"A Transfusion of Humanity"

The internet is on my side tonight! Because of that, I am finally uploading a picture of our beloved Salama, the ‘edgy’ judge on Bongo Star Search (also known as simply BSS). Also, the other picture is of Mt. Meru, the mountain that looms over Arusha. I see this monstrosity every time I walk out my apartment door and every time we walk to class. It’s quite impressive. Also, for those of you who want to be in on the fun of Bongo, you can check out http://dar411.com/bss/ and watch some of their themed songs, such as the Albino Week group song. Also a fun fact that I learned the other day: Bongo is a nickname for Dar es Salaam, but it is also the Swahili word for “brain”. This is no coincidence – it is because Dar is where most educated Tanzanians flock to in search of better jobs and a better standard of living.

I just conquered a book today. I brought it along with little intention of actually reading it because it is incredibly heavy and quite long, but I ended up plowing through it. The book is called Shake Hands with the Devil by Lt. Gen. Romeo Dallaire. Dallaire was the Force Commander of the UN Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) during the 1994 genocide. The back of the book describes the story as “his gift to those he could not save: a searing book that is both an eyewitness account of the failure of humanity to stop the genocide, and General Dallaire’s own struggle to find a measure of peace, reconciliation, and hope.” Interestingly, Dallaire is also “the highest-ranking military officer ever to suffer openly with post-traumatic stress disorder.”

I cannot say that I would recommend this book to anyone except those who have a very intense interest in every aspect of the Rwandan genocide. It is neither light, nor uplifting, but I suppose you could guess that from the title. Dallaire provides a unique perspective – the perspective of a man who witnessed all 100 days of genocide that killed 800,000 people, along with the build up to the slaughter and the backroom dealings. He has no political agenda and has nothing to prove, except his belief that the international community failed a country desperately in need.

Like I said, this is definitely not a beach read, and you should not take this as a recommendation (the last thing I want is to be held responsible for a disappointing read). But I will offer a couple of passages that I found interesting and leave the rest to you.

“I answered that I know there is a God because in Rwanda I shook hands with the devil. I have seen him, I have smelled him and I have touched him. I know the devil exists, and therefore I know there is a God.”

“Each mission was judged as to whether it was ‘worth’ risking soldiers’ lives and nation’s resources. As Michael Ignatieff has warned us, ‘riskless warfare in pursuit of human rights is a moral contradiction. The concept of human rights assumes that all life is of equal value. Risk-free warfare presumes that our lives matter more than those we are intervening to save.’”

“Are we all human, or are some more human than others?”

“The only conclusion I can reach is that we are in desperate need of a transfusion of humanity. If we believe that all humans are human, then how are we going to prove it? It can only be proven through our actions. Through the dollars we are prepared to expend to improve conditions in the Third World, through the time and energy we devote to solving devastating problems like AIDS, through the lives of our soldiers, which we are prepared to sacrifice for the sake of humanity.”

Dallaire acknowledges that blame is useless – what we need is accountability. If he blames anybody he blames everybody. He begins with the perpetrators of the genocide but ultimately calls the genocide the result of the failure of humanity. You can blame the UN, governments, NGOs, or the media, but it comes down to the fact that “the international community, of which the UN is only a symbol, failed to move beyond self-interest for the sake of Rwanda.”

I’m not trying to preach, just trying to stimulate your minds and your hearts a bit.

Constitutions, Guns and Cranberry Juice

It is amazing how much comfort you can find in food even if it’s not the brand or kind of food you normally eat. We found a little supermarket in the Indian shopping complex that has all the food we’ve been craving. I got some yoghurt, some cranberry juice (surprisingly rare around here), some normally priced cereal and chocolate chip cookie mix (we couldn’t find any chocolate chips or brown sugar to make them from scratch). All in all a successful shopping trip.

On the way to that expedition we took the dala dala yet again (we’re becoming experts) and I think there were more people in the car than we’ve seen yet. Keep in mind, in the United States these vans may be 12 passenger vans, but I think they’re even smaller. Yesterday on our way back from Njiro there were 27 people in the van at one point. Just try to wrap your head around that and I’ll try to post a picture at some point.

