Review/Preview

2012. Year of the Queen's Jubilee. Year of the London Olympics. The year the world was, yet again, supposed to end. What did 2012 mean to you?

For me, 2012 was all about being better, doing more things, meeting more people. I feel like I accomplished all of those things. And then some. During this year I have had some of the most incredible experiences like going on safari, lying on a beach sipping cocktails in Zanzibar, watching the Rwandan Genocide trials. I've met some of the most amazing people from all over the world during volunteering and law school. I have lost a lot of weight and am sticking to the exercise plan I've drawn up for myself. I'm studying law and enjoying it.

During the past year I have grown into something different, and hopefully, something more than I was last year. I may not have achieved everything I wanted to do or be but I can look back at the past year content at my progress. There are things that I wished I had done differently, or things I would have liked to have taken a different path than they did, but I can honestly look back on 2012 and say this was the best year of my life. On 31/12/12 I am fitter, more assured, more travelled than I was on 01/01/12. I have made more friends and kept in touch with those that I have made better. I've discovered that I can be organised and that I communicate well. I've started teaching myself a new language and researching where I want to go next. Always planning for the future, instead of dwelling on the past. In my mind, this has been a successful year.

There has still been things that I haven't managed. That vacation scheme interview still eludes me and my lack of blogging since I came back from Tanzania is something I regret. However, they will just have to improve in 2013 and 2013 will be even better for it. I'm going to be fitter, more confident, going after what I want. I am gunning for that training contract, I will do well on my GDL and I am going to travel even more. I'll start blogging again, I'll learn how to fix my own car, I may even pick up my guitar again like I've always said I would. All of this because 2012 has shown me how good it can be. So to all of you who have played your part, in my studies, my work and my play, thank you and I look forward to all of you being involved in even better things to come.

Happy New Year everyone :)

So I Shagged a Tribeswoman

So here we are. Three months and three weeks ago my friend sent me a text wishing me a safe journey and that he looked forward to my blog entry entitled...well, what this blog post is called. It is almost surreal that I am leaving Tanzania. This past four months have been four of the most amazing, fun-filled, eye-opening months in my life. Anyone who has been following my Facebook or my blog will already have an idea of how much I have loved this experience. I have taught some truly adorable children at Gohechi. I have read and talked about some harrowing moments when researching FGM. I have met some of the most amazing people from all over this globe: Australia; America; Canada; Belgium; France; Denmark; Sweden; Norway; Holland; Germany; Japan; Mexico; and, most of all, Tanzania.

I have learned so much while I have been here, about myself and about the world. My bucket list has expanded far more than I have managed to tick off in this four month period. I have seen the natural beauty of Manyara, Ngorongoro and the Serengeti, of Maji Moto, and Zanzibar. I have seen the beauty of the people here, the local people who try and make you feel as welcome as possible, and the volunteers who are here to really try and make a difference in the lives of the people the come into contact with.

I went on safari, I snorkelled with dolphins, I lazed around on a pristine beach in a five-star resort. I did the things that everyone can do, and usually do, when they come to this part of the world. But I also sat in front of thirty Maasai elders in their village to hold an intimate discussion about their culture, I was a guest at another Maasai village where they sacrificed a goat for our shared feast, I went to the United Nations Internations Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. How many people get to say they have done these things?
I am lucky to have been given the opportunity to do these things,  blessed that I grew up in a family, in a country, where I was given the opportunity to get to where I am now, a university graduate who has taken a year to travel to a different part of the work before he heads to law school writing a blog on his £300 laptop. £300 that I can blow on a piece of unnecessary electronic luxury which could pay for two years of schooling for a child here. We have so much given to us on a plate in the West. In the UK, free education and free healthcare, huge I-max cinemas and excellent sports facilities. Here in Tanzania, they pay for school and hospital treatment and if they can not afford it, they don't go. A large number of the people can not afford luxuries like going to the movies or out to eat every fortnight. The children play football on patches of flat land littered with stones and thorns.

If you, dear reader, are thinking about doing something like this, or know someone who is considering travelling or volunteering, then don't hesitate. Do it but do your research and find the best volunteering programme and company for you. I was lucky in choosing Projects Abroad and Tanzania for my experience. You should not have to take that chance. Volunteering and living with a host family is such an awesome experience and I wish I could live these last three months again. That feeling of stepping off the plane, alone, into a foreign country where you do not know the language and gearing yourself up to call it home for a substantial period of time is a scary one but one that I will keep for eternity.

I talked about the volunteers in another dedicated post but I have to mention them again. On Friday, I was ready to go home. My friends were all leaving or had left. I was looking forward to getting back to (hopefully) working and earning some money. But then I went out on Saturday and met some new volunteers who have just arrived. And now I want to stay. I have learned over the last four years of being thrown into situations where I know no one, first at university and secondly in Tanzania, that I love meeting new people and that I am a social person. All the volunteers are similar and that is what makes it so easy to for me to be able to change my mind so quickly about leaving.

There are so many things that I miss about life at home: watching TV shows like House, Community, Game of Thrones; going to the pub; broadband internet; looking for a new phone; playing computer games. All this stuff that I look forward to doing when I'm back that really does not matter one bit. But I still want to do it. Travelling to a poor country really opens your eyes to how materialistic our lives are but that does not have to mean that one should totally abandon that way of life. I still want a good smartphone. I still want to play FIFA with my brother. I still want to catch up with the TV that I have missed while I've been away. I just hope that I will appreciate the life that I can live.

"Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

One day. One day and it will be over. Credits will roll and my job is done. Tomorrow morning I will be on the bus to Dar Es Salaam and my time with Projects Abroad as a volunteer will be over. Well, I will be in Arusha for four more days in June and will probably attempt some work in that time but, for the most part, I am done.

I will look over my work in another post but, for now, I will focus on what became an integral part of my stay: the volunteers. Before I left the UK, I assumed that I would be working most of the time, seeing volunteers once a week at the Projects Abroad organised socials. Indeed, in my first few weeks, that was the case. I worked 7:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. everyday and then went home. Occasionally, I would head into Arusha to go shopping but I had everything I needed at home. Food, my bed, internet access for my laptop were all available to me. It was an easy, sedentary life. Not particularly exciting but I was not spending much money either, which pleased my parents.

Then, in late March, we went on the day trip to the hot springs, which kick started my Tanzanian social life. Fast forward through two months of amazing times and we get to the point where I am having to say goodbye to all of my friends. Coincidentally, as it was the start of my social life, it was the end as well for yesterday we took another trip, my third, to the hot springs and it was just as amazing as the first. But that is also another story.

It began in April when I began working more and more in the office. Every day around two in the afternoon, three volunteers would drop by the office and they'd check their e-mail and Facebook, then we would head to a cafe called Stiggbucks, which did amazing salads and guacamole. We would sit, eat, chat for hours until it was time to head home, usually around 6:30 p.m. if you wanted to make it home before dark. That was my life for two months. Seeing the same people every single day. It was like being at university, in halls, living with the same people for an entire year. I knew that most of the people I would meet in Tanzania would have similar personalities to my own. Most volunteers do what they do to help make a difference in a developing country; they all want to experience a different culture and they are all outgoing people. I knew that before I came and, in fact, it was a big deciding factor in my decision to volunteer abroad but, like I mentioned earlier, I still thought I would only see them once a week at the Projects Abroad organised socials. As it turns out, I became so close with the other volunteers that it feels like I have known them for years not months. We constantly arranged our own dinners out, lunch gatherings, drinks on a warm evening. We go on nights out every Thursday night to Via Via and Saturday night to Empire and dance until 4 a.m. I now count some of the volunteers among some of my most valued friends, not only because we have a great time together but also because we have the same principles.

It makes a huge difference to your entire experience when you do something like this. You never experience anything like it when backpacking or while on holiday. You don't get the same in-depth experience that all of the volunteers share at some point. In Tanzania, we have all experienced beign the centre of attention, being called mzungu in the street. We all have our own opinions on ugali  and nyama choma. When you volunteer, you join a community of people and it is especially noticable when your volunteering period coincides with other volunteers. You go through the same good days, the same bad ones. You all get the same sense of realisation that you are actually living in Africa at the same time. You all get horrible dawning that your time is at an end at the same time.

The social life I have had in Arusha has been better than anything I have had at home. The knowledge that your time is limited and the fact that you might never see some of the other volunteers again means that you fully appreciate the time you have together. It is strange that, in reality, most of the European volunteers live fairly close together. Most of the volunteers come from Holland (£37 on Easyjet) or Denmark (£32 on Easyjet), places that are not expensive to get to from the UK. In fact, I've already made plans to travel to Paris, Amsterdam and Copenhagen in November with some volunteers. It is a comforting notion, knowing that I will see my friends again but for the ones who live further afield, Canada, USA, Australia, it is devastating that I may not ever see them again.

