The Big Difference

Woke up Monday morning barely able to bend over, in such great pain from the sun burn and from being all squashed into a dala dala for an eternity the day before. After a breakfast of, surprise surprise, white bread and peanut butter and plum jam, I headed to the orphanage. Around noon, I went to town with teacher Juliet and the two Israeli girls who are leaving this week. They showed us around and told us which local businesses have been good about donating in the past, and are 'friends' of LOHADA. We went to Afrikafe, a Mzungu heaven, and met with Jennifer who had been a volunteer with LOHADA for two years and just finished her time in February. She explained how important it was for the children of the school to be sponsored and that keeping our current sponsors, as well as finding new ones, should be a focal point of my work while I'm here. After our little meet and greet, I ran into Moses and we went to the used clothes market to buy some cushion covers and then got a quick drink at a local backpackers hostel. I won a game of scrabble after dinner and was more than elated to have a talk with Cheyenne over skype!

Feeling much better Tuesday morning (this morning), I met Mama Wambura and the Israeli girls at the gas station at 830. We went to the bread factory to pick up our weekly donation of seven loaves, and then went to a steel factory to check on the progress of the desks that they were making to donate. We went to town to try and find someone to wire electricity through Camp Joshua, but I really am not encouraging this project. Mama Wambura is not able to finish construction of the buildings themselves due to financial setbacks, but already is wanting more. I can see how she got herself into so much financial difficulties. It's a little frustrating to say the least. Mama left the girls and I downtown and we made our way back to Camp Moses. Cassie and I met just after 2 oclock to head to the bank, but not before being yelled at in Swahili because we couldn't understand that the bottles from our Fantas needed to be left at the store. It is more than frustrating when no one speaks any English and our Swahili is extremely limited. It's little things like this lately that make me want to give up. That make me question whether the way of life here will ever change, and if it really needs to change. They all seem content, but are most definitely no where near the standards of living in Canada. After getting refused for a refund at the bank, where they charged both mine and Cassie's accounts double, I know that it is going to be a good and well deserved nights sleep tonight. Hopefully these stupid Malaria medication dreams stop soon.

Tonight after dinner there were only a few of us left behind and we ended up having a super interesting conversation about African politics. I learned that the president of Zimbabwe has made inflation a daily thing, making one weeks wages worth almost nothing the next week. The bank is now being forced to print billion dollar notes. The only way to avoid the inflation is to exchange the Zimbabwe dollar for American dollars as soon as you receive the money. The banks have caught on to this however, and are charging ridiculous fees to exchange. The government corruption levels in Africa are all in the 'red' zone, and I'm finding this extremely hard to comprehend. We then began to talk about my upcoming trip to Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, and the dangers associated with the crossing of borders. The police are not men who can't be trusted here. Sure, at home they are often seen as men on power trips, but they can always be called and relied upon in case of an emergency. Here, they are looked at as men you will most likely need to be paid off if crossed. I would feel so uncomfortable knowingly living in a place where you can't really trust any one, and have to question everybody's morals. I guess when it's all that you know, you don't know how profoundly different it really should be. Then also comes the question of the church and how the missionaries have played a major role in the conflicts in most of the countries here.

Locals trust us Mzungu's implicitly and it's unfortunate that a lot of them have only been told the way of a Catholic God by men who have not lived their way, who are teaching them things like abstinence and not acknowledging that there are bigger problems that need to be addressed. Sex has become a taboo subject, condoms even more so. If missionaries had told about protection and created an open dialogue around the issues faced here, HIV/AIDS may have not come to be such an issue.. Just some food for thought. More on this to come.

I realize that this may seem somewhat 'angst-y' but I'm using this blog as an outlet for my feelings and frustrations I'm encountering. Africa is beautiful, but life here is by now means picturesque or easy. I am however pleased to know I'm living life here honestly and not pretending issues don't exist. I know that I'm in the culture shock stage of my journey right now, and things are most definitely not easy. Despite this, I'm keeping a positive outlook and know with every obstacle I conquer, it's one less I'll have to encounter later on.

The girls and I are off to have our Tuesday night popcorn and movie, with these wild situations and unanswered questions running through our minds.