Dar Es Salaam

(No pictures from this one... all of them are on my friends camera, so I may try to get those later.)

Dar Es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania. One short eight hour bus ride from Moshi, and you're being yelled at by taxi drivers who all want to charge $20 for a cab ride into the city. I took an early bus into Dar and just happened to get onto the "luxury" bus. It was only an extra 3000 Tsh (~$2.50) so I didn't wait for the next one an hour later. Wow - the seats were nice. You know how in American buses the seats don't go back far enough to sleep comfortably? These did and were very comfortable. I was rather surprised, actually.

One notable difference about Tanzania distance buses is that they do not have bathrooms on the bus. The bus would stop occasionally and a few people would quickly scurry off and disappear behind a house (I'm using that term loosely) or a bush. I had been asleep for about two hours when I looked out the window for the first time and was just blown away by the view. Greens of all shades winked down from the scenic mountains. No animals in sight, but it was a beautiful view. Every once in awhile the bus would pass a mini town with several shops and guys with baskets on their heads trying to sell things to people in buses. At one point, someone knocked on my window for five minutes straight, so I closed the curtain.

There was one stop about half way through the trip to a rest stop where we had twenty minutes to get food. The bathrooms there were quite literally a hole in the ground. (That type seems to be very popular.) There was a thing to pull so it would flush, but mine didn't work. They helpfully provide a bucket of water for when that happens. I was, however, pleasantly surprised to find that they had both soap and running water in the faucets.

Eventually, I got to Dar Es Salaam and was greeted by Sarah's friend's taxi driver. He had agreed to do the trip for 10000 Tsh (compared to 20000 Tsh that other taxi drivers were offering). We got to my hotel, New Continental, and suddenly the price had jumped to 15000 Tsh. Aie. My dilema: the guy had waited for me for a long time at the taxi stand so I had wanted to give him a bonus. However, you can't let people pick higher prices because it inflates everything from then on, so I told him I was only paying 10000, but I would call him later when I needed rides. (Which I did try to do when I needed rides on Monday, but his phone would reject my calls. Aie.)

I was met by Sarah's friend Muffy who showed me the real Dar Es Salaam.. the clubs. We got food at this place called Eater's that served real pizza! That was a very nice surprise. And then we went to this hotel called Sea Cliff Village. I was very skeptical because who hangs out at a hotel?? but it turned out to have a lot of people milling around and had a bar, casino, and shops. More like a mini mall than a hotel (although that was beautiful). It was right next to the water and even though it was dark, you could see the white tufts of waves coming in and crashing on the sand below. From there, we went to a club - Bistro, which was relatively quiet at midnight (things heated up around 1am). I was intrigued by the dynamics - white guys danced with far more attractive and younger local girls. I'm not entirely sure what to make of that, honestly. Colonialism might not be dead =/ Around 1:30, a lot of youngish professionals came in (30-35). It was sort of like they waited for the younger crowd to get things started so they could come when there was enough people. It was a nice set up. There was a dance area with small tables surrounding the floor, an area to watch cricket or football (soccer) games on a big screen, a quieter eating area, and paths around the open air club. Music ranged from English typical to Swahili with English mixed in. (Although, the English songs couldn't have been too new or I wouldn't have heard of them =P)

And then I went to Zanzibar the next morning. That's it's own post.

Came back from Zanzibar and immediately got to work calling MFIs and trying to set up meetings. The first place I went to was called REPOA, which is a research institute that studies poverty alleviation. They're currently doing a study on microfinance, so I'm looking forward to reading that one. He was very helpful and told me about another MFI called Pride Tanzania that is opperating in Moshi. (Pride was also recommended to me by Faustina at KASI, so I think they may turn out to be a good one to work with.)

Then I talked to the director of Tujijenge Tanzania, another microfinance place. Tujijenge is a Kiva partner, which is how I found them in the first place and they are planning to expand into Moshi in a few years. They have a great system and provide good training, so I'm looking forward to when that happens.

In between I went back to the hotel because I had a few hours so I talked with the manager of the hotel for awhile. Apparently he wants to come to America (Washington DC and California) so I was able to give a little advice for those places. I was also sure to mention that he definitely did not want to drive to CA from DC especially if he was only there for 10 days...

