So much has happened over the past month it's hard to know where to start describing life here. One evening last week we climbed a hill behind our apartment to watch the sun set across the city, hearing the call to prayer bouncing across the valley in which the city is set. Looking down you can see the vast array of white apartment blocks, into the beautiful old town and also to a refugee camp in the centre of the city. So many contrasts in such a small place.
Music Harvest is a recently established NGO which provides music lessons to children across the city. It runs out of a centre called Nablus the Culture and is housed in a large and beautiful building of tiled floors and thick stone walls so it stays nice and cool in this intense summer heat. We're so privileged to have this haven to work in - I can't help but imagine the comparison with living and working conditions in August, during Ramadan, in other parts of this city. Aside from the international volunteers (there have been between 5-8 of us since I arrived), the centre is run and maintained by a Nabulsi who has thrown all his time, energy and finances into creating this space; the only Palestinian piano tuner in the West Bank; and several young Nabulsi musicians who spend time here playing, and helping us translate lessons and workshops with some of the children who struggle with English.
The last few months has seen a solid flow of volunteers to the project, teaching Piano, Violin, Whistle, Guitar and Drums. Since I arrived i've been trying to start a small choir a singing lessons. It's taken much longer than expected, but there are now two students coming to lessons, a children's choir that is a part of a morning music workshop that we set up a week ago, and an older choir of about 10 singers. We are yet to have a rehearsal with everyone together, but fingers crossed for this Thursday! The last violin teacher here also set up a Violin club which i've continued, doing some basic folky stuff with an aim of the kids playing in a celidh in a month or so. A friend here has another project in Nablus, Celidh's beyond borders, which started introducing folk music to some of the kids who come to the centre for lessons a year ago - and they LOVE it! Much more fun than the classical stuff they say.
So aside from increasing amounts of violin and singing teaching in the afternoons, and a two hour rhythm/singing/instrumental workshop with other, much younger children every morning, days here are filled with arabic lessons, oud lessons, general jamming and lots of talking over the best coffee in the world. I can't express how inspiring it is to be here, surrounded by like minded musicians who are all aware that teaching violin and piano to a few kids isn't going to change the world, but might hopefully them with some sense of solidarity, and in a fun and exciting way.
Tuesday, 9 August 2011
Saturday, 28 August 2010
Music and dancing in Fort Cochin, Kerala
Dixie joined Holly and I at the end of last week, and the three of us have had a wonderful time here in Fort Cochin, exploring music and dancing in this gorgeous town.
We found out about the Kathakali Arts Centre on our first day - an organisation which promotes traditional arts from all around the state. Each night they host a Kathakali theatrical performance, followed by different classial ensembles. So far the concerts i've seen here have included a Sitar and Tabla duo, a Tabla, Gingira and Violin trio and a Tabla, Gingira and Bamboo Flute trio. In each case, none of the musicians had met before, and all the concerts were totally improvised. It was so interesting to hear such a variety of sounds: The Tabla/Sitar combination creating really transporting, mystial pieces, the violin trio producing a much livlier, almost jazzy sound, and the bamboo adding a more lamenting quality. The Gingira is an amazing instrument - it basically looks like a small tambourine, but has the most incredible array of different sounds!
Through the centre, I was also able to organise a lesson in Indian Violin. I spent 2 hours with my teacher (who later performed in the concert) learning 3 differet Raga ad the beginning some basic improvisation around them. Really amazing! Sadly he was only in town for one day so I couldn't have any more lessons - although he definitely stressed that, until all the scales were under the fingers, it was fairly impossible to progress...sound familiar?!
Again through contacts at the centre, we were able to arrange a lesson in Indian Classical Dance. We learnt a Salutatio, and a series of different steps that really force you to hold your body in quite contorted positions! Lots of fun, some amusing videos to follow!
In other news, this week proved just how tiny the world is, as I bumped into a really old friend from London Childrens Choir days! We spent some really lovely days and evenings with Anna and her man, cooking, eating, drinking and dancing kerala style.
Yesterday, Dixie and I finally did that thing everyone says you MUST DO in here - a day in a boat on the Keralan backwaters. It was indeed amazing - we had the whole boat to ourseles and spent the day drifting between different island villages, attempting to row the boat ourselves and passing through the most lush scenary imagiable. Quite a week!
We found out about the Kathakali Arts Centre on our first day - an organisation which promotes traditional arts from all around the state. Each night they host a Kathakali theatrical performance, followed by different classial ensembles. So far the concerts i've seen here have included a Sitar and Tabla duo, a Tabla, Gingira and Violin trio and a Tabla, Gingira and Bamboo Flute trio. In each case, none of the musicians had met before, and all the concerts were totally improvised. It was so interesting to hear such a variety of sounds: The Tabla/Sitar combination creating really transporting, mystial pieces, the violin trio producing a much livlier, almost jazzy sound, and the bamboo adding a more lamenting quality. The Gingira is an amazing instrument - it basically looks like a small tambourine, but has the most incredible array of different sounds!
Through the centre, I was also able to organise a lesson in Indian Violin. I spent 2 hours with my teacher (who later performed in the concert) learning 3 differet Raga ad the beginning some basic improvisation around them. Really amazing! Sadly he was only in town for one day so I couldn't have any more lessons - although he definitely stressed that, until all the scales were under the fingers, it was fairly impossible to progress...sound familiar?!
Again through contacts at the centre, we were able to arrange a lesson in Indian Classical Dance. We learnt a Salutatio, and a series of different steps that really force you to hold your body in quite contorted positions! Lots of fun, some amusing videos to follow!
