Work at Kitumusote

We found out just before arriving here that when our program ends the Arusha branch of CCS is closing for 4 months for internal review and training. Many of us have found that our placements have some major dependencies on the volunteers. We have 7 volunteers at an orphanage, for example, who come home exhausted every day, so they are obviously concerned about what the orphanage will do when they leave and no new group comes. The clientele for Kesuma’s cultural safaris has been entirely CCS Arusha volunteers since he began them last fall, so I’m working on helping him market elsewhere, including other CCS branches in Tanzania, other organizations, hotels, etc. When I was preparing for my trip and consulting Lonely Planet, I found that the Tanzanian Tourist Board, which is located in Arusha town, promotes a Cultural Tourism Program. So we visited there to learn how to get his program registered as one of the “approved” cultural tours recommended by that group. I also hope to contact such publications as Lonely Planet, Frommer’s, etc to see if they might give him a visit and hopefully then a glowing review. Kitumusote has had volunteers of its own in the form of college students doing research projects, so that is another potential source of income. He could also really use a vehicle, preferably some sort of van, as he currently rents one for each safari he does. Of course he does not have the cash, and it is next to impossible to obtain the kinds of loans here that just about anyone can get in the U.S. Sustainability is, of course, what we ultimately want to help these organizations achieve, but things are extremely complicated here…and I will save all of that for another posting. In short, I will just say that the problems here are far beyond just needing money and volunteers. There are layers and layers of complications that I would never have fully realized (and surely still don’t) without spending this time here.

I’m really enjoying my time with Kesuma. Yesterday I went into his village for the weekly meeting with his organization’s committee. It was basically conducted in Swahili and Maa but he translated in English for me as much as possible. I had been in the village once already for the Maasai Cultural Safari over the weekend, and I will post lots about that soon. Next week when we go back I believe I am helping the women gather firewood and do some other work (I can hear my brother laughing now) to help prepare for a big event next week where Kitumusote will give 400 trees to the village. Today we ran errands in town to print materials to distribute and visit the Tanzania Tourist Board. He is very motivated and very much a do-er and not just a talker. He is making his second trip to the U.S. next month to talk at Stanford, Ithaca College, and perhaps others. He has some very dedicated sponsors who help him with his trips to the U.S., and I hope to go and see him talk while he is in our part of the world. He is not only motivated and bright, but he is a lot of fun. He is a bit of an anomaly, and it never ceases to entertain me. He always wears traditional Maasai clothing, under which somewhere he keeps his cell phone which rings far more often than mine at home. He opens boxes of juice with his giant Maasai knife, which is always holstered at his side and is like a part of him. He had to leave it at the security desk today when we went into a certain building in town, and I unnecessarily reminded him to retrieve it on the way out. He said he feels it missing when it’s not there. I’ve also been getting to know his friend Leyani, the guard at Kitumusote and also a Maasai warrior. A few other warriors are often around as they sometimes rest there when they’re coming and going from town to their village, which is about a 2-hour drive if you have a vehicle but more like a 3-hour journey otherwise (a couple daladalas, taxis, walking – complicated). The guys are usually outside playing cards or listening to music, so when I’m there I’m guarded by a group of warriors. If anyone worried about my safety here, fear not. When Kesuma isn’t around Leyani and I try to talk each other, which is a challenge given my Swahili and his English, but it’s fun. We write, draw, gesture, etc, and it’s this great victory when we understand each other. A couple times he’s walked me to the main road to catch my ride and I bought him a coke while we waited, for which he thanked me very much in his best English. The other day we were telling each other the names of our family members by writing them and saying them back to each other. I wrote “Adam” for my “kaka” (brother) and he said “Adam. Adam Hussein?” Pretty funny, and I assured him no, not the same.