Well I just had quite a weekend! It was the MPR and we left Dar and went down to Morogoro for a couple of days. It was fantastic to get out of the city because Dar is wonderful but it is go go go all the time and so dusty and busy that a break was warmly welcome. We had Friday at TYC doing the bulk of the sessions for the MPR and as a team we have no real problems except one of the Tanzanians called Nashir who drives everyone a bit crazy. But the day wasn't too heavy and we watched a film called "The decay of the garden of Eden" at about 4 with some TYC members and had a nice chat about development stimulated by the film (TYC do this every other fortnight). We then went home and slept in anticipation of the weekend ahead...
We had been told and told that the bus was leaving at 6.30 the next morning but me and Zai in our wisdom both failed to set alarms and I woke up at 6.25 and a state of panic ensued. I managed to shower/dress/pack and run to TYC in 15 mins, Zai took 25 mins to shower and dress and just made it in time. That definately kick started the day! The journey on the bus was about 3 hours long and we slept/look in wonder and the view from our bus. I hope some of the pictures can do it justice. When we got to morogoro we had another couple of sessions then lunch then team building (making an egg survive being dropped out of a window and acting out the transport we have used - all very fun!) We then set off on a walk as the sun was setting to take some pictures and enjoy the quiet, it was incredibly relaxing and we were staying at the foot of a mountain that looked like it should have been home to dinasaurs.
In the evening after we had eaten we went to meet other VSO volunteers that were on initial training in Morogoro. They were a little old and as a group of people didn't have quite the same level of energy as I am used to at placement, tyc and our gx team. They were nice though and have the potential to be far more useful as they have actual skills. Quite a few were heading to be based in Dar and I wondered how they would find it, as Dar is a great place to be with lots of energy, but it is exhausting with the heat, dust and generally always having to be alert and on your guard.
Anyway! Sunday! We set off at 7.30 on the way to The National Park! It was so exciting! The first thing I saw was a giraffe and some elephants with babies (and this wasn't even in the park) When we got in te park we saw more of both with zebras, baboons (with babies about 2 metres from the bus) about 20 hippos in the hippo pool with crocs. We didn't see lions because we were later on but we saw some beautiful birds and buffalo. In the afternoon we went to a snake park and looked at all the snakes and learnt about them. I also held one! I am sure I have missed out some of what we saw but the whole day was great (even if I have just woken up from a 15 hour sleep!) and very beautiful.
Right I have to dash because I am meeting Lucy to Kanga shop and catch some sun later in the afternoon.
Less than 6 weeks to go! Where did 6 weeks just go? No idea, but I am enjoying Tanzania very much.
Love to you all,
Hattie xxx
Monday 15 February 2010
Saturday 23 January 2010
Tanzania!
Well I am here and feeling fairly settled in now. The weather is hot stuff! about 30 degrees most days which leaves you always dripping and i am drinking about 5 litres of water a day!
I am working 4 days a week at Friends of Don Bosco, an orphanage for disadvantaged children. It is a nice place but run very much by swahili time! and they could do with a kick up the bum! Also volunteering there is Ash from Canada, Megan (who goes to George town) and lives in Washington, and two German guys one of which has Malaria!!! It's nice because we can all plan improvements together! I am also a teacher of Maths and English. Fun stuff, I find it very rewarding and I like the power of setting homework.
My host home is nice too, their are loads of lodgers so I never know who anyone is but my host Mum and Dad are very nice! We have 2 week old kittens which are soooo cute. Emi you would love them!
I am getting used to showering with a bucket and squatting toilets, even if we all rush to the nearest flushing loo as soon as we can!
Our "base" is TYC Tanzania Youth Coalition, and everyone that works their is under 28 so its just one big party! I went out to "Shake the bone" with them all last night and had a great time, they are teaching me how to roll my hips!
We go to the beach most weekends and some evenings, no one can really swim here and the beach isnt a big locoal attraction so the beaches are very empty even if they are dirty. You can pay 3000 sh (1 pound 50) and go to a really georgeous beach that is cleaned (there are quite a few priviate beaches) and that is the plan for tomorrow!
We are planning to go to Morogoro national park for our MPR, and that is in 3 weeks. I am SO excited!
