Where There is No Road

Greetings from Kongwa! I am actually in Dodoma now, the actual capital of Tanzania. However, all the ministers live in Dar es Salaam and come here four times a year in their fancy land cruisers to hold session. The town is actually bigger than I suspected although the amenities are still pretty sparse. I would not recommend the Minestrone soup as it is a strange concoction of fluorescent orange/red liquid with mushy spaghetti and brown colored peas. It is best to stick with the staples of beans, rice, and fried chicken!

We finished our research in our first study village Ng'humbi. The village is really out in the bush and for much of the 2 hour journey from Kongwa there are no distinct roads besides the dirt paths the cattle herders and farmers use. Our trusty driver Uweso though always seems to find the way. .. “go as the way opens.” There is one spot along the path where the government is building a bridge. In the past two weeks there has been no progress but there is always a large crowd mingling around the site, chomping on sugar cane stalks and waiting. Each time we pass we ask "where is the cement?" as that seems to be the problem. There is no cement so they just keep waiting. Luckily the car can go down and up the now dry river bank without a problem, although we did suffer two breakdowns.

The photo I tried to upload but to no avail was one taken at a funeral in Ng'humbi. It is both a time of mourning and celebration for life. One of the delicacies at the funeral is goat intestine. The villagers insisted that I could not continue to collect the GPS data until I sampled the meat. I finally relented but as luck would have it they had just finished the last bit. However, there was lots of fresh intestine for the next round of eating/celebrating so they proudly cut off a big hunk and gave it to me to bring home. Little did they know that the day before we had been experimenting with intestine in the fly traps. After just one day the traps were so full of maggots, chrysomia (flith flies...not the flies we are after), and had a stench you could smell for hundreds of meters that we decided to stick with bait that is much more palatable such as rotten fish or fruit.

There are a few decent latrines in the village built for just 33,000 Tsh ($28) which is a bargin compared to the cement block structures that cost more than a house. The latrines seem to be catching on and those that have them comment on how much cleaner it is to use the latrine rather than going in the bush full of thorns, thistles, and snakes.

One of my favorite questions in the village is to ask "Wapi ninaweza kuchimba dawa?" Literally it means where I can dig some medicine, but it is one way to ask where I can go to the bathroom. It always leads me to a latrine and I've definitely seem some interesting facilities. One was housing a family of goats so I decided to just go outside around the corner and hope that none of the kids that love to follow the "mzungu" , white person, would find me. Even though most villagers have a latrine they leave much to be desired.

Most of the villagers are so gracious. They treating my team and I to meals of ugali and fresh greens and tell me how if I stayed in Tanzania I could have much more wealth compared to returning to the U.S. In many ways I'm sure they are right. There is so much wealth here even in the midst of poverty.

Grace

The smallest of gestures
the most humble of gifts
can forever expand one’s heart
when they are given in grace
when the only motive is love.

Back in Kongwa the Catholic nuns continue to delight and treat me to fresh rabbit they raise behind their house and wine they make themselves. Secretly I think they just like to have me over for Sunday lunch to spice things up a bit and laugh at my Swahili.

The internet here is dying so before I'm disconnected completely I will sign off with a few more poems. I will add photos next time I am on a server with a bit more nguvu (strength) which will be when I am in Dar to meet old friends from the US in July.

Silence

Making space for silence
I found a beautiful chamber
Where everything was light.

Emptying

It does not matter where I am
sitting, squatting, standing
when I start the day
by emptying myself;
I mean letting all the crap come out,
I cannot help but giggle;
all the more possibilities
to be filled with what nurtures and delights.