Welcome to the Blog, 2008!

We have two wonderful additions to the team this year. Jody Henderson and Charles Nyembe. You’ll remember both of them from last year’s blog. We met Charles in Botswana for the Read for the Record filming with Kelly Hu and Mitch Allen. Charles blew us away with his professionalism and videography skills. Jody was working with Pact Ethiopia in Gambella when we did our student residency last year. She and Andy had become good friends during his nine months as orphanage coordinator. When we left Charles in Botswana, we promised not to forget him. When we left Jody, we told her that we’d love to have her on the team. Et, voila! They are both working with us and we couldn’t be happier.

Charles is from Zimbabwe. He’s worked for television stations and a wide variety of video productions for film. His wife and two daughters are still in Zimbabwe, struggling to acquire the simplest of daily needs. If you’ve watched the news about the challenges there, you’ll have a very small glimmer of realization when it comes to what they’re up against. That said, it is great to see Charles Western Union money to his family knowing what it really means to them all.

Charles is an extremely bright man with an astounding grasp of the English language. His footage is inspiring and he has a way with kids that is so fun to watch. I’ve learned much from him already. Having never seen an ocean before, it was great to see him in awe of the sea in Zanzibar (more on that below). You’ll hear from him often and I know you’ll look forward to his blog entries every time you log on!

Jody is simply a joy to be around. She has the most mesmerizing eyes of light blue and green water and has already earned her keep with her organization and writing skills. When we were in Gambella, her project management and people skills came shining through. We would visit her at the Pact offices daily to go over the details of the residencies and it was clear that she could juggle 304 things at one time. She has a great deal of experience working in Africa on education, peace building, HIV/AIDS, and girls’ empowerment through capacity building. She’s been to 34 countries and knows the ins-and-outs of Africa in a way that Andy and I are just now starting to understand. She’s going to be a great help. She is from the U.K. (with an English dad and a Swedish mum) and is together with Beruk, a cool man now living in Addis Ababa, waiting for his wife to come home during breaks. You’ll meet Beruk soon! My favorite thing about Jody is her ready laugh and positive outlook. You’ll instantly see that when you read her blog entry.

Andy is, of course, here and in charge of the residencies. He learned so much last year and has developed a teaching style that keeps me in awe. In side news, Andy has been accepted into the Lee Strasburg Actors Studio in New York and will be attending his first courses in June. He will soon be in the company of some pretty darn good alumni, including Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Scarlet Johansen (he is, of course, hoping she comes back for follow-up courses). Only 22% of applicants are accepted. Mr. Andy has his work cut out for him. But, the best thing about him going to the Academy is his motivation for doing so. He’d love to open a sports complex in Gambella as well other programs across Africa. This is a means toward accruing enough money to help his friends in Ethiopia. Very cool. We have three series of programs going on this year, and he’ll come back for the third leg.

We decided to take the short boat ride to Zanzibar to train Jody and Charles as it turned out to be just as inexpensive as staying in Dar. We’ve just returned and are starting our program tomorrow with Roots & Shoots students. Can’t wait!

We are now doing projects in Dar es Salaam, Kenya, Joburg, Kigoma, and Gambella. During the second series, we’ll go to more locations in South Africa and also Zambia. Jaime will be along for that trip, after Andy trains him in New York. During the third leg, we’ll go to Nigeria, Tanzania, Cape Town, and a couple of places to be determined. I’ll tell you more about the programs we’re doing on the next blog entry as it is now time to turn this over to Jody, Andy, and Charles.

Jambo…Erik

JODY

Greetings! Erik had a brilliant idea and decided that we should travel the short distance to Zanzibar for team-building and digital arts training for the upcoming programs…

We got a taxi to the seaport at 5.30am. Erik had been awake for hours preparing his stuff and running around to wake us all up, but we all woke up immediately as soon as we arrived at the port – there were people everywhere trying to get onto the ferries – a colourful hustle and bustle. We decided to sit up on deck to watch our journey over the beautiful turquoise Indian Ocean, which seemed even more magical as it was the first time for Charles to see the sea up close and also to travel by boat. Andy fell asleep (we have learned from Erik that this is a common phenomenon) whilst we chatted, spotted some dolphins playing on the break waves (another first, this time for me and Charles) and then we had a small-world-moment when Ethiopian singer Jonny Raga emerged from the VIP section and we had a little chat. In 2006 we (when I was with Pact Ethiopia) organized a Peace Day Concert in Gambella and had arranged for Jonny and another singer Shewandagn to share a room in the ‘best’ hotel in town. They had been slightly distressed with that prospect, so it was good to know that now Jonny was traveling in comfort and style!