In other news, this week proved just how tiny the world is, as I bumped into a really old friend from London Childrens Choir days! We spent some really lovely days and evenings with Anna and her man, cooking, eating, drinking and dancing kerala style.
Yesterday, Dixie and I finally did that thing everyone says you MUST DO in here - a day in a boat on the Keralan backwaters. It was indeed amazing - we had the whole boat to ourseles and spent the day drifting between different island villages, attempting to row the boat ourselves and passing through the most lush scenary imagiable. Quite a week!
Tuesday, 24 August 2010
Indian festivities: Independence Day in Pondicherry and a Hindu Wedding in Tiruvannamali
Throughout the afternoon of the 15th August, swarms of people gathered along the beach of the Bay of Bengal (Pondi's sea front) for what promised to be an exciting celebration! Events kicked off in the early evenign, as a govenment minister was driven down thgough the city, past many a building covered from top to toe in beautiful lights for the occasion. He gave a few waves to the crowds and signalled the start of the longest fireworks display i've ever seen!
As this ended, everyone flocked to a stage area which had been put up along the beach strip to watch a most beautiful performance. I really dno't know enough about the musical traditions of Tamil Nadu to know what exactly the perfromance was of, but it was like a piece of theatre expressed through dance. The three (really beautiful) dancers were performing alongside a violinist, singer and Tabla player. They were all very heavily made up, which meant their facial expressions were completely set throughout the piece. AS they danced, one foot always marked the beat of the music, even as they sprang about all over the stage! Their lower arms seemed to move in a totally detached way from the rest of their bodies, while their heads and necks were always at impossible angles - such exact movements presenting the complete opposite to the incredible Indian head wobble!
It felt like the whole city was out to enjoy the celebrations, and i've never seen such an incrediblt array of beautiful saris all in one place.
This explosion of incredible fabrics were seen again at Saravanan and Pradeepa's wedding (friends of Xavier and Anto at the PCTC), which took place on Friday. THe previous day, holly and I were taken sari, bangle and shoe shopping by Ronney, a friend from the village. She helped us to find quite simple but gorgeous saris (red for hol and turquoise for me...or teal perhaps,lorna?!), and she stiched the blouses for us herself. The edges of the saris, and all the measurements were done at the vocational training centre in the pctc, which was very special for us both.
The mornign of the wedding, Ronney had us up at 5am to get ready! WE arrived at the wedding in time for the breakfast, which took place in a huge hall filled with 300+ people, all eating from huge banana leaves. Anto was very mocking of how few people get invited to weddings in England! S we found seats and were given our leaf, a long 'production line' appeared, of men with various plates of amazing food - huge amounts of curry so early in the morning!
After being fed and watered we went up to the ceremony - again hundreds of people packed into a hall, with the couple now seated on a stage. They were surrounded bt a kind of trellice, covered in lights and flowers, and sat in front of a small fire. Another man sat with them, chanting and making offerings of oils into the flames. Throughout the ceremony, a group of 4 musicians (2 drummers and 2 imstruments that looked similar to a very long oboe) played, with increasing volume. This reached its peak, as handfuls of what looked like rice were dispersed among the crowds, and everyone stood up to throw it over the couple!
Sadly we were unable to stay for the post wedding party, which I imagine would have been amazing with so many people there. But we both felt so incredibly privilidged to share in this beautiful ceremony - definitely an unexpected bonus to our travels!
As this ended, everyone flocked to a stage area which had been put up along the beach strip to watch a most beautiful performance. I really dno't know enough about the musical traditions of Tamil Nadu to know what exactly the perfromance was of, but it was like a piece of theatre expressed through dance. The three (really beautiful) dancers were performing alongside a violinist, singer and Tabla player. They were all very heavily made up, which meant their facial expressions were completely set throughout the piece. AS they danced, one foot always marked the beat of the music, even as they sprang about all over the stage! Their lower arms seemed to move in a totally detached way from the rest of their bodies, while their heads and necks were always at impossible angles - such exact movements presenting the complete opposite to the incredible Indian head wobble!
It felt like the whole city was out to enjoy the celebrations, and i've never seen such an incrediblt array of beautiful saris all in one place.
This explosion of incredible fabrics were seen again at Saravanan and Pradeepa's wedding (friends of Xavier and Anto at the PCTC), which took place on Friday. THe previous day, holly and I were taken sari, bangle and shoe shopping by Ronney, a friend from the village. She helped us to find quite simple but gorgeous saris (red for hol and turquoise for me...or teal perhaps,lorna?!), and she stiched the blouses for us herself. The edges of the saris, and all the measurements were done at the vocational training centre in the pctc, which was very special for us both.
The mornign of the wedding, Ronney had us up at 5am to get ready! WE arrived at the wedding in time for the breakfast, which took place in a huge hall filled with 300+ people, all eating from huge banana leaves. Anto was very mocking of how few people get invited to weddings in England! S we found seats and were given our leaf, a long 'production line' appeared, of men with various plates of amazing food - huge amounts of curry so early in the morning!
After being fed and watered we went up to the ceremony - again hundreds of people packed into a hall, with the couple now seated on a stage. They were surrounded bt a kind of trellice, covered in lights and flowers, and sat in front of a small fire. Another man sat with them, chanting and making offerings of oils into the flames. Throughout the ceremony, a group of 4 musicians (2 drummers and 2 imstruments that looked similar to a very long oboe) played, with increasing volume. This reached its peak, as handfuls of what looked like rice were dispersed among the crowds, and everyone stood up to throw it over the couple!
Sadly we were unable to stay for the post wedding party, which I imagine would have been amazing with so many people there. But we both felt so incredibly privilidged to share in this beautiful ceremony - definitely an unexpected bonus to our travels!
