"Haraka haraka haina Baraka" my Tanzanian professor, Mwaifuge, proclaimed loudly when our African literature class turned to Swahili proverbs. He paused for a minute and said, "that means 'going slow doesn't bring any blessings.'" After having spent two months living in Dar es Salam I had grown to appreciate the slow easiness of Tanzanian culture compared to the fast-paced "busy" life of American culture. During the four months I studied abroad in Tanzania I fell in love with the culture, the people, the language, and the spirit of the place. In this page I have a section on the highlights of the four months from August to December 2012 including some journal excerpts, photos etc. and a section on my ethnographic research at the only pediatric oncology ward in the country.
Study Abroad Fall 2012
Click here for the my original blog.
Haraka haraka haina baraka in kiswahili means going fast does not bring blessings, while studying abroad in Tanzania I found this saying especially true. In America it seems we are very excited about being busy all the time and going quickly from place to place. I felt that in Tanzania, the culture emphasized slowing down more. My friends in Tanzania may run late more often than my friends in the United States, but the time spent is valuable and without haste once you are together. A conversation has a high value, and the connection between people was important over getting a lot done.
Tanzania is located in East Africa, south of Kenya and North of Mozambique. On the East side of the country the country borders the warm beautiful Indian Ocean and on the West lies Lake Tanganyika, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, and Lake Victoria. I studied abroad in Dar es Salaam the largest city in Tanzania with about four million people.
I lived at the University of Dar es Salaam, the oldest University in the country, in a dorm with a Tanzanian roommate. We slept under a mosquito net to prevent getting malaria. There were times where the water or electricity would come off. Next to our dorm were large water storage tanks, where we could fill buckets to bring up stairs to bathe in or do a little laundry. The campus was beautiful with lots of trees and many acres.
I studied abroad there with CIEE, and international study abroad program. Our Resident Director, Jenny is from Chicago. She completed two years of Peace Corps service in Tanzania, and she is fluent in Kiswahili and Kihehe. Cecilia was the Office Assistant who helped us to navigate the bureaucracy of the University. We also had two student assistants, Maureen and Mtega, which helped provide us with an insiders connection to Tanzanian college life. There were eleven of us students all from American Universities, and through the four months we spent there we became close friends.
Dar es Salaam is a coastal city and the major port for Tanzania. While living there we would frequent different beaches and take different boat rides on the weekends and in down time. We ate different types of Swahili food like Chapati, Mandazi, Pilau, Ndizi, and lots of fresh tropical fruits like pineapple, mango, and papaya. To get around the city our favorite form of transportation was the Bajaj. In the picture above is Elius our favorite Bajaj driver. Elius could easily take us all around the city and more easily avoid the traffic that was a consistent problem in one of the fastest growing urban areas in the world. One of our favorite places to shop for clothes, gifts, and other supplies was Mwenge the large open market just ten minutes away from the University.
Through my study abroad curriculum, I took an internship class with Emma a fellow CIEE student. We worked at Tumaini la Maisha, the only childhood cancer support organization in the country. We worked there every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon helping to tutor the children and do different play therapy techniques with them. The children were each so unique and inspirational. They helped us to practice our Kiswahili, teach us how to sew, and show us that a little laughter can go a long way. To learn more about this experience check out my cancer research project here..I was able to travel throughout the country on long weekends and several breaks during my study abroad experience. One long weekend the eleven of us exchange students traveled to Lushoto, which is located in Northeastern Tanzania. Lushoto is a beautiful mountainous region where the hills are lined with farms. While there we took a guided hike, where we saw some old buildings from the German colonial era, met a chameleon, walked through a rain forest, and enjoyed some beautiful views. The people in Lushoto were all very friendly and welcoming. They taught us some of their local language and gave us a lift into town. We stayed at a farm run by an old European couple. They made us delicious soup, jams, cheese, and bread. The bus ride to Lushoto and back took ten hours each way from Dar es Salaam.
Dar es Salaam boasted large kanga and kitenge market, the beautiful colored fabric. On one day we traveled by bus, called Dalla Dalla, downtown to the central market. We had to ask for directions about eight times but in the process, we were able to see beautiful mosques, statues, and meet some friendly people. Once we arrived at the Kanga market, we began bartering with all of the ladies there. They laughed at our Swahili bartering skills but they gave us a good deal. One lady wanted to steal my English-Swahili dictionary, but I said I needed it still. Life in Dar is full of fun exchanges, crowded bus, and colorful clothing everywhere you look.
In the middle of our studies we had a week long Autumn break. Fiona, Terry and I traveled to the small village of Mufindi in the central region of Tanzania near Iringa. We stayed at the Children's Village there in one of the house with a mom and a dad. They only spoke Swahili but we taught them some English and in return they taught us some Kihehe, the local language. While there we helped out at the day care during the day and tutored the older children in the evening. With some of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in the world, many of the children were orphaned by AIDS. The Children's Village provided a more culturally appropriate response to the large number of orphans than a traditional western orpanage would. The children had a stable place to live here with consistent caretakers that were from the local community. The Children's Village is one of the most inspiring places I have ever been in my life.
The CIEE program also took us on a four day long Safari trip into a nature reserve in Central Tanzania. There we saw lions, hippos, crocodiles, giraffes, elephants, monkeys, and lots of birds. Seeing those animals up close was an unbelievable experience. Later my mom came to visit and we traveled to Ngorogoro Crater, which literally looks like the Lion King in real life.
