Starfish: Shose

My name is Shose. My age is 35 years old. I live with my husband and two children- a boy and a girl. I am pregnant. My education level is Standard Seven (Grade 6). I didn’t continue my studies because my parents had not some money to take me to secondary school. I go to GHTA because I want to get education. I have learned how to arrange a business and be confident in it. When I started my studies, everything was difficult to be because of language. But after a few months, everything went well. Also learning as an adult has made me confident in what I am learning. Without having a job was a difficult time to raise a family without income. My so far challenge was when I heard my husband was having a mistress and they already had a baby boy. But I calmed down and ignored this news. My future plan is to have my own business. I really like to design different flowers in embroidery. I hope to have a successful business after GHTA graduation. 

Starfish: Basila and Rahma

My name is Basila and my age is 27. I live with my young sisters and brothers and I have one son who is 7 years old. My education level is Form Four (10^th grade). I can’t continue education because I haven’t money, then I was sick. But I will like to continue to study in order to succeed in life. Before GHTA I sewed clothes in order to make money which helped me take care of my family. This job was difficult because the customers were difficult to work with. The biggest challenge in my life so far is disagreement with my husband. I decide to start my own life in order to be free from discrimination of men. After GHTA I want to start my own business and teach sewing. My dream for the future is to be a good business woman. I hope will happen in life.

My name is Rahma Kalisti Kessy. I am 28 years old. I live with my husband. I have two daughters. My education level is form two (grade 8). I wanted to be a part of GHTA because education is everything. The hardest part about being in school as an adult is I forgot everything. The best part is to know how to apply education in my life. The most difficult job I ever had was farming mushrooms. I did this for four months. I plan to apply my GHTA education after graduation I will open business of pouches and handbags. My dreams I want to be a business woman to design shop. My passion is to make pouches. I hope to be a rich business woman. 

Starfish: Margaret and Euster

Margaret with Monika during her home visit

My name is Margaret. My age is 26 years. I live with my children and my sister. I am the leader in my family. My education level is Standard 7 (Grade 6). I didn’t continue because my mother didn’t have money. I decided to be a part of GHTA because I will get education to help my life. The most difficult job I ever had was selling lunch dishes door to door. Carrying the dishes made me tired. I worked from 8am to 11 pm six days per week. After GHTA I will do business with freedom because I have business education and I believe that one day I will be rich. My passion is cooking and I hope to open my own restaurant. 

My name is Euster George. I am 32 years old. I live with my husband and our children. My education level is form 2 (8^th grade). I didn’t continue education because I was sick. I decided to study at GHTA because I don’t have enough education. The most important thing I have learned since being at GHTA is how to write a business plan. The hardest part about being in school as an adult is sometimes children are sick and I have to manage responsibilities. The biggest challenge in my life so far is my child was sick and I did not have money. GHTA influenced my dream because I have confidence to run my own business. My passion is to be a chef at a big restaurant. 

Starfish: Dativa and Agnes

My name is Dativa and I am 35 years old. I live with my husband and children. My education level is Standard Seven (grade 6). I wanted to be a part of GHTA because I know it is a golden chance because with more education I get more opportunities. After starting GHTA it was difficult because I am old and I have a family which is a problem because there are many responsibilities. The most difficult job I ever had was walking a long way by foot to take potatoes from the farm and sell them in town. After GHTA, I hope to open my own food store and be a professional entrepreneur. 

My name is Agnes Peter. I am 46 years old. I live in a family of five people. I am a mother in the family. My education level is Standard Seven (grade 6). I wanted to go to GHTA because I wasn’t learning for a long time. I’m here now and I am happy. Before GHTA I was cutting firewood for cooks. My challenges, my son cannot go to school because I don’t have school fees. I plan to use my education to open a salon business. My dream for the future is to work hard and have my family live well. Because I am a widow I have to work hard and change my life. Thank you.

Starfish: Nairat

My name is Nairat. I’m 25 years old. I live with my husband called Joseph and my son James. I completed Standard Four education (grade three) but failed to continue with my studies because my father passed away and my mother did not have enough money to support my education. I wanted to be a part of GHTA because I want to help and share views with other African girls, especially those who lost their parents. The hardest part about being at school as an adult is to remember all the things that my teachers taught me. The best thing about being at school as an adult is that it has made me happy! I am starting to understand and read English around town and on TV and in class. The biggest challenge is searching for money and job with no positive answers because of my education level. My dream is to educate my son so he can study further. GHTA has influenced my dreams in the sense that my business can grow and I will be able to manage it myself. It has also influenced my passion to learn. 

