tomintanzania

Monday 25th

Time check. This is my final full day in Buigiri and so Operation Empty-The-House commences.

I spy this dictionary which I left in the village in 2009. It has had some good use! Its new owner added my name to the back page and has tried his best to spell the name of my home town.

Catherine pays me a visit to collect some sun cream. I bring plenty of bottles out each year for the albinos. She also gets some food for her family.

The silliness resumes. This box is a remnant from the previous night’s entertaining of the teachers.

Meet Jose. He is sporting a shirt I brought out last year. His education is being funded by the family of my flatmate.

I can’t believe I have even more shirts to hand out. It has been a never ending pile. The top Britol City shirt is clearly the most sought after. Or at least it should be.

The box sure is generating some fascinating stares.

Shane fishes out the last of the water. We have no running water and this tank collects rain water which lands on our roof.

A girl comes around selling these cake things for breakfast. I think they are made from a combination of rice and grease.

As one of the few houses to have electricity, we find we have become a phone-charging centre.

Next job is the final food distribution of the trip. This is for the 12 members of the blind rehab centre.

On the left is Kapingo who is the only guy who speaks English. On the right is Simba. He isn’t from the centre but I had promised him an extra portion of maize so he met us with the others.

Everyone together for the customary photo. We have supplied enough food for approximately 7,000 meals this trip.

Time to pay.

This lot cost around £100

Eva and Agnes pay me a visit. A friend from work gives a little money to get them food, uniforms, clothes and other items each year. He gave me these two toys to hand them this trip. I wonder if Buigiri has ever seen a boomerang before. I hope they like it and don’t try to throw it away.

The two at the back do much of my cooking. They were delighted to get these shirts.

I don’t recall what was going on here.

A friend who works for WPT magazine gave me these shirts to hand out.

And yet more football shirts found their way on to people’s backs

I gather all the other bits together and head to the home of the big boss of the Tanzanian League for the Blind

He will ensure they go to the correct places. The bulkiest items are the glasses. They will end up with the eye specialists at Mvumi Hospital. The Bop-it toys will get used by the blind kids and the sun cream will go to the albinos who live further afield.

A local guy I knew from when he was at secondary school in 1999 is now the boss of a small safari company. He funnels part of his income in to building a library in the village. Prices of text books are prohibitive, so a central store should enable many students to succeed at school.

Next stop is to see Mr Tongu. On top is a talking calculator for the staffroom and underneath are 3 maps of Africa my boss gave me to bring and which will end up on the classroom walls to aid geography lessons.

This swing is the only functioning part of the playground.

I hand out the remaining hats

And find two recipients for these braille playing cards. That is Nico on the left and Salim on the right. Years ago I travelled around some remote villages looking for blind children who could join the school and Salim was a product of that search.

I also hand out two replacement radios for a couple which had broken – I got a bunch of cheap ones off Ebay before I came and they are quite useless. Plus I give out batteries for other radios.

I say my goodbyes to the blind children as this is my last visit to the school.

As I head off I spy this boy trying to hunt birds. If he succeeds then his family will get a little extra meat for their supper.

Rehydration time.

And refoodation.

I get home and look in on our cooks. As it is our final night we have asked for two chickens to be devoured.

Years ago I saw these two boys dancing with a choir so I arranged a small dance off competition between them.

Albert was the winner.

Unusually I am in no rush on my final day so I fire up a DVD. Eventually we had about 15 people crowded around my laptop. We watched Africa United which is a charming film set in and around Tanzania.

After dinner we went to the bar for a final session with the teachers. I was exhausted though and stuck to soda.

I’m not quite sure what I am trying to convey here

Just as we head home, this critter decides to pay a visit to wish me goodnight. I crawl in to bed arond 2.30am and my alarm is set for 3 hours later. This has been a fantastic trip and pretty much everything has gone as smoothly as possible. It has also been great having Shane out there with me. Thanks to Ampleforth College, OLQH, UWE and UoB who gave me items to bring, or cold hard cash – plus thanks to everyone else who kindly added to my warchest, there are too many to name and I’m sure some of you prefer the anonymity. You are all stars.

