orphanages in africa

you've probably noticed something missing from my blog.  if not, let me tell you what you won't see.  me, a white girl, surrounded by a group of over exploited black children.

yes, it seems on the list of everyone visiting africa that they post a photo of themselves, usually in an 'orphanage', 'helping' the children of africa by stopping in for a day to teach english, play games or some other nonsense that makes them feel good about themselves.

in Asia this it is a huge taboo to allow tourists to visit orphanages [because of the pedophile trade] so at first i was shocked but then i began to understand what was going on.  here it is an industry.  

the women in the villages were watching as tourists flocked to the orphanages and left money donations to support the organizations.  being willing [most but not all] to exploit the western tourists for their money they opened 'orphanages' in their villages.  however, in their case it's more like day care, at the end of the day the children go home to a family with money in their pocket collected from the tourists that day.  one orphanage here was painted three times in the last year so volunteer tourists could feel good about 'helping' africa.  

so think about that when your tour guide says, 'would you like to visit an orphanage?' it's probably a red flag that you picked the wrong tour company but you will get your photo surrounded by exploited african children that you can post on facebook. 

i have plenty of photos of me interacting with locals so don't think i only have western friends here.  i just don't want to exploit them the way i see other people doing it.  

where i live in northern Tanzania is a hotbed of NGOs so getting a volunteer position here is easier than getting a job at mcdonalds.  it's hard to differentiate what i do.  creating jobs, empowering the people through sustainable economic development vs. this cycle of dependence on foreign aid.  ugh... enough for this week.  fun stuff next post i promise!

banned from the office

as i mentioned before, the general manager here chose not to apply for a work visa for me which requires me to do the in/out every three months.  providing a work visa was part of my employment contract so not providing one is a bit of a problem contractually.

Tanzanian law is pretty clear about what is required to have anyone who is not a national on staff.  but, in all fairness, there were some changes to resident/working permits about the time Magafuli took office so there has been confusion among the immigration staff about how they are going to continue to get their bribes and make money under the new policies requiring them to slow down the process until they again have a corruption scheme in place.

still, my bosses know the situation and they know back to back multiple business visas are not considered legal.  on my last reentry i did get pulled into an office for some questions but i was just polite and smiled and got through.

about a month ago a notice went out that anyone with a work permit or a resident visa must go to immigration to validate their paperwork.  what they didn't say is that when you do this you will be given an id card which you have to carry at all times.

fine, i thought i'd be out of the country before they actually got around to checking.  well apparently not, with just a few weeks to go before i leave i get a note saying don't come into the office because the immigration raids have begun.  

i know people in the expat community who have paid up to $1,000 in bribes although that's high - usually it's just around $300.  otherwise it's a 72 hour notice to leave the country - either way i'm not taking any chances and just hold meetings at my house which everyone likes because it's cooler and i have coffee and water.

this doesn't last long as things grind to a halt at the office without supervision and i give in and go back to office hours.

whale sharks - mafia island

i just got off the boat from a trip out to swim with the whale sharks and it was like nothing i had ever done before.  it is a not to be missed peak life experience.

not my photo

it was exciting and scary at the same time.  they are massive animals [up to 40ft] and swimming along side of them can be intimidating.  when you look down and see one of the massive fish surfacing under you its just unnerving.  there's no way to get out of its path.

fortunately they are harmless to humans so getting into the water with them is safe. unfortunately, they are harmless to humans and some people treat them more like a domesticated pet than a wild animal.

my first trip out was with a conservation group so i was well briefed on both etiquette and research being done on the species. it's really amazing what they've learned about these fish and how much they don't know.  check out  wwf profile and nat geo profile

i swam with sharks before but it was more like a petting zoo where the sharks are fed and domesticated or seen sharks while diving [ok.... the sharks on the GBR Australia were a little bit intimidating].  still, the largest shark i've seen while i was in the water was only about 9ft [3 meters].  later, in a social setting, when someone mentioned her experience of diving and touching one of the whale sharks it was awkward.  i was thinking, ummmm i don't think you are supposed to touch them.

for those of you who thought me crazy to mingle with the mountain gorrillas and think swiming these guys was just as crazy, let me tell you that i have another crazy wish... one day to dive with whales.

kua ruins, juani island, mafia archipelego, tanzania

it's a short and very worthwhile trip out juani island to see the kua ruins. it's another world heritage site that i'm glad to take the time to see.  i'm absolutely fascinated by the history and the how well developed their structures and society were that the remnants are still standing thousands of years later.  

other than a few fishermen we find at the access point to the island ruins we don't see any humans.  monkeys and birds and assorted reptiles, yes.  maybe that's why i like it more than the touristy and exploited dark slave history of Zanzibar.  we timed the return from the island for sunset over mafia and it was the perfect end to a relaxing day on the island.

