In Monduli...
During the daytime, clucking chickens, singing birds, braying donkeys and barking dogs would create an interesting symphony of sounds. Sometimes heard in the distance were children playing - singing and laughing and hammers thumping. All pleasant to listen to.
Always lovely to get away from cars and city sounds!
The night sky was awash with bright brilliant stars. Without much electrical light coming from the township, the familiar 'Milky way', Southern Cross and 'Saucepan' (Orion's belt) were very clear. I loved going outside and looking up to the endless heavens, feeling small and rather insignificant. It also made me so aware of how we are all on this tiny planet together - seeing the same night sky that we in Australia see. It's a weird feeling. Connecting all humanity together. And yet, we are 'worlds' apart in our lives, experiences, expectations and perspectives.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Monduli - the school
Jan 15 - 24
The volunteers I stayed with were working at a secondary school that Peter (the director) opened last year. The school is funded fully by overseas donations. It has 40 students who are specifically selected from the most poorest families in the area. The students are wonderful and very grateful for the work of the teachers and donors and I enjoyed interacting with them. They are taught normal secondary school subjects - in English - with a strict rule of not speaking Swahili (their native language) while at school, and I was quite impressed by their English ability.
This photo is of the teachers - Hunter, Cacow (Tanzanian teacher), Kit, Jane and Peter (Director).
I had the opportunity to teach the kids some games. "Kingdoms" was very popular - we all had lots of fun and much laughter!
I walked to the school with Kit and Jane a couple of times. It took 1 1/2 hours to walk from Monduli, past farm land. We'd soon have a trail of giggling children behind us. One day I was walking home on my own, and almost immediately, little kids came out of nowhere to follow. I grinned at them, and said I was going to do some running. They thought that was real fun -running with me - with huge smiles on their faces. It would have given them something to talk about for a least a month... the day they ran with a wasungu. And I think it would have been quite a sight to onlookers.
some of the kids that we passed on the way to the school
Monduli - The house
Jan 15 - 24
I was staying with my aunt in a house with 3 other volunteer teachers (2 American guys - Peter & Hunter and an Irish girl - Jane). These volunteers were great fun, and created quite a crazy household. The house, in a beautiful setting, was about a 15 minute walk up a hill (or an extremely bumpy drive) from the town centre and had a lovely view back down the valley. It was a bit weird getting used to no running water. There was a small tank out the back filled with local bought water that needed to be boiled before dinking. The first thing Peter taught me was "how to have a 'bucket shower", which I became quite efficient at. At the end of the day, we'd be covered in dirt and dust, especially our feet, so a rinse off was very needed! There were 2 outside squat toilets and 1 indoor - which we refrained from using as it was quite smelly. I must admit, squatting wasn't that bad, and actually seemed alot more natural!
Each bed had a big mosi net attached to the ceiling - malaria is a real problem.
Part of the household was the cook Mabillie - who was a delightful local girl with a huge smile and alot of joy. She spoke English quite well, but enjoyed teaching me Swahili. She had a beautiful baby daughter. I went for a few walks around the area of the house - which was mostly up hill. Lots of farm land around. There were always little kids about, and they would giggle as I walked past, and no matter what time of the day, they'd call out 'goodmorning'. Or they'd shout out 'Wasungu' which means 'white person' and laugh their heads off! A few times I would pull faces at them and do a little weird dance - and they thought it was hilarious. Another crazy wasungu.
I was staying with my aunt in a house with 3 other volunteer teachers (2 American guys - Peter & Hunter and an Irish girl - Jane). These volunteers were great fun, and created quite a crazy household. The house, in a beautiful setting, was about a 15 minute walk up a hill (or an extremely bumpy drive) from the town centre and had a lovely view back down the valley. It was a bit weird getting used to no running water. There was a small tank out the back filled with local bought water that needed to be boiled before dinking. The first thing Peter taught me was "how to have a 'bucket shower", which I became quite efficient at. At the end of the day, we'd be covered in dirt and dust, especially our feet, so a rinse off was very needed! There were 2 outside squat toilets and 1 indoor - which we refrained from using as it was quite smelly. I must admit, squatting wasn't that bad, and actually seemed alot more natural!
Each bed had a big mosi net attached to the ceiling - malaria is a real problem.
Part of the household was the cook Mabillie - who was a delightful local girl with a huge smile and alot of joy. She spoke English quite well, but enjoyed teaching me Swahili. She had a beautiful baby daughter. I went for a few walks around the area of the house - which was mostly up hill. Lots of farm land around. There were always little kids about, and they would giggle as I walked past, and no matter what time of the day, they'd call out 'goodmorning'. Or they'd shout out 'Wasungu' which means 'white person' and laugh their heads off! A few times I would pull faces at them and do a little weird dance - and they thought it was hilarious. Another crazy wasungu.
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