head east
where did the time go?
Two Months of Adventures!
the adventure continues!
Tours, Travels, and updates!
Mwanza Pictures
the two week mark!
Pictures of
Karibu Mwanza!
karibu Africa!
the countdown begins...
who we are
we are two Canadian students from the University of Western Ontario, currently in the process of completing the third year
of our Honours Bachlor of Arts in Media in the Public Interest.
at the moment, we are in Mwanza, Tanzania as interns with Western Heads East.
learn more about...
- western heads east (WHE)
- the university of western ontario (UWO)
- mwanza or tanzania
- FONELISCO
- swahilli
archives
October 2006
November 2006
December 2006
where did the time go?
Thursday, December 14, 2006so we've only got a couple more weeks in mwanza before we head off to zanzibar and then back to snowy canada! lots of things have happened in the past little while, but the most newsworthy are:
mwanza floods...
it was ridiculous, the rains were pouring down and all of the sudden the director of kivulini calls us from our apartment to the balcony, "come come, you have to see this!" as we stare down, we realize that there is water in mlango moja, the used clothing market right accross the street, up to the vendor's knees! we rushed out and into the market, past people trying desperately to salvage their merchandise from the murky waters. one guy casually backstroked past us with a wave, before stalls once filled with jungles of used clothing. we left the market and went to the main road, which we saw was now a swiftly rushing river. people flanked the makeshift shores and tables and chairs washed past in the swift current.
from our balcony, we could see cars parked downtown now imersed in water up to their windows. after the rain subsided, the waters cleared up quite quickly, but left a lot of damage in their wake. many houses in mabitini, the area where our yogurt kitchen is, were quite badly damaged. however, luckily most of our friends were alright, although one of the yogurt mama's houses - mama asha - had water up to their ankles on the floor and the younger kids in the house have malaria... all in all, it was an awesome display of the power of nature, and we are lucky both to have experienced it and that the majorty of people affected came out safely.
serengeti adventure!
we went to the serengeti last weekend! we spent one night in the serengeti stopover, just outside the gates of the park, where we calebrated the beginning of our mini-vacation. as we tend to do, we made ourselves right at home - rob was behind the bar and jodie and i were cooking chapatis in the kitchen! the next morning, we drove into the park - me, rob, jobie (canada) and dennis (south africa).
we spent two days and one night there, looking with awe at all of the amazing animals! we saw literally hundreds of giraffes and zebras, many of them just milling about in the road. tons of impala and gazelles, looking at us impassively as we drove by or paused to take pictures.
hippos bathed in the hippo pool, we saw the ass of an elephant through the trees, and two lions (we think) almost snapped up jodie and i as we truged into the grass for a pee break.
we camped overnight, and (hilariously) we were the only mzungos (white people/foreigners) who were doing the whole trip for themselves! the camp became quite full, mostly with wealthy-looking couples, two from canada actually, who had hired a tour agency and come fully equipped with a driver, cook and so on. they lounged about in the sun, waiting to be served the food included in their luxury serengeti tour while we popped right into the little cooking hut, making friends with the tour staff, jabbering in kswahili and cooking up a storm. and seriously, i wouldnt have doen it any other way.
we didnt run into too many problems, we had two blown tires and the car battery died, but no big deal. with the car just gave up in the middle of a dirt road, every single truck that passed us stopped to help and one even gave rob and jodie a ride to the nearest lodge to try and get a mechanic to come out. while they went for help, dennis and i sunbathed. as luck would have it, a car with three mechanics passed us, and were able to get the car up and running in almost no time!
it made for a good adventure though... whats a trip to the serengeti if you dont have to push the car, even a little?
more coming soon!
posted by sam at 9:22 AM
Two Months of Adventures!
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Jambo!
Here are the much anticipated pictures of the orphanage, Saa Nane Game Reserve Island and World Aids Day Parade. The last week has been very busy in preparation for World Aids Day and trying to make sure we get everything done in our last month in Mwanza.
We both couldn't believe that December came so quickly, but with the help of the Yogurt Mama's we managed to put together some signs and go with Kivulini to the World Aids Day Events. Sam and I marched along side the mama's out to a stadium where there was presentations, guest speakers, information booths, and live performers throughout the day. Although the day was held in Swahili, Sam and I travelled around introducing ourselves to the many organizations at the event.
The first picture is Sam and I on a very large boat. Our friends here in Mwanza built the boat and let Sam and I go on and explore yesterday afternoon (and we thought it was the perfect time for a good photo).
The next photo is of the World Aids Day Parade, then the lion at Saa Nane, and a picture of the children at Fonelisco during one of our English lessons.
Sam and I are starting english lessons with the Yogurt Mama's on Monday as they all have told us how they would like to learn more English as well. Sam and I are going to spend our last month teaching them English and trying to finish up all the mini projects we have started here in Mwanza.
We are having a beach Christmas blast on December 15th as a fundraiser for Western Heads East out at Tunza Lodge...We finally got everything up and running for it realizing event planning in Africa is not as easy as one might think :)
Hope the weather in Canada isn't too cold and that everyone is safe and doing well! Sam just got over her second time with Malaria and tomorrow we are going to get tested again (just to make sure it is out of both our systems).
Kwa Heri!
-Rob and Sam