Monday, November 25, 2013

MOVING FORWARD!

Hero Home Updates!


So much exciting news I don't know where to begin! 

I left Tanzania on October 23 but before leaving, I was able to spend some time out on our land and see all the progress that is being made! It's unbelievable! Tabitha and the workers have done so much work, the land is almost unrecognisable, in the best way possible!!  Check out the before and after photographs!






Originally, we had cleared a small area for the kids to start playing soccer. I say small now, however, at the time, it definitely seemed like a decent sized area. We were limited because a neighbour was growing cassava root on our land and could not remove it until the rains started and soften the ground. Well, the rains came, the cassava went and the workers cleared a larger field. Now, the kids have a HUGE area on which to run, laugh, and play soccer! I'm completely biased, but I will say, it looks amazing! It still has a long way to go to be a standard soccer field, but it is definitely well on its way! The most exciting part is that they kids are coming out every day to play and practice and learn and be active! It is a beautiful site!!! We can finally say, our Heroes have arrived! :) 





Next up, the workers started digging a toilet. For once, luck was on our side and they dug 14' without hitting a single boulder, which in this particular area, is extremely rare. So, plans to make that the toilet were ditched and it will now become our well! They put the digging on hold until the end of the dry season so that they knew once they hit water, it was real water, not just superficial water from the rains. As a result of all that, they relocated the toilets and the new septic tank is nearing completion! 


But we are not done there! The updates continue! They have already made 3000 clay bricks (different than the cement bricks we were using on the original land, but equally strong and some would argue longer lasting). The foundation for the main house has already been dug when I was there and now, since I have left, construction has begun! Pretty soon, Hero Home will actually have a HOME! Tabitha also rented some neighbouring land to start a garden.. .and this is "not your grandma's garden!" This is the real deal! (no offence if your grandma has a huge garden! It's just an expression). The garden is huge and already has an abundance of carrots, tomatoes, cabbage, spinach and other leafy greens, watermelon, onions, corn, and so much more! The soil is incredibly fertile and we are close to a stream and a pond so for once, access to water is not the huge issue it normally is. 

So, that is the majority of the updates! Check out the link to see some exciting pictures of all the work! 

Also, SUBSCRIBE to our youtube page! We have awesome videos of the construction of the additions to the St Laurent Nursery School (the library, the play structure, etc..) and Hero Home and coming soon, there will even be Swahili tutorials for anyone wanting to learn a little Swahili! 

We are so excited for the future and so relieved to be in a position where we finally feel like we are moving FORWARD.. not standing still or going backwards, but progressing forwards. We absolutely could not have done it without your support and for that we will be forever grateful! We ask that you continue to believe in us until we can become completely self-sufficient, which will take time, but will happen!! 

THANK YOU SO MUCH from all of us at Hero Home!!!

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

A Learning Experience



Once again, it’s been a while since the last update… but that just means there is even more to update you on.
For the last few weeks, I’ve been busy collecting footage for what I  hope will become some enlightning or at least interesting documentaries.  It’s been an eye opening and at times heart wrenching experience for me, and that’s saying a lot considering I’ve been coming to East Africa for the last 8 years.  I like to think I’m pretty used to living in Tanzania and don’t get too shaken by anything any more.  Things that others might be amazed by are just everyday events for me.  I also used to think I’m pretty hearty.  I can carry heavy cement bricks with boys in the village.  I can carry 20L of water on my head with the mamas (alright, so they do it with out hands and without spilling but we both make it to the end).   However, yesterday, I met my match and it broke my heart. 