Monday, 23 August 2010
People's Craft Training Centre, Kondam, Tiruvannamali, Tamil Nadu, India
Holly and I spent the first ten days of our trip at this truely inspiring project, which was set up by Xavier Mariadoss in his home village of Kondam (some 20km outside Tiruvannamali) 20 years ago. With a background of working with children with disabilities, he has established an organisation that erally bridges the gap between these children, and the communities they live in. The moto of the Pctc, 'Collective Self-Reliance' really encompasses everything the project strives to achieve, but also dictates the way it is run. It really is the most self sufficient organisation immaginable!
Starting out as a centre for children with disabilities in the community, enough staff were trained to alow the opening of a second centre further away. Since young people can only remain in the centre until the age of 18, a vocational training programme was then established on the same campus, teaching tailoring and other trade skills. Xavier has also been able to purchase land with the help of donations and fundraising, and start a farm - this is a longer term project which he hopes to develop into another branch of vocational training.
A further role of the staff is to go out on field visits to families in incredibly remote communities around the area, and do check ups on new borns who could be prone to developing a disability from birth ( the most common cause of this, we were told, is due to members of the same family reproducing). The staff are also trained to run sessions for parents of very young children, in basic physio and speech therapy, in their early years intervention centre. Mothers and other women are also invited to join one of the many female empowerment groups set up by the pctc.
The most recent project development is that of the Thuli Student Movement - afterschool clubs which currently run in 8 of the planned for 47 communities. This programme provides children with two hours an evening (6 days a week!) of alternative moduels in health, hygine, education about children with disabilities, politics, english laguage, as well as providing an oppertunity for help with homework etc. The real motivation behind this stems from the idea that, unless the community is catered for and supported, selecting individuals for help in the centre is meaningless - the whole community needs support to then be able to support and care for young people with disabilities.
As we were only able to spend 10 days at this amazing place, we spent our time visiting all of the different parts of the project: which involved chasing cows and picking guavas at the farm, riding all over the countryside on teh back of staff motorbikes to do home visits,singing and (for holly) some communication and speech therapy in both centres and at teh Thuli programme, and hours of fascinating conversation with many people involved with the project.
If anyone is planing a trip to India, and looking for a long term volunteer oppertunity, this one is really worth checking out!
www.pctcability.org/
Starting out as a centre for children with disabilities in the community, enough staff were trained to alow the opening of a second centre further away. Since young people can only remain in the centre until the age of 18, a vocational training programme was then established on the same campus, teaching tailoring and other trade skills. Xavier has also been able to purchase land with the help of donations and fundraising, and start a farm - this is a longer term project which he hopes to develop into another branch of vocational training.
A further role of the staff is to go out on field visits to families in incredibly remote communities around the area, and do check ups on new borns who could be prone to developing a disability from birth ( the most common cause of this, we were told, is due to members of the same family reproducing). The staff are also trained to run sessions for parents of very young children, in basic physio and speech therapy, in their early years intervention centre. Mothers and other women are also invited to join one of the many female empowerment groups set up by the pctc.
The most recent project development is that of the Thuli Student Movement - afterschool clubs which currently run in 8 of the planned for 47 communities. This programme provides children with two hours an evening (6 days a week!) of alternative moduels in health, hygine, education about children with disabilities, politics, english laguage, as well as providing an oppertunity for help with homework etc. The real motivation behind this stems from the idea that, unless the community is catered for and supported, selecting individuals for help in the centre is meaningless - the whole community needs support to then be able to support and care for young people with disabilities.
As we were only able to spend 10 days at this amazing place, we spent our time visiting all of the different parts of the project: which involved chasing cows and picking guavas at the farm, riding all over the countryside on teh back of staff motorbikes to do home visits,singing and (for holly) some communication and speech therapy in both centres and at teh Thuli programme, and hours of fascinating conversation with many people involved with the project.
If anyone is planing a trip to India, and looking for a long term volunteer oppertunity, this one is really worth checking out!
www.pctcability.org/
Sunday, 8 August 2010
En route to Santiago de Cuba
JULY 2009:
About to embark on an epic road trip to Cuba's biggest carnival! But first...after some brilliant diving last week, we headed to the Che capital of the world - Santa Clara. A rather quiet town, considering it's history, and aside from the impressive guevara monument and mainly photographic museum, a surprising lack of memorabilia. Another lovely casa here, with wonerful hosts who cooked up a real feast for us every night. The reaction last night at dinner when the subject of politics was breached was entirely classic, i'm beginning to think - that when confronted ont he subject, many (particularly older) cubans are very reluctent to answer questions directly. But then proceed with ' but in my opinion..........................' and so follows hours of fascinating thoughts and feelings. On sunday we stumbled across a beautiful hidden courtyard, filled with trees and wall paintings, and lots of oldies gentle moving their hips to some beautiful son! Which then developed into a very public salsa lesson for me and jessie, as a beautiful man guided us through some dances with a cigar in one hand. Brilliant.
Then made tracks for Trinidad - a truely beautiful town with small painted houses lining the hill down to a white sand beach. Again a very friendly casa - but sadly no home cooked meals available here, so surviving off the typical fried egg sandwich diet. More dancing here, this time on a rooftop over looking the town and sea with a rather handsome young man. Great scene at the Casa de la musica with different live bands all night every night, and a crazy club set deep inside a cave in the mountainside.
So now to Santiago. Everyone i've spoken to about the city says it is too hot, too busy and the most crime in Cuba. Bring it on.
