Saving the world

In my opinion this statement is very exaggerated. On the contrary, I often think about all the negative effects that my stay in Tanzania might have. Every year there are thousands of people coming to this country to help, volunteer and they all have good intension but most of them do little to help. On the German TV there was a documentary that deals with this topic. Often, people only come here for a few months. The people (and children) in the projects have to deal with different people all the time and cannot get used to anybody. Even the matter of money should not be underestimated. With private organisations it costs a lot to volunteer abroad. Although most organisations underline that the money are program costs and that some money is given tot he project this is not true. The projects themselves do not get any money and if they do it is only a fraction of the money involved. If you call volunteer work help you have to help by acting. But is it very wise for example to let a young person who just finished school teach a whole class of children? I believe that this provokes contrary effects even on the economic side. There are a lot of qualified employees. Nevertheless it is cheaper to let a student do the job especially when there is money involved. Where the money comes from does not matter. Sometimes the projects get little money from the organisation but mostly they Theoretically it is no bad thing to donate money but sadly there are always two sides. On the one hand money can support a project enormously. With the money people can buy ne wand better equipment for the project or invest for the future. On the other hand you can never be sure whether the money is used correctly and whether the donation will help on the long-term. I will refer to this topic later. Of course I think a lot about theses issues and I even talk to fellow volunteers about my concerns. I decided for myself that I should be aware of all the positive and negatives effect my work might have and that I might only help myself to gather a lot of experience and to show interest in this country.

After a few days in the Amani Cenre I was already able to get a first impression. After we told our superivsor, Baracka, that nobody knew about us at work he promised us to go to the Immigration Office to register us and to bring us to work personally. So on Wednesday we stayed at the hotel all day to wait for Baracka to tell us about the further plan and whether we were allowed to work in the Amani Centre. As we wanted to leave in the evening to cook dinner with some friends we met Baracka who was sitting at the hotel bar. He told us that everything was fine and that we were allowed to start work the next morning. Yipiie!

As I said we planned to cook dinner with two Norwegian girls, Martha and Anetta and Thomas, a German guy. Martha and Anette work in the Amani Centre, too and Thomas is from Leipzig and he studies at the university here for some time. The three oft hem share a flat together so they also have a kitchen we wanted to occupy that evening. We cooked Spaghetti and some vegetables in tomatoe sauce. Although we did not have the correct spices to call it a Ratatouille it was tasty nevertheless!

The next day I was supposed to go to work fort he first time. After five weeks of unemployment I had trouble to get out of bed early and to attend to a daily routine :D It is far easier just to sit at the pool or at the beach.

No seriously, I was very glad to have a task that was a bit more challenging for my body and brain than just doing nothing. Although I have not been bored yet (except for my time in Wami Mbiki) I wanted to have function. When we went to the Amani Centre the next time we were introduced properly and this time the people welcomed us heartily. Afterwards we joined a group that was going on a homevisit. Children who are not able to come to the Amani Centre or who are monitored in their development are being visited. One thing that shocked me most was how people handle the topic of disabilities. In some areas people ignore the topic completely. It is very tragic when there are children that are being shut away for years in the mostly poor baracks so nobody can see them. Often the father of the disabled child runs away so there is no connection tot hat child or even the mother leaves her family. One child we visited was left behind by both of ist parents but luckily an elderly woman in the neighbourhood takes care oft he child now. I was also told that women who give birth to a disabled child are being despised or sometimesthe children even get murdered. Another point that made me feel angry in a way was that most children are born completely healthy. Mostly an infection with malaria or yellow fever cause an serious illness.

For someone who is used to European standards whereas people go to the doctor regularly and get an injection these problems seem so unreal. The issue could be prevented so easily. Also the matter is handled differently by the society. In Germany we even have different pavement slabs for blind people.

Although I got to know all these serious things there are also nice ones I noticed. The Amani Centre tries to do educational work and to support the families as far as they can. We often buy sugar or flour before visiting the families to provie basic food. The families I met have been supported for a long period of time and that is why their children have made great progress already. On homevisits we talk a lot with the parents. Even the mothers make suggestions. For example onemother suggested to start a community of mothers with disabled children so they can exchange and support each other and might get more political rights.

The next day I was allowed to help at the Physio. If you think the children all come one by one is mistaken. With a bus for this purpose the children and their mothers are being picked up from homeand brought tot he Amani Centre. Of course there is a lot going on then. Because all the mothers know each other there is a lot of talking, they attend to their children and some tunes blare from a mobile phone. Even the children transform the centre to a madhouse. They are of every possible age and every one oft hem demands your attention. I helped some kids to train how to walk. One girl only needed little support and another toddler boy had tob e put in a walking frame tot rain the muscles and skeleton to stand upright. Unfortunately, there were more troubles to come. One oft he workersin the Amani Centre was told that the Immigration Police might come next week to check for illegals. Great, especially because I do not have a working visa. Although our organisation only told us to get a tourist visa there has been problems with former volunteers already who had to pay a lot for an other visa. Of course I was immeditaley worried. I did not want to be expelled! After we talked to Baracke who told us he already organised everything there was nothing left for us to do. The only thing we could do was trust him.

Although I am normally not the person who loves children no matter what I discovered that it is quite easy to open up to the kids. Most of them are happy to attrac your attention or to be reassured to do an exercise they do not like or simply sing a song. Nevertheless I was completely exhausted as I went tot he Morogoro Hotel to relax at the pool afterwards. So many children can be very tiring…