So, one of the documentaries I’m making is based on the viral video we made last year called ThirdWorld Problems Read by First World People.” If you haven’t seen it, definitely check it out!   For the documentary, I decided to take five of the problems from the video and show actual people who live with those specific problems and how they confront them.  I interviewed them and then followed them around as they completed daily activities.  Most of them are good friends of mine and it was really interesting to get to know them on an even deeper level.  One of the problems from the video is “I hate it when I have to walk 10km to school each way.”  Watching the video, you might think this is an exaggeration, but I assure you it is not.  15 year old Beata does precisely that, five days a week.  Yesterday, she agreed to let me follow her around for a day and even after living here for over 8 years, the experience was more overwhelming than I ever could have imagined.

So, let me take you through our day.

I woke up at 4am to pack up my camera gear and be at her house for 5am.  I biked to her house without seeing another human being, just me, a couple of stray dogs and millions of stars.  I got there for 5am and she was already awake and getting ready.  She had a quick shower under the stars using a small bucket and probably much less than 5L of water.  She got all dressed in her school uniform, grabbed her notebooks and with a full bags and empty bellies (yup, not a bite of food or a drop of water for either of us), we were out the door.  The time was 549am.  There is something not right about starting your day before the sun starts hers, but off we went.  Her older sister joined us for the first 20 minutes and then turned off and carried on to her school which is only about 5km away.  We kept walking.  After 20 minutes on the main paved road, we turned off down a dirt road to get to her school.  The school is right beside where our old land was so it is a route I’m familiar with.. but on my bike, not on foot.   As we turned on to the dust road we said good bye to the stars and the sun, the hot sweaty sun, joined us for the rest of the journey.  

We walked, we chatted, we laughed, we walked some more.  Then we walked some more.  We were passed by some students on bikes and some other walkers joined us along the way.  We arrived at school at 806am.  In case you forgot, we left the house at 549am.  As we arrived, all the students were lined up outside for the morning announcements.  We joined the line, listened to the announcements and then all students headed inside.  We had barely sat down, only to be called outside again.  Apparently, completely unbeknownst to me, we had arrived late and therefore we were punished.  PUNISHED!  Off we marched to see the head teacher to hear our fate.  After being counted off, all the late students were handed a slasher (a long piece of metal used for cutting grass) and sent out to the field to be assigned a location to cut grass.  

I  was lost for words!  Or rather, I wasn’t, I had tons of words to say… but it didn’t matter what I had to say because nothing was going to help!  It didn’t matter that we got up at 5am.  It didn’t matter that we left the house in the dark.  It didn’t matter we walked over 2 hours to get there.  Students are expected to arrive at 700am and we arrived at 806am.  I honestly wanted to scream… “this is not fair!” It made me think of all the times I heard students back home say “it’s not fair!” If only they knew!  Beata in stuck in an impossible situation!  There is no way that she can walk to school and make it there for 7am.  It would mean walking up at 4am and leaving at 5am and that’s just not safe.  No parent would allow their 15 year old daughter to leave the house at 5am.  There are thieves, rapists, bad guys, boogey monsters and if that is not bad enough, there are hyenas.  It’s just not possible!  So that means, every morning, during her 2 hour walk to school, Beata knows that at the end of the road, there is a punishment waiting for her.  Sometimes it is cutting grass, sometimes it is carrying water, sometimes it is going to the neighbouring farms and gathering manure (that’s the polite way of saying picking up cow dung), sometimes it is making mud bricks by hand, and sometimes it just a straight up, good old fashion caning.  Every morning, Beata gets punished, the only variable lies in the type of punishment.  IT’S NOT FAIR! I experienced it one day and was outraged, but Beata, at 15, just looked at me and said in her quiet, innocent voice, “it’s ok, I’m used to it.”   

So, she was assigned her location to cut and was sent back to class with the rest of the late students, many of whom had walked many kilometres just to get there.  The grass cutting would be done later in the day so they did not miss out on their studies. Back in the class, Beata got out her notebooks and began reading her notes.  It was the first day back after a week of mid-term holidays and teachers were still getting ready so the students did independent study in the classroom.  That’s my polite way of saying not a single teacher made it to class to teach!