About to embark on an epic road trip to Cuba's biggest carnival! But first...after some brilliant diving last week, we headed to the Che capital of the world - Santa Clara. A rather quiet town, considering it's history, and aside from the impressive guevara monument and mainly photographic museum, a surprising lack of memorabilia. Another lovely casa here, with wonerful hosts who cooked up a real feast for us every night. The reaction last night at dinner when the subject of politics was breached was entirely classic, i'm beginning to think - that when confronted ont he subject, many (particularly older) cubans are very reluctent to answer questions directly. But then proceed with ' but in my opinion..........................' and so follows hours of fascinating thoughts and feelings. On sunday we stumbled across a beautiful hidden courtyard, filled with trees and wall paintings, and lots of oldies gentle moving their hips to some beautiful son! Which then developed into a very public salsa lesson for me and jessie, as a beautiful man guided us through some dances with a cigar in one hand. Brilliant.
Then made tracks for Trinidad - a truely beautiful town with small painted houses lining the hill down to a white sand beach. Again a very friendly casa - but sadly no home cooked meals available here, so surviving off the typical fried egg sandwich diet. More dancing here, this time on a rooftop over looking the town and sea with a rather handsome young man. Great scene at the Casa de la musica with different live bands all night every night, and a crazy club set deep inside a cave in the mountainside.
So now to Santiago. Everyone i've spoken to about the city says it is too hot, too busy and the most crime in Cuba. Bring it on.
Havana and beyond...
JULY 2009:
After an eventful week of salsa, rumba and lots of sweat, we've moved on from Habana to the northern province of Pinar del Rio and the Vinales valley. Feels like an entirely different country! Habana is a total one off- the revolutionary slogans EVERYWHERE, the music, the rum, the music, the cigars, the music, the cars the music...all juxtaposed against very colonial architecture. We stayed with a wonderful couple, Hector and Ery in Habana vieja, which is a truely beautiful area of the city, inspite of the tourista onslaught. The two currencies make it really difficult to escap the well thought through tourista bubble, but staying in a Casa definitely helped. Through a variety of contacts, holly managed to organise rumba dance and percussion lessons which gave an enormous insight into the habana music scene - aside from the salsa groups all over town. Last Sunday, Chiquito, the percussion teacher took us to what can only be described as the worlds most beautiful street party in Cajejon de hammel ( a backstreet of centro habana) to see an array of brilliant musicians doing their thing -including a womens rumba group, which is the first all female group i've seen. Wonderful artwork and powerful slogans fill every available wall space, and the atmosphere just incredible.
Vinales couldn't be more different - calm, peaceful aside from the pigs and goats which fairly roam freely, and lush greenery as far as the eye can see. More wonderful dancing lessons here, with a man who must be well into his 80s but is seriously hot on the dancefloor! Tomorrow we're riding to explore artwork in nearby caves, and then off to the coast for what promises to be world class scuba diving...more soon!
After an eventful week of salsa, rumba and lots of sweat, we've moved on from Habana to the northern province of Pinar del Rio and the Vinales valley. Feels like an entirely different country! Habana is a total one off- the revolutionary slogans EVERYWHERE, the music, the rum, the music, the cigars, the music, the cars the music...all juxtaposed against very colonial architecture. We stayed with a wonderful couple, Hector and Ery in Habana vieja, which is a truely beautiful area of the city, inspite of the tourista onslaught. The two currencies make it really difficult to escap the well thought through tourista bubble, but staying in a Casa definitely helped. Through a variety of contacts, holly managed to organise rumba dance and percussion lessons which gave an enormous insight into the habana music scene - aside from the salsa groups all over town. Last Sunday, Chiquito, the percussion teacher took us to what can only be described as the worlds most beautiful street party in Cajejon de hammel ( a backstreet of centro habana) to see an array of brilliant musicians doing their thing -including a womens rumba group, which is the first all female group i've seen. Wonderful artwork and powerful slogans fill every available wall space, and the atmosphere just incredible.
Vinales couldn't be more different - calm, peaceful aside from the pigs and goats which fairly roam freely, and lush greenery as far as the eye can see. More wonderful dancing lessons here, with a man who must be well into his 80s but is seriously hot on the dancefloor! Tomorrow we're riding to explore artwork in nearby caves, and then off to the coast for what promises to be world class scuba diving...more soon!
Monday, 20 August 2007
The time of my life
Almost last thing I do before heading to airport! Was going to try some kind of clever summing up of the whole trip with my thoughts on Africa etc but am short of time and am yet to cultivate such thoughts so just news from the last stint of travels...last stop in Uganda was a trip up to Murchison Falls on Lake Albert in the North west - breathtakingly stunning views, an amazing safari game drive (during which a leopard RAN BESIDE OUR CAR!!! - esp exciting as they say there are incredibly few leopards at Murch now), boat trip up the Nile to the falls and a hike around them - apparently some jokers like to raft down them but I think more than a torn ligament would come from that! Then met up with a Tz friend and took the most hard-to-the-core bus journey from Kampala to Nakuru in Kenya - 17 hours over arguably the worst road in Africa. Lacking Valium, a copy of Harry Potter that they found was the only thing that got me through. A bit of a mission through the Rift Valley and we got to Lake Naivasha, with incredible views across and a beautiful campsite right on the shores. We'd planned a mountain biking day in Hells Gate NP but my knee was feeling a little dodgy, so instead took a boat out on the lake for the day and thoroughly chilled in the sunshine and peaceful scenery. Amazing meal last night (crayfish in garlic and white wine sauce followed by Amarula cheescake!! Tz people will know how good that is) and now in Nairobi, about to catch our shuttle bus to airport that we've winged for free through the Hilton hotel...out to partaaay tonight in Dubai during our 10 hour stopover and then I guess I'll be seeing you all soon! To finish, this trip has without a doubt been the best thing I've ever done, and the experiences and friends made along the way will last forever - or at least until I get round to the next african adventure!