People in Tanzania are very nice overall. I had wondered how it would be as a female traveling alone, but what I've found is that people tend to be very helpful and do actually look out for you. When I wanted to go to an internet cafe after dark, the manager walked with me for several blocks and then waited 30min for me to finish.

The last meeting was with Pride Tanzania and I was able to speak with the Managing Director (his last name is Obama, which I thought was cool). He described the structure of Pride and how they operate. They're in a reorganizing process right now, but are looking into outreach into rural areas, which means great things for future people who need microloans. Hopefully I'll be able to speak with the Moshi regional director soon.

That night, my Dar guide showed me the other most popular club in Tanzania -
Maisha. It was Bhangra Night, so lots of fun. I didn't stay too long because I had a super early bus ride the next day, but it was fun. Met a few of Muffy's friends too.

Highlights from my 6am eight hour bus ride back:
- Met a Tanzania lady who lived in NY for five years (her husband worked for the UN)
- At one point, a guy stood up and talked for, I swear, 30 minutes straight in Swahili. He occasionally held up items like toothpaste, soap, etc, so it was clear he was trying to sell stuff to his very captive audience. I was amused. Every once in awhile I picked out the few words I know in Swahili or things like "vitamins."
- More beautiful scenery
- You know you're in a Muslim country when... you see "We Trust in Allah" on the back of a bus. (Nice variation to "In God We Trust")


ok I'm done. kudos to anyone that actually read all of that.

MFIs, Swahili, and Obama

Majorly excited about the rest of the week. Tomorrow I'm going to visit the third recipient of a wheelchair. She currently has an unfitted, imported one so I think it will be very interesting to compare. Today was another research day, and I've identified several more microfinance places (ironically, and fortunately, many in Dar Es Salaam) so I think going to Dar is not only a fun idea (because of weekend plans to go to Zanzibar) but an important one. If we can partner with established microfinace institutions (MFIs), we'll be in much better shape. It's important to realize what you can and cannot do, and what you can delegate. Delegating the training and funding of people in wheelchairs to MFIs with significant experience is far better than trying to throw something together. I've focused primarily on finding places that have ties to Kiva because those loans are funded so quickly (average is less than two days) but may explore other options.

The best part about being here is the interactions with people. Hearing the other perspective on random topics helps to enable understanding on important ones. Moshi, and Tanzania, have significant Muslim and Christian populations, and they mix fairly well. I had lunch with one of the KASI guys today and somehow we got on the topic of the 9/11 attacks and the effects on the average American. The thing I remember most was reading about (and seeing) the discrimination that resulted. One (white) reporter spent a day wearing the Muslim shawl and described the interactions (from not so casual bumping to blatent comments) that she witnessed before people even saw her face. As always, it is vital to remember that one quality doesn't define a person.

I was initially surprised by the interest in American topics. The day Michael Jackson died, several people asked me if I liked his music or was upset. Almost everyone I have a long conversation with asks me about Obama. Unsurprisingly, my KASI friend (and most people here) like Obama, not only because of his Kenya heritage, but because he is trying to improve ties with other nations. (I'm sure this could be debated, but I'm thinking of his address to Muslim nations. Not saying it's perfect - but it's a start.)

Maybe it's just because I don't speak Swahili and don't understand half of what is said around me, but Moshi seems to have very little religious descrepancies. Mosques and churches coexist. Five times a day you can hear the Muslim prayer music (at all hours) and nuns walk around. It's encouraging to see and something I do admire Tanzania for. For better (or "worse" in one respect, more on this later), Tanzania has been relatively peaceful, especially considering its neighbors' history - no genocide, no major civil wars. Ironically, this means that there is less support for the disabled. KASI was the first such non-profit, but similar organizations in Uganda and Kenya expanded much more rapidly because the demand for disabled services post-conflict was much higher. The primary causes of injury are from falling out of trees and vehicle accidents. I couldn't understand why falling out of trees was so common until one of the people I met explained that men of the Chagga tribe take pride in raising goats. They climb trees to get leaves for their goats to eat. It's amazing what you learn that you never would think to ask.

