Woa. What a busy time right now. Hold on to your hat, this is a long one.
It is especially busy now because the funding for our projects need to be spent by the end of the month. Despite the fact that money is needed for a zillion things around here, it is important we spend on things that build capacity and ensure sustainability. So when we spend money it is often on things like training for example. The challenge is that organizing trainings takes time and time is not on our side (or as Tanzanians say “time is no longer our friend”).
However, it is incredibly important that we spend this money because if it is not spent, the funding appears to be unnecessary and then in the future the organization may have difficulty justifying the need for funding. There is no question the money is needed. It is just spending it in the way that we see will enhance the capacity of our partners and have longterm impact.
So I spent Friday shopping! This is not the usual way we spend nor the type of shopping that may seem exciting but was necessary for the farmers group I am working with. It was such a crazy day for me. We rented a driver and a truck and I went shopping with the head of the farmers group that I am working with. His name is Sylvester. The first day I arrived here I saw him in a training, I didn’t actually meet him, but I knew I wanted to know him. You know how some people you are just drawn to? Well He seemed a solemn guy but there was something about him that made me want to know him and to make him smile. I watched as he took notes and was clearly intent on learning about organic farming, organic pesticides, marketing, record keeping, and financial management. I could tell he was a hard worker and was paying such close attention during that training. I asked my boss what his name was and the next time I saw him I shook his hand and in Swahili I said “Sylvester how are you today”. He lit up and laughed. Although people laugh at my swahili all of the time, I could tell he was tickled I knew his name. Ever since, he and I have been building a relationship of me trying to speak with him, and him saying in Swahili, “no Tanya, say it in Swahili”.
So, back to Friday, what a challenge! We drove for hours before we were able to find our destination, the gardening supply store. When we got there I was so confused because it was a tiny duka the size of a condo kitchen. We were there to pick up 4 wheelbarrows, several shovels, hoes, rakes, buckets, pipes, etc. All I could see were shelves of seeds. Turns out the big stuff is kept in a warehouse several blocks away. So the owner and Sylvester head off to get that stuff sorted at the warehouse-ish place. But they left me in the duka(store) by myself. I asked the owner if he was going to lock the door and he said no. He told his neighbor to keep an eye on me and make sure “no undesirables bothered me”. I asked what I should do if someone comes in. He said tell them to wait. Okay, simple enough. (I got one marriage proposal. This is nothing new around here for me, but this time it was a woman asking me to marry her son. Oh Tanzania, you are funny.)
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| Apparently I am a very popular tomato in Tanzania |
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| This joke turned up when I googled my namesake tomato: Why did the tomato turn red?..... Because it saw the salad dressing! |
Eventually they returned, I paid the owner, and we all got in the truck. An empty truck. I was confused because I thought that they had been loading it for the hour I sat in a store by myself. Hmmm, I will never know why it was done that way. What I can say, is efficiency is not a primary characteristic around here. So anyway, we made our way back through the market and I waited in this big truck in the middle of a market while the men went again to get the supplies. Two boys about 12 years old set up their spice sales on the ground right outside my window and hung out with me while I waited. They went and got me some dates(the food, I can get a date on my own thankyouverymuch) and I bought some mystery spice off of them. (What I know is you can use it on meat or rice. Great, so many options.) Eventually the driver and Sylvester returned with several children carrying things, loaded them into the truck and after paying the kids some shillings for their help, and a guard for allowing us to park where we did, we were off after a mere 7 hours.
What a day. I am in a truck with two guys who don’t speak English going shopping for farming supplies on the busiest day of the year. (The end of Ramadan is this weekend so Friday's market was the equivalent of Christmas eve back home. Everyone was out shopping.) As we sat in epic traffic that Dar is known for even on a normal day, I brought out my notebook that I write everything in. I showed Sylvester the pages and pages of my Swahili lessons I had been working through and he was impressed. Tanzanians are very proud of their language and appreciate any effort made by expats to learn Swahili. That notebook of words that were familiar to him gave us a starting point, a common ground. From that point the day developed into so many amazing moments of us laughing (like when I told him how the kids in the market were staring at me because I was white-he thought that was hilarious), or when he seemed moved when I asked how his son Dennis was today. He was surprised I remembered his name. Then there was the end of the day when he expressed how hungry he was so so we ate some of the dates I had. These are simple things but I know that it was a bridge between Canadian NGO worker and Tanzanian farmer. Best 7 hours in traffic ever.
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| Sylvester and I with our goods (credits Hair:by salt water and wind Makeup- dusty roads and humidity Wardrobe- Whatever covers my legs and shoulders Photo- the extremely annoyed driver) |
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