That said, I think that the group of friends I have made are dedicated to staying in touch, especially as we have already got plans for a Eurotrip in the summer of 2013. At least, I hope so. Lots of things can happen in a year and who knows what circumstances life might throw at us but, hopefully, we will all make it for reunions in 2013 and beyond. At this time, and probably to anybody outside our group, it might seem ambitious to be hoping for a Eurotrip next year when all of us have already spent so much on volunteering this year, as well as having our studies next year, but I really want it to work. The volunteers have played such a massive part in making these last three months the best months of my life.

Saying goodbye is hard. Both when it comes to the people you know you might not see again and to the people that you know you will. While volunteering abroad, you build such intense relationships that you feel like you've known each other for years when, in actual fact, you know very little about them, what their favourite song or colour is for example. However, you get to know their personalities. I know that, out of my three friends I mentioned earlier, one is a really happy-go-lucky kind of guy who is up for anything, another is a kind, caring, non-confrontational girl who just wants to enjoy herself, and the third is a feisty character who will give as good as she gets when someone wrongs her or her friends.

I wish we all lived in the same city or country but such is life. Some people say that saying goodbye becomes easier as time goes on. For the staff here, they have such a huge turnover in volunteers that they are saying goodbye to someone every week. I hope it never becomes easy for me to say goodbye. When it's difficult, that's when you know you've had an amazing time. Life is short, make the most of it. You realise that when you do something like this. Three months has passed in a flash.

I think all that's left for me to say is a huge THANK YOU to the volunteers in Arusha, you've given me the best three months and enriched my life. Stay in touch and you've always got a place to stay in London.

EmE, CK, MB, JO, EJM, EK, EL, JGr, TL, ElE, ASVGN, PH, JN, AB, RS, CD, JGl, CM, FS, MJ, YE, AA, AL, SU, QN, JV, VB, JB, SB, PF, LS, HP, AS, ES, IH

You know who you are. If I've missed anyone, I apologise, let me know and I'll edit the list.

Perspective From the Middle of Nowhere

It's 8 a.m. Thursday 26^th April. I leave the house wrapped up warm in my hoodie. There's a chill in the air and rain is beginning to fall. There is a mixture of feelings coursing through my body. Part of me is really excited to see the possibilities open to us after this meeting; part of me just wants us to abandon the whole idea that we are ever going to change the way the Maasai live. I meet with two fellow volunteers, enjoying a warming coffee at the place we were supposed to meet. Our ride has not shown up though, so we are left waiting, discussing our hopes for the day ahead. Our ride picks us up; we head straight to Sokonone in order to pick up the food.

The road is bumpy and the previous nights activities does not sit well with one of the other volunteers. Having picked up our food and deposited some other food behind a bush, we head from Sokonone west towards Nanja. The car ride is cramped, slow and we are stopped twice by the cops but nothing happens. We pull up outside a small unassuming village, we greet our co-ordinator who is going to lead us through the bush to the village itself. The road gets even more uneven. We are running behind schedule. Multiple times we stop, the driver disembarking to inspect the route we are taking. Multiple times he comes back shaking his head but still we proceed. As we make our way up a muddy hill we spot four Maasai men digging their vehicle out of the mud. Could be us soon. We climb higher and higher as we reach rolling hillsides, surrounded by farmland, a sea of green after the rains.

Suddenly, we have stopped and are told to get out of the vehicle. The road is too muddy here and we must proceed by foot with our co-ordinator ferrying our supplies by motorbike. Conscious of the time, I ask how far the village is. It is not far, I am told, we can see it over in the direction that our supervisor is pointing. It does not seem so far, which is reassuring. We begin to walk in that direction, along the soft mud path, taking care of where we step. I have worn walking boots which suit this task but one of the other volunteers is in flip-flops. We pass some Maasai children on the way who stare at us, confused and curious. We continue walking. As we pass the huts we had thought our supervisor meant, he motions to our actual destination, on top of a hill in the distance. Laughter floats across the hills as we joke about our predicament in order to prevent ourselves from succumbing to despair.

Eventually, we reach the bottom of the hill and begin our ascent. We are met at the top by four Maasai who welcome us to their village. We trudge a little further before being ushered into a school building. As we sit, grateful for the rest, twenty or thirty Maasai elders being filing in, sitting as children would at their desks, curious to see the travellers in their peaceful land. They stare and they talk. The food is distributed among those gathered, a welcome relief to myself and the other hungry volunteers. While we eat, the introductions are made, interrupted, and then made again. We do not take much notice. After a while, we finally proceed with our mission: to discover their attitudes towards FGM. They are open about their support for it and seem to us to have a distinct lack of education towards the dangers. It was a troubling meeting. We ask about the government ban on FGM and they laugh it off, the government can not reach them out here. It's like they are telling us we are banging our heads against a brick wall. There seems to be a colossal barrier forming between us and them. They are aggressively defending their way of life, though, and we expect this to happen. This is what we need to change. They tell us the government ban is purely to halt the spread of HIV, that the ritual is important in marking the passage from child to adult. Being circumcised is what earns one respect. They seems to have a vague idea of the health implications, or at least a vague idea is what the portray to us. We are told how they restrict the food a pregnant woman can have so the baby is underdeveloped, allowing for a less painful passage into the world. They describe the force they will use if the girls refuse and when one of the young men is asked if he would marry one of the female volunteers, he replies “only if she is circumcised”. They also tell us that removing a woman's clitoris helps control prostitution.

Then it is their turn to ask us about our culture. They ask how we tell our children from our adults. It is hard for us to explain that you are an adult when you start acting like one, so we give eighteen as the arbitrary age of an adult. The closest thing we think they can relate to is the Jewish Bar Mitzvah.

We leave, culturally rich from the experience but also with a real sense of how hard a human rights project on FGM will be. This does not bother us. We knew it would be difficult. It gives perspective, meeting with these Maasai with their traditions under a bright blue sky, miles from the closest town. As we walk back, we realise how privileged we are to be who we are, to have grown up where we did, but also how much we should respect these Maasai and the beauty that surrounds them.

NOTE: Sorry if the style of this post bugs people. Was just attempting something a bit new.

These Boots Were Made For Walking

Walking has never been my deal. I mean, I like walking when I need to get from A to B and in Arusha I walk everywhere rather than take a dala-dala. However, walking for fun has never been on my list of priorities. Then came Projects Abroad's social to Moshi. Situated 80km east of Arusha at the base of Kilimanjaro, we had to meet at the office at 8:30 a.m. Earlier than at any other social. The first thing we did was stop of at a patisserie to get some bites for lunch. Being the quintessential English gentleman that I am, I let everyone else go first and there was not exactly a huge amount left when it became my turn, so I bought everything. Two vegetable samosas, two chicken pasties, a cheese pasty, two cheese croissants and a plain croissant. I figured someone else would have forgotten to buy food. The journey there was regular enough until we turned off the main road just before Moshi and began climbing the hill towards the coffee plantation we were to visit. The road was really steep and the previous night's rain had not helped matters. Multiple times everyone was required to disembark and the lads had to push, here is a tip though: when pushing a bus, do not stand behind the exhaust. When we finally reached our destination, it was lunch time and sure enough people had forgotten to buy food. We had a short demonstration of Chagga tools to grind coffee and maize, as well as their drinking gourds and weapons. It was not long before we were all handed walking sticks and sent on our way towards the waterfalls. The hike along the muddy paths took us past a bunch of trees with long thin leaves which our guide told us were, according to the Chagga, leaves of forgiveness. Any Chagga tribesman who receives one of those leaves must forgive the giver of any deed they have done to wrong them. Having given a leaf to one of the other volunteers that I'm usually a douchebag too, I can confirm that this does not necessarily work for wazungu (foreigners). After that we trekked further up the mountain, over streams and wooden bridges towards a small cave that the Chagga used to hide their cattle and women from the raiding Maasai. The cave was situated by a river, so that the noise of the running water would drown out any crying babies or loud animals. Entering the cave into the blackness we were only able to walk about ten metres in, but we were greeted by what seemed like hundreds of bats. They were hard to see in the darkness but you could feel them flying past your head and when I went to take photos, the flash from the camera would illuminate the cave allowing the group to get a glimpse of the sheer size and amount of bats in the batcave. After leaving the batcave, we headed to the waterfall. After another long hike, along muddy trails and many slip-ups later, we descended towards the bottoms of the waterfalls. It was not exactly Niagara but the waterfalls were pleasant enough and some of the volunteers even went for a swim in the cold water.

When we made it back to the coffee plantation we ate some more and were given the chance to grind and roast our own coffee, which was interesting and meant we could enjoy a cup of real coffee, a strange luxury in a country where one of the major exports is coffee. We were also entertained by some dancers showing us traditional dances and we were also invited to take part. Finally, we were given some banana beer to try. It was a lumpy, white liquid which had a slightly sour taste. It was not terrible but I would not be able to make it through a whole pint of that.

