food!

the vegetarians diet

at long last, an blog about the food here in Dar es salaam. So many of you have being asking what the food was like in both places. Grabouw, being in south Africa which could be described as Britain in Africa to some extent, we ate the same as we would in England.

But now in Dar im eating whatever the locals eat. I normaly have to skip breakfast in order to get to the school on time-7, i wasn’t going to be late for school buy eating “cardboard” bread. So for snack at the school (the kids don’t have breakfast either despite being up since 5) i normal have the equivalent of an English hash brown,  this is an triangular shaped fryied outer coating thingy which as potateo in the middle- i canne describe it any better, nor remember the real name- sorry!

Then lunch- this is Buguruni’s infamous ugali and beans. Ugali is a tradditonal African staple deirt and is best described as mash potateo in flour, it is tasteless i mean really tasteless but after a while a have got used for it. (for those of you that think its nice it’s because you’ve had “posh” ugali in a restaurant of special occasion!) the beans are godsend as they add taste to the ugali J, at the school we always eat with our hands and their is a special method for eating the ugali, another time perhaps.

Supper- its always rice, whether i eat it at the school (rice and beans, rather nice) or at the convent. The convent do actually cook some rather nice nosh. But the bottom line for everymeal is rice and spinach, normally combined with some other tings such as cabbage- my favourite or this pea soup thingy which is rather nice. Then we always have some fruit for pudding, the pineapple and the mangos are the freshest on the planet J

On occasions the nuns have invited to little nun gatherings/partys where they cook stuff out of the ordinary! Omelette with chips- actually surprisingly nice. Yes they do drink acholol, but its normaly some horrible Tanzanian made red wine mixed with coke, i’ve yet to decide whether coke or Pepsi taste better!?

Now the meat- its horrible, Tanzanian livestock don’t get fed very well (compared to Jame’s  cows on Robert berry farm) so its just disgusting. Whether its beef, chicken or even something unregonisable (maybe roadkill dog!) its just so skinny, the fat always out ratios the meat and thats if there is any meat! So i actually dread eating meat here L makes me gag.

So its normal for me to go for days or weeks without eating meat- argh! But some weekends i escape bugurni to Nevil and Alisons house (the most wonderful people in the world) and eat like royals. Nevil is such an amazing chef, why he didn’t make a career out of it i dunno. But my favourite dish is just to consume a packet of sausages (10 by myself yes).

That’s the food in a bombshell! Hopefully il add another blog before of to summit kilimanjuro.

For those of you already collecting football gear- a huge thank you J

Simonx

football

Football J

Every afternoon some form of sport has to be played to entertain the children of Buguruni, often football, but they now know how to play touch rugby, netball, rounder’s (ultimate Frisbee is slowly getting there!)

Back in January i asked the lads if they were ready for a football match and they were well up for it. So i went around asking the other local schools if they were willing for a match but they all turned it down when they found out it was the “deaf school”.

Mama Hamish (boss) kindly explained to me that in Tanzania its illegal for “normal” people to play against “diasbleled/deaf people” this made me so soo angry (a head butting the computer screen moment). What kind of law is that? I thought the Nazis made those kind of laws?, nevertheless rules are meant to be broken.

A team of Indian guys who train nearby were keen for the challenge when i explained them the situation- so we got our self’s a match J

Many of the lads had no football boots, most even played in bare feet, forget about uniforms and shin pads. It was bibs Vs no bibs. The opposing team turned up in nice shiny kit, football boots and shin pads all looking very smug.

Buguruni boys gave them a run for their money, by the end of the first half we had scored 3 goals (2 of which were hat tricks by Kelvin) and the pros were losing, 3-0 to Buguruni. This made their manager very angry, D)

However during the second half the lads were exhausted, no matter how many subistutes we did, we didn’t have a huge amount of energy. The pros however were slightly embrassed and were keen to get the score up whatever the cost. There were injuries to bare feet- result  of studs meeting unprotected skin (often on purpose) elbowing, shoving. This typically enough made all of us at the sidelines very angry, our ref (who has being blessed with deafness) fortunately didn’t hear the abuse for not sending the pros off.