The port in Zanzibar was as busy and bustling as Dar. Erik remained in his ‘calm still place’ where he is protected from ‘the rough seas’ all around him. And then we set off for our one hour taxi ride to…Mapenzi Beach Club. Let me take you back…when preparing for our trip, the travel agent in Dar informed us that as this would be Easter weekend, all accommodation on the island was fully booked and the only rooms available were at the Mapenzi, so we went ahead and booked. As we drove past the beautiful old buildings of central Zanzibar and Stone Town, none of us had anticipated what was awaiting us; the Mapenzi – a huge Italian-owned-Italian-run-Italian-fueled-and-Italian-filled complex. It looked idyllic; however, all of us were deeply upset and disappointed by such faux extravagance, a posh and plush exclusive ‘island’ within the island of Zanzibar. We all went through ups and downs those couple of days but aimed to seek out and focus on the positives…. So, we taught Charles how to swim, Charles spent hours every evening exploring the ocean as Andy, Erik and I enjoyed a sunset glass of wine whilst avoiding the tourist sarong party nearby. We spent our days learning about our Pearson Programs for this year and Charles, videographer-genius, showed me how to make my first film. Andy spent many hours going through the details of the digital arts programs, and Erik covered the educator professional development workshops. I only had one little incident where I fell with the camera and cut my knee (but, saved the camera!) yet that only enriched the result with has become a comic classic entitled ‘Mapenzi – the African Dream’…. And for added comic-linguistic amusement – Mapenzi means love in Swahili, goodness-knows-what in Italian, and most suitably, crazy in Shona (Charles’ mother tongue).

Finally, we escaped into Stone Town in the centre of Zanzibar and had a lovely day walking around the old alleys, chatting with different people from the island and decided that we preferred this reality far more than our confinement in Little Italy. So, we found a small hostel, packed up our bags, and moved into Stone Town. We made friends with a guy Suleiyman who works with tourists and also supports government-run projects with young people and another guy called Jackson who takes tourists on tours around the islands, and enjoys his beers in the evenings. We learned a little about Zanzibar-Mainland and tourist-Zanzibar dynamics, about many people from Zanzibar not being allowed to go to the more exclusive ‘third floor’ of many of the bars and clubs and how many people come to set up business and invest on the island rather than investing in the people and communities of the island. But we also found a chilled-out friendliness and openness in a very beautiful old town.

Our return journey was very relaxed as we had all internalized Erik’s ‘calm still place’ concept and we were all geared up to finally begin our programs. We spent an hour at the port in Dar waiting to get a taxi in the heavy warm rain; but despite the wait, there was a ‘reason’ as Andy suddenly realized he’d left his bag on the boat and had to rescue it, and we had another adventure awaiting us………

ANDY

This is Andy now. It’s my job to tell you about our little adventure after Zanzibar…..

After waiting for an hour for the taxi to take us back to the hotel, we spent the next two hours stuck in stopped traffic. Well, the rest of the traffic was stopped, but our driver drove us through the city like it was one large rollercoaster; we drove backwards and in ditches and went the wrong-way-round-roundabouts while Charles played solitaire on the computer and Jody put on some of her dad’s cool country songs for us to listen to as we rode surreally towards ‘home’. It was pouring with fat rain and every road seemed to be covered in two feet of water; it was like driving through a city built in the middle of a lake. We got within about a mile of our hotel when our taxi driver and a car next to us collided. It was more of a slow scrape than a collision, but the other driver (a young kid with a semi-American accent) decided that since traffic wasn’t moving anyway, it would be a good time to start a heated discussion with our driver. We waited in the car for an hour while the police came to try to mediate. Unfortunately the computer battery had died so we were solitaire-less and Jody’s-dad-less. We were feeling frustrated and unable to get involved because all of us had been dreaming of a good nights sleep and listening to country classics about loved ones and heartache, and so had actually missed the crash. We all guessed that our driver was the ‘culprit’ of the crash by trying to get between the two lines of traffic to kindly speed us home, but in our hearts we all hoped that it was the American-accented cocky kid who had hit us. Anyway, finally we decided to just walk the rest of the way to our hotel. It had taken us three hours to get that far, so another twenty minutes of walking wouldn’t be that bad.

We started our journey on foot weaving through traffic. It was about 9:30pm at that point. The four of us were dragging our luggage through the muddy streets while it was raining. I think we were on a mission to get back to the hotel one way or another. The sides of the streets were flooded with water, so we had to walk in the middle with traffic slowly moving on either side. We got within a quarter-mile of our hotel when we realized that the entire road was literally under three feet of water. There was nothing for us to do but keep going. We shifted the luggage so that Charles had all four laptop bags, another side satchel and a small camera bag all draping over him, and Erik and I both had two heavy suitcases. Jody simply struggled with her Ethiopian hand-bags while trying to remain balanced. Erik is a bit fitter than I am, so he was able to carry the bags with his hands while wading through the lake. I realized quickly that I would end up dropping the bags in the muddy water… so I tried the cool technique of balancing one suitcase on my head, while carrying the other one – a little trick I picked up in Gambella but which I haven’t quite refined. I almost dropped Jody’s suitcase twice.

We got to the parking lot of the hotel, where there was an island of pavement half way through. Erik got his two suitcases there, and I subsequently stumbled there as well. Charles was wading through the water with Jody. Charles yelled at me “Andy, stop standing there and help me with these bags!” So I went over to help him and Jody walk through the lake when Jody almost disappeared into the middle of the parking lot lake. I went to help her up, and she said “Help help! I think I just stepped into a sewer!” We rescued Jody and finally met up with Erik and walked drenched into the hotel. The amazingly hospitable hotel staff looked at us and cracked up. It was quite a sight… but one that I will remember for a long time. And, Jody asked that I add as a foot note that when she asked me to check in the morning if it really had been a sewer, we were happy to find that it was just a large, sewer-less hole.

