Yesterday was a very special experience. I had a few complaints about how long the day was, but in the end I had a great time.
One thing I am grateful for these days is when I can eat breakfast; it’s only been one or two times I’ve had to skip it, but those miserable hours in waiting for lunch have cemented my love for the most important meal of the day. Yesterday I was able to eat breakfast and so my attitude was great!
I got to the office pretty early, around 7:30am, because I hadn’t been able to do any actual work the previous day. I have a long to-do list that I’m falling behind on with all these events, but there’s really nothing much I can do about it. So every minute I can get in at the office I try to be there. I was able to work for about 45 minutes before we had to take off for the field event.
The ride out to the field was very uncomfortable. 13 people packed in a car meant for 7 people. It was hot, sweaty, the road was bumpy, and the driver was going extra slow because of the extra cargo. It took nearly an hour and a half to get out to the event location in this uncomfortable state, and by the time we arrived I was more than ready to get out of the car. Unfortunately there was more sitting and waiting under the hot sun to be had.
We got to the event two hours early. While we were waiting, the dj and mc provided some good vibes and entertainment, getting a bunch of the school kids to dance and compete. It was fun at first, but after an hour of the same songs on repeat blaring at full volume, combined with my developing sunburn, I was a bit fed up.
Finally the guests arrived around noon. The event got going, slowly at first, but really picked up. The event, in short, was a public ceremony of WFG handing over their completed construction projects to the government and communities. The whole goal of WFG is to build sustainable change, so for the past three years they have been teaching involved parties how to maintain, use, and repair the latrine and water point facilities, and now that the project is over and the community is hopefully prepared, WFG can remove the majority of their presence and let the locals take over. A bunch of government leaders came, WFG senior leaders too.
My favorite part of the event was when some of the community members performed a traditional Sukuma dance. The region around Shinyanga where WFG is operating is dominated by the Sumuma tribe. One of their unique traditions is to keep snakes as pets and dance with them. It’s also not uncommon to find people raising or living in tandem with hyenas. It was really really amazing to see this up close, and I was lucky enough to have the videographer take my phone during the performance and get some amazing videos and photos.
After all the excited from the snake had died down, there were a few long speeches, signings, dance performances. The MC seemed to really find me easy to pick on because he kept making me go to dance in front of everyone. It was a little embarrassing and awkward at first, but I was able to embrace it and get into the groove. Finally there was the ribbon cutting ceremony.
After the ceremony we had two final interviews to complete with some RUWASA (rural water and sanitation supply) people. They went smooth except we got kicked out of the hotel where we had started filming it because we didn’t ask for permission or something—and maybe because we yelled at the owners wife (not knowing who she was) when she was walking through the shot. I also got to do some voice acting as an 8 year old Tanzanian boy, translating some portions of a letter he wrote for WFG donors.
I stuck around the hotel for a little bit after we finished the interviews and all the filming for some American company. This was a mistake because in the short 30 minutes I was planning on hanging around, the car to take me home decided to do a full on tune up in the hotel parking lot. The driver started changing the oil, doing some repairs on the undercarriage, and other things I’m not knowledgeable about. So, my 30 minutes turned in to two hours. I left the luxury hotel around 7:30pm with a coworker to go back to my not so luxury hotel.
On the way home we stopped at a local market to try and find a bandana for me. These past days in the field have been beating down on me and sunscreen isn’t something I want to be buying everyday, so I thought a bandana to cover my face and neck would be perfect because I normally wear a long sleeve shirt and pants so I’m covered there. Unfortunately we couldn’t find one and had to give up because it seemed to be closing time.
On the way from the market to my hotel I decided I wanted to visit my favorite mishkaki place. I had got dropped off there, had a quick bite, and hurried on home. By the time I got to sleep it was nearly 9:30pm (much too late for me!) and I was exhausted. I slept fairly well and woke up with a good amount of energy. Today will be the last day of all the festivities and celebrations. I am very excited to rest soon, but these past few days have been really enjoyable and I will miss the excitement.