World Aids Day Dec1st----Get tested!

Hello Folks!

I know that you are busy at work making things A-Ok in the US of A. I wanted to present you with a project that would be beneficial to you personally and your daily business. World Aids day is Dec 1st of every year. I hosted a Remembrance and Celebration in my village of Mwakaganga, Tanzania (pics coming soon). The PLWHA group (People Living with HIV/Aids) helped me every step of the way. Their goals are to educate the community about transmission of the disease, prevention of the disease, to fight stigma, and promote a healthy lifestyle for those living with the disease. During the festival on this past Saturday they danced, sung songs, performed skits, and talked about their individual stories. They didnt ask for anything in return as with the other groups who performed including the school children :-) They are in the process of starting a chicken farm to raise money for t-shirts and other materials that would assist them in promoting their goals and objectives throughout the community. Unlike the other groups who wore t-shirts with their group's logos, and mission statements, the PLWHA group wore plain white t-shirts because everyone has at least one in their closet, I actually loaned out my only white tee. To spice it up a bit I made each of them a red Aids awareness ribbon and pinned them on their shirts, they were so happy and grateful for this little red ribbon, it was amazing. I would like to help the PLWHA group get t-shirts that would make them feel proud about their mission and uplift them in their work within the community. If we come together I think it could be possible. If one person agrees to pay for the t-shirts (30),another pays for the actual printing (I would like to present this to Malcolm at Absolute Graphics to see if maybe he would be interested in doing this at a discounted rate or even for free), and another pay for the shipping this could work. I am in the process of planning a trip home between feb and march. If this happens I would be able to bring them back with me free of charge and the only costs would be the t-shirts and printing. I have a simple logo and message in mind, of course it would be in Kiswahili. Please give me your thoughts on this idea.....I understand if you are not interested or if you are not financially able tp help right now. I thank you for your time and Remember to get tested, Live happy and healthy knowing your status!

Front of the shirt- red Aids awareness ribbon (med sized in the upper right corner) printed under it Kata ya Ubaruku (ward of Ubaruku, the groups location)
Back of the shirt-(printed in black Kikundi cha Muungano-group of unity) directly under in smaller letters,(Waathirika wa Ukimwi, wanafanya kazi pumoja dhidi Ukimwi-people affected by Aids working together against Aids)

Love from Tanzania,
Shani C.......realizing its really not all about me....hey I'm a late bloomer!

My my my maasai

Good Day People,

I hope you all have been taking care of yourselves. Busy with work and studies, the days have been flying by here. At first they were moving kinda slow and I was missing home a lot, but I am all settled in and living comfortably in my surroundings. One of My Peace Corps goals is to share the culture and experiences of my host country, Tanzania, with Americans. So I will be trying my best to give you a taste of my experiences with the culture here. Yesterday I visited two Maasai villages near the ward of Ubaruku. I honestly cant remember the names of the villages, they were very remote (i couldn't even get a signal on my cell, geesh). Just a little info, the Maasai people are an African ethnic group who live semi-nomadic. They are mostly located in Northern Tanzania and Kenya. There homes are located based on the food found for their cattle and land for farming. I traveled to the Maasai villages with the Nurse Mkuu (head nurse) and Doctor from the hospital that I volunteer at. Once a month they offer a traveling clinic to the Maasai women and children, because their villages are so far from any type of medical facility, most of them do not receive the proper medical attention they need. They were so surprised to meet me, it was hilarious. Just when I think I'm no longer the new kid on the block, I meet someone else who has never seen an African-American and I have to tell the story all over again...."I'm from America, really"..."No, my parents are from America too,really"....."Yes, there are lots more people who look like me in America."...."Well, a loooooong time ago my ancestors lived in Africa and were forced to live in America."...."Nope, I don't know which country." After that they just look at me and want to touch my hair (which i don't like but I'm dealing with) and give me gifts, jewelry that they make and I Love :-) They are very accepting and open, I love their spirit, it's so positive and upbeat. Almost as if they don't have any idea whats going on in the real world. I had a wonderful time with them, they laugh at the way I pronounce some words in Swahili, even though I say it correctly I still have an America accent. Sorta like someone from Down South talking to someone from Up North, you understand what they are saying but it makes you chuckle. Speaking of KiSwahili, let me just give myself a round of applause (patting myself on the back)! I am doing just fine with the language and I am learning more and more everyday. I speak only Swahili when I'm in my village, the only time I really get to speak English is when I visit with another Volunteer or I speak to my friends and family in the US. It's hard to go from English to Swahili so I try to only speak Swahili, even when I text. So don't be surprised if I'm writing you an email and all of a sudden Ninaanza kuandika Swahili. Pole!