Starfish: Husna

Vivacious Husna using a showbox as a drum during our 5 year anniversary celebration

My name is Husna Bakari. I am thirty years old. I am married. I have two children, my husband name is Haji. I live in Majengo with my family. My education level is Standard 7 (grade 6).  I did not continue with education because my father refused to pay school fees for me, he said he cannot educate girl, he can educate only boys. I decided to go to GHTA because I needed to continue my education. Since I started here at school, I got some idea while at previous school, I didn’t understand much. But at this moment I am studying how to undergo a business, to speak English and to study. The challenge with studying now is finding someone to care for my child when I am going to school. The best part about school at GHTA is learning how to work and be with different people. After GHTA I will expand my restaurant business and I will be creative with different things. I thank GHTA for the education which gave me the direction of my life. 

Starfish: Amina

My name is Amina Abdallah. I’m 53 years old. I live with my mother and children and grandchildren. My education level is Standard Seven (grade 6). I did not continue with education because I got married. I did like to be a part of GHTA because GHTA helps women to get business education and talk English. I want to learn English to help my grandchildren. The hardest part about being in school as an adult is I have responsibilities that children in school do not have. The best part is I can understand the lessons well. The most difficult job I ever had was to process tobacco. The biggest challenge in my life was the death of my daughter and I was left with her children. It is difficult to care for them. I will apply my GHTA education for understanding my business of making bricks. I hope after school I am going to be a good businesswoman. If I could choose one job with no limitations I would be a big farmer. GHTA influence my dream and teach me many things. 

Starfish: Christina and Magdalena

Christina during Vocations class making tie dye

My name is Christina. I am 26 years old. I live with my mom, my sister, two brothers, and two kids. My education level is standard seven (grade 6). I cannot continue education because my parents did not have money. I want to be a part of GHTA because I know it will change my life. The hardest part about school is spelling words. The most difficult job I ever had was as a cheap laborer. I plan to use my GHTA education to have a business and makes clothes. My dreams for the future is professional fashion designer. 

My name is Magdalena Masamu. I am 35 years old. I live with my family: my husband Japhet, and my children Ivan, Sara, Shalom, and their sister Zaituri. My education level is Standard Seven (grade 6). I did not continue education because I was orphan after the death of my father and mother was unable to care for eight children. I did like to be a part of GHTA because it helps to give business education and how to speak English to the local women. The hardest part about being in school as an adult is it is difficult to have sufficient time to do homework because of many responisbilities. The best part about being in school as an adult is I can concentrate well on the lessons. The most difficult job I ever had was breaking stones. The biggest challenge in my life now is I sleep only a short time every day. I think after settling my life I will get sufficient sleep. I will apply my GHTA education to my business. I sell porridge flour and soy flour. I also deliver milk in my neighborhood every morning. I hope after school I am going to be a big business woman. 

Starfish: Mariam

My name is Mariam. I am 28 years old. I live with my children and my young sister. My education level is Standard 4 (Grade 3). I did not continue school because of the death of my mother. My father also passed away. I want to be a part of GHTA because I love to be an African girl. Our culture is so beautiful to me. Also to get education and knowledge. The hardest part about being in school as an adult is difficult to understand some English words. I have family problems so I lose concentration in my studies.  By the other hand I study hard in order to perform well. The biggest challenge in my life is my husband divorced me. I found a new house and I start a new life. My dream is to be an educated people and big business woman, as well as a rich person. GHTA influenced my dream because I am working with confidence and I know how to control money. 

Starfish: Mary

My name is Mary. I am 27 years old. I live in Njoro neighborhood. I live with my husband and I have two children. My first born is Ezekiel and the second is Anette. My education level is Standard Seven (grade 6). I never got a chance to continue my education because my dad died when I was young and my mum had no income to pay school fees. I decided to come to GHTA because I wanted to learn English and at least improve my education. The hardest part about being in school is that concentration is not good because I think about my family and the responsibilities I have as a mother. The best thing is that the teachers we have are very special, cooperative, and take their time to teach and give a heart even when we don’t understand easily. It’s very nice and we are like sisters. The hardest jobs I ever had was carrying concrete. It’s very tiresome. Coffee harvesting was also hard. You carry heavy loads and sort coffee. One big challenge was when my husband lost his job it was very hard to pay the rent. I started a small business of trusts to help my husband who was by then getting a little income from cheap labor. I will use my education to open a business and create more chances of income to educate my children. I hope to open a big supermarket. GHTA influenced me because I now have basic knowledge and I can do it.

