7 Days at Shukrani - Wednesday

Wednesday:

Early start with an 8.15am class. By about 8.30 am most students were present.As per Monday, a few instructions, and they were practicing entering the data.I have set up companies for each student (3 sets per computer) and every time instruct them in how to access their company. Open Company, click Next, choose My Documents>Company Files - then select their named folder, Click on the company and choose Open. Unfortunately not all follow the instruction correctly, and data has often been entered into the wrong 'company file'. Oh well, it is good practice.

Early afternoon was discussion with Lucas about tax in Tanzania. There is the official system. VAT is 20%, so we have it good with GST at 10%. The system is similar to ours, but with more exemptions.Businesses with annual gross turnover of 40 million Tshs ($50,000) must be registered. If you are you submit a monthly return, and pay the difference between tax paid on purchases and tax received on sales.If you are not registered you pay VAT on goods you buy from registered businesses, and the taxman will visit and estimate a tax on your business based on what they see and what you tell them. They may well check your assets. If you are not registered, you get hit twice! As with life at home many people try to avoid paying tax. Here the incentives may be greater, and the punishment not so certain. The Tanzanian Revenue Authority handbook on VAT includes a prominent message "Bribes will kill the nation". There are ways to avoid the wrath of the authorities - they are against the law, and they all involve money.

In the afternoon we went shopping for some necessaries - and dropped by the food hall on our way home. It was later in the day and our 'chapatti lady' was cooking mandazi- hot donuts! We learned that she is Mariam; her sister is Margaret (she was doing the cooking). Her neighbouring foodie, Doris, also took the time to talk with us. It was good to be able to get past numbers and to begin to get to know them a little more.

Matima Beach

A Weekend Away

Last weekend was a 'long weekend' in Tanzania. A Muslim holiday was scheduled so classes were cancelled on Monday. It was an opportunity to see another part of the country and a visit to Matima beach Resort, on Lake Malawi (called Lake Nyassa here), was planned. It's only about 170 km, but it was a four-hour trip.

For almost 100 kms we were on highway. The Tanzania to Malawi section was the best road we have seen here so far, but then we turned off. The last 50 km was over gravel road, and through the country.

The scenery was magnificent, the villages, houses and crops along the way were quite fascinating. On the way to Matima we passed through one town with footpaths, a rarity in Tanzania. In another area we also saw women riding bicycles, another local 'oddity'. At a stop at a local intersection and market we bought a few bananas for the weekend, and on the way back were able to stock up on some fruit for the week ahead.

At Matima we enjoyed warm days and magnificent views over Lake Malawi. We took the opportunity to swim in the cool waters and in the shadows of the Livingstone Ranges.

We watched the locals fish from their dugouts, and I was amazed at their skill in handling these small craft. They moved eaasily through the water, seemed very stable, and on land were very heavy. In the darkness of the early hours we could see lights on the horizon - it was the local fishermen working by lamplight.

Sunday we rose to watch the sun come up over the mountains. I was up a little early, and sat on the beach for about two hours (taking too many photos) as the light broke through and finally peeked over the top of the hills.

A little detour on the way back took us to some unexpected places. David took a left turn when we should have gone straight on. At bridge under construction forced us to turn back, and some local advice saw us winding back towards our destination via a 'shortcut'. Consulting a few more locals on the way we made it to the 'main road', and still had 40 kms of gravel road to travel.
Another detour took us to the border, and allowed us to step into Malawi before returning to Mbeya. As was the original plan we arrived home before dark.

The plan was to have Monday to recover. After eight hours of driving in two days it was a good plan. What was not planned was the confusion over the holiday. It was actually TUESDAY. Some of the holidays are 'moveable', and are only confirmed via radio or TV a few days before. It led to a little bit of confusion on Monday and Tuesday with some schools and major businesses open one day or the other, and many students opting to take both days as a holiday. That almost made me feel like I was back home!

Eating Out

Breakfast.
It was time to take the plunge.

We had purchased chapatti and chips at the 'food hall', now it was time to eat there. On the Monday 'holiday' we made our way to the chapatti lady's table. Ordering two chapattis was easy, and the hot bread/pancake came straight off the hotplate. Since a drink at that time of morning sounded good we

chose what I thought was milky tea from one of the self-serve containers. Hot milk and chapatti is a fine breakfast!

It was only our first 'sit-down meal' at the food hall - but we'll be back!

Dining out!

Fridays at around 7.00 pm the power goes out at Soweto, so we go out for tea.
Our first outing was to the Chinese restaurant at Sondo. The food (and the atmosphere) was much different to restaurants in Lan Zhou or Shanghai, but it was quite tasty and very enjoyable. Somehow, though, Aussies being served a Chinese meal in Tanzania by an African waitress seems a little odd!