And now for a funny story and an observation:

So the other day during international law class somehow the topic of dating came up. Our professor, Sipho, always the professional, then told us about when his wife was pregnant and the nurse asked if they wanted to know the sex of the child. He responded, “No. Because if it’s a boy I’m going to have to go buy drinks for everyone and if it’s a girl I’m going to have to go buy a gun for all those men that are going to try to date her!” Hahaha!

On a more serious note…

In our human rights class yesterday we read the Universal Declaration for Human Rights along with all of the constitutions of East African countries. Most of the constitutions contained the exact same rights written in varying levels of legal jargon, but the Rwandan Constitution, written in 2003, stuck out. Article 13 of the Fundamental Human Rights and the Rights and Duties of the Citizen states, “Revisionism, negationism and trivialisation of genocide are punishable by the law.” I thought this was incredibly interesting and is probably part of the reason that Rwanda is recovering so well from the genocide. As long as everything is acknowledged and out in the open then everyone can move forward.

Settling In

Sorry that it’s been a while… sensory overload has cooled off so I have less to say. Classes continue to be great – I would say that more than anything I am learning perspective. Not only is it interesting to hear the perspective of my professors on certain issues, but it is also notable which topics they choose to cover. For example, my international law class spent Monday talking about corporal punishment in East Africa, specifically for children. This is not a topic I would normally study, or even think of studying, but it was a very interesting discussion. My law professor is a practicing lawyer and my health professor works in the public health sector, but used to be a practicing physician, so they definitely know their stuff. Also, I’m hoping to get some NGO contacts from my law professor since he is a human rights lawyer.

Today marks three weeks since we’ve been in Tanzania and I think all of us are beginning to feel like we know the area. It was a landmark the other day when I walked back from the restaurant where we ate lunch to the hotel alone and did not get stopped by anyone on the street trying to sell me things. Apparently I walked with a purpose and most of them recognized me as being one of the mwanafunzi mzungu (white student) that never buys anything from them. A couple of nights ago some of us went to Njiro Complex, which is basically a shopping mall complete with movie theater right on the outskirts of Arusha. For the first time since we got here we were the minority, not amongst Tanzanians, but amongst Indians. There is a fairly large population of Indians in Arusha, most of whom are quite wealthy and apparently own this complex. There are about three Indian restaurants and half of the movies playing are straight from Bollywood. Also, half of the cable TV channels that we have are from India, which makes for some interesting commercials that we can't understand. We now have some favorite Indian commercial stars.

The short rains are starting, which apparently has made my allergies flair up. I wonder what I’m allergic to in Tanzania?

Oh yes, and for the entertainment of all, I tried my hardest to post a picture that I took of the TV during Bongo Star Search on Sunday, but failed miserably with this internet. I sat in front of the TV waiting to take a picture of the text message that we sent into Bongo, but it never came. It was quite the disappointment. But we got some good pictures and videos nonetheless. The picture was of Salama, the judge who we all assumed was a lesbian, but in Tanzania she is definitely not a lesbian, just 'edgy'. I'll try again tomorrow to post the picture.

Colonialism and Chapati

The most stressful part of my day today occurred at one of the most relaxing places in all of Arusha.

Today Christina and I stepped into colonial Tanzania. We took the dala dala to the Coffee Lodge right outside of town for lunch and cappuccinos. It was like heaven on earth, a virtual paradise in the middle of Arusha. But as we sat there under the umbrellas, on platforms in the perfectly groomed lawn, we saw exclusively foreign guests being served by Tanzanians. We were fully convinced that the people walking through it to their bungalows with luggage brought more with them for five days than the eight of us brought for four months. It is also probably safe to assume that their stay at the Coffee Lodge and the time they will then spend in safari lodges will be their “Tanzanian adventure.” Yes, coming to a place like this is in itself an adventure and an experience, but it was strange for us to sit amongst them, knowing that they will see none of the Arusha that we know. It was hardly relaxing for us.

