A Day in the Life of a DMI Volunteer and Stranded on Safari
While no two days in Moshi are ever exactly the same, in today's blog post, first-time volunteer Abby Preston describes a typical day of working with DMI and what happens when your safari truck breaks down in the middle of a national park.
Abby and Majengo Primary School students
"A Day in the Life of a DMI Volunteer"
6:30 am: Sun begins to rise in Moshi, Tanzania. Our hostel has plenty of windows which makes waking up with the sun a little too easy. I roll over & try to get a little more sleep before taking on the day.
8:00 am: I have finally woken up, gotten ready, and am ready to face the world and have a strong cup of Union Coffee.
9:00 am: A taxi arrives to take all volunteers to pruning! On this day we pruned at Majengo Primary School where we teach in the afternoons. We were surprised by more mpingo than we thought and had plenty of work to do. We pruned trees, weeded, and strung up some trees so they will grow nice and tall.
The pruning site at Majengo Primary School
11:30 am: With all of the trees taken care of, we leave Majengo and head into town to get lunch. We stop at Bush & Town for some pilau. After pruning all morning everyone is very happy to be off their feet and enjoying some food.
12:45 pm: All volunteers leave our hostel and begin our walk over back to Majengo Primary School to start teaching for the day. The walk takes about half an hour and on the way we get to see several different parts of town.
1:30 pm: Start teaching at Majengo! I’m working with the string program. We start with our 1-2 year class and 3-4 year class all together for General Music. We sing a few songs and play some rhythm games to get the kids thinking musically. Afterwards, we break into our violin classes. I take the 1-2 year class and we start our work on playing position, bow holds, and Twinkle.
Strings students at Majengo Primary School perform for their classmates
3:00 pm: Class ends and our taxi arrives to take us to Korongoni Secondary School. All the volunteers (and instruments) pile into the taxi and we head out on our way.
3:30 pm: Class begins at Korongoni! We have about 15 students in the string’s class playing violin, viola, and cello. We do some warm-ups and then get started on our repertoire for the upcoming concert on Saturday! The students are playing a piece based around chromatics so we review sharps, flats, and naturals. At the end of the day we meet up with the clarinet classes and perform for one another.
Strings class at Korongoni Secondary School
5:00 pm: Class ends at Korongoni and our taxi arrives to take us back to the hostel. Julia Georges sends another volunteer, Madi, & I on a mission to bring some pili pili (a type of hot sauce) to the house. So we head to the restaurant down the street, place our order, and enjoy some free WiFi while we wait. WiFi check ins can be few and far between so we take the time to message friends and family members and upload some pictures.
6:30 pm: Madi and I take a taxi back to the hostel. We had five volunteers fly in that day and everyone is at the hostel! We introduce ourselves to the five new faces and settle in for dinner.
8:00 pm: Things begin to calm down for the night. Nights at the hostel consist of bananagrams, puzzles, and some much-needed down time after a day full of pruning, teaching, and traveling for our new volunteers. People begin to head to sleep and get ready for another great day in Moshi!
“Stranded on Safari”
Before anything else it’s important to note that all volunteers are safely back in Moshi! Everyone made it back from safari happy and with plenty of stories to tell. This is one of those stories.
On July 5th, seven DMI volunteers boarded a Land Rover and prepared to go on safari! We were all excited to see elephants, lions, and maybe even the illusive black rhino. Little did we know the surprises and adventures we had in store.
Abby (left) and her fellow DMI volunteers on safari
Our three-day safari trip took us to three different national parks. On the first day, we visited Tarangire National Park known for their elephants. We sat within feet of two elephant families! On the second day, we traveled to Ngorongoro Conservation Area and saw the Ngorongoro Crater. We saw five different biomes, drove amongst the clouds, and even picnicked at the hippo pool.
A view of an elephant family from the safari truck while visitng Tarangire National Park
On the last day, we visited Lake Manyara National Park. We spent most of the morning driving around, seeing elephants, lions, water buffaloes, and several different birds. We had a lovely picnic by the lake & prepared to make our way back to Moshi.
A few minutes after leaving the picnic site our car slowed to a stop on the side of the dirt road. Our safari guide, Josephet, got out and fiddled with something under the hood. After a few minutes we were back on the road and ready to go.
Unfortunately, we stopped again a few minutes later but this time we were not so lucky. We ended up on the side of the road in Lake Manyara National Park for over an hour. In that time, we had about 15 different safari vehicles stop to help us out. Every guide had tourists in their car whose safari was interrupted to help get our car going.
The amount of assistance we got from complete strangers reflects the kindness and generosity which has been a consistency in my time here in Tanzania. The locals have been so welcoming and accepting of me no matter how badly I butcher Swahili. This was yet another example of locals going out of their way to help their brothers and sisters. The sense of community and comradery with your fellow man is strong in Tanzania.
Other safari trucks stop to help
We eventually had to be towed out of the park and slowly drive to a mechanic. Eventually the car was working again and were on our way home. Without the help of local safari guides we could have been stuck for much longer than an hour. The kindness we saw that day has been seen time and time again while in country. It’s one of the things that makes three weeks in Tanzania fly by!
Abby in a safari truck repping Western Kentucky University!