Pre-Departure Checklist

Since I was a kid, I have always wanted to travel to Africa. My dad told me stories of his days in the Peace Corps in Swaziland and sometimes spoke to me in basic Swahili. We also watched old slideshows of pictures he took while he was working there. As soon as I came to Wartburg and learned about the ties the school has with the Maasai in Tanzania, I knew it was something I wanted to experience before I graduated.

It's hard to believe that in 5 days it will all be real. I feel like I have so much to do before I leave, but in all actuality there won't be a whole lot to pack. I'm looking forward to a month of living simply and leaving behind so many of the petty things that define our existence. A few skirts, some t-shirts, and sandals... most of which I will hopefully leave there to make room for things we will buy at the market.

The main purpose of our journey is to gain a greater understanding of the AIDS epidemic in Subsaharan Africa. We spent winter term reading books about Masaai culture and the history and spread of HIV/AIDS. I've been shocked to learn how many people die daily and how much assistance these countries are not getting that they should be. While funding to treat and prevent malaria has been given much attention in past years, HIV/AIDS has not. There is much controversy surrounding the reasoning for this, much of it seemingly stemming issues of morality and the various means of transmission of the disease.

An organization that we will be working with in Morogoro is Faraja, an AIDS relief agency whose motto is "Alleviate suffering through building self-help capacity of the affected persons". You may visit their website under my links on the left-hand side. I'm under the impression that this will be a very educational experience for us to learn more about the impact the disease has on the community and its sociological and medical implications. You can check Faraja's website out on the left-hand side under my links.

However, we will be doing other things to gain a greater sense of immersion in the Masaai culture. Most of our mornings will consist of Swahili classes, which I think will be exciting but also frustrating at times. We learned some basic Swahili phrases throughout Winter term in class, but definitely not enough to carry a conversation along. It seems that in the opinion of students who have traveled in the past, the more you attempt to communicate in Swahili, the more enjoyable and real your experience. We will spend Sundays at the village church, where hopefully we will be able to witness a baptism or another special ceremony but it sounds like certainly we will be involved in hours of singing.

The first Saturday we are there, we're scheduled to go to the Maasai Cattle Market and also the youth prison. The cattle market should be an eye-opening experience, since they are a pastoralist people and so much of their lives revolve around their cattle, goats, etc. I'm excited to learn more about some of the challenges they face with the health of their animals and zoonotic diseases (spread between human and animal) since I'm applying to veterinary school and have a strong interest in epidemiology. I am hoping to learn more about this situation while we're there, as well as the human-wildlife conflict.

Our late afternoons will be spent at the orphanages. It seems that this is one part of the trip that everyone is ridiculously excited for, and rightly so. I know I am. Everyone is bringing bubbles and stickers for the children to play with, and Dr. Strickert and people who have gone to Tanzania in the past recall how excited the kids get when they can see themselves on the "replay" setting of your camera. We will spend a few hours there hopefully most afternoons just playing with the kids. It won't hurt that the walk to the orphanage is a beautiful green hike. :)

One night, we get to sleep at the watering hole in the Mikumi game park where one year students were able to eat breakfast and watch a baby elephant nearby. I'm super excited for this part due to my love for animals, but also just being so close to nature in such a preserved area.

A project that will consume about 4 days of our trip is a building project in the village where we will be building either a church or school, although we're not sure of which yet. All the girls seem really pumped to get their hands dirty for a good cause. Our group is really neat - 12 girls, most of whom are biology majors - but all are extremely passionate about the issue we will be working for and learning about. The last thing on our itinerary is the ferry ride out to Zanzibar, where we will hopefully have the chance to snorkel and go on a spice tour.

On Tuesday the 28th, we fly out of Waterloo at 11:30 AM and up to Minneapolis. From there, we go over to Amsterdam and then fly down to Dar es Salaam at 9:50 PM where we will be staying at a Catholic Guest House. The next morning we will drive to Morogoro and head to the Lutheran Junior Seminary which we will call home for bout 3 weeks. In addition to packing, I hope to take the next few days to read up on current events in Tanz and read more about their culture since I didn't research as much as I had hoped due to the insanity of winter term. Hopefully I will post again before we leave, and if not, my next will be from Africa!

Peace,
Anna