Service in Musoma
The following blog post is brought to you by Emma.
Welcome to Musoma! This is week 4 of service for all of us, so we have finally somewhat found our footing in this new place. There are three students living and working in Musoma, Caleb, Beka, and myself. I think we would all agree that it has been nice to be close to each other, especially on the days that we meet after work for chipsi mayai, coke, and a conversation in English!
I usually start my day around 6:30 a.m. and am out the door by 7:00 so I can arrive at Paroma Primary school by 7:30. My commute consists of a bajaj ride, bookended with a couple short walks. At the school, I teach class 3 mathematics and class 6 English. When I am not in those classes I am in the office doing some of my own work or floating around to other classrooms. Every morning at 10:00, we take a chapati and chai break which is something I have grown very fond of. It is a good time to get to talk to with the other teachers and get to know them on a more personal level. Around 2:00 we have lunch and then continue classes until 3:45 when the day is over. We then load up the school buses and head home.
Caleb is working at Vi-AgroForestry whose mission is to strengthen food security and support a sustainable future for Tanzania. “On a typical work week, I wake up at 7 a.m. and start my day with breakfast before heading to work at 8. My first task is watering the trees in the nursery, which usually takes about an hour. After that, I spend the rest of the morning reorganizing the trees and trimming their roots to prevent them from growing too large. I work until 12:30 p.m., then take a two-hour lunch break before returning for another two hours in the afternoon. In the second half of my day, I water the plants again and wrap up any unfinished tasks from the morning. By 4:30, I head home and usually stop by a small restaurant for chips mayai—an egg omelet with French fries—along with some fruit and a snack for later.”
Beka is located at the Lake Victoria Disability Center. The Center offers training in a variety of different fields. They also offer sign language and braille classes. Beka has enjoyed learning some sign language as it has helped to strengthen her swahili! “I get there around 8 and leave around 3:30 every day. LVDC is a college that has a rehabilitation unit that offers services for community members. This is where I spend most of my time. I get to help cast, talk with clients and just hang out with my colleagues, Bob and Milka. We have chai every day around 10. We drink tea and eat cassava or some other breakfast food. Lunch is served around 2 and is always ugali, fried greens and some type of small fish. Usually daga. After lunch we hang out until it’s time to go. I usually walk home with people from work or my dad.”
We had visitors this week! Adam, Karen and family made their way to Musoma for the day to visit each of our placements and homes! We spent the day getting lunch together and touring around Musoma getting a brief look into what each of our daily lives look like here. We started by visiting Paroma where we were all greeted by the children who eagerly wanted to say hello. After we finished up there, we took a short walk to see Caleb’s house and placement where we got a quick tour of the grounds where he has spent the last 4 weeks. Then on to Beka’s house! We were delighted by the fresh mandazi, a crowd favorite here that was waiting for us when we arrived thanks to her host mom. We enjoyed getting to play with Beka’s little host siblings but had to keep on moving since we had limited time. We arrived at Lake Victoria Disability Center where we met some of the staff and got to see the building where Beka spends most of her time when she is at work! Then on to our last stop of the day, my house. After meeting my host family and some brief conversation, it was time to say goodbye.
