Leroy's Art Blog

The conditions were right yesterday, when I was riding my bike back from Mwanza. It was a beautiful, comfortable day, I was in no rush and not wearing a back pack for a change, the kids who always yell MZUNGUU MZUNGUU at me were bunched up and there were a lot of mamas there too.

So when they began their chant, I skidded my bike to a stop and laid it down in the middle of the road. Then I got off on the far side of the bike, swept the helmet off my head, took an exaggerated wide stance and hunched over, looking directly at them. That was already too much for about a third of the kids and they took off around the corner of the house. Then I put my hands in my pockets, and in my best John Wayne style slowly withdrew my extended index fingers, pointed them at the sky and then slowly leveled them at the kids and took aim. POW! POW! POWPOW! ... POW! Then I put the used index fingers in front of my face, blew away the smoke, slowly put them back in my pocket, put my helmet back on and rode off without cracking a smile.

The kids were dumbfounded. Just stood or sat there with their mouths open. The mamas were howling with laughter.

Gotta have some fun once in a while.

<<<>>>

Tomorrow I begin the trek to London. Long trip to a very different world - and Myrna. She has been writing how anxious and nervous she is. I'm not surprised, but I think it will be OK as soon as we are together. The trip back to Africa and Mwanza will be the interesting part.

# posted by Leroy Forney @ 9:00 AM

Sunday morning, and I surely did see the sun come up this morning. Last night was the annual Mwanza Charity Ball, put on by a laundry list of local companies, mostly foreign. So it attracts lots of ex-pats who manage the gold and diamond mines, safari and communications companies, things like that. But it is a taste of western civilization after a long draught here in Africa. Most men were actually wearing ties and jackets, the women in attractive gowns. The excellent band played mostly old American standards - lots of Elvis and rock and roll as well as disco and even a few slow numbers.

The Peace Corps kind of has a special status in the circle. They know we have little money, so we are invited and given a substantial discount. It was a great break for us, and there were nine of us there, four who are finishing heir service and will be leaving Africa next week, and five of us who are halfway throug. I really enjoyed the chance to do a lot of dancing to a live band. But somehow, our group has never really jelled here, and last night a split into an "in group" and a smaller "out group" seemed more apparent than usual. It doesn't bother me too much - I'm the old guy and so don't expect to share the social interests and concerns of singles in their 20s. But t does bother some others, and that is too bad.

We all stayed at the Ball until it shut down at 2:00am. Then the "in group" that is camping out at Steve's site (I no longer have the largest house of the group) went to a night club. Kathleen & Kim & I went for coffee and a sandwich at the local casino and talked until about 3.

Then I walked the two blocks to K&K's hoted with them for security and took a taxi from there to Peter's where I intended to spend thenight. Peter works for a mining company, and has a big place that is sort of a crash pad for the company's geologiests. We sometimes go to use his internet facilities and to stay over on special occasions, like watching the debates and election returns.

As usual, Peter's security guards let me into the compound with notrouble. But then we found that the house was locked up tight. Clearly Peter and Alistair had come home from the party, gone to bed and were asleep. The guards do not have a key to the house. Pounding on the door was futile. After failing to come up with any other aceptable way to rouse them, I decided that I would have to take a taxi all the way hom. It is only moneyafter all. But I could not get an answer from any of the three taxi drivers I have in my cellphone. Too late in the morning. It isn't safe to walk the streets at night to find a roaming taxi, so I ended up staying on the porch with the guards, sleeping (more of less) on a broken chair until daybreak.

But hey, the Ball was worth it. And now I expect to have a rather laid-back and low key day to Recover.

I haven’t been keeping up this Journal lately – things have been moving too fast. It has been crazy. But I have a little breather over the weekend, so it is a good time to recap events. Just trying to list the major things that are happening, there is:
* Working with Myrna and the travel agency to put her trip together, and mine, in the face and surprise of her daughter’s pregnancy.
* Working with Tanzanians (slow) and TechnoServe to define and lay plans for teaching students about the principles of small business.
* Defining the Essay Scholarship program Shari has been offering.
* Writing the Chemistry Final Exam, getting it printed, and then grading the results.
* Proposing that Family Safari for August
* Recovering my lost computer files and – hopefully, in the future – reorganizing them.

On the back burner, as assurance that things won’t get boring, there is:
* Finding a suitable service organization where Myrna can get involved over the next year.
* Figuring out what I am going to teach next year and formalizing it in a Scheme of Work, as they call it here.
* Helping Myrna learn the lay of the land.

With Myrna, we finally got past the question of whether I would come any farther than London to meet her. (No!) Her plan to visit relatives in Los Angeles had fallen apart a few weeks ago, but I was still struggling to put together her flight from Guatemala to London through LA although it was looking gruesome. These efforts were not helped at all by a long period of horrendous international phone connections.

