God is a thought who makes crooked all that is straight.

The last couple of days have been spent in Ngaramtoni which is where I have begun the process of starting small businesses for widows who look after their own children and those orphaned, as either a direct or indirect, result of the AIDS virus.

Ngaramtoni is not on a main road and can only be accessed via dirt tracks that would be considered impassable by most, not by the locals though. A steady stream of *Dala Dala's pours into and out of this ramshackle market town. There are very few brick buildings to speak of and it is mostly mud huts and tin/wood/straw dwellings that make up the towns shops and homes. The sewers are open and when it rains, which is every day at the moment, the turgid smell of human and animal waste fills the air and there is no way of avoiding tramping through the quagmire which is also ridden with the every day detritus that all towns create. There are goats, chickens, dogs and the occasional cow moving freely throughout. This is all fine with me though because I have been to Stoke-on-Trent and am well used to these sort of conditions.

I have been befriended by the local counselor/motel owner who is ensuring my work is aided and abetted by the locals. I am also working with another volunteer who is stationed in Ngaramtoni and staying with the aforementioned counsellor. I have not seen his home but, I can only imagine and hope that, it is a little more upmarket than the average. My colleague seems very well accustomed to the conditions and I would like to think I will be as settled as him by the end of the week.

The interview process for potential grant recipients has begun and the stories are nearly always harrowing and downright grim. We only have the physical capacity to help very few and it is clear that what is needed is a large scale project, of sustainable aid work, which it is just not possible to provide for the benefit of everybody. What is acutely upsetting, to me, is that for the most severely desperate and needy there is little that can be done because they are either too ill too help themselves or their social situation precludes them from the type of support we can offer.

Looking at the people in this shanty town it is impossible to understand the smiling faces that you see all around you and the constant greetings and hands that are offered in friendship and out of curiosity. Yet, unbelievably, overall I would have to describe this place as a happy one. Religion plays a very strong part in the culture of the people here, and for the sake of form I will not air my views on the subject in this public forum but, I have to share the limited picture that has been painted for me in this satellite town.

Despite the extreme poverty in Ngaromtoni the collection plate in the churches is always overflowing and it is clear that the devotion to God is a binding glue in the community. This devoted sense of giving jars strongly with what I have heard from all the interviews I have conducted so far.

None of the women I have spoken to have received any help from the church except for prayers and the hope that God will provide. It could be they wanted me to feel sorry for them and so denied their churches charity but, I doubt this was the case.

Today my guide took me to one of the few large, brick-built houses in the region, with modern windows and a nice garden, and very proudly announced it is being built for his pastor. It may well be that the leaders of the spiritual community in Ngaramtoni are in fact personally wealthy and my cynicism is misplaced, however, I have very grave doubts about this side of life in this town and about the tangible benefits that these particular religious outposts provide apart from for those at the top of the religious tree.

I hope that my colleagues and I and all of those who have generously donated their time and money to this idea for making things better out here are successful and I believe we can bring not only hope but, real and tangible changes to the area and to a handful, at least, of the people.

Of course I will keep you all informed and as soon as my large, brick-built house is completed you are invited to come and stay......




*Toyota vans crammed full to bursting point with locals, their produce and of course the obligatory, livestock up to the size of goats.

Hey, nice marmot!

I have a proper bog!

The family seem nice but, the three very angry sounding animals I can hear growling in the garden are certainly not marmots. I guess this kind of security guarantees nobody breaks in, even if they can scale the 6 foot high walled garden that is topped with gargantuan shards of glass. I am just mildly concerned the security team are unfamiliar with their new house guest and could easily consume me before their owner has a chance to call them off. O well.

This concern aside, and the fact my new home is in the middle of what any Westerner would describe as a *ghetto, I think I should count myself lucky. My room is large, smells fresh, there is a mosquito net and I am yet to see a cockroach. Luxury.


P.s. Anybody know where I can buy a gun?

*That maybe a rather too flattering description of the surrounding area. My taxi driver told me not to get out of the car whilst he knocked on the gate but, reassured me there is no racism in this area with the line "It's not just white guys that get robbed here"!

Holiday in Arusha!