We ended in a 4-4 draw, i seriously couldn’t ask for more. It was the best football match i have ever seen and the boys loved playing every second of it. It’s just a real shame that the politicians who wear suits and just simply sit in their office without seeing the real world don’t understand the real potential deaf/diasbleled people could have for sports. But hey this is TIT= This Is Tanzania. (TITS is another alternative, let me know when you have worked it out!)

I WILL be coming back to Buguruni again, hopefully bringing out some deaf friends to expirence this awesome place. When I do come out, i would love to bring some presents for the lads here. The thing they keep asking me for is football boots, if you have any old/unloved football boots (or trainers, socks, shinpads) that you need to get rid of, please give them to the boys of Buguruni!

Simonx

launguge barriers

The language barrier...

Most hearing people on planet earth think sign language is universal wheresle most deaf people know its actually unique to each country! Were telling you hearing people that sign language is not universal!

Simon only speaks English (he cannot write very good English, all blogs are done in a word document to help him overcome his errors in grammar and spelling- he blames the XY chromosome he has inherted from his father (which came with a dyslexixa mutation). He also sign’s pretty good BSL, but many deaf peers think outherwise.

At Buguruni all of the lessons are taught in Swahili sign language (theres no mary hare “oral” status to boost about!) and all of the teachers communicate with each other by speaking Swahili, a few speak English- but its work in progress.

For the kids their first language is Swahili sign language, then actual Swahili itself and then their third language is English. I literally find it amazing that im able to have a proper conversation with them at all! But thanks to previous volunteers who have given the kids a bit of background BSL, they seem to have a pretty good idea what im trying to say.

A typical converstion would be in Swahili sign language, if you didn’t get the message they would fingerspell it in Swahili (the American single handed alpherbet), if you still don’t understand then they would fingerspell it in BSL- which is actually just fingerspelling Swahili words- no luck. Then finaly they would perform actions, write/draw on the sandy floor- pretty efficient J

Its weird at first as “how are you?” is the same as thank you in BSL. “im fine” is nothing. Women means oil, and more/hurry up is actually something quite rude!- just so so weird at first but you get used to it. Geuss it will be reverse when i go home.

But i love using the language barrier to my advantage! Some time i end up with two lunches (not bad at all!) the head winfredia doesn’t speak much English, so any conversation between me and her is a one way conversation with winfredia just nodding her head smiling, so i could ask if i could do this and that and get a nod as the go ahead J.

The cultural barrier is also useful, during the week i cooked the nuns toad in the hole as a treat. When it came to bring it out of the oven it looked beautifully crispy and golden on top. However the base was heavily burnt (how do you avoide this? I burn latterly everything including myself when cooking grr) but i told the nuns that this is normal of English cooking, its how we get the taste were after and then explained we scrape off the good bits with a fork and eat it J they loved it!

I have uploaded some photos onto facebook, if your young enough please enjoy. If your of the later generation perhaps its time you think about setting up a fb account!

Simonx

the result...

The result...!

Im pleased to say my malaria espodie is over! At the weekend I brought a (pricey) self testing kit which involves stabbing your finger many times till you get blood ozoning out- you then aim the stream of blood into a tiny little hole in this plastic thingy and wait. Pleased to say its come back negative for malaria. However I have brought more antibiotics etc ready for next time. On dads recomandation i’ve been forced to pour out my savings on the most expensive anti malaria drug- Marolone, whether it works or not (unlike doxycylonine) we shall wait and see!

To celebrate the end of the malaria episode, me and Neviel (mama Alison’s husband) went kayaking J,  a beautiful paddle of coco beach where we watched many Dows- local fishing boats (i think that the name) going out into the open sea, they were nothing but a few tree trunks stuck together by a few strings of rope, Neveil also did his window shopping deciding which motor “yatch” was going to be his next toy..