  

last trip to dar - hopefully

after an exhausting 5 days in Dar for customer meetings and the farmers market to train the new sales girl i am getting on another ridiculously small plane to fly to Mafia Island for a week holiday which is supposed to be deserted with fabulous diving.  

still as i board the plane find myself wondering which seat is best if the plane crashes? will the plane break apart if if crashes in the water? do I really need to wear a safety belt? wouldn't that make it harder to escape during a water landing?

the guy sitting next to me is from Bulgaria and says he works with fastjet on the Bulgarian planes which makes no sense to me because i didn't know Bulgaria was making planes and since i find myself on fastjet a lot now i can add that to my mental checklist every time i board one of those flights.

i also meet a Canadian based in South Sudan working for MSF and she makes me feel grateful for Moshi when she talks about the hours and conditions in which she works. god bless them.

of course there is no problem and it's a beautiful flight and the pilot puts us down on the right island and the 'airport' is as small as the island.

strangely, when we land there is a sign that says the airport is funded by the americans.  not sure what's up with that.  also, same with the roads on the island which are much nicer than where i live in Moshi.

dar el salaam traffic

just another day sitting in traffic in dar

getting married in Tanzania

NO, not me.  one of the first nationals i met when i landed was Eileen who has remained a good friend.  she has a wonderful sense of humor and i enjoy every moment with her.  i was thrilled to have her ask me to be included in her wedding and it was a first hand look into the process a girl goes through here.  there are multiple ceremonies and traditions but the one i liked best was part of the bride price negotiation.  the bride's family will ask the grooms family for a price - say 20 cows - but the interesting part is that the bride's family gets to ask for stuff too.  like an aunt could ask for new cooking pans, a sister could ask for a phone, etc.... i asked if she could put me down for some tanzanite but she said i wasn't entitled to the list.

bus from Moshi to Dar el Salaam

i have until now avoided taking a bus anywhere in East Africa.  it's the most common although time consuming way to get around.  for this trip to Dar i'm traveling with a new sales rep for training and although a flight from Moshi to Dar is about the same cost the new managing director doesn't want to seem like he's giving special considerations to the marketing team and tells us to take the bus.  i'm actually okay with this since my forward travel after Dar is to one of the islands for a one week holiday and i won't be returning via bus.

i appreciate the opportunity to see via the ground a lot of what i've been flying over.  the 10 hour bus ride turns into a 14 hour trip but at least it does not break down which is not only common but is expected anywhere in Africa.  indeed, a western couple approaches me on the halfway break and says every bus trip they've been on has broken down.  i use the chance to learn some more about the sales rep that we hired to expand the business and i'm disappointed but not surprised that she's really not interested in what we are doing.  she just needed a job since the organization she was working for was defunded.  i'm not saying that's a direct reflection of her sales skills but i hired her reluctantly at the request of the managing director knowing she'd need lots of training.

turns out i'm not missing much between Moshi and Dar and i'm glad i'm not returning via bus.

she's well educated by Tanzanian standards but perhaps too much so as she aspires to become the next discovered 'african model' and work at the UN.  i'm all about empowering women to reach their goals but in this case i'm thinking it's not going to happen.  [spoiler alert: this 24 year old, who is unmarried, ends up pregnant and supporting the baby daddy in a continued cycle of poverty that could be avoided with some education about and use of birth control. yeah, i saw that one coming.  it's time to give these women some power over their own lives and control over their future.]   

getting accommodations in Dar is difficult because the company allowance is not generous and i usually stay someplace nicer but this time not willing to pick up the cost for an extra employee.  my new sales rep [a tanzanian who speaks the language] is absolutely worthless in helping with this.  let's say i slept with the lights on.

an american visit

had a short visit from an American friend and it was surprising to realize how much i miss my friends from home.  sure i skype with a lot of people but it's really not the same because there isn't a way to describe the not knowing if there will be water or electricity of some other disaster when get home.  

but when she mentioned she wasn't checking any luggage i was quick to throw together a bag of stuff that is mostly gifts and souvenirs that will lighten my load when i return.  as i kept wrapping orange duck tape around the bag she kept saying what are you doing?  

clearly, when you think it not just normal but also necessary to wrap your bags in duck tape when checking them from a third world country you've been traveling for too long.  i've long passed the point when dragging this off the baggage carousel would embarrass me.  

gay house vs. chaos

there is a dutch expat who i see a couple of times a month.  she does some contract work at the office so one evening over drinks i was asking how our company compared with some of the others she works with.  

she was saying how well run our company in comparison with other organizations so the discussion went to which companies were most disorganized and she said one is openly called gayhouse which seemed inappropriate and a little odd to me.  then i realized with the thick accent she was saying chaos and not gayhouse.  i think i'm losing all my english language skills.

the expats here who are paid western salaries are worked to death.  most of the professionals i know work 10 hours a day in contrast to most locals that start work around 9 and wrap up around 4.