The road to Arusha
Posted Monday, December 10, 2007, 2:49 PM by Lonely Planet
Within an hour of leaving Nairobi airport we arrived at the Giraffe Centre in the city's Lang'ata surburb where I had my first ever contact with these amazing animals. Not only contact, but intimate contact; we fed them pellets which we held in our lips and the giraffe grabs the pellet with its incredibly long tongue! 
After spending the night in Kenya we woke up super early for the five hour bus trip to Arusha, in the foothills of Mt. Meru, Tanzania where foodwatershelter's first children's village is being built. The journey though bumpy and hot was spectacular. Seeing Maasai wandering in the bush and witnessing the vast open spaces, it was hard to comprehend having been in Perth only 24 hours earlier.
The last part of the journey to the volunteer house was perhaps the most striking. We're living in the Sinon district just south of Arusha and our ute ride through Unga Limited (the slum named after the adjacent flour mill) was both heart breaking and joyful. The poverty is all too visible, and yet most people seemed excited to see us, welcoming us with waves, smiles and greetings - especially the over excited kids; "Hello Mzungu! How are you!" they shouted as we bumped past in the dust. 
My first bit of actual volunteering work ended up being for a local secondary school who were having some IT problems - I'd come here to do some practical hands on work like brick laying or wood work and here I was two days after arriving helping out a school with their website! It wasn't until day four that I finally got to help the foodwatershelter building foreman Darren with some carpentry on the "Kesho Leo" building site. I think next week (when the blisters on my soft office-worker hands have healed) will see a more productive week for me!
By day he's a Lonely Planet web producer but by night Ben Schwabe is the volunteer IT manager for foodwatershelter, an Australian NGO that builds eco-friendly children's villages with education, social and health facilities in developing countries. For the next six weeks he will be working on the ground as part of the Kesho Crew in Tanzania. Stay tuned for his next update.
Labels: Africa, Sustainable and responsible tourism, Volunteer
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2 Comments:
Have to agree with the poverty aspect, having driven through Arusha on my way to the Serengetti earlier this year.
The one thing that did strike me though was the many mobile phones in use by these people, the Massai Mara. They do embrace technology whole heartedly.
I also did note some 'European' Masai herding goats and cattle. Look forward to your next post.
Yeah the popularity of mobile phones is incredible here - the first thing my partner and I did when we got to Arusha was to pick up a sim card (they cost 30c).
I think it's got to be a good thing for the locals as it means for the first time ever they have access to affordable communications - saving them many wasted long journeys by foot...
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