An Unfortunate Countdown

Here’s what I’ve been up to the past week at the orphanage!

Saturday

After breakfast Natalie and I walked to the dala dala stop to meet Peter (our Safari driver) and Anna and Raechel (the other volunteers). All of the dala dalas that passed us were super full (even for dala dala standards) so Peter ended up taking one up into Machame to the end of the line and back down again to save us seats. Thanks Peter! When we got into Moshi, Peter helped me buy minutes for my phone. No one actually stocks the amount of minutes that Natalie and I have to buy (because they’re not making international calls) so we have to look all over. I ended up giving a lady 60,000 Tanzanian schillings and she went to get me the minutes. It’s strange that I can trust someone to take money from me and actually come back with what I need.

After minutes, Natalie and I bid Peter farewell and went to the currency exchange. Unfortunately, the exchange rate had dropped from 1623 to the $1 to 1615 to the $1. Next we went to kicheko to get internet (that’s when I posted last time). As we left Kicheko and walked to the Union Cafe for lunch, we ran into Matt (one of the Cornell students). Natalie and I don’t know that many people in this country, but of the few we know, we ran into one! It was really exciting to see someone on the street that we knew. When we got to Union Cafe, the 3 other students were there. Small world, right! We sat outside on the porch of Union and I ordered pizza, tea, and a chocolate milkshake. I realized that I may regret the amount of dairy I was consuming, but it was the best milkshake I’ve ever had. 

After lunch we did a little shopping. The street vendors are really nice, but always push you to spend more. We managed to get a few bargains and “rafiki prices.” A random man on the street asked me if we were from “Obama land.” Everyone here loves Obama because of all the aid that he has promised to Tanzania and Africa. 

When we got on the dala dala to return to Machame, Sister Jackie also got on. Someone else we knew also got on. It was our rafiki Rick. The one who walked with us to see Kilimanjaro. Natalie and I couldn’t look at each other for about 10 minutes for fear of cracking up. When we got off the dala dala, Natalie and I tried to carry the box of water we bought on our heads. Sister Jackie thought we were struggling so she carried it for us. 

There was a visitor at the orphanage when we got back so we dropped our stuff off and went to say hi. The visitor, Ines, was from Argentina. Her daughter had volunteered at the orphanage the year before. I asked her if she spoke Spanish (in Spanish) and she got really excited and we had a brief (and basic) conversation in Spanish. She said that she’s trying to learn English, but it’s hard for an “old woman” in South America because almost all of the countries speak Spanish, so no one cares to learn English. She was very happy when I told her I am taking Spanish at school. 

Soon we saw Anna and Raechel come outside with their suitcases. They were flying home that night. We waited outside with them for Nelson and then said goodbye. There were a few tears as they said goodbye to Sister Elly. Later that night the TV was on at dinner. There was an African dance show on called “dance 100%.” As hard as I tried, I couldn’t figure out the scoring system.

Sunday

Natalie and I were a few minutes late to church, but it’s okay because the college students were even later than us! Sunday was pretty uneventful because after lunch I lay in bed and read a book for 5 hours. 

We hadn’t seen the kids all day and we missed them so just before we went to dinner. We had never been to see them after they had eaten, and we probably shouldn’t again. They were all so hyper. They played with our phones (they managed to unlock Natalie’s but couldn’t figure mine out). They also managed to break the keychain on my key. We also picked them all up individually so that they could count the days on the calendar. Finally, anytime we tried to sit down, we were jumped on. 

When we went to dinner, some of the sisters were there and we watched a rerun of when Obama was here. When they played the US national anthem, Sister Elly put her hand on her heart and puffed out her chest in mock allegiance. It was really funny. 

Monday

It was the first day of school! Well, for me. The kids just had a 1 month winter (yes, winter) break. We thought school started at 9, but it had already started when we got there. The kids are so cute in their little green and white uniforms. They also wear woolen hats and socks which make them look like elves. The socks are also really slippery on the concrete floor and the kids were falling all over the place. 

The first half of the morning was mainly lecture based and kids listened to the teacher (Sister Loema) and answered questions. They also sing some songs and recite a few things. After that they have a small break while some of the older kids put away the benches and lay out mats. The kids each get their own mats and can choose an activity to play with. There are things like blocks, number cards, beans and cups for pouring, chalkboards, maps, puzzles, etc. Everything is educational. The kids all get their numbers mixed up because 6 is called “sita” and 9 is called “tisa.” Even I get confused sometimes. While the kids do their individual activities, we get to walk around and help them. 

