Elections Schmelections

This morning was a difficult start.  First my new shoes were still wet and I ended up treading dirt all over the house.  Then I found ants in the newly arranged cabinet.  Ugh, I hate bugs.  I especially hate bugs in the morning.  It has been incredibly hot and I sweat before I even walk outside.  By 9:00 a.m. it had already been a long day!  It has gotten better though as we had a great brainstorming session at work which I will come back to in a minute.

This weekend we had elections in Dar es Salaam.  Since I can’t vote, I figured I’d spend the day on the beach reading my book instead.  Good choice on my part as I was able to finish Shake Hands with the Devil and can now move on to another book.  I think before I start my next serious read, I will try something a little more light-hearted.  Shake Hands with the Devil has had an indelible effect on me and I cannot seem to let go of some of the thoughts it has provoked.  I am hopeful that a lighter read will help me move on from it.

Back to the elections.  They appear to have occurred without much fuss.  I have yet to notice anything different about Dar during the elections (although there are maybe one or two additional AK-47 wielding military folk around the America Embassy, that's about it). 

From talking to some people here, one of the bigger concerns of the people is corruption but also the fact that there is some building frustration that the current government is not fulfilling their previous campaign promises and people are starting to notice (sound familiar?).  Tanzania is known as one of the more (if not most) peaceful countries in Africa, however, it is also extremely poor.  Foreign investment is severely limited (I, as a foreigner, cannot buy land here) and this is very limiting in bringing investors (and their money) into Tanzania.  Tanzania holds on tightly to the concept that Tanzanian land is for Tanzanians and although very welcoming to foreigners in general, they are not welcoming their potential investors.  With it being a quite stable nation in Africa with a large port you would assume it would be quite appealing to investors and so it is a shame that this apparently will not change either.   Anyway, they have not yet determined a winner and Enok informed me over lunch that this is partly because it takes some time but also because apparently one particular area didn’t get any ballots and still have to vote (see, it can be worse than electronic ballots). J Naturally, when they have determined a winner, it will be posted (as soon as I know since I do not have a television or radio).

Other than that, I went to Mwenge Market and bought some rubber shoes I’ve been eyeing that will hopefully get me through the rainy season.  They were TZS 3,500 which is less than 2 Euros.  For that price, I didn’t even haggle.  It has been unbelievably hot here the last week or so and I am almost at the point where I am excited for the rains to start just to be able to go outside and cool off under it like a sprinkler.  Naturally, I do also realize that with the rain will come unbearable humidity but I am staying positive J 

I walk by Mwenge Market everyday to and from work to the daladala station and feel quite comfortable in that area, however, when it is as busy and bustling as it was on Saturday, this can be quite overwhelming.  Although it is nice to see it come alive, it takes a certain skill to dodge daladalas, taxis, merchants and people all while perusing merchandise.  It was a fun experience and I hope to do it again since I didn’t even get into the market area completely (we ran out of time).  I did not take any pictures of this area as I didn’t have my camera with me.  Next time I go on an excursion to Mwenge I will certainly take some pictures.  I would do it on my way to or from the office but I want to blend in a little and it really is a different experience when it is very busy. 

As for which beach we went to, we went back to Kipipeo.  It really is a nice area.  It takes under an hour (including the brief ferry ride) to get there and the best part is that you feel as if you have completely left the city behind you even though you are not that far from it.  It is also not very busy and we got there early enough Sunday morning to get a spot in the shade of a tiki hut on the beach which is a good thing because it was burning hot!  We also got there early enough to catch a large number of people who were (hopefully) heading into the city to vote.

Albert has finally made it back to the office today so I am really looking forward to talking to him about the feedback he received from the girls who have gone through the girls club training.  I have already approached him about this and we are meeting this afternoon to have a talk.  I am hopeful that he has brought back some useful information for me that I can incorporate into my manual to make it as effective as possible.  It is important to get the opinion of people who have already gone through some training offered by CDF to determine what tools are effective to this audience. 

As I said earlier, we had a great brainstorming session this morning about the FGM campaign.  It is really starting to take shape and I am excited that things are starting to get going on this very important issue.  We are in the process of arranging an awareness raising campaign and community dialogue in Tarime.  Tarime is apparently one of the most traditional areas in Tanzania and therefore highly impacted by FGM.  If the program works there, it will work anywhere is basically the thought process of starting the movement in Tarime.  The brainstorming session led to a slogan (in Kiswahili) and a general outline of a four-day awareness raising event (that hopefully I will be able to participate in).  It has to take place this month since Grace has learned that the FGM season is about to commence.  Apparently in Tarime starting in October the community (tribe) leaders wait for a man and a woman to die in the community (any man and any woman) and that means it is time to have the girls mutilated.  The concern is that we arrive too late, however, having just received this information the campaign has gone into high gear.  I also think the elections may have slowed things down a bit as Tarime also has some history (in the 2000 elections) of violence during that time. 

As I stated last week, I have also been going through several other manuals that offer HIV/AIDS training programs in various other countries in Africa to determine whether any of those approaches would also be useful in the situation at hand.  I have found that they are helpful in framing some of the issues involved in talking to vulnerable children and have I been able to compliment my limited knowledge of this area with some inspiration obtained from these manuals.  With a little fudging to make it more applicable to victimized children, many of the concepts in communicating with children are similar.

On a side note, I can now count to ten in Kiswahili and this has helped me enormously in buying my vegetables.  Now instead of using fingers I can use words :)  It's the little things...