Tuesday, 14 August 2007
It's the final countdown
Utterly BIZARRE that a week today i will find myself in heathrow..incredibly mixed feelings about the whole thing, and am seriously going to miss life as it currently is. But rather than tearful anticipation i need to update you all on recent events which have been immensely cool, mainly featuring antics on the Nile river with a raft and the best grade 5 rapids in the world! Spent a day in this little boat with a Russian, a Croat, a Ukranian, an Irish guy, an American, a Canadian and a serious Italian Stallion (going wild as opposed to mild over the rapids), flipping the boat as much as possible,getting caught up in whirlpool things, messing around, having lots of fun and wound up with a tear in a ligament in my knee! But all so very very worth it, as usual met amazing people, maxed out on the free food and alcofrolics and had a great weekend. Bujugali falls also very beautiful. Then found my way to Kampala by a string of interesting transport and went down to Entebbe yesterday to the very beautiful botanical gardens (saw lots of colobus monkeys including the cutest mama and baby!). Spent last night with the Bells (friends of Jeremy and Barbara) in their amazingly beautiful house on the hills surrounding Kampala - the novelty of good food and a comfy bed never wears off it seems!Off up to Murchison Falls in Northern Ug tomorrow (will try very hard not to get caught up in any violence..) for more safari etc..then to Kenya for a flying visit through the Rift Valley pre Nairobi!
Friday, 10 August 2007
Uganda
After much drama at the border where the nasty people terrified me and made me pay double the visa price just because they could, meaning i had $0 left, and a lovely ugandan lady adopting me and taking me to her home,feeding me and paying for my bus to kampala, and from there onto mbale (during the latter journey the bus broke down twice and i ended up travelling 2 hours with my huge hiker-sack on the back of a moped!) i met up with Richard Hide and went off exploring coffee farms on Mt elgon! honestly had no idea what a long process coffee-making was, and was so overwhelemed by the commitment of all te owmen in the village to the work (obviously the men do very little.) Hve very little internet time and can't really do justise to what an amazing experiece i had with these people and in the stunning surroundings. Next i went off to a small village a few hours away to meet an old school friend who's working for the NGO little big africa, building water tanks etc. I got to make bricks! Have definitely decided i am not cut out for hard physical labour! Really enjoyed being a part of village life again, although uganda style this time. And now have just returned form a trip to Sipi falls, highest in East africa which i absailed down, about 10m from the falls all the way..absolutely INCREDIBLE views! Hate having to rush these things so will update properly soon when i find a decent computer..until then 10 days till im home!
Thursday, 2 August 2007
Rwanda continued
After a few days pretending to be a loaded ex-pat in kigali (which, incidently, all the ex-pats hate - well they seem to think Rwanda in general is the most disfunctional of places (clearly they havn't seen tz!) and are all kind of depressed to be there..bizarre as i thought it was brilliant!), i headed off to Gyiseni, in the northern most part of lake kivu. Pretty panoramic setting and at dusk you can see across the lake over to the hills of Congo..very nearly added that stamp to my passport as reports of Goma and the surrounding area were pretty positive, but luckily i didn't, seeing as last week 4 Gorrillas were killed by rebels pretty close to the volcano i was going to climb. Anway, managed to pull an AMAZING deal at the Kivu Sun 5* hotel,staying there for just $20!! Partied hard until dawn with my kigali pals and lots of Rwandans, after most incredible buffet in the world (sticky toffee pudding in rwanda?!). After that i found my way to Ruhengeri national park where Gorrillas play amongst the 7 volcanos. Seeing as gap year = uuuber budget i couldn't afford the $500 to spend an hour with those beasts, but instead did some volcano trekking - the top of Bisoke volcano is home to a vast crator lake with incredible views out across Rwanda. My legs are still ruined though, even 4 days later!
And of course then there was the Genocide Memorial back in Kigali..an incredibly fair and informative documentation of history. Throughout the exhibition are a series of short interviews on video with survivors who lost close family members which is pretty horrific - but for me by far the most harrowing part came at the very end : First of all you enter a dark circular space with 3 rooms coming off it each with a different Rwandese voice-over; the first room contains maybe 500 photographs hanging from strings of faces of people who were killed; the second, has preserved clothes that were found on disintegrating bodies; and the final room contains bones and skulls that have been unearthed. After that you go on into the children's room..asided from the many photos of young people all over the place, there are maybe 12 bill-board-things,each with an enlarged photo of a child and underneath, their name, age, favourite activity, favourite food and how they were killed ('beat around the head with a club', 'machette through the chest' etc). Absolutely horrendous. There is another large memorial in the city of Butare which apparently holds preserved bodies in the room they were killed in - really didn't think i could handle that one.
But it really seems to me that Rwanda is looking to the future in a big way - very firmly, the people maintain that 'The past is the past and the future is now'. It is unheard of to ask whether one is Hutu or Tutsi and 'PK' is doing lots (by the sounds of it) to try and being people together as far as possilbe - for example, whilst i was there, and on the last weekend of every month, 'Umuganda' takes place..a day when nobody works and everyone does some form of community serivce (most commonly cleaning up the streets).
A huge emphasis is put on understanding and learning from the tragic history of Rwanda, in the high hopes of creating a secure and stable environment fo rhte next generation.