Not content with a whole day of walking at Moshi, a group of volunteers decided to go trekking up some hills on Tuesday 1^st May. We took a dala towards Usa River and got off near Nkoaranga where we met up with some Swedish volunteers from another company. In order to get to our starting point we had to pile thirteen volunteers into an estate, no easy feat in a car where the windows were transparent plastic and which broke down half way up the hill. However, we managed to arrive at our destination in one piece. We began the trek up the hill immediately and, although the path to the top was dryer than at Moshi, it was steeper and more difficult. Trekking up the hill was a long, sweaty affair but the views on the way were great, albeit marred by the hazy Tanzanian morning.

Once we neared the top, we came across a small farming village, remotely situated on top of this hill, and had to pass through an old couples land in order to continue. He kindly offered to show us the way forward and when we had passed we were again led in the right direction by some local children using the little Kiswahili we knew to ask for directions. The view from the top was great but the rain clouds were moving in and hunger got the better of us as we made our way down via the road before heading to Tanz-hands. Tanz-hands is situated just west of Usa River and is a residential rehabilitation centre for disabled Tanzanians. There, they help them create a sustainable living by making items for sale to the public. Additionally, they have a nice little café where one can order food that is cheap, delicious and the all the money gets pumped back into making the lives of these people better. I had half a feta cheese toastie and a ham, cheese and tomato roll with some coleslaw and a chocolate and peanut butter milkshake, followed by pancakes and ice-cream for dessert. All for about £8. I love Tanzania.

Nanja Secondary School Visit

So an update on the human rights project is probably due since the last time I talked about it was over a week ago. Last Thursday, the two other volunteers and I joined two members of HIMS and headed to Nanja Secondary School, a Maasai school an hour and a half outside Arusha, in order to discuss the issue of female genital mutilation (FGM) with some Maasai girls. Set, just off the highway to Dodoma, the school sits in the middle of a vast plain, with the school buildings scattered about and a volleyball court sitting with a football pitch in the centre of the school.

When the introductions were done, we began to talk with the sixty or so girls who were about fourteen or fifteen about the issue of FGM. The first questions was if anyone supported the practice and, not surprisingly, not one hand was raised. We assumed that all were against the practice but it could be that some were not willing to show their support for it in front of the other girls. We followed up with the 'why' question. The answers were those of educated young women: loss of blood, psychological implications, transmission of HIV. We then asked them what their male peers thought of the practice. They replied that some of their male friends were against it but the decision makers in the tribe were all men who supported the practice. We were immediately suggested to go and speak to the leaders of the clans in order to tell them to educate the young men of the clans. However, most felt that their male counterparts supported circumcision and want their wives and daughters to be circumcised as it is their culture.

We then began asking questions in order to find out the prevailing attitudes towards FGM from the girls and what they thought the solution was. The girls spoke remarkably good English and one of the more vocal girls was quick to stand up and give her account of what she thought needed to be done. She argued that there are things in Tanzania that women wanted eradicated, the two main ones being FGM and forced marriages. She suggested that education was the key to stopping FGM and said that, for those who supported the practice in order to keep their culture, “culture is dynamic”. After, we asked about whether the girls were circumcised or not, some were and some weren't. Focusing on the ones that had not been circumcised yet, we asked them if they had any plans as to what would happen when their time came. A few had plans to run away and find NGOs and other authorities who would be able to help them but many others were resigned to having it done to them without their own consent. Some said that they would have it done in order to be respected within their society and were unwilling to fight it due to the lack of support from others within their clan especially the elders, who are all male and pro-circumcision. She said the only thing that gained a girl respect, other than circumcision, was education, secondary school at least and beyond to university.

There were brighter stories though regarding what they would do to find a husband without being circumcised, with one telling us that her tribe does not force them to marry within their own tribe so she could marry someone who did not support the practice of FGM. Another told us she would become a Catholic nun as a solution. When we asked how they would be able to escape the circumciser if they came suddenly to prevent her running away and one girl told us that there was a long period of celebration leading up to the ceremony and that she would use that time to educate her parents in an attempt to get them to stop the ritual.

Another point that kept cropping up as a way of circumventing the ritual in terms of respect and marriage prospects was education. A girl told us that many Maasai parents did not want their daughters to be educated and celebrated when they received bad marks. My final question to them was where else in the world was FGM practised. One girl said Kenya although she got the type of FGM incorrect, another said America.

Unfortunately, time ran out and we had to return to town but we had found the day useful even if it did not really tell us much that we had not already been told. It was nice to hear it from the girls themselves, though. The truth of it is that these are extremely well-educated girls, whose English was extremely impressive who know about the health implications of the practice and are able or willing to fight against the practice in their own tribes. Some may go to university and become professionals through which they will be able to gain respect and a significant dowry for their family. Although some of these girls will inevitably fail in their quest to educate their parents and elders, a large majority will probably not even attempt to resist. Additionally, none of those girls we interviewed will ever be major decision makers in their tribes. It is the young men, the leaders of the next generation that we must engage with and educate.

Projects Abroad World XI 3 - 1 Father Renatus' Engikaret Select

Revenge, a dish best served cold, was the order of the day as the Projects Abroad World XI cruised to a 3-1 victory over Father Renatus' Engikaret Select at the Arusha Stadium.

The flat pitch and cooler conditions worked in the World XI's favour as Remzi Sipahi put them in front in the first half with a spectacular drive from the edge of the box. After the break Kevin Wong doubled the advantage with a neatly placed shot and added a third later in the game. The Engikaret Select team were able to grab a consolation goal late in the second half but it was not enough to begin a heroic comeback.

The Projects Abroad World XI made a few changes to their team with the additions of three new players. Moses Phineas replaced Kevin Wong in goal while, Wong moved up front alongside another new face in the form of Bert Hoeksema. A third debutant began the game with Marcus Jansson taking the place of the departed Erik-Jan Meulenbrugge.

The Projects team lined up: Moses Phineas (GK), Chris Kammerer (SW), Marcos Rodriguez (RB), Baraka Mbise (CB), Marcus Jansson (LB), Jon Lambrecht (CM), Remzi Sipahi (CM), Regan Sirali (CM), Bert Hoeksema (RF), Kevin Wong (CF), Ian Baxter (LF)

Substitutes: Tim Leenstra

The Projects team decided to stick with their 1-3-3-3 formation that had conceded five goals in one half in their previous game, the side obviously putting faith in their pre-match preparations. Playing a sweeper in the form of Kammerer complemented their very narrow defensive shape and the improved positional and tactical understanding appeared to sure up their previous frailties.

The game began in the Engikaret Select's favour, though, and they dominated the early possession, as well as the majority of the referee's decisions. The first incident of note was an unpleasant one as Baxter and Lambrecht were involved in a sickening collision after a breakdown in communication when going for a high ball, the former coming off worse, clutching his ribs. Baxter soldiered on, hwoever, and was on the receiving end of another heavy challenge that left him prone on the ground clutching his side. Leading by example, he gritted his teeth and got straight back into the game.

After 15 minutes the tide seemed to turn in the World XI's favour as they began to find their passing game. Phineas was proving to be an astute signing as he dealt capably with any balls that came in his direction. Pressing forward, trying to take advantage of the Engikaret Select's high defensive line, the World XI began to carve out a few chances with Wong, Sirali and Sipahi failing to significantly trouble the goalkeeper. Hoeksema, however, was beginning to find joy down the right hand side and was starting to find his range with a couple of dangerous low balls into the box, forcing the Engikaret Select's goalkeeper into action. It was from one of these crosses, that the Engikaret defender could only direct into Sipahi's path, that the breakthrough came. Sipahi managed to crash a first time driven shot high into the roof of the net, leaving the goalkeeper flapping at thin air long after the ball had passed him.

The World XI began to march on from there, the flat pitch favouring their midfield as they were able to twist and turn past their opponents before finding teammates in space. Two further chances fell to Wong in the first half, a golden chance appearing after a cute through ball from Sipahi was met by Wong's left foot only for him to skewer his shot from an acute angle across the goal towards the corner flag. A second chance fell to the same player as a high ball into the box was allowed to drop but the new striker rushed his volley and could only send the ball back into the air as the Engikaret defender headed it away.

The second half continued as the first half had finished with Leenstra, on for Sirali, Lambrecht and Sipahi controlling the midfield while Baxter and Hoeksema switched flanks as Wong ran the channels. The warning signs were there as Sipahi found Wong, almost immediately from the restart as he broke through the offside trap but disaster was averted by a fine tackle from the Engikaret Select defender. However, moments later Sipahi found Wong in acres of space, with a great ball over the top, as the Engikaret offside trap began to crumble. Wong closed in on the goal and placed his shot from the right hand side of the area beyond the keeper's reach hitting the back of the net in off the far post.

Fortunately for the World XI, and for Wong, the Engikaret Select defenders failed to learn from that goal and moments later, in a carbon copy of the first pass, man-of-the-match Sipahi, once again, found Wong beyong the last defender and, racing clear, Wong was able to side foot his shot high towards the near post, although he was lucky as the keeper should have done better to stop the shot going though his hands for Wong's second and the World XI's third.