After lunch I went to play with kids again while Natalie was napping. As soon as I got outside and sat on the middle house’s porch, Jakob and Joseph (the twins) climbed on my lap. They were twinning hardcore. They kept saying the same thing at the same time. They also loved it when I leaned them side to side so they were almost falling. They would say “ata Jakob” and “ata Joseph” together when it was the next boy’s turn. The kids from the middle house had their heads shaved this morning and they all looked really cute and funny as baldies. At one point I pointed at Elisha’s head and said “nzuri” (good) to Jakob. He responded with “ndio!” (yes)

They soon noticed the babies were outside and led me over to the mat they were sitting on. THe older kids are precious with the babies. I saw Judica, Naomi, Happiness, and Lulu holding babies on their laps. I also had Jakob on my lap, with Angela on his lap (BABYCEPTION!). Judica also went around and kissed all of the babies.

When it was time for the older kids to go inside, Jakob tried to have me go with them, but I had a baby on my lap so I couldn’t. Natalie and I went into the baby house for a while. At one point I had Baraka on my lap with Angela on his lap, adorable!

Tuesday

We went back to school after breakfast and they had already started again. I was wearing socks inside which I got a lot of “nzuri sana”s from kids for (good job). 

At school they learned the continents from a puzzle map of the world. They also saw a puzzle map of Africa and learned all of the countries that border Tanzania. Finally, they saw a puzzle map of Tanzania and learned about the capital region (Dodoma). Next they worked on colors. Sister Loema had rectangular pieces of wood painted different colors. Kids had to go and find something that matched the color. 

Next they played some games. From what I could tell it was sharks and minnows and then they pretended to be animals. They did more individual activities on mats after that. I got to help Joseph with writing his vowels on a chalkboard which was cute. I also helped Lulu, Naomi, and Happiness pour beans between different cups.

After lunch Natalie and I wanted to get more pictures of the kids (because we don’t have pictures of some of them). However, they had just woken up from a nap and were a little groggy and then my camera died. We still had fun playing with them!

Later I called my mom and found out that Andy Murray won Wimbledon!! Wooo!!

Wednesday

I woke up early this morning so that I could get to school on time. I got there at about 8:30 and they were just starting. They all stood and said a prayer, then they sang a Lutheran hymn and recited the 10 commandments and the names of the 12 disciples. Finally, they sang the Tanzanian National Anthem. It is really good training for when they have to go to primary school and will be expected to do these things. 

T hey learned the regions of Tanzania. Some of the older kids know where every single region is on the map. We went outside for about 5 minutes and the kids observed some ants on the ground. When we went back inside it was individual activity time. I stacked some cups with Rebecca and Stephano, did number blocks with Happiness, poured beans with Elisante, learned letter sounds with Judica, and wrote letters with Jakob and Joseph.

After they took off their uniforms and were done, Sister Loema asked me why I didn’t eat tea today. I said it was because I was with her at school! She took me to tea and made me eat yams and drink chai with maziwa (tea with milk). Yams are about the consistency of potatoes and bananas and flem. It was gross, but I managed to eat it all. I went to find Natalie only to find that as I left she went to get her tea so I went back to tea and Sister Loema had me drink more juice. Soon after that it was time for lunch and Sister Anna was there. She made us eat all of our potatoes. I was so full!

We went back to our room to get our stuff together to go out later that afternoon and then went back outside to play with the kids. Robin, Briney, and Paula were outside too. They are three girls who started volunteering at the orphanage every afternoon. They are here from about 3pm to about 5pm. We played with the kids until they all went inside and then Natalie and I just looked at our pictures. As we were walking down the hill to leave the orphanage, a whole bunch of college students got back. We could hear them reuniting with each other as we left. We were picked up at about 5pm by the Cornell students. We went with Matt, Mike, Lodoe, Katrina, and 3 students from a local school (John, Calvin, and Meshak) to Protea for dinner and free wifi. I had beef stroganoff and it was delicious!

Thursday

After waking up we walked down to the college to say goodbye to some of the college students. Basically, the college students get a two month “break” but for half of it they are doing their field placement at the orphanage. So one group was working at the orphanage for the past month while a second group were at home. Today they switched and the first group went home and the second group will take their place at the orphanage. The first group have been in the houses every day since I have been here and it is really sad to see them go because I don’t know if I’ll ever see them again. We said goodbye to them all and were able to get a picture of the group. Two of the girls who we had the most to do with also asked to take individual pictures with us. 

After breakfast I saw that the older house was not at school today so we went to the baby house. They were being really cute again. Ema fell asleep in Natalie’s arms again. Baraka helped Shangwe walk (she’s just learning) by walking backwards in front of her and holding her two hands. It was really cute. I had to hold her sweater though because if I let go she’d lean too far forward and she would fall into Baraka causing him to fall over backwards (it may have happened a few times). Elisha and Baraka also both wanted to look out the window and as Natalie held them up to the window they would press both their hands and feet against it. They were just propped in between her and the window. She was holding them, but if she let go they would stay there. The entire morning, Angela was being a complete angel. While some of the other kids got a little upset, she did not cry once. She just chilled in a pile of toys.

