Start of 2nd round of visits - Iringa to Mpuguso & Tukuyu

On Sunday morning (20th October) we caught the 8am bus to Mbeya from Iringa. Well, it actually left at 7.55am, which left Carla & myself open-mouthed! The bus was called 'Chaula Class', and had very narrow and hot seats, but at least we were in a row of 2 so it was just me and Carla, with Juanito across the aisle on the end of a 3-seat row. Phew it was warm on there, with the heat of the engine coming up through the soles of your shoes, and the sides of the bus. I think beaded seat covers would sell like hot cakes here! Maybe they could be made to double up as an extra bag that folds (a small one of course!)...hmm the creative juices are flowing now...

The seat in front of me was very high-backed (for me, anyway) so I couldn't see out of the front window, but at least I had a side window to watch the scenery go by. It wasn't the worst bus journey we have had, but we were pleased to arrive in Mbeya at 1.15pm where Juanito promptly went to find if there was a bus going to Tukuyu (our final destination), which there was and leaving imminently so we hot-footed it across the bus station and got into a minibus, larger than a dala dala (which is like the size of an Espace) with about 12 seats. We were the first ones on so we got to choose our seats too. Whilst leaving Mbeya we made several stops in the suburbs where drivers of similar minibuses literally fought over passengers, and drinks sellers were persistent in opening the window next to where I was sat and trying to sell their wares, resorting to asking for money when I didn't need to buy from them as I already had a drink, so I felt rude but in the end had to close the window. On our travels and in Iringa people generally accept 'no thanks' as an answer (in English or Kiswahili) but in Mbeya I found they were really quite demanding and unpleasant as they persist and don't accept my response; the last time we were there also, and so it's not a town where any of us actually get a comfortable feeling or want to stay.

From Mbeya to Tukuyu we passed some spectacular landscapes and seasons - black clouds in the sky, to bright sunshine, to clouding over and cool, finally arriving in Tukuyu at 4pm where it was a comfortable temperature and not raining as it was a couple of weeks before. We carried our bags to one of our homes from home - the DM Motel (where we bumped into Chris, Chris, Ramadhani and Victor last time), and after asking for them to put the hot water on took a 'shower' (trickle). It's a nice place to stay though! The rooms are quite large, and the bed more comfortable than the one I have in Iringa... however if you want to dine there (and there are not many other options in Tukuyu) then make sure you go to the dining area at least an hour before you will want to eat, as that is the shortest amount of time we have had to wait for food. I guess  it really is made fresh!

So on Monday morning Juanito has ordered a taxi to take us to the TTC but Tiko shows up with the college car to collect us, which is a nice surprise so we cancel the taxi. Unfortunately the principal has been called to Dar and won't be back until Tuesday evening, and then on Wednesday the principals all need to go to Mbeya for another meeting, so maybe we will get to see her on Thursday evening but for now we will have to proceed with our programme without her. That the principals are called away from their college and at short notice is a common occurrence, which makes me wonder about the skills needed for them to be what is essentially a principal from a distance, like distance learning. I wonder what the 'super Heads' in the UK who manage more than 1 school would be able to share of their experiences, as I imagine it to be something similar. And so we meet with the leadership team who is there, and arrange the schedule for the coming day and next day, where Juanito and I will meet with the Heads of Departments plus 1 representative from each department.

During our ensuing sessions with the tutors it was so enjoyable to discuss teaching methodology and finding different ways of interacting with the students and motivating them, even when class sizes are large and we have limited or no resources! Using different participatory methodologies was something I loved at the beginning of my teaching and then felt was waning as I let the bureaucracy bog me down. Juanito then followed with an introduction to using local materials for creating teaching aids, and we had a really nice time back in Mpuguso TTC. Next stop Tukuyu TTC!

Where we are & where we go...

Based in Iringa, visiting the Southern Highlands south and west of there: Songea, Tukuyu, Mupuguso, Tandala and Sumbawanga. Might be easier if you type those places into Google Maps....

Waste disposal

We have a cleaner who comes to the house three times a week who we were asked to take on, as our neighbour was moving back to Kenya, and as we had considered employing one anyway it was mutually convenient. Her name is Lemika, and her English is about the same as my Swahili, so we use a lot of sign language, gesticulating, and laughter! Sadly her mother passed away last week from cancer, and so I was very grateful to friends who were able to compose a text message in Swahili for me to explain that she didn’t need to come in but would get paid anyway, which seems to be appropriate and I hope relieve some anxiety she might feel. The reason I am telling you this is because I was left with the issue of disposing of our rubbish. We don’t generate much rubbish I’m pleased to say: I’m referring to kitchen rubbish consisting mainly of food such as peelings, paper napkins, and paper used to write on: that kind of thing. Now I realise even this could be reduced! But as I referred to in an earlier post, I see that my needs are changing, and we can adapt even more all the time. But we do have a waste bin in the kitchen and it does need emptying every couple of days even if it’s not full, otherwise the ants have a field day.

