:: louder than swahili

12 hours in the bush

Too knackered to write anything sensible - but that today's trip went to Kisarawe and beyond; That the long rains were with us most of the day; That the moment I realised I had equipped my car well - brought coffee, knækbrød, a pulling rope, shovel and a huge, sharp and shiny panga - I felt proud (as reflected in this mzungu's face above); And finally that driving with my colleague, Jonas, makes an interesting lesson in participatory forestry management (which was somehow part of the reason we were there).

I still see green leaves coming towards me when I close my eyes. I will sleep like a baby tonight. Push till tomorrow, that I didn't get exactly what I went there for...

With Kikwete Looking over the Shoulder

It is all there what makes up a classic office in a small town in Tanzania. The flag, the laptop, the adapter, the big, heavy calendar, note book, guest book, wall calendars and the inventory inscriptions on the furniture in bold black writing. 

Also, Kikwete, the President is here. Hanging on a nail up under the ceiling. It does make me associate that the man is given a value and a vision to constantly remind us ordinary people that we are subjects, and that we physically have to look up to the chief-in-command.

It would almost be too obvious to write that the man keeps an eye on us, but Tanzania doesn't feel like that. Kikwete has - unlike many other African presidents - also a bit of a too charming Mona Lisa smile - for me to think further along those lines.

The pictures are from Vijana Vision Tanzania's office in Kisarawe, a town about 45 minutes south-west of Dar es Salaam.

Competition: Education in Africa

We know that kids who master the fundamentals of education are more likely to live longer, be healthier and, ultimately, be more prosperous. Starting on March 18, 2009, we hope to find the innovative educators in Africa who are making learning happen.

Submit your entry by the early entry deadline, April 15, 2009, and be eligible to win a cell phone and digital camera! Read more here.

I received the above encouragement for me to promote the initiative on my blog - not an unusual thing. However, this one caught my attention, firstly because Valentino Achak Deng is one of the competition judges. Deng told his story - about fleeing Southern Sudan as a child due to the war - to Dave Eggers, who turned it into the the book 'What is the What?'. A book, I truly wished I had read before I worked in northern Uganda with the Sudanese refugees, because it makes you understand what difference you can make to other people with very little means.

Secondly, because not only do kids who master the fundamentals of education become more likely to take control of their own lives, they are also more likely to put their own children to school, and to set their own agendas for change, not someone else's.

Earth Hour in advance

Hamna umeme. No power. The subject always makes good conversation material in Dar es Salaam.

Especially this month, as it seems the power cuts have increased.

The photo is from last night at my house. Just before the guests got in, the power went out.

Tonight is Earth Hour - a globally advertised initiative, encouraging people to switch off our lights at 8:30pm Today!

We didn't do so last night. Tanesco did it for us, and I can assure you that no matter how much I sympatize with Earth Hour, there is no way I am switching off my lights if the power is on tonight!

Well, who am I to complain about three to four power cuts weekly, for many of the 40 million watanzania Earth Hour is not even an option: To participate in Earth Hour you must have access to power to be able to switch it off.

Vote Earth!

 

THIS SATURDAY 28 MARCH AT 8.30PM YOU CAN VOTE EARTH BY SWITCHING OFF YOUR LIGHTS FOR ONE HOUR - EARTH HOUR.

In a paranoid moment I suspect Tanesco to be behind this initiative...

Karen Mukupa. Denmark's only Afro Queen

Had I been in Copenhagen tonight, I would have gone for this release party.

Mainly because, admittedly, I'd been curious who else would go to an event like this. Because - Karen Mukupa is Danish/Zambian, but grew up in Tanzania (read more about Karen Mukupa here).
 
The Danish magazine GAFFA labels her 'Denmark's only Afro-Queen'.

South Africa: The Slightly Edited Party Slogans (according to Zapiro)

Join Zapiro's cartoon universe on Facebook here. It gets better.

