Bottle Drive Update

A quick update: As of March 31, 2010 I have redeemed 18,000 returnable cans! Thank you to everyone for their support!

The Road Has Been Paved & I've Been Poked

The tickets were finally purchased this week by the group travel agent. Ashely (one of our group leaders) sent us the message on Monday. What a great day Monday became! Seven months ago I became aware of this opportunity at a Champlain College student club fair. For seven months, I have been dreaming and for the next two months I will be in overdrive trying to understand, predict, become more culturally literate and envision the experience I will have.

Let's have some fun, do you think can guess my itinerary?

Below are images of the locations in which I will be stopping in order to get to my final destination.

I'll be driving to this location _________________.



Then flying to ___________.



Departing and flying to ______________.



Making a quick connection to catch a flight to _______________.



And finally, trying to contain my excitement on the last leg of my journey to __________________.




I will be flying from Boston to Washington DC to Rome, Italy to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and then finally to Dar es Salaam!

How well did you do?

The road has been paved. The tickets have been bought. This is real. So what was my next step?

The international travel clinic at Fletcher Allen. Today I had the joy of becoming someone's personal voodoo doll. $400 later, I was able to go off on my merry way with three bandages and a few written prescriptions to be filled right before my departure.

Today I received the Yellow Fever vaccination, a Polio booster and a delightful typhoid immunization. I also will be taking Mefloquine malaria pills before, during and after my time in Tanzania and if needed I am prepared with Ciprofloxacin (let us leave it at...you don't want to know what they are for...).

Let the time drift on by until May 17th. On the 18th when I arrive, let time stop...or at least continue in slow motion....until I eventually arrive back in Boston on the 8th of June.


Stay tuned for a few documentary recommendations soon!

The United States Relationship with Tanzania

At our weekly meetings in the Center for Service & Civic Engagement office at Champlain College we brainstorm and report about fundraising, talk about Tanzanian culture, learn Swahili phrases and hear from individual members about a topic of their choosing relating to Tanzania.

Tomorrow is my day to report on the United States relationship with Tanzania. Through online research I read an article by Tony Waters the Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Sociology at California State University. His article American Relations with Tanzania was composed through outside research and also with insights of his involvement with Tanzania as a Fullbright Scholar at the University of Dar Es Salaam and also through work he has done in country.

Here is a link to his article:
http://www.africa.ufl.edu/asq/v8/v8i3a3.htm

Here are some important bullet points from his article;

• US and Tanzania have had good relations historically
• Our relation tightened with Tanzania after the 1998 bombing of the US Embassy in Dar Es Salaam
• With the election of President Kikwete Tanzanian relations with the US improved
• President Kikwete was the first African president to meet with President Obama



• The United States supports programs in peace and security, democracy, health, education, economic growth and natural resource management
• There are approximately 147 Peace Corps volunteers currently stationed in Tanzania
• US assistance is often considered as ‘funding’
• Current US involvement/funding in Tanzania are in these major projects;
President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief
President’s Malaria Initiative
Millennium Challenge Account
• Since Tanzania isn’t able to offer the United States much economically, the United States funds programs more favorably in other countries
• “Official American today often treats Tanzania as a mildly annoying child”
• The programs which Tanzania is receiving aid from are ‘grab bag programs’
• One ‘grab bag program’ is the Millennium Challenge program which was signed by President Kikwete and also former President Georege W. Bush as a bilateral development fund and went into force in 2008. This five-year grant program of $698 million currently goes towards reducing poverty, stimulating the economy and increasing household income through projects in transportation, energy and water. For more information a fact sheet is available at
http://www.mcc.gov/mcc/countries/tanzania/index.shtml

While it is clear that the United States does not pay as much attention to Tanzania as other countries in the world, the government is still assisting the country. The question becomes, how much aid can and should we provide Tanzania? Is it our responsibility to assist nations that are less developed than our own? How do we best help the people and the government of Tanzania develop? The answers to these questions are often hotly contested from numerous standpoints. That is why in my opinion work through the Peach Corps and also individual volunteers like myself enable work to get done directly. Volunteers who see a void and try to fill that void create change.

Time Difference

Time differs all around the world. Common knowledge of the standard time zones is important. However, cultural time differences that are not published may be even more important. For instance, the time difference between the local time in Vermont and Tanzania is eight hours (TZ 8+). This is knowledge in which anyone could find online or by asking a travel agent. But, what is not published is ever so crucial.