In gardens, by the roadside: everywhere there are patches of blackened earth where there has been a small bonfire. It is not unusual to smell burning in the air. There are ubiquitous towers of smoke rising in areas across the landscape easily visible when walking around town or on the way to the college. This is waste disposal in Tanzania. There are no collections for your rubbish: no separating of plastic, cardboard, glass, food and non-recyclable into containers that are collected weekly, fortnightly or monthly. Our cleaner takes our rubbish out to the garden and burns it. That is the solution.

Our garden is not the tidiest of gardens. I have to say that I have not been motivated to clear it, and it’s not that I don’t like gardening because I do find it relaxing and a satisfying thing to do! I think, on reflection, it’s because I didn’t like the idea of burning all the debris that is out there. I am not referring just to plant debris: there is what seems to be a broken shelf unit together with many bottles (plastic and glass), and a couple of things which are mine I see there that have been taken by the cleaner to burn which have rolled to the side and haven’t yet burnt: namely a deodorant can, bought by me before I thought about what might happen to the empty container....

 

So on a positive note, there is plenty of dried plant debris that can be used for a bonfire! I kept the deodorant can to one side (and it can stay there until I find out what I can do with it!) and proceeded to make a bonfire upon which I could empty our rubbish, trying not to douse the flames with the rotting veg so I had to spread that out a bit. When Juanito is back hopefully we can find a suitable spot for a compost pile. And most of it burnt! Success! It stung the eyes a bit even though I tried to stay upwind, and I’m not sure of the vegetation which contributed the dried leaves but it smelt nice ;-)

But since having to burn the rubbish, it made me think even more of how much we throw away.  When I lived in London I would go to the huge Ikea store just inside the north circular near the M11: I think it’s in Edmonton. On the way from Tottenham Hale to this huge Ikea you have to pass a landfill site, and it’s just disgusting. As is every single other landfill site that exists. Anyone who passes or has passed one (or is unfortunate to live near one) knows the smell, and the sound and nuisance of the seagulls and birds that live off it. We talk about ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’; my bachelors’ degree is in Environmental Social Science; and yet it was only when I had to physically dispose of our rubbish myself that I actually really thought down to the smallest detail about what we waste. 

Plastic bottles

When we attended our pre-departure training with VSO in Birmingham, I remember the topic of waste disposal coming up, and not really paying it much attention. I imagined in a country with limited access to resources that waste disposal would be inherently and naturally kept to a minimum, and I try to ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’ as much as possible anyway, so for me nothing would change there...or so I thought. In addition, on our (huge!) list of items we were advised to take a durable drinking bottle (for refilling with water regularly I imagined). Thanks Mum for buying me one ;-)

So it came somewhat as a shock to see the multitude of plastic that covers the ground not just in the big city of Dar but in the middle of nowhere; that plastic bags are used so flippantly (is that the right word?) when buying goods at the market or in the shops. I seem to be unusual in that I take my rucksack or canvas bags with me and ask the shopkeepers or stallholders to fill those, rather than using another plastic bag. Sometimes it can’t be helped, or I’m caught out with more shopping than I brought bags for (I should acknowledge this point more carefully....!) but at least I try to keep it to a minimum. Unfortunately plastic water bottles are just as prolific, and I realise I’m also to blame as I drink mineral water and it’s not always practical to refill from the larger, 6 litre bottles we have at home. We have a water filter but it makes the water taste funny, so I suppose I’m adding to the problem by still drinking mineral water, even if I’m ‘reducing’ by taking it from one larger bottle rather than 12 small ones. (Will the filtered water taste better after the filter has had more use?) 

We are storing our bottles though after reusing them several times, and try to recycle them into other things. Encouragingly, also, I heard from friends who are now travelling across Tanzania at the end of their placement that when they are on a bus which passes through a village, it is helpful to throw out your empty bottles as they can be utilised by the villagers who otherwise have no access to things like plastic bottles, as there are no shops. (This WAS said by the fellow passengers on the bus! Best to ask their advice as to when is the most appropriate time to throw the bottle should you be thinking about visiting and doing the same...) But I do love the spark of creativity that comes from having less than I’m used to – we keep ALL of our containers now, in case they can be utilised for something. It’s not so easy just to buy what you need, like back home, and I think that’s a good thing. It makes me re-evaluate what my needs are, and it's good to know they are changing all the time as I adapt to the new environment.

