Almost nothing went as planned, but that was expected, and in the end it was a success. I had told all of my students, the teachers and my Hamasisho group that we were leaving at 7:00 a.m. for Newala to be there in time for opening ceremonies at 8:30. At about 8:15 our truck finally showed up and we were off. After having to take some back paths because the road is “under construction” (it looks like destruction to me) and overheating once, we got to Newala around 9:00 to find out that none of the district officials were where they were supposed to be and opening ceremonies had been moved to the other side of town. We were told they would all make their way back to the government offices and walk in the parade with us so we waited for them, tried to appease our hungry students, teachers and other community group members, and made several frustrated phone calls until we were told just to start the parade ourselves. So an hour and a half later, and with no official opening, we asked one of our Mama’s groups to lead the way and sing a song to get everyone going. Once we made it to the other side of town where everyone was, we had amassed quite a crowd and were welcomed by the government officials who had started without us. The next three hours were filled with drumming, dancing, singing, skits and speeches all with some sort of HIV/AIDS themed message. Our students and other groups set up their areas to teach their lessons about transmission, how HIV affects the body, nutrition for PLWHA and prevention. I have to say the condom demonstrations that were being done by my Hamasisho group were a big hit especially since we were passing out condoms to the people who came to be taught. We tried to put out Si Mchezo magazines on each of the tables for the students to pass out after they taught their lesson but it was such chaos as soon as anyone saw them that unfortunately we had to just put them away. My Femina kids prepared a song to sing for part of the entertainment but by 2:00 we were all hungry, tired and nowhere near our turn in the schedule so I told them they could all just go and we scratched them from the set. Tanzanian officials love to give speeches, and if you give them the opportunity they will take full advantage of it. The “short speech” by one of the less important officials went on for about 15 minutes. Needless to say, we bolted before the guest of honor gave his.
After a quick power lunch of ugali and beans, Jen and I headed over to set up the community center hall for the Femina Party later that day. On the way we called the Femina representative who we had confirmed the week before was coming down for the event and to present our three Femina clubs with official certificates. We hadn’t heard from him yet that day and wanted to make sure he knew where the party was but he told us, unapologetically, that he didn’t come down to Newala after all, that he was up in Tanga for another World AIDS Day celebration. This was the only part of the day that really upset me. We had promised our kids that someone was coming and that they were being presented with certificates. They had prepared speeches and songs in his honor and had been looking forward to it for over a month, only to be let down. It just made me mad that once again the Deep South was overlooked and neglected in favor of a more fortunate area of the country.
We did, however, have a pretty awesome party that I’m sure partly made up for the earlier disappointment. Our kids still gave their speeches and performed their songs, a guy named Horace, who heads up a youth group in Newala, got the kids going with a good discussion on who/why either boys or girls are a bigger problem in the spread of HIV, and then it was time for the disco! It was a good time. The kids definitely were having fun, and it just made me happy seeing them happy. I hate dancing more than just about anything, but there’s something about watching Tanzanians dance, without a hint of inhibition, that makes me want to try. J
Only after we sent the Mahuta people on their way back, and the rest of the students from Newala had gone home could we finally relax. Jessica, Emily and Stevu were all in for the day so we went straight to the bar and had a much needed drink to unwind. Glad it was over, but more importantly a success, and completely drained we went back to Jen’s, watched a couple episodes of The West Wing someone had recently gotten in a package, and fell asleep.