Starfish: Winifrida and Joyce

Winifrida beading in Vocations class

My name is Winifrida. I am 31 years old. I live in Manjengo neighborhood and am living with my daughter Gloria. My education level was Standard Seven (grade 6). I wanted to be a part of GHTA because I want to study hard and to learn more things like how to be good at business. The important things which I get since I start at GHTA is to make good planning of business and how to write good English. The hardest thing which I face as an adult was responsibilities of family like time to do my home jobs. My dream for the future is to raise up my tailoring business that will increase my income and hence improve my life. GHTA help me through education that I get there and help me network with my fellow students and share different ideas that I never heard before. 

Joyce and me

My name is Joyce. I am 37 years old. I have three children, a son and two daughters. My first born is Veronica and my second born is Victoria and last born is Michael. My education is Standard Seven (grade 6). I did not continue education because my parents were not able to pay school fees. Since I started at GHTA, I learned many things I will use in my life. The most difficult job I ever had before GHTA was break stones and prostitution. Now I work as a maid for a doctor. My GHTA education will help me to plan my general future. GHTA taught me to be more creative, give hope, as well as confidence. 

Starfish: Salma

My name is Salma Juma. I am 30 years old. I live with my husband and two children. My education level is Standard 7 (Grade 6). I decided to come to GHTA because I want to learn English and I like education.  The most important this is self-confidence at GHTA. The most difficult job I ever had was carrying stones. The biggest challenge in my life so far is researching a job. I want to open a business that is a vegetarian restaurant. I want a business that is mine. I like English because I can use it to speak to different people.

Starfish: Zaina and Teresa

Zaina doing henna for us at her home visit

My name is Zaina. I am 40 years old. I live with my husband and children. My education level is Standard 7 (Grade 6).  I am at GHTA because I want to know English language and to learn how to manage a business. The hardest part about being in school is understanding English. The best part is getting knowledge. The most difficult job I ever had was breaking stones.  My dreams for the future is to expand my business of Henna painting. I want to have a famous business. 

Teresa in tie-dye class

My name is Teresa. I am 46 years old. I live with my son. My education is Standard Seven (grade 6) because my parents not have money to pay school fees. I want to be a part of GHTA because I want to read English, have confidence to do business and also help me understand profit and loss. It is not difficult because I like to study. I used to sell clothes door to door. I feel happy to study because I have a big age and did not know if I could study again. The most difficult job I ever had was making gravel. The challenge now is to study when I don’t have a job. After graduation, I plan to open a restaurant. I have started to cook tea and maandazi (doughnuts). My dream is to be a good entrepreneur and I will get good life because I have knowledge.

Starfish: Loti

Loti is a special student. He is this year's only man. The class of 2014 is the first year GHTA could have all 50 students be all women. In the first four years of the program, it was about 20% men for two reasons. The first was that there was not quite enough interest to have a full class of women that fit the criteria for the program. The second reason was that having male students in a women's empowerment program is working towards the goal of equality from both sides. Over time, it was made clear that having a full women's only school. In this year's 98% female class, we see that the women are more confident, speak up more, and have a closer relationship with each other. 

Loti is our one exception this year because he is also employed as our watchman. The Tanzanian staff members are all former students, except for Loti up until this year. When I asked him how he felt as the only male in class, he gave a big smile and said he likes it. He said the school has taught him about respecting women and working together "in cooperation" (instead of men always being the boss). He fits right in with the other students, and they all especially love when he helps clean the classroom. He's doing his small part to break through gender norms here in Moshi...

My name is Loth Elias Mollel. I am 24 years old, I live in Majengo and my family lives in Arusha. I am not married. My education level is form four and reason which I did not continue school is poor family. That is why I want to be part of GHTA because I want to know different things and improve my knowledge about business planning and how to do different things in GHTA. I am planning to apply my education after graduation in many ways. I want to go to college and maybe I will study engineering. It would lead to many good things. My dream for the future is to continue school. 

Starfish: Zuwena

I am Zuwena. I am 27 years old. I live with my two children. I stopped my education at form two (8^th grade) because I got pregnant. I decided to join GHTA because I need to learn about entrepreneurship and to exchange ideas with other people. I have learned many things like save money, record business expenses, don’t lose hope, and if you have old age you are still able to learn. Life is complicated for me. The good part about GHTA is I meet with other students and I get new knowledge about life. The hard part about being in school as an adult is finding help for my children. I will do my job without depending on another person. I will use my education to start a new business. My future dream is to start women fashion shop. I think I will start to sell women’s clothes after I finish school. GHTA opened my dream because they give me knowledge about business and many things.  

