Back to work
Just over a week back in Tanzania and still have not made it all the way back to the village but have gotten back to work and fun. The first couple of days were spent in Arusha with William and Martha Makali and getting back into the swing of things. The first task was getting over a head cold I brought with me from the states that really got bad on the plane and then on the second day in country I decided to rest it out barely crawling out of bed that Saturday. I did however have to go into town on Friday before so I could get the operations phone Mpesa account unlocked. Every four or five months I have to visit a Vodacom shop to prove I am still who I am with passport in hand or they lock my Mpesa account. That apparently happened while I was in the states so had to fix it my first day back. William and I also had to test drive a vehicle that is going to be on the market some time soon from one of the Assemblies of God missionaries. It was a very nice vehicle and in great shape for its age with the engine and transmission being rebuilt before being shipped to Tanzania from Japan. drawbacks are it is bigger than we wanted and therefore more expensive but not far off our budget-not enough to think we could not get the price down but a bigger issue is the electronics which I think would be hard to get it worked on here in Singida.
Sunday went to Arusha Vineyard Church for missionaries. Starting to be recognized by some of the regulars there even though I only get to visit every couple of months. It would be nice to find a way to plug in but my distance from Arusha makes that hard.
Monday was immigration and applying for my residence permit as a volunteer. Keeping my fingers crossed as this would remove the need to renew my visa every year and having to leave the country every 90 days.
Tuesday was the trip to Singida. William and I were supposed to travel together but then he changed his plans Monday night and I went by myself. Wednesday I met up with Gifty our Lab Tech to purchase medicines for the site. Thursday and Friday spent getting re-acclimated to all the walking in the heat after having been stateside during winter.
Both days I made a visit out to a friends work site here in Singida. Chilie is a South Korean participating in their version of the peace corp. She works with students who are deaf or blind at a boarding school designed to help them. She has several construction projects underway at one time and is doing a great job with her local fundi. They were concerned about the amount of water accumulating in areas they dig out because the site is low to surrounding areas and is almost like swamp area with the vegetation growing being normal wetland grass. I visited on Thursday and did a review with the fundi and discussed the problems. We discussed how to move water from walkways and the contractors favorite words were that sounds expensive. He was more upbeat about our discussions on the latrine footings and floor (pipe will run to an existing pit). They will have a water tank on top to flush the toilets feed by the local water supply (Singida actually has a water supply system though not as strong as most USA folks would recognize because it will need a pump to push the water up to the tank). We decided I would come back the next morning and he would have workers dig pits so we could determine if the worst case scenario which is water bubbling up from the bottom or a slightly less worse case of water filling in from the sides.
Friday we dug the holes and fortunately the water filled in from the sides and we had the benefit of a rain from the night before. The good news here is that it can be overcome with materials and techniques common to the area. They will hand empty the area constantly during the work by cups and buckets while placing large rocks and sand on the bottom to settle any soft mud existing at the last minute and offer drainage plane before placing the concrete. Fortunately the soil is strong just wet.
Friday evening got a surprise of a sleet/hail storm that happened very quickly. Many of the rainy season storms here remind me of growing up on the farm and being out on the tractor in the afternoon and feeling the weather change as the clouds would quickly form up to rain. You could normally calculate how much time you had to get your equipment back in and it was never enough. However there were also summer heat or electrical storms where the lightening would only strike between clouds and not the ground. They were always beautiful. But occasionally you would get that surprise of a hail storm with the ice chunks hittting soft as they started to melt in the summer heat. That was what this was like as the ice pieces did not last long enough to take a picture of them.
Saturday was game day for the Peace corp volunteers and they came into town throughout the day and some of us got together for a snack at brunch time because lunch would be ont he rocks around 3 to 4 PM It was a good day but not much in the way of games. I did get to drop off some items I brought from the states. A motor and generator science kit for the physics teachers, bears and some of my finger knitted cowls. Glad I grabbed some extra bears as additional folks liked them and I did not have to hold back on giving them out.