Saying Farewell after living with the group of eleven for four months was hard, but I gained incredible friendship through the program that I cherish to this day. Mary, Emma and I became a brilliant triumvirate of friends and we still get together despite being from different places across the country. Each one of the people in the program significantly touched my life for the better.Having my mom come to visit at the end of the program was a great way to finish. I was able to show her all that I had learned and all that I loved about the country. We also had our own adventure including climbing Mt Meru the 5th tallest mountain in Africa, sitting across from Kilimanjaro. We also went on a two day long Safari and spent several days on the beautiful island of Zanzibar. She came to love Tanzania as I did and saw the beauty in the culture and the people.
Haraka haraka haina baraka in kiswahili means going fast does not bring blessings, while studying abroad in Tanzania I found this saying especially true. In America it seems we are very excited about being busy all the time and going quickly from place to place. I felt that in Tanzania, the culture emphasized slowing down more. My friends in Tanzania may run late more often than my friends in the United States, but the time spent is valuable and without haste once you are together. A conversation has a high value, and the connection between people was important over getting a lot done.
Tanzania is located in East Africa, south of Kenya and North of Mozambique. On the East side of the country the country borders the warm beautiful Indian Ocean and on the West lies Lake Tanganyika, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, and Lake Victoria. I studied abroad in Dar es Salaam the largest city in Tanzania with about four million people.
I lived at the University of Dar es Salaam, the oldest University in the country, in a dorm with a Tanzanian roommate. We slept under a mosquito net to prevent getting malaria. There were times where the water or electricity would come off. Next to our dorm were large water storage tanks, where we could fill buckets to bring up stairs to bathe in or do a little laundry. The campus was beautiful with lots of trees and many acres.
I studied abroad there with CIEE, and international study abroad program. Our Resident Director, Jenny is from Chicago. She completed two years of Peace Corps service in Tanzania, and she is fluent in Kiswahili and Kihehe. Cecilia was the Office Assistant who helped us to navigate the bureaucracy of the University. We also had two student assistants, Maureen and Mtega, which helped provide us with an insiders connection to Tanzanian college life. There were eleven of us students all from American Universities, and through the four months we spent there we became close friends.
Dar es Salaam is a coastal city and the major port for Tanzania. While living there we would frequent different beaches and take different boat rides on the weekends and in down time. We ate different types of Swahili food like Chapati, Mandazi, Pilau, Ndizi, and lots of fresh tropical fruits like pineapple, mango, and papaya. To get around the city our favorite form of transportation was the Bajaj. In the picture above is Elius our favorite Bajaj driver. Elius could easily take us all around the city and more easily avoid the traffic that was a consistent problem in one of the fastest growing urban areas in the world. One of our favorite places to shop for clothes, gifts, and other supplies was Mwenge the large open market just ten minutes away from the University.
Through my study abroad curriculum, I took an internship class with Emma a fellow CIEE student. We worked at Tumaini la Maisha, the only childhood cancer support organization in the country. We worked there every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon helping to tutor the children and do different play therapy techniques with them. The children were each so unique and inspirational. They helped us to practice our Kiswahili, teach us how to sew, and show us that a little laughter can go a long way. To learn more about this experience check out my cancer research project here..I was able to travel throughout the country on long weekends and several breaks during my study abroad experience. One long weekend the eleven of us exchange students traveled to Lushoto, which is located in Northeastern Tanzania. Lushoto is a beautiful mountainous region where the hills are lined with farms. While there we took a guided hike, where we saw some old buildings from the German colonial era, met a chameleon, walked through a rain forest, and enjoyed some beautiful views. The people in Lushoto were all very friendly and welcoming. They taught us some of their local language and gave us a lift into town. We stayed at a farm run by an old European couple. They made us delicious soup, jams, cheese, and bread. The bus ride to Lushoto and back took ten hours each way from Dar es Salaam.
Dar es Salaam boasted large kanga and kitenge market, the beautiful colored fabric. On one day we traveled by bus, called Dalla Dalla, downtown to the central market. We had to ask for directions about eight times but in the process, we were able to see beautiful mosques, statues, and meet some friendly people. Once we arrived at the Kanga market, we began bartering with all of the ladies there. They laughed at our Swahili bartering skills but they gave us a good deal. One lady wanted to steal my English-Swahili dictionary, but I said I needed it still. Life in Dar is full of fun exchanges, crowded bus, and colorful clothing everywhere you look.
In the middle of our studies we had a week long Autumn break. Fiona, Terry and I traveled to the small village of Mufindi in the central region of Tanzania near Iringa. We stayed at the Children's Village there in one of the house with a mom and a dad. They only spoke Swahili but we taught them some English and in return they taught us some Kihehe, the local language. While there we helped out at the day care during the day and tutored the older children in the evening. With some of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in the world, many of the children were orphaned by AIDS. The Children's Village provided a more culturally appropriate response to the large number of orphans than a traditional western orpanage would. The children had a stable place to live here with consistent caretakers that were from the local community. The Children's Village is one of the most inspiring places I have ever been in my life.
The CIEE program also took us on a four day long Safari trip into a nature reserve in Central Tanzania. There we saw lions, hippos, crocodiles, giraffes, elephants, monkeys, and lots of birds. Seeing those animals up close was an unbelievable experience. Later my mom came to visit and we traveled to Ngorogoro Crater, which literally looks like the Lion King in real life.
Saying Farewell after living with the group of eleven for four months was hard, but I gained incredible friendship through the program that I cherish to this day. Mary, Emma and I became a brilliant triumvirate of friends and we still get together despite being from different places across the country. Each one of the people in the program significantly touched my life for the better.Having my mom come to visit at the end of the program was a great way to finish. I was able to show her all that I had learned and all that I loved about the country. We also had our own adventure including climbing Mt Meru the 5th tallest mountain in Africa, sitting across from Kilimanjaro. We also went on a two day long Safari and spent several days on the beautiful island of Zanzibar. She came to love Tanzania as I did and saw the beauty in the culture and the people.
Cancer Research
(still to come)