Starfish: Dorothea

Hi my name is Dorothea and I am 31 years old. I live with my mother and my daughter. I’m not married.  My education level is form four (10^th grade) and my education did not continue because my family is poor. So my parents try to help me study but no money to pay for school fees. I have two younger sisters, they need to go to school, but my parent they don’t enough money to  pay the school fees . So I will not continue because of my younger sisters. I need to go to school but the condition of my family is too bad. I will stay home to help my family and my younger sisters. I looked for work to help my younger sisters to pay the school fees. I wanted to be a part of GHTA because GHTA is a school to help people to know to speak English, learn business and study vocation. For myself, GHTA helps me to know the rights of women.  The first day when I came here to GHTA I feel shy, no confidence, but now I have confidence to talk and stand up with my friends and tell how I feel when am here at GHTA. The hardest part about being school as adult is I am single parent, and I have one child and all responsibility depends on me.  The best part about being school as an adult is to know how to manage time and meet people from different countries and get different ideas.

Starfish: Catherine

My name is Catherine Kaale. I am 26 years old. I am married. My husband’s name is Izack. I live with my husband and two children—Gladnys and Goodluck. My education level is Standard seven (6^th grade). I did not continue with education because I did not have someone to support me even though I performed well on the national exam. I wanted to be a part of GHTA because I want to learn how to overcome challenges and to learn skills and English. Now I know how to talk English, to braid hair, to paint, and take photos. I also know how to plan for a business. The hardest part about being in school as an adult is sometimes my children are sick so it causes me to worry about school and family. The best part about being in school as an adult is to know the meaning of education. The biggest challenge in my life so far is one day my son was sick and that time was during examinations so it was very difficult to think about both things. My dream is to be in hotel management. 

Starfish: Furaha

My name is Furaha (which is Swahili for Happy). My age is 36 years old. I live with my husband. I have one son who is 13 years old. My education level is form four (10^th grade). My education did not continue because of my parents’ low income. I wanted to be a part of GHTA because a long time ago I was thinking about education but I didn’t have any way to get it. I had nothing to do. Now I can achieve this goal. The most important thing which I have learned since being at GHTA is to improve my English. The hardest part about being in school as an adult is I forgot many things which I was studying when I was young. The best part is that I already know the importance of education more than when I was young. Now I can work hard because I know what I am doing and I want to change my life. The most difficult job I ever had was selling cosmetics door-to-door. I was walking long distances and talking with many people. It was not good business for me. I don’t like it. I plan to apply my GHTA education by starting a child care center. I want to plan this business instead of selling cosmetics because I love children and the people of my place need this service. I am sure I will get customers and also I will help women to take care of their children in order to make them free to do other activities. GHTA influenced my dreams for making me know that I can have more education and I can do big and good things in my life. I want to be a successful woman and help other people. 

Starfish: Paulina

My name is Paulina. I’m 27 years old. I live with my family and I’m married. I have three children. My level of education is form three (9^th grade). I didn’t continue my education because my father passed away. I wanted to be a part of GHTA because this education helps me to know what I will do in my life. There are many challenges in my life and I am a mother so everything is dependent on my children. Some examples of challenges are taking care of my children when they are sick. One time I was given work at a shop by some people but I was not paid. My life is complicated. My younger brother and sister both depend on me. Now it is the rainy season and transportation is very difficult. After graduation, I have a plan to help different mamas who have low income to teach them business and how to save money. I realized many mamas who are doing business don’t know how to save money. My dream for the future is to have a wholesale cosmetics store.

The First Starfish Story

Happy Mother's Day to all the mamas and female role models out there. As a gift to my momma Janet, the reason why I am here, I am going to introduce a new project. Janet started this blog and named in "The Starfish of Moshi" because of the Starfish Story. This is a parable of sorts that you can read under the "Starfish" tab above. It exemplifies the model of changing the world one person at a time. Here I want to personify the starfish Give a Heart to Africa helps-- our students.

I have asked them to answer a few questions and share their lives with my readers. You can read the questions in the "Starfish" tab. I edited the writing only enough for readability but did my best to retain the writer's voice and integrity. Our first installment is from an exceptionally intelligent woman, Tausi. Her name means "peacock" in Swahili and boy does that name fit her well. She is bright, strong, and a bit of a show-off. She scored a 99% on her English midterm and a 96% in business. (The average was in the 60s.) She has the best English in school and credits this to reading English books regularly. Setting the bar extraordinarily high, here is her story...