At 1040am, the students got a break and Beata picked up for slasher and headed out to the field to get her punishment over.  In her left hand, she was tightly holding a piece of material.  I asked her what she was holding, turns out it was some candies I had given her at the start of the journey.  She explained that if she left them in the classroom, they would be eaten.  For the 20 minute break, candies tight in one hand, a slasher in the other, she cut away at the long, dry, thorny grass in the hot sun while other students rested in the shade or the lucky ones bought tea, bananas or candies to ward off some of the hunger pains.  At 11am, Beata returned to class for more independent study as still not a single teacher had come to teach.  

At 230pm, the students gathered for the closing ceremonies and then we began our walk home, up hill, in the blazing afternoon sun!  We left school at 240pm.   We walked, we talked with classmates, we practiced our multiplications, we laughed, we walked in silence, we sweated, and we kept walking.  We got to Kisesa at 443pm.  Our bellies were still empty, our mouths parched, and now our backs were nice and sweaty.  For my own sake, we stopped at a shop to get some cold water, some sodas and a few biscuits to tide us over for the last 15 minutes of the walk to her house.  By the time we reached the door, the sun was already setting in the distance and there was less than 12 hours until Beata would be awake for the start of a new day.
Her mom met us at the door.  Beata got changed out of her school clothes and we sat down to some tea, rice and a few pieces of meat.  (likely cooked because of me, which makes me feel a more than a little guilty).  We ate, and chatted with her mom is who an absolutely wonderful lady and who, at 38, looks not a day over 30 despite having three kids, the old who is 22 and already has a four year old and a 1 year old.  After eating, Beata went outside to wash dishes and play with her niece and nephew.  She still had to wash some clothes and then head to bed, hopefully before 9pm.

I took my bike and on tired legs, biked back to town… still overwhelmed… and sat down to just reflect on the day.  It was honestly beyond what I had imagined the day would be.  Walking over four hours only to be punished for something that is out of your control….

While at the school, I talked to the teacher handing out the punishment and tried to explain to him what Beata had gone through just to get to school.  He said he understood her situation as when he started teaching at the school, he was biking 20k each way to get there.  The problem is work needs to be done and there certainly is not a budget to hire a groundsman or a janitor.  There is not a budget for books so groundsmen is definitely low on the priority list.  So, as a result, the students are required to do the work… and the students who unfortunately cannot comply with the rules, carry the brunt of the load.  His explanation did not make me feel any better... if anything just more discouraged.  He explained that many of the students that live closer to the school drop out early on as they and their parents have yet to see the value in getting an education and prefer to continue working on the farm.     

The problem is so complex, that there is no easier answer, no easy solution.  The government cannot afford to build enough schools to accommodate all the students or for that matter, maintain the schools that are already built.  The teachers are paid low wages which means they do not see teaching as a career but simply a way to put food on the table and as a result, many do not have the necessary education or the motivation to teach the future generation.  The parents cannot afford to send their kids to private schools so they need to rely on the government schools which, as I already explained, are few and far between.  All of this leads to high drop out rates which means the future generation is uneducated and unable to develop the country.  Another huge issue is the high pregnancy rates.  Many of the young students are being approached by male, either students or males in the community and being offered money or gifts, in return for sex... and when you are walking 4 hours on an empty belly, you are definitely prone to make decisions would not make on fresh legs and a full belly.  It is hard to see the hope in the situation… to believe that things will get better.    

So, basically that was my day yesterday.  It was a lot to take in.  Like I said at the start, I used to think I was somewhat hearty, but Beata put me to shame.  And to think, she is doing that five days a week, for the next four years.  So, it is only a band-aid to a larger problem, but I am buying Beata a bike today.  I know there are tons of students like her out there and many who live in worse situations and likely some who walk even farther.. and I know I cannot help all of them and I know the problem lies deeper than a simple bike.. but at least one bike can help one student..  and who knows what that can lead to! I have to believe there is hope either wise I am not sure how I will get up in the morning.

