Mambo Rafikis
I’ll be honest in admitting that I’ve been delaying writing this blog entry primarily because it will be my final one since Phase 1 of our project is nearly complete and it’s time for me to return home. It’s not going to be easy to pull away from the project or life here in Tabora but I’m happy that Jordan and I will be leaving the reigns in the hands of two very awesome new volunteers – Stephen and Peter (expect some posts from them soon).
The last week has been a whirlwind of activities and engagements and while I’m hesitant to pick a favorite to talk about, I have two good stories to share. The first is regarding the Nane Nane festivities which I wrote about in the last entry. As I mentioned, Nane Nane is the national farmer’s holiday and given that Tanzania has an agricultural-based economy, the celebrations were grand. A group of us went to the local fair grounds where thousands of people attended to sample an eclectic array of food, be entertained with various cultural shows and become educated on successful farming practices. There were booths showing the proper techniques to raising cattle, how to deal with crop diseases and simply what tools to use to maximize one’s crop (be it tobacco, maze, etc). In my eyes, I could see a place for OTS at the fair in the future, similarly educating people on how to use ICT tools to improve their standard of living. Although I’ll admit that we’ll have a lot of work to do as the booths that we saw were clearly the product of many people’s hard efforts. I think in this situation, pictures speak louder than words so below is a sample of shots from the day:
The second thing I wanted to talk about is outside of the scope of the project, but I feel like it’s a story worth sharing. Lying in bed around 12 am last Friday, I heard what has become a familiar Friday night hum which I had suspected was emanating from a nearby church. Generally, you get used to the daily sounds of Tabora like roosters and rap music but there was definitely an intoxicating aspect to the harmony so I got up and told the group that I was going ‘to follow the music’.
Locating the church wasn’t difficult and much to my surprise, one of the choir teachers came out and invited us in. The moment of entry was surreal. The small church – about 100 x 270 feet – was booming with the voices of the teacher who was to the left of us and the 20 strong choir to our right. It honestly felt like a wave of sound had entered my head. We grabbed some seats and were invited by our new friend to stay the night with the choir. We learnt that the only time they had to rehearse was Friday through the night and here we are, 1 am at this point, and just glued to our seats embracing the moment. We ended up staying for about two hours but leaving was not an easy task. No one made us feel uncomfortable or uneasy. They certainly did what they could to make us feel welcome and we were even asked to address the group during a break. Talking in Swahili, I wasn’t able to come up with too much other than some key greetings but it was nevertheless a good moment. Akin to many of our other experiences here, the group was exceptionally courteous and even clapped a couple of times as if to say that they were honored by our attendance even though it was exactly the other way around. For those who will be joining OTS, I highly suggest you too follow the music – it’s worth it in ways you don’t even know yet.
I suppose that’s a pretty good way of summing up my experience here in Tabora with OTS. As colloquial as it sounds, your experiences will also always be as good as you make it. So whether it is here in Tabora or somewhere else, I hope you embrace your environment and never shy away from something different and unfamiliar (of course, unless it seems dangerous). You’ll find, as I found, that while things might seem unique on the outside, on the inside we all want and enjoy the same things. It’s perhaps this fact that makes our project most compelling to me: we are here to work within the environment, not against or on top of it. This requires embracing the way of life and the people here and undoubtedly this produces an experience unlike any other. At least, this is how I feel when thinking retrospectively, but I guess you’ll just have to find out or yourself.
Adil