Today was a public holiday here in Arusha. Not only did most of the general populace take a break but it appears the electricity supply companies also decided to take a holiday from providing power. I had a meeting arranged this morning but apparently the guy who was meant to see me also decided to take a holiday and I was left standing outside an empty office for an hour or so. I was due to move in with an African family but, I guess, they were on holiday too.

On the upside it's sunny here and at least some of the beer providing establishments remained open which, as a proper Brit abroad, I took advantage of and let me assure you one thing the Tanzanians do do well is make beer. According to my German friend this is a throw back to when there was a German presence out here.

Of course he's never tried quality British beer and has no idea what the brewers at Carling and *Tennants have got to teach our Tanzanian cousins.

There is a mini ecosystem developing in my room and whilst at the last count I was defeating the cockroaches that scuttle across the walls, floor and desk, nine to zero, the ants are thriving on my veracious culling. Yin and Yang I suppose? The holiday is over tomorrow for myself and the ants and it really begins for the cockroaches. I am once again scheduled to leave my 'hotel' and move into my new home. I have a feeling that life with my new family will not be any more luxurious than my current existence and have been assured that where there should be a nice clean lavatory there will, instead, be a hole in a small room you don't want to spend any time at all. Maybe my time would be better spent working for a charity to introduce Western WCs to Arusha, or in pest control, or maybe not?

*For those unfamiliar, with such fine beverages, special attention should be paid to the Flagship brew aka Tennants Super. Enjoyed by down-and-outs the length and breadth of our great nation

Disclaimer.

A couple of readers have brought it to my attention that I never mention anybody by name. I was talking to some people out here, that I have decided to upset with my company on a fairly regular basis, and asked them if I could mention their names in a public forum.

As a result, from now on, please be aware that all names have been changed to protect the innocent.

I am currently living out of a hotel near the *centre of Arusha. Monday will bring the dawn of a new era and I will be moving in with an African family. I am not sure who should be more nervous, them, or me....?

P.s. Went to a concert tonight and the main act was 4 hours late, or maybe I was four hours too early? "African time" I was told.

*Everywhere in Arusha is near the centre.

Small world.

I have reached the dizzy heights of celebrity. Today I was recognised by a complete stranger in a bar (small shack with an open fire in the corner serving warm beer). I was very surprised to be identified as I hadn't noticed I was so conspicuous....

Well I hit the big time with this *one and have secured a ride, tomorrow, back from the wilderness to the sprawling metropolis, that is Arusha, which should shave a few hours of the trip.

Happy days. The foray into cartographics has been a long and often tiring pursuit but my dedication is ceaseless and I will let you know when I have this town figured out.

P.s. This place is nice but have any of you been to Clapham?

*somebody who recognised me from a posh hotel where after scaling the fence and evading the baton wielding security guards I had blagged a drink.

Just a quick 'hello'.

...."hello"

Town Planning

Today I had an idea that I would make a map of the stalls and small businesses in the village of Usangi to help the next volunteer who comes this way in deciding what they are going to do to try and create a stable way of life for everybody in the area. Have you ever tried to drawing a town plan on Excel? It's not as easy as it looks especially using the latest version of Microsoft's great software.

To get to the point I struggled a little but I am learning new skills in case I ever do have to make a town plan using only Excel... Tomorrow I go to the markets to count how many vendors of the various fruit, veg., clothing, shoes, animal feed, maize and general haberdasheries there are which could be fun and warm.

Have had a friend from Arusha come to see the Pare mountains and drop in to my luxury hotel. I think he's impressed with the facilities.

Having computer problems at the moment and have lost this post once already so will put it up on the blog and run otherwise it will be just a quick 'hello'....

African Time...

The last week has been a bit of a blur and I am starting to lose track of the time already. Having only been in Tanzania for 12 days I am realising that, this losing track of time, may be another one of those nasty diseases that you hear so much about before you embark on a trip to a country that has tropical delights on offer like malaria and ebola. However these diseases have never really upset my psyche too much.

What does upset my psyche is having to wait for a bus that comes four and a half hours later than it should or somebody turning up to meet you 3 hours after they were meant to! The unhurried attitude everybody seems to adopt out here could drive you crazy. However, I had an epiphany today, saw the light, and during the 9th hour of what should have been a 5 hour bus journey, towards the back end of beyond, I relaxed and enjoyed the view.