Then, in a fractured phone call with followup emails, she and Julia dropped the bombshell that Julia was pregnant and going to be married soon so what did I think of that? What I thought of that was that I FREAKED OUT. Wished them congratulations, and said I guessed that we don’t need ANY flight tickets now as Myrna would certainly be staying with Julia. In turn, Myrna freaked out at that and called to assure me that the MARRIAGE was in February not the Baby, and that we do still need to be together. Now. Once we worked that through, I was able to find much better connections for her through Miami, and so everything is looking good, now. I leave on Dec. first for the 36 hr. bus ride to Dar es Salaam through Nairobi, Kenya, and the following day take the 10 hr flight to London to find a place for us to stay and to look for bilingual tours of London. Myrna arrives a day and a half later. Whew!

TechnoServe finally gave me assurance that they would provide the books for the Start Your Small Business program, and on that basis I have now gained the support of the Director of the Lake Zone Vocational Educational and Training Authority (VETA) for two groups of students, my Headmaster at Nsumba Secondary, the Headmaster at Mwanza Secondary, and I have an appointment with the Headmistress of Ngonza Secondary set for Monday afternoon. None of this came easily, but as the details are boring, I will spare you. The chairwoman of our English Dep’t., Mrs. Tayangulwa, will chair the Steering Committee and says she will work to continue the program beyond 2005. Mrs. T and I go to Mwanza Sec. on Tuesday morning to assist the Headmaster in recruiting Instructors for the course. Then we come back and do the same thing at Nsumba. If Ngonza comes on board, I will have the basis for the 150 students and 10 teachers that I was hoping for.

Shari’s offer of scholarships as prizes to the winners in an Essay contest has been easy to arrange, after first finding a time to talk to my Headmaster about it, letting him think awhile about who I should work with, then painfully arranging a time to get together with his nominees. Looks like it should happen early next year.

The Chemistry Exam was pretty good this time, I think. There were enough questions with only two possible answers, choose one, that I cut the number of zeros down to two or three. Only one question was impossible for everyone except three students. The high grade was an 88. Almost all students knew every definition question exactly as it had been presented in class – they excel at memorization. But then they fail my next question asking them to apply the concept they have just defined so well.

I have posted the answer key to the test on the school bulletin board, with a notice I will answer questions and correct my scoring errors – if any - on Monday morning. No other teachers do anything remotely like that. I also gave my students who had received Shari’s textbooks a questionnaire about how they used the books and their critique of the course. Got very interesting responses, but I will spare you the details for now.

Looks like the Family Safari will be a real blast. I’m hearing lots of enthusiasm, and the woman at the Safari Company is great to work with. I’ll see her tonight – there is a Charity Ball downtown. It is the big Mzungu event of the year – there will be a table of nine Peace Corps Volunteers. We get a break on the price in recognition of our economic status. In addition, Maria (Safari Co.), Pete (Mining Co., whose computer I often use), Taha (who fixed my computer) and lots more of the ex-pat community will be there. It will be the first time I have worn my sports jacket since coming to Mwanza. I will even wear my tie if I can find it.

Taha got my computer files back, but the recovery operation loses all the file structure, and the names of the files. So every file has to be individually opened to see whether it is anything of interest, and then renamed – or deleted. This is now my mindless task whenever I have nothing else to do, or need to take a break from whatever.

And now I better go to town before it rains again to pay some outstanding bills before I leave the territory for half a month.

Paul got his new chicks last Tuesday. All 224 of them, now 223 because one of them fell into the water feeder and died. He wanted me to come over to see them. They are so cute and fuzzy, with their little winglets, peeping and running around, others of them all piled up together. They seem to weigh nothing when you pick them up. Just little fuzzy yellow energy balls with tiny eyes and beaks.

And I watch Paul, how gently he picks them up, how careful he is with them, how slowly he moves his feet while he is in the brooder changing the feed pans. He gets up three times every night to put more charcoal in the burners that keep them warm. The chicks look so vulnerable and fragile. There are two that will be roosters – it seems that Paul knows them all, individually. He has already stockpiled the food they will need, and bought the medicine and arranged for the vaccinations that will keep them healthy.

I think of the investment Paul has made in them, and how much more they will cost to feed and how much care they will require before they start laying eggs six months from now. An illness, an animal break-in, or an attack by safari ants could end it all for him.

I guess this is the attachment, pride, and vulnerability that all farmers feel as they plant seeds or start their flocks or herds. They depend on the rain and the weather and must continually tend the health and growth of their produce until the successful harvest, no matter what. No wonder there are Thanksgiving Days, and Rain Dances and Harvest Dances. But somehow it seems more poignant here where people live so close to the abyss, where there is no safety net or other alternatives or room for failure.