And of course then there was the Genocide Memorial back in Kigali..an incredibly fair and informative documentation of history. Throughout the exhibition are a series of short interviews on video with survivors who lost close family members which is pretty horrific - but for me by far the most harrowing part came at the very end : First of all you enter a dark circular space with 3 rooms coming off it each with a different Rwandese voice-over; the first room contains maybe 500 photographs hanging from strings of faces of people who were killed; the second, has preserved clothes that were found on disintegrating bodies; and the final room contains bones and skulls that have been unearthed. After that you go on into the children's room..asided from the many photos of young people all over the place, there are maybe 12 bill-board-things,each with an enlarged photo of a child and underneath, their name, age, favourite activity, favourite food and how they were killed ('beat around the head with a club', 'machette through the chest' etc). Absolutely horrendous. There is another large memorial in the city of Butare which apparently holds preserved bodies in the room they were killed in - really didn't think i could handle that one.
But it really seems to me that Rwanda is looking to the future in a big way - very firmly, the people maintain that 'The past is the past and the future is now'. It is unheard of to ask whether one is Hutu or Tutsi and 'PK' is doing lots (by the sounds of it) to try and being people together as far as possilbe - for example, whilst i was there, and on the last weekend of every month, 'Umuganda' takes place..a day when nobody works and everyone does some form of community serivce (most commonly cleaning up the streets).
A huge emphasis is put on understanding and learning from the tragic history of Rwanda, in the high hopes of creating a secure and stable environment fo rhte next generation.
Wednesday, 25 July 2007
Kigali, Rwanda
All this is really to say is i'm now in Rwanda safe and sound..amazing flight in (was not feeling the 40+ bus journey effort and infamous boarder crossing) over a totally different landscape to Tz..the ground is very ver red - people say its because so much blood has been spilled here, but to be honest that is a line used in Uganda,DRC..and from very first impressions, this country is well and truely back on its feet - for a starter, they have TRAFFIC LIGHTS!Now there's a sight never seen in Tanzania!
But all i relaly wanted to say here is i'm spending a few days with some lovely lovely French people in a beautiful house with amazing food, a BATH, and Desperate Housewives boxset! Am i still in Africa? More when i've actually seen some of this tiny little country.
But all i relaly wanted to say here is i'm spending a few days with some lovely lovely French people in a beautiful house with amazing food, a BATH, and Desperate Housewives boxset! Am i still in Africa? More when i've actually seen some of this tiny little country.
Trying so hard to squeeze Victor and Felister into my backpack!!!
My days at Nk have finally drawn to a close!! And on what a high did they end. of teaching were simply brilliant,and for the first time really (although i've probably said it before,i now can truely believe it myself) i feel like i've made a significant difference to the level of English of some of my children, and really got them to value their education. So many fantastic moments, but to highlight the best...SPORTS DAY!!!! 150 children doing egg and spoon races, sack raches, wheelbarrow races, 3-legged races...they were the best behaved i've ever seen them and just had so much fun! Even the teachers looked on with amusement (quite an achievement!). That afternoon, our teachers held a small party for me and Lizzie (only remaining teachers at the primary school), Geapson (our legendary teacher) made a speech and we were presented with beautiful Kitenge fabric as a leaving giftie. Our little house was then stormed by all our classes (and token random children obviously) and mass reading/drawing/recorder club took place for the last time. And when it was time-to-go-home-time there were ALOT of tears all round..fond the whole thing very emotional and wound up with a bizarre paradox of feeling insanely guilty for leaving them and just returning to my comfortable Muzungu life back home, but also feeling pretty proud to have had such an effect on them that they value our teaching and friendship that much.
Lots of you will know by now that my last weekend of partaaaay-ing in Arusha ended terribly as me and Daisy were mugged on saturday night, loosing everything (money,phone,most importantly camera and all my photos). More devestated about the pictures than i can write but just in case you wonder why theres a lack of recent photographic evidence on here..
Lots of you will know by now that my last weekend of partaaaay-ing in Arusha ended terribly as me and Daisy were mugged on saturday night, loosing everything (money,phone,most importantly camera and all my photos). More devestated about the pictures than i can write but just in case you wonder why theres a lack of recent photographic evidence on here..
Saturday, 7 July 2007
'Throw your heart away' - Bagamoyo
This is probably the most interesting place in Tanzania historically, as its the port from whcih the majority of the African slave trade routes were established. About an hour north of Dar es Salam (the unofficial capital), its a beautiful, very french/german/generally colonial looking town with meandering streets with vines growing up all the buildings and a white sand beach with plam trees..the sad part is that the 'ruins' are in fact really not that old but incredibly run down as there is just no money or real insentive to preserve them. The first Catholic cross planted in East Africa is located here, as is the first Catholic chuirch, established by French Missionaries (now accompanied by a very very small museum claiming that these missionaries basically put a stop to the slave trade single-handedly) and also the remains of the first Mosque,established in the 13th Century. The old German Boma ('British Overseas Managment Authority in English' - 'Enclosed area' in Kiswahili) is architecturally very impressive from the outside,but is so run down inside that it has received no tourism for the past 20 years and so much of the history has been lost. Equally the Old Fort (originally the Sultan of Zanzibar's home, then a prison, then a police station, then intened as a college but total lack of funds meant this was a no-go:info we got from a passing man who lives in the town) could be somethign really special but as it stands, has no infomation documenting its interesting past.
It seems to be a fairly common theme i'm picking up whilst spending more and more time living here that Tanzania's major problem all stems from the rocky education system - so so few young people are able to attend secondary school because of the cost, let alone university. With so little education it can be understood why so few people ask questions as to why potential tourism ploys like this arn't made more accessible. And for that matter, where all the money from American's back pockets spent on Kili and the Northern Safari Circuit doesn in fact end up, because it certainly isn't where it needs to be.
