"Nice and Cool"

This morning when we woke up, Sharon commented that it is so "nice and cool" in our room. I vehemently disagreed, "it's hot and muggy!" I pointed out that May in Boston will often get into the 70's or even 80's during the day, but the mornings are still cool sweatshirt weather. She mused thats why there are places like New England - for people like me who like it brisk in the morning. We then proceeded to look at the temperature - 26 degrees at 8 in the morning. After my convenient cell phone converter told us what temperature that is in farenheit - 79 degrees, she agreed perhaps it wasn't so cool afterall. However, to her credit, this morning was much, much cooler than the middle of the day yesterday waiting for public transit (called taxis) to get to Kampala.

We have been staying at a lovely lodge about halfway between Entebbe - where the airport is, and Kampala - the capital of Uganda. Yesterday, we learned that Jonah and his daughter would be driving into Kampala tonight to stay with us and shop for materials for the trainings before we all head up to Masindi together on Friday. With 5 of us staying instead of 3, we decided that today we will move to a less expensive hostel which is closer to the city. We stopped by Red Chilli yesterday, and it seems like a very different atmosphere - more of a backpacker's hostel with lots of young people moving around and hanging out. We will be headed over there later this morning.

view down the road from our Lodge in Lweza

Our trip is going well so far, and we have enjoyed meeting family friends of the Phelps', but we have also been plagued by airplane troubles and missed connections; all of my flights were delayed, including 3 hours on the tarmac in Rwanda because of a damaged cargo door, but luckily it only thing it affected was the amount of sleep I got. Sharon was unable to make her connecting flight in Brussels, and arrived Wednesday morning instead of Tuesday night, sans luggage (we are hoping it arrives on tonight's flight), and after checking on the flight status, it seems that a long delay caused by bad weather in DC and the volvanic ash cloud will cause Erika to miss her flight as well. We are hoping that means she will only be bumped to the flight that gets in tomorrow morning. Still, it means a long 2.5 days of traveling for her, followed by a 4 hour trip by public transit to Masindi.

Good Morning!

Hello from Entebbe, Uganda! I arrived late last night, after a mostly uneventful, but long flight. I arrived to a warm, rainy night, with the chirping of grasshoppers. As we drove along the shores of Lake Victoria, I was dissapointed it wasn't light out to see the water - although the reflection of lights on the water suggest it hasn't vanished.

My travelling partner unfortunately didn't make her connection in Brussels, but luckily was able to get on a flight that arrived this morning. She hasn't arrived at our lodge yet, so I am enjoying a relaxing morning waiting for her to get here. We will then meet up with a family friend and head into Kampala to do shopping and continue making arrangements for our three-week training.

Let the fun begin!

This will be my last post before I leave for Uganda. Thanks to the wonderful support of friends and family, we have reached our fundraising goal of $13,000. Many thanks to all of you! If you haven't had a chance to donate and still want to contribute, please visit the Compassionate Ministries of Uganda website; http://compassionateministriesuganda.org/WordPress/. Any additional funds raised at this point will be used towards supporting our trainers as they bring what they learn out into their communities over the coming year, or supporting members of a neighboring district who were trained last year in building solar powered stoves to bring that technology to Masindi.

I am really excited about the work we will be doing over the next 4 weeks, but that doesn't keep me from being a nervous wreck. The past couple days have been emotionally challenging for me, as the reality of leaving the country; my family and friends - for virtually the rest of the year - has started to become reality. At the same time, I am excited for a new country, a new scope of work, new friendships (and some old), and getting to share it all with YOU - my loyal reader.

Here is my itinerary for the next month:

May 10 (tomorrow) - 3:15 flight. Boston-NYC-Brussels-Kigali (Rwanda) - Entebbe
May 11 - arrive Entebbe, Uganda 9:40pm
May 12-14 - Kampala, Uganda - purchasing supplies and getting additional pages for my passport
May 14 - Travel to Nyabyeya, Masindi District (by bus)
May 17 - 22 - Training of Trainers; Week 1
May 24 - 29 - Training of Trainers; Week 2
May 31 - June 5 - Training of Trainers; Week 3
June 8 - Travel back to Kampala, 10:50pm flight. Entebbe - Brussels - NYC - Boston
June 9 - Arrive Boston, 3:49pm
June 11 - World Cup begins; South Africa v. Mexico - 10am (EST)
and... Jimmy gets married; 4pm

So here we go again. It should be a fun ride, and I hope to take many pictures and update as often as possible. If you are reading, please leave me comments so I know you've been here.

