Happy New Year

I know that I am 4 days late (gasp), but Happy New Year everyone!

2010 has been a phenomenal year for me, with so many experiences and opportunities. I am a very priveleged and blessed person!

'New Year's resolutions' seem to be quite a popular topic at the moment, and I have to say, I don't really have any 2011 resolutions so to speak. My 'goal' for 2010 was to live each day as it comes, and look at all the things from which I drank deep! I may just keep a similar focus for 2011.... this doesn't mean that I don't have big goals and dreams... but it does mean that I'm going to *try* not to be limited by timelines and direct-line thinking.

More on that another day....

Home again, home again, jiggidy jig.

Well, I'm flying back home tomorrow. I have such a mixture of feelings. I'm obviously looking forward to being back with my wonderful family, to seeing my horses, and being back in my other piece of homeland (I'm a citizen of both continents (Europe and Africa) remember) I do love England. AND THEN, I'll only be touching base for a short amount of time, as I'll soon be off to America, to start my media internship at Parelli Central. Of course I'm also sad to be leaving this country, the people, culture, lifestyle, and environment are beautiful! I love my extended family-the Lotterings-and will miss them all dearly.

My life is far from ordinary. I love living outside of the box. I love adventure. My life excites me, BUT so much discovery can be overwhelming and daunting at times, I'm learning to trust God and those around me more and more each day.

I've got a very long flight home - I worked out that my journey from the Lotterings home in Tz, to my home in England, will take around 21 hours. I have 6 hours to wait at Cairo airport, and someone mentioned that you can get a guide to take you around the pyramids, so I'll just suss that one out; it would be AMAZING to go around Cairo!!!

I've got a great final day planned with the Lotterings, soaking up our last little bit of quality time together!

Beginning of my final week; a reflection over the past 3 months

Well, its the beginning of my final week in Tanzania, and I've had some time to reflect over the past 3 months...

One thing is clear. I love this continent. They say that once Africa is in your blood, its there for good. I think I've got a severe case of Africaitis. I also love this country, and for all that people complain about the poverty and economics, I've only experienced the beautiful side of Tanzania. The beauty that goes beyond the tourists; the beauty of someone dying of AIDS welcoming me into their tiny shack, and sharing with me their small amount of food. The beauty of floating in the sea, forgetting about time, and discovering the world beneath us. The beauty of being oblivious to time, people's opinions, and the restraints that come with that. The beauty of relationship; especially the endless love shown by family.

 

The time spent here, has been one of rediscovering beauty. The beauty of my God, the beauty of his creation: the world, this continent, this country. The beauty of people and animals. The beauty of me. I've discovered that beauty is not something that anyone can own, but something that all of us can be a part of, its something we all have enormous scope to experience: life is beautiful. Life is for living, abundantly. Life is for loving: loving God, ourselves, and others.

 

The funny thing is that, beauty and joy do not have to be limited by our circumstances. Over the last 3 weeks, I've spent a couple of mornings beading with a group of disabled African woman, at a place called the Nuru Centre. Watching, and working with, these woman has been humbling. I found myself observing one of the girls, who can't be much older than me. She is completely deaf, and slightly mentally disabled too, yet she is incredibly beautiful! I found myself pitying her; can you imagine what she'd be like in a different scenario, with different health issues? Can you imagine how much MORE beautiful she'd be? But it was then, that I realized that she is complete in her beauty. She is so innocent and unaware. She is expressive, despite her limitations. I, too, have limitations, as do you. Perhaps those limitations are what create our beauty in the first place? Rather than living life without limitations, what if we all embraced our limitations, and made them beautiful? I reckon the world would be a much happier place...

 

I'm listening to Lee-Ann Womack's song, I hope you Dance. I'm thinking of my older sister, because she's always expressed beauty through dance. I'm also thinking about how life is a dance. I've had so many rich experiences, I'm feeling full of life! :)

 

I'm sad that this part of my 'Africa dance' is over. But, I'm looking forward to being home. I love England, I love my family, my friends, and my British lifestyle. And, its only a couple of weeks before I embark on my next big adventure: Parelli Centre, Colorado, here I come!!!

