Arusha & the SOS Village

So I was lucky enough to arrive at Kilimanjaro International Airport and have my 3 friends waiting for me with accommodation for the night already arranged. The Kili Airport is at the end of a "T" in the road halfway between Moshi (staging town for Kili) and Arusha (staging town for safaris).

It takes about 90 minutes to get from the airport to Arusha and 90 minutes from Arusha to Moshi...including stops to take photos of Kili who every once in a while flashes her grandeur from behind a thick pile of cloud.

The next day we spent visiting the SOS Village - which was no small task to find - and running errands before decamping to Moshi. Never having been to an SOS Village I found the visit fantastic. There are 10 homes in a village; each with 10 children - 6 boys/4 girls or 6 girls/4 boys - and a house mother. Beyond my incredulity at parenting 10 children is doing laundry - by hand - for 10 children! (Granted African children don't have wardrobes the size of Canadian kids, but nonetheless this is a major task.) Touring the laundry room reminded me of Aunt Bonnie's stories about Grandma Lyla and how when they got a washing machine (in a 7 person household) grandma suddenly had some leisure time.

Next we went to a preschool class (3 year olds) to play. Farhad caused near pandemonium by showing the kids his digital camera and pictures of them and Paula delighted them when she let them play with her shoulder-length hair.

Finally, we visited a daycare in town that provides family assistance. The HIV/AIDS infection rate in Tanzania is significant. Even if children are not orphaned, they may be receiving reduced care and resources because their parents are unable to work outside the home. As Stephen Lewis has highlighted, many of the children are cared for by grandmothers who are often widowed and of limited means. The daycare is meant to fill the gap - to ensure the children are fed and engaged. A few of the 100 children at the daycare are themselves HIV/AIDS positive - and you can see how sick they are - but SOS has chosen to keep them in the community and care for them as well.

It was an amazing day...that I had the opportunity to reflect on earlier this week. At the hotel we stayed at in Arusha (post-safari) there was an FAO meeting on AIDS and Agriculture and I had the opportunity to chat to a couple of people. The point is that AIDS impacts most significantly the most productive age group...in farming this is a big deal...it results in a knowledge gap and languishing field productivity.  More info is meant to be available at FAO's website.