Paul got his new chicks last Tuesday. All 224 of them, now 223 because one of them fell into the water feeder and died. He wanted me to come over to see them. They are so cute and fuzzy, with their little winglets, peeping and running around, others of them all piled up together. They seem to weigh nothing when you pick them up. Just little fuzzy yellow energy balls with tiny eyes and beaks.

And I watch Paul, how gently he picks them up, how careful he is with them, how slowly he moves his feet while he is in the brooder changing the feed pans. He gets up three times every night to put more charcoal in the burners that keep them warm. The chicks look so vulnerable and fragile. There are two that will be roosters – it seems that Paul knows them all, individually. He has already stockpiled the food they will need, and bought the medicine and arranged for the vaccinations that will keep them healthy.

I think of the investment Paul has made in them, and how much more they will cost to feed and how much care they will require before they start laying eggs six months from now. An illness, an animal break-in, or an attack by safari ants could end it all for him.

I guess this is the attachment, pride, and vulnerability that all farmers feel as they plant seeds or start their flocks or herds. They depend on the rain and the weather and must continually tend the health and growth of their produce until the successful harvest, no matter what. No wonder there are Thanksgiving Days, and Rain Dances and Harvest Dances. But somehow it seems more poignant here where people live so close to the abyss, where there is no safety net or other alternatives or room for failure.

I wrote this vacation proposal to my family, then decided I ought to put it in my Journal, too. Who knows – it could be the start of a Travel Program.

To Shari, with copies to Steve, Matt, Sue, Ellen and Allegra:

Shari, you asked what it would cost to bring your family to Tanzania for two weeks. I dropped into a Safari company in town today and began a discussion about this. What we sketched out is really exciting, and for much lower prices than I would have expected for all the goodies we put together.

First, the basis for the plan. I assumed a 2-week vacation for 14 people, in August 2005: 3 from Arlington, 6 from Indianapolis, 4 from Beijing, and one from Mwanza. If we add Ellen, Myrna, Glenn and Allegra – maybe Fitzgeralds too? – the per-person price comes down even more. This really looks like an incredible opportunity to me.

The itinerary:
Fly to Kilimanjaro and assemble in nearby Arusha. Arusha is a pleasant enough city, and has a good crafts market. The United Nations International Court for War Crimes in Rwanda is also located there. ONE NIGHT

In the 2 or 3 Land Rovers that we will be using for the rest of the trip – or equivalent, almost surely with pop-up roofs for safely viewing all the dangerous animals, we go to the Ngorongoro Crater, camping on the crater rim for TWO NIGHTS. The NC is unbelievable – gazelles, zebras, wildebeests, lions, hyenas, hippos, elephants, baboons, monkeys, flamingoes, rhinos, dik diks, jackels, giraffes, ostrich, and these are just the animals I remember off the top of my head. Also birds galore. All this inside a crater – a caldera, if you really want to get technical - that is only some 10 miles in diameter.

Actually, one day is enough in the NC, but it is also a good site for going to visit the Olduvai Gorge that is part of the Great Rift Valley that runs through much of eastern Africa, or a bunch of other interesting sites nearby on the second day. Or to chill out and recover from jet lag.

Next, on to a tented camp at Late Natron for ONE NIGHT, and a different type of terrain and animal species. This is deep in Massai country, and the Massai still maintain their culture with a vengeance. Always in groups of at least two, carrying spears or clubs that mean business, wearing red robes and apparently not much else, and sandals cut from auto tires. Very elongated earlobes, wearing lots of silver and beads in their hair, they are very proud, tall and lean. They don’t mind you taking pictures of them, but want to be paid a couple of schillingi for the privilege.

Then THREE NIGHTS on an extended safari through the Serengeti. By the end of this, the Massai, zebras and wildebeests will look pretty familiar. But there are comfortable lodges through this section and it takes us west to within an easy shot of Mwanza.

THREE NIGHTS in Mwanza seems like a good bit, but Mwanza is reknowned for its rock formations and there are spectacular views of Lake Victoria. But mainly, I really look forward to a culture exchange between the students here at Nsumba Secondary and our students from America and China. A pick-up international soccer game would be a cinch to arrange. I think our ex-teachers will be very interested in the Tanzanian schools – and very thankful that they did not have to teach under these conditions. This is also my opportunity to show you how people here really live. We will visit my friend Paul, and let him show you how he is expanding his flock of chickens so they will support his family. And you also need to see some of the mansions on Capri Point, so you know that there is extreme wealth in Tanzania as well as extreme poverty. Probably we will spend an afternoon at Tunza Lodge for some comfortable, laid-back food and drink in beautiful surroundings. For the time we are in Mwanza, we will simply rent a daladala, and have the thing completely at our disposal for an easy $50/day with driver.

