Tanzania 2010

Wednesday

We returned by Dala Dala to the tailoring center to take our material and leave instructions. When we arrived the first thing the women did was to show me a purse they had made modeled after the one I showed them on the first visit. It was adorable (Way to go Robin!!!!)

We then walked over to the Children’s Center. Megan and I had found balloons (for a small fortune) and after blowing up 40+ balloons set up a relay game for the kids where they were in lines and had to run to a point, sit on and pop their balloon, and then return for the next person. The children laughed and squealed in delight. Each time one of the balloons popped they laughed even louder. My heart swells with emotion while observing these moments of pure joy and innocence. For a fleeting moment the world is a wonderful place for these children. I was taking pictures and the kids are fascinated with cameras so I took a picture of each individual child, showing each one their picture. We leave them with hugs and smiles as they are finishing their porridge which for many may be the only meal of the day.

We agree that our heads our full and that tomorrow we will talk and plan and stay in the office.

We meet Farryl at the bus station to take the Dala Dala to Macheche where the Neema orphanage is located.

I am not sure I can give a good description of a Dala Dala but it looks like a VW bus from the 70’s and I am sure some are probably that old. They look like they could fall apart at any time. As many people as is humanly possible are crammed in, some sitting, some standing. We have been on a Dala Dala with more than 20 people. I was on one where I was so cramped I could not move any body parts, my knees were so tightly pushed together I thought I might permanently damage them and to the amusement of many a woman’s scarf kept blowing in my face and someone else had to keep moving it out of my face. I laughed too because this is just the way it is.

The children were more responsive the second time but they lack so much nurturing. I spent most of my second visit with Deborah and it took so long but I finally got a smile from her and she would mimic some sounds for me. She also stood without help and Farryl said she had not done that before which was so exciting for me. Although our second visit to the 1 year olds was better, our second visit with the 2 year olds was not. They were inside getting baths. None of the rooms had rugs and floors were concrete. Sometimes there is only one Sister available to give baths so I am sure they are very quickly done. The children were in a room off the bathing area and they were all sitting on plastic potty chairs. As one child was finished with his/her bath they were put on a table where we dried them off, put Vaseline all over (a substitute for lotion) and then dressed. Random clothes were picked from piles on the table to clothe the children after which they were placed back on a potty chair to wait until all 12 were bathed and dressed. It was truly amazing that they all sat still for that length of time. They then went into an adjoining "play room" until dinner. This room had a mat that was so thin it provided no protection whatsoever and a fireplace that was a disaster waiting to happen.( I am waiting for permission from the pastor to purchase fabric and padding to cover the fireplace- there is also one in the 1 year old play room.) 

In the room was one chair and nothing else. (I will never be the same walking into a Toys r Us store.) We asked the Sister about music and she played a song from her cellphone. Sister was loving and engaging and she sang a song to them and we tried to play but with 2 year olds organized play does not work well. Most just crawled on us starving for attention and if you held a child, he/she/ was yours as they would cry if put down. The Sisters do the best they can with what they have but they are so short staffed working around the clock shifts and lacking resources. The government provides no funding to the orphanages. 

Being 2 year olds, most were not potty trained and at least half of the kids peed themselves resulting in little puddles on the floor which of course had to be mopped up then making the floor wet and slippery. It was a very disturbing visit to Neema. 

We returned to Moshi when it was dark. It is hard to get used to it being dark early because it is winter here. We bought some Zanzibar pizza from a food vendor. This is a real treat. It has no resemblance to pizza and is some kind of folded sandwich, fried with vegetables or a meat mix and an egg fried in the middle. They cost less than a dollar each and made a meal for us.

It was definitely laundry night because you really can’t wear anything more than once because of the dust and heat. (Although it is not as hot as last year.) There is the most amazing laundry bar soap here. We had a bucket in the bathroom so that is where the clothes were washed and then they were rinsed in the sink, rung out and hung all around the room. I doubt that I got all the dirt out because the water was very dirty but psychologically I had clean clothes!! Unfortunately taking a shower after doing laundry was not the smartest idea as the water was cold and came out as a small stream slightly more than a drizzle!! I take my showers at night because my feet are so filthy I can barely remember what they look like. I put sunscreen o n them one morning and all the dust stuck to my feet making an even more lovely sight!

It is always a good day for me when we go to the Children’s Center because they are so pleased to see us and it is wonderful to see them playing happily. The children are very well behaved and incredibly resourceful. It is a time to live in the moment with the kids and feel their joy. The orphanage was more of a reality check of how deprived these children are. Emotions are all over the place and I try to stay away from the hopeless feelings as much as possible.