Saturday 23rd

We headed into Dodoma for our final town trip. First up was a trip to Milembeli to hand the uniforms to the children of the blind who live there. There was quite a gathering awaiting us and after the usual introductions we spoke to various people in private about what issues they had. Some were too big to deal with, such as building houses or paying for university; but those which were manageable received various amounts of assistance.

 Dishing out the final load of uniforms

 Where’s Wally?

Giving one of the phones I have brought to a local leader

These two needed a little help. One for HIV medication and the other to buy a door for her house which I had built for her a few years previously but clearly I had found a shoddy carpenter as the door broke.

Zawardi and Eliza were looking for school shoes and a bag for their books. Zawardi features a lot in this blog as she is the one who sparked off the mass-buying of uniforms after she asked my sister for one years ago.

After the discussions were completed, we headed to the home of Mariam. Part of her roof had been destroyed in the storms and if it wasnt repaired then the next storm might take the walls with it. I was given a small amount of money by someone I’ve never met but who stumbled across this blog and I used the bulk of that money to buy her the iron sheets she needs. Driving to her house was a mission in itself. We started on a dirt road which became a lane and then turned into a track and finally was little more than a footpath. The taxi driver took it all in good spirits, even when he had to change a tyre.

Mariam and her son outside their home. You can see where the roof has collapsed.

Their new iron sheets. I’m the one on the left.

We returned to Buigiri to find the usual assortment of people awaiting us. I had promised Ashel a small amount of money to get him to the eye hospital in Mvumi and for his treatment. I was also able to find him a couple of pairs of glasses from the storeroom. He walked off with a huge smile. Also waiting to see us were Esther and her son Emmanuel. She insisted we see his ulcerous leg, but I managed to convince her it was not necessary. He needs way more help to solve the problem than I can provide, but I helped with things like bandages.

Trying out eyeglasses for Ashel

This snazzy pair did the job

Esther and Emmanuel outside my house with clothes and cash. They received quite a haul because I was in the midst of emptying my house of goodies before leaving the village. They timed their visit perfectly.

Sunday 23rd

Although I am here for around a week less than usual and my final few days are always so incredibly busy, the final few days of this trip have been rather calm in comparison. I have had less money to spend on smaller things as the bulk of it has been earmarked for specific items by those who gave it. This means less running around and more focus on large scale and less time consuming projects. The mattresses for example took around an hour to plan, an hour to buy and an hour to transport. The chicken project of to years ago probably took around 50 hours of my time.

I had expected plenty of visitors to my home but this was not the case – only one person came. I thought living in the village rather than in the school would make me more approachable than before, but it seems only a few found out where I was living. This is a good thing as I had just the right number of requests for assistance. I am fine with saying no to people if I believe I have valid reasons for doing so, but having to say no just because my cash has run out is tough.

Teresa collected some money to pay for medicine for her stomach ulcer

Killing time with a frisbee

Handing clothes out to the girls at the blind school.

One thing that has come to light this year is I have more of an insight into how I am perceived by many of the villagers, including some of the leaders. There is a belief that after World War 2 a bunch of white missionaries acquired a large quantity of gold and buried it in 6 crates. They believe all whitemen know the location of this hoard and I steal it from them. When not stealing their gold I am mining for diamonds in the nearby hill. Quite how they think I have time for that between working hard all day, spending the evening in the bar and then scraping together 5 or 6 hours sleep, is quite beyond me. It is fascinating how these rumours have spread and I’m sure many villagers would swear they are true. They also think I come to Tanzania and do the good things I do just so I can then take photographs of them and these I sell these for vast sums in England. Quite why they think their photo has any value or why there is a market in a bunch of Tanzanian’s standing together with me often lurking behind them is another matter. I’ve spent too long in the country now to be bothered by such tittle tattle and those I work directly with laugh at the ridiculousness of it.

