I promise I have a very good reason for going a whole month without updating this. And basically that reason is that all the time I've spent in town anywhere near an internet cafe has been time spent working.
Being a coordinator with SIC is really seeing the whole volunteer program from a new perspective. It's been really good for me, being able to lead the orientation I sat through last year, see how more things work from within SIC, and help the volunteers coming to Tanzania for the first time get adjusted and used to their jobs as volunteers.
We spent 10 days doing our orientation at Sokoine Agricultural University, just outside of Arusha. It was really beautiful, with different trees and flowers growing everywhere, and kind of felt like summer camp for volunteers and teaching partners. We have an awesome group, by the way, of 10 American volunteers, 8 Tanzanian teaching partners, and then me and my fellow coordinators Adam and Uswege. Leading us all is Steena, who was my coordinator last year and has continued to move up through SIC.
After orientation we moved to Kisongo ward, about an hour outside of Arusha. The biggest village, where we also have our field office (my home), is called Engorora, and we have three other villages in the area. It's an area where people mostly come from the Maasai tribe, so on top of my Swahili I get to learn some of the Maasai language. A quick lesson: "Takwenya" is how you greet older women. Women can also use it to greet men, but it's less common.
I do a lot of walking going around to visit the volunteers in their homestays, and a lot of organizing things for the volunteers. At our first HIV testing day in Kisongo ward we tested about 200 people in a busy market area. There will surely be many more to come.
Next week we'll have a Halloween party, and some of us will go on a safari to the Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire, where I'll get to see a lot of elephants (and lions, and giraffes, and much more). So life is good!
Until next time!
