tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76093813743174562712024-03-13T16:49:05.655+00:00Africa!Living in TanzaniaTom Peilowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11744333654877780908noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7609381374317456271.post-38812287396409665992013-03-17T15:36:00.001+00:002013-03-21T18:23:32.817+00:00One year on<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hello again!<br /><br />It’s been a while, but basically if I updated my blog regularly you’d find out an awful lot about what I eat for breakfast and when I put the bins out. Life in Tanzania, just like anywhere else, becomes routine!<br /><br />Which is not to say the past few months have been entirely uneventful, so if you’ll allow me a bit of a higgledy-piddledy order of things, here’s what’s been going on!<br /><b><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Solar Aid Tanzania - an update</span></b><br />Get micro-Solar Lights to Tanzanians at affordable prices (£5 per light). This price is possible thanks to donor money. The reason we don't simply give the lights away for free are<b> (a) </b>people value what they buy (e.g. NGOs have found giving away Mosquito Nets simply results in thousands of discarded nets around the country), and<b> (b)</b> we can reinvest that money into bringing affordable lights to a far wider audience, than if we just gave everything away.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The current project is to get these to school-children, but the impact of each is felt by the whole family. Here are some findings of a recent Solar Aid M&E Study in Tanzania:<br /><br /> - The majority of users live in households with income < £40/month, and over a third are < £20/month. Most rely on farming income, which can be very unreliable. Unsurprisingly, the majority of users do not have any access to electricity.<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YSYw6qLlfpw/UUXZqq6hGYI/AAAAAAAAAJk/5Xn8_Bj0OgQ/s1600/Income.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YSYw6qLlfpw/UUXZqq6hGYI/AAAAAAAAAJk/5Xn8_Bj0OgQ/s320/Income.png" width="320" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />- The alternative to Solar Lights is Kerosene, which is relatively expensive (average spend £1.45/month). Solar Lights almost entirely remove the need for Kerosene in the household (75% reduction). The Solar Light will last for 7-10 years. It doesn’t take John Maynard Keynes to do the economics.<br /><br />So not only do households save money, they also wind up with more “light hours” in the evening as there’s no pressure to turn-off the lights (as you would with kerosene in order to save). And to boot, the solar light is far brighter than kerosene and allows more than one person use the light at a time.<br /><b><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Year 2012/13</span></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">When I arrived on a hot muggy morning in April 2012, I found myself in the deep-end, forming part of an entirely new local management team, together with a newly appointed Ops Manager.<br /><br />With both of us joining at the start of the financial year, we were thrown an audacious target of selling 186,000 lights that year (it had been 27,000 lights the previous year - I have no idea how they arrived at 186,000).</span></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wyv5V0QnpJ0/UUXgWJY6BcI/AAAAAAAAAKY/C5r9GaeNgbc/s1600/sola.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wyv5V0QnpJ0/UUXgWJY6BcI/AAAAAAAAAKY/C5r9GaeNgbc/s320/sola.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Something like this, but 200,000 times over</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Pulling up our sleeves, we knew we had our work cut out, in particular managing growth under tight cash restraints. My first thoughts were “well, we can just give it our best“.<br /><br />A lot of people put in a lot of hard work, and roll forward to today & we’ve issued 200,000 lights! <br /><br />With around 5 people per Tanzanian household, that's a million lives impacted. I’ll be honest, I’m pretty proud to be part of this team.<br /><br /><b><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Looking to 2013/14</span></b><br />I was offered a position to stay on another year, and excited about the projects ahead, Liisa and I thought “screw it, why not!”. So we’re here until April 2014, and postponing our settling-down just a little bit longer!<br /><b><br /><span style="font-size: large;">The ups & downs</span></b><br />Of course not every day is a bed-of-roses, not everything is always utterly amazing, and life is not always <i>hakuna matata</i>.<br /><br />Living here, there are inevitably peaks and troughs. As long as the peaks are wider than the troughs, things are OK. But there certainly are times when everything gets to me, nothing makes sense, and I wonder why on earth I’m staying another year!<br /><br />There is a huge cultural difference to bridge, and (in my opinion at least) these cultural differences become more and more noticeable the longer you’re out here. I get wound up by corruption in particular, which brings me to…<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Corruption</b></span><br />Tanzania incidentally is only mid-table in corruption standings (102nd least corrupt country, South Africa is 69th, Zambia 88th, Kenya 139th & UK 18th), however it’s certainly no Finland or New Zealand (joint 1st).<br /><br />I do despair when I wonder what countries who rank particularly badly (Afghanistan & Somalia) must be like. Anyhow here's a couple of examples of how it comes up in day-to-day life:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rwi3_rp59HE/UUXcAys0NFI/AAAAAAAAAKI/RSMAANxQ8yQ/s1600/tea.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="126" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rwi3_rp59HE/UUXcAys0NFI/AAAAAAAAAKI/RSMAANxQ8yQ/s200/tea.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">I continue to misunderstand what<br />'Chai' (tea) really means</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Permits -</b> Since we’re staying on another year, I need to get a new work permit sorted. Rather unfortunately our Immigration Agent went AWOL (which is a whole other story!) I thought I’d give it a go doing my own application. Big mistake! You wouldn’t believe the amount of 'technical errors' I made that need to be ‘fixed‘, and the amount of times I was sent back and forth wore me down. I clearly wasn’t getting something.<br /><br />Since then, we’ve managed to get an agent involved who has interpreted what they were “too shy” to ask me. Seems the people processing these applications need <i>'chai'</i> (tea). And they must really, really, really like their tea, because they’re looking for an awful lot of $ $ $ to buy it with.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xJukFfpf1DA/UUXbZSW2uVI/AAAAAAAAAKA/mVdsSlgtHWA/s1600/fire_meaney.gif" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xJukFfpf1DA/UUXbZSW2uVI/AAAAAAAAAKA/mVdsSlgtHWA/s200/fire_meaney.gif" width="168" /></a>“Fire Safety”</b> Another case is in point is when we had Fire Safety ‘experts’ come visit Solar Aid Tz (honestly, these guys wouldn‘t know how to put out a cigarette).<br /><br />Anyway, we didn’t have the right safety standard certificates. The certificates cost Tsh 500,000 (£200). Although it quickly became apparent that Tsh 50,000 (£20) would help the problem ‘disappear‘.<br /><br />But we weren’t having any of that! We politely declined their offer and proceeded with getting a legitimate certificate. The funny thing was the men couldn’t get their head around why we wanted to pay so much more just to get a receipt! <br /><br />Corruption particularly irritates me, as it really does stop an economy from developing properly, and discourages efficiency, productivity etc. But it's an extremely difficult one to tackle, other than to (a) not buy into it, and (b) educate people to understand the damage it does.<br /><b><br /></b></span></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RKJDflXxDAM/UUXfIpEZpTI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/e9qxiM7CwJE/s1600/flood.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RKJDflXxDAM/UUXfIpEZpTI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/e9qxiM7CwJE/s320/flood.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When it rains, it really does pour</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Wet Season arrives with a flourish</span></b><br />Praise be to the Lord! It’s been so hot the last few months, and the rains have arrived nicely reducing the humidity to some level of bearable!