Right I must dash!
I will write again soon!
Bye Bye!
xxx
I am working 4 days a week at Friends of Don Bosco, an orphanage for disadvantaged children. It is a nice place but run very much by swahili time! and they could do with a kick up the bum! Also volunteering there is Ash from Canada, Megan (who goes to George town) and lives in Washington, and two German guys one of which has Malaria!!! It's nice because we can all plan improvements together! I am also a teacher of Maths and English. Fun stuff, I find it very rewarding and I like the power of setting homework.
My host home is nice too, their are loads of lodgers so I never know who anyone is but my host Mum and Dad are very nice! We have 2 week old kittens which are soooo cute. Emi you would love them!
I am getting used to showering with a bucket and squatting toilets, even if we all rush to the nearest flushing loo as soon as we can!
Our "base" is TYC Tanzania Youth Coalition, and everyone that works their is under 28 so its just one big party! I went out to "Shake the bone" with them all last night and had a great time, they are teaching me how to roll my hips!
We go to the beach most weekends and some evenings, no one can really swim here and the beach isnt a big locoal attraction so the beaches are very empty even if they are dirty. You can pay 3000 sh (1 pound 50) and go to a really georgeous beach that is cleaned (there are quite a few priviate beaches) and that is the plan for tomorrow!
We are planning to go to Morogoro national park for our MPR, and that is in 3 weeks. I am SO excited!
Right I must dash!
I will write again soon!
Bye Bye!
xxx
Monday 14 December 2009
Friday 11 December 2009
Week Eight - Burhan and Laura!
Week Six by Burhan and Laura
Did you know that one in ten people in Aberdeen lives in deprivation? To try and reduce this shocking statistic Instant Neighbour provides support to people living on low incomes in Aberdeen City and Shire. They recycle and distribute quality used furniture, clothing, and baby equipment to people who need it most. We help by going out and about in the van, picking up the furniture, distributing the furniture, and sorting out the other goods which are donated from members of the public (including thousands of cans of tinned food!). Preparation for Christmas has already started, and we have had a busy week with the launch of the Giving Tree! Through the Giving Tree members of the public donate gifts to children who might not normally get to receive one at Christmastime! At the launch we met the Lord Provost for the second time; we were first introduced at the beginning of the programme when we were invited for a tour of the Aberdeen City Council buildings.
Instant Neighbour receives lots of volunteers, so this week we have had the opportunity to meet other volunteers from all different part of the community (including lots of ‘warembo’ from the Police Cadets!). Despite the fact that we are so busy the happy and relaxed atmosphere at Instant Neighbour (and the fact we are always laughing and joking!) stops it from being tiring.
Aberdeen Forward is the other place where we are working in Aberdeen. It’s an environmental charity working to reduce waste and improve the surroundings for citizens of Aberdeen City and Shire. The charity runs many interesting projects including the Real Nappy project, Composting programmes and the Creative Waste Exchange (which is basically an Aladin’s Cave full of goodies and other exciting stuff!). Aberdeen Forward also conducts workshops with students from different schools to make sure that the environmental education begins at a grassroots level. At Aberdeen Forward we are doing a research project on the carbon footprint of the charity.
At the weekend we escaped from Aberdeen for a few days and headed west to Grantown on Spey! It was busy week but nice and lovely!
CHEERS‼ YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHH‼‼‼
Did you know that one in ten people in Aberdeen lives in deprivation? To try and reduce this shocking statistic Instant Neighbour provides support to people living on low incomes in Aberdeen City and Shire. They recycle and distribute quality used furniture, clothing, and baby equipment to people who need it most. We help by going out and about in the van, picking up the furniture, distributing the furniture, and sorting out the other goods which are donated from members of the public (including thousands of cans of tinned food!). Preparation for Christmas has already started, and we have had a busy week with the launch of the Giving Tree! Through the Giving Tree members of the public donate gifts to children who might not normally get to receive one at Christmastime! At the launch we met the Lord Provost for the second time; we were first introduced at the beginning of the programme when we were invited for a tour of the Aberdeen City Council buildings.
