10 Things I Miss About Qash

So here goes with what I was going to write last time:

Spending six weeks in Qash village was one of the most rewarding things I have ever done, and I am so glad that I got to do it. I could say 100 things I will miss, but I'll try and keep the list down to 10. In no particular order:

1. My homestay family. By the end of our time in the village we spoke enough Swahili to carry on a somewhat reasonable conversation with our family, which was awesome, because I learned things about them in the last couple weeks that probably would have been cleared up on the first day if we had spoken the same language. Like one of the girls living there was actually their cousin, and they had another daughter who came home from boarding school in our second-to-last week there. They were truly sad to say goodbye. I'm especially grateful for everything they did for us. I thought it would be a lot of work living without electricity or running water, but when our mama or dadas always boiled water for tea and baths, made our food, washed our clothes, and even brought us kerosene lamps at night, I realized I was actually a little spoiled.

2. Joseph and Gerald's homestay family. Because we lived pretty far from our schools and the boys lived pretty close, we ended up spending most of our lunches and planning time at their house. We probably got to know their family as well as our own since we always had translators available. Mama and Baba Bakali and their kids Bakali (in his early teens), Nju (probably around 10), and Hussein (2) became friends of ours. Mama Bakali bakes and sells these donut-like things called mendazi, which we grew to appreciate very much. She also likes to test our Swahili by asking us questions and seeing if we could respond, which I actually found really helpful most of the time (other times it was frustrating).

3. Our pool tables. Because young men are one of our target at-risk groups, we tried to find the best ways to reach out to them whenver we could. In a village with no electricity, young men tend to play the most pool. This was also an excuse to start a Team Qash pool tournament. When I got to Qash I was a terrible pool player, and I can't say that has really changed (I lost the tournament). But I did have a lot of fun in the process. There were two pool tables in our village, and we definitely preferred one but did a lot of on-the-fly teachings at both.

4. Chulo, Rama, and the guys at the pool tables. Chulo ran the duca where our favorite pool table sat outside. I think I mentioned in an earlier post that Chulo and I would give each other lessons in Swahili and English, respectively, as we hung out at the duca. I think I should clarify that these were not so much "lessons" as they were times when we sat around and pointed to things and tried to say them in both languages. I didn't really get to say goodbye because apparently he was sick the last week, so I'm sad about that. Rama was just always around Chulo's. Rama has been through enough school where he speaks a dangerous amount of English. He liked to ask us questions in English, and it would be hard to know if he understood the answer, because no matter what he would nod. During our Community Day football tournament he walked around with me all morning convincing people to get tested, which made for some interesting Swanglish speaking. We like to joke around and say "Tuko pamoja kama samaki na maji" ("we are together like fish and water"), and when I said goodbye to him he told me he meant that from his heart. It was sweet. He also made me promise that I would tell my friends in America about him.

5. Kamjingijingi. This is the traditional African dance group that I sort of joined. We went and did some teachings with them early on in our time there, and got them to come to perform at our first testing day. These mamas are great - welcoming, funny, and talented. On that first testing day I joined their line for a little while and learned some moves. Since they said I cheza vizuri sana (dance very well), they actually brought me a uniform to dance with them on Community Day, which I did for hours in the blazing heat, and it was awesome. Then on our last day we came back to do one last teaching with them and they gave me the uniform as a gift. I told them I would tell everyone in America about them too.

6. Our Peer Educator group. When we got to the secondary school we learned there was already a peer education group in place. For about a week we thought their name was "White Wine", which we thought was a strange name, and learned later that it was actually "Y to Y", short for "Youth to Youth". We had high hopes for the group, and my number one wish for Qash is that the group is sustainable and actually does teachings about HIV after we leave. They helped us plan and advertise our last testing day, which ended up exceeding all expectations. On our last day we had a little ceremony where we gave them certificates and our SIC curriculum and posters, so they have everything they need to keep it going. They will also have the help of our SIC Field Officer, Waziri, who will come to visit them regularly and encourage them to be active.

7. Wilson. I can't talk about the PEs without bringing up Wilson. As their chairman, he is very much the driving force behind the group. He is like 18 going on 30 - he is really smart and ambitious, and has a sort of politician's charisma. We're as likely to find him in the teacher's office as the classroom, because he's always sort of taking charge of something. When we want to meet with Y to Y, Wilson organizes the other students and pulls everything in line. He's really a natural leader, and we like to joke that he's the future president of Tanzania. On an unrelated note, he's in love with me. This may sound like exaggeration, but he's actually said in front of me that he wants to marry me. Also one time when I casually said I liked the papayas from Mama Bakali's tree he went into town and bought me a 10-pound bag of fruits and veggies. Once Mama Bakali asked in front of him if I would marry Wilson if he moved to America. I told Wilson he would have to ask me again after he got to America. I'm not holding my breath since he has 3 and a half years of secondary school left. But he was really sad when we left, and said he's going to try to visit us in a few weeks in Babati.

8. Primary school kids. Teaching primary school every day was absolutely a highlight of the trip. The kids here are very well behaved, even in classrooms with 70 kids, and always excited to play review games. They have these little cheer things here called "pashas", where you rub your hands together and say "pasha pasha pasha - CHOMA", which actually means "heat heat heat - FIRE", and then you do something creative at the end. Joseph, one of my teaching partners, is known as the Pasha Master, because he's really good at coming up with pashas. A crowd favorite is the Coca-Cola pasha: After the "Choma", you open the coke (chhh), drink it (glug glug glug), and relax (aaahhhh). We managed to teach the kids a lot, and they loved us, so it was always fun.

9. Testing days. Having HIV testing in town is the most fun, because you get to walk around with megaphones and try to convince people to come and get tested. People always invite you into their houses to talk, even if they say they don't want to get tested. It's really fun, though, because we arrange little activities and since the bulk of the advertisments are done we get to generally enjoy ourselves. Also the SIC coordinators and leaders usually come hang out and help, and they are awesome too so that's always fun.

10. Greetings as we walk down the street. In all of our villages, as you walk down the street people always want to talk to you. It's not the same as in town where people yell "mzungu!" and leave it there. Instead, kids would yell "mzungu" but follow it up with other greetings: "Karibuni!" or "Shikamoo". Also, I'd say an average of 50 people would talk to us on our 45 minute walk each way every day. When I got back to Arusha, I was surprised people didn't really want to talk as much.

I could say so many more things, but my time is about up and I must finish up.

One last thing - http://sichange.org/2009/11/vp4-update-shikamooni-to-our-families-in-qash/ - Here is my team's entry in the official SIC blog - it looks like it got cut off, but has some good details in it.