<br /><br />And the rains aren’t bad, it’s mostly lovely weather, but when it does rain, it really pours! And if it can hold off next weekend, I’m going back to the beach!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>KFC!</b></span></span></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-synicBhWyTw/UUXZwsmfCNI/AAAAAAAAAJo/MA50hYGmv7U/s1600/kfc.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-synicBhWyTw/UUXZwsmfCNI/AAAAAAAAAJo/MA50hYGmv7U/s320/kfc.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">KFC Mikocheni, Dar es Salaam. Almost ready and will<br />probably prove too tempting...</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Just as we got over our junk food addiction (living above Brixton McDonalds is not good for you), and having really got into our healthy eating (it’s avocado season now, mmm), Tanzania - a country without McDonalds or Burger King - is opening its very first KFC.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />And it’s right across the bloody road from us!<br /><br />Must avoid.<br />Should avoid.<br />Probably won’t avoid.<br /><br /><b><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Taxi drivers</span></b><br />What is it with me a taxi-drivers?<br /><br />Walking down the street a few weeks ago, one just “went for me”. He was laughing manically and tried to run me over! I had to jump completely out of the way and he missed me by inches. And he drove off continuing to laugh manically.<br /><br />How odd!<br /><br />The saving grace was I was in a particularly good mood that day and was able to more-or-less laugh it off! TIA etc<br /><br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: large;">Get there by Foot</span></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Liisa and I have fully embraced walking / running into our routines, it‘s healthy and we don‘t have to worry about taxis (much!) And a 12km daily round-trip to work has the obvious benefit of being good exercise, but boy you do meet some weird people along the way! <br /><br />And friendly ones too. <br /><br />But my favourite are the people who ignore you. Ah to be anonymous again!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Tzmh9F7hdlE/UUXZ44wLp6I/AAAAAAAAAJ8/TwHNsqMa1_U/s1600/Dance_Tom_Dance.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Tzmh9F7hdlE/UUXZ44wLp6I/AAAAAAAAAJ8/TwHNsqMa1_U/s320/Dance_Tom_Dance.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Till next time :D</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"></span>Tom Peilowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11744333654877780908noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7609381374317456271.post-63906395680577029232012-11-18T17:45:00.001+00:002012-11-19T11:29:45.943+00:00On the go!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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while, hope you’re all well folks.</span></span><br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Right then,
so what have I been up to since the last instalment? Well, other than largely
laughing at the attempts of our brief kidnappers - we’ve come up with at least
a dozen improvements to their technique(!) - we’ve really been having a bit of
a lovely time.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">(And with
some staggering efficiency, it only took five trips to the police station to
get my report!)</span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G6njsK02qcs/UKkcKXdje-I/AAAAAAAAAJA/oXwGmy_4bUM/s1600/dubai.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G6njsK02qcs/UKkcKXdje-I/AAAAAAAAAJA/oXwGmy_4bUM/s320/dubai.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">DUBAI
(September)</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">As
mentioned last time, Liisa and I took a week in Dubai, which was well-timed and
thoroughly enjoyable. Much as we do enjoy our life in Dar, it’s nice to step
back into the luxuries sometimes. Alas you’ll be relieved to hear I’ve
re-stocked up on my supplies of H&M t-shirts & plimsoles<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(hand washing really wears clothes down, and
shoes get battered by the tough terrain) I’d somewhat miscalculated when I
thought I’d packed 12 months worth of kit last April!</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">We caught
up with friends out there (hi Liz!) and made the most everything we could. And
needless to say, it included the must-do in any city - visit the Irish Bar!</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Unsurprisingly,
one of the most self-evident things about Dubai compared to Dar was the vast
differences in wealth. You really couldn’t get two similarly sized cities in
much more contrast to each other. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">ZAMBIA
(October)</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">With a
very brief stop in Dar after Dubai, and an even briefer stop in DR Congo (don’t
worry family, I didn’t even get off the plane!), Liisa and I spent two weeks in
Lusaka.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OKsX6RYwsMg/UKkb7kcUKKI/AAAAAAAAAI4/_zhZTtSYP4I/s1600/zam.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OKsX6RYwsMg/UKkb7kcUKKI/AAAAAAAAAI4/_zhZTtSYP4I/s400/zam.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Solar Aid offices in Lusaka, Zambia</td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Behind this
trip was me spending time with the Solar Aid Zambia, who fundamentally are
doing what we’re doing in Tanzania, albeit scaled down a little. There I was
able to help bring their finances up to date, pass on some really cool and
exciting methods to their accounts team (perhaps a <i>slight</i> exaggeration),
and help them with their planning - as they (like Tanzania) are hoping to
expand, and such is only possible with ample planning.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The team
there were extremely welcoming, and Lusaka as a city was a beautiful blend of
colours -<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>clear blue sky, orange from
the soil, and purple from the blooming Blue Jacarandas.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Lusaska’s
got a lot going for it, and the development just<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in the last 4 years since I last visited is
quickly apparent. On top of this, the people are very friendly, things are
largely organised (Dar meanwhile can be, ahem, ‘chaotic‘). A friendly city
moving in the right direction!</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Jxn6bSd3JbM/UKkdkZcCUFI/AAAAAAAAAJI/G_8ReyVUIZQ/s1600/DSC03607.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Jxn6bSd3JbM/UKkdkZcCUFI/AAAAAAAAAJI/G_8ReyVUIZQ/s320/DSC03607.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The site of one of longer delays when the train de-railed</td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">TAKING THE TRAIN HOME</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">One thing that wasn’t always moving
in the right direction was TAZARA (Tanzania Zambia Railways) we took back from
Lusaka to Dar. Part thanks to a derailment (27 hours), our scheduled 35-40
hour trip turned into a 90 hour slog (not sure where the other 23 hours of
delays came from!)… We were glad we’d packed our Solar Lights, and by God we
were glad we had our insect spray. The nightly game of spot-the-cockroaches
wore thin very quickly. All in all, very glad we did it and the scenery was
breath-taking, but wouldn’t be in a rush to do it again!</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">SOLAR
AID TANZANIA</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In
the midst of all the above breaks, I’ve even managed to get a lot done in my
own job! October was a particularly busy month, with close on 20,000 lights
distributed (to put this in context, that’s not far off the total number in the
whole of last year).</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">We’re
currently planning & budgeting for our next financial year and there really
is potential for massive growth. One of the major obstacles remains the
financing, and as Solar Aid transitions from an N.G.O. (receiving handouts) to
Social Enterprise (self-sustainable, not-for-profit), many significant
challenges lay ahead.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It’s
something I relish though, and it’s fun to tell people I’m modelling again.
