Kingiti and Ben's last night in Mpwapwa
on Kev in Tanzania (Tanzania), 07/Aug/2009 05:20, 34 days ago
A night in real rural Tanzania…Sunday 1st AugustWent to see Matayo in the morning and buy our bus tickets to Kingiti. Bought some supplies and then popped back home with Thads bike which he left at the market for Matayo to watch.Went back and met Matayo for lunch at Hafuns and then we got on the bus we had to wait a while for the bus to fill which is typical for Africa, they do not leave until full, making the most of the space!Bus trip was 2 hours– lots of stops in tiny rural villages – the countryside is very dry, possibly even drier than Mpwapwa town– they were growing plants in the river bed at Gulway near the station, a very sensible use of the land.We jumped off at Kingiti– walked to Bens to see people all around the house ‘Helping’ or taking things – most of the things he had given but people were stealing – no surprise though as they have so little. Ben’s rubbish was worth taking to someone!Drunk guys showed up (most men in Kingiti are drunk) and were rambling in Kiswahili or Kigogo it was hard to tell…After clearing out the house (apart from Bens travel bag, a bed, table and water bucket) the people wandered off back to their homes. We went with Ben on a farewell tour and got to meet some of his friends. It was quite emotional for Ben and nice to see how he had fitted into the community.Nearly everyone in the village has an illness, there were children with no arms, lots of blind people and people with bad legs/limps. Life really is hard out there in the villages, with proper medical services I am sure most of these things could have been avoided.People kiss your hand when they greet you, Matayo and I found this a little uncomfortable but when in Rome right…There is a giant cactus near Ben’s house and I went over to take a look at it, it was so big it looked like a big tree! Really beautiful and stunning to see.Just it was getting dark we went inside to wait for some of Ben’s friends to bring us our dinner. Ben said goodbye to Casey, a deaf mute who he has been looking after since his drunk mum abandoned him. Poor Casey knew something was up and started wailing outside lying with his face in the dirt. Ben got upset and let him in, we gave him some of our food andhe stayed the night.Ben was worried that when he leaves Casey will starve, Ben had been his main source of care and food. He was happy to be in the house with us and he was playing with Ben’s cats and tortoises. Ben did say that Casey would sometimes be so hungry he would try and eat the cat food and waste from his compost heap. It was really moving to see them both interact, Ben was like a father for Casey.To pass the time in the evening, Matayo and I played scrabble, Ben just talked and listened to music. We had bought a few beers with us and wanted to stay up late as we would be sleeping on the floor!We went to get some more beers and after drinking them too we went to bed at around 2am, Matayo and I were catching the bus at 6am so we did not get much sleep that night…Monday 2nd AugustCaught the bus back fine and it was nice to wake up early and see the stars, I could see Orion again which was nice and reminded me of home.Ben gave me 2 tortoises to keep and I sat on the bus with them in a little cardboard box– very Tanzanian – might take them to Pemba with me if I can!Sleep on the bus on the way back and once in Mpwapwa we went to Hafuns for breakfast at 8am.After breakfast I walked home, popped into work and then went home for an afternoon nap!I put the tortoises in with the chickens which was amusing as they were slightly wary of them. The chickens were looking ill, I thought whatever the new cock had he has given it to them…In the evening as it was Ben’s last day in Mpwapwa we went to Matayo’s parent’s house and they made a little feast for us all – it was lovely and good fun to meet his parents again.Ben is trying to get Casey enrolled in a deaf school in Dodoma. Matayo and I are going to help and if he cannot get admitted there I was talk to EOTAS (who Saskia worked for) to try and get him in another school in Dodoma. It would be nice to make a real difference to this kid and give him the chance to communicate by teaching him sign language!That is the update for the weekend…There is bad news with the chickens…Take care