The rest of the game passed in much the same fashion although fatigue set in and Wong was unable to convert his chances into a third goal and the hat-trick remained out of reach, his left footed miss in the first half coming back to haunt him. Leenstra and Sipahi continued to boss the midfield and the back four remained most solid after an assured performance from Kammerer, Mbise and Rodriguez. The star of the defensive performance was the debutant Jansson as he showed excellent positioning and a calm head when bringing the ball out of defense, after a shaky start. The only blip on the performance being Engikaret Select's consolation goal as the usually magnificent Phineas spilled a shot into the path of the onrushing Engikaret striker who slammed the ball home.

The Projects Abroad team should be deservedly proud of their performance in front of an excellent home crowd and will look to march on from this victory as rumours of an invitational tournament in May surfaced after the match. The new formation and fitness regime seemed to gel well with the home turf. One key issue for the Projects team, however, will be how they are going to prevent two time man-of-the-match Sipahi, who finished today with a goal and two assists, from being tempted by a big money move. Immediately after the game, rumours of interest from Barcelona and Real Madrid were rampant on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Sipahi quickly moved to distance himself from the rumours, while not totally ruling out a move, stating "playing with Barcelona would be a dream job but for now my heart's with Projects Abroad and I can't picture myself in any other jersey."

Eurotrip Anyone?

So, a week since my last blog. In that week the human rights project has taken on a new direction. Leaving behind Morombo as our focus, we are attempting to build a project around the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). I will spare the gruesome details but you can probably work it out. If not, Google it. On Tuesday, we met with the man in charge of the HIMS FGM programme based in a health clinic in Ngaramtoni which aided victims of FGM. He gave us a brief overview of the vision and mission of HIMS and the work they carried out in relation to FGM. We were given an introduction into what FGM entails and the physical and psychological effects of it. It was pretty harrowing stuff but the rest of the week has consisted of research on the internet into FGM and the organisations that are already acting in order to eliminate this terrible ritual.

Progress has been slow and we need to seriously step up our efforts in order to make this project work.Today we met with a group of women who have themselves rejected circumcision and were able to ask some questions about the procedure and the way we can combat the practice but it was not as productive as I thought it was going to be, much of which can probably attributed to my lack of preparation so I'm going to have to make my own efforts greater.

More has been happening on the social side of things though. On Monday a few volunteers went back to the hot springs as some of them missed the first trip. Yet again, I forgot to take my camera so was unable to get any pictures. Next time! Anyway, I had just as much fun the second time as the first but it was much busier which many more people taking advantage of the Easter holiday. Thursday was the social at Herbs & Spices, an Ethiopian restaurant, which was excellent, especially the lentils. Via Via after and then a care outreach at Cradle of Love orphanage on Friday. I was only able to go to this due to someone dropping out as there were a limited amount of spaces and it was a great experience playing with the children and hearing their stories about how they ended up in the orphanage. We were introduced to some twins who had only arrived that week and when we were told the story one of the medical volunteers had worked at the hospital where the mother had died giving birth to them. We were able to play and feed the children and when we were called to go it seemed like the hour had passed in a flash.

That evening I headed out to eat with some of the volunteers and we had curry, which I have missed almost more than sushi! I had a mutton curry with rice and a garlic naan which was heaven, all for under ten pounds. The Saturday we headed to the Snake Park, which was a little bit disappointing and headed to Empire in the evening. Every time I go there on a Saturday, I tend to like it less and less. I much prefer Via Via as a venue, even if the clientele and prices are not anything to boast about. Anyway, we were celebrating last nights out in Tanzania for five of the volunteers, which sucks. It has only been a month and a half but I still feel like I'm losing some really great friends. Its similar to when we had some Aussie exchange students back in my second year of uni. Three months but felt like it should have been a lifetime. Here, in Tanzania, most of the volunteers are really close as, I suppose, everyone must have come here for similar reasons and are like-minded. One meets people from all over the world while volunteering and sometimes the sad fact is that one may probably never see them again. However, with the world so engrossed in social media, it has become easier to stay in touch and when you compare the size of America or Australia to the size of Europe, where many of the volunteers are from, it shouldn't be too hard to stay in touch. So I guess it's goodbye for now as I plan my Eurotrip visiting friends in France, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Anyone wanna join me?

Projects Abroad World XI 0 - 5 Tanzanian All-stars

On Saturday 7^th April, the Projects Abroad World XI succumbed in the heat to a 5-0 humbling at the hands of the Tanzanian All-stars. After a bright start the Project's defence held firm limiting the amount of clear cut chances that the All-stars were able to create resulting in a 0-0 half time scoreline. However, after the restart, the organisation and fitness of the All-stars began to shine through and the Tanzanians ran out comfortable winners in an, at times, feisty game.

Anticipation was high prior to the match with two members of the team running 15 minutes late and most of the others carb-loading using cakes, biscuits and a tin of Pringles. Not the best start. With their loyal cohort of five travelling fans, the team bus left Arusha with spirits high and tactical knowledge low. Upon arriving at Engikaret we had a team, a formation and not much else.

We were given a quick tour of the facilities of Engikaret that volunteers had built for the school, including a water tank project supported by Projects Abroad and a classroom that the volunteers had built from the foundations, before we moved on to the school where we would be playing. However, during the tour we managed to lose a significant part of our team: the ball had been thrown into a cactus and the spines deflated the ball we had over pumped to be able to play our long ball game. The pitch was on the large side with no markings on it to tell you where the edge of the pitch was let alone the penalty area. We warmed up and got ready to go.

We lined up: Kevin Wong (GK), Marcos Rodriguez (RB) Erik-Jan Meulenbrugge (LB), Baraka Mbise (CB), Chris Kammerer (CB), Jon Lambrecht (RM), Josh Baravelli (LM), Ian Baxter (CM), Tim Leenstra (CM), Constantine Sirili (CF), Remzi Kemal Sipahi(CF)

Shooting downhill for the first half the Project's team kept their shape and discipline well, with Mbise and Kammerer holding firm in the centre of defence with Meulenbrugge doing well despite a few misjudged headers. The All-stars were having a lot of joy down their left flank, though no crosses were ever threatening. The World XI offered little going forward as the players needed time to gel and the first chance of the game fell to the All-stars when their striker was put clean through over the top only for Wong to put him off, the ball sailing over the bar as the keeper rushed out. The All-stars managed to create three more chances, twice shooting straight at Wong and forcing another save low down to the keepers right. The closest the Tanzanians came to scoring was a looped chip from just outside the box, that Wong let go in order to not fall in the huge pile of cow pat lying on the goal line, but the ball just did not dip enough. In reply the World XI carved out a couple of clear cut chances falling to Sipahi but, unfortunately for his team, was unable to convert either. A solid defensive performance kept the score at nil-nil going into half time.

This was not to last. As the game restarted, the heat and altitude began to take it's toll with the gap between the midfield and defence beginning to open up. As the All-stars began to find more space outside the penalty area, their superior teamwork carved out chances to shoot from distance and they were finally able to beat the World XI keeper with a low shot from outside the box. At this point, heads dropped and soon after the All-stars slipped the ball through the defence to leave the striker with a simple task of rounding the keeper to slot home a second. It was not long before the All-stars had a third when Wong failed to hold on to a rasping shot low down to his left and only succeeded in deflecting the ball into the path of an onrushing striker. This seemed to spark a mini-revival from the World XI though as the began to play better football, switching some of the positions to leave Baravelli and Sipahi in the middle. An exhausted Sirili, playing lone striker for much of the game, was given a chance when he was set through but only managed to drag his shot across the goalmouth from the right hand side.

As the All-stars made the most of their whole squad, the only change the World XI could muster was to bring Wong out of goal to be replaced by Sirili. Sipahi had managed to get a grip on the centre of midfield and was attempting to dictate the play when he could leaving Baravelli to make his physical presence felt. Assisted by Leenstra the World XI abandoned their 4-4-2 formation to a 1-3-3-3 playing three across the back in front of a sweeper, with Baravelli, Leenstra and Sipahi taking control of the middle, leaving Wong on the left, Lambrecht down the middle and Baxter as the right winger. The World XI attempted to make a comeback with Baxter throwing over a few crosses from the right and Wong winning a free kick just outside the box which Sipahi got on target. Unfortunately, the All-stars keeper was right behind it. Leenstra was finding a lot of space out on the left hand side of the midfield and was able to set Wong free and the winger showed his tenacity as he still retained the ball after being bundled over, preventing a throw in and demonstrating surprisingly quick feet to beat his man down the touchline. His cut back was met by man-of-the-match Sipahi who drilled it towards the far post where Baxter managed to connect with his knee only to see the ball fly agonisingly wide. The game was getting stretched and the Tanzanians made the most of their downhill advantage scoring two further goals on the counter as the World XI pushed forward in search of a consolation goal. That goal nearly came towards the end as Baxter found space on the right to throw over a great cross. Wong flung himself at it but the goalkeeper was well positioned to snatch the ball off his forehead.

