first robbing experience

unfortunately, I had my first items stolen in-country this past week--my cellphone and sunglasses. actually, they were both inside a pouch that fell off my bike as I was riding to town with my friend, Ishmael (pictured in my last blog) and then the pouch was taken from the ground by a young man biking kuni (firewood) to makambako. like a superhero, Ishmael biked after the young man, whom passersby had spotted taking the fallen item and hiding it in his pocket (and who apparently boasted to his friends that he luckily got some “white man’s money”-this clearly made furaha quite upset). bahati mbaya, Ishmael just missed catching up to the guy. However, bahati nzuri, we live in Tanzania where things do not stay hidden or secret for longer than two minutes...the incident spread like moto or wildfire-all the way from town back to my village and on to every village in our ward before you could mutter the word ugali. although the event ruined our shopping day in town, we were able to talk with other witnesses which eventually enlightened us that the boy came from the next village over, called mahongole. hence, we went directly to that village’s leader’s house to make him aware of the situation. but, oh no, the goose chase was far from over.by the end of the week, the poor lad will apparently be summoned to my village to make his testimony in front of the ward’s executive officer, me, Ishmael, and various other village leaders, and if he proves to be mwizi (a thief), they will put him in lock up until he spits up the goods (just found out there is a mini-jail if you will next to our town office).my village leaders don't mess around...nawashukuru!

furthermore, i've learned a lot through this whole being robbed thing--first, patience. this is an ongoing lesson one learns when living anywhere in africa, i would argue. secondly, i have a great understanding now of the innerworkings of an african village judicial system :) (and was enlightened that we do have our own jail-who knew?). and lastly, this is part of why i came to africa--to live it all--the good and the bad, the highs and the lows. i came for contact--to see, smell, taste, and experience the whole picture of life here and to be a part of it...

on a more sunny note, I met with my fantastic mama’s group and look how they shine:



they came with many a basket sewn, so come on mom, we’re ready for you to come and take them back to America to sell! aren’t they beautiful--the mamas and the baskets (most tanzanians don't smile in pictures--kinda like how our great grandmothers posed). I asked them to wear the baskets on their heads because this is how I see them everyday, carrying various items to/from their homes, like corn flour (used to make ugali), vegetables, or wild mushrooms they’ve collected in the forest. they’ve already determined for what purposes they'd like to use the profits from the sales of these baskets, and they are as follows:

1. to buy new and improved seeds, specially mixed manure, and pesticides for farming
2. to purchase irrigation pipes to water their crops, keeping waterfall consistent throughout the year
3. to continue secondary education children of the village, who can’t afford tuition otherwise (what remaining money will go for)

so, all of you out there, especially those of you who live in/near Atlanta, feel free to contact my mom if you are interested in supporting our mama’s group by purchasing a traditional Wabena basket, weaved by the hand of a true African mama!

on this day, i gave a lesson on family planning, inspired by two mamas:
1. a recent visitor to my home, who asked desperately for some sort of protection to keep the babies from coming. i was so honored that she came all the way to my house without fear and shame (inherent traits of the Wabena people-exacerbating the AIDS epidemic even more). i showed her the new and improved female condom which allows the woman to protect herself, rather than waiting on the man to wear a condom, which they rarely want to do (a common saying amongst the men is "why eat the candy with the wrapper on?"--again, an effect of gender inequality-very little respect of women's needs/wants). anyway, she was ecstatic and brought several home to try out after my brief directions. the next day, her daughter biked to my house with three cassava roots as a gesture of thanks. i was touched, although i can't say that i ate them-still a little tasteless to me, but my neighbors love them.
2. one of my favorite mamas that lives behind my house just birthed her 10th child at the age of 40! her husband died 2 years ago, but apparently his brother (thus her brother in law) was caring for the kids, so i assume she felt she owed something to him in a way. she seems ashamed for her late and surprise birth and even tried to tell the nurse and doctor who delivered that it was her late husband's child but that is physically impossible (no sperm freezing here:); as you see, understanding birth control and planning births in advance is a real struggle for people in the village.

hence, i gave this lesson on planning pregnancies to these village leaders (male and female), integrating real examples of birth control methods from the dispensary such as: a diaphragm, birth control pills, condoms for men/women, spermicides, IUD and depo-provera. i joked that because i am not Mbena, i see little shame and have no fear being open about important health items such as these. everyone in attendence laughed, blushed, and some even hid their faces as i brought the items out in the open. clearly, if this culture continues to see matters of protection as siri kubwa or embarrassing, they will receive great problems in the long run. more and more kids lacking proper schooling, nutrition, clothing and love will continue to be born, and some unfortunately, with HIV/AIDS...we can only hope that behavior will change among this new generation of youth as their education enhances.

happy easter to all,
furaha

*just bought a cheap phone today--the infamous philips--big, black and clunky as all get out. i must take this opportunity to thank the one who inspired me to follow in her philips footsteps--the one and only, stefanie murray. i hope it will treat me right, as it did you. i hear inashika vizuri. we'll see...