From Mwanza, we take a direct flight across Tanzania to the old Spice Island of Zanzibar, for TWO NIGHTS of beach, snorkeling, swimming with dolphins, relaxation, and exploration of the capital, Stone Town. The Sultan of Zanzibar received a large annual payment from Britain until I think about 1950, in order to refrain from the slave trade that was the hallmark of Zanzibar.

From here we can arrange to sail from Zanzibar to Bagamoyo on the mainland by dhow with its large, picturesque lateen sail. I know less about Bagamoyo, but it is supposed to be good for tropical rain forest, and excellent beaches, and local color. ONE NIGHT.

Finally, on to Dar es Salaam. DES has an interesting Village Museum and a great market for typical carved ebony objects. Also a huge and famous local market, but expect to be pick pocketed there by professionals – don’t take or wear anything you don’t want to lose if you go. Otherwise, DES is simply a dusty, crowded African city. But it is the LAST NIGHT before flying back to the real world.

Other options:
Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, but that takes 5 or 6 days and is quite expensive. Those who have done it say it is an incredible experience.
Climbing Mt. Meru which is another beautiful mountain, and this one can be done in 3 days for a LOT less money, as it is a little smaller and a lot less famous.
A side trip to Kampala, Uganda for white-water rafting in the headwaters of the Nile River. Myrna and I might do this around Christmas time this year.
Jane Goodall’s gorillas are within visiting distance, but again, that is REALLY pricy.
Or lots more that we just haven’t had time to think about yet.

Now, the cost for all this? Maria wanted to estimate high, so that the real price would almost certainly be lower than this first rule of thumb guess, not higher. It came out to $13,130 plus the cost of food while in Mwanza, Zanzibar, Bagamoyo and Dar es Salaam. Food is cheap. Food and stuff while we are on the safari part of the trip is included in the safari cost. Split 14 ways, it all comes out to a high-end approximation of about $1250 per person, well under $100/day. And that includes the cost of flying from Mwanza to Zanzibar.

Additional costs to consider: The Tanzania visa is $50 per person, and there is an exit fee of $30 per person – possibly from both Zanzibar and Tanzania proper, but Maria wasn’t positive about that. You will also need to get the appropriate shots and anti-malaria medication before coming here. Maria said that her round-trip flight from Iowa was about $1,500, but that it is cheaper to arrange flights from the US rather than from here. There are probably enough of us to get some block fare discounts, but Jennifer or Steve can surely better advise about that kind of thing.

Matt, I think you would want to check out prices on United Emirates, flying through Dubai. People who have flown on UE say their service is exceptional.

So there it is, folks. What do you think?

Lee, your guide to East Africa

Monday, November 15

I got up early this morning, as I am still composing the Chem III Final Examination, and I will need to get it printed before test week begins next Monday, on Nov 22. (I am amazed to think that I have taught a complete school year. I am a bona-fide, experienced TEACHER now!)

I had expected to face anxious students today, who want to review the material we’ve covered and who will try to find out what is on the test. They want true-false, multiple choice and matching questions. They will be disappointed.

But when I got to school, it was all unnaturally quiet. No morning parade, no students, no teachers. I knew that the Muslims are celebrating the end of Ramadan and that Eads is yesterday and today, but never gave it a thought that today would be a National Holiday. So I have a free day. I am sitting on my front porch in the cool of the morning with the dew still on the grass, enjoying the sounds of birds and bees. I will have to go downtown later today and find a restaurant serving the special End-of-Ramadan foods and see what celebrations may be happening.

Good stuff has been happening this week:

First, I gave my computer to Taha Versi to recover my lost files. He is the IT Tech Manager for an Australian Communications Company that has a branch office here in Mwanza, of all places. He travels a lot, as they provide internet and microwave service to quite a few African countries. Sharp guy, and recovering data is routine for him. It sure is pricy though – Lesson #1 on DOING REGULAR BACKUPS! Also, while he can recover the files, the file names and folder structures are lost so I have to sort through every file to find the important ones, and for the others, decide if I still want to keep them or not, and in what kind of new folder structure. He got back 9,947 images! Not only my photos, but every graphic header, advertisement, and news photo along with lots of unrecognizeable stuff. All scrambled together – no order or chronology to it at all. Unfortunately, lots of my photos are pretty badly degraded. And he hasn’t yet recovered my critical personal address files yet, but says he can do that for me, too.