The game ended soon after and the teams shook hands and applauded the fans that had turned out, the home fans jubilant after the victory. To celebrate the teams were treated to barbecued goat before the exhausted Projects Abroad World XI team boarded their bus for the long ride home.

Now, before you say anything, I know this sounds like the most biased match report you've ever read but I simply don't care, plus I only really remember what I did. It was a great day out and I hope we get to do it again soon, hopefully on a flatter pitch with less thorns. There were times when I could catch the ball and it would leave about five tiny balls with spikes stuck to my hands. I also managed to slice my thumb on a bit of glass before the game too so my hands took some battering. I need to find some gloves before the next game methinks.  

Maasai School's One Year Anniversary

Today was the one year anniversary of Projects Abroad's involvement in a village to the west of Arusha, first with a building project and, secondly, with a teaching project. We were all invited to the village to join the celebrations. The journey there took about forty-five minutes through one of the busiest roads in town, before heading out into the countryside. Along the way we were granted some great views and as we travelled further away from Arusha, the small shanty towns were gradually replaced by Maasai bomas dotted around the landscape, with the Maasai themselves wandering the endless plain. It had rained heavily in the morning so some of the guys had to get out and push the bus at one point. A bullet I managed to dodge. We arrived at the school without further incident and we were immediately taken to see the goat that we were going to be eating for lunch. This was important for the Maasai as they had killed what is their commodity in order to honour us as guests in their village. As it turns out, it was one of the volunteer teachers who works there who had the honour of killing the goat himself, of which I am envious, but then was duped into eating raw kidney, of which I am rather less envious.

The day started with prayers and a song by the church choir, which was sung beautifully. Then it was the introductions, first by prominent members of the village community then by the volunteers and Projects' staff. We were treated to another song, this time in Maasai rather than Swahili, before we were split into groups to play with the children. We went outside for the first game of the day: sack racing! The children dived into the game with great enthusiasm and were rewarded for their jumping, screaming and falling with sweets at the end of the course. For the people giving out the sweets, it was was manic. They were suddenly mobbed by a sea of hands grasping at the first sign of something sugary. After the children’s sack race, it was the turn of the volunteers. I took part and fancied my chances, however, it wasn't to be as poor preparation meant that during the race both my hat and my glasses fell off within a second of each other and, in the process of bending down to pick both of them up, I ended up flat on my face. Overall I came fourth or fifth, I think, but certainly will need to adjust my strategy for the next race. More pit stops maybe. There was a three-legged race and a game of piggy-in-the-middle with a football before we stopped for lunch. Lunch consisted of rice, goat stew, banana stew and some fruit. All to be eaten with hands. Different people attacked their lunch with differing levels of enthusiasm but personally I have no problem eating using my hands. The lunch break was a welcome pause from running around with the children even if the day itself was not particularly warm.

After lunch we continued to play with the children, carrying them on our shoulders and pushing them on the swings. The children seemed so happy to be able to play with all the volunteers. Finally, we went back to the church for more songs and each volunteer was gifted a Maasai necklace each. As the closing speeches were given, I had one adorable child on my lap who was particularly interested in my headphones and, when I placed them in her ears and turned my music on, began bobbing her head up and down to We Are The In Crowd. As we left the children burst out into song for their teachers and waved us goodbye as we boarded the bus. It had been an unbelievable day.

The next day there was no social due to the Maasai trip but all the volunteers were meeting for dinner before heading to Via Via after. We ate at Maasai Café, where I just had a pizza and headed to Via Via for one of the funniest nights I've had in a while. Via Via has really grown on me since I've been here but the one annoying part about Tanzania is some of the men can not take 'no' as an answer. There was one man who constantly tried to grab one of the girls in the group and grind on them, even when he was clearly told no. This probably happens in every country and I've definitely seen it in England but this happens almost every time we're at Via Via. I spent the good part of an hour, pulling the girls away from him and repositioning myself in between him and the rest of our group. Yet he still kept trying it on with them. Things like that really annoy me. Just because Tanzania is still a largely patriarchal society does not give men the right to do whatever they want. Apologies for the dark note to end but there you go.

The Following Takes Place Between 9am and 1pm

Today on the human rights project we visited a private pre-school in Morombo to discuss with the director how his school, one of very few in the area, had come about and to gauge how we could help as volunteers. It was extremely interesting for me having come from the teaching project at Gohechi to another school in a very poor area. The class, for there was only one, consisted of around twenty students with a wide variety of ages and abilities. There are two classrooms, with three teachers, and the classrooms are extremely basic. Unfortunately, I did not take my camera this time so was unable to take photos of the conditions they were in but it was still better than the makeshift shack a few hundred yards away that served as a classroom for less fortunate children who could not afford to pay for the established schools. The price of three months at this school was 100,000TSH but many could not afford to pay that and were charged a discounted 60,000TSH instead. The price included porridge but as they could not afford to buy lunch for the children, much like Gohechi, they were unable to keep the children there for lunch and afternoon lessons. However, the director told me that many of the children stayed anyway because their parents worked until 4 or 5pm. There will generally be someone there to look after them, the director told us, because the school doubles up as his house.

The director outlined his plan to expand the schools classes into class one, two and three in time and gave us a detailed description of his vision to build a separate building, in which he could live, so the main building could have an extra classroom, as well as his idea to buy the land adjacent to the school as either a plot for a new building or as a dedicated playground for the children. He also showed us his little vegetable garden in which he had grown some spinach, which he fed to the children, and some chilli, which he fed to us (and occasionally sold). I took a small bite and it was hot enough to make my eyes water but not unbearable. I still needed a swig from my bottle of water though. He seemed like a good man, wanting the best for his children but he also told us why he was unwilling to accept a lot of students for free, even though he had the space, suggesting that the paying parents would be unhappy if they had to pay while others get free education.

After we left the school we stopped by a funeral to pay our respects to a man, with whom HIMS was close to agreeing a deal to use his land to grow vegetables, who had recently lost his father. It was a sombre event and the first funeral that I have ever been to. Of course, we did not stay for long, stopping only to say pole sana to the man and his family but the pain was evident on their faces. Death and hardship are facts of life in Tanzania and this was evident when we then visited the site of a half-completed house, that had been repossessed by one of the banks in Arusha after the prospective owner had been unable to pay back his loan, before visiting the home of a man living in another half-built house with AIDS. Seeing people coping with things that I have absolutely no experience in is in itself a difficult situation. I just can not relate to any of these people. I've lost an uncle that, regrettably, I was not close to but no one extremely close to me; I've always had somewhere to live; the worst affliction I have is being insufferable to the average human being. I am really, really fortunate. Something I must appreciate.

For the majority of you who read this will know me personally, I have posted two new albums on my Facebook page, one regarding the Lake Duluti trip the other a bunch of pictures from International Women's Day that seems so long ago. I hope you enjoy them.

Human Rights and Wongs

Today I began the human rights project for April and May. Before I came, I thought the project would be focused on gender equality, HIV/AIDS awareness, elimination of stigmas surrounding mental health issues and disabilities. It turns out it's more focused on the people's right to a good quality of life. Much of it is based around teaching the people we help about how to improve their quality of life, whether that be by learning practical skills or improving their English. I was taken to my placement by another volunteer via dala-dala. We headed to Murombo, a few kilometres outside of Arusha, where Healthy Integrated Multi-sectorial Services (HIMS) was hosting an entrepreneurial workshop for the locals. Hosting I thought meant facilitating a businessman or speaker to give a seminar on how to start a small business but it actually was the other volunteer and me who gave a workshop on how to transform an idea into a business plan, how to raise the capital needed and how to put the plan into action. Now as someone who has never studied a business course in my life, this was a very interesting introduction into the project and one of the poorer areas of Tanzania. The people there were middle-aged men who had skills and ideas that they wanted to turn into profitable businesses.

We started by attempting to estimate the minimum amount needed for one single person to live. We estimated with help of the local men that one would need per month in rent, 210,000TSH for food and around 60,000TSH for miscellaneous expenses. That totals to about £120. We used this plus a figure of 200,000TSH for material costs for any sort of business plus savings and used the total figure of 500,000TSH for our total expenditure figure. Thus any business plan we had needed to exceed this. A tall order, first of all, for the people to find something to make that sort of money and, secondly, the people in the area have no way to raise the money needed to start up their business. They have no savings, barely any belongings and either the banks refuse to lend them micro-finance loans due to the inability to secure it against a property or the people are unwilling to risk their house.

Next up was the formation of a business plan. Which no one knew how to make. So I suggested that I try to get in touch with some university friends who did business degrees in order to try and get a “master copy”, as the locals had started calling it. We then moved back to the problem of capital. This had us pretty stumped, with saving what little you can by doing what you're doing now or finding outside help in the form of a not-for-profit organisation. Here, I suggested working as a community to form relationships between businesses where, for example, the person growing vegetables would sell to the people who cooked food to sell on the street for slightly cheaper than others and they would, in turn, guarantee them business. After this, we had a small discussion about cutting costs, discovering that one man makes 5000TSH (£2) a day covering only a third of his expenses.

