The First Week

After the week long orientation in London, more then 17 hours of flight time over three planes (two red eyes), a 13 hour layover in Amsterdam (plus over two more hours delayed on the plane), seven hours of jet lag (ten from Vancouver) and a lengthy wait at the Mwanza airport to get our visas, I was finally able to freely walk the country of Tanzania.

The project

I know a lot of people are wondering what exactly I am doing over here. I’ll do my best to help clarify, but a lot of objectives are sure to change or adjust as I learn more of the situation.

My internship is in conjunction with Western Heads East (WHE), an organization through the University of Western Ontario, which has been setting up probiotic yoghurt kitchens throughout east Africa. For those who don’t know, probiotics are active cultures in food meant to help the body in some way. The probiotic in the yoghurt here is taken to assist the human immune system. Useful for all people, but meant particularly to help those suffering from HIV/AIDS (roughly 10-20% of Tanzanian citizen, depending on the location), as well as reduce the risk of transfer/contraction. The yogurt is the medium for the probiotic to grow in, while providing valuable nutrients of its own to customers.

At the same time, each kitchen is able to create employment for the “yogurt mamas” who work there. This then puts a business in the hands of woman, something uncommon in Tanzania.

WHE currently has only three established kitchens, with two more in start up as I write, but the goal is to expand throughout Africa, setting up kitchens in communities of all sizes

I am here in Mwanza with three other interns from the Richard Ivey School of Business (two of whom will soon be moving on to a site in Kenya). Together, we have been tasked with determining the best method of this expansion, focusing on the sustainability of the kitchens without compromising on the overall social mission WHE began the project with.

So far…

With five sleeps under my belt (not including the two I attempted on the way here), I have finally moved into the downtown apartment where I will be spending the next twelve weeks, and thus finally should have a more steady supply of Internet. Here are some of the things I have learned/noticed so far:

Swahili time is very different then North American time: Long story short, things move slowly here (except for the vehicals). Two o’clock does not mean two o’clock, and waiting for food or a bill can take longer then I’ve ever imagined. For anyone who knows how punctual I can be, this is going to take me a little getting used to.

English translations can be taken very literally: After finishing dinner last night, a fellow intern ordered a banana split for dessert. Forty minutes later (see above), she is brought a plate with a banana, split down the middle.

Eggs only need to be refrigerated after being washed: Supposedly, chicken eggs are laid with a protective coating that preserves the yoke. But when washed this coating is removed. I hope its true, because eggs here are defiantly not refrigerated.

Outdoor urinals: This one is actually from Amsterdam, but scattered around the city are metal spirals, solid only from around the knees to the neck. I was wondering what they were until I saw someone go in one…

The dawn of the sandal tan: After only a few days, I have been able to notice the consequences of wearing sandals in the sun all day long. It is still a light contrast, but I am quite curious what three months will do.

I don’t really know what else to write about, so here are some top 10’s

Things we are not supposed to do in Mwanza:

1) Ride in the dala-dalas. –Done
-- A dala-dala, for those wondering, is a vehicle slightly larger then your average minivan, but seats 16 people and fits more then 20 (regularly), with the occasional person substituted for a goat or a chicken. They are Tanzanian buses, and are known for their somewhat aggressive driving. But at less then $.20 CAN, I have so far been taking them about twice a day.

2) Ride the motorcycle cabs. –Not Yet
-- A cheaper alternative to cabs if traveling by yourself, the lack of helmets and driving style scares off many mzungus (The non-offensive Swahili word for white foreigner. It can be used to get your attention, or just yelled at you by laughing children on the street). I have generally been traveling in groups, but its something I plan on trying at least once (I’ve never been on a motorcycle before).

3) Walk around the city at night. – Done
-- This one more so refers to woman (for good reason). And when I did it I was still in a group. Alone is much more frowned upon.

4) Not wear bug spray after dusk. –Done
-- I’ve never been a big fan on loading my skin down with sprays and creams, especially at 30% deet. I’ve mostly just been spraying down my window and bed net.