In the afternoon 20 of the disabled and very elderly gathered at the maize shop. Last year they all received 40kg each but with the price hikes I had to halve this. They 20 people make for quite a motley crue. Some crawl on the ground, others have feet pointing the wrong way, some are so frail and yet still walk off with the sack of maize balanced on their heads.

Handing out the maize

The 20 people lined up

Afterwards we wet to the football pitch for the clash between a village team with the delightful name of ‘Killer Boys’ and a team who had come down from the mountains. At stake was a football, plus football shirts. Shane is a referee and with some simple swahili scrawled on a pad he managed to successfully officiate.

Just before the game I met with Enock, Martha, Moussa and Happy. They are four of the children who get support from friends in the UK. It isn’t a huge amount, but it helps with uniforms, a little food, school books and other essentials.

The team from the mountains

The local team. They had turned up without shirts and so we dished out 11 of the red shirts I had been given in the UK. The plan was to give these to the winning team whilst the other team got a mixture of shirts. Fortunately they went on to win, otherwise things might have gotten a little awkward.

The ref with the winning captain and their new ball

In the evening we had our traditional send off meal with the teachers. We ate the duck given to us by the witchdoctor, plus served up a further 5kg of meat. We fed the ten of us, plus 15 children, our biggest haul to date. As per the previous year, the wine flowed and flowed. We had bought a box of the stuff from Dodoma and I took it upon myself to ensure we didn’t waste any by not finishing it. It was a fun evening and some fascinating stories were shared – I’ll save writing about them on here as they were a bit too extreme for public consumption.

The teachers at the start of the meal

Mr Omary and Shane re-enact Sláinte from St Patrick’s Day

As a taste from the UK, I brought out a bottle of whisky

Mission accomplished

Friday, March 22nd

Traditional fake sleep photo

Time check. Anything after 7.30am counts as a lie in.

Checking the cash I have to hand. This is what 2 million looks like. It is 1/8th of my total spend this trip.

The first stop of the day is not until 10am, so I check what’s happening in the world.

And here is the first appointment. I am collecting many of the completed uniforms from the tailor.

I hand over the remaining balance to Mr Fwejeje. I have had around 50 made here and 20 in town. Each costs approx £7.

An early lunch is had as the next job starts at 1pm.

Lunch is Chipsi Mayai – or a chip omelette in English.

As we head to the school after lunch we spot Mr Julius. The government has been handing a few kg of food to those most in need in the village. He has just collected his share

Each year I arrange a group phone call between the blind school and a London primary school. The kids introduce themselves and ask questions about each other’s lives.

I had told them that if they spoke loudly and clearly I would provide sodas as a treat. Not all the children could have them right away as some were fasting for Lent and so had to wait until the evening.

The blind kids who had been fitted up for a uniform then arrived to collect them – they are in the black bags.

I get cornered by Zenedea. She is blind and training to be a teacher. She is rather formidable and is always flanked by a posse. She is definitly the Queen Bee though.

As I leave the school I am introduced to these two who had travelled 5 hours to visit me. The woman has a back problem and the man is blind. I tend to avoid helping people who turn up to see me but I could hardly send them off empty handed.

Next up is a short walk to the shop with…

…Flora. She is 19 with a 5 year old child and both are blind. I give a little help by way of food, soap and other items.

Next stop is the blind rehabilitation centre to distribute some items.

The main project this year was supplying mattresses to the centre. Each family received 2. They sleep on sacks on the floor and had asked last year if I would consider providing mattresses in the future. Also in the pic are sacks of soap, clothes, toothpaste/brushes and other items.

I was also there to hand out the seeds and medicines they had requested.

Plus more uniforms

And some shirts from my sister’s school. The two at the front are twins who happened to be wearing shirts I gave out last year.

Before the mattresses get taken away we have a group photo.

Jared collects his

As does Leah

I give a hand (or a head) carrying them to the houses.

I admit it, I am showing off now

I make sure I get pics of each person with their mattresses to show to the sponsor in the UK

As I go around the houses I spy this sign I had made for a previous project there.