And mother, DMC stands for deep and meaningful conversations, standards are obviously slipping in my absence!
This is probably the most interesting place in Tanzania historically, as its the port from whcih the majority of the African slave trade routes were established. About an hour north of Dar es Salam (the unofficial capital), its a beautiful, very french/german/generally colonial looking town with meandering streets with vines growing up all the buildings and a white sand beach with plam trees..the sad part is that the 'ruins' are in fact really not that old but incredibly run down as there is just no money or real insentive to preserve them. The first Catholic cross planted in East Africa is located here, as is the first Catholic chuirch, established by French Missionaries (now accompanied by a very very small museum claiming that these missionaries basically put a stop to the slave trade single-handedly) and also the remains of the first Mosque,established in the 13th Century. The old German Boma ('British Overseas Managment Authority in English' - 'Enclosed area' in Kiswahili) is architecturally very impressive from the outside,but is so run down inside that it has received no tourism for the past 20 years and so much of the history has been lost. Equally the Old Fort (originally the Sultan of Zanzibar's home, then a prison, then a police station, then intened as a college but total lack of funds meant this was a no-go:info we got from a passing man who lives in the town) could be somethign really special but as it stands, has no infomation documenting its interesting past.
It seems to be a fairly common theme i'm picking up whilst spending more and more time living here that Tanzania's major problem all stems from the rocky education system - so so few young people are able to attend secondary school because of the cost, let alone university. With so little education it can be understood why so few people ask questions as to why potential tourism ploys like this arn't made more accessible. And for that matter, where all the money from American's back pockets spent on Kili and the Northern Safari Circuit doesn in fact end up, because it certainly isn't where it needs to be.
And mother, DMC stands for deep and meaningful conversations, standards are obviously slipping in my absence!
Monday, 2 July 2007
4 days on a train
Title pretty much sums up this entry!Took a train form Lousaka to Dar with the girls im travelling with, and picked up some strays along the way..lots of DMC-ing late into the night about the state of africa with some not-as-racist-as-you'd-presume africaaners..ok they were called Villi,Fritz and Antoin does that prove their africaan-ness?! But they were travelling with a little stove and lots of food which,i'm sure you'll all know,went down very well. Also with two finnish ladies and a girl from DRC. Not much to say about the train really, apart from stayed in pj's the whole time, ate lots of cereal,nearly fell out of the bunk as one of the carriges kind of de-railed, and how nice it was to finally get back to Tz and be able to write on our immigration slips 'returning residents'..and speaking Swahili again!
Now in Zanzibar (yes, for the third time)for the international film festival of the Dhow Countries-which is amazing! Stone town is really buzzing with live music and art exhibitions everywhere. Last night went to see a Mexican film (wasn't aware Mexico classed as a Dhow country but anyway)called 'The other side' - really beautiful and made even more so by the incredible atmosphere in the open air ampitheatre crammed with people under a full moon and starry sky. Thsi mornign saw a series of short films, one called Kiboko Kid set in a slum outside Nairobi and is set to be made into a feature film..very cool to understan the swahili without subtitles. This was followed by lots of shopping and kangas have been bought for you all :) more soon, big love x
Now in Zanzibar (yes, for the third time)for the international film festival of the Dhow Countries-which is amazing! Stone town is really buzzing with live music and art exhibitions everywhere. Last night went to see a Mexican film (wasn't aware Mexico classed as a Dhow country but anyway)called 'The other side' - really beautiful and made even more so by the incredible atmosphere in the open air ampitheatre crammed with people under a full moon and starry sky. Thsi mornign saw a series of short films, one called Kiboko Kid set in a slum outside Nairobi and is set to be made into a feature film..very cool to understan the swahili without subtitles. This was followed by lots of shopping and kangas have been bought for you all :) more soon, big love x
Wednesday, 27 June 2007
Zambia
Actually ended up illegally in Malawi for 3 days as the visa expired but got away with it no problem..eventually got from Lilongwe (a really pretty capital,certainly the nicest i've seen although very very ex-pat) to Chipata, a small but quite lovely town about an hour from the boarder. From there we took a hilariously entertaining taxi trip to SOuth Louangwa National Park (7 people, 6 backpacks, a dirt track and one toyota carolla..) where we stayed in possibly the craziest campsite in Africa! Platforms built into trees on which campers can pitch their tents while elephants, hippos and even lions stroll around below!i kid you knot, the campsite has no boundries and there were lions footprints outside our tent on morning. Same morning we watched from our side of the Louangwa river bank a family of elephants swimming across (inc a baby), climb up the other side and dry themselves off with dust showers, accompanied by a soundtrack of 3 male lions clearly marking out their territory. Did a night safari here which was a totally different experiene form our serengetti etc extravganza..the drivers shine UV torhes all around so as not to damage the animals eyes. Honestly the first hour and a bit i was doubting how good this would turn out to be as we saw little other that Poku (like gazelles) and birds of various varieties. BUT THEN we 'stumbled across' a pack of wild dogs, apparnelty only found in some parts f southern afric - and they were really surprisingly beautiful. BUT THEN even better we spotted a lioness on the hunt and followed her for about an hour on her chase for Poku. In our completely open roofed safari cars it was a little disconcerting when one ran right up beside our car!The whole experience was entirely different from our big Tz safari..far less tourists with few set paths to follow etc.
Back to chipata and then a longlong bus ride to Lousaka - i'm cnvinced by the end of this trip a world record is in order for time spent on african bus trips. There we were met by the Nowa's and treated like absolute princesses for 2 days, shown round Lousaka (shopping malls included!) and taken to church and the Kafue Misson..what a treat to see it all at last after so many stories and photos. ALthough a boarding school along the same lines as the secondary school in our village the differences were huge..they have so much space there! Met lots of teachers and were shown round the health centre..all very special and so lovely to see the Nowa's again.
