I am sure I have grumbled enough about the lack of consistent internet access while in Tanzania so won't dwell on it again...(the only real iritant of the whole trip). That said, I do feel compelled to provide the rest of the updates from the last week of the trip even though it is now officially over (sniff sniff :-0)...it doesn't quite feel "real time" but I took notes each day so that I could provide a glimpse of what went on. I took this photo to the left of a woman from the Makulu village and just loved it...she was more than happy to let me take the picture and afterwards I showed her and she smiled. I connected with her...she seemed like a gal who had endured alot in her life but was simply content with it all....someone I can admire...as they say: life is tough, get a helmet.
The kids of course went crazy when they saw the cameras...
Tuesday May 12th: Visit to Makulu village:
Tonight we went to Innocent’s village which is situated on the road to UDOM. It was an unbelievable experience! Upon our arrival we were greeted by some traditional village dancers. The village is made up of about 3000 residents from the Gogo tribe. Although Innocent is from the Chagga tribe (based near Kilimanjaro) he has chosen to live in this village since it is so close to the university. He has a close cousin (who he calls brother – but also clarified for us “…but not from the same womb” ....so, yes, we got it straight!) who he is living with right now while he gets his house built. He has only just put in the foundation and hopes to have it built by the end of August at which point his wife and children will join him from Dar es Salaam.
Tonight we went to Innocent’s village which is situated on the road to UDOM. It was an unbelievable experience! Upon our arrival we were greeted by some traditional village dancers. The village is made up of about 3000 residents from the Gogo tribe. Although Innocent is from the Chagga tribe (based near Kilimanjaro) he has chosen to live in this village since it is so close to the university. He has a close cousin (who he calls brother – but also clarified for us “…but not from the same womb” ....so, yes, we got it straight!) who he is living with right now while he gets his house built. He has only just put in the foundation and hopes to have it built by the end of August at which point his wife and children will join him from Dar es Salaam.
It was very evident that the villagers went to a lot of trouble and planning to have the 10 IBMers at their village. They put on at least 45 minutes of traditional dance for us to enjoy and at one point (much to my shock & surprise!!) I was invited up to dance with the women. In an effort to show my respect I set about displaying my dancing (in)ability for all to see. What a neat experience!! Of course my dear colleagues did not disappoint ensuring there are various video clips and snapshots of me attempting the tribal dance. As you can imagine, it was really tough to look inconspicuous with the blond hair and blue eyes. We also had a tree planting session for Innocent...each of us was required to plant 1 tree in celebration of his new homestead.
Innocent also shocked us and prepared a cornerstone to commemorate the fact that we were there and to bless his home. I was lucky enough to be asked by Innocent to unveil the conerstone and was pleasantly surprised to see all of our names and countries on the cornerstone! What a privilege and honour to be apart of Innocent's life. I will never forget this.
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