And more smiley faces

Harry wants me to provide a water pump for his garden. He has to carry the water buckets by hand. I have said no though as it is unfair to favour one family over another in the centre.

I head home and a quick storm comes and goes. It brings with it this rainbow

It also brings Frank. He is a very bright student, in the top few in the region, with excellent English who is one of the very few people to have passed his national examinations. He lives with his disabled aunt and has had to drop out of school for financial reasons. Having said I would not support any more people with education, I buckled with him. Shane, a friend in the UK and I have put enough money in a pot so he can restart in May

Now all the serious work is done, it is time to revert back to my default state of being silly.

I’m not sure where this monster came from (the toy, not the boy). I asked people what it was and noone knew. The closest they got was ‘Godzilla’. I tried explaining about dinosaurs but I think they thought I was pulling their legs

Next is a visit from Hogra. I have already helped her start a small tea and cake selling business but she came to remind me I had promised her kids uniforms. Ooops. I handed her a ticket to take to the tailor and she seemed happy.

Dinner time. We have 3 cooks and a guard.

Rice, goat, salad and plenty of fresh fruit. We feed around 15 people each evening. For the kids, these few weeks are like when a seal puts their blubber on before the winter. After we leave, they will be back on basic rations until I return next year.

The dog wandered by and was tempted in to the house.

Also making an appearance was this cricket

And this centepede. They are very dangerous with a strong poison in their tail. When the children are frightened of an animal then I know it is something to take seriously. We eventually track him down and kill him.

In celebration the children prat around outside

Next stop is Chamwino town, around 5km away. The teachers are taking us there for a drinking session.

They had ordered us all half a chicken. Having eaten at home we were not too keen on the idea, but after a few beers we plouged through it. It was delicious.

We indulged for quite a while

We had agreed to pay for the drinks, which costs £22, and the teachers covered the 5 chickens

Heading back by taxi – 4 in the back and me up front.

A later than usual night and after a busy day we found sleep came without much prompting.

Monday 18th

Each year I meet with the urban blind beggers at their home. They are organised and have a committee to represent them, which makes my life easier. I had asked them to draw up a list of 20 families to receive food. We went via the market and arrived to find everyone waiting patiently. I know most of them by name now and so it took a while to get the greetings out of the way. Each family received maize flour, beans, soap, bananas, exercise books and pens. The whole process always takes longer than planned, and today was no exception. After the distribution we visited the home of one of the women so we could see a certain problem she was keen to remedy. Finally the leaders invited us inside their home and fed us cake and soda and gave us gifts. It is always touching when people give us things in return.

An extra pair of hands makes all the difference

Members of the 20 families with their goodies

We also hand out some of the many football shirts

We stayed in Dodoma town that evening as a mid-point break in our trip. The hotel has wifi, a Chinese restaurant, well stocked bar and hot showers. It really feels like an oasis and after a week or more in Buigiri it is just what the doctor ordered. We also managed to squeeze in a football game – Polisi Dodoma versus Simba. Simba are one of the two big teams and Dodoma are the lower division minnows. The gulf between the two teams was evident and Simba put on a fantastic display. Although many locals support Dodoma, their affections really belong to Simba and so it felt a little odd seeing the away team get all the home support. At the end, the Simba players were mobbed and the Dodoma players slinked away.

And to think we were concerned we would not be able to find a seat. Our side was full though as it was in the shade

Tuesday 19th

We had a bunch of jobs to do in town. We met up with the wife of a man who used to live in Buigiri and who each year I provide with some food and other items. We also teamed up with some of the guys from the rehab centre and went about completing this year’s main project: supplying mattresses to their houses. This is something they have asked me to consider for a couple of years and so it is pleasing to cross it off the list.

Ive always wondered what the arcade was like. We walked out winners, to the tune of around £5. The ‘No under 18’ rule wasn’t enforced.

Waiting for lunch in the hotel. It is a different world in there and it can be a shock to the senses when stepping outside afterwards.

With Morientes and his mother after getting their annual stash.

We both live in Redland. Hence the silly pose.

