Ninapenda Tanzania

A collection of notes from my first week

The Schoolday

In Lab

In the afternoons, we have an hour lecture on medical equipment and then a lab that addresses situations we might see next month.  The lectures introduce a breadth of common medical equipment, like autoclaves, oxygen concentrators, and suction machines.  We should eventually become familiar with a variety of equipment and their related problems.  In developing countries, the 2 most common problems are user error and power supply.

In lab, we work in the pairs with the person we will be working with next month.   I think this is a great idea, because it gives us time to learn to work together before we must live and work together 24/7 next month.  My partner, Allison, is from the University of Michigan and is also a rising junior majoring in biomedical engineering.  Allison is a go-getter, so I’m excited for next month.  I think we’ll take full advantage of our time at Marangu Hospital.

We built an extension cord during our first lab.  In future labs, we’ll build a power supply, a temperature alarm, a flashlight, and other tools that might be useful to us next month.  The goal is to

Staying Active

We’ve found quite a few things to do after school.  Of course we can’t help but find extra-curriculars wherever we go.  There’s an aerobics class every Tuesday/Thursday, so I’ve been going with a group of girls, and it’s a ton of fun.  The instructor is a small Tanzanian man, who’s always shouting above the never-ending ABBA soundtrack.  It’s really entertaining.

The walk to school is becoming easier and more familiar.  Kristen and I actually made a friend, Erike, whom we walk past every day.  He started by just greeting us and shaking our hands, but slowly we’ve been getting to know him.  He goes to the nearby Makumira University and is studying to be a tour guide.  We’re wary that he might try to sell safari tours to us, but so far he’s been friendly and will point out local wildlife that he’s learning about in college.

At Home

Swahili doesn’t sound like jibberish anymore.  The sounds of conversation I hear around town are starting to sound more comforting than strange.  Kristen and I are both eager to learn Swahili and to practice at home.  We’ve decided that Swahili is a nice-sounding language; it has a soothing sound.

Mama’s house is very centrally located in Makumira.  There’s always loud music coming from the street behind our house in the evenings.  The music is infectious.  Kristen and I can’t help but nod our heads to the pulse of the radio during dinner.  But the rest of the family doesn’t at all!  How are they so immune?!  It’s remarkable.

Kristen asked the kids what they’d like to be when they grow up.  They promptly answered.  Ruth wants to be an accountant and Johnny wants to be a civil engineer. It was the sweetest thing.  Their confidence was impressive.

Ruth taught us a few simple dances, like the kind you would play with in the schoolyard.  In exchange, we taught her the Macarena.  Sometimes she mixes up the numbers, but she thinks it’s a lot of fun.

Johnny is warming up to us.  On Thursday night, he came to our door to say goodnight to us.  As soon as he left, Kristen yelled “WE’RE IN!”  It was such a delight.  Stella and Neema are warming up, too.  It mostly consists of saying hello, but we finally convinced Stella to let us help with the dishes.  We wash them outside in the dark, which probably isn’t good for our eyes, but then again it let me see the full moon the other night.

I love the way Mama speaks.  She has a habit of saying “maybe” to make polite suggestions.  “Maybe we pray now?”  “Maybe you a shower after dinner?”  It’s very reflective of the characteristic Tanzanian politeness.  Tanzanians are so polite they never say no.  A Tanzanian “no” sounds something like “Well…yeah…maybe…”

Mama & the Third World

I can’t emphasize enough how much I love our home.  It really doesn’t feel like I’m in the developing world, because Mama has created an atmosphere that is rich with happiness and warmth.

Mama actually brought up the topic of the “third world” and made some interesting remarks.  It surprised me that she would describe her own home as part of the third world.  She said she hosted some girls who brought all this candy in their luggage, thinking they wouldn’t have enough to eat in Tanzania.  At the end of their stay, they had so much candy left over, they asked the family to help eat it.  How silly, how could they think that candy would sustain them if they didn’t have enough food? (Note: Mama gives us more food than we can handle.  It’s overwhelming.)

You see, the third world is not as bad as some think.

She blamed the news. They only show the bad things.  We told her we agreed.  We assured her that her home here is very different than what we usually see on the news.  I continue to be amazed by her perceptiveness.

Ninamkumbuka

When we were learning verbs in Swahili class, someone asked the teacher how to say “to miss”.  Her response was:

We do not have a word for “to miss”.  In Swahili, we do not miss people.  We remember them.

So, ninamkumbuka – I remember you.