When we arrived back at the office, after some very lengthy closing speeches, I was given an overview of the project and the stuff they do. I think the ones that most interest me are the business related ones and the projects to help the youth groups, including teaching them how to play football. Doesn't sound particularly human rights-y if I compare to the equality issues you deal with in the Western world in the Lancaster bubble but I think this projects is going to be what I make of it.

Later that afternoon, Quirine and I lunched at Africafe spending way more that we should have and then went to the bookshop opposite. Here I decided to buy Hemingway's The Snows of Kilimanjaro simply because I love Hemingway and I'm in Tanzania.

So, there you have it. My first day of the human rights project. It is nothing like I expected it would be, structure and guidance is almost non-existent but from a CV point of view, I suppose it's good to get more business related stuff on there, even if it is dealing with small individual projects rather than huge corporations. Anyway, I got called a son-of-a-bitch today by a Tanzanian trying to sell me a safari. Apparently. I didn't understand the Swahili. However, my new tactic to anyone who tries to sell me a safari is to offer to pay them $50 for a five day safari. That gets them riled.

Lego!

Thursday marked the end of exams for class two while class three had one final exam in the morning. The day was used to allow the children to relax after the exams and as we moved all the tables to the side of the room, a box full of Lego appeared. I wasn't entirely sure who was more excited by this, the children or their twenty-two year old teacher. Getting the children to be quiet and play nicely was a huge challenge and we were constantly bombarded with complaints of one person stealing something off another. However, when the children finally did start behaving and building stuff on their own, it was nice to see how something that gave me endless amounts of joy when I was younger could do the same for these children brought up in another part of the world with a completely different background. The children built a variety of things, most simply stacking things to make a tower before holding it triumphantly like a trophy when I went round with my camera. Others were building forts and space stations with one child in particular, one who is usually very disruptive, showed a concentration which could only be dreamed of when it came to academic work to build a large manned station complete with wings and a makeshift Tanzanian flag. Photos will be on my Facebook soon! Soon after it was the turn of class three and similar towers began popping up. They were much better behaved though, probably because of the smaller class size meaning there was more Lego to go around. Two other things caught my eye: one was the large ship one child managed to build, as well as making a wheelbarrow-like machine out of Lego technik stuff (or whatever it's called); the second was that there was far more co-operation between classmates. After school, we were subjected to a workshop on various topics, explained mostly in Swahili so I was pretty damn bored throughout.

Later that evening was the Projects Abroad social, starting with a dance show where volunteers would have the chance to learn some traditional Tanzanian dances. Some volunteers took part when we were given the chance and I was one of them. Many of the moves were fairly simple, using at most four steps, but the speed at which some of it went meant that it was really tiring, especially in the heat. Afterwards, we headed to the Chinese Dragon restaurant for, you guessed it, Chinese food. Having not eaten noodles for nearly a month, it was a relief, although the owners spoke Mandarin and not Cantonese. I had beef ho fun, which wasn't on the menu but the manager told me they could have it made. The portion was huge and the food was goo enough. We then headed back to Via Via for the night.

Waking in the morning, late, I had to run to catch the dala-dala to get to school on time while feeling pretty rough. It was the last of my volunteering and the last day of school before Easter break for the children. They were having a party for the last day, with the school providing food and drinks. There was a lot of singing and drumming of tables which doesn't do hangovers any good but it was nice to watch. I have a video to upload, but that may have to wait until I'm back in the UK with broadband.

Friday afternoon consisted of a HIV/AIDS workshop put on by Projects Abroad which was basically a refresher of my Biology lessons but there were useful bits on the rate and methods of infection specifically for Tanzania and the work that some organisations are attempting to do. It lasted for an hour and a half and included a, frankly ridiculous, clapping game. Afterwards, Quirine and I met some other volunteers and headed to Africafe for a drink and then on to Picasso, a restaurant based near the Impala hotel. The menu was extensive and the cocktails being prepared for another table looked rather tempting but I decided to rest my liver for a day. The menu is fairly extensive, with European dishes ranging upwards of 15000TSH for a main course. I had calamari with some sautéed vegetables and French fries for 17500TSH, a Sprite for 1500TSH and a rich chocolate brownie, which was delightful, for 4000TSH. Speaking of desserts, too, the café has a nice selection of desserts including: the brownie I had, huge slices of Black Forest gateaux, lemon meringue pie, cheesecake, and carrot cake. So a main, drink and dessert for under £10 and this was one of the more expensive meals that I have eaten so far in Tanzania.

The whole dinner was arranged by a girl who is leaving Tanzania on Sunday and even though I have only known her for less than a month, it's sad to see someone leave. But those are the facts I suppose. I have met so many great people over this last month, and will meet so many more until I fly back to the UK in June, but it is hard to say who, if any, I will ever see again in my lifetime. I hope I keep in touch with as many as possible but I'm notoriously bad at that, as my friends back home can probably attest to after this last month. Definitely need to get on Facebook more so I can find out what's going on with everyone at home. Blogging is great method of telling people what's happening to you. This, for example, is informing anyone at home wanting to read what I have done in this truly wonderful past month but it is a one way conversation. Now that I have blogged for an entire month, I need to make more of an effort to find out how everyone else is. Be less self-absorbed should probably have been one of my goals! Speaking of which, I'll give an update of those tomorrow but tonight I head to watch the mighty Arsenal. 'Til tomorrow.

A Little Bit of England

Lake Duluti was the venue this time for the Projects Abroad social. Located a 15 minute drive away from Arusha, the lake was yet another side of this varied land that I got to see. I had a few expectations of the lake as we were given an itinerary for the day, which included volleyball and a few other games along with a walk along the edge of the lake. We also took a football along so we would have a little kick around. I expected a large lake surrounded by flat grassy areas where we would sit with a picnic and play a bit of football under the beating rays of the Sun. What we actually found was a small, picturesque part of England in Tanzania. The lake was compact, and the area we were staying at was a built up, bar with wood chipping steppes leading down to the water's edge. There was a small narrow clearing to one side with a volleyball net suspended between a swing frame and a tree forming a makeshift court.

We were offered drinks on entry and as everyone settled down at the tables overlooking the lake, the day had the atmosphere of a school day trip with the volunteers settling down into their established social circles chatting away while the teachers organised the day's activities. First on the agenda was a walk around the lake along a small forest trail. Under the shade of the trees on a fairly cool day for Tanzania, the tranquil lake on one side and steep hillside giving rise to various trees and plants on the other, we could have been taking a stroll through a small forgotten part of England. Sometimes I half expected to find myself bumping into English school children taking part in orienteering. The walk itself was pleasant, simple enough to be able to be traversed in ordinary shoes while burning a few calories and making us all hungry for lunch. There were not that many chances to stop and take photos or even stock of the surroundings until someone spotted a snake chilling out in a tree. Unfortunately, I was not able to get a photo and apart from a few birds resting on a partly submerged tree, there was not that much wildlife to be seen.

On arriving back to 'base camp' lunch was promptly served. It consisted of a burger with optional guacamole, some rice, various salad vegetables, gherkins, grilled aubergines, potato salad (my mum's is better, much to my surprise), coleslaw, chips and hummus. The food was good, the presence of hummus a welcome sight and many went back for more. Shortly afterwards a raffle took place with a small prize for every volunteer; I won a carved giraffe which I named Anastasia. Next up was the marshmallow quiz. Four volunteers including myself were sat down and were asked five questions. If one answered correctly then the remaining three put a marshmallow in their mouth and were not allowed to chew or swallow it; if no one answered correctly, all four were given a marshmallow. In the end I answered two questions correctly, two others one correct each and the fourth, answered no questions and had to stuff five large marshmallows into her mouth. Lastly, a few of us moved over to the volleyball net and began a game before the boys moved on to playing keepy-uppy. We weren't terrible.

After the day trip I headed to Empire Sports Bar to watch Arsenal win comfortably against Villa with a couple of the staff and another volunteer. I missed the first goal but having caught the replays Given should really have done better. Happy for Gibbs though, hope he stays fit for the remainder of the season as Andre Santos once again revealed his careless side when he came on late in the game. Walcott showed that he does have the ability to run rings around opposition defences and he needs to produce more of the same as he did against Villa. His second goal was sublime after almost succeeding in exactly the same manner moments before. We need to see more of this next season and he needs to contribute with a few more goals. Reading BBC this morning, I read two interesting statistics. Walcott is our second highest scorer on eight, Vermaelen third on five and this was the first time two Englishmen had scored in the same game for Arsenal since 1997. Arteta's free kick in stoppage time put the icing on the cake and after Chelsea and Spurs drew, we are three points clear of fourth. Away at QPR next weekend will be an important game, especially with City visiting the Emirates the weekend after, and three points is a must. As the night drew on and more volunteers showed up, we sat outside around a table talking books, music and films while a few of the guys tried to work out whether I slept or had a life back home. I declined to comment. When the DJ replaced the live band, the night started but it is nice to be able to sit outside the bar at two in the morning around a table because the nights are still warm enough. Oh, I'm also starting to like that one Danish song that is always played.

