Another paid day off...

29/12/09

Today was another day where I did very little. I am getting quite anxious to start working at this point so I was hoping to actually make a start today. The original plan was to have a meeting with Hon. Kagasheki at 11 o’clock. As this is Africa the meeting was delayed until 1 where it was decided he will have lunch with us. The Professor and I headed to the market in search of bananas, beans and a variety of fish that resembles a mackerel, only smaller. Apparently the fish is good in soup...who am I to argue!

So after a morning of haggling and wondering around the market, which is still a sensual feast I may add, we headed back to the house for a cup of chai (tea) and little Hindi pastries that had a big chilli hit.

It was 1 o’clock exactly when Hon. Kagasheki arrived at the house. At this point we finally got some answers regarding the work that I will be doing. Not bad, only the best part of two weeks in before I get a starting point! For the next few days I will be working in Bukoba town doing an assessment of the Bukoba Development Agency’s (BDA) work. The BDA offers loans to small businesses so local people can start up their enterprises or so they can develop and expand, all with the notion of encouraging economic development in the local region. My first assignment is to examine the effectiveness of the BDA at assisting local economic development, and to offer suggestions of how the Agency can become a more efficient and effective organisation.

From the meeting it was also discussed that I will be driven down to Dar Es Salaam via Serengeti National Park, and possibly the Ngorongoro Crater. Both of these will be possibly the best part of coming to Tanzania. It is essentially going to be wildlife heaven and I will be there attempting to photograph everything as we pass through! I’d also like to see if we could swing by Mount Kilimanjaro, but that may be out of the way. I get quite distracted with all this talk of tourist activity, forgetting that I am here to work, not to play. Nevertheless I will have my fun!

So after an hour or so of discussion of politics in the local area, Hon. Kagasheki left to go to a meeting. The Professor suggested that I should make a trip to the BDA to introduce myself, and I fancied the use of the internet, so we trotted off to town for the second time that day. There was no response from the BDA so I went off about my internet duties. As I was waiting for a lift back to the house (which I have recently discovered is in a place called Ntungamo) I was greeted by a young girl of about 6 or 7 years. Tanzania has a vast array of greetings for both formal and informal meetings, and I was greeted with “Shikamo” which is the most respectful of all the greetings I knew. This took me back a bit and I could only say thank you in return. I bet she wished she’d greeted me with the standard “Habari” instead.
Eventually the car arrived and then we headed back to Ntungamo for a relaxed evening of nothingness. I feel I should tell you a bit about Professor Maliyamkono’s car. It is a white Ford Everest, a 4x4 of some description. It is spacious, monstrous, and powerful. It also has blue number plates of a differing format to the average cars. The car is actually a diplomat’s car, as the Professor is considered to be a diplomat in his own country. I am not sure how this works but it basically means that random police spot checks will never stop the car, speeding is often overlooked (unless it is very dangerous), and issues of insurance and tax are dealt with by the state, not the ‘owner’. I often feel like a very important person when I am driven around sitting in the back seat. Not many people seem to care that much though.

Well that’s enough about the day where nothing too exciting happened! I start work tomorrow...almost definitely...so I should have something else to talk about then!