larger. Without education, the cycle of poverty continues.

Not Just a Short Circuit

Wednesday night the electricity went out.  Now, it is not uncommon for it to flicker off for a few seconds and then resume working, but Wednesday's shortage lasted for much longer, nearly half an hour, and was caused by a much deeper problem.

My family here has interests in many different aspects of life- my Mama has a deep faith life, her son is politically aware and appreciates organic food, his wife speaks only a little English but even still we manage conversations about food, dancing, and cooking since we are often in the kitchen together and listening to music, and their daughter loves all things that happens in her thirteen-year-old life: school, friends, music, dancing, celebrity gossip, the latest fashions and all things American (a consequence of having so many American volunteers stay in their home).  Therefore my day-to-day conversations vary depending on whom I am with. 

Every morning over my breakfast of bread, jam and chai I watch the news in Swahili with my brother while he translates and updates me on everything corrupt about the current Tanzanian government.  Since Nyerere's (TZ's first president) presidency ended, things have gone downhill for the country. Recent presidents have not focused on infrastructure or justice and now Tanzania and its people are suffering.  Other African countries are coming in and taking control of farms and mines, kicking people out of their homes without a fair price or a new home for them to go to.  Unemployment is outrageously high and many NGO's are not actually meeting the needs of people who need their services the most.  Similar to other countries, those in power sit on wealth while hundreds of thousands of others live in extreme poverty.  And even many of the well-educated and respected are not being treated fairly. 
 
Over the past few weeks a group of doctors have taken leave from work to protest for fair wages.  The government has been robbing them of pay for overtime, coverage of transportation costs, and a low wage overall in proportion to the services they provide.  On Wednesday the doctor leading this small movement was beaten, and the evening news was relaying the story.  Coincidentally, just as the news story began the electricity flickered off.  Not the least bit surprised, my brother explained this happens all the time when stories reporting the government's (or those connected) outrageous behaviors  come on the news.  He said that he wouldn't be surprised if the electricity was off throughout all of Arusha since the city consists mostly of people who support the opposing party.

Presidential terms last for ten years, and the next election is in 2015.  According to my brother, the current president did not win the election in 2005, but a ponsy government scheme worked to place him in the position anyway.  If the opposing party's candidate is not elected in 2015, my brother warned that the Tanzanian people will stand for it no longer and action will be taken.

Do other countries have anything to do with the people who are suffering? Yes. Both America and UN leaders are investing in Tanzania, believing the superficial headlines that brag about it being such a peaceful country (headlines even I believed before coming here).  With a new discovery of natural gas and a plethora of valuable jewels available not far into TZ's mines, America and European countries can come up with lots of reasons to choose not to investigate the actual state of the country and continue sending blind aid in return for these precious resources to further fuel the greed that drives too many international political relationships.  Too bad UN, American and European leaders don't see that this “aid” is further sagging the pockets of a few round-bellied government officials while the majority of others run around in circles, bone-thin, limited to the daily chores of gathering water, firewood and food, all the while dodging potholes, thieves, and disease that could be better controlled but instead threaten their survival every day. 

Call me cynical, pessimistic, or fed-up.  It impossible for me to only talk about what is good when so many injustices surround me.


Too bad news like this doesn't make it to America's headlines.

Kilimanjaro

On Saturday most of the volunteers got together to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. My kaka (brother) has a friend who guides visitors on hikes and safaris so he and three friends rented a bus to take us all to the national park. Kili is about an hour and a half from Arusha so we left at an early 7:00am. I took my coffee to-go and as a result got many stares from the people we passed as we walked to the meeting point. In Tanzania, people take time to finish a meal rather than rushing and eating on the go. So my traveler's mug further distinguished me as a muzungu.

When we arrived at the bottom of the mountain we prepared for our hike. The electronic credit card system was not working correctly and the park officials were having trouble processing the prepaid card our guides arranged for us. Two hours later, at 11:00am, we finally began our journey. The hike to the first base camp was strenuous. The incline was steep and I could feel as my body reacted to the change in altitude trying to maintain itself, but it was easy to stay motivated with a green, lush jungle surrounding me on both sides of the path. Baboons and Colobus monkeys entertained us with their presence and the aged trees never ceased to taunt me with their strong vines for swinging or thick branches for climbing. I will admit that nearly half of my pictures are of these jungle trees. At the top of our climb we reached a crater, formed over 100,000 years ago. We stumbled down to its center point where the dormant volcano lay silent beneath. What an incredible feeling to stand on top of mountain that could at any minute burst with hot lava and shower everything with ash! Of course this volcano is probably not likely to erupt for another 100,000 years or so, so flaming balls of lava was the least of my concerns.

Going down the mountain was much easier, and we made it to the bottom in just two hours- half the time it took to ascend. It was sad to leave this beautiful mountain but I can always dream of climbing it to the peak at nearly 20,000 ft (if my conversions are correct) someday. Until then, I am at peace with the 8858 ft of the majesty that I explored on this day.

Teaching the Maasai

It is important to find a balance between respecting cultural values and traditions while maintaining a firm stance on health and nutrition. This week I learned much about Maasai culture through the questions they asked during the lessons and the conversations we had with locals going to and from the village. Maasai culture is a patriarchal society where women are expected to be obedient and submissive to men. The men have many wives and each live in a separate hut around his, so the hill side is dotted with these plots of four, five or more huts. Women's roles include caring for the children, cooking, cleaning, selling produce (if surplus is grown), gathering water for the day (also a task for children), and gathering firewood....every day. Other tasks, many which are also daily, include nursing the sick in the family, milking cows, and tending to the gardens and fields (including planting, weeding, and harvesting).