Tausi (on the right) with Paulina typing for the first time on a computer.
She was writing this story of course!

My name is Tausi Mfinanga. I am thirty nine years old. I am married. My husband’s name is Sadiki Shabani. He is fifty two years old. I have three children. I live with my family in Bonite Chekereni. My education level is Form Four (about 10^th grade). I didn't continue with further education because I had so many challenges. After form four, I was asked to wait for a year at home taking care of the children and a house generally. After a year, I was told by my cousin that there is not enough money to continue with studies. I continued waiting, at last I was pregnant and I could not think about school anymore. I like being part of GHTA because this is the only chance I can get to fulfill my ambitions. I like learning different skills, educating other women in my area how to overcome financial problems, to teach other women how to fight for their rights and self-awareness, to now their position in the family and their responsibilities. 

After GHTA, I would like to use part of my time to educate women on different ways in which one can get income. The most important thing  I have learned since I joined GHTA has been math. when I  was in  school, I hated  mathematics, but in GHTA  I enjoyed learning math  because the volunteers taught us very clearly so that everyone understood. I have improved my English very much since at home I had no one to talk to. Now I enjoy speaking English to other students and teachers at GHTA. I have learned different skills like hair braiding, photos, and painting. I did not know that before. I’m very proud of it. I enjoy being in school as an adult because I meet other students and exchange ideas about life, and learn different things so I refresh my mind. School has changed my life. It makes me busy and punctual. I used to work at a coffee plantation. It was a very difficult job. The salary was less than $2 per day and there were very few benefits. Then I became a clerk at the plantation. I cannot forget this work because there was no respect in working area, women were being abused, and there were no human rights or freedom. Employment is the biggest challenge in my life. 

My dream is to be a light in society, to educate women how to change their lives, to teach them different skills in which they can get income to support the family rather than leaving all of those responsibilities to men. GHTA has influenced my dreams because I once had a dream of studying but I failed. Now my dream is back—I am at school! I can study many things and at last change my life and bring development to my family and to society generally. GHTA is a light in my life. 

From left to right: My co-teachers Rahimu, Molly, and Megan,Tausi and me. During Tausi's home visit. 

Art Teacher

I have fully embraced my role as teacher yet again here in Give a Heart to Africa’s Vocations class. We are just wrapping up the first project that I have seen from start to finish. The idea of this class is to give students marketable skills that they can make a direct (or sometimes indirect) profit from. When I arrived eight weeks ago, they were learning the art of hair braiding and cornrows—a popular business here. The most recent project was painting coconut pods.

Coconut pods come from coconut trees and are mainly used as firewood locally. A previous volunteer brought the idea of painted pods with her because she had seen them sold at a market in Mexico. She brought the supplies and an example; I was left to figure out the rest.

I wouldn't exactly call myself the artistic type. I was the type of kid in art class to use it as a social hour, and impatience usually beat out perfection when it came to the final product. (Unless we’re talking pottery class, but that’s another story!) Nevertheless, I appreciate beautiful things and can certainly guide students to get their creative juices flowing… easier said than done.

The process has been quite time-intensive. We started practicing with watercolors on paper, and I explained the idea of primary versus secondary colors and concrete versus abstract designs. We then practiced on scrap pieces while students collected the pods from around their neighborhoods. 

Then the painting began! I had to let go of any perfectionist desires I may have had (holla at my fellow virgos) during this exercise. It also took a great deal of patience explaining the painting process right down to the amount of paint to put on the brush. There were many trial and errors for the right water to paint ratio. We also practiced the English phrase, "make it even" quite a bit! 

We plan to sell the pods at the new GHTA co-op. Students that have already graduated are selected to work at the co-op for a year. They make products and sell them in the co-op with the idea of building a market and gaining hands-on business experience.

Next up is tie-dying! Thank you Saint Michael’s College for the extensive tie-dye training. :) I'm enjoying teaching outside of my comfort zone. Now I can check off art teacher off the bucket list.

How to speak Swahili in a few mildly complicated steps.

One of my goals for my time here in Tanzania is to study and practice the language of KiSwahili. This process is different than my previous language experience with Spanish. Swahili is completely new for me, and is actually quite new in the world of modern languages.