So, that was just one of the five people featured in the short documentary.  I’ll be screening the documentary on Saturday, November. 30th at beautiful West End Cultural Centre in Winnipeg, MB as part of LISTEN LOCAL! GROW GLOBAL!, the 4th annual benefit concert in support of GO!.  If you are in the area, please come check it out.  The night will also feature Jesse Lewis an amazing HYPNOTIST whose sole job is mesmerize your friends and convince them to donate all their money to GO! (just joking..maybe), amazing musical acts including emerging artist, 18 year old Elsa Kaka, and a second short documentary that shows how Tanzanians are taking what would otherwise be considered garbage and with a little creativity and ingenuity making long-lasting, amazing products!  And of course, as always, we will have awesome raffle prizes to be won!! If you have been at the concerts in the past you know that it is a great night and as always, all the money goes to support a good cause!  Tickets are $20 in advance, $23 at the door and this year, there are group rates! Why not get your team mates, co-workers, friends, and family together to celebrate the holidays while support a great cause! Buy 10 tickets and get one freeBuy 25 tickets and get 5 free! 

Hope everyone is doing well! I'm back on Oct. 23 and look forward to catching up!

Monday, July 22, 2013

HERO HOME- The Next Chapter

For anyone who has been following GO! through the years, you know we have had our ups and downs, our triumphs and our struggles. Throughout it all, we have tried our best to keep positive, keep motivated and stay focused on our goal which is providing love and support for kids and communities in need. It has not been an easy journey (feel free to read over past blog posts for a reminder) and many a tear has been shed in the process. 

When I left Tanzania last October, Tabitha was still in discussion with the District Government. If you remember the very last blog post (“Extra Motivation”) from last year, we were waiting for the District Government to deliver the promised building permits so that we could begin construction. Tabitha talked to a variety of people in the local and district government offices, but days continued to speed by with little sign of progress. We waited patiently, believing that the government officials would realize the value of our project and the positive impact it would have on the community. We believed that the government would give the community what they wanted and deserved. In the end, to our greatest sorrow and regret… we were wrong. 

After waiting patiently for a response, we learned from a variety of sources that the government had no intention of delivering the permits. No intention of supporting our project… until we delivered a sizable bribe in the form of a SUV. All I can say is that we were devastated… beyond devastated… but fortunately not entirely defeated. 

When we learned that the government had no intentions of allowing our project to progress without a substantial bribe, we sat back and re-grouped. Well, first we cried, ranted, I’m sure I threw a few things, cried some more… and then we re-grouped. We know that our goal is worthwhile and we know that we have the ability to make it happen, despite the road blocks set up before us. It was devastating to think of all we lost.... the time, the energy, the well, the bricks, and most importantly, the money. But fortunately, after re-grouping, we realized that we didn’t lose our heart or our motivation… so we made a Plan B. We realized, though too late, that nothing is free in this world, and the “free” government land in fact, had a huge hidden price tag. If only foresight 20/20… So, to not encounter the same problems, we decided that Plan B was to buy our own land. It would give us the freedom to build whatever we wanted without having to constantly deal with intrusive and corrupt government officials. 

So, that’s what we have done. Tabitha spent January and February looking for a piece of land and in March, she found the perfect piece. Our new land is 6 acres and it is in Bukama, a small village in North-Western Tanzania. We are still only a few kilometres away from Lake Victoria, and only five hours north of Mwanza. Although it is not the 30 acres we started with, the difference is that it is ours! All ours and it is beautiful! There is a stream running beside the land, which means water and sand for construction is not an issue. There are rocks on the land which can be dug up and broken down and are perfect for construction, there are gorgeous trees, including two beautiful mango trees and guava trees!!!! And the best part is that the community, including the government officials, have all been incredibly supportive. Everyone is thrilled about the project and cannot wait for things to get started.  Check out the slideshow below to see a few of the initial pictures! There are more updates on the way and videos coming soon!