Love From Tanzania,

Shani K. Cephas

Mzungu?

Hello family and friends,

Thanks for reading my blog again, I enjoy writing and telling you about my time here. As usual I hope you all have been working hard and studying hard. I heard the economy is going back up so "woo hoo" to that. I don't get a lot of in depth news about the US so I have to rely on what I hear on the the Tanzanian news channels. The other day I experienced something that kinda shocked me but I guess I could have seen it coming at some point and time. An older gentlemen called me an "Mzungu". I looked around wondering if there was someone else standing near me, he obviously wasn't talking to me.

Side note: According to Wikipedia, Muzungu is a word that has become to mean "white person" in many Bantu languages of east, central and southern Africa. There are a number of variations depending on the location. Any light-skinned non-asiatic person could be addressed as Mzungu/Muzungu in the region.

Now that you have the definition are you as surprised as I was? How can I be mistaken for a white person? I like to think I'm a nice mixture of Caramel and dark chocolate :-) I can honestly say in all my years of being on this earth I have never been mistaken for a white person....LOL. During training, my fellow trainees were taught how to dodge being called an Mzungu and deflect the attention away from their skin color. I didn't pay attention to that part of training, I was probably getting coffee or something. I was prepared to text Jenna, Jayce or Adrienne, other volunteers, because I had no idea how to respond. I proceeded to tell him my name in hopes that he would understand not to call me that again. OK, the conversation went on and he referred to me as an Mzungu again. I again reminded him what my name was, and he said "I know, your name is Shani". I asked why he kept referring to me as an Mzungu? I am the same color as he, my hair is almost as kinky as his, and we have some of the same features. His response was that although i was correct about my features and skin color, I still come from America. I couldn't argue with that. He said unfortunately we don't have a name for an African-American because we don't see many of them, so I would have to settle for being called Mzungu. WTH....I said it's very offensive to me and to White Americans, I cant believe I found myself defending white Americans but hey. I guess no matter how much I think I am integrated I am still seen as an American, whether I am dark in skin color or not I come from America. I speak English, I have opportunities that most Africans will never have and I can leave at any time and return home to a nice comfy couch. I thank God for giving me this opportunity and showing me that I am truly blessed, at the end of the day it doesn't feel so bad to be called an Mzungu. I think the moral of this story is if a Black person is ever mistaken for a White person they must be in Africa :-)

Sunshine & Rainbows!


I love you all,

Shani K. Cephas

So What Do You say?

Hey everyone…..

I hope you are all doing well and enjoying the season change. While most of you will be pulling out your long sleeves and down comforters, I will be wiping a little more sweat from my brow and sleeping in less clothing. Well, I thought I would make this entry an interactive one, giving each of you a chance to express yourselves. Below I’ve listed some “situations” that I may have been faced with in the past couple of months. I would like you openly express what you would do in each of these situations. Now, I’m not prepared to tell you upfront what my choices were, you may think differently of me…..LOL. Oh, and be honest, we’re all family here, right?

1. It’s 9pm, pitch black outside, and you only have ½ pail of water left until tomorrow morning when your house girl brings more. You’ve been walking in the heat all day so really want and need to bathe, your cat wont even come close to you because you’re a little ranky. You haven’t eaten all day and have a choice of rice or beans to cook for dinner, both of which require, yup u guessed it, a ½ pail of water. If only you had stopped at the Wal-mart super center on your way home you wouldn’t be in this bind but…you are so what will you do…..?