Getting the mattresses for the rehab centre.

And to think I thought they would all fit on to a pick-up truck. We had to get this second vehicle to carry the majority of them.

Wednesday 20th

Buigiri’s blind primary school is pretty much free for all the kids, as is every primary school in the land. The parents need to pay for the minor things like some transportation, uniforms, soap and suchlike. Secondary schools are different – they cost around £100 to attend. There are also some prestigious schools which cost many times that much and one such school is 2 hours away in Mvumi. They benefit from the patronage of Sir Stuart Rose, the boss of Marks and Spencers. He personally sponsors many of the children there and has established a blind unit. This accommodates 30 blind students currently and Buigiri acts as a feeder school. I have visited a couple of times before, but during my last visit the unit was only just finished and there were yet to be any blind students in attendance. Each year I spend time in Buigiri bonding with the bind children and then each time I return to Tanzania many have moved on in their education. Thus, Shane, Myself and two of Buigiri’s teachers drove over and paid them a visit.

We took some gifts and handed each child some pocket money. They were delighted that we had come and it was fantastic going around the classroom and catching up with each child individually. We stayed a little longer than planned and on the way back had a puncture, not too surprising given what passes for a road to Mvumi. After a while we even came across a search party on a motorbike from Buigiri that had come to see what had become of us.

We spy these guys from MileMbeli. I handed this shirt out the day before. It made our day seeing it in use.

The Mvumi kids.

Thursday 21st

This is our third trip into town by bus. Before we arrived in Tanzania I had warned Shane about the local buses. They are always crammed full and you can be standing up, crushed by hens and breast feeding mothers in a 5′ high bus. Each journey has been brilliant so far though, one bus was empty, another half full and for our third journey we flagged down a comfortable people carrier and got a lift in that.

We had a bunch of little jobs to get done, all of which we successfully managed. I remember the days when I would come to town and everything would conspire against me – maybe there would be no power, or the shops I needed would be shut and it would take me several trips to get anything done. For the past few years it has all changed – either I’m more mellow about things and take set backs in my stride or things are actually improving. Either way, it is a good thing.

When we returned we met with the local branch of the Tanzanian League for the Blind. Originally I used to avoid providing them with any support because I’m not a big fan of committees and organisations. I like seeing a problem, finding a solution and getting it done so I can move on to the next issue. Committees talk and don’t commit. Over time I have seen the TLB doing a lot of good though. They track where all the blind people live so they can receive assistance. They also receive some small grants for projects and everything is transparent. Over the past I have relented a little and got behind them. They now have a small office and a contribution I made last year helped towards some of the furniture. This year I have a pot of money specifically for buying furniture, so I have dipped in to this so they can add another cupboard or table. It is not a vast sum, but it will all help them gradually get to where they want to be.

With the local TLB leadership

The photo does not do it justice, but this is a toy bus made from junk. It had movable wing mirrors with glass-inlaid, and a door which swug open when a lever was pulled.

I apologise for the rather awful photo. My picture taking skills are awful at…

…7.29am

We headed out pretty early. This is the house Ive rented for a few weeks.

On our way we pay a visit to the local shop to buy…

…water. Say hello to Shane, who is out here with me for 3 weeks.

We tail these two women. Carrying things on your head is so much easier than with your hands.

We reach our destination. The Anglican church.

Possibly we arrive early, or the service started late, as most things do in Africa, so we had a look at the graves. This was my favourite. If you can have a favourite grave, that is.

Alas I didnt have the nerve to take many pics inside the church. This is Paolo who was curious what I was getting up to. He is an albino with low vision and we were sitting amongst the children of the local blind school.

There were three choirs… and no priest. Im not sure what happened to him, but the 2 hours was mainly spent with them singing. They have been given lots of kit like microphones and keyboards since my last visit so it was all even louder than before. We had to stand up and introduce ourselves to the congregation – something I always dread but I can now do it in Swahili which helps and I show off a bit by speaking a couple of words in the tribal Kigogo language. One surreal bit happened at the collection – someone gave a 20 litre drum of ground nuts. The guy in charge didnt know what to do with them so he ran an impromptu auction. I was tempted to buy them but didnt want to seem too flashy. They sold for £3.