Then, Atiba, with the NGO TechnoServe in Dar es Salaam, sent me five workbooks for the economic empowerment project I hope to initiate in 2005. So now I can talk to the headmasters of Nsumba and other schools to solicit their cooperation and identification of teachers for the program. My goal is 5 groups of 30 students – teach business principles to 150 students plus the 10 teachers who will be presenting the program. Learning from past mistakes, I want to have a Tanzanian with me for all of those meetings.

And for the really heartwarming stuff, Allegra and Glenn said they would support Samwel Mnanka with the money he needs to get a Primary School Teaching Certificate. They said I could choose to do the Democratic thing of just giving him the money, or the Republican thing of giving it to him as a loan as he had requested. (I didn’t think Republicans gave loans, I thought they gave tax credits or rebates.) But in the spirit of bipartisanship, I suggested we make 1/3 a gift (or grant, stipend, whatever) and the other 2/3 an interest-free student loan.

I picked up Paul on the way to Samwel’s house yesterday evening, and we went over to give Samwel and his wife the news. First I told him that my family did not want to loan him the full amount, and he looked all confused and concerned. Then I said that the rest would be a gift. As that slowly sank in, he erupted into the biggest, brightest grin in the world. This really will change his life, and his family’s life. I had brought along a bottle of Chilean Sauvignon Blanc. It sold for $5.50 downtown, but that is more than three day’s pay for him. He brought out a table and some stools from his house and we found a rock to put under one leg, his wife went to the neighbors to borrow some glasses, and we stood to toast his good fortune. After we finished off the bottle, I gave him a candle and told him that in America sometimes when we have drunk a bottle of wine to celebrate an important occasion, we save the bottle.and use it as a candleholder. It is a safe bet that that bottle will have a long lifetime.

Shari has proposed that a club in Yorktown, the Young African-American Achievers, might want to sponsor an essay contest for needy Nsumba students, with the winners to have school fees paid for a year. This is a fabulous idea and my Headmaster, JFK Msasa, is fully behind it. I will be working with the head of the English Department and another teacher to coordinate with Shari and the club on details and things.

I wish I could say that the plans for Myrna’s arrival were developing as well. But we are still bickering over the plans, and she still wants me to come all the way to Guatemala for her. Which I just won’t do. So I don’t know what will happen. We are locked into flight dates for any kind of reasonable airline tickets, and if arrangements fall through again, there is no additional opportunity – that would be the last chance until 2006, after I finish my obligation with the Peace Corps and Africa unless she just came for a short visit. 2006 is a very long time to be apart.

Good stuff is happening.

I put my computer in the hands of knowledgeable people - the tech manager of a satellite communications company based here in Mwanza of all places. He called me this morning to say that they have had good success in recovering my files, including all the pictures that I have taken here in Africa. Whew. Unfortunately, they are no longer in the folders I had established, so will be totally scrambled. But at least they are back!

They haven't recovered my address book yet, but feel that that will come, too. Lesson No. One in REMEMBER TO BACK UP IMPORTANT DATA ON A REGULAR BASIS!!!!

Allegra and Glenn want to provide the money Samwel needs to get his Teaching Certificate. They said the money could be the Republican loan he requested, or could be a Democratic gift. I thought Republicans only gave tax credits or sometimes refunds. But anyway, I've suggested that we make it 1/3 gift and 2/3 loan. I seriously do not want to support the dependency culture here, looking for handouts. It is good to require sacrifice and creative participation to achieve personal advancement.

And there is more good news. I received 5 copies of the entrepreneurship workbook from Atiba at TechnoServe in Dar es Salaam. So now I am confident of their support, and can give the books to the headmasters I (with a Tanzanian partner)want to contact to present the course. Hoping for 5 schools, 30 kids each. Reaching 150 kids to teach them entrepreneurship! Now THAT is a worthy goal, here in Tanzania.

Ryan reminded me yesterday that we are more than half way through our work here in Tanzania now. Time flies.

That satellite communications company. The manager, Taha, looks maybe Italian. His wife and new daughter live in South Africa. He works 3 months, then gets 3 weeks off to spend with his family. He lives on Capri Point here - an assembly of really posh mansions, estates and compounds on a peninsula with an incredible vista out over Lake Victoria and several islands. Think Marina Del Rey north of Los Angeles, replacing the marina with great rocky promontories.

Anyway, it seems to me that the world is divided into two parallel existances. One is high tech, mega business, high finance. Its practitioners live in isolated luxury, surrounded by walls and security guards, and move among islands of wealth and priviledge. The other existance is primitive... Whoops, I am about out of time. Will have to continue later. But I think this analogy is true even in the US, just less so, and somewhat easier to move from one to the other. Unless present trends continue. Bye for now.

She is a pretty thing, my new chicken is. Golden brown feathers with a little black trim for interest. She is friendly and calm, and doesn’t seem to mind being held.

