Sophie in Africa

 

A few chosen ones from my trip to Rwanda in November.

 

5,5 motnhs, or 23 weeks, or 163 days have I been in eastern Africa. It was a descicion I made many years ago, that I wanted to go abroad between my studys to see more of life and what this world is all about. Africa has, I think, always interested me because it is something completely different from Europe. It took a lot of time to search for information, and it was difficult to decide where to go and what to do since there are about a billion different alternatives. In the end I ended up here in Tanzania, and tomorrow it is time for me to go home.

I had a great time here. I have been a teacher for 45 screaming little kids for 4,5 months and it has been both very tough and very good. They have taught me a lot, more than I have taught them, and I am extremely greatful for this opportunity. It was hard to say goodbye to them because they have become my little kids and I might probably never see them again. I think my volunteer experience was a little different from many others, at least in Tanzania, since I went to a small village on the countryside and not to a bigger city where there is electricity, running water and most imortant other white people to connect to. I was the only one in my village which made me an incredible local celebrity. Everyone knew my name and who I was. It was sometimes lonely, but after I made some local friends at about my age it was a lot easier. It was also wonderful to have one friend from Europe come to visit be, because I have at least one person who knos what I was doing and who can share memories and thoughts with me. I will miss Africa very much, I know that, because many things here cannot be found in Europe. The way of life is completely different and this is what I am used to now. What more will I miss? I think actually mostly the small things. Going to the market and buying fresh fruit, seeing the women in the colourful fabrics, even the stuffed African buses. I will miss parts of the African cuisine, and I write parts because there have been a little to much deep-fried white carbonhydrates for me. In Tanzania they eat usually pretty unhealthy, even though the fruit of course is very good. I will still miss the small, shitty (sorry for that word) bars on the side of the road where you sit on rocky, plastic chairs market "The Coca-cola company" (they have an enormous influence here) and eat the local food. The way of life in Africa is more relaxed, less stressed, less worrying about tomorrow. That is refreshing for us Europeans since we are so used to having a lot of stuff and want to achieve so much in life, we forget about enjoying the day. There is a big negative with this though; Africa is in many ways behind Europe in technical development, but actually mostly in mind. I could not teach them not to litter freely or to burn their trash in the open. They don't really understand the importance of protecting indangered species or caring about the nature. They just live today. The school system needs to improve rapidly, the education level is sometimes really poor. Some are well educated but some can't even read when they finish school.

 

Are there things which I will not miss? Absolutely. All the insects for example, I am tired of having ants and cockroaches in my room. I also had a little problems with some persons I had to co-operate with so I will not miss that. You never love everyone around you. Another thing I will definitely not miss at all is that everyone just seems to see you as a walking wallet. Or as I heard another tourist call it, running ATM:s. Especielly on the countryside, the kids come and say "give me my money" and everyone wants you to donate to projects or help to start up a business etc. Also people you thought were your friends can after a while come and say: "but before you leave, you will give me your camera right?". They don't understand that we don't have a lot of money and that we don't want to pay more for everything. You have to fight for every single fruit on the market and still you have the feeling sometime you paid too much. Often it is not a question about a lot of money, but for me it i the princip. It is not fair.

 

I am used to always being recognised. I am used to being the only white among blacks. There are many, many tourists in Tanzania but as a white person you are always noticed and very attractive. They want you to take their taxi, their bus, go to their shop. I am used to everone screaming my name and waving at me wherever I go (in my village this is, not in Moshi or Arusha since I don't reallly know anyone there). All the grown-ups were very happy to see me and wanted me to come and visit. As a white person you get spoiled, you get invited to the homes of people and are being offered an enormous portion food and a bottle of soda. Everyone likes you, and if you are a young girl like me most of the boys is you age want to marry you. (Marriage here is different than in Europe. It is probably different in different regions, but in Tanzania and also in Kenya marriage is not so dependant on love and more about having someone you like to get kids with).

 

I also want to write a few lines about Rwanda. The two weeks I was there before I came to Tanzania meant a lot to me. I got to know Africa in an environment I am familiar with; in the spirit of Taize. They were two tough weeks for me but it was good that I didn't come to Tanzania and started to work directly. I was in areas where there are no tourists and therefor I think my stay was so authentic. I would have never met the people there and seen these areas if it would not have been for Taize. Thank you! I am so happy I got to see three countries here (I also saw a little of Kenya). Since it is so far away from Europe and I am here now I am happy I did not only see one country. Because of this I could make some reflections and compare between at least three countries, otherwise some things are difficult to know wether they are typical Africa or typical for the specific country. I know Eastern Africa so to say.

 

So, has it been easy all the time? Not at all. Has it been expensive to come here? Yes. Has it been worth it though? Absolutely, without any regrets. I learnd things I could not have learnd elsewhere and have so many nice mamories to take with me. If I would have known some things before I would have planned my trip a little differently but it was good like this too. Would I recommend others to do a similar trip? Yes, I recommend everyone to do something which is a challenge for them. I don't think volunteering is something for everyone, you need strong nerves to be able to go so far away from home for such a long time, especially if you do it alone. And you need recourses, read money. You also cannot be picky, life is different from home and you have to get used to eating new food and living a new life.

