I miss “my” village! I wish I could just go back and live there…I love my job and all, but still, so much simpler and nicer. Last week, I went back to Mgeta for two days on the weekend to visit friends and, of course, the dairy goat project for orphans which I helped with last year. I’m happy and not-so-happy to report that while the project has progressed much since last year, it is still facing problems. First, the […]
The presidential elections are coming up this weekend in Tanzania. Everyone was expecting it to be fairly peaceful, but now there are rumours that there might be some conflicts on Sunday. The ruling party, called the CCM, has been in power ever since independence. Although no one expects the presidential position to be won by other parties, most people would tell me that there would be a shift towards more MPs from other parties. People are tired of the CCM. […]
Agreed on meeting time: 10 am – 12 noon 9:40 am: first meeting participant ambles in. We greet them, show them where the meeting will be. Karibu chai na kahawa (you’re welcome to have some tea or coffee). We go back to work a bit more. 9:55 am: second participant ambles in. Process repeats. We introduce them to the first one so they can have polite conversation. 10:00 am: still only two people, we wait. 10:10 am: two more people […]
two weeks ago, the most amazing things happened… 1. I got an interview to work with Roots and Shoots in Tanzania…the interview went quite well too as if that wasn’t enough…. 2. I had the interview at Dr. Goodall’s house!!!!! wait there’s more…. 3. I met a guy who said he can introduce me to Dr. Jane Goodall when she comes back in January!!!!!!!!! allow me…OMG!!! holy crap, I think I would faint if I see her.
I’m having some trouble deciding what my role is here. I’ve always been on the policy advocacy side of things. Now I’m supposed to be a facilitator, a stakeholder engager, a bridge, a person who is supposedly more neutral. Now some of you would probably roll your eyes by now, since I’m rarely neutral on any issue, especially something as important to me as food/agriculture. But that’s what I’m supposed to be. I’m supposed to be helping bridge the gap […]
I had such a good work day today. Not that I accomplished a lot (well, I did get two meetings organized, which is quite big since it’s really hard to get anyone from the government to have a meeting), but because I was able to face some of my fears. phoning people I don’t know or haven’t met face to face before. I’m getting much better at this essential skill. I got quite good at it back in Canada, but […]
I’ve been super busy lately. The process of legitimizing urban agriculture (which I’ve talked about before) is coming along well – very surprisingly to me. We recently had a bit of a milestone. We’ve been planning for a training week for urban agriculture farmers because due to their insecure land tenures, we can’t fund what they want the most – a borehole for clean water. So we asked them what are the second best things you want? And it turns […]
Bumpy roads are always bad, right? Cars get damaged more easily; it’s slower to bike, walk, or drive on; dust is easily stirred up by the wind or passing cars; you can’t just shut your mind off and wander because that large hole might just make you kiss the ground, hard. But bumpy roads also save lives. The back roads (little roads that branch off main roads, like the one I live on) are so bumpy, it forces the cars […]
