Last Day in Dar

Last Day in Dar.

Got up early to go to Western Union to get Mark’s cash. Had to wait in line for two hours, but it was worth it. You have to know the secret question and answer that the sender comes up with if you want to get your dough. I forgot to ask Mark for that when we spoke. I should know better. I’ve done this before. The question? What is Wendy’s last name? Answer? DARLING! Whew. Got the cash.

We paid the woman who makes the food and the driver for the students. Andy, James, and Gabriel helped the kids finish up with music, transitions, and keyframing. I went back to the hotel to check out of four rooms with my non-functioning credit card. I just held my breath. It took the woman at the front desk 90 minutes to check us out of our rooms (the calculator was her nemesis, so she had to triple-check every time she punched in one digit, when you’re dealing with numbers like 1,205,175 shillings, you can just imagine how hard I bit my tongue.

Then, I headed over to Barclay’s bank to get my ATM card back. I just had to give it one more try. I met Mr. Martin. He said he couldn’t help me because there are procedures. As I sat there for another 90-minute visit, he would come in and out of the room, apparently helping others in the bank follow the requisite procedures. Finally, I said, “Look. Mr. Martin. If I managed a bank in America and you came in telling me that you couldn’t do programs for underserved kids unless you got your ATM card back, I would give it to you.” Dang if that didn’t work! The man simply opened a drawer, unzipped a deposit bag, and handed me my card. It had been sitting in his desk drawer the entire time. More tongue biting.

Finally, I checked Andy and myself in to our flight out of Dar the next day. You have to do this in Africa or you probably won’t get a seat. That only took 45-minutes, but I was so happy to have my ATM card back that I didn’t care. And, both the credit card and ATM card were functioning again.

I went back to JGI and we all helped the kids complete their films (they needed VERY little help from us). I went to my tiny market/shack and bought the four remaining double-A batteries so that we would have juice for a couple of Flip cameras…just in case.

Gabriel finished up interviewing Felix, Erasto (Erasto is the one dancing in a crouch on the Shutterfly album today), and some of the students.

At 5:00, we opened Andy’s computer and called/Skyped Paul Wolf’s class. Our colleague Julian (you can see him on the computer screen on the Shutterfly photos) had set up the webcam on their end. We told students to come up in small groups and chat with the team in Louisiana. We told our Tanzanian students all about Hurricane Katrina so that they would know what had happened. Our students understand not having homes. Some live at the orphanage we visited the other night. Some live with relatives because their parents are dead. And, let me point out, it is not just poor people dying of AIDS here. Imagine if you went to work next week and found that 20% of your colleagues were dead and 50% had HIV? That is what is happening all over the place here.

I digress. The Internet connection in Dar was splotchy, so it kept timing out. After 10 minutes of only being able to say, “HI THERE! MY NAME IS…” we decided to have the students quickly ask questions back and forth. And, there was a bit of a delay, so we had to remind them to speak, then wait, then listen, then wait, then speak. That said, it was totally amazing and the kids in Tanzania were THRILLED to speak to students in America. We’ve heard that the students in Louisiana were thrilled also. The students in Louisiana asked things like, “Do y’all play American football?” “What do y’all eat over there?” Our Tanzanian students asked, “What foods are you liking to eat?” "What is your PSA subject matter?” We had a bit of a “dialectical” challenge, but they stayed at it for about two hours, calling Skype back every time it dropped off.

The best part of the entire experience was when Saada (the Muslim girl in the photos) told them to say “Mambo.” “Mambo means how are you?!” “Say, Poa!” “Poa means I am fine!” She said it over and over, but their sound was off. Skype has a chatting window, so Saade typed it in so that they could say it. All of a sudden their sound came back on in Plaquemines Parish and we heard a boy saying, “Oh, look what she wrote. When she says 'Mambo' we’re supposed to say 'Poo' back to her.” We all about fell on the floor in Dar. Andy spun around so fast in a fit that he hit his head on the wall.

It went great and the kids loved it. We had to learn to be quick, but it worked! And, they got to see films on YouTube. Can’t wait to do the same with Lori and Claire next week.

We had a going-away/certificate party at night. There was an amazing sound system brought in, great “bites” and drinks. We had the kids introduce their PSAs and then we viewed them with many parents and local dignitaries in attendance. The films are phenomenal and the students all received loud clapping and cheering from the crowd. I spoke about our work and how wonderful the kids were, then Andy and I worked with JGI people to hand out the very important certificates! Everyone was so thankful. They had spent six months trying to get just one laptop, so to have us leave 15 (five in Kigoma, and 10 in Dar) was unbelievable to them. They have 5,000 Roots & Shoots members who will now be able to come in with one of our students from last week and learn how to make movies. One parent spoke in front of the group last night and said that this week was beyond his imagination and that we had just provided his son with the single most important experience of his young life. He couldn’t wrap his head around why would do such amazing things for the kids of Africa, but just about got teary when he described the impact of our visit. Then, we danced our booties off for a couple of hours to some great Bongo Flavor music. It was a great way to leave Dar.

We said goodbye to Jaime and Gabriel at the hotel around 11:00pm. Andy and I had to get up at 2:00am to pack, shower, and grab a cab to the airport at 3:00am. I am now sitting in the lounge at Nairobi Intl. Airport having coffee and rubbery banana bread with rancid butter. We leave for Accra in two hours.

As always, more later…E