So, that is the latest news. It has been an extremely emotional time for Tabitha and I and everyone at GO!. It has taken all our energies to keep positive and keep moving forward but I do believe we are finally on the right track. I spent all of May out on the land with Tabitha and our new workers. We have already begun clearing the land, we have put up a shed, and we have already started measuring out the sports fields. Things are moving along and we have incredible support in the community. Tabitha and I are thrilled to be in the new location and cannot wait to see what the future holds. I guess our only worry is whether people back home will continue to believe and support our project. We hope so. If anyone has any questions or concerns, please feel free to ask. We hope that you will continue to believe in our commitment to making Hero Home a reality for kids in need. 

Thank you so much to everyone who has supported us thus far. We would never be able to get where we are without your support 

Thanks so much! 

Amanda &The GO! Team

Sunday, July 21, 2013

St. Laurent Nursery School - The Next Chapter


In 2003, Marcelin Nirere created the very first nursery school in Musha.  The St. Laurent Nursery School consisted of 80 children crowded onto Marceline’s porch where they learned the basics in French, English and Kinyarwanda.  A lot of has changed in the last 10 years and the small school that started on a porch is almost unrecognizable, in the best way possible.  In 2008, thanks to funding from Westwood Collegiate, the St. Laurent Nursery School was taken from Marceline’s porch to two small classrooms.  Now, five years later, thanks to amazing efforts by seven students from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, the two small classrooms have been joined by a fully stocked library, a rain water catch system and play structures of every type!

The quest for the next chapter of the St Laurent Nursery School started last September.  Thanks to a wonderful group of university students I met in Rwanda in 2009, I learned about the Edinburgh Global Partnership (EGP), a program that has Edinburgh University students fundraise for projects and then go overseas to help them come to life.  I submitted a proposal for the St.Laurent Nursery School and hoped for the best.  A few months later, I got a lovely little email saying my proposal had been accepted and seven eager students began fundraising to make the next chapter of the St. Laurent Nursery School a reality.  The project budget was set at 3500GBP and they did any and everything to reach their goal, including bake sales, a pub night, a marathon run in a Princess Peach costume (from Super Mario brothers), a hitch hike race from Edinburgh to Paris, and a bungee jump in a cow costume!

In early June, all seven of the students made their way over to Rwanda to break ground and get their hands dirty!  We managed to secure a home in Musha and every morning we were up at the crack of dawn to walk the 40 minutes to the nursery school.  The first week, we spent the entire time clearing the field of bushes and massive trees!  The pictures don’t quite do it justice but it was grueling work.  By day two, everyone had managed to get some good solid blisters and by day five, we were almost naturals with a hoe and a machete.  Luckily there were some skilled locals on hand to show us to it should actually be done!   Once the field was cleared, the rest of time flew by as we designed and built play structures for the kids.  By the end of the three weeks, we had the sweetest play structures in all of Rwanda.  Check out the pictures to appreciate the full extent of it, but basically we created not one but two tire mountains, a platform with a tree ladder, an awesome rope ladder and a slide, 4 tire swings, 3 pull up bars, a suspended bridge and a bunch of colourful tires!  How awesome does that sound? Check out the slide show below to see the project come to life!
On our last day, we had a big open house celebration.  We invited the parents to come see all the work that had been done and also give them a chance to see how well their children are doing with their studies.  The kids got all dressed up in new uniforms that we were able to fund and they put on a wonderful singing and dancing session for the parents.  We then gave the parents a full tour of all the new play structures and the library!  They were beyond thrilled!  We had a great meeting with all the parents and one of the best things to come out of the whole experience is that many of the parents are on board for contributing school fees so that Marceline can hire and train a second teacher.  Marceline will continue on with the older students and the new recruit will start teaching the little ones.  The parents were extremely thankful for all the work and are eager to do their part to give their kids the best possible education.  Marceline was extremely grateful for all the additions and especially for the play structures as now she’ll get a bit of a break from teaching while the kids use up some of their overflowing energy playing on the structures.  As the EGP students fundraised well beyond the target, we were able to fund uniforms for all the students, buy chalk, print out a supply of report cards, make an official stamp for the school, install a fence, make two new signs for the school and lots of other little extras to make life easier for Marceline and help her keep doing the amazing work she is doing.


