Subject: Bukoba #12: October Obscurity

October 24, 2001

The Cyber Centre is reportedly negotiating with the Internet provider about terms, so it may be a few more weeks before we get a local Internet connection. If you e-mail, please send to gregvogl at yahoo dot com but CC: bcyberc@yahoo.com if it is urgent and not confidential. I can receive messages from my Yahoo account from the Cyber Centre for 1000/= (about $1) for three minutes, which is not bad, but only from 9 to 10 and 4:30 to 6. I try not to bother Hasnain about it as it disrupts his work, so I'll only check once a week or so and only for a few minutes for urgent messages. It's very time-consuming to get to my address book to send, so I can't send it to my list yet, and feel free to forward this message. My phone bill was 60K/= (about $70) which was reasonable considering the relatively high cost of calls to Mwanza for Internet connections earlier this month.

I finished advanced word processing and spreadsheet workshops for the Regional Office staff. They generally went well, though I have decidedly lost the initial enthusiasm. I think part of the problem is that I taught the courses almost exactly the same way the second and third times, so there was little new to be learned or suspense of how it would work. The 600K/= I earned from the courses will help a little, but the university is still trying to get significant funds on the order of 100M/=. It looks like they'll get less than that but just enough from previous local and international donors to resume work at the Kyanyi campus, squeak by the Higher Education Accreditation Council's requirements by November 27, and start classes with existing second- and third-year students in January, but the situation remains highly uncertain and subject to further delays. Another unknown factor is the international fundraiser's contract. The saga continues, ho hum...

I have been planning a computer maintenance certificate course for university students and others, to be held at a training centre in town on weekends starting this Saturday. The class was cancelled last week due to students' concerns over the costs but I hope to re-negotiate terms and start this week. I am really looking forward to the challenges of teaching what I know and learning a lot more. It is the most difficult course I have ever taught, considering I haven't taken anything like it myself and will be learning much of it alongside the students. There are a number of other challenges. Most of the computers there are at least as old and limited and varied as the computers here, they lack the systematic installations I have done here, and I am less familiar with them. At least it was encouraging to see and know that I had played a part in installing and configuring some of the software a few months ago and that the lab has been very heavily utilised since (from 8 to 8, seven days a week). If the class falls through, I'll have to hunt for students elsewhere, but I'm sure I'll have plenty of other work for awhile.

I have signed up to attend Kiswahili training in Morogoro for two weeks in early December for several reasons: I need to learn the language to better communicate with people here. I would be more systematic in learning the language there; I have not been disciplined enough here. Morogoro is somewhat relaxing, so it would be a good break from computing and other work here. Morogoro is mildly scenic and a change from Bukoba. I could socialise and network with other volunteers, especially about IT and web site projects. I do not have any University courses to teach at the time. After the workshop I could shop for work-related books and equipment and see the doctor in Dar. However, the training does have some disadvantages: I have already spent three weeks in Morogoro, which was enough time to see the sights. Morogoro is uncomfortably hot, confining, and isolated from work and communication. If I didn't go I could extend my computer maintenance course for two or three more weeks. Erik may have brought my box of equipment from Dar this week, so I might not need to go for that. I might not have much time to shop in Dar like last time (a couple hours in the late afternoon heat).

The tennis tournament has been officially scheduled for the weekend of November 4. Men were divided into four groups of five who will play each other one set each. The top two in each group will then play an elimination match of three sets, and the semi-finals and finals will also be elimination. I am seeded 11th of 20 and with luck will face Joseph in the quarter finals, but judging by his 4-0 annihilation of me last Friday, I am unlikely to get past him even though I am way more physically fit. The most likely scenario for the final four is that Zully (1) will defeat Erik (4), Per (2) will beat Joseph (3), and Zully will win the tournament. The women's tournament is a bit more uncertain, having only two groups and only about 8 participants, but I think Erin is the top seed.

I have also been running a lot lately, though it has made me addicted to a Tanzanian rehydration liquid named Chemi-cola that is like Ribena black currant but 1000/= instead of 3800/= and proportionally dodgier. I'm generally in good shape, though my back has been bothering me. My green theraband is beginning to shred and may break soon, so I could use a new one.

Last weekend I attended a volleyball tournament at Thieu's house in Muleba. It was only the second time I have been outside of Bukoba in the Kagera region. It was a pleasant drive on a rough road through a rugged but beautiful rural landscape, with rocky hills, grassy fields, banana plants, and overviews of the lake. The tournament itself was eight hours of matches in the hot and blinding sun. Our team, the Bukoba bananas, were lucky to win two of its seven games, and only won each by a small margin. I was exhausted from exertion, sunburn and dehydration, so I didn't have the energy for dancing (not even to the Africa Never Stand Still CD), but I ate a variety of good food, watched videos of the most recent Star Wars film and A Bug's Life (which was dubbed into Dutch), played a little cards, and talked to a few people. This weekend is a Hallowe'en party at Dr. Niels' house. I have been toying with a number of costume ideas, which I don't know if I'll have the time or courage to prepare: Muslim man, Muslim woman, Maasai warrior, Bukoba banana...

Professor Katoke is back from the US with many stories about the terrorist attacks. He and Jesh went to Karagwe a couple weekends ago. Jesh gave me a bag of rice to feed the chickens but said he'd leave some ugali for Chui. The chickens have been staying in a little room outside my window because the chicken box was getting soaked in the recent heavy rains (which have brought loads of pesky lake flies and mosquitoes). The first night I forgot to shut them in their room at dusk, but they went in there anyway out of habit. The next night I remembered to shut them in, though Chui growled when I approached. The following morning I tried to let the chickens out but Chui fiercely defended his birds despite my bribe of bread and water. I finally managed to let them out the next day with a similar bribe, so they were a day without food or water, but they seemed unharmed.