2. An elder in the neighborhood has invited you over for lunch and you finally accepted, everyone in the village, I mean community, knows that you DON’T EAT MEAT, she even told you what she was cooking the day she invited you, not a fleshy morsel on the menu. So you arrive hungry as hell because you don’t really have any food at your house besides 2 bananas that you are saving for a late night snack and dagaa (dried sardines), which you use as cat food. You wash your hands sit down and the first pot she uncovers is kiti moto, also known as fried pork. O.k. you’re not the only one eating so you just pass the pan to the right. The next pot smells great and looks like, oh beef and veggies, you pass that one along too. The last pot you cant wait to get to because everyone else is already digging in and so you uncover it and what do we have here….Da-freakin-gaa, the cat food! Prepared with lots of oil, tomatoes and onions, no rice, not even ugali (grits). So what do you do……?
Side note-(Depending on what you chose to do with your ½ pail of water the night before you may be very hungry)

3. You come into the office one morning, the village office, where all of the major decisions take place in the community. The Village executive officer is listening to a man and a woman who seem to be very upset. You attempt to apply your Swahili and determine what the problem is. The man and woman are married, have 3 kids, wait she has 2 kids, his other wife has a child….ok, the other wife has a farm nearby in the village, he lives between the 2 homes which is not uncommon in TZ culture. The man is cool, calm and collect. However, this lady is really upset and wants to leave her husband, which doesn’t normally happen in Tanzanian culture. The first wife is upset because her husband is helping the second wife in the rice fields more than he is helping her. He spent 4 hours with the other wife on the farm and only spent 1 hour last week helping her. She says that all of the other women in the village are talking about their situation and she is embarrassed and wants it to stop. Their last resort is to come to the village office and have this situation squared away. Did I mention it was 8am and you thought you were coming to the village office to do serious Peace Corps work. After almost an hour of non-stop bickering about how many more bags of rice the 2nd wife harvested than the 1st wife because the husband helps more days and hours a week, everyone in the office turns their attention to the smart, fair, diverse American….oh wait that’s me. The Village Executive officer does not know how to handle this situation and suggests that their Peace Corps Volunteer step in and solve the problem. So you say……

Ok so I cant wait to see how you handle these situations….

Word of the day:
Swahili=nyama
English=meat

Love,
Shani C.

Today at the office……

Hello folks,
I’m just reporting on my first month here in my village. So far so good, I’m not having any trouble keeping busy. I’ve met all of the Officials within the district of Mbarali. I’ve had lunch with the Officials in the Rujewa and Ubaruku wards. While visiting the 4 area schools I’ve met 2 headmasters, 2 principals, between 20-25 teachers who introduced me to over 3,000 very eager students. While during an analysis of my Village I’ve accepted over 20 invitations to breakfast, lunch and or dinner, received 4 marriage proposals, a kitten, and a chicken as housewarming gifts. I gave the chicken away because it didn’t lay eggs. I kept the kitten and named it Killer so that it wont forget what it’s job is. In my spare time I’ve had a lot of cocktails with 5 catholic priests, (2 Italian, 3 Tanzanian) help start a garden, distributed mosquito nets to the women and children, assisted with voter registration, attended 2 weddings, 3 funerals, and gotten kicked out of a nightclub. Needless to say I’m enjoying myself, having a great time and helping out where needed.

I would like to thank you all for your emails, phone calls and packages that you have sent me. It means a lot to me that you would take time out of your daily routine and think of me. It means more to me than you know! Sometimes i just need to talk English and not Swahili..thank you!
Love,

Shani C.

Where am I ?

