Well it was Holy Week. So no school from Wednesday to Tuesday. They Seminarians had lots to do for all the preparations for all the different masses. Good Friday is a very serious time here. Everyone keeps to themselves and really just focus on solitude. Saturday was very similar so I rode a bike around for most of the day just adventuring out a bit with my friend Leonard until the Easter Vigil at night. It was fantastic. The music with all the different shakers and gombas -drums. It was very long though as you can imagine. It was an Easter I will never forget. then on Easter day I ate so much food. Fish, Cow, Chicken, rice, ugali. It was a whole day of eating then dancing at the end. During the day I also got a chance to go to the Morogoro tennis and golf club that the British started back in the day. The golf course looks like just a normal park in america with tall grass and the greens are just dirt. I played tennis with this guy who works for the United Nations whose name is Matthew. He is from England. Very interesting guy. he actually was here for a year with the Salvatorian and then the Rwanda crisis happened and the UN needed people who could speak Kiswahili and English which he could and he has been working them ever since. It was nice grilling with questions.
I asked him about the different water projects and all the volunteer organizations. He said Unfortunately there is a lot of problems in many organizations. He said with a lot of organizations the people in need don't get 100% of it . That often there is people in charge who are helping but take a cut of it. He said what has seem to work the best is to force the people to come up with 50% of the money. I don't know who they can do that or where they make the money from but it makes sense. That way the people if they really want something they will work for it and take ownership of it. It is not just given. Some of the wells here are mistreated. I saw one the other day where it was broken and so they ripped the thing off its foundation was water is pouring out of the ground. I'm guessing at least 10 gallons of water every minute. It is sad to see all the water being wasted but I feel the poeple here don't know any different. It the well is broken and they don't know how to fix it and they want water they will find a way to get it. Even though majority of that water is now being wasted.
The man I met works with the food industry. Right now they are working with the Tanzanian government and Uganda. There was a bad flood then drought hit in Uganda and lots of there land was destroy especially groups. So the UN made a deal with both countries where Tanzania let the Uganda people in the country and the UN then bought millions of crops from Tanzania and ship it to the people in Uganda that are there. Matthew has spent most of his time in Tanzania but also other African Countries.
Matthew also just start an organization for Orphan children here. They built a school and is a boarding school for children who don't have parents or are disabled. It is a nonprofit and it is a 503b so it is tax deductible in the US. I will get more information from him for who ever would want to donate or help out. he said they are very welcoming for volunteers to fly out and help out at the school. Right now there are making artificial appendages for the children that are missing legs and arms.
Lastly I want to talk about Albino people. There is one here at the college. So she looks black but has no pigmentation in her skin so she is whiter than me. Albinos have there own school here in Tanzania. It is for there safety. There is witch craft her and they believe if you have bones from an Albino it will bring you very good luck for finding diamonds and gold. Hence many Albinos have been killed just for there bones. It became a huge market and I guess some people were paying thousands in US dollars for them. Lots of the Albinos would be found dead from bleeding to death. These crazy people would chop off there arms or legs just to get there bones because they think it will lead them to wealth. Of course the Albinos that have survived are disabled many are children as well. To set an example that this is not the Tanzanian way and it is not acceptable the prime minister here adopted an albino child. It is to bad these people who are already different life have to live in closed doors for there safety. Many if they go out in public they totally cover themselves so they look like a Muslim.
Sorry for the sad news here. Easter is a wonderful Holiday here.
There going to teach me how to play the Kayamba. I'll take a picture of it for next time.
Heri ya Pasaca
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