Confusion reigns.

Thursday morning was the worst part of my trip so far. The TL:DR (Too Long: Didn't Read, for you non-nerds) version is that I almost quit my placement but nevertheless woke up to my own stupidity, swallowed some pride and reasserted that the most important people are the children I'm teaching.

The more substantial version is that one of the students was sick, so Quirine and I went to his house at the request of his aunt to pick him up and take him to the hospital. As we went to pick up our bags, we were intercepted by the headteacher who told us we had to be accompanied by a member of teaching staff. At first we were told that this was simply because we can not speak Swahili, so we explained that there was a member of Projects Abroad already at the hospital who we had been in contact with already. They insisted we needed to take a teacher and this stand off lasted about ten minutes, after which we said okay, can you bring the teacher to accompany us. We just wanted to get the child to hospital as soon as possible. The teacher was brought, we were ready to leave, and then we were told that we needed to now wait for the director. After a period of further arguments over why exactly we needed to wait, the director showed up and took us into his office to yet again explain why we needed a teacher with us, while we sat with the sick child waiting for him to finish. I repeatedly tried to get him to let the kid go to hospital, with either Quirine and me or Quirine and a teacher, yet he was adamant that in doing so I was not respecting the rules and regulations regarding informing the office of the kid's whereabouts. At the end of the day, the whole thing was entirely trivial. He was being proud and stubborn, insisting that every box be checked without concern for any mitigating factors. We were just as stubborn and guilty of not seeing past cultural differences and the language barrier. That said, I stormed out after a while and from what I hear, he was less than respectful to Quirine. Anyway, all water under the bridge. Whatever, my thoughts on the situation or the people involved shouldn't cloud the fact that the most important people at Gohechi are the children who need their education. I was going to have an interview with the director for today but given Thursday's events I have pushed it back until Monday but it will still happen and I think that the children deserve the exposure.

Anyway, after that was a teaching workshop at Projects Abroad, which was really a feedback session on how Projects could improve their system for placing volunteers and where they could help us better while we are in Tanzania. Most of the feedback centred around improved pre-arrival information, as some care volunteers have found themselves teaching and some teaching volunteers have found themselves doing more care work. Most are fine with this but would like more information before they arrive and are thrown into teaching or care work. Much of what was discussed I had already been talking about with the next Gohechi volunteer so it was mostly rehashing that and other points covered earlier in the blog.

Onto other news. Arsenal are third! What an amazing turn of events considering at the beginning of February we were seventh. Whilst I have been in Tanzania, Arsenal are P4 W4 F10 A2. Maybe I should stay a bit longer, a year or two perhaps so Mr. Wenger can get his elusive Champions' League trophy.

If Carlsberg made Day Trips...

Saturday 15^th March marks what is one of the definite highlights of my time in Tanzania so far. We met at the Projects Abroad office at nine in the morning, after I had had a good eight hours sleep. I was awake and ready to go, in stark comparison to the previous day, but we very nearly forgot one person behind. Luckily I had his number and was able to call him but we set off half and hour late. By this point, though, I have acclimatised to everything being late; the volunteers call it African time. The journey to the springs was around three quarters of an hour along the Nairobi-Moshi highway and then on to side roads for another hour and a half. The scenery on the way there changed from build up areas outside the office to paved highways surrounded by little towns then onto desert dotted with little Maasai bomas as they tended their livestock, while we rocked and swayed on the uneven road. At one point we had to stop for the driver to work out whether the bus would make it over a mini swamp. The sky was clear and the road dusty as we finally reached little shaded oasis in the middle of nowhere. Light brown desert gradually turned into a landscape dotted with green and suddenly we were parked under the shade of trees, the sound of running water in the background. A couple of elderly tourists were already there as we all marvelled at the crystal clarity of the water and changed into our swimming gear but otherwise it was just us. The water, while not hot, was probably as ideal a temperature as one could have asked for to cool down on a warm Tanzanian day. The pool was big enough to accommodate all of the thirty or so volunteers who were swimming and further away from the main body there was a little stream, although the current was fairly strong and my astounding lack of fitness showed as it tired me out swimming against the current.

As if other attractions were needed, there was a rope swing attached to one of the overhanging trees allowing us to swing right out into the middle of the pool before belly flopping in the most inelegant way possible. A lot of fun although landing on your back did sting a little. Aside from swimming, there were plenty of low hanging trees to climb. Unfortunately I'm not in the best shape for climbing trees but I always remember watching my little 8 year old cousin climbing as high as he could with little care in the world and regretting not having had the same courage when I was young. Thus, whenever I get the chance to climb now, I give it a go and when someone pointed out a branch overhanging the water that was probably reachable, another volunteer and I decided to give it a go. He was tall enough to simply reach the branch but I needed to jump, swing and inch my way up the branches in order to get out over the deeper parts of the water. In the end I did it with much effort and a loud splash. Along one side of the pool, there was a branch or root of a tree which was conveniently placed just underneath the water with a second branch further down. The former made for a good seat and the latter a useful footrest and altogether formed a nice place to just sit and relax.

Later in the day I met up with other volunteers at the local sports bar for some food. When I broke the news to my host mother and told her I was not going to be staying for some tea as I did not want to be late, she seemed to be quite upset and gave me a dismissive wave of her hand. Now, this is the one frustrating thing about living here. I feel quite restricted in what I do, not physically, as I can technically come and go as I please so long as there is someone in the house, but rather emotionally. I understand that my host family is religious and I am a godless heathen; I understand that I come from a culture where we drink and they do not approve of drinking; I understand that Tanzanians heavily secure their house from outsiders with high walls, topped with razor wire, three doors and two guard dogs, but I am made to feel guilty about these things, when I have the freedom of a 22 year old man in England.

Anyway, the dinner we ordered at Empire Sports Bar came, in true African fashion, one and a half hours after we ordered it. I just had chicken and chips, which was nice enough. A live band was playing and we headed inside to dance, getting even more energetic when the DJ came on with European songs. African music generally isn't my thing. The night was a good one, with a chance to hang out with other volunteers but we were all tired after the day at the springs and things died down after 1am.

For me, Saturday has been the highlight of Tanzania so far. As much as I enjoy the work and meeting my host family and the school children, I also wanted to be able to enjoy myself out here and on Saturday I definitely did.

International Women's Day!

One week in. Tanzania is growing on me even more. I had my one week evaluation today where they asked me information on how I was finding Tanzania and the family I am staying with. Incidentally, I have answered all of the questions on my blog anyway and when he asked how I found living with Moses and Benedeta Jacob, I just refreshed the answer I gave to a volunteer who will be staying with us in April. The experience so far has been amazing but so different to what I expected. The family have made me feel like a guest at a hotel, with my own room and en-suite bathroom equipped with Western facilities, three meals a day if I am at home and, today, I came home to all my clothes washed and ironed. I have found the people of Tanzania generally very friendly, although you get the usual sort trying to sell a tourist anything and everything. It has been a bit of a shock but I have felt so welcome that it does not really affect me in the way that it might have.

Thursday 8^th March marked International Women’s Day and I was asked if I wanted to attend with some other Projects Abroad volunteers as it may have been of interest for my human rights project. Having been to an excellent International Women's Day event while at Lancaster, I was happy to go along, even though it meant that I was unable to teach at Gohechi for the day. It also provided me with plenty of photo opportunities and something to write about. The walk itself was a great experience, with hundreds of local women from many different organisations and groups attending the walk, and lasted roughly an hour. At the head of the walk was a band but all along the line of women there were songs and chants to go with the banners and placards, most highlighting violence against women. As we passed local men a volunteer holding our own hand drawn sign was pressing the message. It was a benefit that they were young, white women as they instantly drew male attention. The walk culminated in a park outside the Impala Hotel, with different stalls giving away leaflets or selling items made by women and a local dance troupe to provide entertainment.

As the other volunteers left, I decided to take a trip to the Njiro Complex which, in the end, consisted of a supermarket, a food court, a cinema and four or five stores selling clothes, toys and books. The supermarket was what most interested me though as when I walked inside a majority of the brands they stocked were the same as the ones I had to take customers to at ASDA. Carex soap, Nando's peri-peri sauce, Vina Albali Gran Reserva (although 2001 not 2004) were all there, as were the white shoppers. It was nice to know I could head somewhere if I ever got homesick and buy some Nando's sauce to have with my ugali. On the way back to my house I was befriended by another local, who apparently wants to become a tour guide if he gets enough money. He followed me all the way back to Mianzini before I managed to get rid of him at the point where I turn into my road.

