The sleeping dog, never supposed to be allowed inside the door but got further and further in each day to sleep in strange positions!
I've just moved out of the one-room in Banana with Simon, bringing the whole chapter to a close... I really haven't been one for commitment!
So, now I'm living back on school grounds but still spending most of my time with Alfan in hospital. I moved him to a private hospital which I will somehow pay for, as I discovered that he was receiving the wrong treatment... despite my many appointments and consultations and investigations to make sure it was all right!
I took him to a visiting specialist on Saturday and had another x-ray and things hadn't improved as well as they should have (due to the wrong weight in traction) so I moved him and things improved overnight!
I have just found out about my IMPOSSIBLE ticket:
For the last few weeks I have been told again and again that my only option was to leave here on the 17th Dec, spend a useless (and expensive) week in Thailand before leaving on Christmas Day to get to Sydney on 26th.
I asked just one more time to changed (I've asked over 20 times since May) and now at lease I can have that extra week here with friends instead of somewhere in limbo. I still won't get to Sydney until 26th but I'm much happier. It won't cost as much either.
So, Christmas on planes and in airports! They had better give me champagne!

Another Murder of a Neighbour

It turns out that a man I share a key with (to our nine-room compound) was shot a killed by police in town a week ago. He was a thief in a gang and was planning to rob a shop in town somewhere, however the police knew about it and went beforehand. The gang had guns and so the police shot 2 of the members - one being my neighboure, Gaspar.
His wife, family and friends had no idea that he was a thief and the police only managed to inform them of his death on Monday. His wife had a baby 3 weeks ago, their first.
So, only having known him by sight and a few greetings as we passed each other around the homes, I wasn't too upset but I feel enormously sorry for his wife and baby.
I was quite uncomfortable on Monday evening listening to the wailing and crying right outside my door. It is common for EVERYONE to visit, even if you didn't know the deceased or the family. So the mourners split into 2 groups, male and female. The women wail and cook and talk inside the home while the men play cards and talk outside... until well after midnight. The next day it begins again. There are some things I just can't get involved in no matter how hard I gear myself up... I just would know what to say (in Swahili?) or how to just be around people I didn't know for hours on end in that strange circumstance, so I just went to bed. Simon on the other hand gets really involve... almost excited byt the whole thing and is gone for hours or days.
I really miss home and want to leave but now I'm beginning to think that once I'm home I'll really miss Tanzania... because I'm so attached to some of the people here... especially the children. When will I ever find the balance.

Hospital Life

It's been weeks since I last updated my blog, more than 3 weeks in fact.
I have spent most of the time with Alfani in hospital, helping and keeping him company.
It's a very hands off approach here, so I introduced massage and exercises for his arms and legs, both good leg and bad. He has 2 more weeks in traction. I've also been giving him tuition everyday so that he can still sit his exams and go on to class 6. I was going in every morning, very early to take tea and food for breakfast and helping him clean his teeth, wash his face etc. I would set work for him them that i would correct in the evening when I was back again. Nowdays a nun is helping by going in the mornings and I'm going in the evenings. So anyone who knows me well would know how hard it was for me to get up before 6am for 3 weeks, EVERYDAY!!!
I was shocked, worried and very concerned that he wasn't getting the right treatment in the first 2 weeks so I emailed medical friends, sought out the hospital's physio and then took his xray to my Dr to get reassurance and details. I was especially worried that the plaster cast was below the knee with the steel nail thing throught the bone below the knee, but his break was above the knee. My Dr reassured me that htis was the best available here (he has worked in the UK) so I had to accept it and make the best of it all. The Dr also suggested the types of exercises and how to prevent him getting bedsores etc. The most important thing is to keep his spirits up so each school day I was organising that 2 teachers and 6 fellow classmates visited at lunchtime on the school bus. Almost every teacher has been to visit now (some whether they liked it or not) and all classmates have been 2 or 3 times. I try to get him to laugh a lot and we spend ages giggling, drawing silly pictures etc. He is keeping up in his schoolwork and keeping his muscles fit.
I look forward to going there everyday and he says he likes my company so it's nice to have such a meaningful purpose during my last few months here.
Another distraction has been that the school inspectors visited our school and put the pressure on. They wanted to check each individual lesson plan, log book and report written by every teacher etc etc. They wanted to hear the school band play (the one Gemma didn't like with recorders in it) they gave us points for the music and were very impressed that I knew the words in Swahili of the national anthem and the patriotic song (because I had to teach it so many times). So, I was back in the 'wonderful' books again.
I'll have to start packing soon, after I finish writing the 700 reports for music classes and then again in Swahili, then write my homeroom reports and all other end of year paperwork.
I can't get a ticket until Dec 17th then I have to wait in Bankok until 25th... the last thing I want to do... so if anyone wants to join me for a Christmas holiday in Thailand, I'd love it!
I helped to organise a charity visit to the hospital today to give the gifts that the St Jude's children brought in as a thanksgiving. We went all around the different wards, HIV, Malaria, pediatric even premature and maternity. I was allowed into the labour ward (no students) to give the gifts in there, but I thought it was not the right time to be visiting them. about 10 women in 1 room, mostly naked in the middle of giving birth... screams and all! Very graphic!! and very smelly! As 1 woman finished another was put on the same bed straight away, no cleaning in between. The baby is wrapped in a kanga (brightly coloured cloth used for everything in this country), given back to the mother and she's sent to the next room for the rest of the day. So many babies!!!
There'll be pictures of all the gift giving in the next St Jude's newsletter.