The worrying thing is, I rather enjoyed it, and fear that after a couple of months I will return home with an infection! Will I be turning up to catch trains half an hour after they were meant to leave and be indignant that they left without me? Will I never be able to get another job because I will only be able to get to interviews hours after they were meant to start?

I was having lunch in down town Arusha on Saturday (recvering from a hangover and another dreadful public transport experience I will spare you the details of) with a German friend, who has traveled far more widely in Africa than I have, reflecting on this concept of time keeping when our attention was drawn to a clock on the wall. At first glance it appeared normal but under closer scrutiny you could see all the numbers were in the wrong places and in the centre of the clock was written "African Time". I think that about sums it up!

I am now back up in the mountains but through the marvels of modern technolgy (and some German technical advice) I am still in touch with the outside world, which is more than can be said for 99 percent of the people living in this remote outpost. I am still confounded when it comes to uploading images of any kind onto this blog and the best connection I can get will be back in Arusha, which will be Friday at the earliest, so I apologise if you were expecting any intersting graphics, all you have got is my tedious prose.

Arusha is not the biggest city in Africa by any means, and Lonely Planets, 'Tanzania', merits it with the vaguest of mentions, (less than 2 pages in the entire book according to my learned friend) so you may think nothing of any consequence happens there? You would be wrong. There are a few international events of interest, kicking off, in and around Arusha.

As a novice blogger I would appreciate any feed back or comments you would like to leave good or bad *(I will, of course, strike you of my Xmas card list if it's a bad comment). I am still getting to grips with the functionality of the software but, I hope I have now enabled the comments section after some hassle/feedback from readers. If you have specific questions or are interested in Arushas' international events please let me know and I will ignore you/respond accordingly.....

Jioni njema.


*If I had an Xmas card list.

Usangi life.

So....

I made it up to the Pari mountains which is a five to seven hour journey from Arusha to a very rural area of Tanzania. Life in Usangi is very basic and very difficult for many of the residents.

The main reason for my trip was to take a look at the projects that have been set up already and to gain some experience of this type of grant programme which I hope to emulate here in Arusha. The recipients of these grants are trained to start small businesses like breeding chickens, selling clothes, shoes, fruit & veg. fish etc. etc....

Much of the time was pent sorting out the accounts in the office (a shed like building with a computer dating back to the stone age). The businesses look good and I have plans to start a bus service to the nearest town which will be both safer and more reliable than anything they have and should be a guaranteed income generator for the village on an ongoing basis.

I am heading back to the mountains again tomorrow to have a look at the local businesses and try to identify any way we can introduce more sustainable revenue generating ideas for the people of Usangi.

What I really need to get my hands on are some lap tops so if anybody has an old laptop they can donate please, please, let me know. The hundreds of children that are fortunate enough to be in school in this remote area have one computer to use between them and Internet access is something they can really benefit from and this is a problem which can be fixed immediately with your help!

I am dreaming of a hot shower as waking up to a cold bucket of water or, if I am very lucky, a cold dribble from an overhead tap is the best I have been able to get so far. All the hardships aside Tanzania is a beautiful country and the people despite all the problems are extremely welcoming and happy.

Thanks for reading and think laptops for Africa!

Tanzania, ready or not?

So I have made it to Arusha in one piece, just. After a tiring 24 hour journey culminating in a slightly worrying plane ride flown by captain Peter Disco (that's not a joke). The final leg of my journey to eradicate suffering here in Tanazania started with Captain Disco informing us that the weight and balances were all wrong and that he was refusing to leave Nairobi airport until at least 5 people moved from the front of the aircraft to the back! I don't mind admitting that I was slightly nervous, as we taxied down the runway that we might not actually get off the ground!

Of course we did, and I am here to begin relating my experiences of working to help make life a little more bearable for those less fortunate than myself..... I hope.

Arusha is not the sprawling metropolis I was expecting and my 'hotel' is on a dirt road has no hot water and certainly no mini-bar or room service! The 'city' itself is very small and you can walk from one side to the other in about 20 minutes.

Internet access is limited and I am confounded by the inability to publish any photos or send any attachments but, I am working on that.

I am going into the wilderness tomorrow to look at sustainable grant projects for widows and orphans in a collection of twelve villages five hours South East of Arusha. I will let you know how that pans out and upload some photos when I can.

Until then.....