(Financial Modelling <i>is </i>modelling, all right?!)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">A
FOLLOW-UP ON LIGHT 50,000</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">A few
months ago I mentioned our 50,000<sup>th</sup> SunnyMoney light in Tanzania this year. Here’s a little piece about the kid who benefited:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--i3Hr87fzHM/UKkbieiN1iI/AAAAAAAAAIw/IOiBO78OgBY/s1600/kid.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--i3Hr87fzHM/UKkbieiN1iI/AAAAAAAAAIw/IOiBO78OgBY/s320/kid.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lucky number light 50,000</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Name:
</span></i></b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Shabani
Ramadhani Ndewa</span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Age: </span></i></b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">12</span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">School:</span></i></b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> Kilimanjaro, Tanzania</span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Lives
With: </span></i></b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Grandmother
because father is away and mother is dead</span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Why
did you buy the light?</span></i></b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> "My teacher explained the benefits of using solar lights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s better because it doesn’t hurt my eyes
and it’s easier because I can study at night."</span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Was
it hard to convince your grandmother to buy a light? </span></i></b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“It wasn’t hard because my
grandmother understands about solar because there were some other Wazungus who
came and explained about solar and gave my grandmother a light. So we have
already been using solar.”</span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">How
do you find the light?</span></i></b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> “It is very nice, it has good lights and we don’t have to buy kerosene
any more. I am very, very happy to receive the gift of a free S250 from
SunnyMoney.”</span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">….And it’s
stories like that one that that make me love the job I do.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Tutaonana
baadaye,</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Tom</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Tom Peilowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11744333654877780908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7609381374317456271.post-68435459653314043232012-10-09T18:30:00.002+01:002012-10-10T06:55:40.928+01:00The one where we got kidnapped<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">There are
two blogs coming up. One is on our holiday to Dubai and our work trip to
Zambia.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The other
is about the time we got kidnapped.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Given Bad
News is so much more interesting than Good News, I’m going to start with the
kidnapping. More on the lovely holidays and good work done in Zambia another
time.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RwdK-RXhaX4/UHReJKY2WPI/AAAAAAAAAIU/2thFjxcXtKk/s1600/DSC04567.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="182" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RwdK-RXhaX4/UHReJKY2WPI/AAAAAAAAAIU/2thFjxcXtKk/s320/DSC04567.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The Scene</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">7am our
train from Lusaka rolls in to the dawning sun over Cha-n’gombe in Central Dar. It’s a run-down part of town
famed for being dangerous, and Liisa and I are eager as beavers to get out of
there as quick as we can. We’re somewhat relieved we arrived when it’s bright
rather than 2am or 3am.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">We get the
first taxi we can (we insist on getting a licensed one). We negotiate a price
of 20,000 Shillings (£8) with the driver. He agrees. We get in and he says “Yes,
40,000 shillings”. Already a little<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>pissed off that our train took 50 hours longer than the timetable said,
we weren’t having any of that. The taxi driver gave in.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Then
leaving the Railway station, he swaps with another driver. Odd. But not too
odd, it’s pretty normal at the railway station. This driver is a man it seems,
how shall I say, of limited mental capacity.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">We
re-iterate the price. He agrees. Then as he’s driving, he changes his mind and
considers Mikocheni B (our home) to be a LONG LONG way away, far more than
20,000 shillings. We’re adamant we stick to the (agreed) price, but he’s
getting quite upset. With his driving more erratic than a Tanzanian golfer, and
we notice how much he stinks of booze and ask him to pull over.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">We agree to
pay him 10,000 for half the trip and want to get out of the taxi. He doesn’t
let us out for the longest time, and we find the doors bloody well don’t open
from the inside! *little bit of a panic* Being a little worried, we call (in
our limited Kiswahili, but just enough to get by) for people to help us get out
of the car. The taxi driver gives in, gets out and jams a screwdriver in the
door and wields it open.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">HUZZAH,
DISASTER AVERTERTED! (….or so we think) We pat ourselves on the back for being
so clever getting out of the very drunk taxi.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The reward for our wisdom of avoiding the Drunken Taxi</span></b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">At the
petrol station, we have a look around to see if we can see any Properly
Licensed Taxis. After our incident immediately prior, we’re keen to just get
home.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">A lovely
gentleman swans over like, well, a sleazy swan. A sleazy swan with a gold tooth
and fake Rolex. What’s not to trust about a sleaze with a gold tooth and fake
rolex? Nothing apparently when you haven’t slept in 5 days and are just glad
that he’s not pissed.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“Want a
taxi?” he says, pointing at a nice, normal registered & licensed taxi. In fact, he even gives us a choice of a second taxi also.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“Yes
please!” Liisa and I cry in perfect unison</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I get the
ball rolling on negotiations “10,000 shillings to Mikocheni B?”</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“Yes.”
(NOTE: This is the where the first alarm bell should have gone off. We should
have known the taxi driver would look for at least 15k and never accept my
opening offer)</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">We get in.
Turns out he’s not the driver, but he’s getting in the front passenger seat
anyway. Odd, but we didn’t question it too much. Again, 5 days on a TAZARA
train takes your edge off of some things.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The two men
talk for a bit, mention something about needing to get a spare tyre for the
car, and pull in to a petrol station.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Right.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Now a third
man bundles in the car.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The car
starts towards Mikocheni B, we have a bit of a chat about living here, and
speak a little Kiswahili. But then the driver does U-turn and goes down a side
road in completely the wrong direction</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“Er,
Mikocheni B is that way” I say pointing in completely the other direction,
starting to get quite a bit worried</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“Oh don’t
worry we’re just getting a spare tyre”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Liisa and I
are silent for the next minute or two, it’s abundantly clear something’s not
right, and there’s nothing we can do at this point.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So the men
pull into a quiet road, and our ringleader (the man with a gold tooth),
casually as you like turns around and says “We are not taxi drivers, we are
Somali pirates and we are going to take all your money”.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I VERY
NEARLY PISS MYSELF, despite the fact that the Somali Pirate bit is clearly
bullsh!t.</span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TvffNYP0KwQ/UHReZnrdgNI/AAAAAAAAAIc/Hc34AcFKtMw/s1600/LN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TvffNYP0KwQ/UHReZnrdgNI/AAAAAAAAAIc/Hc34AcFKtMw/s320/LN.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What I wish I had said</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“Oh” I say.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“We don’t
want anything else, just your cash. Give me your wallet”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">As quick as
I can I hand it over. They are not happy. Another result of taking a 5 day
train which was scheduled for 2, is that you spend most of your money. And as
it happens I hadn’t put much in it to begin with. The net result is he’s got
20,000 shillings (£8) and 5,000 kwacha (50p). The kwacha is so pathetic, he even
hands it back!</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">They’re
shaking my wallet around, saying “There must be more!”.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">They
instruct us to show if we have a money-belt. We do have one, but it’s got our
passports only in it. They lose interest in that.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“Now we don’t
want to have trouble, but you must tell us if there is more cash, because if
you don’t tell us, and we find it - then there will be trouble. Lady, where is
your wallet”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“I don’t
have one, it was stolen recently”. They don’t like the answer, but it’s very
true and is one of the few wins we have that morning!</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Meanwhile,
resisting the urge to crap myself is taking away from my logical thought. I can’t
remember if we do have cash anywhere else. If we do, I want to give them it. I
don’t want them to think we hid anything.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">My confused
state sends them to thinking there is definitely cash. It takes a while, and
rooting through our bags for them to settle that there isn’t. They stop
checking our bags when they start to go through Liisa’s underwear. What utter
gentlemen. (in hindsight, this worked out pretty well, my credit card was
hidden deeper in the bag.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Oddly they
state they have no interest in our laptops (difficult to sell on here, I guess,
there just isn’t as much demand). They ask to look at our phones. Liisa doesn’t
have one as it also got stolen before, and mine’s a piece of crap. They lose
interest.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Now they’ve
identified my Debit Card. There’s not a beat missed when they ask me the pin, “3494”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">One of the
