Settling in at the University of Dar Es Salaam

• Glynnja's Profile
• About this blog
• Entry from Dar Es Salaam

Trip Start Aug 08, 2006 Previous
Entry Trip End Jun 12, 2007 Next
Entry

  Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
Thursday, August 24, 2006

Hi All,

I have been in Dar Es Salaam now for two weeks and I'm still settling in.  It's definitely going to take some time.  Thank you all for your emails and messages. It's so nice to hear about what's going on at home and to stay in touch.  Just to let you know, I have a new phone number 011 255 786 298 153.  I was having trouble with my other sim card and this one allows me to text message the states!  So call or text me!

After much deliberation, I have decided to stay with the Reverend Ngao and his family on campus.  With the homestay, I have three good meals a day, my own room, a nice family and I get to practice my Swahili.  In the dorms, I would have lived with students but it really hasn't been hard to meet people and I think when classes start it will be even easier

Church in the Uliguru mountains

.

During the last week or so, I've been attending my Swahili course and working on registering for classes.  The structure here is a bit different then in the US and by different I mean there is none.  First, you have to wait in several lines to pay fees, get a student ID, and register as an incoming student.  After that, to find out what classes are offered, you must go to each department individually.  It is best to register for tons of classes because the meeting times are not yet set and change quite frequently.  The university will then (next week) post the first draft of the timetable which tells you what time the classes are held. The timetable is then revised two times depending on how many students show up for the classes, what classrooms are available, and what classes are dropped.  I'm lucky that I'm a postgraduate student because there are fewer of us so the lines are shorter.  I've heard of undergraduate students waiting several hours a day to do something as simple as take their photo for their student ID.  One day they will come for 5 hours and not get it and then return the next day to wait in line again.  Resources and staff are spread thin so it takes more to get something simple done.  However, I did successfully register for classes and hope that they will begin next week and be set by the end of September.

It's interesting to read about the Institute of Development Studies (the department I am taking my courses in).  It was opened in the 1970's and in the beginning taught mostly about communism and socialism as methods of development.  In the 60s and 70s (right after independence), the President of Tanzania, Nyerere tried to implement a socialist framework for the country by dividing everyone up into organized communities that would support themselves independently.  This plan included relocation of families and people to different parts of the country.  I had read negative comments about the process before but from here it seems that people look back to the Nyerere era positively.  In the end, the programs or communities did not work out as Nyerere had hoped but still made some positive contributions to development.  The Institute no longer teaches communism or socialism but professors who attended classes in the era reminisce about the coursework

Hiking in the Uliguru Mountains

. These days international development looks more at methods of poverty reduction internationally and locally. The basic idea is to help countries use their resources available most efficiently (which is easier said then done).

On a personal note, I learned last week that I will probably be able to complete my masters in Development Studies from UDSM if I finish my coursework and fieldwork in this year and then write my dissertation from home.  The first idea that I had for my dissertation would be 'access to justice in Tanzania' which most likely stems from my time at the Pro Bono Institute, but there is still plenty of time for me to figure out what to write on.  Let me know if you have any suggestions!  I'd love to find funding for the extra tuition ($2,000 or so).

Other interesting things I have learned in Tanzania:  Tanzanian time is measured differently.  Tanzanians start the day at 7:00 am and they call this 1:00 in the morning (moja asubuhi).  The day progresses on 1:00 - 12:00 until 7:00 p.m. when it becomes 1:00 at night (moja jioni).  In this way they count 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night.  It's quite interesting but makes it very important to clarify what time of day it is.  If you give American/European time then you'll need to add 6 hours to find out what hour it is in Tanzanian time.  You'll also hear people tell time by events.  The sun is straight above so it must be near noon or the cows are coming home so it must be near 7:00

huts on the beach at kipepeo

.

Side story: The other day the reverend had another reverend over for lunch.  This pastor has a daughter who goes to school in the states, Wesleyan.  He was raving about the United States and it was very interesting the way that he talked about.  He said that he had stayed there for two months traveling the east coast visiting friends and family and what he found so amazing were the road overpasses and the fact that traffic was so organized, the mail system ("they bring it right to your door step"), and the police response  ("if you call 911, the police, ambulance, and fire truck will be there in five minutes!").  It was interesting to notice that it wasn't 'things' that he raved about but instead the 'efficiency of process'.  I think that it made a good point about what some people don't understand about Africa.  The processes are here and have been for many years but the support and follow-up are often abandoned and don't work as well as they could.  It's one of the reasons that I wanted to participate in this culture at the University level where ideas are created and find my place from there.

Activites: Last weekend I went on a trip with some of the students from the Swahili course to Morogoro which is 3 hours west of Dar Es Salaam.  It's a small town but has some shops and restaurants, if you can find them.  We went on a small safari in Mkumi national park but we were in a bus so we didn't see much and did get suck in the sand which turned out to be the biggest adventure of the day.  We also went hiking in the Uliguru mountains which were fascinating because there are many villages in these mountains and even though we hiked for 7 hours there were still villages that high up.  It was amazing how resourceful the local people were with agriculture and irrigation.  Steep mountain sides were full of carrots, green beans, and other vegetation that they were growing successfully

Stuck in the sand!

. There were also churches, schools, and stores up in the mountains, the steep mountains.

Lastily: I know that my good friend, Mary, was particularly worried about my bathroom situation so to fill her in:  I do have a shower although there is no curtain or hot water. Sometimes I boil water and mix it with cold water to make a warm sponge bath.  I do have a flushing toilet and running water which are both great luxuries.  If I didn't live in the city, I probably would have access to running water.  In fact, in poor areas and townships, people will pay 4 times as much money for water as you yourself do.  It's a high demand commodity but the resources to deliver it are not available.  I actually came here with the assumption that the local people would drink the water but in fact no one drinks the water from the tap -- instead they boil it or buy bottled water.  I thought that only I would have to treat the water because I wasn't accustomed to it but that isn't the case -- everyone does. Also, the bathroom facilities on campus aren't very sanitary.  The plumbing doesn't work correctly so the floor commodes aren't flushed.  It makes quite a mess and quite a smell. It's another example of the resource being available but not properly maintained.

Thank you for reading this far.  I had a lot to say this week.  I think it's just everything setting in.   Please keep up the emails and messages. Ninapenda kusoma emails yako!  I love to read your emails!  Kwaheri!

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

View from Uliguru Mountains

Slideshow Print this entry Share Dar es Salaam hotels

Previous Entry Next Entry