I am sitting on our balcony looking at the sunlit lake with a myriad of birds swirling around, listening to the harmonious choirs of the churches and happy to not be moving anymore. I left Victoria on Wednesday afternoon and arrived home Saturday evening. A tumultuous time with highs of the birth of Harper Elizabeth encasing joyous times with Eben and Rebecca’s twins, Jana and Gabi plus superhero Isaac and of course Eben, Rebecca and Rebecca’s mom, Margaret. Coming down to earth with the news that one of our team, the creator of the project, is going home with a devastating diagnosis. Somehow we three newbies have to fill his space as much as possible.
The change from Tanzania to Canada and back again highlighted the differences in the cultures. Here in Africa they seem to embrace what I would call chaos but they would call I don’t know what but it appears to be socializing. Efficiency is anything but the rule. For example, there are few signs so it is necessary to constantly ask where to go and what to do when going through customs and immigration from Uganda to Tanzania. Leaving the ‘out’ immigration office in Uganda it is not clear where to go to the ‘in’ immigration in Tanzania but there are many people who will guide you to the right place for a price. Being a “muzungu” ( foreigner or white person) these helpers descend like flies grabbing at my sleeve. Being me, I disliked this so I marched off on my own and walked a long way before I realized I didn’t know where I was. I asked a kindly older gentleman to help and he guided me in to the right place without asking for money. I know, I know that these people need the income BUT something in me resents the need for many (20+) men to be thinking this is a productive occupation.
It highlights the need for slow change. As education increases, jobs requiring this education must be in demand. I wish I could explain it more eloquently. Young people graduate from high school or even college and cannot find jobs because the infrastructure has not developed enough. On the other side are many, many young men (especially I see the young men) standing or sitting around with little to do. Many, many taxi drivers and piki piki drivers (motorcycle) waiting for business. An unbelievable number of tiny shops – all hopefully making subsistence earnings with no hope of advancement. Most have 5+ men sitting outside chatting. A few have ambition for more but feel that opportunities are lacking. And it is true that for the few go-getters there is a chance but not for all.
Sorry only a sunrise picture taken from out balcony and, I am led to believe, too much writing. 483 words when the optimum in 300. Oops! I hope I didn’t bore you with my rambling. My mind is not yet in gear from the trip but I’ll post anyway. Thanks to all who made it to the end.
All the best 
Gosh, I can easily take that number of words and more and that photo is just wonderful. That’s your view? Incredible 🙂 Welcome back and so sorry about the sad news of your team member. Of course you guys will do him proud as you take on the project yourselves in his absence. It is very sad that the infrastructure/job availability doesn’t meet demand – it must make it hard for parents to see the point of sending their children to school. I wonder if a campaign would help to encourage those few better off people to be spending more money within their communities? You know, instead of shopping at the supermarkets in the large towns so as to demonstrate their greater income, spreading the wealth by supporting those in smaller, rural establishments.
Culture shock. I can only imagine….
Thanks for your post. It reminds me not to be so judgmental when I see an idle person sleeping in the street.
I wasn’t bored! Interesting comments about the men hanging around with not much to do. This seems to be especially true in the market. No wonder when there is any kind of incident they all suddenly appear and want to get involved. Hope we can make a tiny difference at least with our education project. It’s great to have you back 🙂 x
This location is in such a beautiful surrounding. Hopefully this helps sustain its people. This is the time of “growing pains” of sustainability everywhere. We can learn from people like those from Bukoba, who live more lightly on the planet. They can be proud of the things that they are doing right. It must be frustrating sometimes, though, to not be able to bring faster changes where one sees they are needed. Your work is so important to that end.