Bugando Book Drive…

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…was such a success!

The Adventures of Australia and Sister Beckham

Dear Australia

So here it is. The long-awaited, much anticipated post of my travels to Kigoma and Gombe stream. Australia I tried, really I did, to capture the magic of our first night in the tented lodge; the frightening noises made by the zebra/warthog/fisherman; the experience of having a boat load of Tanzanians stare at us solidly for the 3 hour water taxi ride; the joy of waiting patiently for 45 minutes under that tree only to have the best chimpanzee encounter (and we saw more than Luca); swimming in Lake Tanganyika, admiring the Congolese mountains; the fish supper; the hair stealing witch; the warp speed bus ride so we “can admire the beauty of the Tanzanian bush”. But I couldn’t. It’s impossible without the facial expressions, the interjections etc etc. So instead I’ve created a little photo montage – at the very least we’ll laugh.

Best wishes,

Sister Beckham

x

A little calamity

It was difficult telling the school the news from Raleigh. As I explained as best I could their reasons for not helping the school, Raymond covered his face with his hands.

“If there is no struggle…

…there is no progress”. Frederick Douglass c. 1818 – February 20, 1895

Oranges are not the only fruit

Goodbye Mwanza

Kitambua

Ukerewe ferry port

Ukerewe ferry port

Ukerewe ferry port

View from the bench…

Mr Leonard cooking chips mayai

Elly

Me, before I started to remember I’m not 10

Cycling…

Cycling…

Views of Lake Victoria

The secret baboon forest

Dropping off the bikes

Cassava

Lucia

Lucia, Harry, Elly and Me

Searching for baboons

Baboon country

Baboon country

Views from a rock…

Much needed break

Still feeling like I’m 10…just

Please sir, can we have an orange

Ukerewe

Ukerewe

Breakfast

The land of bikes…

…and fish

Uglai, fresh fish and mchicha for 40p!

Best restaurant in town

Home for 3 days

Please sir, can we have an orange?

Chungwa

As I write this, I am sitting in a small room filled with plastic chairs and tables and Tanzanian men, all facing a small TV placed on top of a fridge freezer. Everyone is shouting because they’ve just announced that transport costs are going up and a heated discussion has started. I’m nursing a cup of hot fresh milk, a rarity in the land of UHT, and waiting for the order I made at the wooden counter in the corner of the room, below it a glass counter filled with mandazi that people are buying to dip into their heavily sugared milk.

Raleigh International’s visit…

“He’s a good looking boy”

“Yes and he knows it. He’s the smartest, the cutest and the naughtiest in my class”

The topic was clothes…

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These guys just break my heart sometimes. I really want the meeting on Friday (originally Tuesday) to go well.

“It’s like a zoo in here!”

So, after time off yet again, this time with a strange eyeball eating bacteria (I kid you not, must remember to blog about the hospital visit – hi-lar-i-ous, in an “Oh god I’m going to have to look good with an eye-patch” kind of way) I’m back teaching at Bugando. The next few weeks are on the topic of animals (originally entitled “Safari Animals” until my friend pointed out that a pig is not a safari animal…).

Countdown…?

So, things they are occuring…at least I think they are…at least I hope they are…Aitch it’s all very Tanzanian “There’s no hurry in Africa”. Pole pole, slowly slowly – rather fitting I think sometimes that pole is also kiswahili for sorry (you bloomin well will be if you don’t hurry up!). Raleigh International are coming within the next 3 weeks, I have a meeting with the founders of the Deaf Unit…but no one’s said yes yet. Keep your fingers crossed…

Can you help?

Yes, I can hear you, “more sodding requests for support *dramatic sigh*” but really, with your respective countries in the state that they are I’ll wager all your doing is sitting on your couch, glued to yet another depressing news story about house prices going down, food prices going up, possibility of triple-dip recessions and desperately in need of the feel good factor. Well here’s a way you can have it and it won’t even cause charity fatigue. Isn’t that nice of me?