Karibuni Wuzungu! (welcome white people)

I met the rest of the 8 volunteers in Moshi, along with Caroline, the organiser of Village Africa. We all piled into a Landrover type thing with our many many bags stacked on the roof and took an uncomfortable 6 hour drive to Lushoto. Lushoto is mountainous and beautiful, but already a little cold! Next morning we continued on our journey for another 5 hours or so around winding mountain paths and tried not to look out of the window at the sheer drops! We soon knew that we were getting close to Milingano as people were lining the roads looking out for us and waving at the car as we passed. By the time we arrived there were literally hundreds of people running behind the car cheering, clapping and making their local cheering noise (a high pitched sound where they wiggle their tongue from side to side!). It was quite overwhelming and a little daunting getting out of the car seeing so many people so happy to see us with high expectations of the changes we were about to bring.

Caroline started Village Africa in May. Since then the people of Milingano and Yamba have proved how much they appreciate her help by building a new road and a house for us to live in, in Yamba. The chairman, his wife and 4 children have also moved out of their house to allow us to live there, and now live in what was their kitchen!

The welcome was amazing. In Milingano people danced around the drum and we joined in. We were given a special lunch and speeches were read by the chairman and Father Dennis, the local priest.  We then passed through a couple of hamlets where more people greeted us with dancing, singing, drumming and cheering. In one dance we were welcomed into a circle by women who carried us on their backs! The people here are tiny compared to us because they are so malnourished but they are very strong and carry heavy buckets and sacks up and down hills everyday.

Finally, just before sunset, we climbed the last stretch of the beautiful mountain on foot up to Yamba. It was incredibly steep and we struggled, even in our trusty walking boots, but the locals just skipped up barefoot, carrying our water bottles on their heads!

In Yamba people continued to greet us warmly. We had practised on the journey saying 'onga?' and replying 'ti wedi' which is the local language, Kisamba, for how are you.  People thought it was hilarious that we were speaking Kisamba! At last we neared the top and suddenly the women all started picking us up and carried us to the top! I was at least 3 stone heavier than the woman carrying me but she wouldn't put me down even when she was walking over stoney ground!

Before coming out here I imagined we would be living in similar style houses to the locals... built with sticks and mud and a tin or banana leaf roof, no windows or doors.  The house they built for us in Yamba is like a palace in comparison! It is built like a local house but is very large, has window shutters, doors, and the walls and floor are cemented. We also have lovely beds... the locals generally sleep on the mud floor or on a thin mattress.  Considering how cold we were in Yamba even with the windows and doors, warm clothes and blankets, I don't know how the locals sleep at night! Most of them have one set of clothes only, no jumpers or warm clothes and no blankets. Caroline is starting to spend some of the donated money on blankets and is giving gifts of jumpers to all the people who have helped build the new road.

We spent a week in Yamba, shivering, but adoring the view and the local people while we trained for Teaching English as a Foreign Language. Then on Saturday last weekend, we took the steep 2 hour trek back down to our new home in Milingano. I now live in the Chairman's house with 3 girls, Kirstie, Sarah and Tuba who I feel like I've known for years!

We've had a tough first week at school. Things are very different here. Besides the fact that the classes are huge (between 50-232 per class, although us volunteers teach a maximum of 100 at a time), there are often not enough teachers so many classes sit with out a teacher all day, children are caned because the teachers don't know how else to control them, there are no resources except blackboards, there are not enough desks and not enough classrooms. The children provide their own exercise books and a pencil which they carry to school in a tatty plastic bag on their heads. Many children can not afford books or pencils, which presents teachers with problems when setting work!  However, when try not to let all this bother me too much, I love teaching the children. They are very keen to learn and sneak into classes even when they are not supposed to be in them. They are so excited about us being here and are thrilled when I give them a sticker or get out a toy.  This week we made up a song to teach 'hello, how are you?' and every evening we hear children singing it over and over!

We have been eating amazingly well... I thought I was going to lose weight but I think I'm putting it on!  People keep bringing us gifts of food (live chickens, rabbits, spinach, maize, papaya, sugar cane etc) and our house girls are amazing cooks although last week we did have an awful lot of cabbage, beans and rice!  We also have a night watchman called Godfrey who delights in being the hero, killing poisonous spiders and caterpillars that make your skin itch if you touch them. As Sarah said on our first night... there is far too much wildlife in the toilet for our liking! As you lift the lid cockroaches all come running out! It is after all, just a 30 ft hole in the ground!  I am getting used to the bucket showers though.  Milingano is hot, so a warm bucket of water splashed over with a jug is quite nice!

Well my time is up. I can only get internet access while I'm here in Tanga and its in high demand, so I must go.  I look forward to hearing everyone's news from home. I'll try and add photos in Lushoto in a couple of weeks. Hope you're well!