Of course there is a story behind this.

Last week my friend Paul came by with a friend of his to explain why the friend, Samwel, needs and deserves a loan of $300 so he can continue his education. It was a convincing presentation, and I agreed to contact some of my family to see if they might be willing to respond to this request.

This is the first time I have agreed to seek help on behalf of a student. I am asked for such help continually, but usually from students who haven’t a clue about what they want to do with their education, or why would be an advantage for them to study in the US. I’ve gotten real good at simply saying I can’t help them.

But for Samwel, the appeal sounds like this:

First, let me present some background about the school system here. Primary school, of 7 years duration, is taught in Kiswahili. Secondary school, 6 years, is taught in English. Because of the difficulty many families have in paying fees lots of students drop out for a year or three, and so there is a surprising age range in all the secondary school classes. There are National Examinations in the 2nd and 4th year of secondary school, and of course again for graduation. These are a big deal – only 25 percent of the 4th year students advance further in government schools.

Students who do not continue in government schools still have the option of going to private schools, but they are much more expensive and are considered inferior because the better students all prefer the more economical government schools.

Next year Tanzania wants to increase the percentage of students in primary school. To do this they are building a lot of new schools, and lowering the requirements for teaching certification to attract new teachers. Next year anyone who has completed the 4th year and taken a one-year course in a Teaching College has satisfied the new requirements.

Now, about Samwel Mnanka. Samwel is 32, has a wife and 4 kids and lives in a small mud house that he built near the school. He completed four years of secondary school at Nsumba last year. However he was not accepted in a government school and this year he has been working as the school night watchman, earning $53/month. He now wants to take advantage of the new requirements and qualify to teach at a primary school.

Samwel has been accepted to a private college in the Tanga Region over near the coast, at a cost of $390 payable up front. He believes he can raise $90 from family and friends. With Paul’s assistance, he was hoping I could help him find someone to loan him $300. The government will continue his $53/month as a stipend while he is a full time student. He intends to send his family back to their village where they can survive on $13/month, allowing him to repay the loan at $40/month. In a rural village his family will raise their own food and maybe even sell a little excess, like many folks do here.

Samwel speaks English as well as I speak Kiswahili, which frankly does not speak well for either of us. But I respect Paul’s endorsement, and other teachers have confirmed that Samwel would make good use of this opportunity. In addition, I am very impressed that he is requesting a loan and not a gift, and that his family will be sacrificing with him to achieve his educational goal.

I went to his home this evening to take some photos of Samwel and his family in front of their home. They gave me the chicken to thank me for my effort. Paul gave me a bag of corn meal to feed her, and instructions on what to do with a chicken.

I think I will name her Gertrude.

She is a pretty thing, my new chicken is. Golden brown feathers with a little black trim for interest. She is friendly and calm, and doesn’t seem to mind being held.

Of course there is a story behind this.

Last week my friend Paul came by with a friend of his to explain why the friend, Samwel, needs and deserves a loan of $300 so he can continue his education. It was a convincing presentation, and I agreed to contact some of my family to see if they might be willing to respond to this request.

This is the first time I have agreed to seek help on behalf of a student. I am asked for such help continually, but usually from students who haven’t a clue about what they want to do with their education, or why would be an advantage for them to study in the US. I’ve gotten real good at simply saying I can’t help them.

But for Samwel, the appeal sounds like this:

First, let me present some background about the school system here. Primary school, of 7 years duration, is taught in Kiswahili. Secondary school, 6 years, is taught in English. Because of the difficulty many families have in paying fees lots of students drop out for a year or three, and so there is a surprising age range in all the secondary school classes. There are National Examinations in the 2nd and 4th year of secondary school, and of course again for graduation. These are a big deal – only 25 percent of the 4th year students advance further in government schools.

Students who do not continue in government schools still have the option of going to private schools, but they are much more expensive and are considered inferior because the better students all prefer the more economical government schools.

Next year Tanzania wants to increase the percentage of students in primary school. To do this they are building a lot of new schools, and lowering the requirements for teaching certification to attract new teachers. Next year anyone who has completed the 4th year and taken a one-year course in a Teaching College has satisfied the new requirements.

Now, about Samwel Mnanka. Samwel is 32, has a wife and 4 kids and lives in a small mud house that he built near the school. He completed four years of secondary school at Nsumba last year. However he was not accepted in a government school and this year he has been working as the school night watchman, earning $53/month. He now wants to take advantage of the new requirements and qualify to teach at a primary school.

