Mission: Tanzania: Have a good weekend!

Friday, October 1, 2010

Have a good weekend!

It’s been quiet the last few days so not a whole lot to report. We finally have internet again at the office, however, there is no way of telling whether it will shut off again and for how long. It’s a little frustrating but does ensure high productivity on my part. Having finished the brochure on FGM, I am now returning my focus to my bigger task, that of drafting a training manual for the help-center workers (at CDF they refer to them as paralegals but given the connotation that has, I prefer to stay away from that label for this project). If anyone has any suggestions on what we call these people, let me know, until then they will be referred to as trainees or help-center workers.

So, since I don’t have very much to report today but do want to leave you with a little food for thought for the weekend, I kindly asked Sunday if I could use some of his words of wisdom in my blog. You may remember, Sunday is Olaf’s colleague who came over for dinner earlier in the week. For a lawyer, Sunday has some very wise things to say, although credit must also be given to Sunday’s grandfather who also contributed to these words of wisdom. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. Hopefully Sunday will give me more fodder for my blog in the months to come. This kind of knowledge needs to be shared.

The seven Cs to a lasting relationship (courtesy of Sunday’s Grandfather): Communication, Compromise, Connection, Conviction, Compliment, Conflict Resolution and Contact.

And a piece of advice-

Don't step on a foot that may belong to the ass you may have to lick tomorrow

My twist on this- don’t kick the ass of the person whose ass you may have to kiss tomorrow

Have a great weekend!!

1 comment:

AnonymousOctober 3, 2010 at 5:08 AM
Hi my dear lovely daughter. What a great soties you have to tell. I hope many friends will be able to share your adventures. In a seperate mail I will send you the details of Lex van Heeren, the old buddy at boarding school who has this lovely farm in SA.
Take care "little"girl
your dad
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Facts about children in Tanzania

**There are approximately 2.5 million orphans in Tanzania.

**Almost half the population of Tanzania (44%) is under 15 years of age.

**Fewer than 20 percent of the children enrolled in primary education proceed to secondary schools.

**Completion rates for children once enrolled in school are 56% for primary education and 33% for secondary education.

**By 2000 only 55 percent of seven-year-olds were enrolled in primary education.

**Approximately one in three children ages 5-14 are working to help support their family.

**Approximately 5-15% of women and girls undergo female genital mutilation with the average age at which the procedure is performed being 10 years old.

**Traditional practices still observed in Tanzania include

*female genital mutilation,

*child bondage, and

*child marriages

Challenges Worldwide

My placement has been arranged by Challenges Worldwide, an international development charity based in Edinburgh, Scotland that recruits volunteers with professional skills and experience to work with partner organizations in developing countries. Challenges Worldwide is an award-winning social enterprise that has recruited, trained and managed over 600 professionally skilled volunteers across three continents since 1998. They work hard to match volunteer skills and experience with the needs of its partner organizations. Volunteers are currently placed in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Belize, Sri Lanka, Kenya and Tanzania. To learn more about Challenges Worldwide, please visit their website at http://www.challengesworldwide.com/ or visit their blog at http://challengesworldwide.wordpress.com.