Swahili was created around the time of independence for East Africa, mainly Kenya and Tanzania, in the 1960s. It was created in order to unite tribes and to instill a sense of unity and new national identity. Many words have Arabic roots, but the foundation for Swahili lies in the Bantu tribal language.  Absorbing such a new language is both fun and challenging. Our school translator Herman has been teaching me three times a week for the last month or so. Here is what I have gathered from his lessons so far:

Let’s start with the easy stuff. Luckily, there are many cognates and borrowed words from English in Swahili. Some of my favorites are glassi, bili, voucha, kompyuta, baiskeli.

Words are rhythmic and melodic. They almost always end in vowels and each syllable has a vowel (which I usually mix up). Words tend to be long, and the subject becomes a part of the verb word, adding to its length.

            Ninakula chakula chamchana—I eat lunch

            Tutaonana baadaye—See you later

Then there are the six different noun classes. We think of nouns as person, place, or thing. Swahili speakers have nouns divided into categories (in theory) by their spelling or word origin. It ends up really being more of a guessing game.  So the prefix or the linking words change depending on the class of the noun.

    My student--Mwanafunzi wangu 

    My pen--Kalamu yangu 

    My chair-- Kiti changu 
    My chairs—Viti vyangu

Pluralization is also dependent on the noun class. Some nouns stay the same in plural and some change the first letters.

            Mtu/Watu—person/people

            Uso/Nyuso—face/faces

Perhaps because Swahili developed so recently, there are fewer words to choose from when describing things. Nearly everything can be described using big (kubwa), small (kidogo), good (nzuri) or bad (baya).

With this lack of word choice and the cultural norms of how Tanzanians express themselves, literal translations from English to Swahili are much harder. For example, to say “Nice to meet you” is “Nimefurahi kukutana na wewe.” –literally, I have been made happy to meet (each other) with you.

There are also multiple ways to say yes and no depending on the context. Ndiyo translates to yes, but is actually "indeed!" Once you get to know the indirect, overly polite way Tanzanians answer questions and requests, it's not surprising that the language would reflect this mentality. We joke that we have to ask our students questions three times, three different ways to figure out what the actual answer is!

Hopefully my lessons are starting to pay off. I can successfully talk to children under the age of 8 and order food at a restaurant. Both necessities in my book. There is much more I could say about this crazy and beautiful language, but for now… Asante kwa kusoma blog yangu.

Chakula!

I travel to experience new cultures and learn new things. I live to eat. It’s only fitting that I dedicate a full post to Tanzanian food.

Local food to the Kilimanjaro Region is fairly basic but overall delicious. Many Tanzanians are still subsistence farmers, so they eat what they can grow or sometimes trade with neighbors. Residents of Moshi are less likely to have farming as their main job, so there are lots of local restaurants and single women over a fire on the street that serve traditional lunch and dinners for a few dollars a plate.

Makande- beans with corn cooked in coconut milk.
Served with rice and greens.

We volunteers are fortunate to have a cook, Margaret, who makes us authentic Tanzanian food six nights a week for dinner. She makes traditional Tanzanian food, but vegetarian! (On a side note, it hasn’t been a problem being a vegetarian here at all. Meat is not found at every meal because it is expensive, and word from other volunteers is that the quality is not that great.) Here are some of the staples Margaret has made us:

Chapati- a mix between a flour tortilla and naan bread. Its fried on the stove and often eaten for breakfast with tea.

Ugali- corn mush. Corn is grown even in front lawns in Moshi neighborhoods. Instead of eating it on the cob, most Tanzanians make corn flour and cook it with water to make Ugali. This is easier and cheaper than rice and is usually eaten with beans or vegetables. Pictured here with greens and squash in a marsala sauce. 

Samaki- fried fish. This is one of the most common protein sources. The fish come from nearby lakes and are fried pretty much as is. To eat it, you pull the meat off the bones with your hands. It’s served with rice or fries and sells for about $4 lunch. Four students from last year’s class have just opened their own restaurant. We go there a few times a week for the Samaki. (I usually break the head off before I dive in.)

Like any culture, Tanzanian food has been influenced by many other places. In Moshi, the most dominate transplant culture is Indian. Nearly every restaurant in town is an Indian Restaurant. (As a vegetarian, I scored again!) I’ve tried more new Indian dishes here than I ever have at home and the quality is usually excellent. You can also find pizza at nearly every restaurant. Yes, even the Indian places. One of our favorite places is called Indo-Italiano. You guessed it; it has both Italian and Indian menus.

