Day 13 – Wednesday – Sweaty Mess

            I started the day late since I stayed up until about 3:30 trying to take advantage of the power while we still have it. Today was a slow morning and I pretty much just read a newspaper. There is an ad in the paper for an economic forum close by that I am going to try and attend. I also learned that the government of Tanzania has over 50 ministers in the presidential cabinet. How absurd is that?? For a country producing just over .1%, that’s 0.001, of US GDP they have more than three times as many members of the cabinet. I’m sure that’s all kinds of efficient…

            The afternoon was one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve had up until now. We went to an orphanage called Forever Angels. This is a home that takes in orphans from all around Mwanza, mostly infants. They try and place kids into permanent “Forever Families” by age 5 or they are moved to another orphanage that has the facilities for older kids. The med students wanted to go there specifically because we heard a rumor that they just received three sets of newborn triplets! We didn’t get to see the triplets while there but we did get a whole lot of time with all of the other kids.

            The facility at Forever Angels is really nice. All of the rooms are decorated with painted murals with bright colors and familiar characters. They have three different groups of children: 0-6months, 6-12 months, 12-24 months, and up to 5. The adoption laws in Tanzania are pretty stiff. The most desirable way to find a child a home is to find a distant relative that will take them in as their own. Foreign families are not allowed to adopt a Tanzanian baby unless they live in the country for two whole years. So if you were thinking about adopting a baby then you better find a way to do your job remotely or get a job here for a couple of years.

            We got to the orphanage right at snack time and then it was time to play. As soon as the kids lost interest in the food they came to jump on us. Mzungu visitors are pretty common, I think, because the kids immediately wanted us to play with them. They don't get many male visitors at Forever Angels which meant I was going to get a lot of extra attention. Never having a little brother or sister I haven’t had a lot of practice playing with kids but after a while I was probably having as much, if not more fun than they were. All the kids spoke some English and when they didn’t I could get by with my basic Swahili. When in doubt in Tanzania you can always give an enthusiastic nipi tano! Nipi tano literally means “give me five” but practically it translates to “pound it” or “knuckles” and apparently and all the kids know it.

            Although the kids were cute they didn’t have the best bladder control. A couple of the volunteers got peed on and I have no idea if I’m damp because of my sweat or other reasons… I’ll certainly enjoy my shower tonight. One big guy named Abdala was a lot of fun. He was probably the oldest one at the orphanage and a huge help in getting all the kids to play together. Of course you get some kids that cry when they don’t get what they want but that’s when Abdala would get them to join in on whatever the other kids were doing. He also liked my sunglasses.

            After the orphanage we picked up Selle from the airport. He was coming back from Dar where he successfully got permission to come to the United States for 3 months. He tried last year but was denied. He will have to buy another $300 plane ticket to go pick up his visa in late August. He will be in the U.S for Christmas and will spend the day with my dad’s side of the family so I have some incentive to keep practicing my Swahili.

            On the way home you could tell how excited Selle was and we stopped at a store on the way home where he treated us to zumbusas, a meat and vegetable filled pastry, kind of like a samosa. We got home to the fragrant smell of fresh baked cookies. I was shocked to learn that Paula made them with sweet potatoes and pumpkin. I would have never guessed.

            I was finally able to take a shower to wash away the carnage of the afternoon and settled into comfortable clothes to stay up late again to work on the computer.