Second Group Email sent 29 September, 2007

Hello to all!
So, life in Africa has continued......... and my assimilation process has not only begun, but has greatly flourished! I am a very comfortable working resident of Tanzania. I have put my hand sanitizer back in my purse, as opposed to walking around constantly doucing myself and am quickly adjusting to the vast amounts of dust and dirt that has caused a nasty cough, as well as letting my senses become accustomed to the smells of strong body odor to diesel fumes to raw meat being sold in open air without any refrigeration process. I was a bit paranoid at first, but have I let go of many of my fears and embraced the insects, and am peacefully living as a part of the community in Moshi.
Work has slowly but surely thrived. AT first it was very difficult, especially with the language barrier, to really grasp what these women needed of us. However, through a patient process, we have realized that organization, leadership, and really just communicating love and optimism is the root of what these women really need. Mama Tesha, the founder of KIWODEA took us into her home last week, and gave us presents of African tanga wraps, adorning us in a full dress covering our heads, and cooked us a delicious feast of banana stew with rice, and vegetables, and introduced Kelly, Clara(our local volunteer), and I to banana wine. Then she presented us with a cake she had made with our names on it thanking us for our help in Swahili! I don't know if it was the banana wine, or the malarone(our malaria medication), but this welcoming of grace and compassion helped provide us with a new and warm perspective of our lives and duties here amongst our African neighbors. So, I have been put in charge of the "Tailoring Project," and have put our six tailors to work on the baby clothes. On monday I am painting the room a nice sky blue, as opposed to the moldy dusty walls they currently have, and srubbing the floors, and we are getting new machines to help make more quality clothing. Our first project is to clothe the children of one of the nearby orphanages which a friend of ours is sponsoring. After that, we have high hopes of making expensive "mzungu" clothes. Mzungu doesn't translate directly, but it means "white person." The Africans here have this view of all westerners as being wealthy and powerful, so if we are able to target this particular market, then the income will hopefully become sustainable for the women even after I leave in a month. Or at least, this is our current thought process.
The home base is extremely comfortable these days. Everyone is very close, and we actually lost our first wave of volunteers today, as many of them are only here for 3-4 week periods. The food consists of mostly curried or stewed vegetables, typically covered in butter and oil, occasionally some chewy meat, lots of lentils, beans, and a plethora of different carbs-- rice, white bread, fried dough, cooked bananas, ugali, more white bread, and some more fried dough.... Needless to say, I will not be returning with my same figure! There is however, lots of fresh fruit like papaya, coconut, pineapple, oranges, and at home base we can eat the salad which is usually lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and huge meaty chunks of rich avocado, covered in a minced onion vinagrette. Unfortunately, when we are out, the food options are VERY limited. Everything must be cooked, and you usually can only eat in a touristy restaurant, if you want to be safe. So, yesterday, when one of the women at KIWODEA cooked us salted dehydrated fish and fried cassava(at ten in the morning mind you) we were unable to consume(thank goodness).
We did however find a running track for the university here which is about a twenty minute walk from home. So, some friends and I have been walking to the dirt track before dinner in the hot african dusty afternoons to take some laps for our only exercise, because we are usually transported everywhere due to safety. Running around the track with the pebbles flying up behind me, and cows and goats being herded by the Massai tribes right next to us, and sometimes even across the track, and Kilimanjaro looking down at us with its snowpeaked mountain top is the best way to clear my head after a day of struggling with swahili, and an attempt to keep some of the fried dough from sticking to my body. It truly is a breathtaking experience.
Last week we took a trip to Mrangu, did all types of things like going to the blacksmiths to buy real African spears, to climbing through the caves with the bats to see where the Chagga tribesmen used to live, to my favorite, which was hiking through the lush tropical jungle part of the country down to a 100ft. waterfall. Flowers and moss adorning the walls of our surroundings, and water plummeting into the cold river where yellow butterflies found refuge in the moist air, and some of us chose to cool our hot sweaty bodies by submerging ourselves, clothes on and all. It was a lovely day followed by meat skewers and potatoes back at homebase.
On Wednesday of this week we ventured to Arusha which, is about an hour and a half drive, in order to observe some of the United Nations criminal court tribunals concerning the genocide of Rwanda. Being in such a high security place, in a country that greatly lacks any real safety was quite a high. We listened to the translated version of a defense attorney drilling an author who has published many of the claims about the truth pf the massacre that took place in Rwanda, because the leadership there did such a good job of covering their footsteps. It was difficult to really understand what was going on, but absolutely fascinating, especially because they were discussing matters that took place almost fifteen years ago, and the surrounding countries and itself are still in great turmoil about.
Typical Moshi....... I began this email Friday morning(thurs night for most of you) in town at an inet cafe, and all of the electricity for the city went down. Luckily gmail saves drafts as you go along, so most of it has remained. Regardless, since then I took a flight friday afternoon over the Indian Ocean into Zanzibar for a weekend of exploring and beach relaxation, however, those stories will come in the next email...
Hope all are doing well, and a special happy birthday to my wonderful Uncle Kent!
Love to all, Meredith