Aisha in Tanzania

The day after my first visit to Bagamoyo Secondary School, Sophia told me that the girls I talked to were asking her tons of questions about me, and were looking for me to visit the school again. She asked if I could come and talk to them to encourage them. I certainly don’t consider myself an inspirational speaker by any means, but I figured if there was anything I could say that would encourage even one of the girls, then I would do it.

I went to the school armed with a skeleton outline of some things I could talk about and my photo-book with pictures of my family, friends, some former students, and my life in America. There were about 25-30 girls whose ages ranged from 17-26. They sat on the edge of their seats and listened intently as I (re-)introduced myself and told them why was in Tanzania. When I told them I was working with a women’s empowerment organization, they all clapped and cheered and were very excited! I asked them questions to gauge what they knew and wanted to know about my life in America, and I asked them about life growing up in Tanzania. Mostly though, they asked me questions and prompted me to talk about specific things.

All of the questions were excellent and many of them really made me think. I told them they could ask me any question they wanted to about me or my life, and I would be honest with them... and boy did they ask!

Do you know what country in Africa or which tribe your family is from? Why not? Who do you think will win the presidential election? What do you think of Barak Obama? Are men and women treated equally in America? Why isn’t HIV/AIDS as big a problem in America as it is here? How do you protect yourself from it? Should we avoid having boyfriends while we are in school? Should we marry before or after finishing school? Why aren’t you married? Is interracial dating/marriage accepted in America? Have you ever dated outside of your race? Is homosexuality really legal in America (it’s illegal and prosecutable in Tanzania)? Is there apartheid in America because it seems really segregated on television? Is there poverty like this in America? What’s the biggest difference you see between Tanzanian and American culture? What is the education system like there? Are there really free schools?

It was immediately obvious that this was an extremely bright group of young women. Even though I had only met them a few days prior, I was so extremely proud of them.

(For those of you who teach, the girls and a teacher expressed an interest in having pen-pals, so if you’re interested just email me and I can give you the info.)

As I'm nearing the end of my time here, I find myself thinking a lot--reflecting on my time here and my life back home in America. I remember when I first arrived and saw how different things were... The initial drive from the airport to Bagamoyo (about an hour long) on the unpaved, incredibly bumpy and eroded, dirt/sand roads, while seeing goats and chickens and cows walking around definitely made me wonder "Why the heck did I want to do this again?!?" Everything just felt so different that I wasn't sure if I would adjust, or if I even made the right decision.

I remember my thoughts as I walked into my room at home-base for the first time... seeing my twin bed, my mosquito net, and my fan, and then realizing that I had just tracked tons of sand and dirt all over the floor and on my bed (from my shoes, feet and bags) and saying to myself “Ok Aisha... try to have an open-mind about this...”

I remember my surprise when I realized that all of our food was pretty much stored outside and that cooking and food preparation for the most part is all done outdoors too (look at some of the pics from the Swahili Cooking post)…

Then there was the instance I almost got attacked by a rooster (ok, I might be exaggerating just a little here, but I swear that rooster was charging right for my shins!), and the time I got chased by a cow (this picture is evidence!)... There’s waking up every morning at the crack of dawn to the sound of above-mentioned rooster... Having to dodge lizards and GIANT beetles during the day and BATS at night... Feeling like it is at least 150+ degrees outside (although it's probably really only 80 something most days) and not having A/C... at all... Having to walk everywhere in the scorching hot sun and feeling like I will never stop sweating... not even at night... not even in my sleep...

Hand-washing my laundry and trying to time the hang-drying between the torrential downpours... Not being able to brush my teeth with the convenience of clean, running water, and feeling like I never quite rinse all of the toothpaste out of my mouth (The home-base has running water, but none of the water in Tanzania is drinkable, so I brush my teeth by filling up a cup with water from the cooler and taking it to the bathroom... more cumbersome than it sounds)... Not having hot water (for showers)... Not having reliable electricity and not having consistent, reliable access to email/internet (there were several times I was in the middle of uploading pictures or blogging and the power went out and there are times when the internet is down in the whole town for days at a time)...

I remember trying to convince myself “Ok... I can ‘rough-it’ for a couple of months… this certainly isn’t going to kill me...”

I think about all of these things and they make me laugh now... none of these things concern me anymore and to be honest I don’t really miss any of the conveniences any more. None of these things have anything to do with happiness, and I realized I shouldn’t let any of them affect my mood; there are so many things in life that are more important.

It’s so easy to focus on things we don’t have. Especially in American culture cause we’re bombarded with commercials and billboards and ads telling us all the “new & improved” things we need. Or we see/hear what someone else has then discover that we “need” it too. I’ve never considered myself a materialistic person, but I can certainly admit that I too have gotten caught up in the “what do I need next” mentality at times. I don’t always realize just how many blessings I already have in my life because I’m sometimes so busy focusing on my next goal. Even here in Tanzania, when I initially felt like I would have to adjust to life without so many conveniences, I realize that I have a pretty posh life here compared to the average person in this community. I’m really not “roughing it” at all...

I have a mosquito net and take anti-malaria meds daily. Many people here do not have either. Although malaria is curable and really shouldn’t cause as much devastation as it does, many people here die from it because they don’t have access to (affordable) health care. Several volunteers have gotten malaria (the meds don’t prevent it, but reduce the chances of you getting it) and none of them has been sick for more than a couple of days because we can afford the treatment for it...

I have running water here, which is something that many in this community don’t have. I can recall a conversation with a friend who said he spent the entire morning just going to get water for his and his roommate’s shower...

I eat 3 (very tasty, healthy, and well-prepared) meals a day and have as much filtered water (from the water cooler) to drink as I want. I don’t have to worry about eating contaminated food or drinking contaminated water. A couple of times I have felt really awkward leaving from hanging out with friends to go and have dinner at the home-base (meals are served @ specific times), knowing that they wouldn’t have a dinner even close to what I was having...

As a girl growing up, I didn’t have to deal with what the girls here have to go through just to be able to go to school. I had access. In fact, I was encouraged by pretty much everyone in my family to go to school and learn everything I could (especially by some of my older relatives who did not have the opportunity to have a formal education in the segregated, Jim Crow South)...

This experience and my interactions with the people in Bagamoyo make me realize what’s really important in life. Sure it’s nice to have nice things, and it’s nice to have conveniences (like hot water, A/C, etc) but life should be more about people, more about relationships, and more about how we can make things a little easier for someone else.

People here appreciate life. They don’t let anything prevent them from enjoying life despite the things they may not have. People here appreciate friendships and community and they make time for each other... they make time for friends and family no matter what. When walking around town, I always stop no fewer than 3 times to have conversations with people I don’t know and have even found myself a few times sitting in peoples homes having conversations (in my broken Swahili!). People often welcome guests into their home and it’s extremely rude to refuse, even if you only stay for a few minutes. People have often interrupted what they were doing just to help me find directions to walk somewhere and many times they have just walked with me.

When it’s time to leave, I’m really going to miss it here... I came here to volunteer and have learned some really valuable life-lessons in the process...