Liz in Tanzania: Traveling With Samaki

If you travel anywhere near the Malawi border you will undoubtedly travel with fish, either fresh or dried. And having been to Malawi and back on numerous occasions to renew my visa, I can say I prefer fresh.You can travel by daladala, taxi, bus or bike, it makes no difference. Even on foot there's bound to be a woman walking in front of you with a 40 #bucket of fish on her head.

There's a particular fish called dagaa, very small, very pungent when dried, usually eaten with ugali. I once rode a daladala from Kyela (near the border) to Tukuyu (not near the border), with 200 # of dagaa in the seat behind me. So yes, I do have a preference.

Fish drying racks, to ensure extra pungency.

This particular trip, I was in a shared taxi from Karonga to the border, and the fish were in large buckets directly behind me. A lovely woman in the front seat tried to convince me to switch seats with her, as a courtesy to the mzungu, but 1) it's an embarrassment to be treated differently because of my skin and 2) just about anywhere in a small car with 50 #of fish is ground zero, as far as I'm concerned.

There's 4 people in the front,(two in the drivers seat).

Five in the middle, and three of us in the back. The fish were

behind me in the back.

Anchors

Every three months I renew my visa, which requires that I cross a border, any border, and get a new 90 day stamp on my passport upon re-entry. Tanzania is bordered by Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique. Five of these countries I have not visited, and would love to, but Malawi has a no fee on entry policy with America, while Zambia charges 50 USD. So I go to Malawi. It's close, there's a nice place on Lake Malawi that I frequent, and all the border guys know me and don't hassle me anymore. This alone is enough to ensure my devotion.

I always like the Beach Chamber, it's located in the middle of a little fishing village in the town of Karonga, and I love to watch life around the lake. It's a huge part of life there, people washing clothes, kids, themselves, fishing in boats, or with poles, washing dishes, bikes, and selling their catch when they come to shore.

This is also the place where I got what my friend Anne calls machine gun diarrhea. But I didn't eat the street meat on the ride in, and I opted for chicken curry instead of the fish. Hamna shida, not even a cramp.

My boat guide

I love the birds, they come each evening to perch on a little island about 150 yards off shore, and fly off in the morning. Sunrise is right over the water, and I like to be up early to watch the fishermen go out to set nets or come in with their catch. Some go out at night and sleep on the islands, others go out in the am.

While I was taking pictures of the beached boats before sunrise, a couple of guys came to begin their day, we struck a deal, and I was in the boat. It was too fun, in spite of the fact that there's no stabilizers on these boats. It's all balance, which these guys have plenty of given they do it everyday.

They were eager for me to stand up, just for the experience, and hamna shidaed me about fifty times. I however, don't do this everyday, and was sitting in the canoe with a $500 camera. Years ago, I was in a canoe paddling club, so I'm no stranger to falling out of a boat, and will try it cameraless next time.

kids fishing

We spent about an hour on the water, and on a little island offshore. It was great, I got some beautiful pictures, and next time will arrange a sunset trip for the birds. I've never taken pictures from a canoe on open water, it had it's challenges, but the view was astounding. All in all a good crossing. Then on to Mbeya for graduation.

About 3 years ago I was approached by my friends Alice and David Simpokolwe, Zambians living in Mbeya. They are Batizo's guardians, a young woman from a far away village. She was living with David and Alice, but wanted to go to nursing school. They were looking for a sponsor, and as I love to help make a nurse, I said ok.

She applied for a spot at Mbalizi Nursing School, and out of 700 applicants, she was one of about 50 accepted. So last Saturday she graduated, a very happy day. She's now a trained midwife.

The director of the hospital here in Berega has offered her a job, and I did talk to her about it, but as education is all about having options, I asked her to think about it and choose wisely and dispassionately. I would hate for her to come to Berega because she felt an obligation toward me. She doesn't owe me a thing.

more kids fishing

I did tell her about Berega. It's a great place, I love it, but there's nothing to do. If I was her, I'd go to Arusha or Iringa, or stay in Mbeya. These are big towns with theaters, libraries, restaurants, places to spend the money she's about to make. David and Alice are coming up to see her this week, and they will all talk. Her decision.

When I go to Mbeya, I usually stay with my friends John and Kay, very down to earth missionaries originally from Australia. I've mentioned them before, they're the ones who adopted Asha, a little Maasai girl. She's nine now, and has been home schooled by her mom. Asha is about the smartest little 9 year old I know, and has loads upon loads of books she's used over the years. Kay was more than happy to unload some of these on me, and I was more than happy to accept. So I returned to Berega with 2 travel bags loaded with books, to be added to the huge bag of books I got in Dar. So begins Berega Community Library.

We need a library, folks here like to read, there just aren't any books. SO, for those of you who have sent books, asante and send more. Haven't gotten them yet, but hamna shida, they will arrive. We use the Anglican Church PO Box so there's very little theft. If you send a box to Ghana, you ensure safe delivery by scrawling dire warnings on the box promising "a curse on he who steals from orphans". Apparently you dont need to do that here if you use a church PO Box.

Life on shore is busy.

Kay told me that if you want to send me boxes of books, write Educational Material on the green sticker that they attach at the post office. This doesn't make it any cheaper for you, but it does keep me out of the TRA office. TRA is the Tanzania Revenue Authority, known far and wide as the most corrupt agency in Tz, if not the entire continent. They get to make their own rules, there is little govt interference, and therefore can gouge you for as much as they want. BUT they are not allowed to interfere with Educational Material. It's their one rule. Anyone interested in sending more books, contact me for particulars.

Update. It's Sunday afternoon now, and I just got back from dropping Waziri off at St. Alpha's Secondary School. Father Ricardo let him start mid year, without an entrance exam, because I told him the kid was bright. Which he is. Father Ricardo is a priest from Italy and has lived and worked in Tz for twenty years. He runs the school, wears a brown robe and no shoes. He's a little eccentric, but I like hat.

Hauling in the nets

This school is bare bones, Waziri will live with seventy five other guys, do his own laundry, clean the dorm, and have all of ten dollars spending money monthly. But there's a soccer team and kids from this school go to university. He's happy, and he deserves this. But he's a village kid, for sure. I gave him some money when we got to town and told him to get some supplies and meet me in an hour. So he got lost and showed up two hours later.

Students need to provide their own mattresses and linens, among other things, and there's two kinds. One costs $28 USD and the other $56. I asked him what kind he used at home and he just looked at me and I realized he doesn't have one at home. Lots of kids sleep on the floor here, so he's happy with the cheap one. He will be happy to adjust.