 

I am leaving Africa tomorrow, happy and fulfilled but also sad to leave. Of course. I will write again after some time home to share my thoughts when I have settled down in my old life again. I just want to say I am very sorry that I could not upload pictures here, but internet is so slow you have no idea. I tried two times but after twenty minutes I gave up. I want to upload after I have come home so if you just have a little patience you will see som chosen pictures from my entire stay here. I just want to remind you of something: in your eyes you will just see many black kids. But I see my kids, each with their own personality. That is a big difference.

 

I want to end with two lines from a song I think we all know.

 

 

Goodbye Africa, hello again Europe!

Now I am just enjoying my last days in Africa. Moshi is a very nice city, more pleasant than Arusha and more western orientated. I understand why so many volunteers come here, it is nice to see other white people and the enviroment is friendly. I have done some small activities this past week, for example gone to see some nature on Kilimanjaro. The nature here is so different from where I have been staying, Namanga and Maasai-land is just plain dry, dusty and very hot with a big lack of water. The Kilimanjaro region though has a lot of water and green forests. The weather here is also less hot and more humid, which might be because April is in the middle of the big rain season but I think it is always the case actually. I liked to walk on the countryside outside of Moshi because it is "real" Africa again, what I am used to now after all this time. I like though that I have this last week in Moshi, to adapt a little again to normal life before I go home. On Wednesday...

 

Kahawa shamba is Swahili and meens coffee farm. I fulfilles a long term dream today and visited Fairtrade certified coffee plantations on the slopes of Kilimanjaro. The farmers there are small scale holders under KNCU (Kilimanjar Native o-operative Union) and the union is certified. The tourism there is etablished so it was easy for me to do a visit there. I had prepared many questions and luckily got a good guide who liked to answer them. I loved to visit the farmers at home, in their plantations. Now it is perfetly in the middle of low season (April is not the best month here) but I could see the coffee trees and the machines but now they don't produce any coffee. They explained the process and I got to taste a fresh cup of coffe. And I who don't even like coffee normally absolutely loved it. It was so delicious, made by traditional means. I am happy I got answers that I needed about Fairtrade and both positive and negative critics. I am so excitet to continue the work I am doing when I come home! Because now I know for real what I am fighting for, that these people get a better life.

 

This visit was really a highlight for me during this Africa trip, but there have been so many good moments. I am now not far from leaving, tomorrow I have my last day here where I need to do finall shopping and visit the places I like before it is to late. Busy day.

I am writing again after probably having seen one of the most beautiful islands on earth, Zanzibar. My trip was way too short, I think I could have stayed forever ( well, almost). The beaches were amazing; crystal clear water, white sand and lots of palm trees. The people were friendly and generally good at English (finally!) and Stone Town was so beautiful with its old houses. It is interesting though, because it was really diferent from mainland Tanzania. The people looked different (Indian and arabic influence), talked a little different, mostly used another religion (the cost is mostly muslim, but there are many muslims in mainlad too and some christians in the coastal regions) and the whole culture was another. You really see that is before was Tanganyika and Zanzibar and pretty recently (I think 1964) became Tanzania.

 

I had good luck with the weather, despite low season it rained just very littely. I did some tourist activities, they are expensive but mostly worth the prize. On my second day I went on a dolphin safari. I was lucky, there were only two other tourist boats out and we saw many dolphins, probably 20. You have to be quick if you want to swim with them, because they move fast, but that was one of my best experiences. To see them in the water, under me... amazing. We also did some snorkelling then, that was really nice. After that we went shortly to a forest to see Red colobus monkey. They only exist on Zanzibar. They were absolutely not shy, going between the legs of the people and so on. After Have been in Stone Town I went to the east coast. On my way there it was pretty funny, I think every 50 meters there was a new sign of a resort. There are really millions of Hotels, mostly expensive ones. My Hostel, where I stayed, was surrounded by at least four expensive resorts. I mean, I had the same beach, and stayed at the same place about, but just a lot cheaper. My Hostel was run by four rasta-Jamaican style guys, they were a little weird but nice. They took everything slowly, just enjoying life. The bay was really quiet, almost no locals, just a deserted beach. I think I needed the calmness, it was good for me after this volontary work. The beach was so nice, perfect for relaxing. I also saw some Mangrove trees. In the evening you could see amazing sunsets or enjoy the evening at a camp fire. I think I fell in love a little with the island, even though there are negatives also. For example on Zanzibar you have to really careful with what price you get, because they like to add if you are white. And local life is cheap, but being a tourist costs.

 

On Sunday I was back in Namanga to say goodbye to everyone. Most were really sad, but wished me a pleasant journey.I will miss some people more than others, which is perfectly natural. The hard thing is that I have no Idea when I can be back. Most of them don't have e-mail, so it is hard to contact them. But of course I will remember them. Now I am in Moshi where I will be until the end. I have some activities planned which I will write more about another time. I want to make the most out of my last week in Africa!