But on to much better things…

Yesterday, Christina, Jan and I had Lucy, who works for Arcadia, teach us to make chapati. Chapati is a traditional Tanzanian dish – kind of a cross between naan and a tortilla. Lucy came to our apartment yesterday afternoon, we provided the ingredients and we toiled away for about two hours. The result was sixteen beautiful pieces of chapati (see pictures) and plenty of interesting conversations with Lucy. One such example is when we asked her if everyone knew how to prepare chapatti, to which she replied that not everyone did, but “if your husband likes it and you don’t know how to make it he will beat you until you do.” We all kind of awkwardly laughed until we realized that this was simply a statement of fact and that she didn’t think twice about it. She also provided some interesting insight into the touristy clubs, haunted by “businesswomen” waiting for men to buy them drinks and take them home. If they were not infected by HIV beforehand, they certainly would be eventually. It was a very sobering conversation for us, but to her it was just sort of an everyday introduction to that culture and ‘business’. Not all of the conversation was this dark, but it was definitely an eye-opening afternoon.

The past two days have stood in sharp contrast: learning traditional cooking from a local and eating overpriced food in a bubble created for tourists.

All is well

I didn’t have class at all today, so my day was spent studying Swahili, trying and failing to cash traveler’s cheques and baking brownies. All in all a good day, but not one that provides much to ponder.

As I was studying Swahili, though, I realized how much I like the optimism of the language. “Habari?”, the greeting that means essentially, “How are you?”, has only one of two responses “nzuri” (“good/well”), or “nzuri sana” (“very good/well”). One responds “nzuri” no matter what. Granted, “nzuri” can be followed by “lakini”, meaning “but…”, but for the most part, everyone just responds that they are well.

This reminds me of a conversation that I had with Asheri, the man who works for Arcadia here in Tanzania. He said that he liked that I always smiled because, in his words, “Why would we not smile? We are not slaves, we are not prisoners, we are free and we should be happy! When you have all of that, there should be no reason not to smile!” It’s hard to argue with that.

This picture is from the Maasai boma that we visited last Sunday. The internet is in pretty good shape today so I figured I would satisfy everyone who has been looking for pictures, even though is unrelated to today's post. Enjoy!

Dala dala bill, yo

Today was the biggest adventure yet. This morning Christina, Jan and I woke up early, had breakfast, and then set out for Moshi, a city nearby. To begin, we walked a couple of blocks to the dala dala stop. Dala dalas are the public transportation system in Arusha and are basically vans that hold as many people as can physically fit inside. We took the dala dala to the bus station in Arusha where we got on a minibus to Moshi. The dala dala cost a whopping 250 tSh (about $.20) and the minibus cost 2500 tSh (about $2.00). No one sat on top of us on the minibus, which was relieving since it was about a two-hour drive and we were all but expecting to be sat on.

When we got to Moshi we met up with Ibrah, Christina’s friend from when she volunteered here last year. We went to a tailor to get skirts/dresses made out of kangas, went to coffee with him, and then had lunch at his house. Ibrah was great. He has worked for years with volunteers in the area and is an expert at teaching about Tanzanian culture. It takes a lot of skill to be able to step back and actually analyze your own culture and teach it to others, but he offered some very interesting insights. We hung out in Moshi until about four when we re-boarded the minibus. It was smooth sailing until we got a flat tire about an hour into the trip. Luckily it was still light and we were in a small town when we pulled over. After about four people examined it, it appears that someone patched it, and we were on our way again.

Now we are safely back in our hotel after a delicious dinner. I can’t believe we’ve only been here for a little more than a week. Everyday I become more comfortable here and with every new adventure I feel like I’m getting more out of my time here. It feels like I’ve been here months already, so I can’t imagine what it will feel like when four months are actually over.

Tomorrow will be devoted to studying Swahili and probably some grocery shopping.

Sorry to those of you who don't understand the title...

