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WHAT KEEPS ME GOING

Belinda, one of my students at Glorious, has a hard time during the day.  She's always quiet, does her work and then just sits at her desk.

Last week she wet herself at her desk and the other kids were pulling her up and out of her desk, trying to force her out of the row, all while she's crying out loud.

Lene, another volunteer took her out and changed her outfit.  Afterwards she didn't want to do any work so she sat, embarrassed, with us at "teachers desk”.

Today, I was standing outside of the bathrooms and noticed Belinda hanging on the door doing the “pee pee dance”.  I continued doing what I was doing, looked back again and saw she was now going to pee.  I saw the boy’s bathroom open so I went over and tried to take her to the boys bathroom. She wouldn't let go of the door so I tried taking her hand from the doorknob and when I did it opened really quickly and I saw two girls holding the door closed on purpose.  I told them to go play, and Belinda ran in to use the bathroom.

Later I sat next to her on the ground while all the other kids were playing. I was talking to another student next to me when two boys started fighting with each other, standing over Belinda.  One of the boys knocked the other over and he fell right on top of her.  She had absolutely no reaction, not even a whimper- just trampled and smothered.  I grabbed her right away and pulled her onto my lap and asked her if she was alright.  She had no reply, so I held her close and with my softest, most caring voice said, “B-e-l-i-n-d-a”, and she smiled shyly and I hugged her again.  She sat on my lap playing little games of counting our fingers in English and caring for one another.

This reminded me of my mother and how well she taught me to care.  I swear it was her nurturing voice that came out of me when I spoke, humming out of my past to help in my present.  It made me feel so grateful to have the mother I do and that I still receive that care today.  Many of these kids I share my days with have lost that or never had it in the first place.

Moments like these are what keeps me going here in Arusha Tanzania...  Even though it feels like I've been moved to another planet at times, when I care and share love with another person, we both feel right at home.

MUCH LOVE!

Talia

MASAI TRIBE

So, I have to admit taking this photo of the Masai woman and her baby is a dream come true for me.  I spent a lot of time as a little girl looking at National Geographic, and every so often I'd see a photo like this and wish that some day I'd see someone, in person, with that rich culture.  I looked over my photos and saw this and was so giddy… I couldn't believe I'd just taken it.

The photo was taken two hours West of Arusha in a Masai village where the chief (big guy with the  cowboy hat) has 12 wives.  I was to greet him by bending down and letting him touch the top of my head while he said “habaree"? (how are you?), “N'zuree, asante sana” (good, thank you very much), “Karibu” (welcome).  

After the greeting one of the chief's many sons took us up to where many women were slaughtering a cow while we watched.  It was interesting to watch them essentially getting dinner ready, step one, kill the cow, step 2, butcher it with the family etc...

We walked on to see the inside of a Masai house, the one in the photo is for the volunteer to stay in, when they have one.  It's a simple round structure made of sticks standing upright in a circular shape, plastered together with mud, manure and water.  Masai don't have 'things' inside or even outside their houses just a bed made of sticks and fibers and a little stool for sitting and a couple of wraps for clothing.

This was NOT a museum where they teach about their culture, this is their village where they live. There was no explanation for anything, just a tour of their homes.

We walked down to an area with more huts and they brought out a piece of fire wood straight from the fire, broke it up and put the hot coals into a pan and pulled out a thin piece of wire metal in the shape of a circle - for a Masai tribal marking.  Zackie, our guard at the house, is Masai and has one tribal circle on each cheek, two large ear piercings at the top of each ear and separated lower teeth (the woman in the photo with the baby has separated teeth too), this was all done when he was a 'kidogo ytoto' (little kid).

I decided to get one.  Yes, it's a tribal marking for the Masai people and, no I'm not Masai, but I saw it as an honor to be invited to share in a tribal tradition in Africa where I may never be again, invited into their village by the chief... I'll remember this for the rest of my life, so I wasn't going to turn this opportunity down.  I held out my arm to the chief's son and watched him burn a circle into my flesh.  I was a little scared to watch myself be burned and to hold still while it was burning, but it didn't hurt!  It was an amazing feeling being 

surrounded by Masai while getting it done.

Right after being branded I walked away looking at it and a bunch of kids in the village saw me and ran up, I showed them my marking and a boy grabbed my hand right away and made a sound like 'ewwwhh' and started blowing on it, he must have known how it felt. 

As he blew on my fresh wound I looked up and saw a boy about 7 years old, walking naked, stop, put his hands down to his penis, pee on them, stop peeing as if turning off a faucet to save water, wash his hands just as I do at the sink, put his hands back to pee on them again and wash his face... this all happened in a matter of seconds. Sorry, no photo!


I got stuck for a while taking photos and showing the kids their pictures and saw a kid walking with bloody ribs from the cow (photo).  Behind him up the hill a group of Masai men were doing their dance , they sound so amazing together. I LOVED the sounds they were making!!

After the dance we went to the van to get our gifts... visitors are asked to bring gifts like school supplies for the kids, sugar, rice and cooking oil for everyone else as a thank you.  Then we said goodbye and thank you to the chief the same way we said hello, and we were off.