Overall, the project was successful beyond my wildest dreams!  I have to give a HUGE thanks to all seven of the amazing volunteers (Ella, Georgia, Harry, Jenni, Patrick, Yii, Yuria) for all their hardwork and to all the local workers we worked with on the project!! Everyone was amazing!!! 

Definitely check out the pictures and stay tuned for videos on youtube!

Monday, May 27, 2013

Weekly (MIS)Adventure Report



Well, it’s been a few weeks since the last update and of course that just means more adventures to share!  Like I said last time, as long as I keep living them, I’ll keep sharing them with you guys! And once again, I’ll give you a reason to be happy you’re only reading the updates and not living them! :)


So, after about 2 weeks, the octopus allergy finally subsided.  I headed to Rwanda to arrange the logistics for the 7 Scottish volunteers that will be coming in June to help build a library, a rain water catchment system and a play structure at the nursery school.  I stayed for 5 days and then headed back home to Mwanza.  I arrived Sunday afternoon at 4pm and in less than 40 hours, my laptop, netbook, external hard drive (with the back files of my computers), my old digital camera, our house guest’s netbook, Victor’s phone, and our TV was all gone!!!



To quote Ted from How I Met Your Mother, “Nothing Good Happens After 2am.”  Without a doubt,  I definitely believe this to be true! :)


So, yup, less than 40 hours after returning from Rwanda (36 to be exact), a whole bunch of stuff disappeared and one itty bitty thing appeared!  The good news was our house guest, Hija and his wife Shani welcomed their new bundle of joy to the world!  On Saturday morning, Shani went into labour and after a long and painful 12 hours, the doctors in Mwanza decided to do an emergency C-section.  I wasn’t there for the event but it would definitely not be my first choice to have an emergency section in Mwanza.  The good news is everything turned out great and Shani and Hija welcomed a new 6lb baby boy into in the world.


So that’s the good news!  Shani stayed in the hospital for a few days and while she was bringing a new baby into our house, a local group of thieves were bringing things out of our house.  I guess that’s… karma? Maybe??? 


So, Monday night I was sitting in our living room working on my laptop.  Around 230am, I heard some noise on the window, which of course was odd since it was quite late and everyone else was already in bed.  I opened the drapes to peak outside and thought I saw a glimpse of someone/something dashing away.  I wasn’t positive but then I saw a shadow moving on the ground.  I went to the dining room and peaked out the window and outside was a dude… just standing outside our window.  He was holding a flashlight and just kind of glancing around.  “Hmmm…” I thought to myself. “That’s odd… especially since we have a massive fence around our house with sharp wire rods on top.”  Just to clarify.  Currently, we’re staying in a house that Tabitha’s sister rented.  Our contract ended in Kisesa last November so while I was in Canada, Tabitha and Victor were staying in a house that her sister had rented just on the outskirts of Mwanza.  It’s a beautiful house with all the luxuries of home.  Nothing like I’m used to here in Tanzania so it definitely takes some time to get used to it.  