 

I love belonging to this world. Yes, I'm a citizen of Africa, and I am a citizen of England (Europe) But, most importantly, I'm a citizen of this world.

 

On a lighter note, I'm looking forward to this week. Today I'll be chillaxing, going with the wind. I'll probably take Delarey (the dog) for a walk on the beach to watch the sunset this evening. Tomorrow I might paddle to the Island again for my last bit of snorkelling, sun, and sea (sss)! Wednesday morning, I'm planning to head down to the Nuru centre again, and probably spend the afternoon either at the market, or with Anja. Mona-Liza doesn't have work on Thursday, my final day, so we'll do something together, and Anja and I will be spending the evening together (doing something fun). I'm considering doing an all nighter, as I have to be up at 3AM for my flight home on Friday! I'm reading Spud, one of the funniest books in the world; close on par with the 'Just William' books! I'm chowing on sweets and fruit. You get (yummmy) South African sweets here, so I'm on a bit of a sweet binge. Right now, I have a bowl of Biltong on one side of the computer, a tin of condensed milk on the other, and I've just finished some Papaya Sorbet.

My final week is GOING TO BE GREAT! :)

 

See y'all soon

 

Kamwene!

Did you know that Tanzanian’s often are fluent in three or four different languages? Most will start out speaking their tribal language, native to a particular region. They will then learn the national language of Swahili (and their initial schooling will be in this language) and then, when they hit secondary school, everything switches to English. I’ve heard so many people in the UK complain about the increased work-load of secondary, but can you imagine a language switch as well?! Ahhhumm.. these guys really do put us Westerners to shame. Anyway, all this mirks my waters a bit, because I’ve happily been learning Swahili greetings, only to realize that a lot of the people around here prefer to use their native language of Kehehe (I *think* that’s the correct spelling…) anyway, so I now know how to say hello in Kehehe (Kamwene) but don’t expect me to continue speaking in Kehehe.. and once we’ve got beyond the how are you’s, don’t expect me to continue in Swahili either, for that matter…and if I was to say the same about English, then you could rightly call me dumb or just a plain ‘grumpy old Git.’

Soo, after a very busy Easter period of just over 2 weeks, I was pleased to see the back end of all the guests staying at the lodge, but I wasn’t so happy to see Anja head back to school in Dar. The 3 extra weeks that I’ve stayed on have been relatively quiet guest-wise, which is great because I’ve been able to focus on the horses/workers and personal interests, instead of always occupying guests. We did have a couple of guests staying the odd night here and there, the most important being the Tanzanian ambassador (how’s that for going to a country ‘to meet the queen…’) and the most fun being a group of 37 university students from America, they’re all out here for 3 months on an educational type of tour (I swear there’s some fancy word for it) anyway, they’re continuing their classroom/lecture-style studies out here, as well as getting a lot of practical (‘on the field) experience (most of them are studying anthropology, world development, environment, economics or something like that). They were all a very friendly bunch, and I’ve now got some USA buddies to meet up with when I go back to Dar (if I manage to catch them before they fly back) and potentially stay with next year if I continue Parelli studies in the USA. Geoff Fox continuously teases me about my English accent, and got me to give the Americans ‘English lessons’ (you guessed it-‘the rain in spain..’) it was all a big laugh. OH, speaking of Englishness, the couple that oversee the NGO (orphanage etc) also teach English lessons to local adults. I’ve helped teach these lessons on three occasions, its amazing to see people so eager to learn. The Africans really do value things that we take for granted.

I’m reading a book (called the Africa house) about an English gentleman in the early 1900’s who moved to what was then Northen Rhodesia (now Zambia?) to build an English manor house. Its so quaint to read about his experiences, and how he tried to create a ‘little England’ in the middle of Africa. Anyway, this leads me to a BIG pet hate or mine, that of going against or for culture. It is so easy for us Westerners to belittle someones culture in our efforts to help. 