I loved everything about this trip to the Masai village!  It's so refreshing to meet people who live of, off and on the land and they’re happy people!

They do use some modern items; the son who took us around had a cell phone that sounded odd going off under his shawls.  I'm not giving him crap for having a cell phone, it was just surprising.  They only wear tire shoes, sandals made of old tires, another point for the Masai! Taking care of themselves and mother earth as much as possible!

Feel free to research Masai, Tanzania Africa. Many Masai have integrated themselves into the modern world, some fitting in so well, you wouldn't know they're Masai, and some continue to wear the Masai style of dress while living in the city.

Talia

WIA another school I visited today. They're dancing for us!

MASAI DANCERS IN THE VILLAGE

Zackie, our guard who's Maasi... doing his tribal dance with the stick.

MASAI

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MORE SCENES FROM MY TIME HERE

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A POSTCARD TO THE OLD FOLKS AT HOME.

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THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY...

Asante Sana!

I got really frustrated with the computer last week. It felt wrong to be sitting at a computer here, and I didn't know what to say either.

I spent Sunday night on the bathroom floor, throwing up and...

 Now, for some reason, I feel more at home now.  Odd how things work out.

I have some wonderful photos of the Masai warrior tribe to come, I'm going to one of the villages tomorrow.  I have some photos from when I went to the Serengeti where they just roam and live freely.  I'm so excited!

More again soon,

Talia

GLORIOUS!

My 1st day at Glorious was overwhelming. I didn't expect it to be, I thought I'd jump right in and snuggle the kids but everything in my world has change... It took me a week to adjust to the jet lag and time change, Tanzania is 10 hours ahead of Idaho, so I was falling asleep at 6pm and waking up at 3am for a week.

Arusha, the city I'm living in felt so BIG, so busy, a bit scary and rushed. On orientation day there were 7 volunteers on our tour of Arusha. Looking back on that day I realized how scared we all were, we stayed so close to Alizah our house manager from Nirobi. We looked like baby ducks sticking really close to there momma for their 1st time out. I don't think any of us remembered any directions from that first outing. So overwhelming!

The food is different. The money is different. The language is different. The way people dress is different, which I like... people are VERY modest here! Women always cover their shoulders, wear skirts to their ankles, occasionally a scarf wrapped around them, men always wear T-shirt and pants, and many times I see the men working on our house wearing button up collared shirts and nice slacks. The only people who'd be wearing short shorts, skirts and tank tops are westerners who stand out anyway.

Everyone calls out 'Mzungu' which means 'white person' as I travel to and from Glorious every day. I start out from the house at 7:30AM, walk ten minutes to the 1st dolla dolla (a mini van with a stripe of color painted on the side, the color indicates where it will take you). I take the yellow dolla dolla to the 1st corner in Arusha which is a 10 minute ride for 200 shillings, about 20 cents US, walk though down town for another ten minutes. This is where I learn most my Swahilli, from all the street venders that recognize me everyday to and from Glorious. At first they were a bit harassing, trying to get me to buy from them, asking where I'm from, where I was going and what I was doing, but now, most are just asking how my day is. They practice there English and I practice by replying in Swahilli. People appreciate us here because they know Mzungus are volunteers.

After my walk through town I catch the green dolla dolla for another ten minutes, and 250 more shillings, to Swalini. I walk 10-15 minutes along a dirt road where I really notice the lack of a proper waste system , the garbage is everywhere and some times I come across a burning pile of plastic that has bad smelling smoke, but then I look ahead and see the beautiful tropical trees again and focus on that.

I get to Glorious, walk in the classroom and the children greet me all together, “Hello teacher, welcome, how are you?”

My first week took a lot of getting adjusted to my surroundings and the kids. The first day all the kids came to the back of the class to greet me and another volunteer, Yoko, from Japan. They were all surrounding us and saying, “stuff, stuff” and checking our pockets (many volunteers must bring them supplies first thing…) My sunglasses were quickly removed from my head, Yoko's watch was being un-buckeled and we were trying to high-five them all.

I must admit, one of the little kids in the back of the group was being walked up to meet us, I saw him and my immediate reaction was fear. He has a large head and his hands and legs are crippled. I didn't know how to deal with him and was afraid at first, then he came right up to me and asked me my name in Swahilli and I told him “Talia”. He said, “Teacher Talia”, and was holding onto my knees and moving up and down from excitement. I decided to love him despite my fear, I picked him up and sat him on my lap, held him close while all the rest of the students surrounded, us and I cried a little because I’d made it, and I felt my spirit grow in a matter of seconds. Ujma is the little boy’s name and he is so sweet and smart! We carry him home every day from school along with other students.

Life is way different here and I'm still adjusting, but the children at Glorious are what keeping me going.

Three days after orientation I made the trek to Glorious solo and was SO incredible proud of myself! My house manager wants me to lead the tour on Monday for the next set of volunteers… we'll see.

For now, I'm off the computer and headed home to rest.

Love you all and more stories soon.

Talia

THE GLORIOUS SCHOOL WHERE I WORK