Its Tuesday....a regular day. I woke up to children playing, the African sun shinning in my window, a nice breeze blowing in across my bed. Yes, this is the life, I roll over and decide to get up around 8:30 and have my warm milk with sugar, yummy. I walk to town and chat with the store owner who has named me her best friend; we laugh and talk swahinglish for a while. I'm back home now, it's around 3pm, I did some work earlier with the Village Executive Officer, had chai in town, and came home for a mid day nap. Nothing out of the ordinary, I drank way too much chai and water so I have to pee like 9 times in an hour. I proceed to walk across my nice private courtyard where my newly built choo is. I switch on the light because it's almost dusk....Ahhh...I’m doing the pee dance because I waited until the last minute, as usual. I proceed to take the lid off the choo, pull up my skirt, squat, and I feel as if someone is looking at my goodies.....on the inside of the choo peeking back at me, wondering why I’m bothering him in his home, is an orange and black snake. Now at this point I have to pee really badly and if you know me, you know I can't hold it. When I have to go, I HAVE to go. Within a time span of oh, about 10 seconds, I look at the snake, he looks back at me, he puts his head back down, I put the lid back on the choo and pee in the middle of my yard...yup! While I was enjoying my fantasy world, brand new house with electricity, computer access, private courtyard, house help...I forgot where the hell I was...AFRICA! This was a definite jerk back to reality. I went to get the maintenance guy, and explain to him how this snake was big, ferocious, and taking over my toilet. He gets the biggest stick he can find and marches over to my choo, he creeps open the door carefully and asks, "nyoka iko wapi?" Where's the snake?...I say lift up the lid and it's in the hole....he looks at me like I’m a 5 year old kid and says "hamna shida" no biggie, everything's cool as long as he doesn’t come out. "COME OUT!", How can I live my life knowing that there is a snake somewhere near where I have to squat and pee.....I mean I got over the squatting and peeing because the choo is really nice, I got over the monkeys in the farm, I got over the lizards that hang onto my window, I even got over the bats, but come on now. Becky can only take but so much!
Well, it's Tuesday night and I’m sitting in my bed typing this blog, and planning a late night squat in my yard in case I have to pee. I've decided to give the snake time to pack up his things and find another place. I mean it was short notice, I can’t' just expect time to find somewhere else to live in a couple hours, times are hard for everyone these days. I figure I will start using my choo again by Friday,

The moral of this story is, never forget where you are and if you do, just pee in the yard.

Love From TZ,

Shani

I Swear.....

Today, August 19th 2009, is Swearing in Day for TZ 2009 PCV's (Peace Corps Volunteers). Since I am writing this entry prior to swearing in I will be sure to give a follow up entry with the details. I want to thank all of you who helped me get through training. Thank you for your late night phone calls, texts, packages, emails, and hand written letters. The last two months have been crazy! I had no idea what training consisted of prior to joining the Peace Corps, which is probably a good thing...LOL. Although I have not seen a mirror in weeks, haven't washed my hair since I’ve been here, often didn’t shower everyday, had diarrhea for a week straight and stopped eating most of the food, I don’t regret a minute of it. I've learned how to communicate properly with Tanzanians and I’ve gained a great deal of respect their culture. There were times when I questioned what I was doing, but I never questioned why I was doing it. Even when you stumble over words in Swahili and sound like a 4 year old child it means so much to an Elderly villager, or an out of school youth that you have attempted to learn their way of life. Training has also taught me that each volunteer has something different to offer. While I may not be the most athletically inclined volunteer, or I may not pick up the language as quick as others, I may not even be able to help a farmer improve his crops. What I can offer is an example of what a young woman can grow up to be. She can be strong willed, educated, pretty, encouraging, supportive, helpful, independent, outgoing and most of all happy. That's my contribution and so far I haven’t had any complaints :-)

This coming Friday we will be disbursing to our new sites. I will be living in a village in the Mbarali district of the Mbeya region. I am about 8 Kilometers from my banking town, which is also where i will be doing most of my shopping. I am about 1 1/2 hours away from Mbeya town which i heard was great. I will be visiting there very soon. My village has about 3,000 people to whom i will be teaching and assisting with various projects. The village has given me a brand new home with 2 bedrooms and a private court yard, separate storage area, and a inside choo. There is an area for me to plant my own garden and grow fresh veggies, yummy! Not exactly the hut I was tricked into thinking i would have :-) Although i have to say it's weird that i had to travel all the way to Africa to get a home of my own built from the ground, they didn’t run my credit, ask about my student loans, and i didn’t even have to give an arm or a leg?.?.? Feel free to send me some pics from the ikea catalog so i can get some furniture built. The carpentry here is excellent, if you give them a picture they can make anything. Beds, dressers, bookshelves, desks, cabinets, anything. Some of the Volunteers have even asked the carpenters to make wooden penis' to use during life skills courses so that there is a model to demonstrate how to properly put on and remove a condom.
Any way, I will be teaching HIV/Aids awareness and life skills to secondary school students while also working at the clinic with patients teaching birth control, HIV/aids awareness, malaria prevention, and helping the clinic with data management. I will be giving special attention to new and expecting mothers, women and young girls. There is a true need for girl power here in TZ. Some upcoming events include conducting a World HIV/Aids day on Dec 1st, Tree Planting projects, and a possible Permaculture garden at the clinic which can help teach good nutrition. I am so excited to actually get started with my villagers and lend a hand where I am needed.

Until later....Shani C.