Readjusting to Life in Tanzania

Now that we have been back in Tanzania for 2 weeks, we are learning to re-adjust to our life in East Africa. After 3 months in England, some of aspects of life in Dodoma that I had got used to before our UK trip suddenly seem very strange again. I am having to re-adapt a second time, as I remember some of the things which make life out here a lot less convenient than life in the UK.

A huge portion of my current life is taken up with managing our home, especially the kitchen. I had forgotten how the simplest of tasks in England can actually be far more time-consuming here. Even going to the shops to get food takes far longer than in England. There are no large supermarkets or even shopping areas/ highstreets where the food shops are all located close together. Finding the food I need for family meals means visiting several different places spread out across Dodoma. Once I get to town, the heat also makes the task seem longer! However, the shopkeepers and market stall owners are mostly very friendly and will do their best to help us find what we are looking for.

Last week, a kind friend watched the children for me so that I could get to town without the hassle of strapping little ones into car seats, getting them out at each shop and strapping them in again each time.... So off I went on my own. Conscious of time, not wanting to leave Joel too long between feeds, I whizzed into town in our 4x4, bouncing over the worsening pot-holes and screeching to a halt in a questionable parking position outside my favourite Indian-run food shop: The Two Sisters Store.

I walked into the welcome cool of the shady interior and consulted my shopping list. "Is there any frozen chicken today?" I asked. "Or some brown flour? Any kitchen towel at the moment? Or maybe (this was a long-shot but worth an ask) some Sensodyne toothpaste for Andrew's sore tooth?"

The answer to all of the above was, "No, not today, but maybe we'll get some chickens soon and there may be brown flour in next week". After being spoilt with several food stores and supermarkets right on our doorstep in Lancashire, I came down to earth with a bump as I rearranged my thinking and acknowledged that I am now back in Dodoma- and luxuries like the above are not readily available.

However, whenever I am tempted to feel frustrated with the larger work load involved in being an "At-Home-Mum" in Dodoma, I remember how fortunate we are compared to many of our local friends here. Also, I can always escape to my personal store house of wonderful memories from our recent trip to the UK, which bouy me up when the work load seems overwhelming. Here are a few of the highlights which stand out.

Joel's safe arrival into our family:

Trips to exciting places, including a trip to London where we took little Ben to meet Big Ben:
A fun tube ride on efficient public transport (and I really mean that, since train rides in Tanzania are a world removed from the higher expectations of your average Brit!)
Enjoying the beauty of an English Spring:
And of course, memories of a good old plate of delicious fish and chips!

New Produce

On arriving back home, we were excited to discover some new produce in our garden. Our banana tree has finally decided to produce fruit- the first crop since we arrived in Dodoma:
Our little vegetable garden is working hard to push up some carrots and green peppers (we hope they survive this dry season, with no rains expected now until November! must remember to water them...)The pumpkin seeds we planted just before leaving for England in February have produced quite a crop, we hear, and Gadi, the man who works in our garden for us 2 mornings a week, says he and his family enjoyed several pumpkins while we were away. He saved 2 pumkins for us, carefully guarded by Joel ( the latest product of the Parker family!) before they made their way into a delicious soup in my kitchen:

And finally, 4 kittens awaited us, the pride and joy of Moshi Mother Cat.
Now we need to find homes for them all!! The cats on our MAF compound have been a little too busy if you ask me. Between the 4 pet cats on our compound, 17 kittens have recently been produced!! Does anyone know a vet who would like to come and do a short term assignment here in Dodoma and "sort out" our female cats??? We seem to have rather too much new produce in the cat department!

Meanwhile, Moshi was so pleased to see us again that she presented us with a special gift outside the back door. A gift which made me scream and jump 3 feet in the air; a gift I could do without!

Safari to Tanzania

The word "Safari" may conjure up images of exotic game viewing on the African plains, but it simply means "journey" in Swahili. Last week we embarked on our long "safari" back to Tanzania, setting off from Burscough at midday on Thursday and arriving back in Dodoma late Friday evening.

It was not just 5 Parkers who needed transporting across the continents to East Africa, but also our 10 suitcases, 2 car seats, a large box with Joel's carrycot inside, a pram, 5 pieces of hand-luggage and a very important flask containing Joel's Hepatitis B vaccines....

Thankfully, all went smoothly. We got off to a great start when kind friends from St John's kindly organised the use of a mini-van from their business, meaning that transport to Manchester airport was a dream, instead of a daunting nightmare! Friends at the airport and my parents all helped to make our passage smoother and despite the dreaded "good-byes", we had a safe and easy journey from Manchester, via Heathrow and overnight flight to Dar es Salaam.

