Moyo Hill Camp – Day 27 – 3/3/11
Back at camp today we had two Swahili classes in the morning learning about body parts, demonstrative pronouns, and the ceremonies of the maasai culture. Afternoon class was another computer lab for WM. Data analysis is never fun and always puts me in a bad mood. This was no different and it certainly didn’t help when I found out that I had a faulty data set to begin with. We sorted it out and got the in class analyzing done but I was not happy when we were through. I decided to take a walk up to the top of Moyo Hill and I took my ipod. I haven’t listened to music since I left the US. Walking up that hill listening to my favorite playlist quickly got rid of the tension in my shoulders and I was able to smile at the kids that stampeded toward me as I walked past their houses. Getting to the top I switch to classical music, stared out across the valley toward the mountains and the distant Lake Manyara, and just enjoyed the stiff breeze on my face. I recently remarked in an email how easy it is to breathe here. Even with the rise in the human population there is a feeling of space and I’m still a little high on being here. Although I could only spend ten minutes on the hill, it was enough time to forget my irritation with excel and simply take in the beauty of this amazing place.
Later the student leader of the day had each of us sit alone for ten minutes and write ourselves a letter as his reflection for the day. These letters were sealed in envelopes and will be given to us at the end of the trip. Since I had taken my “me-time” earlier in the day I sat by the fire and wrote a letter from the stream of thoughts that passed through my head in those ten minutes or so. Handing in my letter I’m going to finish my Swahili paper and call it a night.
Moyo Hill Camp – Day 28 – 3/4/11
We had an interesting schedule today. Eight to nine am we had Swahili and talked about this/those and how to apply them to the eight noun classes. We also found out we have a quiz tomorrow on everything since our last quiz!!!!!!!!!!! Anyways after Swahili we loaded up with a distinguished lecturer, the district environmental officer.
Our first stop was the secondary school in Kilmatembo. We heard from the teachers, head mistress, and the district officer about the environmental issues and the programs that are in progress especially in the schools. A tour of the tree nursery and kitchen of the school followed the lecture. Before we left we met the first form students (only at this school for a month so far and will remain here for four years total before hopefully continuing on to university). We paired up and each pair (one Kilimatembo student and one SFS student) planted a tree in the area that these students will care for during their entire time at this school.
Back in the cruisers we headed into Karatu. Here we spoke to an NGO (I didn’t catch the name) that makes stoves that run on oil and water and make compression bricks instead of the backed ones that require lots of wood to be burned. Both of these innovations save a tremendous amount of firewood needed and therefore will prevent people from cutting down so many trees. The stove particularly was interesting. It runs off three liters of oil and three liters of water which will provide eight hours of cook time. There is an oven and a flat surface on top to cook on plus it has a container for water to boil at the same time.
Our final stop was a construction site where they are creating the bricks for a hotel that is being built. First they grind soil that is from a specific area with no salt. If the soil has salt in it the compression bricks won’t work apparently. So after grinding the soil into an even size, it is dampened and brought over to the compression machine. Four different compartments make bricks on this machine. The damp soil is poured into molds and a compression like fits into the top of the mold and presses down with about 40 tons of pressure (this from the field manager who didn’t speak a lot of English so the measurement may be inaccurate). The top then lifts off and the floor of the mold rises to present the molded brick. This brick is removed and stacked off to the side where it will bake in the sun for seven days. Once all of the bricks are made only a small amount of adhesive stuff is required to keep these interlocking bricks together for many, many years. By using these bricks the amount of cement needed is only for the foundation and perhaps the steps.
We returned to camp about half an hour late for lunch but the kitchen did not put food out until nearly 1pm. Thankfully we didn’t have Swahili class til 3:30. By 4:40pm I was signing out for another walk up Moyo Hill since I enjoyed it so much yesterday. I found a relatively comfy rock and sat down to enjoy the view for more than ten minutes. Of course there was the expected chorus of “Jambo!” from the kids in the houses below the houses as soon as I appeared on the hill. I waved and hoped that would be the end of it but of course it wasn’t. Soon two girls that had been grazing goats at the very bottom of the hill were sprinting toward me driving the bewildered goats before them. Anna and her younger and much shyer sister sat and laughed at me good naturedly for a while before two other SFS students appeared. I joined them to walk down the hill and back to camp the longer way. Anna, her sister, and what seemed like every other child in the area accompanied us nearly the whole way back to camp. Never entirely comfortable in the spotlight, this constant attention from kids is getting a bit old. I miss being able to walk somewhere without being stared at or accosted to buy things. Then again everyone (and this time its not just us) greets one another when they pass which gives everything a small town feel in a way. Well I have nearly finished all the analysis for this WM project. Cook crew tomorrow morning early
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