men goes to the bank, and the ringleader (with the gold tooth) starts telling
us what a proper criminal he is</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“I steal
big things, what I am taking from you is small, I rob banks and ships.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Absolute
bollox.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“I’m a
mafia man. Do not ask me what happens next. I am in charge. I know what I am
doing. Do not ask me”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Now, here’s
where my brain starts going crazy. Are they telling us they’re only taking cash
so we keep calm, and then build on to bigger things? Are we going to be those
people who are kidnapped for ransom and end up having their heads cut off and
videos sent to their family. Yeah, without any clarity of when we’re getting
out, my mind is running wild.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What is happening is strange though - the thought of a worst case scenario is actually too difficult to
absorb, and the two of us are (outwardly at least) remarkably calm.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Back comes
the man with my bank card. He’s pissed off because they only got 700,000
shillings (£278). HSBC maximum daily withdrawals - thank you.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">There’s
commotion as some other men come over to the car and there are half a dozen of
them talking about the amount of money and they‘re not happy. My guess here is
that they’ve possibly had people placed around the area in case we made a
run-for-it? I’ll never know, but the fact the whole thing happened in broad
daylight is one of the more disturbing parts.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">They seem
to now have as much as they think they’re going to get. They look to drop us
off, but they can’t find anywhere where there aren’t people.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">After what felt like an age, and nothing being said (I’m really not clear if we will be
let out), thankfully the car stops and they say we can get out. Absolute
relief, and a very sweaty Tom and Liisa breathe in fresh air, freedom!</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The
ringleader then gives us 20,000 shillings so we can get a taxi back. As I (knee
jerk) say thank-you, the irony of the whole thing is not lost on me -
especially when he suggests to help find us a taxi!!</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">We tell him
we will call our friend who will collect us. That we will walk away from his
car and not look back (we don’t - but not before Liisa manages to catch the
number plate, which is something).</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Not
entirely sure where we are, we look for a safe haven - and do we find it - an
Ultimate Security central office. We find out where we are, call a driver who
we know, and take refuge, finally feeling safe.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The Aftermath</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This is a
lesson for us. Don’t trust anyone you don’t know in a city like Dar. From now
on, I can assure you , we will only ever use taxis where we know the driver
well.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">But Liisa
and I are remarkably upbeat after everything. Bizarre, and I can’t place my
finger on it. Maybe it’s because we’re learning all the tricks for staying
safe, which in turn makes us feel safer this evening than we did before. Maybe
it just hasn’t all sunk in yet.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Meanwhile,
when I went to the police, at first they were utterly uninterested in me, just
another stupid muzungu losing his money. But as I got into it, I was building a bigger and
bigger audience, they couldn’t get enough of it. They even think they’re going
to try solve it given the descriptions we gave, the licence plate, the specific
bank machine used!</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I’d love it
if they caught the criminals. They were not 1% as slick as they purported to
be, and in their sloppiness I wouldn’t even be surprised if they didn’t use
false registration plate.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">We’ll see,
we’ll see.</span></span></div>
Tom Peilowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11744333654877780908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7609381374317456271.post-6864911517500787702012-09-15T06:35:00.001+01:002012-09-15T10:07:54.170+01:00Half Term Report!<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
I was asked recently to
write a piece of commentary on how my placement has been going. More
than happy to oblige, I may as well take the chance to copy & paste
it into a blog update.</div>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
In the meantime I'm off on my holidays, but more about that later!</div>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
Tom</div>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
----</div>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s1HhPYUtyFU/UFQP-f6YmkI/AAAAAAAAAH0/9lePR9kHiZA/s1600/kariakoo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s1HhPYUtyFU/UFQP-f6YmkI/AAAAAAAAAH0/9lePR9kHiZA/s320/kariakoo.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bustling streets of Kariakoo in central Dar</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
I’m writing from Dar es
Salaam in Tanzania. “Dar es Salaam” literally means Haven of Peace,
although with the hustle and bustle of this city it’s hard to imagine a
time when such a name was appropriate!</div>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
<b>Finance Advisor to an NGO</b></div>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
I’ve been with Solar Aid as a Finance Advisor for five months now, approaching the half way mark in my placement.</div>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
It’s with pleasure that I’ve
been able to translate my commercial & financial experience from
Europe, into helping establish the solid finance procedures necessary to
underline the successful growth of this aspirational NGO in Tanzania.</div>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
The need for full and proper
accountability is not only important to donors, especially at a time
when resources are scarce, but also particularly when an organisation,
such as Solar Aid, expands its operations.</div>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
And the real benefit of
being on a long-term placement is that it affords me the opportunity to
make sufficient grounding in the processes I implement, so that the
benefit of what I do will hopefully continue long after my placement
finishes.</div>
<div style="font: 9px Cambria;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 13px;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="font: 9px Cambria;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 13px;"><b>How Solar Aid is progressing</b></span></div>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
Solar Aid’s “big hairy audacious goal” is to eradicate the Kerosene Lantern from Africa by 2020.</div>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
In a country where 90% of
people don’t have access to the Grid, Kerosene (dangerous, unclean,
non-sustainable, and prohibitively expensive) pales in comparison to
Solar (safe, renewable, and affordable). All that was missing was for
someone to facilitate the change - step forward Solar Aid.</div>
<div style="font: 9px Cambria;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Lr9w9FWk4m0/UFQQ_mhXmTI/AAAAAAAAAH8/1KMdutjtMnw/s1600/IMG_7008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Lr9w9FWk4m0/UFQQ_mhXmTI/AAAAAAAAAH8/1KMdutjtMnw/s320/IMG_7008.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
The context of the growth
Solar Aid Tanzania is facing should not be underestimated - last year it
lit up just under 30,000 lights in Tanzania, this year the target is
180,000 and over eighteen months it’s a third of a million.
And that’s before even considering operations in Kenya, Malawi and
Zambia!</div>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
The current campaign is
focused around getting these lights into the hands of school-children
throughout the country, believing that every child should have the
opportunity to own one. These lights allow children
to read and study after dark – something so simple yet hugely beneficial,
something so many of us take for granted.</div>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
Such goals do not come easy
without proper accountability. Planning, forecasting and managing cash
flows must all be monitored carefully.</div>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
Naturally we also like to
ensure that these little lights don't develop little legs along their
journey, and that each of their trips from a factory in China into the
hands of a Tanzanian child is a successful one!</div>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
<b>The next 6 months</b></div>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KeDLXtV9K1Q/UFQP6wq27EI/AAAAAAAAAHs/TYkGTo2BSGM/s1600/Lights.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KeDLXtV9K1Q/UFQP6wq27EI/AAAAAAAAAHs/TYkGTo2BSGM/s320/Lights.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lighting up Africa</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
‘Keep up the good work!’ seems to be the call of the day.</div>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
The staff here really have
been fantastic – everyone is keen to show what they can do, and all take
pride in the success of the campaigns. It will be testing as the
campaign continues to grow, but I really am very optimistic at the
outlook.</div>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
It's very enjoyable to work in such a positive atmosphere, and
I’m very happy to continue playing my part.</div>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
Kwa heri,</div>
<br />
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
Tom</div>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font: 13px Tahoma;">
My placement has been made possible by the wonderful <a href="http://www.afid.org.uk/" target="_blank">AFID</a> and <a href="http://www.vso.org.uk/" target="_blank">VSO</a>. You can also read more about Solar Aid <a href="http://www.solar-aid.org/" target="_blank">here</a> </div>
Tom Peilowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11744333654877780908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7609381374317456271.post-68516258126200392542012-08-20T14:19:00.000+01:002012-09-27T08:00:09.806+01:0050,000 lights & counting<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
I’ve
been a bit slow getting around to this blog – we’ve been pretty busy recently,
house moves & trips away! Some ups, some downs, but all in all we couldn’t
be more relaxed and happier!<span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">50,000 lights by Sunny Money* Tanzania in 2012! </b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;">*Brand name of Solar Aid</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--P6gjns2UDI/UDIs9SIs0HI/AAAAAAAAAGc/7odR0iCS5Mc/s1600/IMG_7003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--P6gjns2UDI/UDIs9SIs0HI/AAAAAAAAAGc/7odR0iCS5Mc/s320/IMG_7003.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Celebrating 50,000 lights with<br />
the supa-safi Solar Aid Tanzania team</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Liisa
and I have solar-lights at home, and we’ve got to say they’re brilliant.