We see some kids carrying some of the kit from the church. Meet Saidi, Ezekial and Nico

I catch up with Emmanuel, the guy on the right, about his life a couple of hours away. He is trying to become independant of his family and over the years Ive helped him along the way a little. We then chat to the kids at the blind school. I invite them to ask me questions and we have a good Q&A session for half an hour.

I figure Ezekial deserves a photo on his own, given his swanky suit. Most kids are dirt poor but his father is a builder and he proudly told me the suit cost 35,000tshs or around $30.

As we head home we spy these kids playing football in a corridor. The football is a bottle stuffed with paper and it is somewhere in the middle of the mass of feet. I never did establish what the child lying down was up to.

En route home a neighbour gives us some delicious water melon.

I have sorted Emmanuel out with a door for the house he has been building and for some work to be done on his farm. I also hand him a mobile phone and some clothes which we have been stockpiling at home. I am well over a foot taller than him, hence my odd stance.

Internet time. Last year I just about got an internet connection. This year it is fantastic. OK, so it is not fast, but I find it amazing that I am online from a village at all.

The house is always full of people, including these two.

The heavens open outside. It is the rainy season and although they have failed this year and there will be famine, there is still an occasional downpour. It isnt regular enough to do any good though.

Next stop is lunch. Chip omelettes for most, and one bowl of rice.

With few resources, the locals are very good at making their own entertainment. This time from bottle tops.

Next stop is the maize shop. Teck decides that this is his moment to pose like a catalogue model.

The maize gets tipped out and then scooped into a standardised 20 litre bucket. Last year this cost 8000tshs. Now it costs 18000tshs.

We then go and buy sugar and soap. The only way I could get a photo of the shop was by getting these guys to pose to one side.

A rubbish photo, but we then got a taxi to take us to our next destinations…

… first to see Mamma Happy. Last year I supplied her with iron sheets and this year I got to see her completed roof. Its always great to see the end results of the projects I run. We also supplied her family with some of the maize and so on which we had just bought.

And next we provided the same items to another blind family. Mr Kusenha was inside the house as he has had a stroke and is in a terrible way. I also supplied the roof for this house last year. As I went behind for the photo, the child cried her eyes out. It was all a little awkward but also rather amusing.

I provide school uniforms amongst various communities and in the village I hand out chits like the one the boy is holding and they then take it to the tailor. It saves me having to escort everyone there one by one.

And now to see Mr Yusuphu. He is a very hard working poor blind man who spends much time on his gardens growing tomatoes, okra and many other things which he sells to support his family. I find it amazing he can prepare the land in such a fashion without sight.

For years he has been after a water pump for his garden. Last year I gave a contribution towards it and together with the money he had saved he has managed to finally buy it. The pipe he is holding is old and ineffective though so Ive provided him with some of what he needs to get a new efficient one.

I arrive home to find Judith awaiting me. She needs glasses and as luck would have it I have around 100 pairs with me. After some trial and error she walks off with a couple of pairs and a big grin

Then follows more time being silly.

And more internet time. Time check.

The local leaders of the Tanzanian League for the Blind invite us to dinner to welcome us to the village. This is an annual tradition and always much appreciated.

We had roast spuds, bananas, skewered meat, chicken, rice, potato and salad.

And some had a little beer. Shane is Irish and with today being St Patricks Day he taught the fellows how to say cheers in Irish. Possibly not a skill they will much benefit from, but they found it all highly entertaining.

We head home only to find our friend who is sleeping in the house is out for the count. We spend 40 minutes ringing his phone which is by his ear and shouting his name, but no joy. We then hit upon the idea of using a twig to push open the curtains and then quickly squeeze a bottle of water so he was drenched. He woke up in a startled fashion. I was quite pleased with our ingenuity.

After another long day I was whacked. Zzzzz