The Holidays have come and gone, and I don't seem to be any wiser about the human condition. Even now I wonder at how I am able to spend 2000 shillings on using the internet when I could buy lunch for the poor Tanzanian down the street. I guess constantly going through these feelings at least means that I am questioning. I share food when I'm asked for it anyway. This is not a defensive statement, but I've been reading "Mountains Beyond Mountains" the story of Paul Farmer and it's hard not to feel like a shmuck.
Cooking a turkey for 45 orphans at the Iwambi center for Olive Branch for Children was a fun adventure. I was happily roped into it by Deborah, the founder and executive of the NGO. She turns out to be a wonderful neighbor only an hour and a half away from my site.
A little more than two weeks ago I escorted a guard at the school to the hospital. It seemed that he had elephantitis of his right leg, but I wanted to get x-rays to make sure that it wasn't actually an infection that had entered the bone. They only cost 2000 shillings (see what I mean). Luckily we didn't see any weakening of Elias's shin and he had already gone through the anti-trichonosis regimen (which only somewhat helps). In any event I saw the hospital and found out that there would be a doctor from Finland visiting to speak about UKIMWI (HIV/AIDS). A couple of days later I met in the conference room with hospital staff and the good doctor--who's name I have shamelessly forgotten and will fill in later. I made some excellent contacts in the hospital and among members of the Lutherin Church who are doing work to mitigate the impact of UKIMWI in my district. I look forward to future collaborations with some of my students and community leaders/activists.
I'm also exploring the idea of a media literacy project in Tanzania. After a comment made by a gentleman in his fifties about his children incessantly watching television and the people of Tanzania having only recently been exposed to many images of westernized media, I realized that this could potentially be having a serious effect on peoples' behavior. It'd be interesting to put together a survey to see how many of my students watch television on a regular basis and what they consider to be true to reality in the programming. All this is in it's infancy stages (ie knocking around in my brain) but I end up attempting to put together something of a media production corps in order give young girls the knowledge and power to produce their own mass media messages. We'll see where this goes.
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Peace Corps service in Tanzania
Sky Lovers
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2 comments:
Thanks for the update Sky. No doubt there is a conundrum when dealing with media and literacy. Media can be so powerful and yet so ignorant as we are finding in the States. It's important to be able to sift through the propaganda and know that what is being presented is truthful and educational. We must be careful not to confuse entertainment with education. I am so proud of you.
Thank you for spending the shillings, Sky. I like to know what you're up to. It isn't easy to make sense of the vast differences in resources people have in this world, and it's probably not helpful to try. Consider that among the world's many billions of people, you are among the least schmuck-like. We can all do more to make a difference, but dude, you're in Africa cooking turkeys for orphans and teaching young women PHYSICS. I love that you are constantly thinking about what more you can do, but let's also have a reality check on the incredible contribution you are in the world.
I think it'd be relatively easy to get more money flowing to that part of the world, if that's what's needed. Get your girls to make media (photography comes to mind) and then get them to sell it to westerners. I bet we could get a great exchange going.
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