Jambo!

Apologies for my lack of blogging, it's been a busy few weeks... I started my volunteering at Pippi House - I took it upon myself to look into fundraising opportunities for the foundation and created a rather basic but all-encompassing spreadsheet (Lucinda, you would be ashamed) of various fundraising sources. Seeing as I was starting from scratch and most formal charitable trusts want a clear breakdown of finances that the Pippi Foundation don't yet have, my success at actually bringing in the dosh was limited but it felt good to get a ball of sorts rolling. I'm hoping to continue the work from the UK when I get back to be able to make some long-lasting difference. I was also lucky enough to have my weeks there coincide with International Women's Day: a former volunteer had kindly donated money to fund a party at the House, and I brought Lisa and Bettina from Ujamaa along with me to meet the girls and join the party! We spent some time reading and studying with the girls before having a feast of a meal, then a microphone was passed around for everyone to say a few words before the music and dancing started! On the Monday after, there was an IWD event held at the conference center to discuss violence against women locally, and not only did Aristides, Pippi's founder, take part in a panel discussion, but Miryam, one of the girls, even stood up and told her story. All the girls really are special and celebrating International Women's Day with them really brought the message home for me. My last day there was emotional, and I got cards and a certificate to say thanks, and posed for what felt like hundreds of photos!

Apart from volunteering, I managed to get my geek on too: I met with the guy who runs the Danish consulate. It turns out he and his secretary are the only people working there, he also covers the Norwegian consulate and takes care of any Swedes who need help, so he's a pretty busy guy. He did seem kind of sick of his job/Arusha/life/the universe, but seeing as he had been there for 15 years-ish (and I'm sure Scando volunteers and tourists can be pretty freaking annoying) I don't blame him. He told me that if I got in trouble and needed his help, he prefers the hospital to the police station (good to know)... My other geek out was on my very last day in town, which I actually delayed my departure for: I joined a group of Harvard Law School students at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. The trials are all finished, except for a few appeals hearings, but we got a tour of the library - bringing back memories of SOAS dissertation times - and were shown a documentary about the tribunal process. Then, we had a talk by a Public Relations officer at the ICTR to give us more information and answer questions about the trials generally. He was followed by an engagingly charismatic legal professional who had worked on the tribunal of Yugoslavia too, and having told us we had just been given the official propaganda, he lead us down a much more critical (and realistic) description of the trials and the challenges faced. It took me back to Uni days and Geneva, and I realised that I had missed using that part of my brain!

I was also desperate to keep my body busy, and while the running was all good I was still eager to hunt down the Arusha Rhinos rugby team… I failed on my first attempt, but eventually managed to get down to the grounds where they train (I gave in and took a taxi). When I arrived, there were about 10 of them playing a lively game of touch and I was grateful for my "Jim'll Touch It" experience as I managed to not make a total fool of myself. In fact, I managed a try (gifted to me, but still!) and a couple of side-steps so I was pleased despite the fact that I was panting and walking when the rest of them still seemed fine. I also joined a few of them at an International School to help coach their minis - I was impressed with the numbers they managed to get down, and the kids were split into 3 groups according to age and skills. I joined Jessica with the younger kids and taught them how to "ruck" which ended up essentially being wrestling: when we then tried to put it into practice in a game it all fell apart - now I know the frustration of our coaches..! The next day was training, and I managed to get a lift from Jessica, who plays for them - it was going so well until her antique safari-truck ran out of fuel en route. When we did get there, it was pouring down and so, as it was Friday, they decided to take advantage of Happy Hour instead. (Hammers, take note!) This meant that the beers which usually cost a dear GBP 1.50 were down to 75p, so needless to say it was a looong session. After a magic burger with Chiraag, who makes London Dry gin in Tanzania (true story), and his German friend Alex, I managed to get a lift with them back to the hostel and headed straight to bed.

During this time, there were constant changes at the hostel with people coming and going, and Amy was the only one there from when I arrived until I left. Nandon, Kelley and Jennifer left, and Bettina and Heike (German), Loes and Inge (Dutch), and Lisa (Belgium) arrived: in a weekend the nationality-balance suddenly shifted from the US to Europe bringing a tangible change. All of a sudden all hell broke loose! Ok, not quite - but the parties definitely became more frequent and sleep more elusive. On Jennifer's last night, we went out with Lisa and Bettina, only to find ourselves almost alone at the bar - not that we let that stop us! We actually found ourselves at the local bar, Mango Tree, nearly every other night, and on Super Saturday they even put on the 6 nations rugby for me and Loes on the big screen! We had front row seats and no queue at the bar, and were eventually joined by a couple of English guys, a Dutchman, and a few Irish who were pleased to find a place showing it. After the nerve-wracking afternoon, Loes and I joined the English and Dutch guys to watch them DJ at a place not far from the hostel - it wasn't very busy, and after requesting a few songs, listening to a lady singing Miriam Makeba, and watching Loes "learn" how to salsa - basically walking back and forth chanting "1… 5" - we got a lift back to the hostel. Once there, we discovered that we had missed a crazy evening of Ring of Fire and everyone in the hostel was dancing around like mad, so we joined in (be rude not to)! This wasn't the only Ring of Fire session, and I was there for one or two: it would inevitably end in a session of dancing, singing/screaming along (yes, I'm afraid my Eminem came out), and midnight snacking… I kept trying to learn the moves that Hadji and Gasper knew but alas, I only ever managed to "drop it like it's luke-warm" - not that that stopped me. The Waka Waka moves were the extent to our choreography, and we rocked it! Another memorable night started off at Mango Tree, as ever, where I randomly bumped into a Hammer (just like Fulham!) that played for the 3s and was called "Spider", and wanted me to hook him up with one of my friends! Well, I did as much as I would for any Hammer boy by inviting him along to Via Via where we were going next, and as we got there the rain started pouring. As the bar is mainly outdoors, we got there to find everyone crowded underneath the limited roof-space, and decided we wouldn't be phased by a little rain so we kicked off the dancing in the rain (before starting to feel actually pretty chilly despite beer jackets) and were soon cautiously joined by a few other stubborn party people. Fun times!

To summarise, my time in Arusha was a pretty epic balance of volunteering, geeking, rugby-ing and partying! When I got on the bus to Dar at 5am after no sleep - it had been Anil's birthday and I was kindly taking the jagerbombs he couldn't handle for him… Actually I'll rephrase: When I woke up in Dar after a bumpy, sobering bus journey, I felt homesick for the place I had settled in to so easily for the past four weeks. While a reunion is already on the cards, and a plan to return to Arusha is brewing, I look back on the time spent and people met there very fondly! I know there are songs I won't be able to hear and words I won't be able to use without thinking of Ujamaa Hostel, and can only hope that the rest of my travels bring equally brilliant experiences. So much love!