Good Bye Kibaya

Peter, Debra and Henry

Our primary teachers gave us gifts of Massai clothing 

It’s time to say good-bye to Kibaya and our unforgettable year there.  There is an old Cuso saying that goes, ‘you will learn at least as much as you teach’ and this has certainly been more than true for us.  It will take a while for it all to sink in but already I have started to look back. 

I can still vividly remember that first bus trip to Kibaya.  We’ve had better rides in our night mares.  What should have been a five hour ride turned into ten hours, involving two dala dalas and a broken down bus. We stood up the whole way, except for when we were sitting on a rock at the side of the road.  One of our bags was perched on the lap of a fellow passenger and our computer was stashed between the feet of a passenger twenty feet away.  The bus was so packed that one couldn’t bend over to reach the water bottle on the floor.  It was one of those adventures that are better in the telling.

After banging and shaking down a rutted, dusty dirt track for the last three hours of the trip, we arrived in Kibaya.  We knew it was our destination because there was a mzungu standing by the bus stand.  That mzungu turned out to be our colleague, Tessa Most.  She took us in to her home fed us, gave us the scoop on the local conditions and made us welcome.

Our Primary Teachers

 We have grown to appreciate this dusty little town on the Masai Steppe.  On trips to Dar es Salaam, for meetings or for shopping, we have often commented on how much better we have it than the City Vols. Sure they have access to anchovy pizza with olives, chicken tikka masala with puffy nan bread and everything else under the sun that is western but, after all is said and done, The Real Africa has been our home. We are very proud to be able to say that.

It hasn’t all been a walk in the park.  Like every other volunteer we’ve had our ups and downs.  What we can say though is that the ups have overwhelmingly outweighed the downs.

We have done good work here in Kibaya and we are thankful for that.  We haven’t done it alone and so thanks must go out in so many directions. 

We must first thank Andrea Bacsfalusi, Tara Henderson and Gesa Harmston at Cuso International.  Without their support we wouldn’t have gotten past the Halifax airport.

Kudos go out to Jean van Wetter, the VSO Country Director.  Jean is the-go-to-guy at VSO.  There is no better way to put it.  His support for our work has been unfailing.  Volunteers know that they can always depend on Jean.  His humour, his dedication to development and his solid dependability have seen us through.  His is the toughest of jobs; coordinating volunteers and supervising the VSO staff in Dar must be akin to trying to get cats to walk in a parade.

We would also like to thank Tessa Most.  She has been the best of neighbours and colleagues.  Tessa’s heart is huge.

Lastly, but not least, a big vote of thanks goes out to Mr. Ndee, the director of the CERC, Henry Kimola, our primary champion teacher, Mr. Kitundu, Richard, Happiness and Neema, our secondary champion teachers.  To all of the teachers, our colleagues in Kibaya, we love you all.

  Sixty Primary Teachers who completed our programme enjoyed a graduation lunch 

Turkey Works

It's been a very productive year here in Dusty Kibaya.   We’ve been as busy as a couple of long tailed cats in a room full of rocking chairs teaching English and educational methodology while reading our Kindles and working our way through all seven seasons of The West Wing .  In development speak we have been building sustainable capacity, protecting the planet, activating self-esteem and promoting community fair trade.

After so much hard work Debra deserved to be put on a pedestal

So after all of this toil we had the chance to vacation in Turkey or what Nicholas I, the Tzar of Russia, called The Sick Man of Europe.  Well, this is one recovered Sick Man.  Turkey modernized its economy in the early eighties and again in the nineties and is now open for business.  Like the Chinese and the Indians they have discovered that this capitalism stuff really works.  Tanzania could certainly take a leaf out of the Turkish book.

Peter smoking the nargileh

Turkey of the 2000s is a far cry from the old Hippy-Trail-Turkey of the 1970s when the Magic Bus plied its way from Fat City Hostel in Amsterdam to Istanbul filled with a wild assortment of tie dyed Freaks madly searching for the meaning of life or the next Summer of Love, whichever came first.

Not only is the modern Turkey prosperous but it’s a history buff's version of heaven.

The Aya Sofya

In Istanbul we were arm pit's deep in Byzantine and Ottoman history.  We hit all the highlights.  We shopped in the Grand Bazaar and drank countless glasses of tea while playing backgammon and smoking the nargileh in the cafes of Sultanahmet.  The Aya Sofya is most impressive.  It started life as a church, became a mosque and is now a museum.  How could something built 1,500 years ago be in such good shape?

The Blue Mosque

A ferry boat took us across the Sea of Marmara to Gallipoli, site of the World War I battle.  There, in 1915, the Newfoundland Regiment got it's baptism of fire alongside the Australians and New Zealanders.  It was a horribly flawed attempt to capture the Dardanelles, support Russia via the Black Sea and knock Turkey out of the war.  My great-uncle Frank was part of the Gallipoli campaign.

Intercity buses in Turkey are air-conditioned, safe, clean and efficient.  We rode one of them from Gallipoli to Ephesus.  This site is one of the best-preserved classical cities in the eastern Mediterranean, if not all of Europe.  One day was spent walking around these ruins getting a feel for what life was like in Roman times.

The library at Ephesus

There are thermal baths at the ancient spa town of Pammukale.  We soaked in the waters while sitting on submerged ancient marble columns.  We walked up and down the bleached-white calcite terraces, bathing in the 36 degree waters as we went.  This place is magical.

Taking the Waters

If I keep this up readers will think I am a Turkey tout.  But I have to mention Cappadocia.  Caves, Byzantine churches, underground caverns and the spectacular fairy chimneys abound.  This place looks like the perfect home for Hobbits.

Fairy Chimney at Cappadocia

My advice to young teachers of English is simple. Grab a handful of chalk, get over there, pick up a job and start teaching.  Turkey most certainly works.