We're now planning my return trip to Dar Es Salaam. Using public transport to get here was an experience in itself, but one that-if I had the option-I'd happily avoid on the 11 hour trip back. Luckily I do have a couple of options; one of the Foxes driver's has to get back to Dar Es Salaam with the NGO car sometime within the next 2 weeks, so I could go with him. Or I could get a lift with another of the Foxes workers, or (the best bet, but most unlikely) I could fly back with Peter Fox, who owns an aviation company! I'll keep you updated

One of the many privileges of staying with the Lottering’s, is that I’m getting so much more than your average touristy experience of a country. The Lotterings are showing me all sorts of quirks, they’ve taken me off the beaten track – quite literally, in most cases! These guys have ‘experienced experience,’ and second hand experience is just as good as first hand (yes, I have just quoted Pat Parelli…)

One of these off the beaten track experiences is coming to Fox Farms in Mufundi. The Lottering’s have come on holiday to the Fox Farms lodge a couple of times, and apart from being astounded by the hospitality of the owners, and the natural beauty of the place, they (Anja in particular) were impressed by the Foxes involvement in the local community. Geoff and Vicky Fox really are extraordinary people and are involved on all fronts; from building schools and hospitals, to training local villagers, to employing people, and educating adults. As well as running the NGO (non-government organization, for the blonde's in our midst) the Foxes have set up safari lodges across Tanzania, and manage tea-leave growing on a pretty large scale, and are breeding horses to bring a larger breed of horse into the country. I don't think I need to mention that they're AMAZING people. Anyway, the thing that grabbed Anja’s attention was the orphanage work, which is why she decided to spend her Easter holidays volunteering at the orphanage; I was attracted to anything with the words 'horse' 'orphan' 'mountains' 'cousin time' 'more horses' and 'open land' oh and of course 'sunnyish weather' - which all pretty much sums up Mufundi/Fox Farms.

Preparations to come here were pretty fun, Anja and I did a fund-raising presentation in front of her class, and then headed off to the market to buy tons of kids clothes/shoes/and a couple of toys. WE also planned games and activities, as we'll be managing the Easter celebrations this year :D

Anja and I thought that SEW had put us into the volunteers mindset; after a week of doing without electricity and water, sleeping on cement floors, and eating the same meal day in day out, we were charged up for TWO MORE weeks of serving! Not so… we seriously have landed with our bums in the butter, its only day 2 of volunteering at the Foxes, and we have been spoilt SO much! For starters, we’re in the old farmhouse, a pretty comfortable place with amazing views. We’ve been eating meals in the Foxes home, and have had packed lunches to eat wherever we fancy, today we wandered down to the stream and ate there (followed by a snooze of course.. something tells me I’m getting old…)

I really have been humbled by this whole serving thing. In both cases (Bagamoyo and here), I have been served just as much (if not more) as I’ve served. I go expecting to give, but I gain so much more than I realize. For starters, when we think ‘HIV Aids Orphans,’ we think of some malnourished, depressed, deprived, half naked kid that is just desperate for our attention, but all the kids we’ve related to so far have the biggest smiles on their faces. Materialistically, they have so little, yet they have such personalities and joy. Really does challenge our Western mindset, on which the pecking order is based upon social status and wealth. Here, if you’re capable of smiling, you’re in. Having said all that, Anja and I are full of energy, and are happy to help wherever needed. The children’s village is divided into four houses, each of which is overseen by a housemother. These mama’s have an incredible amount of work, as they are basically nurturing and caring for a family of 12. The washing, cooking, and cleaning are endless, not to mention keeping the kids occupied and up to date with their schoolwork. So far, we’ve helped out on all fronts – and the mama’s were touched to see that we wanted to do the dirty jobs as well; I reckon it’s a first to see young Wazongo wanting to clean.

My favourite is definitely the little kiddies, there are always teeny tiny little ones to be cuddled, and I spent all afternoon with the incredibly energetic (naughty!) toddlers. We spent most of yesterday with the older kids and teenagers, being a Sunday they obviously didn’t have school. I was thrashed at soccer/football (not exactly hard to do) but to be fair, I was the only girl playing, so everyone give me three cheers. “Thank you, thank you. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank my father, my mother, my pet slug, and my giraffe. I’d never be who I am if it wasn’t for you and so on and so forth”
Ahem, yes.

