Orientation Day One

Orientation, and so it begins....Monday September 1st, 2008


My orientation schedule from Yusuph noted that the first session on the topic of Child Protection would begin at 10am. However, I thought if I got to Mkombozi a bit early I might catch some internet or make arrangements to get my residence permit prior to the orientation starting. My orientation schedule also has May as the date.

On my way up the road to Mkombozi, I ran into William, Lyn and Bob. Bob is a researcher here from Geneva for a few days and will be spending his time in the office with William. William invited me to attend a Monday morning meeting with him at the children's centre so that is where I headed. When we arrived the meeting had already ended but I was able to meet a few people who were not around last week and greet those that I had already met. It was decided that I would go to the immigration office after lunch and my orientation would start as soon as we were ready.

The Community engagement office is located in a mobile trailer type unit, or cargo container with a door? At the front of Mkombozi's office area. It has been painted in vibrant colours with many different scenes and creates a home base for the community engagement workers: William, Jane, Amani, and the newest member of the team: Me!

My desk is a small table which does not have an exact location within the office yet. As it is a narrow but long space I hope to find a way to move it without blocking foot traffic. The office has wireless internet but also a plug in if my wireless refuses to work (crazier things have happened) and I have my own locker with shelves to store my valuables. One slight incident did occur when I locked my backpack in the locker at lunch then returned to find that the entire office had been locked with my backpack inside. Luckily we were not in a rush to head into town, but I think I will be receiving a key to the office in the future.

Most of my morning was spent in the children's area with the social workers. Nina took me on a tour of their facilities and explained what the day supervisor's role is. The actual supervisor, Mama Salma was away but Nina was filling in the roll. She described it as a type of administrative position for the social workers. Then Nina handed me off to Jerome who described the roll of the social workers. Their job is very similar, if not the same as one's job would be at a children's residential home in Canada. They spend some of their time with the children onsite, but also out in the community meeting with street kids and also in the kids homes to determine if reunification is possible.

The social workers also help out with the fostering program. Every December for the holidays Mkombozi tries to find a foster family for all the children who do not have a home to return to. This is a fairly new project but appears to have potential. One of the road blocks is that there is no foster care legislation in Tanzania, only laws that permit a family to foster a child in the process of adopting. As the centre is closed for the holidays, the fostering program is not only great for the children to experience the holidays with a family, it is also good for staff to have the time off to spend with their own families.

After a very good explanation of the social workers, Jerome shared that he would like to apply for his MSW in the US or maybe even Canada and would appreciate some help with the application process. We negotiated that I could help him with any school apps if he helps me with my Swahili. Deal!

We also had an interesting conversation about why tourists go to Tanzania. He said that many locals do not understand the draw of Zanzibar and are happy to never go on a safari and see a lion. Perhaps similarly, many Canadians never see the Rockies or have an urge to run into a moose. And if I really had to think about it, I'm not sure why I want to go to Zanzibar, but I have a few friends who have gone and raved how great it is, probably the same amount of friends who have raved about P.E.I., where I have never been.

Around 10am every morning the children have a break from school and tea is served. I'm not sure if it is always milk tea but today's was, and it was very good. I think you are supposed to add a lot of sugar but I didn't feel that I needed it and got some looks. There was also some bread that was similar to naan.

After break I headed back to the office area and had a briefing from Hilda about the HR department. I determined that there are approximately 70 employees in the organization including all those in Arusha and Moshi. Every year in November they have a retreat for all employees. Last year they went to a game park for the day. They are also currently hiring two new directors for the departments of community engagement and children's programs. I believe the interviewing started today.

I spent sometime reviewing the staff handbook and some other Mkombozi literature before deciding my brain was quite full and headed back to the Community Engagement office. There I met Jane and Amani who each described what their jobs are. Jane works with local governments lobbying for child protection policy and funding toward funding for vulnerable children, this is important for example, because organizations like Mkombozi cannot support all children and there needs to be programs in place should Mkombozi no longer exist. I am still working on finding out the level of collaboration between the organizations in Moshi that work with street children and youth.

Amani works with the MEMKWA education program training teachers and educators in various regions that Mkombozi works. He provides training for schools to apply the Non-Formal Education plan that Mkombozi follows and is adopted from the International Baccalaureate Organization. I have a large detailed book on the curriculum should anyone want more information on that program. Amani also educates community members about child protection and runs the mentoring program. There is a mentoring program for street children and youth who may have a mental health problem and can be linked with an adult who shares this same diagnosis. Additionally there is a mentoring program for youth who want to start their own business, they can receive a loan and be matched up with someone in the community who is an entrepreneur.

They asked what I would like to do while I am working with the community engagement department and I am still unsure. It all sounds so great! Wednesday I will sit down with William to discuss my options so I have a little bit of time to explore and think.

Lunch today was Ugali (sort of like thick Cream of Wheat), cooked spinach type vegetable and avocado pieces.

After lunch I hung out in Lyn's office, since mine was locked, and read a book about taking responsible photographs. It was interesting, the examination of photography type language and its effects on the photo. For example, why do we "take" a picture, rather than "receive" it? Discuss.

The ride into town was rough as usual until we hit the main road. Today we were in a minibus that had many seats, but they were kid sized seats and it was hot. We took a different route into town, one which drove my some little shops, restaurants and an internet café that are slightly closer than the ones at the centre. It turned out that the immigration office was closed by the time we got there (it was just before 3pm and there were many people there…but who am I to judge?) so Hilda and I decided we would walk to our next location rather than waiting around for the driver to pick us up.

It was a hot walk in my fleece sweater, since I only had a tank top on underneith and long shorts, I felt it was best to keep my shoulders covered. I get enough stares already!

We walked to the ACTT building where Mkombozi's computer program is located. ACTT (Affordable Computers and Technology for Tanzania) receives computers from the UK which they refurbish and either give to Tanzanian schools or sell for profits which are redirected into Mkombozi's programs. Both Microsoft and Buckley's are sponsors of ACTT and their facility is quite impressive. They train many of Mkombozi's youth and members of the community in computer skills and are able to provide jobs and apprenticeships in computer technology. They even operate a small internet café for profit in one area (only 350 shillings for half an hour!).

After returning to the centre the day was done and it was time to go home and record all this new information before I forget…time now to get ready for bed without thinking of slugs.