cows vs dogs

2007-05-30T07:24:00.000-07:00

It has been quite a shaky week Anna and i have been a bit ill with a flu, but am glad we are fine now. We have been visiting the women who are doing business in the market through WOCHIVI (women and child vision) who is giving them loans to start the business as capital.

We have had an opportunity to talk to some of this women who were once selling the brew, which is gongo and have now stopped, and are doing non harmful business. Like selling vegetables and starting up saloons. We began this exercise last week and we have been doing it for two days now. Its has been quiet touchy to listen to the women giving their experiences about how they struggled with the business for almost six years.

This week however, WOCHIVI, is giving a workshop to the women who have already received loans, and those of whom are yet to get the loans later the objective of this workshop has been to give the women knowledge and skills on how to run different business of their choice. We have been attending the workshops and also giving facilitation on DRUG AND DRUG ABUSE. We have mainly been talking about alcohol since it is the most abused drug.

Apart from being so occupied with the workshop we also got a chance to visit the INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL OF RWANDA. To listen to the proceedings of the Rwanda genocide killings it was quiet interesting to listen to the proceedings

It has been an informative month I have learnt a lot both from the different ways of doing facilitation and also shared a lot from the women, it has been exciting to play with the children in the nursery school at CWCD (centre for women and children development) teach them new songs from my childhood that surprised me that I could actually remember most of them maybe it was because I spent most of the time with, them I also have been learning a lot of Swahili sanifu from the children as I teach them English.

I have a few days left me and Anna will be leaving for Kenya on Friday. It has been nice to have Moses and Lynda for three days before leaving to Kampala . This has been a challenging month as well, with me getting sick and trying to work on limited time it has been really busy with working with two organization but at the same time I have learnt to exercise the spirit of teamwork.

I will surely miss Tanzania as a whole I have learnt a lot about culture and different lifestyles, of living That are quiet different from Kenya and yet this two countries are neighbours. Among the things that I will not forget about Tanzania is the experience of travelling in full daladalas that are a means of transport, the Tanzanian food that is mostly rice mixed with coconut, and many more. All in all I am looking forward to going home where I know how things work from the roads, to what greetings I should give and what time, just to feel like am in control of things again.

Hej do,
. triza

CONFUSION AND CONCLUSION

2007-05-18T08:32:00.000-07:00

This week has been very busy anna and i have been working on a newsletter for cwcd, at the same time going for school sessions in the weather of alot of rain and mud trying to walk and not fall in the mud.the newsletter has covered alot on what the organazation has been doing last year, and also early this year, thier has been alot of confusion in trying to pace up with finishing the newsletter and also being involved in someother activities away form work.
During this week we attented a burial at a place called marangu, it is 3hrs drive from Arusha towards kilimanjalo region. attending a burial of one of the relative of the family we are leaving with,The ceremony had alot of people the man died of heart failure he was a known man of the village and he did alot for the people, he gave cousel to those who needed it.
It was an experince to see diffrent ways of burial ceremony, the body of the dead was laid on bed before being put to the ground. we were told it was for the reason of the man paying his last respect.it was nice to see mount kilimanjalo so close. it has been a very interesting week with alot of activities going on am glad we have finally managed to finish on the newsletter.though it was a bit tuff i enjoyed working under pressure.

STRUGGLES

2007-05-10T07:37:00.000-07:00

Its been a week now since i came to Arusha, it is a bit cold. but am liking it. here we are workig with one of the partner organazation of i.o.g.t called WOCHIVI,which stands for women and child vision while we are here we have also working with CENTER FOR WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT. that is dealing with the same issues as wochivi which is giving information about brugs abuse to the women selling illicit brew.

Our contribution has been going to the primary schools to carry out sessions on drug information, children rights, and also visting the women in the markets who have stopped selling the illicit brew and are now selling vegetables by the help of wochivi who is giving them loans to start the business.

It has been an intersting week for me to work with children from the centre and also in the pimary school,i am leaning alot from them since i have not had a chance to work with children of the ages of 4yrs to 7 that is pre-primary school who are from center for the ophoned before.

