Birds Flyin' High...: Mambo Viewpoint Week 2: challenges are revealed!

In my second week I really got down to some hard work on the computer lessons project, and it proved to be a lot more challenging than I’d originally anticipated! There were a few specific issues.

First off, most of the people taking the class will have never seen a computer before in their lives, so the training needs to cover things like how to turn on the computer, how to use a mouse, how to type, etc. It’s really difficult to identify of all those little things which I just do on auto-pilot, and then to think of how to explain them to a complete beginner. I also discovered that the computer teacher, Henrish, doesn't know all that much about computers. Well, it’s all relative of course. He knows more than most other people here, but he’d still be classed as a complete beginner in any other situation. What he does know, he’s taught himself, which means he sometimes has a really round-about way of doing something very straight-forward. Also while he knows how to do a few relatively advanced things, he's missing some of the real fundamentals. It’s difficult to figure out what he does and doesn't know, due to the third and potentially biggest issue: communication. His English is good, but not great. It took me a while to figure that out as he is constantly smiling and nodding and agreeing with me and it was only after we had several incidences of crossed wires, that I realised he must have misunderstood half of what I'd said. Oh and he’s not a natural teacher... and neither am I!

Having had a chat with him about teaching methods, we agreed that the best option would be for me to create some training materials in PowerPoint. I spent about three solid days creating upwards of 90 slides. I used to create a lot of presentations in my old job so I like to think I'm pretty good at it (although I've always been known to spend way to long perfecting minor details) and these were definitely Google-standard slides! There were simple images and diagrams that the students would be able to compare with what was on their screens, and really detailed speaking notes below, so that in theory all Henrish would have to do was translate them and then pretty much read them out word for word while presenting the slide. I even created some practice exercises for the students at the end of each new topic, so we could see check that they'd understood.

(Some unrelated but nice photos:)

Moody's acrobats practice somersaults on the trampoline

The trampoline is behind my tent and I often hear squeals and giggles coming from that direction

This little girl never stops smiling and laughing

Trampoline fun!

Finally towards the end of the week it was time to start practising. For this I enlisted the help of Niek, who is fluent in Swahili. The idea was that Niek would pretend to be a complete beginner, Henrish would take him through the course and Niek would give us both feedback. We began… and my heart sank. Henrish had the PowerPoint facing towards himself and used it to jog his own memory of what to say, but didn't show it to the “student” once. My carefully designed slides were wasted! He also ignored the speaking notes and chose to ad lib... with limited success. It was also at this point that I realised the extent of our communication breakdown. Each time I made a comment or suggestion, Henrish asked Niek what I'd said, implying that he probably hadn't really understood me when we'd been working alone! Argh!

By mid-week the whole thing was starting to get me down a bit - not least because I was spending entire days sitting in front of the computer which was making me extremely tired and making my eyes ache. I used to suffer from those things when I was at work and it’s been so nice to have a break from it over the last year. I've really loved spending every day outside instead of stuck in an office staring at a screen, and I have noticed the difference in myself, both physically and mentally. I'm not quite sure what this means for my career in online marketing…!

On Wednesday afternoon I decided to take a break and headed over to the village of Mtae with Julian, who was giving a talk to the local farmers. The talk was held in the local primary school and there were about 25 farmers in attendance, of which around 5 were women. Also in attendance were the local vet and Mr Hoza, a Mambo Viewpoint employee who works closely with Julian and oversees the projects when he's not around. This is Julian’s 6th visit to Mambo. Initially he set up women's groups in each village and taught them to make fresh yoghurt and cheese, to sell locally.

Julian handing over yoghurt culture, at the Sunga Women's Group
(photo borrowed from Julian's blog at wanderer-wonders.blogspot.com)

Although he is still involved with the women's groups, Julian's main focus now is on helping farmers to get more milk from their cows. The project is entitled “Happy Cows, Happy Farmers” and is based on the premise that if the farmers treat their cows well they’ll produce more milk, which in turn will make the farmers happy.

There are 5 vital things which the cows need: green grass, clean water, salt, shelter and… love. (Classic moment: Julian explained each thing in turn and at the end of the section he’d ask: “Does anyone have any questions about green grass?”, “Does anyone have any questions about clean water?” etc. I had to stop myself from raising my hand when he asked “Does anyone have any questions about love?”! )

I found the talk really interesting and took loads of notes! (Not really sure why, but you never know when it might come in handy!) It was also just nice to observe the dynamic in the room. Most of the farmers were quite shy at first but there were a few outspoken ones and gradually more and more came out of their shell. Soon the room was buzzing with energy and the questions were flying. Towards the end it started pouring with rain and since there was a tin roof it was almost too noisy to hear Julian speak so they all stood and crowded around his desk. They were leaning in as far forward as possible and hanging on his every word. I felt a bit emotional… you could see just how keen they were to learn and try to improve and make a better life for themselves. Some of the farmers are feeding their cows with dead grass and give them water which has been used for washing clothes. Most are getting 2 or 3 litres of milk a day at the moment, but could be getting double or triple that, if they just take better care of the cow. All good stuff and it was really nice to get out and see the real impact of these projects again, and remind myself why I am here.