Charles

Mambo Vipi! I joined Pearson Foundation after having been working in TV production for 15 years. It was becoming more and more monotonous. I wanted something different and just like that here comes Erik and Andy to Botswana, the year 2007, September the 13^th to be precise. As fate might have it, I was the videogragher on their first ever African leg. Though I covered only one residency, to me this was the only ship which still had sails on. Teaching kids on video production was such a great concept and if possible I had to join and go along for the ride. Hence, I’m here today.

A few weeks ago, I came to Dar es Salaam for the first time. Here I was in this big seaport city, a far off cry from my lovely Gaborone, Botswana, which is also very different from Harare the capital of Zimbabwe in which I grew up. The day I arrived, Dar was hot. I was hit by a blanket of hot air and from the air-conditioned inside of a plane in which I had been for about two hours, this was something else. Earlier on I had left Harare airport in the cool morning hours and no one had advised me on such weather conditions. I got into a cab and we zigzagged our way in a traffic jam, the likes of which I had never witnessed before, to my hotel. To find your way with ease in Dar, I would advise a newcomer to study Kiswahili prior to the visit. Friendly people they are and well accommodating if you’re a visitor but language is the big barrier.

Well my days were not eventful until Erik and Andy came then Jody arrived last. So after a slow start adjusting to the heat and newness, suddenly the busy times began!

For today, I would like to introduce you to Isack whom Erik has always been emphasizing as being amazing; Erik even drags on the word amaziiing trying to put his point through! I was just awaiting for the day to come when I would meet this huge, so to say, young man…

We were in a cab from the Pearson Office, sweltering in the car, Jody, Andy and me going to the Jane Goodall Foundation (JGI) offices to meet Erik who had been there for some meetings. By the way Dar can go to the extremes of all weather conditions I think. Though winter hasn’t befallen me here yet, what I have experienced in the few weeks I have been here is something to write home about. Rain comes in torrents and heat does in waves. Well, it was hot as I was saying and we finally got to JGI. Erik was outside with three youths, local Swahili boys in t-shirts who were also suffering from the heat. Erik jumped into the car, in the back seat as usual where they are always squeezing each other. I’ve got the privilege of always being given the front seat whenever seating conditions are not very favorable because of my posture, which I’m working on! When Erik got in, the other door was opened also which meant either someone was getting out or somebody was getting in. The latter was true. One of Erik’s youths was joining us, which was not a concern to me anyway; my seat was well preserved so being squeezed to me was out of question. Introductions were made as usual and to my surprise we were on the same ride with Mr. Isack. The so called amazing Isack! To myself I just thought this could be one of Erik’s jokes but true to the fact, here was the young man. Ahhh! Truly amazing!

Jody and I sat down with Isack and he started to tell us his story, his works with JGI, his achievements, his goals, his ambitions. He showed us video clips he had shot, photos he had taken of projects he initiated and he told us of projects he intends to implement. He kept on and on, explaining every single shot on his memory stick. Truly speaking, one needs to meet this young genius to come to terms with what I’m saying.

Isaac is aged 24 with a very petite body and beautiful face. When he is thinking, he has a little furrow between his eyebrows. He grew up in rural Tanzania and only migrated to an urban setup of Kigoma where he was to do his secondary education, staying with his father who was a soldier. His town life was short lived because his mother recalled him back home to stay with her to finish his secondary. They found his father dead when Isaac was writing his Ordinary Level exams of which, despite the odds that had befallen him, he passed very well. Without a father and no other sibling who was able to support the family, life turned upside down for Isaac. With his good results still he could not find anyone willing to assist him in pursuing his education. He then approached Mr. Revocutus Edward who was the JGI Roots & Shoots projects coordinator. Being known for his hard work he was given a one year contract as a volunteer with 20 clubs under his armpit. Just to take you back, a volunteer is a non-salaried worker who receives a daily allowance for food, travel expense and accommodation whilst working on projects. In that year he steered his projects so well that the following year he was granted a two year contract now managing 40 clubs. During this tenure that’s when he met the digital arts team when they were in Kigoma last year.

In rural Tanzania Television is not accessible to every household. According to Isaac, there is about one TV set to two hundred people. Literacy levels are not very high also so Isack having gone through the Digital Arts program saw it as a strong media to bring awareness to the rural population since it encompasses everyone – those who are literate and non-literate, old and young. So has been going to many places, some more than a hundred kilometers away on a rowing boat, showing and teaching people about Digital Arts. His vision then is to work with the local youth on Digital Arts, working with them to film issues which are relevant to them and their community. He then works with the young people to call the village together for a free film show where they create awareness on the issues raised and hold community discussions to identify action points for how they can work together to address these issues.

Over the next couple of weeks, I will be making a video with Isack about his work and his brilliance. Watch this spot so that you can see him in action!