Especially with recent electricity price hikes the importance of solar power in Africa has really been emphasised.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
Add
to that 90% of the population don’t have access to the grid, thus relying on
dangerous, expensive kerosene. You quickly realise that, without solar, the
options are (a) something you can’t afford, or (b) darkness.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
So
big congratulations are in order for Solar Aid Tanzania who have in 2012 hit a
milestone of providing 50,000 lights!</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
We’ve
targeted 100,000 more before the end of the year – it’s going to be a busy few months
ahead, and plenty to keep me busy. We’re on top of a huge amount of logistics, whilst also ensuring our little lights
don’t develop little legs, and we like to keep it that way!<span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ramadan</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
Takes
about a month, and has just ended.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R0epRP23mCk/UDIzyUf9csI/AAAAAAAAAG8/O8UqtkLnwms/s1600/icecream.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R0epRP23mCk/UDIzyUf9csI/AAAAAAAAAG8/O8UqtkLnwms/s320/icecream.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Be careful!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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For those unaware, during Ramadan Muslims shouldn't eat or drink anything until the sun's gone down. During this time, as a non-Muslim, do expect to feel guilty if you eat ice-cream in public (... and at 25p, Azam Ice Creams are every bit as tasty as their £2.50 Galaxy counterparts)</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
This
year there was much confusion as to when it actually ends (and thus we get a
bank holiday) as the decision isn’t made until the day before when the moon is in a certain
position. Or something.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
For a while it looked like it’d fall over the weekend,
but lo and behold we found out yesterday that today (Monday) we have an
unexpected bank holiday!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
Cashback.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Securing a nice home!</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MPc7BLbOlyE/UDI6nlmswxI/AAAAAAAAAHY/qw_Z7C0HpoA/s1600/DSC03001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MPc7BLbOlyE/UDI6nlmswxI/AAAAAAAAAHY/qw_Z7C0HpoA/s320/DSC03001.JPG" width="320" /></a>There
was quite a lot wrong with our old flat, and as the lease was coming to an end,
we jumped at the chance to move somewhere with hot water, an oven, a freezer,
and windows! (most places have that mosquito grating – which is fine except
dust comes in quicker than you can sweep it!)</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
Overlooking
the fact one of the rooms in our old place was literally about to crumble, what
probably pushed us over the edge was one night when our Security Guard was
robbed. Robbed? No wait, I mean stolen. They stole him!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hBu94HznCzY/UDIs7QHSJZI/AAAAAAAAAGU/jxC3mBNpblk/s1600/DSC03068.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hBu94HznCzY/UDIs7QHSJZI/AAAAAAAAAGU/jxC3mBNpblk/s320/DSC03068.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
They also took some things from the compound office, and the security guard made it back OK, and even though we were not targeted it was enough to
decide to live somewhere a little bit more ‘comfortable’!</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
Crime
in certain parts of Dar in particular continues, and will probably do so until
the police take a significant change in approach.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
Whatever they’ve
done in Nairobi over the last few years seems to have cleaned it up, and Dar
could do with facing up to some of the issues it has.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.pictureshunt.com/pics/s/shining_sun-2277.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="188" src="http://images.pictureshunt.com/pics/s/shining_sun-2277.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'd heard rumours about this<br />
thing appearing in the sky,<br />
but it's something else to see it in person</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Weather</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
Just.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
Ridiculously.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
Good.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
Like,
all the time.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
Love
it!</div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chizi (crazy) People</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
There
is a distinct lack of mental healthcare in Tanzania, and this is something I hadn’t
really ever considered before. If you’re in a very poor country, there is
really little to no help for anyone with mental issues, and when these people aren't helped out at an early age, it really becomes a big problem. This is something we definitely take for granted at home.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
Liisa & I have
learned to take a little bit more care than usual when walking in some poorer areas,
as the weirdo/normal person ratio does tend to increase.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
The odd time when you do get
a crazy person shouting obscenities at you, we’ve found the trick is to ignore
it, walk the other way, and usually some friendly passers by usher them away
and apologise!</div>
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<br /></div>
<b style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Malaria</b>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mCEQOMil6Ic/UDIxZLur5NI/AAAAAAAAAGw/25nMVQd9Q48/s1600/DSC02740.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mCEQOMil6Ic/UDIxZLur5NI/AAAAAAAAAGw/25nMVQd9Q48/s320/DSC02740.JPG" width="320" /></a>Prevalence
of ‘malaria’ is somewhat higher than I had expected, everyone seems to have it! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
Feeling
sneezy? Malaria.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
A tickle in your throat? Malaria.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
Cold-sore you say? Malaria!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
The
doctors aren’t much better with misdiagnoses – if they’re ever unsure, it's
Malaria.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
Yes,
malaria is Tanzania’s equivalent of man-flu.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
Pretty bad if you have it, but you
probably don’t.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Property Title Deeds…</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
…don’t
really exist in Tanzania. Sometimes people have them, most of the time not.
There doesn’t seem to be any proper system governing this.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
A
colleague phoned in late for work last week as somebody was building a small
house in her garden – well it's a better excuse than ‘Malaria’ anyway!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
I
also wondered why countless houses have big red X’s painted on them. Presumably
something to do with census counting? Not so! The government paints these on to
let the inhabitants know they may knock it down (whenever they get
around to it).</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<b>And there we have it for now!</b> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
Hopefully I’ll get another update a bit sooner next
time around. Take care & kwa heri! </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
Tom & Liisa</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fXd60DUsp-Q/UDIs6AmdPJI/AAAAAAAAAGM/3RfnczvHycM/s1600/DSC03013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fXd60DUsp-Q/UDIs6AmdPJI/AAAAAAAAAGM/3RfnczvHycM/s320/DSC03013.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Decisions!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Tom Peilowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11744333654877780908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7609381374317456271.post-45029775740297603142012-07-15T18:21:00.002+01:002012-08-24T10:40:39.000+01:00Everything's Supa Safi! (super cool)<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zxI-Jwj5WHI/UAL0r3GNCGI/AAAAAAAAAFc/HDNkpWWX9bk/s1600/Safaari+015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zxI-Jwj5WHI/UAL0r3GNCGI/AAAAAAAAAFc/HDNkpWWX9bk/s320/Safaari+015.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The happy couple, together with some guy</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Getting Married Tanzania Style</b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So we got married!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As
you all knew, Liisa and I had been engaged when coming to Tz. However we
decided to bring the wedding forward, partly because it ahem helped
with a couple of tricky visa issues(!)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Organising the wedding was
remarkably simple. On the Friday morning we started looking into it, and so
went to the Registry Office. After filling in a couple of forms (which
referred to Liisa as a Spinster), and handing over a cool 38,000
T-shillings (£15), we were almost ready to go! Although the official didn't
fancy much working on Friday afternoon (as is the way), so he checked if
we could wait until Monday, so we said fine.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Monday morning
09:30 we return to the Registry Office. The Registrar (Bernard) happily
told us he was going to 'skip the legal mumbo jumbo' as we were in a
hurry. When we'd said we were in a hurry, we had meant within the next
week or so, not that morning specifically!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">But first there were a range of marriages for us to choose from:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>(1)</b> Monogamous</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>(2)</b> Polygamous</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>(3)</b> Monogamous with the option of polygamy at a later date.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After much humming and hawing, we finally agreed on the third option.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(Heheh, not really!)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And
hey presto, we're married! We're still planning on having a reception
with the families next year when we're back in Europe, and I'll probably
have some sort of stag (/30th thing) as well, our timing is just a little all over
the place!</span><br />
<br />
<b style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Kiswahili and Morogoro</b><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qJTkqedvx_E/UAL0wBWh-WI/AAAAAAAAAFk/bCQKYIcWFV0/s1600/Safaari+044.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qJTkqedvx_E/UAL0wBWh-WI/AAAAAAAAAFk/bCQKYIcWFV0/s320/Safaari+044.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Learning Swahili with our absolutely superb<br />
teacher Benji (who works with KIU)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Last week we took a week-long Kiswahili training course in Morogoro, about 3 hours west of Dar.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Morogoro is a wonderfully scenic town with a great vibe and a beautiful mountainous backdrop, I became instantly jealous of any volunteers placed there! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There
were 10 or so of us on the course, half were new arrivals to Tanzania and the
other half have been here a few months, so were a step ahead with
Swahili. Accordingly we were split into three classes, and for once I
