Tanzania vs Canada Transportation

A bodaboda/pikipiki (motorcycle)

Men on bodabodas (motorcycles) can be seen idling on roadsides and, on the edges of the town. These men provide a transportation “taxi” service, where one can sit on the back of a bodaboda and be driven to a destination for a fee. If I took a bodaboda to town, it would cost me around 1,500 Shillings (70 cents in CAD).

Cars (sedans) are also used for transportation services. Some drivers own the vehicles, whereas some work for the vehicle’s owners. Daladalas (busses) run on well travelled paths and in between towns.

In contrast to the image above, many streets do not have street signs. Drivers seem to have a good spatial understanding of where buildings and neighborhoods are situated.

-Yuuki

Tanzania vs Canada Living Conditions

Living Conditions

Evening view from the front porch

Our place of dwelling is a 45-minute walk up the mountain/hillside from the town. There are: three bedrooms, two washrooms/showers, two office spaces, a dining space, a small kitchen, and, a storage space.

Although we sleep under bed nets, I do not see many flying insects in our rooms, period. As of May 21, it is considered the “wet” season. It rains during the early mornings. During the day, the temperature is around 23°C, and at night, around 18°C. The heat is projected to increase for the summer months. The air is humid. The type of air is more comparable to that of Japan versus Canada.

Water runs from the mountaintop through pipes. It is not heated. On our roof, we have a 1000L water tank. For the first several days, we did not have running water, so we used water stored in large barrels
(in the washrooms). People from the global north should sterilize water by at least one of the following: UV (Steripen), Chlorine tablets, or, by boiling the water.

Besides our kettle, and, our electronic devices (laptops/phones), we do not have any other electrical appliances. Laundry is done by hand, and hung outside.

-Yuuki

The one with our favourite moments

Mambo y'all!

Meet the 2018 International Team of SIHA. It has been exactly 6 days since we got to Tanzania and we all absolutely love it! Why, you ask? Well, here is why:

(from left to right) Stephanie, Sarah, Ryan K.,
Amandine, Poshika, Ryan G. and Gillian and Yuuki (not in the photo)

Stephanie, Project Manager: 
"Seeing the Tanzanian SIHA members upon arrival at the Dar es Salaam airport."

Ryan G. , Project Manager:
"Meeting the founder of My Health Foundation, Harriet and eating Ugali at her house."

Poshika, Volunteer: 
"Chapatis for breakfast. And the rice and beans. And the Ugali. All the food actually."

Sarah, Volunteer:
"Hiking to the Choma waterfall and walking under it! "

Gillian, Volunteer:
"Reaching the Choma waterfall after that VERRRYYY long hike up, it was a feeling of accomplishment!"

Amandine, Volunteer:
" How friendly everyone is to each other and the extent to which they seem to enjoy life and prioritize each other over meaningless things such as tasks." 

Ryan K. , Volunteer:
"I love Tanzania because everyday is an adventure in its own right. It takes "going out of your comfort zone" to a whole new level. It takes your mind out of the stressful schedule of being a student at the U of A; its so tranquil here in Morogoro."

Yuuki, Volunteer:
"Sounds heard in Tanzania: the roosters, birds, cows and goats are within earshot."

And this is what makes being in Tanzania with SIHA such an amazing experience! Oh and just in case these were not enough reasons, you should check out the view of the sunset from our house. 😳


Stay tuned to learn more about Tanzania!








                                           -Poshika

Morogoro Visit

Mambo!

This past Saturday we were given the opportunity to go to Morogoro and visit with SON (Serving Our Neighbours) International and assist them in holding an open house. They held stations that gave information on Biosand filters, methods of water purification, hand cleaning, and puberty.

Below is a picture of the SIHA International Team along with SON International employees and some of the kids that came to the open house. We were given the chance to play some games with everyone involved!

On Sunday we did a hike in the Uluguru mountain area from the town of Morogoro to Chuma falls. We were able to crawl under the waterfall and enjoy the cool water.

We Wrote a Test!

Tulifanya jaribio!
For the past four weeks we have been doing Swahili lessons 3-4 times a week. One of our Community Consultants, Pastone, has been teaching us. So far we have learnt greetings, verbs, present/past/future tenses, food, and family!

On Saturday, June 10th, teacher Pastone gave us a test.

We surprisingly all passed with flying colours!

Above is a picture of us collaboratively writing the test. Below is a picture of Pastone handing us back our tests in order of highest to lowest mark.

Project Work

Habari!

The past few weeks have involved a lot of discussion regarding which projects we will be working on for the summer and the direction in which to take these projects. Here is a small look into some of  the projects from previous years:

Endeleza Vijana Organization (EVO) Partnership: EVO was established in 2013 and aims to support youth through everyday challenges by providing them education on health related issues and life skills. In summer 2015, SIHA provided EVO with seminars on various topics aimed to increase members' capacity in achieving organizational goals. Their current programs include: Sports 4 Life Program, World Aids Day, and Partner Invitation Card (which aims to increase male involvement in couple HIV/AIDS testing).

The Water Projects: Biosand Filters (BSFs): SIHA first installed BSFs in 2013 in response to high rates of diarrheal disease and limited access to effective treatment methods. SIHA connected with SON international: a local non-for profit that builds and services BSFs. A pilot project was initiated to assess BSF utility in various demographics and in different locations.

In July 2015, SIHA found all of the BSFs dried out or in poor condition at all four locations. SIHA connected SON international with those utilizing the BSFs. In February 2016, SON international repaired and relocated the BSFs, with SIHA funding these costs.

Rainwater Collection System (RWCS): SIHA constructed a RWCS in 2012 to improve water accessibility for the community of Kikongo. The RWCS is composed of a 26 000 L tank, which sits underground and water is supplied via pump. In the following years the RWCS had finance and management issues despite evaluation and encouragement of the SIHA team to promote a sense of ownership within the community and the local government. In 201 6 the SIHA team decided to pass full ownership of the RWCS to the Kikongo Primary School.

Mwanabwito Education Committee (MEC) Partnership: MEC addresses health barriers through community education. The overarching goal is to reduce the number of people that are affected by malaria. This has been done by door to door seminars, malaria movie nights, class room seminars, etc.

Malaria Prevention: ITNs Project:  Malaria has been identified as a primary health concern in multiple communities. Key informants helped to identify barriers to malaria prevention in these communities: the accessibility and cost of Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs). SIHA has worked to connect local businesses with community groups (such as MEC) to distribute bednets at a reasonable price to communities with the goal of decreasing dependency on SIHA.

Oceans, mountains, & monkeys!

We have officially been in Mlandizi, Tanzania for two weeks and we are not sick of each other yet!

This past week and a half have been very busy. Sunday was a  day off and we made the (very very) bumpy ride over to Bagamoyo. At Bagamoyo we were able to dip our feet into the Indian Ocean for the first time since arriving in Tanzania! Here, we braved the busy fish market and walked around the town.

On Tuesday, we headed out to Morogoro. After a 4 hour wait and a 2 hour bus ride we finally arrived at our home for the next two nights. In Morogoro we had the opportunity to visit SON (Serving Our Neighbour)  international, a local NGO that works with water and community development. We were able to sit down with Todd and Ann Ziems and learn about what the organization does, how they started, and their plans for the future. SON also gave us the chance to visit a primary school to watch them give a lesson about Biosand Filters to the kids.

We also got to venture through the mountains in the surrounding area where we were greeted by rivers, waterfalls, and monkeys in the treetops.