Breakfast was served just as we flew over Kilimanjaro's summit, with the sun rising to greet Africa for a new day from behind the mountain. What an incredible moment for us. Ben and I had prime views from our seats and I have never enjoyed such a stunning view with my early morning cuppa! Once in Dar, a MAF member of staff (with the fantastic name of Joel!!) came to meet us, to assist us in passing customs with our somewhat large luggage allowance and in loading our car for the very long drive home.

Although we felt exhausted, we opted to press on with the journey. An extremely tiring option for our main driver Andrew, a fairly tiring option for sub-driver Liz - but a rather pleasant option for all 3 children who were able to catch up on missing most of a night's sleep:

We arrived safe and sound in Dododma to a warm welcome from Claire and our friends and neighbours on the MAF compound, which included dinner at our next door neighbour's home. When I entered our house, I was delighted to discover a kitchen stocked with fresh fruit and veg, a freezer full of home-made bread, cakes and a couple of pre-cooked meals for re-heating. Our house lady Jane had been busy and her thoughtfulness was a real blessing. Despite my fears and misgivings about returning to Tanzania from my home culture, I felt a great wave of thankfulness for our cool, spacious house and kind friends here in Tanzania.

It was good to be home.

A Taste of Tanzania in the UK

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who was so kind to us during our UK visit over the past few months. We really appreciate all of the practical help and generous support that was given to us and all the kindness shown to baby Joel.
During our UK stay, we had lots of fun meeting up with so many family members and friends. It also meant alot to us that so many people were able to come to our "Tanzania Day". Here are a few pictures from our Open House Tanzania Day, with the specially made MAF cakes (a massive "thank you" to Jennie Mc Claren!) and my mum's wonderful aeroplane biscuits!

"Karibu" Joel Matthew Parker

Joel Matthew Parker

"Karibu" is the Swahili word for "Welcome", so before I begin relating our Tales from Tanzania again, now that we are back, I would like to dedicate this entry to welcoming our gorgeous new addition!
Joel was born on March 16th 2011, at 06:19am - just 9 minutes after I entered the maternity ward and 3 weeks before he was expected to arrive! Andrew was still in Tanzania and unfortunately missed the action of Joel's speedy arrival, but Joel didn't appear to notice... and was pleased to meet Dad 2 days later at his Nana and Grandad's house, where I was staying with Esther and Ben.
Just born...and then 2 days old...

My wonderful friend, Wendy, arrived at Ormskirk hospital 2 minutes after Joel's birth and was a fantastic help and support, taking some of the following pictures for us in hospital. (Thanks, Wendy, you were brilliant, I don't know what I would have done without you being there for us!) Esther and Ben visited in hospital and are very pleased with their newest brother.

Today, Joel is 12 weeks old- here is an up-to-date picture taken this morning. Watch this space to see how Joel adapts to life in Dodoma...

Off to the UK...

Last minute preparations are underway... if all goes well, Esther, Ben and I will be in England after the weekend... This will be my last blog about our life here in Dodoma for a while, since Tales from Tanzania can hardly be related from the very different environment in England!

However, baby's arrival will be news to post from the UK once Parker III decides to arrive... as will some details of our MAF Home Assignment (mid-April to mid-May) for those of you who will be able to come along in England to one of our meetings, to hear and see more of Andrew's work and our Tanzanian home life.

As I write this, surrounded by suitcases, with the noise of the local mosque blaring through our Tanzanian home, Esther and Andrew have just left on a farewell mission of a different kind- taking our second kitten to its new home with Jane's neighbour, whilst giving Jane a lift home too. The first kitten went yesterday to a local family. Now Moshi's little family is fully depleted... we hope she recovers quickly.Tomorrow we will bid farewell to Dodoma and travel by road to Dar es Salaam, where we will need to stay before embarking on the next leg of travel. Andrew will then turn the car around and head back to Dodoma for a further 5 weeks of flying work with MAF...

So what are we looking forward to, apart from happy reunions with family and friends, on our return to England, after 16 months in Tanzania?

