I'm here!

What a whirlwind it has been since I arrived.  I was met at the airport by a friendly taxi driver who is a friend of my supervisor at CDF, Koshuma.  He was very patient as I asked him many questions about the random speedbumps in the middle of a very large road that come without warning and in general about the traffic rules in Tanzania (there are very few).  I did notice that his turn signals were either not working or he just enjoyed signaling by putting his arm out the window and honking at people to let them know he was coming.  All in all, I now see why he had two large gashes in his windshield.  What made the drive one that I will definitely never forget is when we drove by a crowd that had gathered in the left lane (slow lane over here since they drive on the other side) and as we drove past I realized they were all looking at a man’s (or woman’s) partial body and partial skull.  As the driver explained to me- you should not drive a moped in Dar.  Lesson learned.  I will spare you the gory details but I will say that I did not instantly recognize that it was a person.

Having gotten over the shock, I was welcomed to Dar properly by Olaf who kindly opened up his home to me (which is lovely) and is letting me stay with him while I sort out my accommodations (more about that later).  Although I was exhausted, I could not sleep but was wide awake and ready for the day this morning.  After having toast with Nutella (thanks Olaf :) for breakfast, off to work it was.  Since it was my first day I was allowed to arrive a little late.  As it turns out, I had the wrong address (they moved offices) and so we had to go back all the way across town in the opposite direction.  But we did finally make it.  Koshuma met us at the petrol station on the corner with a big welcoming smile.

My first day at the office has certainly been eventful.  Not many people can say they have seen two dead bodies within 12 hours.  I can.  As it turns out, there was a funeral for my colleague, Grace’s, mother who had recently passed away (not in a moped accident).  The services were in an airy Lutheran Church and included us walking by the open casket.  I didn’t want to be rude so I too walked by the casket.  So there you have it.  Two dead bodies in a day.  I believe this counts as my first “out of my element” experience.  Having sat through a wonderful service in Swahili, I now have a full appreciation of just how beautiful the language is and am therefore renewing my pledge to learn more of it.  So far I have learned Mambo (Jambo is what most people think is hello but is actually only used in Kenya) Habire (news?) Kariboo (you’re welcome) poa (cool) and pole (I’m sorry).  All very important words to know.  Not bad for a first day.  Now let’s hope I remember them!

Everyone at CDF was very friendly and welcoming.  I have my own little desk by the door where I will be working when in the office.  I have obtained permission to work from home (or internet café) at times and have also learned that I will be joining them in Mwanza and the Mara region (probably Tarime) to meet some of the girls that are in the programs that CDF has developed to combat child marriage.  In addition to learning about what CDF has accomplished so far (which is quite impressive- I will try and upload the chart they have created to outline their accomplishments and goals if I can get permission) I also learned about a new program they are involved in led by UNICEF.  The Children’s Agenda focuses on addressing politicians and lobbying them to approach decision-making with an eye towards children’s rights and benefits to children.  Basically formulating budgets that include child-oriented funding for things such as education and health care.  Florence is working on this project and has already had four politicians sign declarations that they will focus on children’s issues and bring them to the forefront.  Given that there are general elections in Tanzania in just a few weeks, this is no small task as apparently when they are campaigning politicians are impossible to get a hold of.  I told her she needs to find them when they are in Dar and just bug the crap out of them until they give her ten minutes of their time.  She informed me another organization that is also involved with the Children’s Agenda had successfully used this method. 

As for my role with CDF, that is slowly getting clearer.  After having spoken with Emmanuel and Koshuma at length about what CDF is involved with now and what they might need from an attorney, we developed what I hope will be an achievable project.  In the near foreseeable future I will be helping with the development of a brochure that outlines the law related to female genital mutilation both domestically and internationally and the available mechanisms to protect girls from this horrible but prevalent ritual.  FGM is a new focus that CDF is becoming involved in.  Following their substantial work on child marriage it became apparent that one of the underlying problems of child marriage is FGM and this could not be ignored. 

Hopefully this brochure will take shape quickly as my larger project is the one that really excites me.  So my bigger project is going to be designing a training framework to train young women and men on supporting children with any legal issues they may have.  What they have in mind is developing a service where children can ask questions and get appropriate and proper responses on how they can manage their particular situation.  For instance, take a girl of 12 who is about to undergo FGM.  She does not know what her options and rights are and also does not know where to go to find out.  CDF intends on creating a type of helpline service where these children can go to get responses that will inform them of their rights and the mechanisms available to them to invoke those rights.  My role in this is to design a training framework that will train unqualified people not only how to talk to children but also how to answer any of these questions that might come up.  The difficulty is not only designing such a framework but also in having to anticipate the types of questions that might arise.  Thankfully, CDF was involved with a PEER research program that gathered a lot of information related to what children are concerned about and what they have questions about.  This will help focus the training somewhat.  I’m very excited about this because the plan is to start the program in Tarime and then, if successful, to start a network of these centers where children can go for help.  It may be a lofty goal but as is evidenced by some of their other programs, such as the “girls club”, developing a strong basis will allow it to grow.  The intent is to train a group that will eventually be able to train other groups and thus make a sustainable program that needs less oversight even though it continues to grow.  Like I said, this is a big project!

So after an eventful day at work, it was time to ask about the buses and how to get back to Olaf’s place.  Florence was kind enough to walk me to the bus which I had to run after to catch and off I went.  I knew I had to go to Morocco and so that’s what I told the conductor (not a driver, I was corrected).  I paid my 250 TSH (approximately 13 Euro cents or 17 US cents) and got off at Morocco.  That’s when I was a little lost.  Thankfully I also looked a little lost and so I was asked if I needed help and where I was going.  I found my bearings and made it home (right before dark, which is good because I’m not sure I would’ve found it (made it) otherwise!).  I’m very excited that on my first day I completely managed to make my way around Dar. (also glad there were no dead bodies on the way home :)  Tomorrow I take the bus to work.  We’ll see how well that goes.  One step at a time!  Now it’s off to dinner with Olaf.  He seems to know all the little hotspots for good food so this is bound to be delicious!  Stay tuned, I’m not sure it gets weirder than two bodies in less than two days but you never know!