5) Walk barefoot, especially on sand. –Done
-- I have avoided this on the streets for good reason, but who wears shoes on sand or grass. The reason for this rule is that the sand is on the shore of the lake (see below).

6) Swim in Lake Victoria. –Not Yet
-- Certain bacteria in the water supposedly enter your skin almost instantly, and eventually give you some kind of worms. However, it causes no symptoms for about six months to a year, and all you have to do is take a couple pills back in Canada and you’re good. For this reason, most interns seem to swim and even wakeboard, and it is too hot here for me to pass up on either if the situation arises.

7) Eat street meat. –Done
-- I don’t see what the big deal is here. The meet is cooked over hot embers, and I did check to see if it was still raw (believe it or not). It was cheap, tasted great, and my stomach is fine, so this should become a staple.

8) Eat uncooked vegetables. –Done
-- The street meat has to have something on the side, right. The issue here is that it is washed with the tap water, but I think as long as you don’t drink the water directly it isn’t really a problem (although some peoples systems do require a few days to “adjust”)

9) Drink the tap water directly. –This one I plan on following
-- This is just asking to get sick. So far I have had boiled then filtered water, but I hear an even easier way is to leave jugs on the roof for three days, letting the UV rays kill the bacteria, then filter out the silt. The things you learn.

10) Brush teeth with the water. –Done
-- Like the uncooked vegetables, following this would just be too much of a hassle. I’ve already done it in Mexico many times, so I’m not too worried.

Overall, there are lots of rules you can follow if you want to be extremely couscous, but it’s just not worth it when you’re spending three months in the country. I’ve just decided to push the boundaries until my body says otherwise, let my system get used to the country, and move on with it.

First time:

1) In Europe
-- Had never even seen the Atlantic Ocean before my flight to Amsterdam. Nice place, but sadly it was raining and Sunday, so not the best situation to get a fair impression.

2) In Africa
-- Going from being a member of the majority (or at least the largest minority) to having children laughing and getting excited at the mere sight of you is quite the culture shock.

3) Being a millionaire
-- $1.00 CAN = about 1300 Tanzanian shillings (Tsh) which means about $770 CAN = 1,000,000 Tsh. I know it’s not real, but it still feels good.

4) Eating freshly deep fried foods for breakfast
-- So far, the breakfast choice has been either fried or fruit, and not a lot of locals go for the fruit. I’ve been trying to embrace that by grabbing a samosa to go some other random selection each morning.

5) Sleeping with a mosquito bed net
-- And I still seem to get bitten plenty every night. I feel as if Tanzanian mosquitoes will each bite more times then Canadian ones, and are much harder to catch. But I am paying for my malaria pills, so I may as well give them a chance to work.

6) Having a bucket shower
-- Decided to try going for a run just before dusk, and when I came back to my room found out the power was out and the water was not working. So I got to instead use a bucket filled with water from a source of unknown sanitary levels.

7) Seeing an albino person
-- Due to the scarcity of white people, I generally get a little excited every time I see one (no prej). It just took me a second to realize how white this one was.

8) Eating avocado Pizza
-- Meat is less common over here, but avocados are bigger, more plentiful, and better tasting then in Canada, so this one just makes sense.

9) Seeing a wild monkey
-- Saw a couple cross the road I was walking down. When I turned the corner to get a better view, saw about 15 more climbing the trees and sitting around. The Africans didn’t seem as excited.

10)Tipping ten cents and feeling like a good person
- Sounds bad, but tipping isn’t very common in Tanzania. Looking at a plate of food that cost you less then a dollar makes throwing 100 Tsh the other way pretty easy.

I am sure I have missed some good ones, which I will try to add to future updates along with new firsts I am sure to come across. In my next blog, I’ll try and give a better idea of what life here entails. I will also try to post some pictures (they can be very hard to post with the internet here).

P.S. - My number is +255759290803 (from Canada). Texts home only cost me 10 cents, and I have free incoming worldwide. So depending on how much I mean to you, feel free to send me a message or two, and I’ll do my best to reply. Email and facebook should also be checked regularly enough.