At the Farmers' Meeting in Mtae

We hung around for a while after the meeting as there was quite a downpour and the car was parked quite a way away. All of the farmers wanted to know who I was and what I was doing and there was a lot of interest in the computer lessons! One farmer told Mr Hoza that his wife would like to invite me to lunch if I came again (she was sitting there next to her husband but was too shy to speak!). It was a very touching experience all round.

Finally we made a dash for the car and started back towards Mambo. Now, Marion and Herman always say that when they were working in other development organisations they were disheartened by the amount of money which was spent on flashy 4X4s, etc. It makes me chuckle, as it seems here they have gone to the other extreme. The organisation has 2 cars: a Suzuki and a Landrover and both are literally falling apart. On this occasion we were in the Suzuki, which has no reverse gear, no throttle and the windows don’t do up, so it was a wet and bumpy journey back. Along the way we picked up a few other people who were walking to Mambo (a 2-hour journey on foot) but we passengers had to get out and walk a few times as the car couldn’t go up-hill with our weight in it! We were soaking wet by the time we finally got back home and ready for a nice hot meal!

One of the other interesting things at the meeting was that one of the female farmers was complaining that her cow wouldn't drink water, and she said that she thought it might be due to witchcraft. This is a very real fear in these parts. In fact the women’s group in Mambo have recently become very afraid of carrying their home-made yoghurt from the village to the lodge (to sell it), as they believe there are witches living on the road and that they will curse the yoghurt and make it turn bad. They now give the yoghurt to small boys to carry, as apparently the witches can’t harm them. It seems that the problem is really a result of jealousy – some of the others in the village resent their success and are trying to sabotage it. But it’s sad that this fear is so real to them. Quite a hard thing to understand, although I guess it was only a few hundred years ago that we had suspected witches in England too!

Also of note this week were some lovely guests, Cécile and Olivier, a French couple now living in Botswana. They were really nice people and we had a lot of laughs in the evenings around the dining table. They had been working in office jobs in Paris but then having decided that there was more to life, they packed it all in and moved to Botswana to set up a safari company. Now they’re planning to set up another travel company in France and split their time equally between the two countries. I couldn't help but feel inspired!

Since it takes quite an effort to make the journey to Mambo Viewpoint, those that do come are invariably really interested in nature or local culture. They’re often working in the fields of Biology, Botany, Medicine etc. I love it when people are passionate about something – usually when we finally hit on that subject they don’t stop talking about it, and I learn a lot! I'm also really lucky in that I get on really well with the other two volunteers. Niek’s passions are English Landrovers and Acrobatics (he doesn't need much encouragement to start walking around on his hands!). Julian’s passions are cows, pure and simple. I really enjoy their company. It’s a very nice feeling to sit around the fire in the evenings and chat, over a wine or beer or cup of tea. It really does feel like a little family.

I'm also getting to know the staff a bit better and know their different personalities and joke around with them a bit more. It’s a really nice atmosphere. There’s Asnath and Hatibo who work in the kitchen – very young and a little shy, but with big smiles! There’s Mr Hoza who is trying to teach me Swahili. There’s Peter who works in the restaurant and at first seems very serious but having noticed a twinkle in his eye I have decided he's actually just good at deadpan. He knows about my love of avocados and mangoes and always gives me a secret smile when they appear on the dining table! There’s Saidi the chef who cooks the most amazing dinners including cheesy mash this week, which was a real treat! And of course my old friend Ndege who is just one of the loveliest people I've ever met…. still working hard on his website which is looking really impressive now. He can tell when it’s going to rain due to the pressure behind his eyes. He knows everything about the local area and birds and wildlife. His name even means “Bird” in Swahili.

At the end of the week, Julian and I had an overnight visit to Mambo Cliff Inn – a brand new lodge which Ndege has built, just at the bottom of the slope on which Mambo Viewpoint sits. I've been helping Ndege a bit with his online marketing and felt that it was only right that I should experience the place first-hand! It’s aimed at a slightly more budget market than Mambo Viewpoint but it has so much character and has been built with a lot of thought and dedication and of course the view is just stunning. One of the advantages over Mambo Viewpoint is that the main restaurant/ bar area faces the view and it was just wonderful to sit out on the terrace with a nice cold Kilimanjaro beer and watch the sun go down.

A beautiful spot for a beer

I feel very lucky to be staying in such a beautiful and special place. Whenever I'm wandering around the property I look around me and smile. The air is fresh and clean and smells of eucalyptus and bark. At night, the sky is a blanket of stars. I love being up at this height, where some of the clouds are below us and we see so many weather patterns each day. A blue sky and scorching sun can disappear behind a white mist of cloud within half an hour. Storms are sudden and occasionally violent, but usually over quickly. We often have rainbows and this week we had two beautiful ones, where the whole arc was visible. The first was even a double rainbow! It really does feel like we’re at the top of the world here!