Instant Neighbour receives lots of volunteers, so this week we have had the opportunity to meet other volunteers from all different part of the community (including lots of ‘warembo’ from the Police Cadets!). Despite the fact that we are so busy the happy and relaxed atmosphere at Instant Neighbour (and the fact we are always laughing and joking!) stops it from being tiring.
Aberdeen Forward is the other place where we are working in Aberdeen. It’s an environmental charity working to reduce waste and improve the surroundings for citizens of Aberdeen City and Shire. The charity runs many interesting projects including the Real Nappy project, Composting programmes and the Creative Waste Exchange (which is basically an Aladin’s Cave full of goodies and other exciting stuff!). Aberdeen Forward also conducts workshops with students from different schools to make sure that the environmental education begins at a grassroots level. At Aberdeen Forward we are doing a research project on the carbon footprint of the charity.
At the weekend we escaped from Aberdeen for a few days and headed west to Grantown on Spey! It was busy week but nice and lovely!
CHEERS‼ YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHH‼‼‼
Week Seven - Maria and Charlie
This week was a busy week we went to Edinburgh, to our Volunteer Placement, and we had a team day in which we went bowling.
So the week started off by going to Edinburgh early on Monday morning, almost everyone fell asleep on the bus on the way, probably because we were all at a gig the previous night. We arrived in Edinburgh and went to the Scottish Parliament for a tour; unfortunately buttons didn’t show us around this time. After we had been shown around the amazing building which we were informed cost £414million.We went to the British Council for lunch. And after the British Council we were free to roam the city in which we saw the castle, a few of us walked up the big hill, walked along the Royal Mile, went to the childhood museum and a few of us even ate our first battered Mars bar.
On Tuesday we went to our Volunteer Placement at Aberdeen Foyer on a project called Community Signature. The idea behind it is that it is a type of questionnaire that is interactive and gets in depth responses from the people we are asking the questions to. The community we are working with is Torry, the aim of doing the Signatures is that we can send the gathered information to the Council who can then find the areas that need investment. We were at a retirement home on Tuesday asking five pensioners what they thought about their community.
On Wednesday it was Charlie and Lillian’s GCD which was on Human Rights.
On Thursday we again went to our volunteer placement where we did a signature with two men who are on initiatives run by Aberdeen Foyer.
On Friday there was a team day in which the group discussed several issues and ways to solve those issues. We decided that we would like to see what each other would be doing in their placements rather than always discussing problems as the team is starting to integrate and communicate very well. We also had a session run by Dave looking at stereotypes and how that can affect peoples attitudes to one another. Later on in the evening we went bowling where we all could relax after having such a busy week.
So the week started off by going to Edinburgh early on Monday morning, almost everyone fell asleep on the bus on the way, probably because we were all at a gig the previous night. We arrived in Edinburgh and went to the Scottish Parliament for a tour; unfortunately buttons didn’t show us around this time. After we had been shown around the amazing building which we were informed cost £414million.We went to the British Council for lunch. And after the British Council we were free to roam the city in which we saw the castle, a few of us walked up the big hill, walked along the Royal Mile, went to the childhood museum and a few of us even ate our first battered Mars bar.
On Tuesday we went to our Volunteer Placement at Aberdeen Foyer on a project called Community Signature. The idea behind it is that it is a type of questionnaire that is interactive and gets in depth responses from the people we are asking the questions to. The community we are working with is Torry, the aim of doing the Signatures is that we can send the gathered information to the Council who can then find the areas that need investment. We were at a retirement home on Tuesday asking five pensioners what they thought about their community.
On Wednesday it was Charlie and Lillian’s GCD which was on Human Rights.
On Thursday we again went to our volunteer placement where we did a signature with two men who are on initiatives run by Aberdeen Foyer.
On Friday there was a team day in which the group discussed several issues and ways to solve those issues. We decided that we would like to see what each other would be doing in their placements rather than always discussing problems as the team is starting to integrate and communicate very well. We also had a session run by Dave looking at stereotypes and how that can affect peoples attitudes to one another. Later on in the evening we went bowling where we all could relax after having such a busy week.
Friday 6 November 2009
Month One!