I’m in my element as there are 19 horses for me to play with, including 3 foals! So when I’m not terrorizing toddlers, or getting lessons in humility on the soccer field, I’ll be playing with horses. Well, more like the other way round; the horses are definitely my first priority :)

I'm sure the horses will get a whole blog post to themselves, so more on that later, but until next time ~Salama/Peace

HOPAC Service Emphasis Week

Y'know, I've realized that I'm incredible at waffling about the most irrelevant things, and then when it actually comes to writing something substantial(being news or facts), I've either got bored or run out of time.. so please do bear with my word-meandering

Every year the students of HOPAC (my cousin's school) spend a week serving the local community - from drug rehabilitation centres, to deaf schools, to street kids, to orphanages. Mona Lisa managed to get me involved with this years 'Service Emphasis Week.' I was placed in a small group (6 students, and 2 teachers) that went on a 5 day residential trip to Bagamoyo Children's Home, around 1 hour from Dar Es Salaam (my current home away from home, or as one of the students clarified, my home home home. Home home being England, and Home being South Africa...the quandry we faced is that the word home could be interpreted in MANY different ways, I mean if one felt quite comfortable under a tree, then perhaps that would count as home.. hum. If that IS that case, I think I'd be on home home home home home home home home by now. Anyway, I digress..)Our group had some really good fun, being the oldest teenager, I felt like the ancient of ancient's, but we all got on really well and had some good laughs!

The orphanage is situated on a 4 acre farm, and when I say farm, I'm not referring to a cultivated English farm.. this was the type of place where you have to drive on dirt roads in a 4X4. The accommodation was simple, but comfortable. We were pretty much on roll up matteresses (sp?!) on a cement floor (the comfy option deluxe) without running water or electricity - yes, this did all make me grateful for my comforts back at homebase, but I have to say that I REALLY enjoyed 'roughing it.' :)

If I had to sum up the experience in one word, make that two, it would have to be 'Humbling' and 'Eye-opening'
Eye-opening that people can live in simple conditions, but with such joy. These kids are capable of just enjoying God, others, and life. They live in relationship, and the competitiveness you see amongst us Westerners was non-existent among these kids.

Humbling because serving is, in reality, being served. I found myself wondering who the poor person REALLY was, and who was serving who. I came away feeling like I'd received so much, but how could someone with so little in the world's eyes give me so much? mmmm, deep stuff to ponder.. anyway, on that note I shall love and leave you all.. I haven't really got into the 'news' side of things, but hey ho, as long as we're under the sun, there'll always be more things to write about - personally, I'd rather be under the sun, at least while I'm right under its shadow :P

I'm well into week two of being in Tanzania, and I'm still having a ball :)

I've nabbed a school computer, which has better internet, AND a keyboard that actually works. Win, win! I'll have you know that I've done my bit for charity, and supported the school jumble sale by getting my face painted. So right now I have taken on the image of a (slightly not too pale, but not exactly burnt) rabbit, but I think my mind is still intact, so my thinking remains human...
well that's what we all hope anyway :P

Chilling on the boat, and at the Yacht club

This week I gained my SCUBA diving certification, so I'm now qualified to dive with any qualified (Padi) diving centre in the world... pretty cool! Of course (it goes without saying that) I'm a complete novice, but onwards and upwards, the journey of a 1000 miles starts with the first step. Not that I intend to do millions of dives, but I still think its a nice 'arrow to have in the quiver,' so to speak. The actual diving experience was fantastic. One doesn't realize that there is a whole new world under the sea, and storybooks don't do the underwater world any justice either. I can't always take in the full scope of our world, but whoever thinks its all been discovered is wrong!

Other than that I've continued to chillax (its a hard life for some!) and explore the new environment; this has included walks on the beach, more swimming/kayaking, reading, watching movies, playing with Joah and the dog (in that order :P), joining in with Anja's youth group - and then school fete this morning, and driving around Dar with Mona Liza. Yesterday we went to Tegeta market, which was an experience in itself. To sum it all up, I now know where all our charity clothes from the UK/USA end up! We found the most amazing designers items for ridiculous prices... we bought Ralph Lauren, peter rabbit brand name, gap baby, and lots of other items all for under GBP3! Anja and I will be taking this bundle with us when we go to Mufundi orphanage for two weeks during Easter.

Tegeta Market