Sometime through the morning Sister Regina came in and sat with us. She told us the story of the orphanage, stories of the kids in that house and a few of the other kids too. It’s really nice to know where they come from, but some of the stories were pretty sad. We kept playing with the babies until they went to take their naps. Then we went outside with the older kids for a little while. At 1pm we went down to the college because we had plans to have lunch with Sister Elly and Ester (one of the teachers at the college). We had chipati for lunch. It’s kind of like a thick crepe. Yum! We also had some vegetables and sauce with it. 

After lunch we walked up the hill a bunch of the older kids were sitting on a log. They all wanted to sit in a row on it, but couldn’t all fit. They were getting pretty upset, but Sister Anna told them all to get off. I grabbed too of the kids hand and skipped across to the playground with them. They loved it. Pretty soon a bunch of kids were begging to skip. I managed to pair a few of them off and get them skipping without me. We then went back to our rooms for a little bit because Natalie wanted to take a nap and I needed a little break.

Soon I went back outside with the kids. I took a lot of pictures because they were all being so adorable. A bunch of the kids had little cans and bottles and were filling them with dirt on one side of the playground and then ferrying them over to the other side of the playground. There is a piece of playground equipment that is flipped over because it’s broken. The base is hollow and they love to put dirt in it. Some of the girls were carrying their cans on their heads. They’re just “practicing” for when they’re older.

After playing outside for a while we went inside with the older kids and dressed them after their baths. They get really rowdy when we try to play with them inside so we went back to the baby house again. When Baraka was being fed he threw up all over himself and I got to help change him which was really fun because I haven’t done that yet. After changing him we put all of them to bed and came back to our suite.

Friday

When we went to breakfast, there wasn’t any! We went to the middle house because we hadn’t seen those kids in a while. They went outside almost immediately. After playing with them for a little while, we realized that Ester was eating mandazi and that’s what we usually eat for breakfast. We went back into the dining room and sure enough, there was breakfast. After that we played with the kids outside some more. Ester had a little fit at one point and hit her mandazi in the dirt. I tried to wipe it off and it didn’t work so the next time she bit into it she spat it out... on me. I ripped the gross part off and threw it away. Neema came over and pulled me to the pile of dirt she was working with. I sat in the dirt pouring in and out of a can with her for a little bit. Soon the kids from the big house came outside. They didn’t have school again. Apparently, the sister who teaches them is sick and lost her voice so she can’t teach them right now. 

After a little while two big trucks came into the orphanage. They were full of college students who are in Tanzania on a study abroad program through Duke University. These students are all learning Kiswahili at their respective universities in the US and came here for an advanced course. This program is funded by the US government They are visiting different places and getting practice. They came to the orphanage to talk to the kids and some of the sisters. We all played with the kids for an hour or so and we learned more about their program. When the kids started to go inside we went to a “reception” with the students. Natalie and I helped Sister Elly put out chairs and cups for them. She was very excited that she got to speak to them in Kiswahili. When they left we also helped Sister Elly clean up. It’s very exciting that she let us help because it means we’re less of guests now. When we first arrived, they would not let us do anything because we were guests, but they’re letting us do more and more which is very exciting. 

After they left we saw that all of the kids were walking behind the first house and we had never seen them back there so we followed. They were following Sister Narumeshwa to the dairy cooperative. She needed to pick up milk and the older kids wanted to go so we all went on a little field trip. We walked behind the first house and down through the orchard/garden. It’s a nice little path down a gentle hill. The kids loved it. When we reached the dairy cooperative the kids made a new friend in one of the guys that works there. They also got to poke around a little bit and see the office and look through the gate into the processing room which they loved. 

When we got back up to the orphanage, Natalie and I went to lunch. Just when we had finished Sister Grace came in and insisted that we eat some ugali. She also asked if we wanted some of the little fishies they have. I politely refused. Natalie had a small spoonful and described them as “very fishy.” I don’t feel any need to know what she means. After lunch we did a little laundry and then went back outside to play with the kids. We didn’t stay outside for very long because we wanted to see the babies. When we got into the baby house Robin, Briney, and Paula were there.

We all took the babies outside on a mat for a little while. We told those three about some of the kids stories. One of them had also brought a book for kids that are primary school age. Although these kids were not technically old enough it had bright pictures that they really liked. By the time we brought the babies back inside for milk, the three others had to leave. Natalie and I stayed with them until they went back to sleep and then returned to our rooms because all of the kids were inside. 

 

A final note

It's Saturday when I'm posting this and I realized this morning that we only have 10 full days left, including today. I can count that on my fingers. We were talking to Sister Regina this morning about how sad we are to leave. She said that they are all sad to see us go soon because they know us so well now. She said that they just think about the fact that because we have been there for so long, we know the place now and we know the kids and we know the sisters and they can only hope that we come back to visit. We assured her that we would visit sometime in the future.

Until next time...