Avocadoes, Mangoes, and bananas are in abundance. Coffee and tea are grown locally. Dairy is found here but most Tanzanians do not have refrigerators, so cheese and yogurt are not common in most diets. Related to this, I have yet to see a Tanzanian enjoy cold water. They drink water at room temperature which usually means about 85 degrees. They think the Wazungu (Westerners) are crazy for liking ice water and some even believe it makes you sick. I’ve made multiple Tanzanian friends laugh out loud when I ask for an iced tea!

Moshi is a city with a steady flow of Eastern and Western influences but is small enough to retain its local “flava” as they say. Tonight we are having one of my favorite dishes—potato and chickpea curry with chapati. A delicious hybrid. 

Home Visits

How different would our schools be in the US if our teachers regularly visited their students’ homes? The concept is not so out of the ordinary here, because Tanzanians have a strong sense of communal living. “It takes a village to raise a child” is quite literal here, so it’s not strange for school representatives to want to know the family and for the family to want to know the school. All of our students are women between the ages of 23 and 53. Most of them are mothers; many of them are single parents. Moshi is a town of about 100,000 people so its culture is somewhere in between the traditions of village life and urban life. Many of our students have moved from the surrounding villages to Moshi for better economic opportunities. Few of them have seen this move actually pay off.

Each Friday morning, the current volunteers travel to the home of one of our students for tea and snacks. We always bring bread, sugar, tea and a little toy if she has children. Usually we meet the kids, but I have yet to meet a husband. (Sometimes they are working, sometimes they are just absent.) The three homes I have visited so far have all been very different:

Zaina set the bar high. She showed off her Henna artist skills and we were the models. Her business plan for GHTA is to expand her Henna clientele. Zaina is from the predominantly Muslim island of Zanzibar where Henna is very common. Moshi seems to have about a 50/50 split between Muslims and Christians, so Henna is popular here as well. Zaina is also an excellent cook and made us a feast for lunch. She caters some local events and sells embroidery to supplement her income. She is an entrepreneur in every sense of the word.

Zaina served chai, curry, chapati, and mandazi!

The artist in action

That was not a typical home visit. The following week we met Agnes. Agnes is in her forties and one of our more quiet students. Her home was spacious and lovely and had an endless stream of children coming through. Agnes has two kids of her own, but she has also taken in many children of relatives that have passed away. Her husband had a good job as an accountant in the 1990s, but passed away suddenly from a heart attack ten years ago. Since then, her lifestyle has drastically changed. Her family was as close to middle class as you can get in a developing economy like Tanzania, but now she is close to the standard Tanzanian life of a little more than a $1 a day. She now rents out rooms in her home for income and has recently started hair braiding. (A skill she learned in my vocations class!) She is optimistic that things will turn around with her GHTA education.

And finally-- Margaret. Margaret is 26 years old and lives in one small room with her six year old son Brian, two year old daughter Miriam, and her fifteen year old sister Paulina. I have seen many American closets bigger than this room they all share. There is nowhere for five people to sit in her home, so we went to a neighbor’s room that was slightly bigger and can fit a couch. Margaret told us that she had a restaurant job for four years, but had to quit with the birth of Miriam. She worked from 6am until 10pm, six days a week, cooking chapati (flatbread like tortillas) over a smoky and oily charcoal grill. She made about $43 per month. 

She had a second baby. Her second husband left her, and she was forced to leave that job to raise the children alone. Give a Heart to Africa is her new chance to find a job again. She would like to run her own food stand. She would like to have the money for school fees for her children and for her sister. At 26 years old, she has a lot of life ahead of her and hopefully lots of opportunities to make her life better.

The collection of rooms that make up Margaret's neighborhood. 

Margaret in her home with Monika, GHTA Director

The home visits make a huge impact on our relationships with our students. They get to know us better and we learn to understand why homework doesn't always get done and why some women seem so tired each morning. The one thing that is consistent with each student is their desire and eagerness to learn. When asked what she wanted to learn more of and what her favorite subject was, Agnes said that everything she learns at GHTA is useful. Just the simple act of learning, for her, makes a difference.  

From Left to Right: Monika, Molly, Yelena, me, Margaret, and Miriam

A Day in the Life

The rainy season is here. Each night there is thunder, lightning, and rain that last quite a few hours. This has been coinciding with extended power outages, mud, and bugs everywhere. Despite this unfortunate weather, I am getting the hang of things. Teaching the vocations class is going well. I will give more details about my classes in the future, but I would first like to explain a “typical” day in the life of a GHTA volunteer.