Samwel has been accepted to a private college in the Tanga Region over near the coast, at a cost of $390 payable up front. He believes he can raise $90 from family and friends. With Paul’s assistance, he was hoping I could help him find someone to loan him $300. The government will continue his $53/month as a stipend while he is a full time student. He intends to send his family back to their village where they can survive on $13/month, allowing him to repay the loan at $40/month. In a rural village his family will raise their own food and maybe even sell a little excess, like many folks do here.

Samwel speaks English as well as I speak Kiswahili, which frankly does not speak well for either of us. But I respect Paul’s endorsement, and other teachers have confirmed that Samwel would make good use of this opportunity. In addition, I am very impressed that he is requesting a loan and not a gift, and that his family will be sacrificing with him to achieve his educational goal.

I went to his home this evening to take some photos of Samwel and his family in front of their home. They gave me the chicken to thank me for my effort. Paul gave me a bag of corn meal to feed her, and instructions on what to do with a chicken.

I think I will name her Gertrude.

Africa is so full of surprises. This Saturday morning I had nothing to do except to anxiously wait until 2:30pm, when my friend and I will see what files we can recover from my erased hard disk. I could not concentrate on anything useful meanwhile, so I got on my bike and just started riding. Not far from home I found a small road I hadn’t explored before. It ended at a big high fence, but the gate was open so I went in.

It was a factory complex. Large, and the grounds had obviously been nicely landscaped not too long ago, although they were overgrown now. Lots of land around it, with a private dock on the lake. It still looked rather new, but everything was locked up and clearly not in use.

I poked around for some time, and met Bwana Makena, who opened the factory for me, showed me around and shared its history with me. It was a milk processing plant, and had operated from late 1999 until 2002. Makena had been the chief technician and is the only person left – he continues as the watchman, hoping to use his technical skills again when the plant reopens, as the owner has been promising will happen for the past two years.

Inside the plant, it was amazing. Full of spotless large stainless steel mixing and holding tanks with the most modern digital controls. Automated pasteurizing equipment and bottle filling stations, a huge refrigeration room. Spacious, with tile floor, modern quality control laboratory, offices. I estimate the plant at about 50,000-60,000 square feet – as modern, orderly and clean as any food processing plant you would expect to find in Europe or the US. You could spend a week cleaning up the floors and be back in operation in a month.

Makena told me the owner’s other businesses include large grocery stores in Mwanza, Dar es Salaam, and Zambia, and he owns five of the ferry boats that cross Lake Victoria. He built this factory with a capacity of 12,000 liters of milk a day, bringing in milk from across the lake as well as from local farms, and some 50 cows of his own that were raised in fields adjacent to the factory.

They actually processed some 6,000 liters per day during the rainy season - less during the dry season. But an even bigger problem was finding a sufficient market. Few Africans have refrigerators. So they found that they could sell only about 3,000 liters a day, mostly as “sour milk” – which I interpret as yoghurt. [Others tell me no - that this really is sort-of like sour cream, and so has a pretty long shelf life] Makena thinks the owner is looking for new investment money or a buyer. Meanwhile, he stays there, waiting to use his technical skills again, the only thing that keeps the factory from being destroyed through theft and disintegration.

What a waste of capital, of hopes and promises. And this apparently was African money, not a gift from the industrialized nations of the world. So here the factory sits, marooned and mothballed in the middle of Africa.

After this exploration I came back home, to find that we have no electricity. So nothing can happen regarding my computer today. Maybe tomorrow.

Sunday, October 31
I went up to the Retreat tonight to watch the sunset as I often do, especially when I want to think or be by myself or just take my mind off things. It was a little cloudy, but the valley is emerald again after these brown, dry months. A week of rain and the world is green. I couldn't quite enjoy the experience this evening, though. The day and its problems were just too much with me.

The day had begun well enough. I had a 10:00 appointment downtown with Francis, my Kenyan friend and computer guru. My computer has been bulky lately and I had asked him to work on it for me.

I got downtown about an hour early. The Hindu Temple was open, so I invited myself in. As the signs suggested I took off my shoes, and then entered. The temple was beautiful, with sparkling tile floor, mostly covered with mats, a natural wood ceiling with carved trim, an impressive alter. Women were sitting cross-legged on one side, men on the other, and they motioned that I was invited to join the men. So I did. Of course I could not understand a word, but since it wasn't Kiswahili I didn't feel any guilt about that. The leader was chanting from a holy book, sounding rather like a Jewish Cantor, but his actions were more reminiscent of a Priest performing the Mass. Periodically there was some bowing, or standing. Later, tissues were handed out and then a man came around giving everyone a delicious-smelling honey confection. I declined that, thinking that if it was something like a communion wafer, then I had no business partaking of it. But overall, I really liked the feeling of holiness and sanctity in the space, and the focused sharing of a significant religious experience. I used the opportunity to meditate and think, and that felt good.

