Saying goodbye...

As my time living and working in Tanzania draws to a close, I have been reflecting on the better part of the past year. These reflections illustrate acutely to me how strange of a thing time is – in one sense it seems as though those first months learning Swahili, becoming familiar with the culture, and settling into a new life were eons ago, as I feel that I have grown a great deal, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, to the point of not fully recognizing the person who came here in September. At the same time, I am in disbelief that my time here has already passed; as it progressed from anticipation, to preparation, to actually happening, the whole experience now, looking back, seems like one big blur. I suppose that is the nature of picking up and dropping yourself in an entirely new situation; they say the three biggest changes in life are a change in job, change in location/home, and change in relationship status. On top of those three add a new climate, culture, language, and social circle and you have a good reason for things to seem somewhat surreal. Time is relative as most of us well know – days can crawl by, while months and years come and go faster than we would like. I think that living in a foreign country just amplifies this phenomenon.

As for what I have learned, I think that most prominently in my mind the fact stands out that we are so privileged to live in Canada (replace Canada with any “Western” style “first-world” democratic country if you like). Not in the sense that I know I am lucky because someone has told me that somewhere else there are people who don’t have what we do, but in the deepest sense, to the point where I am dreadfully aware of the fact that my life could belong to anyone else, and thus I am making a statement by how I live it concerning how our freedom of opportunity should be used. I feel honoured that I have had the opportunity to “give back” to people that are less fortunate than myself, not through any merit of my own but through the generous support of CIDA, Emmanuel International, and those of you who donated privately towards this endeavour. I do truly believe that my work has had an impact on the people here, and that they will come away from the centre better equipped to live healthy lives, and even more importantly, to teach others how they can live healthily. That said, before we came we were told that the experience would impact us on an individual level more than we would impact those around us. I don’t know how anyone could actually measure such a subjective value over such a wide range of situations, but the idiom still rings true. I feel that the experience I have had has impacted my paradigm significantly and in doing so will alter my path for the future.

Anyhow, before I get to wishy-washy (or maybe it’s too late) I would like to tell you about the more practical side of things here. In the coming week I will be teaching lessons about HIV/AIDS; that is, what it is, how its spread, prevention, treatment and living with the disease. There is a great deal of misinformation that goes around here about this disease so it is very important to set things straight and dispel some of the myths. Iringa town, being a hub for transport between Dar es Salaam and the niegboring countries of Malawi and Zambia, has the highest HIV infection rates in the country. The national average infection rate is about 8%, whereas in Iringa it is closer to 13%. This may not seem overly high, but one must keep in mind that the numbers refer to people of all ages. If we actually look at the stats for those between 15 and 30, the infection rate is more like 60%. Needless to say this is a huge problem. And it is compounded by false beliefs about the disease and its prevention (such as the myth that the condoms here don’t work or are poisoned by Americans – if this shocks you know that there are many more myths that are equally if not more shocking, but they are not suitable to print here, and furthermore I have yet to obtain an exhaustive list as of yet, much of what I know is hearsay). After the lessons, on Friday I will be doing a seminar to review the topic and to answer any questions they may have, hopefully the majority of the time will be devoted to answering questions. The following week will be a repeat of the initial survey that I gave the students, and hopefully we will se a marked increase in their understanding of health issues. Aside from the lessons and seminar I am busy saying goodbyes and tying up other loose ends, as we are scheduled to fly out on the first of June (which is coming up surprisingly quickly). So thanks again for all of your support, and wish me luck in the next 2 weeks as I try and get all of the things done that need to be before we head back to Canada. Cheers.