(Of course, nothing is ever typical. Yesterday I saw a stork/vulture-esk bird that was at least FOUR FEET TALL. NEARLY MY SIZE. These are things I thankfully don’t see every day.)

7:30am- Wake up, make toast with Nutella/ peanut butter (yes, they have it here!) or eggs. Take malaria pill. Choose from collection of long skirts to fashion for the day.

9:00am- classes begin. For English and Business, the classes are 1.5 hours and then each switch for another 1.5 hour chunk. Vocations is taught in a three hour (full day) section. The students are divided into three groups (according to general English levels) and work on a rotating schedule between all three classes.

12:00pm- class is over. Students stick around to chat and practice English. Sometimes the volunteers help students set up Facebook accounts or work on homework. Somewhere in here we squeeze in lunch which usually involves last night’s leftovers or some kind of avocado/tomato/mango salad.

2pm to 4pm on Monday and Thursday- the kids arrive! Some of our students bring their kids and some neighborhood kids come over to practice English and most importantly, play! The highlights so far have been watercolors and balloon animals.

Every other afternoon, we usually walk into town (about 20 minutes) and do some errands/shopping, grab coffee, or visit the internet café. We may grab a drink at the local hotel or visit GHTA’s co-op and see how the women working there are doing.

7pm or 8pm- Dinner and Swahili practice. The current volunteers and I have been taking Swahili lessons with Herman, our flat-mate and a program coordinator. (More on how those lessons are going later.) Often times we lose power in the evenings, so dinner and chatting take place by candlelight/flashlight. There is also a good amount of time dedicated each evening to bug catching. Luckily current volunteer Yelena is an expert cockroach poacher.

And on the weekends, we try to plan local adventures and excursions. Last weekend we took a mini hike to the Marangu Waterfall. This weekend we road-tripped to the “big city” of Arusha. And next weekend we will tour a coffee farm on Mt. Kilimanjaro.  

Karibu

Karibu: Swahili for welcome or you’re welcome, and the first greeting you hear when you enter any home or business.

The moment the plane doors opened, and I stepped onto the stairs to the tarmac, I could feel it-- The heat, the air, the smells, the darkness. I have landed in Africa once again. I traveled to Ghana in 2010 for a month, so this is not a completely alien feeling. However Tanzania, and the Eastern region of this vast continent, will be a new adventure.

Monika, the fearless leader of Give a Heart to Africa (GHTA), picked me up with her safari-guide boyfriend Godbless (Gody for short) and unofficially adopted 7 year old Mko. We drove an hour from Mt. Kilimanjaro Airport to the volunteer house in Moshi town. I settled into the bottom bunk of a room I will now occupy for the next five months, pulled down and tucked in my mosquito net/canopy, and went to sleep.

That was day one. So far things have moved at a simultaneously slow and fast pace. The women’s school is attached to our house, and classes are Monday through Thursday from 9am until noon. On Mondays and Thursdays, the students (age range from 20 to 50) bring their children for after school play time and English practice. On Friday mornings, we visit a student in their home to meet their families and so their families can meet us. These are our main responsibilities as volunteers. It would seem like having every afternoon free would be relaxing and maybe a bit boring, but my free time has been filling up fast! While the general culture here moves “pole pole”—slowly slowly—the afternoons have flown by running errands, orienting myself to the town, and planning Swahili lessons (which start tomorrow!).

Most of the time, I feel hot, sticky, and dusty. My arms and legs are shocked back into summer bug bites and sun-kissed (or crisped) skin. My body is quickly forgetting the ruthless winter and first signs of spring I left behind last week. But I feel happy. It feels great to be abroad again and at the limits of my comfort zone. It feels great to have students again and to be in front of a classroom. In this new community, I overwhelmingly feel welcome. 

KB

P.S. Pictures to come soon. Getting fully "connected" still a work in progress. Stay tuned!

Passing the Torch on International Women's Day!

What better day to let everyone know that my daughter, Kate, will soon be on her way to Moshi, Tanzania  to volunteer at my favorite women's empowerment project, Give a Heart To Africa! After many years of putting up with me going on and on about how special GHTA is, and how she should volunteer there, Kate decided to do it.  I couldn't be more proud and happy about her decision.

Kate will be in Moshi from March to August and will be writing about her GHTA experience and Africa adventures here on "The Starfish of Moshi" blog. So please check out her posts!  Thank you! Asante sana!