Guest blog #2: Grandma (Viv Simkins)

We are having a good time here after some intial tiredness, mostly due to the rather gruelling drive from Dar which seems to go on for ever. We are considering going back on the bus, although folks keep regaling us with tales of bus horror -- crashes, breakdowns etc.

We are settled into a bit of a routine. We wake up in our own house about 7am after a night which may be good or may be interrupted by loud music, the iman blaring, or the cockrels crowing rather too early.

We have breakfast in a little conservatory/lean to in the house, then are picked up by D or L, or today we walked to the other compound through much dusty ground and buildings in various stages of suspended development. There's a 'clothes tree' too, where clothes on hangers are suspended on the branches to attract customers. By that time Joshua and Bethany havre gone to school and the house ladies have arrived to clean the house and make food.

Today we went to Saba Saba market which sells suitcases, clothes and shoes. It's a warren of alleyways that cyclists use as a throughway. After that we went to the ice cream parlour to buy postcards and have ice creams. All the choices are based on Aladdin, eg Jasmine's Jewels made with M&M's.


After lunch we went to Sarah's house (one of the house ladies)and took her share of the clothes we brought with us. The house is swarming with people, it was hard to keep track of who was who. Earlier in the week, Sarah had to go home from work because her niece who was visiting (visits can last months here) couldn't be woken and was cold. We were rather alarmed, but she was taken to hospital and turned out to have low blood pressure. She looks as thin as a rake. Sarah says she always looks like that but you can't help wondering when you know her mother died of Aids. Grandmother has an enormous growth on her neck, which the doctors have said is inoperable because of her age. A teacher came to the house to give extra tuition to four of the boys.

It is now after dinner and the children are in bed after the usual tussles and tantrums. Sometime later we will go 'home' and have a peaceful sit before bed. The MAF houses are all similar shape and construction with red cement floors and furniture made in the workshop here. At first I thought it was all rather basic, but now I like it and see that it is appropriate to have houses that are no more 'luxurious' than necessary. Inside running water and flush toilets are a luxury unimaginable to most Tanzanians.