Heart of Africa

The last week has put me directly into the heart of Africa. Her pains, joys, sorrows, hardships, laughs, wants and gifts.

The first thing that took my breath away was seeing a goat prepared for a meal. Meat for most of the people here is an extreme luxury, and I already take for granted that we are offered it almost every meal. But it had never occurred to me to really ponder what having meat means, and why it is such a luxury. The goat we had was large, and cost 100,000 shillings (about $80), and looked so scared as it was tied up to the tree out back, as though it would run out of its’ white and speckled brown hide at any second. My teacher Yohanna, who is from the Maasai tribe was going to kill it, and so he had several students come and hold the goat down. The goat bleated for help, but there was nothing any one could do now. It felt instinctive to want to run out and stop the knife from coming down on its’ throat, but I knew that if I was to ever eat meat again, I had to watch and let this happen. Besides, this is the most humane way to have meat. The animal lived a long full life in the village and was going to die quickly with almost no pain. Nothing compared to how the packets of meat in the supermarkets at home “magically” appear there for us to enjoy.

Once the goat was dead, it had to be drained and so Yohanna hung it from a tree and began to skillfully peel away it’s hide – even offering us “goat hide” bracelets. He cut open the stomach, and set aside the testicles of the goat for the youngest student to try – as is tradition. The cooks came and gathered the meat and set it on the grills and even some of the meat directly into the fire. At dinner I decided to try it – if I backed away from eating this meat – how could I justify ever meat again? I was also brave enough to try a bite of the liver, which strangely tasted very good. I would encourage you all to consider your meat at your next meal – where it came from, what the cost is, and be thankful for the life of the animal.

On a lighter note, the next day we visited Tarangire, were I got to see lions for the very first time. There was a pride resting  under a baobab tree, and they were too far off to see any real details. Are specific assignment took my group to the edge of the park, where the road we were supposed to be on was no longer a “road”. John – the intern here – decided that we should take the road anyway though. I swear we almost flipped over the tank and a few times I thought I was going to fly out of the top. After one particularly bad ditch that none of us thought we were going to make it out of, we just laughed for a whole 10 minutes at how ridiculous the situation was. Better than any rollercoaster I have ever been on, no doubt. Troubles continued on this particular trip, with one of the rovers breaking down. We therefore got stuck at one of the lodges for a while – which was no complaint as we had access to an amazing swimming pool. I couldn’t have asked for a better day.

 A few days later we got to go to the local secondary school, where we paired off with some of the girls and talked for a while. The girls I was with were incredibly shy but infinitely precious. They said that it takes them an hour to walk to school in the morning, and they feel very fortunate to be able to go to school because many of the kids can’t afford it. I was shocked when I asked them what they wanted to be and they all said doctors – and they meant it. I asked them if any of them had boyfriends and they just laughed at me saying their studies were far too important for boys and that they would get married after school was completely done. They showed us around their school, and yet again it was another five star across the face at how much I take for granted. These classrooms were bare, with no lights, windows or even desks. There were no school supplies to be seen. The room which they did their science experiments had no chemicals, safety equipment, or anything of the sort that I think is necessary. As we were leaving, suddenly my shy friends broke out in a run after me and enveloped me in a hug saying “I love you!” “Please come again!”

As if this wasn’t enough to process in one day, we then headed over to the orphanage in the town nearby. These children are here as a result of their parents dying to HIV/AIDS, but were lucky enough to not contract the disease themselves. As soon as we arrived, children came and jumped into our arms and begged to play with us. We played games and pushed them on their swing and showed them pictures. When they had to go eat, the head showed us to where the children slept. The first room was again very small, but had 2 bunk beds in it. He said that this was the girls dormitory and that 4 girls slept in each bed, so 16 girls total slept here. I couldn’t even fathom how they all must huddle together every night, never knowing a bed for their own.

We painted one of the rooms there, and then continued to play with the children until I thought I couldn’t bare the mixture of sadness and happiness anymore. One boy was wearing a flannel “Shrek” shirt and loved to try on my glasses and climbed onto my back. Some of the older boys looked on with hopelessness in their eyes, as though they fully realized their lot in life, and dared not hope for better.

A few days later many of the students here became incredibly sick. 15 of the 32 students were so sick that they couldn’t leave their beds, and were in danger of severe dehydration. No one knew what was making them so sick, and the camp was so still and silent it seemed as though death itself was lurking outside. Thank God, it seemed to pass within a few days and today everyone is on their feet again. I was lucky enough to not get sick, but I think that was only due to the fact that I was already on antibiotics.

Which reminds me – I visited the clinic in Karatu and I was astonished at how nice it was. Dr. Frank is an America who gave up everything he had to come and start this beautiful clinic here with his wife Susan. It was in a picturesque setting, with flowers and bushes, and clean floors and even Mac computers. This clinic is one of the best in the whole district of Arusha. The nurses were so sweet and spoke perfect English and the whole check up and 3 medications only cost me $15. I am sincerely in awe of what this man has given to the community here. I did not have bronchitis or worms – which was a blessing to hear. The dr. though it was most likely an infection in my lungs that antibiotics and antihistamines would clear up. So far I have been on the mend!

I have come to know a young woman, Anna, here fairly well. She lives with the momma I stayed with down the road. She is the only child in her family who has continued past secondary school to the university in Kenya and she was getting ready to return there for her 2^nd year of school. She said she was so grateful for school, and that now her father is finally proud of her for going, which is a huge deal because many people here do not value women’s education – especially in a very poor family when the women is considered to be needed at home. She was kind enough to talk to me for a few hours about her life here, and explain to me how to cook meat and gather water properly.

I also had the opportunity to talk to many of the other members in the community about their life here and the troubles that weigh on them day to day. Many of the people say that this year it has not rained enough, and since their entire revenue depends on their crops, many of the people are going hungry. The water here is a problem as well as there are very few wells in town, and it is hard to carry all of the water necessary for their families and cattle. Everything I never take a second thought for, the people here must worry about constantly. There are too few teachers for the schools – causing the majority of the community to be illiterate. Many homes do not have enough money to send their children to school. Often there are enough doctors, but not enough money or transportation to go to these clinics. Most of all, it seems as though there is no help from anyone else, and they have the mindset that no matter how large the problems – they are on their own to solve it.

I have been greatly impacted and changed by these events, and I feel Africa is constantly leading me by the hand to show me all the wisdom she contains. I am eager to learn more, but feel a burden as it is hard to understand what I should do with these things I have seen, learned and accomplished. How do I take these experiences and form it into something larger than a feeling? What words can I form which will make people understand what I have been through, and more importantly, what Africa has been through?