Song of the day: Take a Minute - K'Naan

Boil Order

If you live anywhere near Boston, you know by now that the tap water in most communities around the city is unsafe to drink. If you don't, I'll catch you up - the pipe that brings water into Boston ruptured yesterday morning, and while back-up water supplies are activated, the water hasn't been treated, which means that drinking it, washing with it, or using it in cooking could expose you to harmful pathogens; such as Giardia and E Coli.

And so, all across Boston (and surrounding areas), people are stocking up on bottle water or boiling their own water. What amazes me is the panic this causes. Perhaps panic is the wrong word, because nobody is running through the streets screaming, but as a society we are clearly unequipped to deal with an interruption in our water supply. Most of us don't have large containers or jerry cans to store boiled water in, nor do we have tubs or buckets to allow us to do our dishes with out using tap water.


It is really easy to forget that having clean, potable water piped straight into our houses is a luxury. In 2005, 3.25 billion people - or about half of the word's population - had water piped into their homes. Many of these people had an inconsistent or unreliable supply of water, and for many, the water that did come through the pipes was not treated. Still, water is a necessity shared by every single one of the more than 6 billion people currently inhabiting the planet; none of us could live with out.

As a student of public health, I probably ought to give advice about how to eliminate the risk of disease when you only have access to untreated water, but instead, I'd like to take the moment to be greatful (Really? you ask) for this interruption in access to something we all take for granted. Water is precious - it is one of the most underappreciated resources given to us by mother nature, and it is important that we protect it. So, if you are one of those lucky people in the world who turns on your tap tonight, and has access to safe water to brush your teeth with, take a moment to consider all the people who don't have the same priviledge - 2 million people in Boston included.

I'm Back!

Did ya miss me?

So here I am, back again, refreshed, excited, and ready to go. I've got new colors, new features, and new adventures! In case you haven't been following along with my internal monologue of plans and such, here is the deal:

I am still a student (although sometimes I pretend I'm way more knowledgeable than that), and am 2/3 the way through with my masters degree in international public health. In order to finish up, I have to do what is called a practicum - or field experience, take a couple more classes, and write a "culminating experience" paper.

Luckily, what my school wants me to do is right in line with what I want me to do, and its really great when that happens! Being obnoxiously overacheiving, I felt that 124 hour requirement for a practicum was pure silliness, and decided that I would look for something a bit longer - like maybe 6 months longer. And so, dear friends and family, I am excited to report that I will be spending June-December of this year working in Lusaka, Zambia with an organization which will remained un-named in the blogosphere, but which I am extremely excited to work with because a)They are are a great organization, b)I believe the work they do is really making a difference in people's lives, and c)I have been very impressed by everyone I have spoken with or met within the organization.

You may now stop and ask yourself, Joni, do you really want to get all your field experience working in an office? I though you were interested in small scale programs as well? And you would be right. So in addition to going to Zambia, I will also be spending the month of May (yes, this May) and a few days of June in Uganda. If you are just catching up on my blog from previous posts, you will remember my friend Erika, who I met in Tanzania, lived in Uganda with her family and visited last spring for the first time since they moved back to the States. so this May, Erika, her mother Sharon, and I will be working with the Ugandan NGO Compassionate Ministries of Uganda (CMU) to host a three week long training-of-trainers in sustainable agriculture and nutrition.

I am nervous, excited, anxious and eagerly awaiting these upcoming projects. There is still plenty to do before I can relax and sit back on the plane, not the least of which includes a 12 page paper on the use of cell phones in tracking falciparum malaria, 2 final exams, packing for 4 seasons (Uganda, Zambia, Winter and Wedding Season), and moving out of my much beloved apartment. However, I have faith that it will all get done, and in 10 days time I will be able to sit back, and look forward to everything which is to come!

Welcome back, and thanks for coming with me on this trip!

On Being Home

So I have been back in the states for exactly 2 weeks now. It has not been nearly as shocking as I expected it to be - things here are pretty much how I remember them. I find myself missing friends and loved ones in Tanzania, and things like the gorgeous moutainous background, the seemingly perfect weather (I'm not a fan of this 94 and humid thing), and the night skies filled with uncountable stars that when the moon was full gave off enough light to go outside without any kind of electric light.

There are things about home that are comforting as well. About two weeks before I left Tanzania I made a list of the things I really missed and was looking forward to about being home. There were three things I found the vast majority of my longings revolved around, which were (not necessarily in any particular order), 1. My apartment, and an overall feeling of having control of my life, my schedule and my personal space, 2. My parents house - being able to just drop by whenever I felt like it, and 3. Food. I think that the thing I craved the most often in Tanzania was food, many different kinds of food on many different days. I remember texting hom sometime in May (I think) to ask my mom if craving Strawberry Shortcake was strange. Perhaps whats stranger, is even with all those food cravings, two weeks after arriving home I haven't eaten the vast majority of the foods I found myself craving (including strawberry shortcake), and most often find myself tempted to cook myself dishes I commonly prepared or ate at home in Monduli - hardly a day goes by without me eating kachumbari!