Today Sunday we have another rain storm brewing and I sit getting some computer work done as my internet connection goes in and out every couple of minutes while a soccer game plays in the background. Tomorrow I head back out to the site and my home away from home. Looking forward to getting back to work there though I know it will be subdued for the first couple of months. Being this is rainy season it is also their crop season so I expect little work done on the buildings because workers will be in the fields tending their families crops. I myself have some seeds to plant when I get out there but nothing major just some tomatoes and eggplants. Still looking for some strawberry cuttings to start a strawberry vine in vertical space.
Sunday went to Arusha Vineyard Church for missionaries. Starting to be recognized by some of the regulars there even though I only get to visit every couple of months. It would be nice to find a way to plug in but my distance from Arusha makes that hard.
Monday was immigration and applying for my residence permit as a volunteer. Keeping my fingers crossed as this would remove the need to renew my visa every year and having to leave the country every 90 days.
Tuesday was the trip to Singida. William and I were supposed to travel together but then he changed his plans Monday night and I went by myself. Wednesday I met up with Gifty our Lab Tech to purchase medicines for the site. Thursday and Friday spent getting re-acclimated to all the walking in the heat after having been stateside during winter.
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| Chilie's early project tactile tiles to help blind students using a cane to know where they are |
Both days I made a visit out to a friends work site here in Singida. Chilie is a South Korean participating in their version of the peace corp. She works with students who are deaf or blind at a boarding school designed to help them. She has several construction projects underway at one time and is doing a great job with her local fundi. They were concerned about the amount of water accumulating in areas they dig out because the site is low to surrounding areas and is almost like swamp area with the vegetation growing being normal wetland grass. I visited on Thursday and did a review with the fundi and discussed the problems. We discussed how to move water from walkways and the contractors favorite words were that sounds expensive. He was more upbeat about our discussions on the latrine footings and floor (pipe will run to an existing pit). They will have a water tank on top to flush the toilets feed by the local water supply (Singida actually has a water supply system though not as strong as most USA folks would recognize because it will need a pump to push the water up to the tank). We decided I would come back the next morning and he would have workers dig pits so we could determine if the worst case scenario which is water bubbling up from the bottom or a slightly less worse case of water filling in from the sides.
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| small hole never filled up with water a good sign |
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| water collecting up beside of the building |
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| digging out a lower spot to allow water in the holes to drain away |
Friday we dug the holes and fortunately the water filled in from the sides and we had the benefit of a rain from the night before. The good news here is that it can be overcome with materials and techniques common to the area. They will hand empty the area constantly during the work by cups and buckets while placing large rocks and sand on the bottom to settle any soft mud existing at the last minute and offer drainage plane before placing the concrete. Fortunately the soil is strong just wet.
Friday evening got a surprise of a sleet/hail storm that happened very quickly. Many of the rainy season storms here remind me of growing up on the farm and being out on the tractor in the afternoon and feeling the weather change as the clouds would quickly form up to rain. You could normally calculate how much time you had to get your equipment back in and it was never enough. However there were also summer heat or electrical storms where the lightening would only strike between clouds and not the ground. They were always beautiful. But occasionally you would get that surprise of a hail storm with the ice chunks hittting soft as they started to melt in the summer heat. That was what this was like as the ice pieces did not last long enough to take a picture of them.
Saturday was game day for the Peace corp volunteers and they came into town throughout the day and some of us got together for a snack at brunch time because lunch would be ont he rocks around 3 to 4 PM It was a good day but not much in the way of games. I did get to drop off some items I brought from the states. A motor and generator science kit for the physics teachers, bears and some of my finger knitted cowls. Glad I grabbed some extra bears as additional folks liked them and I did not have to hold back on giving them out.
 |
Today Sunday we have another rain storm brewing and I sit getting some computer work done as my internet connection goes in and out every couple of minutes while a soccer game plays in the background. Tomorrow I head back out to the site and my home away from home. Looking forward to getting back to work there though I know it will be subdued for the first couple of months. Being this is rainy season it is also their crop season so I expect little work done on the buildings because workers will be in the fields tending their families crops. I myself have some seeds to plant when I get out there but nothing major just some tomatoes and eggplants. Still looking for some strawberry cuttings to start a strawberry vine in vertical space.
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