Everything is still going very well in Zanzibar. It’s hard to believe that I’m almost halfway done with my trip!
We just finished selecting the 8 new scholars. We delivered their acceptance letters to them today, and their smiles were so bright and excited when we delivered the good news. A few girls got teary, and when I saw their reactions, I felt like we all understood the magnitude these scholarships have to change their lives. It was difficult for us to choose the scholars: we went on home visits to each of their houses and met their families before making our final decisions. While going to their houses meant that we understood each girl’s situation better and gave us an opportunity to have a more candid conversation with each girl and her family, the home visits made the decision much more personal and difficult to make. Out of 10 finalists, we gave out 8 scholarships. The two girls who did not get the scholarship were still very deserving and intelligent. I hope they continue to work toward their goals. Even among the girls we fund, we walk a fine line between empowering the girls to create their own change and reinforcing the image of the patriarchal white foreigner who can help them succeed. I do not want to discourage girls who do not get the scholarship from pursuing their goals because our decision is not a final ultimatum on their ability to become a leader in this community. But all this aside, I really feel very good about the girls we chose and the organization’s presence in Zanzibar.
Despite the fact that it’s supposedly the dry season, it rained buckets last night and late into the morning. The rain is very noisy here because the roofs are made of metal. The sound of the rain combined with the regular sound of the call-to-prayer over the loud speakers of 7 competing neighborhood mosques creates quite a cacophony. The call-to-prayer really does happen five times a day here: at 5:30, 9:30, 12:45, 6:30 and 8:30. You can’t miss it. If you’re in the market, business stops as all the men rush to the mosque to prayer for a few minutes. The women don’t seem to observe the call-to-prayer in the same regimented way: they don’t go to the mosques, so they’ll pray at home between cooking, cleaning, and taking care of their children/siblings. But when it rained today, things kept going around Zanzibar. We walked for about 30 minutes in the rain, and the roads became rivers of sewage and cloudy water. We were already soaked when Kathleen—one of the girls I’m traveling and working with—fell into a pothole that was concealed by the deep water and became drenched and dirty from the waist down. At least the rain cools down the temperature: it’s been in the mid-80s for the past few weeks, and there’s no air-conditioning anywhere. That’s Zanzibar for you!
On Sunday we went over to the home of one of our scholars, a girl in Form IV named R (I’m not going to use her full name because I want to respect her privacy). She’s about six months older than my brothers, but she’s living alone in a house adjacent to her brothers’ house. Up until a few months ago, she lived with her family in a different house, but now the family is split up. It was sobering for us to spend time with R, who is an effervescent, chatty girl. Her English is very good, and we enjoyed talking with her about her aspirations, school, and her observations about Zanzibari culture. She taught us how to cook pilau, a spicy rice dish. What we realized after talking to R and going on home visits is that there is so much need in Zanzibar, even among people who are considered “middle class” by Zanzibari standards. We also have a better perspective of how difficult life is here, especially for women. Women are responsible for cooking, cleaning, taking care of the family, etc. Most women cook outside over tiny charcoal stoves. Washing machines are non-existent, and most people don’t even have easy access to clean water with which to clean the clothes, to cook, and to bathe(cholera and malaria are big problems here). The distances between work, school, and home are vast, and many cannot afford to take the dala dala—the public bus that costs about 20 cents a ride. Men are less encumbered, and they exercise clear power over the women in politics, home life, and in religious circles. While some women are educated—leading more independent lives—and some men are more egalitarian in their thinking about gender issues, life here is exhaustive for women. We are worried about R because she’s living alone. She’s nearly 18, but she’s very small—we think she’s been malnourished for a long time. We worry she will be stigmatized for living alone and will be vulnerable to violence. Even in the US, her lifestyle would be lonely and difficult. But still, we were so impressed by her character and commitment to her studies: we are proud to sponsor her.
We’ve also started teaching at Streeter’s Class, one of the tuition schools I mentioned before that teaches English. We’re volunteering about 3-4 times a week for three hours each time. When we went last time, they had me listen to dialogues that groups had written to practice the past tense, and after each group presented, I corrected some of the grammatical mistakes and pronunciation errors I heard. Katie and Kathleen helped with grammar lessons with intermediate and beginning learners. The students were really grateful to be able to listen to a native English speaker. We’ve also helped with reading lessons, where we would say a passage aloud and the students would repeat it. It’s crazy because there are 36 students in a room that’s 15 by 13 feet, with one teacher and a chalkboard. No desks. But every student is incredibly attentive and driven to learn, and so they do learn a lot. I don’t American students would be nearly as attentive under the same circumstances.
We’ve also been doing some networking around Zanzibar. We made contact with the local Rotary club, and we’ve attended two of their weekly meetings. Through them, we’ve learned about a cool non-profit out of New York City that works with Zanzibari students to teach English through self-written plays. They’re called Global Empowerment Theatre—check them out online! We’re going to attend their show in the next few days. The Rotary club has been a valuable contact for us, and we hope that we can continue to learn more about them and teach them about our work. We also met with the Commissioner of Education this morning, which was really neat. Her name is Bibi Maryam Youssuf (Bibi is a title of endearment used for older people, which means grandmother). She was the person who connected S4Si to our partner, FAWE, about seven years ago. She answered lots of questions about how the education system works here and how we might improve our organization’s partnership with the public schools system. We’re going back next week to get more statistics about achievement levels and more.
Finally, we’re busy planning the all-scholar event that we’re going to have on July 2. We’re going to take the girls to a local organization to educate them about agriculture in Zanzibar. When we posed the idea to the girls about having a fun outing with all the girls, they were really enthused about getting out of Stone Town and learning about volunteer opportunities or new aspects of the environment. While tourists get to experience the beauty of Zanzibar’s beaches and forests, these girls rarely have the opportunity: we think it’s a great opportunity to learn with them.
We’re busy figuring out the rest of the summer’s logistics. We’re looking at a calendar and going week by week to figure out what we want to accomplish. We have so much time, but we know it will run away from us if we don’t get ourselves together. I can’t believe I’m almost halfway done. Time flies when you’re having fun. Speaking of fun, the annual Zanzibar International Film Festival is going on right now. We're going to a movie about albinism tonight called White and Black, which should be really interesting. Zanzibar has a surprisingly large albino population, and Rotary works with them to collect unused sunscreen and hats from tourists. We're also going to see Shaggy perform on Friday night! He's headlining. I don't really love his music, but it should be a fun experience. All the events are in the Old Fort, a historical site in old Stone Town.
I’m busy drafting a post about the effects of race and gender on the island, which I hope to have finished in the next week or so. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about it, and I look forward to hearing your feedback or reactions. If there’s anything else you want me to discuss this summer, please let me know. I welcome questions and insights!
For now, Kwaheri!
Anna