was in the Top Class! Liisa predictably was still the best in the class,
but I'm not doing bad!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">That's not to say there haven't been a few issues with the language:</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">* If somebody greets you with<i> 'Shikamoo'</i> it's a sign of great respect
(usually said to elders, I get it the odd occasion) and one should always respond <i>'Marahaba'</i>. Don't mistakenly use <i>'Marahage'</i> for your first three months - it means <i>Beans</i>.</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">* When purchasing mosquito repellent: Do not
confuse <i>'Dawa ya Mbu'</i> (Mosquito repellant) with <i>'Dawa ya Mboo'</i>
(medication for the penis).</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r_ouvplK6zU/UAL0zsmNobI/AAAAAAAAAFs/XhrpgTJv4Wg/s1600/safari.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="181" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r_ouvplK6zU/UAL0zsmNobI/AAAAAAAAAFs/XhrpgTJv4Wg/s320/safari.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Animals, innit</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Safari</b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Mikumi National Park wasn't
too far from Morogoro, so the lot of us went on a Safari last Friday.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We had a brilliant trip taking a
<i>DallaDalla</i> around the park (small bus, usually used for local transport
where the regular game seems to be 'how many dozen Tanzanians you can
squeeze in').</span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EBlwv5Ka0ZI/UAL7DQQMb1I/AAAAAAAAAF4/rjqfgnP9qBY/s1600/DSC04184.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EBlwv5Ka0ZI/UAL7DQQMb1I/AAAAAAAAAF4/rjqfgnP9qBY/s320/DSC04184.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yours truly thoroughly enjoying the DallaDalla</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We had an ace day and got to see loads and loads of
animals! Lions having lunch, hippos, zebra, giraffes, and warthogs (my
favourite) to name a few. Some nice pics too!</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Until next time, kwaheri!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Mr & Mrs Peilow</span><br />
<br />Tom Peilowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11744333654877780908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7609381374317456271.post-8745991894783729062012-06-11T17:58:00.001+01:002012-06-11T17:58:04.312+01:00The Good, The Bad & The Ugly<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">The Good -
Mikadi Beach</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lvocaoLzz7E/T9YfQ0rBxRI/AAAAAAAAAEk/DZj-LFGH21w/s1600/dar+018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lvocaoLzz7E/T9YfQ0rBxRI/AAAAAAAAAEk/DZj-LFGH21w/s320/dar+018.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G60wuIhkXhY/T9YfTlFJtBI/AAAAAAAAAEs/7DM5-CwGZPU/s1600/dar+029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G60wuIhkXhY/T9YfTlFJtBI/AAAAAAAAAEs/7DM5-CwGZPU/s320/dar+029.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"> </span><br />
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">We spent last
weekend here, and will definitely go back again. Beautiful, tropical, relaxing,
the pictures sum it up. And somehow the water is even more pleasant than it
looks!</span></div>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Getting here
involved a 10-minute ferry, and at 200 Shillings (8p) I thought it a fair
price. Locals, however, don't agree and are unhappy with the recent hike from
100 Shillings (4p). I do wonder what they'd make of <a href="https://www.google.ie/#hl=en&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=tfl&oq=tfl&aq=f&aqi=g4&aql=&gs_l=hp.3..0l4.927.3464.0.3740.7.5.2.0.0.0.594.1242.3-2j0j1.3.0...0.0.X58bE_OL7aA&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=886fd1662d48ef0c&biw=1366&bih=638" target="_blank">TfL</a>.</span></div>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">When we
arrived at Mikadi I had that feeling of recognition, and yes, I had stayed here
before on my overland trip in 2008 - mad buzz! Great beach, and brilliant food
(the calamari was probably the best I’ve ever had. And I eat a lot of calamari)</span></div>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">We're thinking of buying a tent and camping here every few weekends. Absolutely
wonderful stuff.</span></div>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">The Bad - Mr
Mugger</span></b></span></div>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Well it had
to happen sooner or later. Our lifetime perfect ‘zero-mugging’ record is gone.
Some complete twonk decided to snatch Liisa’s bag when we were out walking, the
whole thing happened very fast and he was gone in a flash. With hindsight, we
shouldn't have been out walking after dark (it had just gone sun-down), but
lesson learnt.</span></div>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AVUYLo_ci2U/T9Yf1qCJe0I/AAAAAAAAAE0/-zWnatV2gSs/s1600/hamburglar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AVUYLo_ci2U/T9Yf1qCJe0I/AAAAAAAAAE0/-zWnatV2gSs/s200/hamburglar.jpg" width="181" /></a><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">As muggings
go, it wasn’t the worst. He got 20,000 Shillings (£8), a Kiswahili study book,
keys, a cancelled bankcard and an 11-year-old Nokia phone. Good luck selling
that, bozo.</span></div>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The most
irritating thing was finding somewhere to get new keys cut - it really is
incredible how rare this service is in Dar es Salaam. After a swift 4-hour
search, we finally found one in Oyster Bay shopping centre. Which is less than
5 minutes from home.</span></div>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Also more
inconvenient than the mugging itself was giving the police report. This took
two hours, and it was old-school Good Cop / Bad Cop. Bad Cop got angry because
we hadn’t reported it immediately. I felt like stating the bleeding
obvious <i>‘it’s not exactly like you were ever going to do anything about
it’</i>. In the report he described the reason for our delay being "we
were confused and we panicked". Hahahaha, we just weren't arsed! Good Cop
was lovely and cheerful, and immensely impressed with our pidgin Kiswahili.
Liisa's moreso than mine, but hey!</span></div>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OfMqGIXkEBI/T9YghcvfIiI/AAAAAAAAAE8/8NXzdLYBUjg/s1600/DSC02623.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OfMqGIXkEBI/T9YghcvfIiI/AAAAAAAAAE8/8NXzdLYBUjg/s320/DSC02623.JPG" width="238" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"An Ideal Husband"<br />.....Well, the programme at least</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What slowed
the process down was that the report had to be told and written down three
times into three different books. They're currently writing up our copy of the
report which we'll collect later in the week. Got to love bureaucracy - you'd
never want to be in a hurry in Africa!</span></div>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">On Saturday
night, we went to see a production of Oscar Wilde's 'An Ideal Husband'
(thoroughly enjoyable), and we bumped into a friend of Liisa’s who’s on the
same Swahili course. When she learned what happened, her response was classic
[thick Aussie accent] “Well that’s bloody great news – Liisa’s so far ahead of
the class maybe this’ll give the rest us a chance to catch up!”</span></div>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">The Ugly -
Football</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3M2lSDAcuAw/T9Yh2riHUVI/AAAAAAAAAFE/w49uc5V9wTQ/s1600/kd.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="187" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3M2lSDAcuAw/T9Yh2riHUVI/AAAAAAAAAFE/w49uc5V9wTQ/s200/kd.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ireland just can't pinpoint where<br />preparations have gone wrong</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Ireland 1 – 3
Croatia.</span></div>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Ugh.</span></div>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Whatever, bring on Spain & Italy!!</span></div>
<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>Tom Peilowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11744333654877780908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7609381374317456271.post-46250168485451428962012-05-21T10:24:00.002+01:002012-05-22T13:14:19.062+01:00Trip to Kilimanjaro<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ETGxThCoXbA/T7oAe8OzBPI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/RbuXsAt0c-4/s1600/S1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ETGxThCoXbA/T7oAe8OzBPI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/RbuXsAt0c-4/s200/S1.png" width="159" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"S1" desktop Solar Light</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello again, this
time from Moshi on the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro. Solar Aid have sent
me up to here to work with the Sales Team and see how everything operates when they’re
away from Dar.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a bit of
background, Solar Aid has targeted getting 360,000 solar-lights into the hands
of Tanzanians, the majority being school-children throughout the country. The
most common of these is the S1 Solar Light, and is sold for a subsidised price of 10,000 Shillings (around £4).</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What I can assure
you is that demand for the product is phenomenal. One of the biggest problems facing
Solar Aid is ensuring they can simply get enough stock out to the team in the
field. Keeping in mind that Tanzanian Infrastructure is still developing, the
logistics of sending thousands of lights up from Dar es Salaam can be
challenging. Oh the perils of such a popular product!</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L6WcDG-HaKE/T7oAru0X5VI/AAAAAAAAAEY/i5SNbwNsVF0/s1600/Team.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L6WcDG-HaKE/T7oAru0X5VI/AAAAAAAAAEY/i5SNbwNsVF0/s320/Team.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With the Sales Team in Moshi. About to go for a<br />
well-earned meal after a week selling 6,000 solar lights</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve had a brilliant week with the team here and I managed to get involved in the
sales processes themselves, giving me ample opportunity to practise my
Kiswahilli with the locals. I’m still finding the language much easier to read
or write, than speak or listen beyond very simple vocabulary, but I guess
that’s just the way it is for a beginner! My aim is to become intermediate /
conversational by the end of the year.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Liisa, never one
to be put off by a ten hour bus journeys, has joined me in Moshi – one of the
benefits of translating only requiring email, making her flexible for such
trips!<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g1h2FXYUzxA/T7oAGcX0blI/AAAAAAAAAEA/je4KQQYhHv8/s1600/Kidz.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g1h2FXYUzxA/T7oAGcX0blI/AAAAAAAAAEA/je4KQQYhHv8/s200/Kidz.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trading off English lessons<br />
for Kiswahili ones</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The whole area
has been beautifully green (thanks to the recent Rainy Season), and it’s been
brilliant to just take walks around everywhere.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We’ve stayed in a couple of
towns in the region, and in some, where Westeners are certainly more of a
rarity, we do get “Mzungu-ed” a lot (© Liisa Peltonen) i.e. when you walk by
you can hear people talking about the “Mzungu”, or simply shouting out “Mzungu!”.