Well I am well and truely settled in now, working at cornerstone and living with Zai, Seif, Lucy, Diane and Grant, it's quite a houseful. We ended up staying together because Nashir and Nathan had no host home so we gave them ours. I like living together, we have swahili lessons and the tasks of cooking, cleaning, washing and tidying (my strengths) are all shared and supported. At work I having been doing a stock take for the last week or so, I find it weirdly satisfying, (something i don't think it's great to shout about, it's not a usual hobbie) but I end up very drained in the evening and start thinking about how much my fork would sell for at dinner, very Sir Jack from "England, England". Me and Zai are getting on better, she is super super quiet and I can find that tough because I talk so much, but we rub along ok and so long as we keep talking about stuff I think we should be fine.
Because we have a houseful no one has much space, I am sharing a bed, a room and the living, dining, kitchen area is all very open so space is a little bit of an issue, especially when you can't get outside because it has rained so much there are streams running through the garden! But moaning over home life is great, lots of movies (Zai loves vampire movies, not my favourite thing in the world but we compromise) and swahili learning is really great. Me and Lucy have books and flash cards, we have sorted The human body, colours and fruit and veg this week, Zai and Seif just laugh at our accents.
The team as a whole are getting on ok, we had a team day on Monday where lots of issues we brought up with communication and effort etc, but nothing too serious. Homosexuality and the role of women are things that cause some serious cross cultural debates but no serious friction - I think I will find it hard in Dar es Salaam when I am exspected to clean the underwear of the men in my house - but at the moment because the team is girl dominated the boys wouldn't last two seconds if they even suggested it.
We have had loads of fun Socials and CAD's, I have been to the ballet for free, played football in Duthie park, dyed my hair red for a couple of days for Oxjam music festival and the Cornerstone disco (pictures will be up as soon as I can get hold of the right lead). Had a great halloween out dressed as the ace of spades and a witch and went to see "An American Wearwolf lost in London" (I think that is what it is called) and hit the town afterwards (Scotland has a SERIOUS drink problem, we were all shocked by the volume of very very very drunk people).
Heading down to Edinburgh for the day in a couple of weeks because we have been invited to the Scottish Parliment, we have our Mid Phase review next weekend (should be fun) and a tonne of other stuff too! I am in charge of two blogs at the moment, this one and the team one which is: www.gx-tz.blogspot.com have a look to see what we are all getting up to!
Anyway I am still in Cornerstone and the office is horribly empty because I have stayed late to use the computer so I think I will be off now to find food and home.
I hope I won't be too long in writing!
Hattie xxx
Because we have a houseful no one has much space, I am sharing a bed, a room and the living, dining, kitchen area is all very open so space is a little bit of an issue, especially when you can't get outside because it has rained so much there are streams running through the garden! But moaning over home life is great, lots of movies (Zai loves vampire movies, not my favourite thing in the world but we compromise) and swahili learning is really great. Me and Lucy have books and flash cards, we have sorted The human body, colours and fruit and veg this week, Zai and Seif just laugh at our accents.
The team as a whole are getting on ok, we had a team day on Monday where lots of issues we brought up with communication and effort etc, but nothing too serious. Homosexuality and the role of women are things that cause some serious cross cultural debates but no serious friction - I think I will find it hard in Dar es Salaam when I am exspected to clean the underwear of the men in my house - but at the moment because the team is girl dominated the boys wouldn't last two seconds if they even suggested it.
We have had loads of fun Socials and CAD's, I have been to the ballet for free, played football in Duthie park, dyed my hair red for a couple of days for Oxjam music festival and the Cornerstone disco (pictures will be up as soon as I can get hold of the right lead). Had a great halloween out dressed as the ace of spades and a witch and went to see "An American Wearwolf lost in London" (I think that is what it is called) and hit the town afterwards (Scotland has a SERIOUS drink problem, we were all shocked by the volume of very very very drunk people).
Heading down to Edinburgh for the day in a couple of weeks because we have been invited to the Scottish Parliment, we have our Mid Phase review next weekend (should be fun) and a tonne of other stuff too! I am in charge of two blogs at the moment, this one and the team one which is: www.gx-tz.blogspot.com have a look to see what we are all getting up to!
Anyway I am still in Cornerstone and the office is horribly empty because I have stayed late to use the computer so I think I will be off now to find food and home.
I hope I won't be too long in writing!
Hattie xxx
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