Later that day was the Projects Abroad social. Everyone met at the office and went down to a local Swahili buffet. Compared to the nine volunteers that were at the International Women's Day walk earlier, it was a welcome surprise to find a whole room full of people. At the buffet I sat at first with two girls I had met earlier at the walk, but found my place taken as I went to get food so ended up sitting in the main room watching football on the TV with a Projects' employee, a Dutch volunteer and we were eventually joined by an Australian. This accounted for almost half the men there with two other male volunteers, one of which had finished his project anyway, in the other room. I may or may not have mentioned before my surprise at the lack of British and male volunteers in Tanzania and I felt it at the social. As my house-mate did not attend, I felt rather alienated at the beginning of the night, but as they closed out dinner with a view to switching the venue to Via Via, a popular bar here in Arusha, I was not going to say no to hanging out for a couple more hours. Here it was easier to chat to people as the environment of standing around was a little more conductive and a drink or two helps. The shy child of yesteryear still rears his ugly (uglier?) head every once in a while. Anyway, I was not able to stay long as I had to get a taxi home at 10 due to not having a key to the house and I did not want to disturb my hosts at 2am in the morning. I am told that a popular solution for my conundrum is to stay at a local backpackers hostel so, next time, I will be able to stay later hopefully.

On Friday I was back at school, where the children were taking tests. This meant that I was mostly making sure everyone behaved rather than teaching but I also had to intervene at one point to explain what one of the answers meant for a child as the teacher either did not understand the question, did not understand the answer or just simply ignored the poor girl. I'm not sure which would be the better option, to be honest. I was also visited on site by Robert, a Project's employee in charge of the teaching and human rights projects, for the evaluation. One thing we did hit upon was whether I liked Tanzania, which I do for many reasons. One of those reasons was because I actually feel rather safe in Tanzania. I find the people really friendly to the extent that strangers on the dala-dala (minibus) will check your change to make sure you haven't been overcharged. However, I have two things going for me: I'm used to sticking out. I'm a BBC who doesn't speak Chinese, went to a northern university and studied English Literature; and I am a bloke. I heard tales from my house-mate, as well as from other volunteers on Thursday's social, that they get harassed far more with men approaching them asking if they were married, touching them and even a few on-the-spot proposals. I, on the other hand, don't get marriage proposals from the Tanzanian women (neither do the other male volunteers before you start) and like I posted in my last post, everyone probably thinks I can do kung fu.

Hopefully I will get to meet more people over the coming weeks. 'Til next time.

Okay, children get out your books, pencils and Stanley knives

So yesterday I joined class three for the morning and observed the teacher teaching the most advanced class in Gohechi before they had to move schools. It was pretty much the same as the first day except I was able to give a vocational skills lesson. These are lessons centred around verbal communication and practical skills designed to give Tanzanian children the skills they need to get a job. I was required to read a short story and get the children to answer comprehension questions. I think they found it a bit difficult to adapt to my accent and I was possibly speaking too fast. I was also given an introduction by the pastor, the owner of Gohechi, who wanted to know more about me, what I wanted to achieve and what skills (and more importantly, what contacts back in England) I had to offer. He made a plea for me to help promote his school in any way possible as they are struggling to find ways of financing any expansion of the school. He explained that the children were supposed to have lessons in the afternoon until 4:30pm but as they could not afford to buy enough food for lunch, they sent the children home at 2pm.

I left the school at noon in order to visit the Projects Abroad office so I could update the team and use their faster and more reliable internet connection. I was invited to attend Arusha's International Women's Day march on Thursday as it would be a useful introduction before my human rights placement beginning in April. After leaving the office, I decided to take a walk towards the Eastern side of town and the town centre with its landmark clock tower. As I walked towards the centre of town, I was greeted by a local who spoke very good English. He seemed eager to talk to me as he followed me all the way to the centre of town, pointing out lankmarks and chatting away about Arusha and asking how it was different from the UK. I found out that he was a guide and would probably expect some sort of payment after so I let him tag along and asked him any questions I had on the surrounding area. It actually turned out to be very useful. He showed me the town centre and the market; he also pointed the way to the Masai market and showed me the museum, a bar called Via Via, and the U.N. International Criminal Tribunal for the Rwandan Genocide. He explained that it was possible, and free, to go and watch the trial going on, which is something I definitely want to do when I have a spare moment. He did eventually lead me back to his street stall and was attempting to get me to buy a wristband for roughly £4 or 10000 shillings. To be honest, I actually had enjoyed his company and I had gotten an enjoyable afternoon walk as well as useful information from him so I was thinking about given him something like that anyway but this way I got a wristband out of it too. Quirine later told me that they were worth about 2000 shillings, but I didn't particularly mind.

Today, I was back in class three but took a back seat for most of the morning session. As they began a lesson called Personality, Development and Sport, a mixture of P.E. and lessons on ethics and responsibilities, it began to really dawn on me how little they had. When I was in school, gymnastics in P.E. consisted of getting the floor mats out and climbing the frames or ropes (I always loved climbing the ropes). Here, it was balancing on a table. I also forgot to mention in my previous post that these children don't have sharpeners for their pencils. They use a blunt stanley knife. Anyway, today I was able to teach again, this time History, which is heaviliy focused on economics and family than anything we have in the UK, and helping supervise group work on grammar.

I have also told Projects Abroad that I am interested in writing a piece for their monthly newsletter that is read by past, present and future volunteers and I will link these here if/when I get them done. I also want to do an in-depth blog post on Gohechi, its aims and the the challenges they face so watch this space.

Also, if you could spread the word to anyone who might be interested by the things covered in the blog, then please spread the word.

Finally, the children spent the entire day trying to copy my eyes and make me do kung fu.

'Til next time.

Hidden Costs of Volunteering

As I blogged yesterday, I am continuing to document my experiences before I leave on my three month stint in Tanzania by addressing one key issue that may slip under the radar for anyone who is thinking about doing some volunteering abroad. That issue is hidden costs. I mentioned previously that the price of the project paid for accommodation, food and insurance. Obviously there's also the air fare (£795 + tax if you book via Projects Abroad. I paid £700 via British Airways) to pay unless you plan on walking there and a visa (~£35) to allow you into to allow you into the country. However, in Arusha I will also need something called a 'Permit C' which allows me to carry out volunteer work and it costs roughly £300. £300 to spend 3 months volunteering in your country sounds like a lot of money going into government officials pockets to me. Frustrating to say the least. There are also costs associated with the vaccinations you have to take. I was recommended to have Typhoid (Free via NHS), Hepititus B (£90), Rabies (£123), Yellow Fever (£60) and anti-malarial tablets (£20 with my ASDA discount card). These add up to a substantial amount of money. I also want to take a netbook with me as my 18.1" laptop is slightly to big and heavy to feasibly take with me and I would rather have my own access to the internet and a place to upload my photos than having to rely on internet cafés. The one I'm looking at is around £350, which is on the more expensive side but, as I will probably use it for law school come September, I'm looking at it as an investment rather than a one off expense. These are my essentials, I guess. Things that I must have before I go. Now onto things that I would like.

I do not particularly fancy taking a suitcase with me which travelling in Tanzania and Kenya so I'm looking at getting a fairly sizeable hiking backpack for around £70. Important but, in the end, not a life changing addition to my expenses. Then there are clothes. I'd like a few more shorts and shirts and a hat and stuff before I head off but again this costs money and is, as my mother keeps reminding me, unnecessary. I don't really know how much I'll spend on clothes but lets put it at £125. Then there is the 19 days that I will spent after my placement travelling independently of Projects Abroad. I have bought insurance (~£40) and will need a place to stay. I am currently looking at hostels catering for backpackers as they are cheaper than hotels. Seven days in Mombasa is about £140 for a single, private en-suite room on Nyali Beach. I would like to spend a few days doing the beach hotel experience and this will cost a fair bit more.

Another thing one should do when planning a trip like this is to decide well in advance what you are going to do. I gave myself roughly two months to prepare and that is not enough when you factor in working a full-time job. Give yourself enough time to get everything sorted well in advance, mostly the extra costs stuff that I have mentioned above. Laptops and clothes etc. can be bought in the sales rather than last minute. It also allows you to shop around for deals on travel and accommodation if you travel after. Give yourself six months to prepare and you will be set.

Anyway, some of that seems a bit obvious, especially the last part, but I have always needed a good idea to slap me in the face for me to realise it's there. This will probably be the last travel-based blog post for now. Will post another before departure and possibly one before then on ideas for lessons and stuff but it's hard to know what I'm supposed to teach when I know nothing about teaching children. However, in the next few days I'll post about other stuff affecting my life. Maybe my views on my beloved, and thoroughly underwhelming, Arsenal and where they are at the moment. I thought I'd miss football while in Tanzania but, to be honest, I can barely bring myself to watch more than a half when Arsenal are playing so badly. I'm also having a Community marathon with my cousin on Monday as he's never seen it. It's one of my favourite TV shows at the moment so there'll probably be a post about that too.

Anyways, Happy Weekend to you all.