Other times it’s children saying “Good Morning” (or my personal favourite
“Good Morning Class”) Also, the fact it’s four in the afternoon doesn’t seem
to matter!</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7ljD3YfeqXI/T7oAXmc9SKI/AAAAAAAAAEI/DbEin2dYv3A/s1600/Kili.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7ljD3YfeqXI/T7oAXmc9SKI/AAAAAAAAAEI/DbEin2dYv3A/s320/Kili.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not a bad old view of Kili from our hotel room</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">W</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">here we’ve been
staying in Moshi, we’ve been lucky enough to wake up and be greeted to a breath-taking
view of Mount Kilimanjaro. I start to consider climbing it again, although I’ve still not forgotten last time when at
the top I swore “Too tiring -
never again!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<span lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, however, we
must get back to Dar. 99% of things in Tanzania are </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thatswhereimat.wordpress.com/2011/06/28/pole-pole-slowly-slowly/" target="_blank">'pole pole'</a> ('slowly slowly'). B</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">us-driving, however, is
not one of them. Wish me luck!</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>Tom Peilowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11744333654877780908noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7609381374317456271.post-16177510198866192212012-05-05T16:14:00.000+01:002012-05-05T16:14:36.557+01:00When it rains, it pours<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w6QSlDIFvI8/T6U_AFGC5SI/AAAAAAAAAD0/GWUSBws4M4M/s1600/House.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w6QSlDIFvI8/T6U_AFGC5SI/AAAAAAAAAD0/GWUSBws4M4M/s200/House.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Home sweet home!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
Three
weeks in and I've seen why they call it the rainy season. At one point
last night I thought there was an air raid, such was the impact of the
howling rain on our little tin roof! Still, it's warm with plenty of sunshine, so I guess it's not entirely like an Irish Summer.</div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
We've
now moved into our second, more permament African home. We've got a
living room, a kitchenette, a bathroom, two bedrooms and a ground floor
balcony. Fully loaded with couches, fridge, cooker, beds (...trust me, I'm making it sound far fancier than it actually
is!)</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AqsEPUc-8JI/T6U9e0Hgi3I/AAAAAAAAADs/X-E0WsugUNI/s1600/roadtowork.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AqsEPUc-8JI/T6U9e0Hgi3I/AAAAAAAAADs/X-E0WsugUNI/s200/roadtowork.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My daily walk to work</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
</div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
As for the commute, I'm a 3km walk from work, which is nice for the exercise. Bye bye beer belly, welcome six-pack! Maybe.</div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<i></i><br /><i></i></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
VSO are providing us with an allowance of £5/day, which is apparently enough for one person to live
on. As
a challenge, Liisa and I are seeing if it's enough for two people to live
off, and so far we're on track! The financial analyst in me has
converted our entire lives into a fully functional Profit & Loss and
Balance Sheet ...I'm trying to convince myself this is to help with the
budgeting, but I think we all know it's because I'm a massive nerd.</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BWes-heWWbk/T6U8j9unrCI/AAAAAAAAADM/2Y8QtOwNaZo/s1600/Veg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BWes-heWWbk/T6U8j9unrCI/AAAAAAAAADM/2Y8QtOwNaZo/s320/Veg.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buying fruit & veg. I thought I'd haggled a good price. But, that said, <br />the next time we saw the assistant he was wearing A LOT of bling</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
</div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
Somewhat
appropriately, we've got solar lights installed at home (thanks to Solar Aid), thus saving on the electricity bills. We've
also found some good local markets nearby, and have learnt how to ask
for
what we need, with <a href="http://translate.google.co.uk/?hl=en&q=translate&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1366&bih=638&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wT#sw%7Cen%7CViazi%20kumi%2C%20tafadhali" target="_blank">"Viazi kumi, tafadhali"</a><span class="ecxyiv166685527ecxyiv1159387482ecxyiv256464175ecxyiv572178573Apple-style-span" style="color: #c00000;"> </span>serving me well so far.</div>
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By a stroke of good fortune, we're also saving on Alarm Clock costs, courtesy of: (1) The daily Mosque Call at 4:20am (2) the rooster next to our bedroom window, & (3) our neighbour's unhealthy obsession with Whitney Houston.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L96MKccWKr0/T6U89dSnDKI/AAAAAAAAADc/Ml0kTjAmukM/s1600/bongoyo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L96MKccWKr0/T6U89dSnDKI/AAAAAAAAADc/Ml0kTjAmukM/s320/bongoyo.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bongoyo Island</td></tr>
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<span class="ecxyiv166685527ecxyiv1159387482ecxyiv256464175ecxyiv572178573Apple-style-span" style="color: #c00000;"></span>We spent this weekend at Bongoyo Island (it's like a very very mini Zanzibar), and are planning a trip to Moshi shortly (up north), so hopefully
I'll have some nice snaps of Kilimanjaro to follow!</div>
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<br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span>Tom Peilowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11744333654877780908noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7609381374317456271.post-5293951828021192082012-04-22T13:48:00.000+01:002012-04-22T13:49:35.949+01:00Ambaye mzungu? Niko mzungu!<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I must apologise for the delay in my first post since arriving in Dar es Salaam. Liisa and I have been experiencing some technical problems. Namely the construction company next door has stolen our electricity!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Updwards and onwards.</span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WMvvngxg1w0/T5P13fw6c-I/AAAAAAAAAC0/HWVl3tQnmNw/s1600/Apartment01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WMvvngxg1w0/T5P13fw6c-I/AAAAAAAAAC0/HWVl3tQnmNw/s200/Apartment01.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our first African home</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We've been in 'Dar' a week now, spent a couple of nights in the aptly name Econolodge, and have since moved to temporary accomodation on site at <a href="http://www.solar-aid.org/" target="_blank">Solar Aid</a> (my workplace) It's a nifty little apartment they use for visitors, and it makes my journey to work a delight at just 30 odd steps away! If you're looking on a map, we're on the <a href="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=msasani+peninsula&hl=en&ll=-6.747805,39.28299&spn=0.03418,0.055189&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=10.416583,28.256836&hq=msasani+peninsula&radius=15000&t=m&z=14" target="_blank">Msasani Peninsula</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Solar Aid has an apartment for us, about a 25 minute walk away, which is just undergoing some minor renovations at the moment, such as the front wall being built. We're hoping to move in sometime this week - I think Liisa and I are both looking forward to empty our suitcases!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Last Monday we started with a relatively brief one-day induction from the organising agency VSO (our full induction will happen in July, this is because Liisa & I arrived out of sync with most volunteers... by the time we go on the induction we'll nearly be country experts!), and I started my job on Tuesday.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Two of the team are 'mzungu' ('whites' - this is a politically OK term!), one being me, the remainder are Tanzanians, with around 10 or 15 in the office. Most speak a good level of English, however I'm making surprisingly good progress in Swahili. Things I can communicate already include:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">* Hello, goodbye, how are you, I'm fine, no thanks etc</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">* Counting up to 29</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">* Two beers / coffee please</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">* This is my food</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">* It is hot!