After kayaking I went for a swim (without the boat!), but swimming back in I reached the rocks where you had no option but to wade. You feel something very painful in your foot- yes you guessed it- sea urchin! These are not the beautiful spike-less shells many people decorate their bathrooms with, these are the evils of the reefs, the huge spikes would go through anything and break in half in your foot. Despite our efforts to lure the spikes out with pliers, sewing needles, tweezers, boiling water, flame torches it was time for another visit to the doctor. Local anaesthetic was injected, the actual injecting is quite painful! But gives you some relive as two nurses and a doctor are busy prodding your foot with needles and scalpels, 40mins later we got them all out. The deepest being a painful half 15mm below the skin, unfortunately the local anasetic didn’t reach this far deep, the sky certainly changed colour, I’m now on another course of antibiotics- a successful weekend.

Not everything i have done at Buguruni has involved me self harming myself. Being the only voulenteer means theres plenty to do. One of which was make an electronic regeister! Remember the school term has only just started, people have settleled in etc, forget about all that nonsense in the UK where the teachers come in before the term starts to make registers etc, Buguruni- we improvise- full stop. With no records of all the students names kept anywhere (forget the headmasters office) i go round class to class asking for names, the occasional teacher would have made a register (often last years!)- a blessing if it was 2012’s, but many don’t. So I now have to ask 240pupils their names, spelt out in the American signing alperbet, confusing enough. Some classes had no teachers, some teachers had two classes, so and so is sick typically this took forever. Then Mama Hamish told me via skype to go round again and check all the hearing aids- this took even longer!

The afternoons are my favourite part, each day I try to do a different sport session with the kids. Its hard to entertain all 120 boarders, so i either do football, netball touch rugby or just fun and games. The kids aboslutly love this, esp the boys who have now learnt how to play touch rugby (with every other pass been a forward pass- grr!) and they love their army style football fitness- it’s a joy to watch them sweat! 2-3 is way to hot for anyone to do anything, so an old classroom has been stolen and comverted into a playroom, its nothing much but i have managed to get my hands onto some board games, i’m despratly trying to find some plywood (so so rare) to make a table tennis table- watch this space....

Afraid thats all I can say, now I gotta get back to doing my spreadsheet for the hearing aids (took my 8hrs to check everyone rotten earmoulds)

Simon x

the result...

The result...!

Im pleased to say my malaria espodie is over! At the weekend I brought a (pricey) self testing kit which involves stabbing your finger many times till you get blood ozoning out- you then aim the stream of blood into a tiny little hole in this plastic thingy and wait. Pleased to say its come back negative for malaria. However I have brought more antibiotics etc ready for next time. On dads recomandation i’ve been forced to pour out my savings on the most expensive anti malaria drug- Marolone, whether it works or not (unlike doxycylonine) we shall wait and see!

To celebrate the end of the malaria episode, me and Neviel (mama Alison’s husband) went kayaking J,  a beautiful paddle of coco beach where we watched many Dows- local fishing boats (i think that the name) going out into the open sea, they were nothing but a few tree trunks stuck together by a few strings of rope, Neveil also did his window shopping deciding which motor “yatch” was going to be his next toy..

After kayaking I went for a swim (without the boat!), but swimming back in I reached the rocks where you had no option but to wade. You feel something very painful in your foot- yes you guessed it- sea urchin! These are not the beautiful spike-less shells many people decorate their bathrooms with, these are the evils of the reefs, the huge spikes would go through anything and break in half in your foot. Despite our efforts to lure the spikes out with pliers, sewing needles, tweezers, boiling water, flame torches it was time for another visit to the doctor. Local anaesthetic was injected, the actual injecting is quite painful! But gives you some relive as two nurses and a doctor are busy prodding your foot with needles and scalpels, 40mins later we got them all out. The deepest being a painful half 15mm below the skin, unfortunately the local anasetic didn’t reach this far deep, the sky certainly changed colour, I’m now on another course of antibiotics- a successful weekend.