Anyways, so there I was in the living room of this beautiful house clicking away on my laptop when the noise started.  After seeing the dude just standing around, I went to wake Tabitha and Victor to see if maybe we got a security guard while I was gone…. Nope! The dude standing around was neither guard nor friend… which left us wondering what he could be up to.  In Canada, this would have prompted a call to 911 but when you’re in the middle of Tanzania what do you do?  We looked out all the windows and saw no sign of anyone.  We turned on all the lights, opened the door and peeked out.  All of our shoes were still there along with our bicycles and other random stuff.  With all the doors locked and all the bars on the windows and with the three of us and all 6  house guests sleeping inside, we decided that whoever may have been creeping around was likely scared off by seeing the commotion and even if that wasn’t the case, there was no chance that he could get in with everything locked up and all of us in the house.  Tabitha and Victor went back to bed and I carried on working until about 345am.  I put my laptop away in the cupboard (yes, this was silly in retrospect) then had a quick look out the windows and went to bed.  I locked the living room and dining room doors and was asleep in seconds.   Two and a half hours later, Tabitha burst into my room asking if I took the TV.  I don’t remember what I answered but I’m fairly confident it was incoherent because on two hours of sleep, it’s hard to come up with an answer to someone asking if you took the tv.  I might have said, “Where?”  Following my incoherent answer and the panic stricken look on Tabitha’s face, I followed here to the living room only to see an empty void where once a TV sat and a barren cupboard where only 2 hours before, my laptops had been sitting.  We all pretty much went into shock.  It took us a minute to discover that the thieves had cut the bars on the window and jimmied the window open, climbed inside through a tiny space and proceeded to steal all the things they could in the few hours they had between me going to sleep and Tabitha waking up.

So, once we gathered our wits about us, we headed out in the drizzly rain to the police station to report the incident.  I won’t go into ALL the details about the entire case but basically, there is amazing phone technology here that allows you to TRACK phones.  I’m sure it exists back home but I never realized that it existed here and boy was I thankful to discover IT DOES! So, the police went to work tracking Victor’s phone and later that day, we got report that the thieves used victor’s phone at 6am to call a phone number registered to Karim Kombo… and had it not been for that one slip up on the thieves part…. we never would have gotten are stuff back!
 

YUP!!! We got it all back!! Well, almost all back! It took over 2 weeks of working with the Mwanza Cyber Crime Unit (we quickly changed their name from detective to defective)… we dealt with the forensic unit, the Intelligencia Unit and a bunch of people in between.  As you can probably imagine, the process was a long draw out goose chase.. the defective tried to convince us the thieves had shipped the stuff to Dar and they needed to board a plane instantly to go track it down.  The forensics unit came out to collect fingerprints but the only thing that did was leave pink fairy dust on the windows.  We never heard any answer from them.  With Hija and Tabitha’s insistence, and support from the head of police, the defectives finally agreed to follow up with the phone number for Karim and that lead us to his wife, who lead us willingly to Karim himself who just happened to be using Victor’s phone!  Thanks to hours of watching Hawaii 5.0, 24 and Hustle, Tabitha and Hija, with the defectives, were able to track down and capture 6 potential thieves from all parts of Mwanza! Four were put in jail, interrogated, beaten, and in the end... the thief, Karim himself, actually came forward with information that allowed us to track down almost everything that was stolen. 

In a little over 2 weeks, we got the tv back, Victor’s phone, the digital camera and all three laptops.  The only downside was that all the files had been completed wiped off the computers… all three of them! 7 years of work.. deleted in a matter of seconds.  But at least the stuff was returned and it meant all our efforts were not in vain.  The only item that is still MIA is the external hard drive but someone has come forward to say that they have it and are willing to return it… so, hopefully there is still a chance to get that back too.  We’ll see how lucky I am ;)


So, yeah, that’s the story! Just one more (mis)adventure on the journey to Hero Home!  We’ve fixed the windows now and our next step is to get a guard dog! :) 


Friday, March 29, 2013

Back in Tanzania


For those of you haven’t heard, I have returned to Tanzania.  I left Winnipeg with 190lbs of sports equipment and other goodies on March 11th and arrived safe and sound 44 hours later. 
  
And like an ever-faithful, never-wavering, abusive boyfriend, Tanzania has once again welcomed me with open arms only to kick the absolute CRAP out of me!!