We have used bottles for a table decoration; kitchen sponge holder, and for washing-up powder now in diluted ‘ready-to-use’ form (thanks Juanito and Bart):

I have also seen bottles recycled as shampoo and soap holders in the bathroom, tied to the shower with string, and larger bottles used simply as containers, with the top third cut off (thanks Lou!). I am hoping to do a similar thing and use our large water bottles as plant pots, should I get some ficus plants one day... ideas for more uses of plastic bottles welcomed! Photos especially if you can!

Post please!

I'm in a competition with my team mates to see how much post we can get so please send letters/postcards! They already have at least a dozen! The address is:

Vikki Barrowcliff
Klerruu Teachers Training College
PO Box 549
Iringa
TANZANIA

Thanks!!
And thanks to Dad for my first letter and care package (which came via friends visiting the UK and then brought from Dar by Bart!).

1st visit summary

As we will be on our second round of visits soon I will try and share with you some photos from the first visit – I would say due to popular demand but it was only Peter that asked, so here you go Pete, with 3 included in there of me as requested (I don’t ‘take’ great pics but you did ask so that's what you get!) :-)

Matema Beach is on the shore of Lake Nyasa (which the Malawians call Lake Malawi – touchy subject) where we were taken by the lovely principal of Mpuguso TTC for a cultural visit. I think you’ll agree that the scenery is spectacular!

Unfortunately it was a rather cold morning when we got there so we didn’t get to swim, but we had a lunch of lake fish (with rice) and where I saw a very cool shelf unit made from one of the fishing boats. 

After lunch we had a walk to the market place, where earthenware pots and pans are sold for very little – Juanito bought us a frying pan for our house, which you can see him using when we stopped on the route back to Mpuguso for the principal to buy a sack of rice and they gave us a handful to smell – lovely!

Here are some photos of life on the shore, where bananas have been put down next to some drying fish, and the children playing on the boats: one of the boys made the young girl cry (surprise, surprise!) but it cheered her up to have her photo taken. The magic of digital: they love to see the photo straight away! They all crowd round to have a look!

Then in Tandala you can see us in the principal’s office where Carla and Juanito are dutifully paying attention.

In Tukuyu my favourite plant is all around: the ficus, surviving outside even, so next time we go I am hoping to get some cuttings, and as that’s Juanito’s field of expertise he promised me we would...

Although you can see in the next photo in Tukuyu I have my hands on my hips, which is because I am pointing out repeat spelling mistakes in Juanito’s work (I am smiling but I was cross really) so whether I get any ficus from Tukuyu actually remains to be seen...

We also had the strange experience of having rain while we were in Tukuyu and while the poor student teachers were outside, so of course we had to take photos.

9 Back at base camp

It has been, as is becoming usual, an interesting few weeks since I last wrote. VSO’s favourite adjectives that are necessary for their volunteers are ‘flexible’ and ‘adaptable’; and I can see why. After returning on a Sunday evening from our 30-day road trip visiting 5 of our 6 colleges in the Southern Highlands region and anticipating having the week to process our data and compile our reports, we met on Monday for a brief ‘touch-base’, and arranged to have our first proper meeting the next day. Tuesday morning came along with an emailed request for Carla & Juanito’s presence the next day in Dar to assist with baseline observations in other parts of the country. Baseline observations that might have been better carried out at the beginning of the project, but there you go. So there was quite a lengthy discussion about what they might be required to do, how much travelling it looked like it would entail (details were not very forthcoming in the email), and whether they felt up to it. I would be staying behind in Iringa to complete the administration that we needed to do that week. It was decided we had enough time for a productive meeting that morning, and so Wim went to buy two bus tickets to Dar for the following day while we steamed through what our findings were, how we would present them, and how we would begin to prepare for our second visit to the colleges. Two and a half hours later we breathed out again, and it was good to know we work well together under pressure! It seems that all three of us work better that way: when there’s a deadline we just get on with it! I don’t think we even stopped for coffee...

With Carla and Juanito off to the northern-most and southern-most parts (almost anyway!) and me in front of the computer I was mighty relieved to know Bart was visiting Iringa before his projects really take off in December, so the ensuing two weeks was a nice combination of work, rest and play with visiting Ruaha National Park and actually doing some sight-seeing of our base town. And some healthy breakfasts with lots of delicious fruit. As is common with any ‘down time’ after an intense period of work I came down with a (bad!) cold and exhaustion, which I shared with Bart ;-) but I don’t know how Carla and Juanito managed to pull through those next two weeks of more work and travel. It’s the same with teaching: at the beginning of each holiday when the body can finally relax is when the teachers usually get sick! If they’ve lasted all term that is... Anyway, what I do know is it’s great to have the team back. And so on Sunday we start our second round, although we will be back in Iringa mid-way this time which will break it up a bit – or make it feel longer, I’m not sure yet. And the travel dates may still change as our principals have to check with the principals of the private TTCs in case there are any meetings looming up. Flexibility and adaptability. Totally necessary. But I guess that’s also what makes it more interesting.