Not everything i have done at Buguruni has involved me self harming myself. Being the only voulenteer means theres plenty to do. One of which was make an electronic regeister! Remember the school term has only just started, people have settleled in etc, forget about all that nonsense in the UK where the teachers come in before the term starts to make registers etc, Buguruni- we improvise- full stop. With no records of all the students names kept anywhere (forget the headmasters office) i go round class to class asking for names, the occasional teacher would have made a register (often last years!)- a blessing if it was 2012’s, but many don’t. So I now have to ask 240pupils their names, spelt out in the American signing alperbet, confusing enough. Some classes had no teachers, some teachers had two classes, so and so is sick typically this took forever. Then Mama Hamish told me via skype to go round again and check all the hearing aids- this took even longer!

The afternoons are my favourite part, each day I try to do a different sport session with the kids. Its hard to entertain all 120 boarders, so i either do football, netball touch rugby or just fun and games. The kids aboslutly love this, esp the boys who have now learnt how to play touch rugby (with every other pass been a forward pass- grr!) and they love their army style football fitness- it’s a joy to watch them sweat! 2-3 is way to hot for anyone to do anything, so an old classroom has been stolen and comverted into a playroom, its nothing much but i have managed to get my hands onto some board games, i’m despratly trying to find some plywood (so so rare) to make a table tennis table- watch this space....

Afraid thats all I can say, now I gotta get back to doing my spreadsheet for the hearing aids (took my 8hrs to check everyone rotten earmoulds)

Simon x

The white man’s graveyard...

...Yesterday, i didn’t feel well at all. Had a huge headache and felt really tired, typically enough being a bloke I just told myself it was dehydration and carried on likewise. During lunch yesterday I was just having a small powernap where I was woken up by some western strangers who immediately asked ‘what colour is your pee?’ the theory being if pee was yellow I’m dehydrated and need to keep drinking till it turns white! If it was white- then I got to see the doctor.

It was white, then they told me about this wonderful blood testing kit i could find at a chemist, telling me whether I had malaria or not, so accomplice by some lads from school we looked round the local chemists where to my embrassement a pregnancy testing kit was found thanks to the language barriers!

On the way back from school the lads took me to the local health clinic where we all signed up for a malaria blood test for the grand cost of 30p each! (the other lads didn’t have the symptoms, but seemed like fun for them) We went into the lab where a chap made us surrender a single drop of blood each to inspect, we then got the results everyone except me got 0/200 where i got 2/200, now i was exactly feeling too comfortable!

At least the doctor had enough English to say ‘you have malaria’ but no more English to explain the path of treatment! He just wrote down the drug in Swahili and told me to goto reception, where again we met huge language barriers, resulting the lady writing out the treatment plan in the sand! Something my life may depend on, shame i didn’t have a camera!

I got home and called dad, literally straight away he asked what’s wrong? What have i done now?! Typical if your son rings you when he normally doesn’t!

 I just asked him to check it was the right treatment- having a professor as your father does have some highlights, But probably more lowlights! He said it was fine it was all good. I just hoped he would have the sense not to tell mum- which silly enough he did!

Malaria is a big problem here yes, speaking to Judith (boss!) I’m the first Tanzanear (the charity supporting Buguruni school) volunteer to catch malaria, so that kinda tells you how easy it is to be avoided! Yes I’m on anti malaria tablets, sleeping under a mossie net. But im not covering up under long trousers nor using repellent- so hands up- I’ve learnt the lesson the hard way, which is like the only way i learn anyway! My recovery is doing well, just simply taking a whole load of vitamins and antibiotics and taking it easily for the next few days (with the odd day off school!)

Looking at the village of hope blog, the hockey set kindly donated by Ally at Kings road toddler group has finaly been put to regular use J! It has been used previously in many one off events but it is now well loved! http://thembavillageofhope.blogspot.com/2012/01/jolly-hockey-sticks.html?spref=fb

Please do pray (those of you!) that I make a proper recovery and I’ll be back to doing sports with the kids soon.... plus mum- who’s obviously very worried! Tomorrow i will be doing another test, i shall let you know how it gets on....

Simonx

pictures

aplonagies! the previous post was written in such a rush, after reading it today it didnt make a huge amount of sense (to me included!), so the sort it out, some photos added.....

the bedroom, 40 lads shared this room!

lunch, this is the same everyday, will never complain about blount hall food again!

me and some of the lads, white skin really sticks out!