• Firstly, being near to reliable health care. Health concerns are such a worry here in Dodoma, with lack of consistent access to trained medical professionals, particularly during pregnancy.
• Although it might seem strange to those who live in the cold of the UK, extremes of any kind are uncomfortable, so I am looking forward to escaping the relentless heat and scorching sun of this hottest season in Tanzania. Carrying a baby in this climate has been tiring and more energy than usual is drained away by the sapping heat. However, my clothing for colder weather will be a bit of a problem, as we cannot buy maternity clothes here in Dodoma. I will return with few items suitable for the cold, as here I wear my "tents" and some skirts/ T-shirts I have borrowed from the MAF store cupboard, where maternity clothes are kept by for expectant mums. Such clothes will be rather breezy in England! Thankfully, I have 2 pairs of long trousers I found in Dar es Salaam, for the final few weeks of having an enormous tummy and layers of clothes will have to keep me warm on top...
• Apples, English chocolate, brown bread, a choice of cheeses, variety of fruit and vegetables, flavoured yoghurts (and a break from our home-made yoghurt, which isn't quite the same as a Muller Corner!!)
• Choice of breakfast cereals that don't cost the earth!
• Walking on pavements instead of dust
• Not having to wash and sterilise fruit, veg, eggs and meat before being able to use them
• Brushing our teeth with, and drinking, tap water
• Sleeping without mossie nets
• getting milk straight from a carton, instead of having to boil it, then wash up the sieve, the dirty milk bottle to be used the next day again, the pan and the spoons used for skimming off the cream
• Going on a train, especially for Ben, who is very excited about the idea!
• Having places to take the children out for the day. Dodoma has very few places that exist just for "entertainment", in a country where people's income is spent on everyday survival, rather than having surplus to spend on pleasure: nearly 58% of the population exist below the poverty line, on less than $1 USA per day (*WHO statistics).

Sometimes, I wonder if it seems extreme to travel to the UK to give birth, when thousands of Tanzanians have their babies here every year. I wonder what people here think when the foreign staff disappear overseas to have their babies. With 5 of us MAF Tanzania International staff heading to our homelands for new baby deliveries this year, the programme is far quieter than normal! However, since I have the option of being nearer to cleaner and safer medical care, it seems a responsible choice to make. We hear some dreadful stories here: we met 2 orphans at a refuge in September, whose births were assisted by doctors who apparently "forgot" to deliver the placentas, thus causing the needless death of their mothers... of cesearean operations where the doctor cut too far along the stomach, resulting in nasty infections... of unsanitary conditions and lack of awareness about hygiene in hospitals and clinics.

According to the World Health Organisation *(WHO), the number of pregnancy related deaths for mothers and infants is above average for East and Sothern Africa:

• 550 maternal deaths in every 100,000 births (2008)
• infant mortality is still high, with 51 babies dying per every 1000
• Only 46% of Tanzanians have access to the assistance of a skilled attendant during childbirth.

These are difficult statistics to consider in Tanzania, making me realise again how very fortunate we are to have access to so much help and assistance in the UK. So when we travel over this weekend, I will be bearing in mind the privileges I have access to as I hand my British passport over for inspection on arrival in England...

Mini Masaai

Andrew recently celebrated his birthday here in Tanzania. Esther + Ben had great fun planning and helping with decorating his cake -and we all had a great surprise when the candle I bought at a local shop lit up wildly and set off our fire alarm with its smoke!! Good to know our smoke detector works effectively...

Shopping for suitable gifts is rather a challenge in Dodoma, so we opted to give Andrew a birthday present with a Masaai flavour- a reminder of the MAF work he enjoys each month up in Northern Tanzania with the Masaai people. At the time of photo-taking, Andrew was unavailable for posing with his red "shuka", his Masaai stick and his "lion-club", so some willing volunteers stepped in as Mini-Masaai for the photo shoot to model Andrew's birthday gifts:

Safina

Yesterday, in the blazing afternoon heat, JulieAnne (our MAF neighbour) and myself paid a visit to a SAFINA.

Safina is a centre for street children, or those children in desperate need of help with problem homes, or living on the city dump. It is a voluntary project, supported by various individuals and run by a German nurse, Andrea, who lives on our MAF compound (the very same lady who stitched up Esther's head for her in the scary accident last year!).

Being on the streets is a tough life anywhere, but here in Tanzania there is no government aid, no official projects, social welfare or any kind of centrally organised system to give a helping hand to disadvantaged children and their parents. Andrea was telling us yesterday that a child caught on the streets by the police can result in them being put into prison- Safina have children on their books as young as 4 years old who already have a prison record, since they were found living on the streets! Some of the children Safina deal with may live alone, in an adult-less household. Some of them have been taken in by Safina staff who head up a couple of homes for the boys in their care.

Safina provides a place where the children are tracked and registered carefully and their situations reviewed by a the staff team. The staff then endeavor to get the children into education and provide the books, shoes, school registration etc to help get the children (mainly boys) off the streets and into school, since education is a vital key to giving them a more promising future. Meticulous hand-written files are kept to record information on the individuals in Safina's care...

Standing with Safina Directors Andrea and Patrick, in front of the wall where the children's school shoes, books and school bags are kept for them in safety, so that they can pick them up each morning without the risk of having them stolen on the streets overnight. The empty pigeon holes means that many of the students were currently at school.