GOP in Tanzania

More exploring today. I’m feeling less and less like a tourist as I walk down the street and street vendors don’t flock to us like they did a week ago. Most of the people around here know that we’re students who will be here for long enough that it’s not worth pursuing us to buy cheap souvenirs. Even when we’re exploring the city, we walk with a purpose and the locals assume we know where we’re going.

Classes have been great the last couple of days – we are all so glad to be learning more and more Swahili. The waiter who works in the hotel restaurant almost every night has taken to challenging us more and more and asking for our orders in Swahili and teaching us the words for the food. I’m so grateful that as long as you make an effort, the people are more than willing to help you. If you’re not willing to make an effort, they will simply assume you are a tourist and treat you as such, no harm done.

I had two interesting experiences yesterday:

First, Christina, Jan (a guy, pronounced Yan), and I were wandering the city and ran into someone we knew! Martha, the program director, was at the corner store where we were picking up a few things and when we told her we were searching for coffee she told us to hop in her car and she would take us to Kibo Palace, where “the best coffee in the world” was. So we piled in for the two-minute drive and ended up at one of the nicest hotels I have seen. This hotel would have been gorgeous in the United States, but in the middle of Arusha it was downright out of place. We enjoyed the coffee and the company (Martha is always up for a great conversation), but at the end I felt like I had left the country for an hour to grab coffee and then returned. It left a bad taste.

Second, we finished dinner last night and were sitting in the lobby checking our email, etc. when a Tanzanian man asked about where we were from and when someone responded that they were from Pennsylvania his response was, “Ahh, when are the Republicans going to reclaim Pennsylvania?” We all did sort of a double-take and assumed we had misheard him. “What was that?” “When are the Republicans going to win Pennsylvania back?” He then started listing all of Pennsylvania’s former Republicans senators. Well this is interesting… He proceeded to tell us that he is a Republican through and through, a huge supporter of “Richard Milhouse Nixon, Ronald Wilson Reagan, George Herbert Walker Bush and George Walker Bush. George Walker Bush is the most peaceful president the US has ever had. He teaches morals and values.” Wow. I think it may have been one of the strangest sensations I have ever experienced: a foreigner defending your country’s policies while you criticize them. He really thought that W. was a godsend to the world and that the Republican Party was infallible. He would have made a great American, also, because when we asked him how he felt about Obama his response was simply, “I am a Republican, I cannot support him.” What he thought about Sarah Palin? “She is great because she speaks the truth and has good morals.”

Obviously this goes both ways and most liberals have no reason to dislike a candidate other than that he is a Republican, but we all commented afterwards on how perfectly he fell into the party propaganda that both parties spew at anyone who will listen. The oddest part about this conversation for us, though, was that this guy knew just as much about American history and politics as we did. He knew every president and their middle name, so many policies, and every Supreme Court justice’s name. It’s situations like this that make me feel so ignorant – I just recently learned that the president of Tanzania’s name is Kikwete. I can safely say I never imagined that I would have a conversation like this one in the four months I am here. But I guess I’m happy to experience things that are out of the ordinary.

Habari za leo?

I am in my element. I love where I am, what I’m doing, what I’m learning inside and outside of the classroom, and I love who I am with. We’ve begun exploring the city more. We wandered for a while yesterday after classes and ended up at a Maasai market. We didn’t buy much because they weren’t really willing to bargain but we did hear some pretty good lines from them. My personal favorite was, “I give you good price because you are student, not tourist.” Okay, buddy, so you think 60,000 shillings (about $60) is a good price for this scarf? Or my other favorite, “since you try Swahili I give you good price.” But then there are the lines that you have to learn to ignore or you will be broke in weeks, like, “I will sell for low because I have no money today and need to eat.” It pulls at your heart, but you can’t let that make you buy things, because so many people are in the same boat here.

Today Martha, the program director in Tanzania, took the five girls to a small shop on the other side of town where young women our age sell fabric and make clothing and use their profits to pay for college. We all bought kangas (pieces of fabric that have proverbs in Swahili) and had them make skirts for us. I think we all felt especially good about those purchases because we were helping girls like us pay for something we all see as so important.