Hospital Life no 1

Weeks have passed since my last update... in fact more than 3 weeks! Most of the time I have been with Alfani in hospital. I was getting up very early in the morning and going with tea and food for his breakfast everyday... For anyone who knows me well, you'll kKnow that this nearly killed me... I'm not a morning person! I'd be able to spend 45 minutes helping him brush his teeth, wash his face, go to the toilet and then eat and drink. The hospital staff do not help with any of these things.
I'd then set him some school work to complete by lunch and then more for the afternoon, sometimes adding artistic projects as well.
In the first 3 weeks I arranged that 6 or so classmates visited him at lunch going on the school bus and back in time for the last 2 lessons. The classmates are only going twice a week now
I always go back in the afternoon or evening, depending when I finish work. I correct his schoolwork and work through a series of exercises for his arms, stomach and good leg, then stretching. We even have some muscle strengthening exercises for his broken leg.
In the first week I was shocked, worried and concerned, especially with my little medical knowledge. I had noticed that the plaster cast was on his lower leg with the steel nail through the lower leg-bone, but I knew that the break was in the upper leg. I sought advice everywhere. I emailed medical friends, arranged to see a physiotherapist of the same hospital (who assured me of the opposite of which had actually been done) and then I took his xray to a very good Dr and he reassured me and gave me all the details, exercises etc.
It's completely hands-off treatment here, so I also introduced daily massage and encouraged laughing at all moments. I look forward to going there everyday and am very grateful for such a meaningful purpose in my last few months here.
So, Alfani has 2 more weeks in traction and then on crutches for some time.
The other distraction has been that we had the school inspectors arrive at St Jude's. They went through all individual lesson plans, teaching logbooks, copies of reports etc etc. They interviewed some teachers and students and asked to see everything! I had to get the school to sing the National Anthem with the school band (the band with the recorders and drums that Gemma didn't like so much earlier this year) plus other patriotic songs and the school song. Apparently all of this singing earned the school many points and I was in the 'wonderful' books again. Yes, the inspectors issue points for all things, what kind of book covers, furniture etc. We got 89 points out of 100 which is a grade 1. Apparently there is only one other school in Arusha that is a grade 1 and it's an international school so we were proud... all great except for the bribery!!!
Our 4th Graders are sitting their national exam next week, the one they have been tormented by all year, staying back all hours and on Saturdays to study for. They get one school day off after the exams then back to school to work for the end-of-year school exams... meanwhile, this year's class 3's are going to be staying back after school instead ready for next year!!!
I begin writing my 700 reports in English next week, then to write them again in Swahili. I also have my homeroom reports which are more detailed.
Then I'll have to start packing to come home, even though I can't get a ticket until 17th Dec, then to arrive on 26th in Sydney! I'll have to wait a week in Bankok... the last thing I want to do... so if anyone wants a pre-Christmas holiday and wants to join me in Thailand I'd love it!
Meanwhile my drumming lessons are going very well and I'm writing everything down so I can remember all the traditional rhythms when I get back to Australia.
I can't wait to get home, miss everyone and everything,
love Em