Swahili Time versus Mzungu Time.

To start, mzungu means white traveler or white man in Swahili.

When making an appointment with a Tanzanian it is important to ask if the schedualed time is in 'Swahili Time' or 'Mzungu Time'.

The difference is significant.

A six hour difference.

If a Tanzanian casually says that he'll meet you at 3...what he really means is that he will show up at 9.

When traveling in different parts of our own country and abroad, clarification can save you a lot of hassle!

Let's hope I remember to ask, "Mzungu time or Swahili time?"

"Good" Service

At our group meeting last week, we were asked to read three articles that discussed what is 'good service' and why is it important to talk about service.

This conversation rarely happens. As a volunteer who has had many different roles and served at many diverse organizations-I thought I was doing 'good' for others. But as I read these articles, I had to reflect...what I was doing, was it benefiting the people/animals/area in which I was helping...or did the service that was preformed help myself more so than the targeted audience?

The definition of 'good service' is a very tough concept. One thing that I agree with is that it is important to limit stereotypes and try to overcome power differences when volunteering.

Here are some quotes I feel strongly about in regards to community service.

"Foster education as the practice of freedom rather than reinforced domination" (Tasha Souza; Creating Social Justice in the Classroom)

"This world is small, so your ills are my ills; your goods are my goods" (Adam Davis)

"To talk of service, to really look at it, would require us to look closely at inequality. This is a difficult and an uncomfortable place to look." (Adam Davis)

"Ill-conceived or unwanted or badly executed or questionably motivated service-might not be good. Some--and perhaps all--service activities might be both good and bad." (Adam Davis)

"...we're not improving those we serve; we're only improving the conditions in which they find themselves." (Adam Davis)

"We should move towards equality." (Adam Davis)

"...inequality is present and in many ways desired and that this accounts in large part for the fact that service is not simple." (Adam Davis)


With these ideas in mind, I will continue to think about my service and the service that I will be preforming. This conversation will play on. I hope that you take a moment to think about what motivates you to take part in community service, is the service that you preform 'good', does 'good' service matter in your life and what actions or thoughts we can possess to help 'move towards equality'.

Until next time...

Locations-IMUMA

Here is the website to one of the locations that our group will be working at while in Tanzania.

http://friendsofimuma.bbnow.org

"The name IMUMA is an abbreviation of Imani (Faith), Upendo (Love) and Matumaini (Hope)" -Friends of IMUMA



Faith, love and hope are essential to life. All people do not need to have faith in the same God, person, creature, religion or object. But having faith,sharing and feeling love and believing in the power of hope--keep many people driven for a better tomorrow.

On a personal note, when I was in Lublin, Poland as a Rotary Exchange Student in 2006-2007 my host mother Halina used to say, "Jutro bede dobrze" in Polish. Tomorrow will be good.

Jutro bede dobrze with faith, love and hope in our lives.

Community

Definition of community :

* a group of people living in a particular local area

What is a community? One definition stated that a community was, "a group of people living in a particular local area". A community is so much more than those ten words. Communities are found in all the corners of the world. Communities as defined in our definition come together to help one another. Community members care not only for themselves but for the good of others.

A community can be as small or as large as one imagines.

In Vermont, we have neighbors who live on our street, a town in which we call home and a county in which we reside. All can be considered communities. Within Addison County there are many organizations that support the members within our community. I am interested in discovering if these 'community support systems' are also present in Bagamoyo, Tanzania and to what extent they are accessible to the public.

I am experiencing how important and emotionally rewarding being a member of a community truly is.

Just after Christmas I decided I would conduct a bottle dive on my road. I hoped I would collect $10 worth of bottles. I thought that I was aiming high, that people wouldn't be responsive. But boy was I wrong. My neighbors and community have been very generous. I received over 900 refundable bottles within a week. I honestly prefer requesting bottle donations than monetary donations. I know that many people are facing financial difficulties and are approached for numerous fund raising efforts throughout the year. I have become aware that, a donation of 5 cent in the form of bottles, adds up considerably.

Raising $2,500 may take longer by conducting bottle drives, but it sure is more rewarding and inspiring to know that so many people support you and your personal goals.

In conclusion to this post, I want to thank everyone who has helped me raise funds this far!