Classes started yesterday and they were great. The Beginning Swahili class was wonderful. The instructor has been teaching Swahili to English speakers for 25 years and his style seems to fit all of us really well. It has been a while since I learned a new language, and by that I mean like ten years. So it was kind of a strange feeling. We learned standard greetings and how to introduce ourselves and say where we are from, but even those minimal conversation skills already make me feel so much more comfortable. I also had my international law class yesterday, which should be a very good class. The professor is a human rights lawyer from Malawi who studied law in South Africa. He said that we will do a couple of field visits, including a tour of ICTR (International Criminal Tribunal on Rwanda), which is located no more than 100m from the classrooms. We will also have a number of speakers on the issues we are studying in order to give us an idea of international law from an East African perspective.

On another note, my roommate Christina and I have gotten into a local show called Bongo Star Search. It is basically American Idol in Tanzania and it is horribly fantastic. Talk about a cultural experience. We now have a plan for every Sunday night at 9:30 and also a conversation starter with locals. - The title of this post, "Habari za leo?" is a greeting that basically translates to "What's the news today?"

Business Skills

The Maasai are excellent at marketing. We drove through the town right outside the entrance to Lake Manyara National Park yesterday where the only passersby are tourists and the streets were covered with kangas (fabric pieces) printed with Obama’s face. Genius. What American drives through the streets of Tanzania, sees Obama’s face on a piece of traditional artwork and doesn’t stop to by it? Only one without a sense of humor. Also, on our way back we passed a go-kart track that used dune buggies on Maasai farmland. The only drivers were mzungus (white people) and I’m sure they thought they got away with a steal of a deal, but the Maasais running it were making a huge profit. I suppose these business skills are partially a survival mechanism in an evolving world, but I’m impressed nonetheless.

Classes start tomorrow. I am SO excited. I’m ready to learn some Swahili and finally be able to communicate beyond “jambo”, “hapana” and “asante” (“hello, no, thank you”, respectively). Also, I am curious to see the teaching style that will be used by the Tanzanian instructors. We have talked amongst ourselves about the very circular conversation styles of Tanzanians. Rarely will you get a direct answer to a question. If you ask a direct question, the response will generally be in the form of a story without a clear point. Apparently, it is considered insulting or degrading for an adult to tell another adult what the point of their statement or story is. Only a child needs to be given an explanation. This could make for an interesting classroom setting. At least we’ll all be in the same boat, though.

We went to a Maasai boma today as part of orientation. This is unbelievable: the man of this family has 270 kids. Over 20 wives. Including his grandchildren and great-grandchildren there were 350 people living on this homestead. It is the largest homestead in the world, according to our program director. So large, in fact, that the government actually built a school for all of the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. A government-funded school for one family. Crazy.

Safe, Sound, and Happy

I’m here safe and sound in Arusha… jetlagged, culture-shocked and exhausted from listening to a language other than English, but here. Today we started orientation, which meant getting a tour of the city and of the Nyerere Centre for Peace Research and the Natural History Museum, where our classes will be held. I feel so much better after being oriented. The classes sound absolutely amazing and so far the staff has been so welcoming and so fun. We found out also that we are taking a mid-semester trip to Bagamoyo and Dar es Salaam (on the coast of Tanzania). The trip is included in the tuition that we paid and will be a week-long. Bagamoyo is where slaves were shipped out to both America and Europe, which I’m guessing will prove to be a very interesting perspective on the slave trade. Anyway, living in the present…

The accommodations are a pleasant surprise. Spacious rooms, breakfast and dinner provided, free wireless internet in the lobby (shoddy at best) and cable TV (including HBO – I don’t even have that at home). The other students are great, too. We’re an eclectic bunch, but I think it’s safe to say I’m the only person who goes to a school with over 2,000 students. But eight students is small even for them. My classes will have eight, five and three students in them. This will doubtless lead to some interesting discussions.

Orientation continues tomorrow with a safari in Lake Manyara and a trip to a Masaai Boma on Sunday. Tonight I’m going to relax and hope to get more than three hours of sleep.