Afterwards the congregation retired to a downstairs room for food. A young man introduced himself - he was visiting Tanzania after graduating high school in Queens, New York City. I was invited and encouraged to join everybody for the food, but since I had just had a big breakfast and it was past time to meet my computer guru, I declined. But now that I have tried this once, I think would like to go back again. Probably will.

Then, on to my computer guru. Ouch. Apparently we had had a serious miscommunication. He had saved a few of my recent documents, then reformatted my hard disk and re-installed a few programs. The worst possible calamity! All my files and history, lost. Messages with Myrna, my Peace Corps history, all my photographs, my files of names and addresses, reports, grades and attendance records for my classes, lesson plans, correspondence and files about my economic empowerment efforts, Spanish fonts, everything. Even my files of pornography!

I thought he had said he was going to back up my disk before he did stuff, but that obviously didn't happen. And my last backup (incomplete) was August 2003. I didn't know whether to be more angry at him for what he had done or at myself for my naivety and stupidity.

I left to ride back to Nsumba to get the few reinstallation disks I had. When I got back, he had downloaded a demonstration program to recover lost files after reformatting a disk, and it had already found some 5,000 files. It worked on for three hours, and finally assembled some 7,000 files - which I think is about right for what was on the hard disk. So it looks like we might be able to recover from the disaster fairly well.

However, since the program was only a demonstration to show what it could do, it wouldn't allow the actual recovery of files until you pay about $50 to buy the program. Now, $50 is a huge amount of money in Tanzania, but hey, no choice about this. But when we tried to buy the program, we got a message that told us: "Sorry, we do not sell this program in your country."

So that is my computer status at the moment. I've sent an emergency message to Dan Franceski in Philadelphia asking him to buy the program for me and send it here ASAP, either electronically or by courier.

After all this, when I went outside to ride home on my bike, I had a flat tire. Not the best of days, today.

Friday, October 29
It was Graduation Day for Form-IV students, today. Form-IV would correspond to 11th Grade in the USA. But here there is a National Examination after Form-IV, and the 25% who pass the test get a Certificate and go on for two more years, after which there is another exam for the Degree. Of the 75% who fail, they have the option of going to a private school if they can afford it and if they can get in. Private schools are generally considered inferior because all the better students, the successful 25%, continue in the government schools.

The Graduation is a big deal. There were no classes yesterday, as the students were "doing cleanliness" around the school grounds. Another teacher and I were in charge of a brigade that was resetting any of the stones lining the entrance drive that had fallen over or sunk out of sight. Later the stones were all re-whitewashed for the occasion.

The Graduation Ceremony is looong. It includes some native dancing put on by a local professional troupe, several long plays written by the students. These are generally comedies, based on unfaithful love affairs that cause the demise of entire communities due to HIV/AIDS. Take humor where you can find it, I guess. But the center of it all is the speeches from the honored guests. I actually would like to know what they tell graduating and non-graduating students in a Graduation ceremony, but since it is all in Kiswahili it is lost to me.

The strange thing about the ceremony is that the kids haven't actually taken their Examination yet. That will be this coming Monday, and the results won't be known until next February or so. They are given unsigned Certificates that they then have to give back to the school. I am told that if the school waited until after they gave the test for the ceremony, the kids would tear the place apart. Anyway, by the time the results are known, the kids are long gone, and scattered. One of the ways Tanzania has broken down tribal loyalties in favor or national identity is by promoting government boarding schools with kids drawn from all over the country.

So, no classes today, obviously. I had begun the day by going downtown to have breakfast with Kathleen. She teaches at Bunda, and was passing through Mwanza on her way to a graduation of a friend's daughter at Kahama, near Tabora. Later, bored, I sent her a text message, and here was our exchange throughout the day:

Lee 12:45. Boy, these graduation speeches go on forever. In Kiswahili, yet.

Kathleen 12:56. Lee, things must really be getting pretty boring at the Graduation. The bus is leaving now. Have a good weekend.

K 20:30. Lee, my bus was in an accident. I am OK and we are proceeding to Kahama in a different bus.

L 12:34 . Lord, I am glad you are OK. Sorry about the accident.

K 20:40. You should see the bus. It landed on its side. Can't wait to get the pictures developed.

L 12:45. Did the Peace Corps know your travel plans? Better send them a message or they will go off the deep end.

K 20:51. Thank god I did tell Thomas today. And I did contact him. That accident was a little scary. I crawled out through the window. I think only a few people went to the hospital though.

L 20:53. That must have been frightening as hell. Are you really OK?

K 20:55. Yes, it was very scary. It took 4 hours for the next bus to come. We drove off a small bridge. Really though, I am OK. Thanks for asking.

[end]