The Oh No Man

Practising a newly bought Manfrotto tripod on my South African friend's 'OH NO MAN' collection in Johannesburg. 

Fantastic tool. How did I do without a tripod before?

The right soundtrack for Lesotho?

Last Thursday I left Johannesburg together with two friends for Clarens in the Free State. The next day we left for a short day trip to Butha-Buthe in Lesotho, went a bit up hill, and back through Caledon Port.

I got dizzy up there in about 3000 meters altitude (photo above). I also felt my fear of heights standing at the view point, looking at how the road had been carved into the mountain slopes. I imagined for a moment that some would do the same to the Kilimanjaro.

Look at it. It is crazy. Built by the South Africans (or whoever they made do it) when they constructed the Katse Dam further inside, which is supplying (parts of) South Africa with water.

What else to say? It doesn't become me well to give space to the classic stereotype, but a high number of children along the road did put out their open hands, saying 'money!'

The traffic police were more discrete. It is, however, the first time I have ever been hiding notes in my bra, in case they really wanted to have a go at searching the car. Exciting somehow to be stuck in a no-man's land mountain nek with creative traffic police.

A great deal of this trip was, however, not spent on these trivial matters, but on more serious ones as on agreeing in between us on a suitable soundtrack, provided by a CD store in Ficksburg: Amongst others Peter Tosh, Cassette, Jesse Clegg, Billy Idol, Cris Cameleon and Crowded House.

The right soundtrack can make stereotypes vanish for as long as it lasts.

South Africa: Clegg and tequila

I am a big, big, big fan of his father, but the son, though on a completely different mission than the father, has actually produced quite an addictive CD, you want to listen to over and over.

I skipped his father's works this time, and last week I bought the son's first CD in Ficksburg, the second busiest and important town in the Eastern Free State region of the Freestate province in South Africa, in order to avoid listening to the Afrikaans radio stations (it got so much more wicked proportionally with the distance from Johannesburg).

While in the Free State, I also learnt that asking the bartender for 'more Johnny Clegg' after a million tequila shots is so not up-to-date-South-African. But, come on, you can only love these two.

Besides, tequila, Clegg and South Africa really go together.

Condoms are not wrong, but right (if you ask me)

The Pope is visiting Africa for his first time. Read more here at BBC Africa. Not surprisingly, he has on this occasion chosen to deliever the message that 'condoms are wrong'. According to the Pope 'abstinence and fidelity, not condoms' are the means to tackle HIV.

He is in fact right about this. Somehow. However, anybody who has been out there and about recently has to agree that this is one of the most stupid and unrealistic standpoints proposed by an authority of this calibre.

Not a new one, unfortunately.

Not to forget the fact that the message is coming from someone with absolutely no experience in the field: Why on earth should I believe in the advice on abstinence and fidelity coming from someone who, at least officially, has absolutely no personal experience with sex, relationships or African reality?

Let the people abstain and practice fidelity if they must, but don't abuse the authority to preach to the rest of us that condoms are wrong!

Back in Bongoland

The good things don't last. My holiday is so over.
I'm back in Dar es Salaam from a trip to South Africa which took me to Johannesburg, Cape Town, Lesotho and the Free State.
Now trying to get back into work mode.
Hur!

Oh, Cape Town.

 

Tuesday I got on a plane with a friend - departing Johannesburg and off to Cape Town - returning again this Friday.

But I already like this place too much. Cape Town has a certain vibe, which I haven't felt anywhere else on this continent. And apparently I missed it.

The air is crisp, the sky is blue and sharp. A lot of urban life, but still this close to nature. The Table Mountain and the Atlantic Ocean. The endless African sky.

Fantastic food, coffee and shops. Great for people watching, too.

Instantly I thought of it a bit like Reykjavik in Iceland, a bit like Lisboa in Portugal.

Strange to be back at the Atlantic Ocean, and still in Africa.

Cricket