For those of you who have been following my African adventures for the last 8 years, I’m sure you’re as tired of hearing my tales of misadventure as I am of living them, but since I can’t seem to find a way to stop living them, you might as well keep hearing about them!! :) I assure you, it’s must less painful to read it than to live it so consider yourself lucky :)

So, like I said, I arrived on Wednesday after a completely uneventful 44 hours of travel.  I arrived at 400am and was greeted by Tabitha, Victor (her son), my good friend Uncle Moshi and of course the PLUS 40C heat (sorry for all of you back in Winnipeg, I hear my send-off was followed by yet another cold snap and -30C temperatures! If I makes you feel better, we’re probably both as equally uncomfortable :)  

Tabitha, Victor (her son) and I headed out to Zanzibar for a short holiday.  Tabitha and Victor have been working incredibly hard and I think we all needed a brain break.  We got out to Zanzibar, enjoyed the sites of Stone Town and then headed out to the beach.  The problems started on Monday night and culminated with me, once confirming that my insurance had gone through, making the decision to hop on a 12-seater plane to fly to Dar to get to myself to some quality medical attention.   Yup- that’s my welcome back to Tanzania story!!  Gotta love!!! 

The details are less exciting but basically, from what I have concluded, a mango came in contact with the pineapple that I ate on Monday or Tuesday.  That led to minor swelling my face on Wednesday morning… which was way better than last year when I inadvertently drank juice with mango in it and my WHOLE face swelled and resulted in my hiding out for a week until I regained a defined mouth, nose, and eyes.  This time was minor in comparison!   

However, the fun didn't stop there!  Tuesday night, I ate octopus soup, which I was not concerned about since I had eaten octopus more than once during my nights of selling street food in Zanzibar in 2009.  I’m not certain it was the octopus, but by Wednesday morning, my arms broke out in hives… and then by Thursday, the hives had multiplied to my back, front, and my legs and began turning from hives to welts to juicy blisters!! (If this is the first email of mine you’re reading, I apologize for the details, for those that have been following along for years, I know a reference to juicy blisters is minor in comparison to other stories I’ve shared with you!) 

So, that was Thursday.  With the help of my personal pharmacist, my sister Tracy, I did a little self-medicating.  I even used an epi-pen for the first time! By Friday morning, with two sleepless nights and the high percentage of my body covered in welts and blistered, it became pretty unbearable and was enough to convince me that this may have rapidly progressed beyond a typical allergic reaction so I made my way to the doctor.  It was much better than my last Zanzibar hospital visit (highlights of that experience-which can be found on the blog, include being told that the blood in my vomit wasn’t “too much”, being told my hair was ugly by my Russian doctor and then eventually being airlifted to Kenya).  This time I got a shot of hydrocotizone and a variety of prescriptions and then sent on my way.  By noon, I had decided I had tapped out the medical expertise in Zanzibar and decided to hop a last minute plane to Dar.  A quick twenty minute flight over the ocean got me to Dar where my wonderful friend Uncle Moshi met me at the airport and despite the crazy Dar traffic, had me at the hospital in less than 45 minutes.  The hospital was great and most importantly had air conditioning!  I got a full blood test that confirmed my allergy and newly acquired infection!  :) I got some more steroids (I can feel myself getting buffer!), got some antibiotics, found a hotel with AC and waited it out!! 

It's now been 10 days since the incident. The welts hav subsided and the crazy itchiness has mostly stopped!! I can assure you it was not an enjoyable 10 days!! My skin is still showing the scars but hopefully that will disappear soon.

So, that’s been my first couple weeks here! Hopefully entertaining as always!  I'm back in Mwanza now.  We're in the planning stages and will have lots of exciting updates for you soon!  On Monday, I'm heading to Rwanda to coordinate logistics for the Edinburgh volunteers that will be coming to work on the nursery school in May.
I hope everyone is doing well!!!
Take care!!!

Amazingamandabackintanzania