The Plan

*Note: many of the places are described in greater detail in this post.
My meeting with Abdullah last Friday about the plan for what to do with Worldwide Mobility in the next few weeks was great. Here's the flexible schedule (subject to changes & rearrangements):
Monday - work at KASI, make website to fill in the form, make Word Document version. Abdullah will be out, so it's a perfect day to catch up on email and do the web side of the plan.
Tuesday - meet/work with one of the wheelchair technicians at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center (KCMC), Albert.
Wednesday - Two home visits of current wheelchair users, both in good quality, locally made chairs
Thursday - Work at KCMC, meet with Albert again, the orthopedics department, and the Motivation office
Friday - go to CCBR with Abdullah, after work, go to the KASI Finance Committee meeting.

Monday - travel to Arusha to see Mobility Care, learn their system, etc
Tuesday - visit Njoro workshop
Wednesday - home visit of a current wheelchair user in an unfitted, externally donated chair from the states
Thursday - assessment at CCBR
Friday - meeting with local PAWA people

So there's the rough sketch. I think it's an appropriate mixture of seeing each of the aspects over here and all parts of it are things I definitely would not be able to do from MIT. I'm looking forward to meeting and working with everybody, especially talking with the current wheelchair users. I think it will be very enlightening to compare the experiences of the users in locally fitted vs externally non-fitted wheelchairs.

Definitions

There are a lot of words, names, and acronyms thrown around like you know exactly what I'm talking about, so here's a list:

Places
CCBR - A disability organization where Abdullah works part time. They do assessments of people's disabilities.
KASI - Kilimanjaro Assiciation for the Spinally Injured. The first and only such organization in Africa. They inspired several similar organizations in Uganda and Kenya.
KCMC - Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center. They are the #1 hospital in Tanzania, located in Moshi. There is a wheelchair workshop there that KASI hires to make wheelchairs (KCMC Wheelchair Workshop), and this is where Albert works. Located in Moshi, Tanzania.
Arusha Mobility - one of three wheelchair workshops KASI hires to make wheelchairs. Located in Arusha, Tanzania.
Njoro Wheelchair Workshop - the third wheelchair workshop KASI hires, located near Arusha.

People
Abdullah - my mentor in Tanzania. His website is here: abdullahonwheels.googlepages.com
Albert - wheelchair technician, works at KCMC Wheelchair Workshop
Amos Winter - my mentor at MIT, head of M-Lab

Misc
M-Lab - MIT Mobility Lab, working on several wheelchair related projects and has a class every spring semester
Tigo - a cell phone provider in Tanzania
WC, wc - wheelchair (we're not British)
Zain - a cell phone provider for a large portion of Africa, including Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya

Kiswahili - Swahili
jambo - hello
hamjambo? - how are you (plural)?
kusoma - to study
kutoka - to come from
ni/si - positive/negative present tense form of to be

Mimi nipenda Tanzania!

Hamjambo? Jina langu ni Danielle na mimi nisoma Kiswahili. Mimi nipenda Tanzania! (How are all of you? My name is Danielle, and I am studying Swahili. I love Tanzania!)

Tanzania has been fantastic so far. I'm settling in with my host family, and they are terrific! They're teaching me Swahili. So far I'm pretty terrible/inconsistent, but maybe in a few weeks...

It's impossible to say what has surprised me the most. So many things are different, but so many are the same. There are street vendors everywhere that want to sell you anything you can imagine. (Think New York times 10 and this isn't even the biggest city!) Yesterday I saw a single DVD that claimed to be all of the Lost seasons 1-6. I'm a tad skeptical, but that sort of thing is everywhere. There are lots of people selling shoes, but they'll only put one of each pair out! It makes sense because that way someone can't steal a pair, but it was definitely funny the first time I saw that. People will walk around with baskets and sometime one of their items on their heads. I was surprised the first time I saw a shoe on someone's head.

People here are so nice. Sarah and I went out to town for this spicy fried potato dish. (I know it sounds like French fries, but it was more like potato chunks and no crispy outside.) We were getting gas on the way back, but the car wouldn't start. There was a guy who saw us having trouble and he and his friends roll-started the car. Sarah said she knew him from a carnival or something like that. While it's important to be on your guard and act safely, it's good to remember that many people are nice.

It was great having help with that, but I'm glad I knew how to fix it, thanks to Amos's car breaking at the Yale conference. If we hadn't been as lucky with those guys there, I think I would have been able to help. It's funny what bits of information turn out to be useful. Thanks for breaking your car Amos =P

Tomorrow I'm meeting with Abdullah at KASI - can't wait to really get started!!!