And today i threw myself over the Victoria Falls!! And absailed down the cliffs of the Zambezi gorge and generally have turned into an adrenaline junkie overnight! WHat can i say about the falls..truely spectacular (and we got absolutely drenched!)
On friday we're taking a ptentially 4 day train trip back up to TZ and then to zanzibar when i'll do some more blogging - we have free internet here but there's an insanely long queue and i'm being shouted at!Lots of love xxxx
Back to chipata and then a longlong bus ride to Lousaka - i'm cnvinced by the end of this trip a world record is in order for time spent on african bus trips. There we were met by the Nowa's and treated like absolute princesses for 2 days, shown round Lousaka (shopping malls included!) and taken to church and the Kafue Misson..what a treat to see it all at last after so many stories and photos. ALthough a boarding school along the same lines as the secondary school in our village the differences were huge..they have so much space there! Met lots of teachers and were shown round the health centre..all very special and so lovely to see the Nowa's again.
And today i threw myself over the Victoria Falls!! And absailed down the cliffs of the Zambezi gorge and generally have turned into an adrenaline junkie overnight! WHat can i say about the falls..truely spectacular (and we got absolutely drenched!)
On friday we're taking a ptentially 4 day train trip back up to TZ and then to zanzibar when i'll do some more blogging - we have free internet here but there's an insanely long queue and i'm being shouted at!Lots of love xxxx
Sunday, 17 June 2007
Tales from Malawi
And now i'm in Malawi! AFter a hectic month back at school, Mummys trip out to see me (and take me to a luxury hotel in zanzibar again!), a craaazy football tournament between our various schools in Arusha, lots of laughs,nights out,teaching,clothes-making etcetc and now its the school summer holiday. 3 long days travelling through TZ (thorugh 2 National parks in the south, v beacutiful - although bings about a completley new conception of the country..its just so vast and seemingly sparcely populated in the south) and we arrived in time to take the ferry down Lake malawi and to Likoma island..we were practically the only people staying and we camped on a beautiful beach about 10m away from the lake, on the horizon of which is the amazing mozambiquian (?) coast line. THe lake is so incredibly clear (largest freshwater lake in the workd i think), and basically looks just like the sea. After a weeks indulgant chillage, we made our way back to the mainland and Nkhata Bay. One sunset cruise and a few drinks later a girl i'd just met pursuaded me to do a weeks Naui ocurse (same as Padi..ie scuba diving) begining the next day and how glad am i that she did! Absolutely loved it, was with a great group of people form all over the place and i honestly never knew how much i like pretty little fish!also did lots of pot-holeing..but 18m underwater!vair vair cool i'm sure you'll aggree.Travelled down to Lilongwe yest with some new amigos and have managed to negociate a visa waver into zambia so moving on on tuesday..and will update more soon!
Exploring the East Coast and Zanzibar
So this is insanely out of date for which i appologise muchly..haven't actually been able to get onto this thing in ages. Lots to catch up on but will begin by filling you all in from where i left off a few months ago..over easter we had 3 weeks off school for travels and so did lots of exploring in Tz..first went across to the NorthEast and Usambora Mountain range and a small town called Lushoto..seriously beautiful and much more authentically african than the ex-pat-ed and touristy Arusha. Went hiking through a rainforest and up to IrenteView point (via a farm house with CHEESE!!)..reportedly a stunning view across the expansive valley, although, typically, when we got to the top it was entirely covered in cloud..turned out to be quite special in the end though as the clouds randomly parted giving little snapshots of the incredible view below.
Headed next down the East coast via Tanga to a beachy place called Peponi..camped practaically on the beach,swam in the warm bath that is tjhe indian ocean, took a Dhow saling to a sand island in the middle of the sea, ate amazingly for the first time in a while (to be fair it wasn;t that oong after safari but the importance of yummy food on this trip should not be 'mis-underestimated').
THen it was ZANZIBAR!!!!! Stone town was fab,totally mixture of cultures and great fabric shopping,night market foodi etc..met up with lots more of our mates and headed all together first to the East coast and Paje..long stretches of white sand and tourquoise sea and a site all to ourselves, followed by a trip up into Nungwi on the northernmostpoint of the island, where i celebrated my 19th with Africa's finest! Massive meal out with everyone, duringin which the girls negociated lots of free food for the birthday girl (although the next day i realised that no fool gives away decent Lobster for free) followed by cocktails and antics on the beach..details and photographic evidence when i get back!
Headed next down the East coast via Tanga to a beachy place called Peponi..camped practaically on the beach,swam in the warm bath that is tjhe indian ocean, took a Dhow saling to a sand island in the middle of the sea, ate amazingly for the first time in a while (to be fair it wasn;t that oong after safari but the importance of yummy food on this trip should not be 'mis-underestimated').
THen it was ZANZIBAR!!!!! Stone town was fab,totally mixture of cultures and great fabric shopping,night market foodi etc..met up with lots more of our mates and headed all together first to the East coast and Paje..long stretches of white sand and tourquoise sea and a site all to ourselves, followed by a trip up into Nungwi on the northernmostpoint of the island, where i celebrated my 19th with Africa's finest! Massive meal out with everyone, duringin which the girls negociated lots of free food for the birthday girl (although the next day i realised that no fool gives away decent Lobster for free) followed by cocktails and antics on the beach..details and photographic evidence when i get back!
Saturday, 7 April 2007
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