Wow, that year went fast!

I have enjoyed spending this year volunteering in Tanzania and getting to meet many interesting people. I have also had some time to reflect on what actually it has meant for me. I'm sure the following list is not comprehensive but here are some of the things that I'll be taking away with me:

The delicious taste of fruit & vegetables that are grown according to season and not forcibly grown all year round.

That to ‘reduce, reuse & recycle’ is really still not enough. Seeing how there are no solutions to waste disposal here other than to burn it, it is quite eye-opening to see things like empty blister packs from paracetamol or anti-malarials and aerosol cans in the garden amongst the things which didn’t burn, or which got blown along by the wind.

What it’s like to be burgled.

What it’s like to be on the receiving end of a corrupt official (if you don’t pay will they not look for the things which were stolen?)

The wonder that even if criminals got caught in this corrupt and inefficient system, would they face punishment and more importantly be deterred from committing the crime again?

The excitement & heartbreak of love.

The question of whether aid does help. From across the world, NGOs and governments look to Africa for projects to invest in, and if there’s money always coming from somewhere, where’s the incentive to improve, adapt, be innovative? I can only speak of my experience here in Tanzania, but does it really help? Yes, maybe help with immediate issues like health care, dealing with drug addiction, and installing wells – but even then the pumps get stolen. From their own people! The desire to educate, be educated, and be independent has to come from within, and it has to be led and modelled by the government. Then the people will hopefully follow. It seems that we are helping with the creation of a culture of dependency and animosity (accusations of recolonisation!) and a situation similar to ‘benefit Britain’ – it also doesn’t help with others’ perspective of what it means to live in the UK (or other countries). Maybe instead of other people going to a country to ‘give aid’ e.g. financially or through sharing skills, aid can be given through offering scholarships/funding to study abroad instead and let people learn for themselves what it’s like. Some of the volunteers, however, say how it has been useful for their counterparts to see them use machinery and learn and employ practical skills, and volunteers coming here to show many students makes sense in a pure numbers game. The sustainable question is how can they start to teach each other that? If there are Tanzanians who are skilled in e.g. engineering and welding (i.e ideally the people who are teaching it to the students in the colleges), the government needs to look at hanging onto those people, and expand its own skills base rather than relying on outside people coming in to teach it for them, although I understand that right now there might be the need for outside help to get the ball rolling (how did the colleges start up in the first place if there are not teachers skilled to teach the subjects??). If the people currently in the position of teaching are not skilled or capable of doing the job then release them from their contracts and find Tanzanian people who are if not yet skilled then at least willing to learn. I have seen that it’s too easy for people here just to ask and receive. Even expect. Too easy to have a job and get away with doing very little. What I found also surprising was that some tutors and members of college management teams (by which I indicate that they are educated to degree level and higher, and some are somewhat travelled and worldly-knowledgeable) don’t believe that poverty exists in the UK; that crimes are committed also by white people who are desperate or otherwise; that the UK government doesn’t just give us money. Aid as it stands does not appear to be sustainable, nor does it teach independence, or help to educate. Change needs to come from the government, and I can’t see any motivation for them to do so. Additionally, employing locals to assist in the administration of said aid does not necessarily mean they are capable – just like having to employ disabled people (3% quota for large companies to do so in UK) or people of another colour or religion merely to show equality, when it should come down to being offered equal opportunities within work and getting employment based on merit (our ability to do the job).

The knowledge that I can learn to live without stuff I’m used to (favourite food, choice and availability of new clothes, even a washing machine etc but also 24/7 electricity and/or water to an extent....)

Having gone without many of the comforts of home, the evidence that a lot of what we tend to surround ourselves with really is extra and we really can manage with less (a whole other discussion can stem from this point alone!)

A bit more self-confidence, from time to ruminate and reflect

Some new friends and an international network

What it’s like to work alongside many different cultures and languages, not just one or two

The challenge of trying to write a blog or stay in regular contact with limited internet access

To see the effect on daily life under a government which is clearly inefficient and apparently corrupt (although I can only provide evidence of the former)

Free time! Work-life balance! Hobbies – what are they??!! Remember to enjoy playing music again (only for the guitar to get stolen)

Change IS slow and in small amounts

How attitude really does make such a difference to how you live your life and what opportunities you find – it’s not just circumstance

To again appreciate the consummate beauty of nature

I can withstand 9+ hours on a bus and go to the toilet behind a bush

I can have enough of eating bananas

That I do like ugali (the staple food here)

The importance of living and enjoying each day.