In the mornings, Safina runs a nursery school for the younger children in their care system. In the afternoons, when we visited, the children/ teenagers can come along freely for a short lesson and Bible study. Sitting in on the lesson yesterday, I felt acutely- and uncomfortably- aware of my own privileges in life and of the inequality which we see around us in the world. Being pregnant in such an environment, sitting amongst the boys, also made me so sad that not all children are born into a family willing or able to care for them. It makes the work of Safina all the more significant, that they reach out and work hard to help those who have had such a rough start to life.

The daily lesson:

After the lesson, the children are given a free meal -every day except Sundays. It may be the one meal a day that these young ones can count on -and it is thoroughly enjoyed!

The queue for food, where each young person is registered as they come in:

Laddis, the cook and his team, serve up the food:
Laddis cooks the food in the traditional Tanzanian way- outside, in enormous cooking pots on a fire, with ashes piled on top to keep the food warm:

The expense of running such a project is huge- most days, at least 70 children turn up for lunch, which consists of rice, meat, vegetables and fruit. The bill is over a million Tanzanian shillings a month just for the food (about £500) , but then there are schooling costs, the rent of Safina's building in town etc etc.... while other donations go towards shoes and clothes for the children who literally have nothing. It was a challenging afternoon to hear how Safina gets by- and also an inspiration to see what a difference the dedication of a small team can make to try to improve the lives of some of Dodoma's poorest residents.

Unpleasantries

There are a couple of less pleasant aspects to our domestic life in Tanzania.

One of these is the flies which buzz about everywhere. They have an uncanny knack of making their way into my home, especially when food is being cooked, despite the fly-netting we have on the doors and windows. One day in December, I waged war using insect spray and I counted at least 40 dead flies on my window sills when I had finished! The mosquitoes at this time of year are also a problem in the evening and early mornings, bringing with them the ever-worrying problem of malaria.

Another unpleasant fact, especially during this season, is the constant burning of small fires, lit to get rid of people's household rubbish. People light them in the street, on patches of common ground and near their gateways, either during the day or early evening and then leave them to smoulder, which can continue through the night. Everything seems to be placed on these fires to burn, from dry leaves to potato peelings to plastic bottles; the result is very smoky, foul-smelling fires. This is rather a frustration for us in our homes, as the wind here in Dodoma invariably blows the fumes over our home and in through our windows, with smoke curling under the doorframes and infiltrating every room. It can get so smoky in the MAF houses that our neighbour's smoke alarm has been set off!

Since there is no organised local-council rubbish collection like many countries are privileged to have, the fires are one way people keep their homes and yards clear of junk. However, they are not strictly necessary, since there is an alternative option to have your waste taken away by local workers who pull heavy, old carts around the streets and collect up the rubbish to dispose of it at the town's rubbish dump- where the poorer people can be seen sifting through it to find bits they might be able to use. The drawback of having your rubbish taken away for you is that you have to pay the cart-pullers to do so- not very much money, but enough to put people off the idea in a country where the average household income is very low.

As a result, we often have homes filled with acrid smoke, which burns our eyes and throats and makes the home smell most unpleasant. I struggle most of all with the night-time fires, since we cannot escape the fumes- the doors can't be opened in case the mosquitoes come in and the windows can't be closed to keep out the smoke, as they are slatted with gaps to let the air in! There is not much we can do about this problem.

BUT at least when it comes to the flies and mossies, we can go on the attack! One way we can do this is to spray our slatted windows and our fly-netting with some potent poison mixture from the local doctor's surgery, similar to the mixture we coat our mosquito nets with. It may make the windows look dirty, but since Margaret came in last Thursday to do the great deed of spraying, I have hardly seen a fly or a mossie in my house :-)

Margaret on the offensive, in make-shift protective gear to avoid the fumes herself:

Salon Parker

One of the first things I need to do on returning to the UK is to book appointments with the doctor, the dentist (if they will let us sign up again after our absence abroad, during which time we have simply relied on regular brushing with "Colgate" to take care of our teeth) and also the hairdresser.
It has been almost a year since Esther and I had the opportunity for a hair-cut with a hairdresser used to the hair of an "mzungu" (white person) and I am starting to get desperate as my hair grows out of control! I have tried a bit of hairdressing on myself but Andrew warned me that it was best I stopped quickly, before I made a total mess! It is not something I am gifted at! So the girls of the house must wait a few weeks yet before we can have the luxury of a visit to the hairdresser.

Meanwhile, the boys of the house have clippers to use and our rather frightening-looking, but very effective, kitchen scissors to trim the unruly edges. Our house was transformed into a Barber's Shop for Andrew and Ben. Claire did a great job with Andrew's hair (he won't let me near his hair, after he saw what I did to my own!!) and Andrew did a great job with Ben's: