It's great to be back in Arusha

“Are you crazy?” “Yep, you’re a strange one!” “and why would you want to go back to Tanzania?”

Yeah, these comments might not have been often said to my face when I was back in Australia during July, but I’m pretty sure there was more than one person thinking it. And I’ll admit that on that first night last month when I arrived alone in Dar es Salaam, I was pretty nervous and felt like the same green traveller I was when I first arrived in Tanzania a few years ago. But it was amazing how quickly that feeling of apprehension was replaced with a feeling of welcomeness and sincerity when I settled onto the bus for the 10 hour bus ride back up to Arusha.

It is defiantly a strange thing to explain, and something I will rarely try and do, but to me, there was no doubt about returning to Arusha to continue the foodwatershelter work that all of us and Daz have been so passionate about. Even when I was in my room getting a few things organised to return to Australia in early July, I knew that I was wasting my time by packing and that I would soon be back in Arusha.

If I thought that the 10 hour bus ride was a nice reintroduction to Tanzanian life, then nothing could have prepared me for what it would be like returning to our little community in Sinon. I felt spoilt, but very honoured to be the first fws volunteer to return after our sudden departure. The June 30th events had not only left the community reeling with shock, anger and sadness for our loss of Darren, but had left them very uncertain about their future. Mama’s and children who had been promised an offer of a better chance in life, men who had been offered secure income and training, and a community that were building a community centre to be proud of – all saw these faltering. Would the Kesho Leo common room and community centre that Daz and the men had worked so hard on be left almost finished? Would the mama’s and children return to their uncertain, vulnerable lives? Would all those Tanzanian-Western relationships and friendships be lost? There were so many uncertainties and fears that have only been recently eased by our return.

Those first couple of days in the community were amazing and honestly one of the best days of my life. There is always doubt that you can make a difference to peoples lives, but after the past month there is no doubt in my mind. There were many tears at our return both in happiness and also that enduring sense of loss for Daz. There were so many handshakes, greetings and welcomes, despite the fact that my grasp of Kiswahili hadn’t improved. There were hugs from the mama’s and I couldn’t believe that Elizabeth and Maswai would be so happy when I asked if they wanted to return to work to wash my dirty clothes – something that to them was a sign of our return and a return to some income, despite the fact that to me it now feels like paying a friend to do my chores.

A Sunday afternoon spent having a few quiet sparkling ales with Nalasco and his family included 5 year old Privitas entering the house with a framed photo of Daz and proudly stating – “Number One”. A couple more ales later and the neighbouring grandmother entered the house complaining about her lazy husband, and spotting me, stopped in her tracks, gave me a big hug and then went into a long narrative of how Daz had once helped her climb into the back of our ute for a lift to town. Yep, the complaining soon started again, but was later disturbed when she returned with a beer for me – a big honour when you compare the price of beer with the local farmers’ income.

And this is what the past six weeks have been like. Yes, the dynamics of our project have been a little different during this time, but ever so slowly they are getting back on track. Mama’s lessons are back in full-swing with English, parenting and environmental lessons. The labourers are more passionate about their work and prouder than ever, attending free maths and English classes, and feeling more like friends every day. Eve, my new permaculture volunteer, has been doing a great job working with Elvis and the mamas to get our first farm green and productive rather than just having a lot of holes dug. And finally a new building team have returned and generated such a positive feeling on their third day on site when the two shipping containers were lifted into place in front of a large crowd of mama’s, labourers and neighbours, signifying the recommencement of building.

Yep, this place will never be the same without Daz around and at least for the short-term, many of the project, community and volunteer dynamics have changed, but it is still amazing to be back. More than ever we feel part of the community here and I don’t know whether I have ever felt so welcome. More than ever things are looking positive for the future.



Rob Cork
fws environmental engineer
robert.cork@foodwatershelter.org.au