Soko - the market

Most days we take a trip to the market. Our Swahili is not good enough to chat with many folks. Mia (100), mia tano (500) and elfu (1000) are important words, as is the use of fingers and the display of the coins or notes. When we have been at a loss someone, a student from the college or a total stranger has come to our rescue. If we have been charged twice the price the locals pay we would not know, and it would not hurt us much anyway.

Chips and chapati from the local food hall are very edible, and much better value than the chips from home. Minimum chips (the only size serve really) is 600 Tshs (75 cents), and chapati, a sort of fried pancake type bread, 200 Tshs. The local 'donuts' (no holes) we buy from the kids. They may not be hot, they do not have any icing, but they are OK, and who would argue anyway over 100 Tshs.

The fresh produce is aso cheap with an abundance of stalls selling most types of fruit and vegetables, spices, rice, etc - and a variety of other stuff.
A visit to the market is an adventure in itself - and we always encounter people who want to talk to us, or kids who want to practice their English.

For us "Asante sana" (thank you very much) is a major part of most conversations.

Kirabuni House

Welcome to our home at Shukrani College - Karibuni House. "Karibu" means 'welcome' and that is what we have felt. Our tmporary home is a step up from our caravan. The sitting room window looks out on to the grounds of the small campus that houses the Administration block, classroms, computer laboratory, library and residential acommodation for students and the principal, the local Salvo Corps and officers quarters and some pre-school classrooms.

A morning walk around the block is a religious expereince in itself. Apart from the local Corps the wall of the compound is a pictorial overview of the Bible. Turning right out of the gates you can work from the New Testament back to Genesis. There is an article about the mural that can be accessed via the Salvation Army International Headquarters website - just search under Shukrani.

Continuing around the corner to the right the Moravian Church own a block. Next comes the Church of God in Tanzania. Immediately behind Shukrani is a Baptist Church, and our second turn right takes us past the Baptist Medical centre. The religious experience is not yet complete, and as we make yet another right turn the Revival Assemblies of God are on one side, and a little further up the road is the entrance to the Evangelical Assemblies of God Tanzania.


Just to bring the religious balance to the locale as we take another right hand turn the local mosque sits on our left.
I am also reliably informed that there are at least another four churches within about 400 meters of this block!
Our days here begin with the call to prayer from the mosque at 5 a.m., but sometimes we sleep through that one. It is a bit harder to sleep through the thumping bass that comes through from the E.A.G.T. next door. At 7 a.m. last Monday morning it was not especially welcome!


For those not into religion there is a shop directly opposite the ccentre gates, and a local market less that 500 metres down the road. Now that is an interesting place - and it even has its own food court, just like the shopping malls back home (well almost!).

Flight in Africa

Tuesday was a fairly slow day. A hearty breakfast at the Emerald Guest House and a shuttle to the airport at 10.00 am. Our plane flew out at 2.55 pm.

Tambo airport is being expanded in preparation for the World Cup in 2010. The building will be ready, but I wonder how their systems will cope with the many thousands who will be travelling to this four year event. Tambo airport will be the major transport hub.

Much reading and wandering preceeded our departure as we explored the excellent facilities already in use. About forty minutes before we were to depart a thunderstorm hit - and the rained poured down. Fortunately, by the time we had waited in or shuttle bus for twenty minutes it has eased a little, so the dash across the tarmac from bus to plane just got us a little wet. Twenty minutes earlier and it would have been a different story.

South Africa Airlines 188 was uneventful and we shared that journey with a well traveller engineer and project manager who is based not far from Mbeya. We learned a great deal about Africa on the journey, not to mention picking up bits an pieces about life in other parts of the world.

At Tanzania International Airport we were warmly greeted. From the relatively temperature climate of Joburg the humidity of Dar Es Salaam, even at 8 pm was noticeable. It didn't take all that long to get through customs/passport control and enter Tanzania.
There we were welcomed by Benjamin and Grace (aka Chief Secretary Benjamin Mnyampi and TSWO G Mnyampi) and taken to The Salvation Army compound where we were greeted by Joy.

Our accommodation in Dar is excellent, far more than we expected, and we look forward to sharing, even briefly, with those who live and work on this compound. They include those at Territorial Headquarters, a nursery school and a primary school for disabled children. Our stay here will be brief, as we depart today and will return for Saturday and Sunday. In truth this will be our first real taste of life in Africa - yet even then we are 'protected' because of those we know who have prepared for our arrival and those gracious enough to put themselves out and open their resources to us.

What to see in Africa?

Our African destinations are determined - Tanzania and Zambia, and we have some idea of what we will be doing for some of the time. But having got to Africa we have to opportunity to visit other places on that amazing continent.

The island of Zanzibar and Victoria Falls are two places that have been suggested, and we would not want to miss the wildlife.
What else should we make sure we experience while in Africa? Any ideas?