Men are responsible for hunting, maintaining leadership roles in the community, providing protection, and caring for the cows. In Maasai culture, all cows are believed to belong to the Maasai and a man's wealth and respect in the community is dependent upon the number of cows he owns. Since it is up to women to milk the cows (in fact it is shameful for a man or boy to perform this job) a wealthy man will have many wives to keep up with the milking of his cows.

On the journey to and from the village we have passed many boys who stand out from other villagers: they are dressed all in black and have painted black faces with white designs over their eyes and cheeks. These boys are going through the circumcision ceremony- a special event that takes place every seven years for boys ages 12 to 22, to celebrate their change into manhood. First there is the circumcision ceremony where the boys are dressed in all black and their faces are painted dark with white designs. After the circumcision, a goat is killed and its blood is mixed with milk, one batch is boiled and one is not, and the circumcised boys drink the liquid. Then, some boys continue on to become Maasai warriors and are sent to the bush for six months for their training. When they return they are to marry a Maasai women thereby completing their transition into a warrior.

Meat is the staple of Maasai diet. During our teaching one man admitted killing three goats for just two men (and with the lack of electricity it is doubtful these goats were frozen or dehydrated to last them for a reasonable, extended period). Others smirked in disbelief when I explained that some people choose not to eat meat and use beans as their primary source of protein. Throughout all of the teaching about nutrient deficiencies, the importance of breast-feeding, malnutrition, and eating a balanced diet they were acutely attentive and interested in every bit of information and followed the lesson with questions about what pregnant women and children in particular need to consume. In their culture, men tend to only ask how the child is doing and not actually look at the baby. Therefore, some men explained they did not even know if their babies were healthy or not. This lead into a lesson on communication between men and women and the importance of a man staying with a woman after she becomes pregnant.

When it came to teaching about overall health and hygiene, there was shock when we explained that the body can tell us if we are healthy or not. After describing different ways to check if you are eating a balanced diet (checking fingernails, toenails, hair, urine, stools, eye color, etc) someone exclaimed, “But we don't do that!” There are only pit latrines in the village. The one closest to us was a small wooden shanty built around a hole. A small amount of light comes through the cracks between the boards, but everything that goes into the hole is lost in a mass of darkness. So the question they challenged us with was, “How are we supposed to check our urine and stools?” We thought a bit, considered the absence of TP, and decided that the conversation could too easily turn into a uncomfortable interrogation about private behaviors. Modesty is key in Maasai culture, and questioning a group about their excretory habits was both invasive and inappropriate in our setting, although it did stir up laughter as we discussed.

In fact there were many bouts of roaring laughter throughout the week with the Maasai. Talking about some of the 'untouched topics' like sex, disease, and health can build a unique bond between people. Everyday they prayed a blessing over us and continuously thanked us for coming to their village. But the honor was all ours and thank yous were coming from us just as frequently as from them.

At the end of Friday's session we handed out certificates and shared with them chocolate cookies; it was the least we could do thank them for the incredible insight they shared with us.

Elephants and Lions

This week I am teaching at Engalawony Village, about an hour out of Arusha.  To reach the village office, sitting in the center of the village, we drove down narrow paths on a bumpy dirt road over hills, through a jungle, and past dozens of men, women and children who stared at the foreign land cruiser and covered their faces with khanga wraps and blankets as the vehicle left behind clouds of thick dust. All plants, animals, and humans had a blanket of dust covering them (even before we passed) and those of us inside the vehicle had only a slight privilege to those outside.  The landscape we passed was like a dream: valleys of green fields lay between pointed hills, crops grew on the hillsides, laced with African plants and trees that distinguished one plot from the next; after a dark cloud passed the sun shone into the valley, rays brightening the world before it; herds of cattle and goats dotted the open land followed obediently by little boys or young men, while women carried tree branches twice the length of their bodies atop their heads and small girls guided barrels of water for the day's use. 

At the top of the hill at the village office we met our students for the week.  Thirty individuals dressed in traditional Maasai clothing, ranging from 16 to 50 years in age, sat in a semi-circle on the grass with the green valleys and hills laying the backdrop for our afternoon.  They greeted us with a warm welcome and remained focused and interested as we covered the material.  The day provided an entirely different setting of both students and environment compared to last week!  Questions arose as we explained the basic biology of HIV/AIDS; some wondered how bacteria is killed compared to viruses, others wanted to know why there is no cure for HIV. 

To help students visualize how HIV affects the immune system we do an activity called “Elephants and Lions.” In the demonstration one volunteer stands as a baby elephant, and six individuals surround the baby.  They are the adult elephants and are responsible or protecting the baby.  Four more volunteers stand outside of these elephants as lions.  The baby elephants is symbolic of the body, the adults as its immune system, and the lions as opportunistic infections such as the flu, malaria, TB, etc.  When given the instruction, the lions try to touch the baby elephant, and the adults try to protect the baby from being touched.  This demonstrates the role of the immune system in protecting the body from diseases.  Then the moderator acts as HIV, and removes half of the adult elephants.  Now the remaining three must try to defend the baby on their own.  As the activity continues, it is much more difficult to fight off the opportunistic infections when HIV infects a person because it destroys the person's immunity. 

This game is extremely helpful in explaining a critical part of HIV infections.  People do not die from HIV.  HIV destroys the immune system which heightens the risk of other infections and prevents the body's ability to fight them on its own, oftentimes resulting in death.  This explanation is usually received with a look of surprise and a nod of understanding from the students.  It is critical that people understand this in order to see the purpose of staying healthy and taking special precautions to prevent other diseases if one does become infected with HIV.