Friday, February 26, 2010

Video footage from Bongo Camping

We are together in this

I met Maulid for the first time few weeks ago on the main road between Kibisi and Tukuyu. It was a late afternoon and I was on my way home from the market with my bag full of mangoes and avocados. I was caught up by the beautiful sight of the green mountains, when a guy on a bike suddenly came right at me. He sent me a huge smile and jumped of the bike. I wondered if I had seen this guy before. By this time I had already met so many people and I still couldn’t distinguish all of them. After the usual Tanzanian handshaking and greetings, he introduced himself as Maulid and said: “Dada (sister) Katherine, Bongodox is my dream. It will change people’s way of thinking. We are together in this, the fight against HIV/AIDS”. From that very moment I knew that Bongodox was going to make a difference, a difference which is deeply needed in this area. People feel the consequences of HIV/AIDS everyday; family, friends, colleagues, the disease is everywhere and funerals seem to be part of the daily life. It is the killer that everyone knows, but no one wants to talk about. Fortunately the last couple of weeks have convinced me that there is a will to change this. Maulid is just one out of many, who wants to take action and make a difference.

Bongodox is ready for takeoff

So far my experience with Tanzanian bureaucracy has been a confusing and tiresome affair. But let’s skip the boring part and focus on the main thing – there is light at the end of the tunnel. After several meetings with governmental directors we finally got permission to start our planning and the camera workshops. We still need the official signature, but hopefully that will only be a matter of days. It is a huge step on the way! A chair meeting is scheduled for Saturday and if everything goes our way we will announce the Bongodox group members next week and start our work right away. The video cameras are now fully recharged and Bongodox is ready for takeoff…

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

A short update

P-a-t-i-e-n-c-e… A must in Tanzania. By now we are still waiting for
the green light from the District Coordinator to begin Bongodox. None
the less, I presented the Bongodox idea for the members of Kumbe (the
local NGO at Bongo Camping) this weekend. A moment I had been waiting
for since I arrived. And what a reveal – everyone was happy about the
idea and wanted to take part in the project. Some important questions
came up, such as: “How’s the budget?” and “What do we do, if people in
the villages ask us for medicine for the HIV-infected?” Questions that
we need to find the answers for along the way.

The financial situation is even more important than I thought it would be.
Even though the project group will work as volunteers, there are plenty of
things to be taken care of. Equipment, food, transport… No one here can
afford extra spending, that’s for sure. So we cross our fingers for the fundraising going on in Denmark.

It’s obvious that our project can’t save Africa from HIV/AIDS, but as they say in Tanzania: “Hapa na hapa, hujaza kibaba” (Little strokes fell great oaks). If this can make just a minor change, it’s worth all the blood, sweat and tears.

Monday, February 1, 2010

News from Bongodox and Tanzania


Finally, news from Africa!

One week in Tanzania and still I get amazed, confused and overwhelmed every other minute. My head is exploding with things to be mentioned in this blog, but I’ll try to give you a short impression of my experiences.

I’ve spent my first week around Bongo Camping, trying to get familiar with the people and the area. The campsite was pretty quite when I arrived, but fortunately a couple of guests stopping by this week have brought the place back to life. I already made friends with all the local children; all it took was 10 minutes and a football.

Saturday we had our first meeting about Bongodox and it felt fantastic! All though I only understood half of what was said, I felt the amazing energy and will to do this project. Yesterday we had a meeting with the HIV/AIDS Coordinator in our district and hopefully we’ll soon get permission to start our research about HIV/AIDS in the local villages. I’m full of optimism!

I must admit that it’s big challenge to be a white girl living in Africa. I feel like a total stranger, but at the same time I feel more than welcome in this colourful country. People stare at me or laugh at me as if I was an alien and or joke, and sometimes I wonder what the hell I’m doing here... I’m so fare from everything I know. I’ve shaked hands with hundreds of Tanzanians and one of the first things, my colleague Eddie told me, was: “You are part of our family now”. Overwhelming and definitely not like Denmark!

That became even more evident to me, when one of my colleagues asked me: “Are you a Christian?” No. “Muslim then?” No. “So what do you believe in?” Eehh, nothing, I’m ateist. “Arhhjj… Aaha ha ha ha, but why?!” … And this is just one out of many experiences that illustrate the funny and interesting differences between my life in Denmark and in Tanzania. Another one is my morning run. So fare the most crazy and overwhelming I’ve tried here. I ran through villages and along the mainroad in a beautiful scenery with green hills and women on their way to the market. Everywhere people shouted at me, greeted me and tried to touch me. In their eyes this sight was unbelieveable: a running woman, a “mzungu” (white), and she’s wearing SHORTS… ! I can’t complain, it feels like running for the Olympix and it’s probably the best support I will ever get.

Well, I’m hungry now, so I better end this and drop by the market for some mangoes and pineapple for breakfast...