“If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.” James Michener
I have decided to write about the last leg of my journey prior to journalling the safari itself since it will take me quite a while to go through the thousands of photos from the safari and it may not happen until after I return home. Suffice it to say that we had an incredible time. Safari Infinity helped me plan a safari that provided a great mix of cultural experiences with the many exceptional game drives. (My advice to those planning their trip: do not skip the cultural activities!) We stayed at fantastic places and met some unforgettable people, including Kelly, our guide and, as I have said, our friend. He proved to be the ideal match for us. I will be working on a proper trip report as my stay here continues, but I’d like to write about my final volunteering stay while I am still here.
I knew this part of my journey would be different than my
stay with Mama Liz, but I didn’t know just how different. I thought I was staying in USA River (it’s
pronounced “oosa”, not U.S.A. River, as I initially thought), but I am in the
village of Nkoaranga, which is about 5 km from the main road on Mount Meru. There is a tarmac road leading into the
village, but dirt roads and lanes otherwise.
There are no Sakina bars or grocers, only shop fronts with the same
items repeated over and over with much that is unavailable, including the
Internet. Phone service is out much of
the time, as is electricity.
I am at a home stay again with a wonderful family: Baba Gertrude (Jeremiah), Mama Gertrude (Tumaini,
meaning Hope), Gertrude (5yo) and Gad (pronounced “Gaddy”) (2yo). For those unfamiliar with Tanzanian ways, it
is common for the mother and father to be known by the name of one of their
children, usually the first born. I know
that they are prosperous by village and Tanzanian standards, but the gulf
between them and what I am familiar with couldn't be greater.
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| Gertrude & Gad |
First Experiences
I have been here only a few days, but from the start, the
family has treated me as part of their family.
On the first day, Baba Gertrude took me for walk so that I could learn,
as he terms it, their “environment.” We
have one quite pregnant cow, Daisy, bee hives, and about 10 chickens (30
recently died from some disease). They
have some banana trees on a fairly large piece of property for the village, but
Mama Gertrude cooks on 3 open fired burners, only had one knife before I got
here, and Gad had only one small toy.
When I helped Gertrude with her homework the first night, she was
writing with a pencil that was no more than one inch long.
Despite their limited resources, Gertrude goes to private
school because, as Baba Gertrude explained to me, education means
everything. But they can’t afford
transport so Gertrude waits for the older students to finish their day; consequently,
she leaves well before 6:00AM and returns at 5:30PM.
Baba Gertrude was raised by a single mother and only went as
far as the equivalent of 7th grade.
He has only recently met his father.
His mother came to meet “their guest” on my arrival and I’ve been to her
home. One of the Sundays that I am here,
we are going to visit Mama Gertrude’s family so that I can know them. They have really welcomed me into their
family and are doing everything to make me feel included in every part of it –
it really is very special.
Stories from my First
Saturday
Mama Gertrude invited me to accompany her to visit a cousin,
who had given birth to a daughter about a month ago. She asked my opinion on what to take as a
gift. I hadn’t a clue (her response
whenever I say “I don’t know” is always “it is you and me and we must decide”),
but when we went to the grocer I realized how clueless I really was. She asked whether she should get sugar or noodles
(we got both). We also got laundry
detergent.
We took a “taxi” down the mountain, which was a car, smaller
than a Prius, with the back seat’s back removed. It would never have been permitted on the
roads back home. Like the daladala, it
doesn’t go until full. In this case, we
had 10 persons, including the driver, in the car and, believe it or not, the
fellow behind me had a rooster under his arm!
When we arrived at the cousin’s, a series of folks came in
and out of the room to welcome us. I
don’t know who they all were (and after we left, I found that Mama Gertrude
didn’t either). For a period, the two of
us were left in the room alone and then her uncle came in to ask what type of
soda I wanted. Again, I hadn’t a clue
what to say, but ended up saying a Fanta.
As it turned out, I could have said anything since someone was sent down
the mountain to get it. So we were
served French toast and Fanta. (Some
reading this will know that French toast is one of my favorites. It’s not served with syrup here, but is
really quite good even at 3:00PM).
Of the many folks I met at the home, there was one I
particularly want to remember: Damien. He was in the third grade and a wonderful
young man. He had a friend over. When Damien came into the room, he came over
and greeted me. His friend followed and
muttered something. Damien scolded him
and told me “he has not greeted you properly.”
The three of us ended up watching TV together as the others
chatted. Picture this for a
disconnect: watching Nigerian Idol, eating French toast and
drinking Fanta, while someone sang a Cyndi Lauper song.
When Mama Gertrude and I left, Damien was in another
room. He ran out onto the porch as we
reached the gate and yelled “Chris, Chris, good-bye.” If only I could always remember the way he
said “Chris,” he sort of rolled the “r.”
While trying to live in the moment here, I find that I wish I could always
have a tape recorder, as well as a camera with me. (BTW, I asked Mama Gertrude who Damien was after
we left and she had no idea).
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| This is the DVD store front & butcher across the street from us (I'll have to get a better picture) |
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| Views from the street |
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| Children from "next door" (their home has no electricity or running water) |
These pics aren't very good - not sure why. I'll get some more. I don't want to delay posting this any longer. As it is, I wrote it a week ago, but just now got enough of a signal to post it.