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">* I am a dirty mzungu</span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a3Tw36jgNok/T5P5cHInjVI/AAAAAAAAAC8/Cc8i1I-GXMs/s1600/Solar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a3Tw36jgNok/T5P5cHInjVI/AAAAAAAAAC8/Cc8i1I-GXMs/s320/Solar.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Attempting to get into Solar Aid for the first time</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">OK, so it's not quite fluent yet, but the locals have been receptive at helping us mzungus pick up the language and are only too enthusiastic to help anyone making an effort.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Our current apartment has air-conditioning - NICE! Although, as noted above, we're having a spot of bother with the electricity which has ballsed things up a bit - darn construction company next door are hogging it all! So sans-electicity and light, what is there to do in the evening... Go to the pub? Didn't really feel like it... What to do?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Alas, fear not! We're staying on site at a solar power company... So we grabbed a couple of demo solar chargers which had been powering up all day and, hey presto, we had light and could charge our laptop. An evening of watching Fawlty Towers proceeded.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We're settling in brilliantly, it's hot, people are friendly, and we seem to be landing on our feet with everything. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(I nearly forgot to mention, work cook up a smashing lunch for me every day - it's pretty incredible. Love it!)</span>Tom Peilowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11744333654877780908noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7609381374317456271.post-22645492854377331562012-03-06T15:46:00.005+00:002012-04-03T16:26:24.553+01:00A decent proposal<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As April draws ever closer, I've had plenty going on recently -</span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X1wjuSvTtp0/T1YwRoQCRhI/AAAAAAAAACs/V45bck0Y7o4/s1600/140220121066.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X1wjuSvTtp0/T1YwRoQCRhI/AAAAAAAAACs/V45bck0Y7o4/s320/140220121066.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meet Emmanuel, star of my Training Course Production<br />
"Emmanuel learns all about AIDS"</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">All the training is finished, the second course in Birmingham really was excellent, and we had a great bunch of people on the course - all friendly and out-going which made the tasks all the more fun.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And in a more life-definining move, I surprised Liisa with a trip to Albania (where we met), popped the question (incidentally just before February 29th!), & very thankfully she said Yes. Huzzah! My fiancee!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Liisa quits her job on Friday, and I've got another 4 or 5 weeks. The time will fly and we're both really starting to focus on Tanzania at this stage!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">If anybody would like to donate to the very worthy cause that is VSO, I would be entirely grateful:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.mycharity.ie/events/tompeilow">http://www.mycharity.ie/events/tompeilow</a> (for the Irish)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.justgiving.co.uk/tompeilow">http://www.justgiving.co.uk/tompeilow</a> (for everyone else)</span><br />
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</div><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">See you all soon!</span>Tom Peilowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11744333654877780908noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7609381374317456271.post-36977751756379476552012-02-04T14:21:00.013+00:002012-02-18T16:57:53.132+00:00Now we play the waiting game<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PIaLXfuS4rg/Ty05-3seVhI/AAAAAAAAACg/QmmF3IWou9w/s1600/birmingham.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PIaLXfuS4rg/Ty05-3seVhI/AAAAAAAAACg/QmmF3IWou9w/s320/birmingham.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If London get indepedence, this city will become the UK's capital<br />
(this isn't the VSO training building!)</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;">Everything is coming along nicely, and we're firmly counting down to April. Mass amounts of administration are in process (visas, accomodation, flights, insurance etc), but I'll spare you the details on that.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">On top of online based training, Liisa and I were in Birmingham for a 3-day course to help us prepare to move a developing country. A good course, although tiring coming at the end of a long week. It was great to meet other volunteers who were a fantastic bunch - we developed a few of our own tasks, such as "Go to the Pub" which I particularly excelled at!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Liisa is to hand her notice in on Monday (hopefully her manager doesn't read this ...actually even if somehow she does, what would it matter?!) Everything is quickly becoming more real, exciting times ahead, and no regrets.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">But next up, another trip to Sunny Birmingham on Saturday!</div><br />
</div>Tom Peilowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11744333654877780908noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7609381374317456271.post-6765363213952222232012-01-14T09:38:00.001+00:002012-04-03T16:24:29.934+01:00Step 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">The biggest step so far is done - I've handed in my notice! I'm sad to leave Avanti, I've built up a lot of strong friendships there, but it feels like the timing is right. Liisa and I have also had plenty of time to consider our decision, having first thought of all of this back in August.<br />
<br />
After much researching, and hitting a few brick walls on the way, I managed to land a Finance Consultant Volunteering role for me with <a href="http://www.solar-aid.org/" target="_blank">SolarAid</a> in Dar Es Salaam, structured through <a href="http://www.afid.org.uk/" target="_blank">A f I D</a> and <a href="http://www.vso.org.uk/" target="_blank">VSO</a>. SolarAid is a fantastic organisation, and as they have a head office in London I've met the staff here and really have a good feel for them.<br />
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Liisa meanwhile will be going over with her primary focus on starting up her freelance translating business. Once she has a laptop and the internet she can do that from anywhere in the world. So where better than a tropical beach with temperatures in the high 20s to early 30s?!<br />
<br />
When in Tanzania, the working language will be English, which is a relief! We will however undertake Swahili lessons. Liisa, and her knack for picking up languages, will soon become probably the only person in the world who can translate from Swahili into Finnish! <br />
<br />
First up, I will remain with Avanti until early April before moving to Tanzania, and I have no doubt the time will fly. There's plenty still to organise - I need to complete VSO's training with a couple of trips to Birmingham, fundraising, working visas, accomodation, make sure I get home enough to see my new nephew Padraic, arrange my shots & malaria, and make the most of the weekends I have left!<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fPkWm8Yl0Kk/TxFL3LU6UJI/AAAAAAAAAAM/vFZCdKcywJg/s1600/london-skyline.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fPkWm8Yl0Kk/TxFL3LU6UJI/AAAAAAAAAAM/vFZCdKcywJg/s320/london-skyline.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
My 3 years in London have flown by, and I may very well be back one day. It's been brilliant.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://translate.google.com/#auto%7Cen%7CHadi%20wakati%20mwingine%21%0A%0Ahttp://translate.google.com/#auto%7Cen%7CHadi%20wakati%20mwingine%21%0A%0A" target="_blank">Hadi wakati mwingine!</a><br />
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Tom Peilow</div>Tom Peilowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11744333654877780908noreply@blogger.com0