Other than food, the things I missed about being home have been the things I have enjoyed most about being back. I was slightly overwhelmed, but really happy about all the relatives that I got to see (some by dumb luck) in the first week I was home, but the ability to just drop by my parents house for dinner has been priceless. And while I sit here in my apartment with my laptop drinking a cold glass of white wine, I feel really lucky to have a place to live that I love and feel 100% comfortable in.

The good news? Many of the things I missed while I was away are easily remedied. I told Imma when I left that when I come back to Tanzania, he will have to help me find an apartment. I think that I will be a much happier person when I have the ability to just chill out on the weekend in my own space, or if I want to, invite people over to it and throw dinner parties, or buy myself a bottle of wine for the refrigerator. I loved living with Rose and Billy and Dadi, and if I live in Tanzania again, I hope they continue to be parts of my lives, but I am ready to be on my own. The homestays were great, but I no longer feel the need for that aspect of cultural exchange and intimacy. In fact the relationships and friendships I have are more intimate because they are based on mutual friendship and respect, and not just because we live together.

So am I happy to be home? Yes. I am happy to be here, and while there are things that I'm sure I can attribute to "culture shock," I feel for the most part pretty well adjusted. Do I want to go back to Tanzania again? Absolutely. I hope it doesn't take me 41/2 years and getting laid-off from a job this time though. And for the record, when I DO go back to Tanzania, I hope that all of you come and visit me in my beautiful apartment. I promise there will be a bottle of wine in the fridge, and maybe, if you are really lucky, we'll find a way to get some strawberry shortcake too.

Until then, I officially suspend this blog. Thank you all for reading and staying with me all this time. I have pictures to share for those interested in looking, but its certainly not a requirement of friendship. Love to all! Like the baboon says in The Lion King, Asante Sana (squashed banana).

One man's fortune...

My sources back home tell me that Boston missed by one sunny day the distinguishment of having the rainiest June on record. Now that the weather forcast predicts the spell to be lifting, and sunny days ahead - after tomorrow at least, I will take a moment to lament at how appreciative we in Tanzania would be to get that kind of rain.

The rainy season in Tanzania has ended. The long dry season has been heralded in with the coming of winter - July in Tanzania is cold. Well, not by New England standards, but when you are used to 80 degree days, waking up to 55 degrees is downright chilly. Of course it usually warms up by afternoon, or in my world, sometime after 3-4 cups of hot ginger tea have been drunk. While I can't boast of any records being broken, this past rainy season has been dry by anyone's standards. The effects are painfully obvious.

Crops that were planted over the past few months in expectation of the rain that never came are past wilted to in many cases completely ruined. In Monduli, which typically gets more rain because of its altitude, most corn and potato crops have failed and even plants better suited to dry weather such as banana trees have begun to wilt.

the corn field next to my house

When I come down from the mountain, the crop failure is even more obvious, with field after field of yellow half grown corn, and dry grass as far as I can see. There is a human component to this, both in cause and effect. Many of these crops were planted in land that was previously used for grazing short grasses, and the land was in many cases never suited for crop production. The ever growing population of Tanzania has led to both over grazing of these areas and over cultivation, and a resulting desertification which I have previously discussed. Last year, the rains did not fail, and as a result perhaps there was overconfidence in the amount of farming and grazing the land is able to sustain. However, this year is different.

In Northern Tanzania near Lake Natron (where an astute observer may remember I stayed with a Maasai homestay family in 2004), the government has already begun providing food aid because the price of corn (the only ingrediant aside from water in Tanzania's staple food Ugali) has risen so high.

On the Tanzanian border with Kenya, there are reports of Kenyan Maasai herding their cattle accross the border to Tanzania. On the Northern slopes of Kilimanjaro which offer a small respite, there are reports that over 40,000 head of cattle have crossed the border within the past two weeks.

In the Serengeti, home to one of the worlds largest migrations, migration is not occuring because the 1.2 million wildebeast - the grass eating ruminants that form the base of the migrations - are not migrating. Usually they go north to eat off the grasses of the Maasai Mara plains, but with the grasses dry, they are not moving.

Tanzania (and Kenya) face both a short and long term crisis. In the short term, over the next few months there will likely be water shortages, electric shortages (as much of Tanzania's electricity is water powered), rising food prices as crops continue to fail, hunger, and massive herd mortality. In the long term, there are questions of population, land use, conservation, and food security that will need to be addressed.