The week has been succeful. hopefully this will be the trend for the coming week.

hej da
triza

HAPPY MOMENTS

2007-05-02T01:13:00.000-07:00

its monday the second of May must admit the months have really gone fast it feels like i have been here for more than two months. anyway this week will be my last week in DAR ES SALAAM. I wil miss the place i have made alot of friends learnt alot and now that i will be leaving i will have to start all over again.
I had a great weekend it was Anna Birthday we had some indian food in a five star hotel called pretoa,we had fun just hanging out together we will be leaving lynda and Moses as Anna and i proceed to go to Arusha. we have been like a family and the idea of leaving others behind is really sad.
I have learnt alot in DAR ES SALAAM, diffrent cultures of how people live,the sessions we had in EASCS school about Alcohol one of the reasons that makes it highly abused its availability and that it is also cheap. i have learnt how to make decisions in a group that has brought about teamwork in the group making work easier.
it has been a great experince working with I.O.G.T and seeing how they work. which has created an opportunity for me to learn more about the task involved in working with DRUG ABUSE PREVENTION.

WORK

2007-04-25T02:49:00.000-07:00

APRIL 24th BLOGG
Today monday the 24th i have started the week on a high note this is because we had visitors coming in from an NGO called( CREATING IDEAS) Thier offices are based in Tanzania and they aim at creating aweraness for the youth from the ages of 13-18 about Drugs and substances and other youth related issues like self-esteem.

They came with the intension to borrow materials and also get views on what topics that we think would best suite the book in terms of the experience and the exposure that we have from the field when we have been carrying out the club sessions in schools especially in kenya i was in the meeting on behave of the three. The meeting was quit interesting because we had an opportunity to exchange ideas and some of the things that they have had about Alcohol problems that they did not know if their were true they were confirming them with us.

The meeting was productive, we exchanged ideas about diffrent key areas that the comic book should cover in regard to Drugs which were information about all types of drugs, how they affect the body, and if affected were to go for help.and last but not least LIFE SKILLS.

It has been a good start for the week....

SUNDAY SERVICES

2007-04-25T02:08:00.000-07:00

there, it is on a sunday and like every sunday i always go to church. lucky for me my church or the one i have found is very close to home it starts at 8.30 and ends at 9.30 am liking it the way i always get extra time on Sundays to go to places like the beach just to relax and enjoy the sun.

So today lynda anna and i went to (kipepeo beach) after the mass kipepeo is a swahili word that means butterfly. The beach has many tourist coming because the ocean has claen water and the security around is also safe. i had a graet time though lynda one of the girl got a scratch from a jelly fish while swimming that left her with a mark on her left hand that looks like a tatoo. she is in someway liking it she says it looks cool on her arm.

it has been a wonderful weekend on sarturday lynda and i were reading a magazine called the truth about life, love,and sex. and we shared alot about the diffrent laws that are thier in Kenya and also sweeden about issues like Abortion and she says that it is legal for a woman or girl to have an abortion as long as her reasons for having it are valid. ie (it was an accident she had too much to drink and she messed.) While in Kenya it is not regal if your found the doctor and the woman aborting are caught then they are taken to jail for child murder.

Anyway this is a picture of me on the beach.

My Stay in DAR ES SALAAM

2007-04-24T04:36:00.000-07:00

Hej
Its been two months now alot has happend during this time in the month of March we began going for school sessions at a school called EASCS,in the same month we have had an invitation to the scout Leaders meeting to facilitate bout H.I.V in relation to Drugs.

Am loving it working with Anna Linda and Moses though I must admit it has not been a bed of rose for us to get were we are now, in the beginning theirs was a lot of miscommunication I could not understand what sometimes Linda or Anna meant because of the Swedish interference and also our English me and Moses differed in meaning but with patience and supporting each other now we are able to understand each other. To a point were I have actually learnt some few Swedish words as “oro” which has the same meaning in my tribe (kikuyu) meaning having a bad feeling in the stomach. “Fika”, “Segt”, “hej”, “Hej då” and many more am yet to learn. Moses is a dancer who dances to cultural music and loves to spend his weekends at different cultural centers. While for Anna Linda and I love to go to the beach and enjoy to feel the cool sand in between our toes and just lay back for some sun during the weekends.

Tanzania In general is a good country that has friendly people, they are people who love visitors and take their time in knowing them explains the long chain of questions they have when they meet a new visitor. Their staple food in the coastal area is rice and beans. they have 120 sub tribes who most of them are Muslims. They have a certain norm of addressing of elders with respect while greeting them which is to bow a bit. All this things that I have learnt are cultures that differ from what we have back at home.

The I.O.G.T stuff has been more than supportive in all ways. Especially with questions about Tanzania, they are also very friendly the office atmosphere is comfortable and they are always willing to help us and involve us in their activities i.e. the scouts training that we attended last month that was very informative.

That will be all for now, next week Anna and I will be preparing for Arusha to work with Women and children in an Organization called WOCHIVI. While Linda and Moses remain to follow up on EASCS.

in this picture you can see how fat i become in a week because of eating chips maayai.

Hej då
trizah