The past three days have been full of “Hodi”s and “Karibu”s as Alison and I (please kindly and most graciously excuse Nida’s absence this week as she climbs Kilimanjaro) have been paying many visits to the homes of Zanzibar.
On Friday, Yu-Jin relayed an invitation from Bibi Asma to her home on Sunday; which I was delighted about, especially after recalling my moment of frustration with her several weeks ago. When Sunday afternoon arrived, Yu-Jin, Maddy, Alison, and I walked up one of the main roads (its intersection has a traffic light!) until we reached the towering apartment buildings that lined the area. Bibi Asma, along with her brother Mohammed, welcomed us with a huge meal! Afterward, we all sat and enjoyed various fruits as Mohammed hilariously served them to us one by one. He spoke great English, although sometimes he would wittingly tell us, “I only know one word in English: Yes. Yes yes yes!” The conversation started at organic foods and GMOs, and soon Bibi Asma was telling us of all about her life. She lived in Germany for many years, and while there she hosted a weekly East African radio program about women and children’s issues. She has also lived in Kenya; has worked in graphic design, and wants to continue to do work for women’s issues after she has been with FAWE for nine years (3 years from now). Basically, she is incredible. Yu-Jin verifies this for me regularly over dinner at Lukmaan’s, telling us of the countless projects and ideas that Bibi Asma is juggling. It was wonderful to be able to spend time with her when work was out of the picture, and things were more relaxed.
Visiting Bibi Asma
Monday and Tuesday were completely full days! As I mentioned, we had twelve homes to visit between these 2 days…and by Tuesday evening I was completely drained of mental and physical energy. Some of the girls live close to school, but some live over a 30-minute walk away. Since we scheduled visits back-to-back, we would spend most of our time walking (sometimes dala dala-ing) as we following the girls to their homes, and would spend less than half an hour at each residence. All of the parents (and/or grandparents) were thrilled to have us over! Most of them could not speak any English, but there were a few who we were able to carry on lively conversations with about politics, life in Zanzibar, education, and general info about S4Si and the scholarship. One family served us mashed cassava, which is like a yam-potato, with biscuits and juice; and two families cut down coconuts from their home-shading tree and served them to us as fresh natural cups of delicious refreshment (even though we had told all of them that we would not be visiting long enough to share a meal)! Everyone’s hospitality was overwhelming…which is the Zanzibar way, as I should have remembered. Thankfully, Sophie or Muhaymina (two of the mentors) were able to accompany us to most of these visits; to assist with translation and to offer slight impressions on each girl’s situation.
I must take this opportunity to illuminate upon an issue that I have come across since I have begun the selection process here in Zanzibar. I noticed it a little while reading applications, but it became absolutely clear when we interviewed the applicants. President Karume, apparently, decided to solve the problem that many students have with affording transportation; and mandated a reduced dala dala fee for students (mwanafunzi):
Students: 100 TZS; (other) Passengers: 250 TZS
I’m not sure when this happened, but as result the majority of our nearly sixty interviewees told us that their biggest challenge in life is…transportation. Why? Because now that students pay less than half of the normal dala dala fee, most conductors have decided that they won’t transport them. Not only do dala dalas pass students by as they wait at stops, but they also push and shove the girls away or off the vehicle in opposition! I need not explain what this means for the girls’ promptness and/or attendance to school. This is probably one of the most upsetting, unnecessary student issues that I have heard of since I have been here. Poverty, disease, parental separation or death, political or other forms of corruption: these issues upset me, but they are much more widespread in developing (um, developed!) countries; but this blocking from access to the major form of “affordable” transportation across Zanzibar due to discrimination such as this is infuriating, not to mention heart-breaking. I have spent a lot of time thinking about what, if anything, can be done to alleviate this issue…Alison and I haven’t really come up with anything (neither have the previous years’ delegations, apparently). I hope this gives you a bit more insight into the true life of a student here in Zanzibar.
On a much more joyous note: …well, I will tell you in my post tomorrow!
