Update from Milestone House - email connected. At Last!!

Thursday 27th March, 2008

Well we seem to be coming to the end of our volunteering – officially we have two more weeks to go. Both of us feel that we have peaked and are now on the slide downwards (volunteering wise!) Both organisations have had the money we put into the Community Trust – and both now really have to get on with life on their own. They managed before we came and will certainly still continue after we have gone, hopefully tho we have left something behind – even if it is the cash (or computer in my case).

The computer lessons haven’t really materialised as I imagined. The first day, after the abortive first day, got there and no one else was there – they had a meeting, and there was no credit for the phone and so internet wasn’t possible. Anyway, I set up the computer with folders and put in the work I had done on my comp at home – the history or the organisation and its profile etc. I put on letter heading, and put in a budget which they needed. So all set for the off the next day.

The next day, it was looking good, had credit (Its pay as you go and I had put Tsh 1,000 in – you just go to the local corner shop and buy credit - like scratch cards), all were there and it wasn’t raining so we had electricity – I thought I’d start by showing them basic Word and then showing them how to save stuff into the right place (something Jen said her people just don’t seem to understand the need for) – but everyone had other ideas. They wanted to check on their emails!!!!

The two charities who were there each have their own email addresses which obviously aren’t checked too often. TACOPE had 83 unopened emails! There wasn’t one that was relevant – all, bar 3, were Spam, or dating sites advertising, or inducements to have your penis enlarged. The three potentially relevant ones were informing all charities of a conference in April in Chicago, USA. So that took up 45 minutes and all the credit.

Then it was decided that they needed and wanted to know was how to trawl the web for potential donors. So more credit was purchased (not by me) and off we went into Google world. It was an interesting exercise and one which followed on well from my workshop with them on proposal writing – because you can get really excited about a web site and then find out that you are not eligible because of various clauses they have in their criteria. Anyway, by the time we ran out of credit again, we had three potential addresses to write to – and so we were off and running.

Think that this will be the way I will spend the last week or so with them, as this is what they really need to do – find out where donors are and then they can put together proposals.

Meanwhile, Donald (I will keep you up to date as he seems to have withdrawn from blog writing) was with Samaritans – the room for the computer classes has been painted (badly, but it is now painted out)
and they are waiting for the tables, which are being made by two fundi’s (one a metal worker and the other a carpenter) Getting them to work together seems to be a bit tricky. The tables and chairs were supposed to be ready today – but the metal frames for the tables haven’t turned up yet, so the wood fundi can’t cut the wood up to the correct size. Donald had to go into town with Moshe on Tuesday to buy the wood – and as they were going into town they took with them a computer which needed fixing. They went in on a Dala Dala!!!! Got the wood transported back by hiring (for some Tsh 10,000) a dala dala truck – I didn’t know they had those. The computer however had to come back with us later in a taxi. Meanwhile, the water seems to have been cut off at the Samaritans and not sure that the rent has been paid for a year – so they lurch from one crisis to another almost on a daily basis. Donald has I know already put in more than the Community Trust money, as when the water is cut off what else can you do.

I think we may be being seen as cash cows (in the nicest possible way) but then as Donald as already mentioned in his entries – that is what us msungu’s seem to be here for, or seen as. Well we knew that we weren’t going to change the world here – but lets hope we have made a bit of difference.

Must update you on my latest Dala Dala rides – It really is quite an experience. Today’s Dala Dala stank of fuel when I got in, and I realised why later on in the journey. There were two x 1 gallon plastic bottles of fuel wedged between rows 3 and 4. One of them had fallen over and was obviously leaking. !!!! When I got on I was quite relieved that it wasn’t a hugely crowded one – but obviously the conductor wasn’t too pleased as he hung around waiting, and waiting, till it was full. We sat at the end of our road for almost 10 minutes. I think if we had just gotten out of our front gate and waved, he would have waited for us to walk up the road – takes us about 5-7 minutes, as it was think he was waiting for someone to get out of bed! Anyway, by the time we got on the move again, we were full – well I say full, in as much as all the seats were taken. They managed to get another four in before anyone got off! This one was particularly uncomfortable, as the extra row of seats which had been put in meant that there was not enough room to sit with your knees together straight in front of you, but you still have to get four on a row – at least!

The conductor today was particularly moody and almost surly. Most of the conductors never give you eye contact, they don’t speak, just rattle coins near your face instead of asking for money, bang heavily on the sides of the vehicle when they think someone might be thinking of wanting a ride, and all have to bend down to enable them to hang out of the vehicle at the right angle so as to get as many passengers in as possible. Wonder which course they have to take to get these attributes. Oh the joys of taking a Dala Dala!

Just in case you think I have forgotten that we have a wedding to go to at the end of April – I had better give you an update on that. Dress making is just happening. I took a dress out for Jen with me, which she ordered here when she was home in September, but (as all brides and mothers of brides know) the dress does need to be altered to fit properly. Jen has this wonderful Asian lady (Famida) who she has decided will be able to a) alter and fit the dress I bought over with me, b) make a dress for me (which traditionally is paid for by the groom) and c) make up another wedding dress for the second day of celebrations. Jen had discussed all this with Famida before she came home in September, and all was looking good. Famida was going to India in February she said and she would be able to get everything she needed then. However the trip ‘home’ was delayed and delayed and she has just – last Monday – come back from two weeks away. Wedding is in 5 weeks!!! Nothing has yet been done about any of the dresses!!!! Jen and I have been having dreams (or nightmares) about wedding dresses but Famida is calm and says don’t worry – “everything will be alright” and then she says encouragingly “En Shalla!” (God willing - with apologies for the probable miss spelling). The material for both mine and Jen’s outfits has been purchased, mine has been embroidered and Jen’s is still in India being embroidered (there is more on hers than mine) and “En Shalla” it will be shipped out airfreight and be with us on Monday. (4 weeks to go! BUT – we leave Mwanza on the 11th and 13th April – so only TWO WEEKS TO GO!) - I will keep you updated.

Donald and I sneaked off yesterday – it was a hot hot day, rains seem to be holding off for a day or two – and we escaped to the hotel The Talapia and sat around the pool for the afternoon, lovely. Whilst there, had to call into the hairdressers to book my next hair cut, and I just had to have a massage as I was there, it is one of life’s luxuries here – really good (and so cheap comparatively).

Good news is that we now (at last) have email at home – still pay as you go, etc, but means that I won’t have to keep making my daily calls into the internet café – think they will miss me. As with everything, it took a lot longer to get sorted, but, eventually, we have it here – hurrah. So, off to post this now and check my emails.

Love to all
J