Reporting from Dar es Salaam

I’ve just completed my second week of work with EDI and all’s well. My colleagues are great. The Dar office is new, so right now there are just two Brits and one Tanzanian in the office. A Nigerian woman who has been working in Kenya will be joining us on the 25th. I’ve been really happy with the amount and content of the work they’ve sent my way so far. Since I arrived, I’ve been primarily working on two projects. The first is a multi-partner project that is attempting, through various interventions, to capture and disseminate good practices in traditional health. We’re the fund/monitoring manager for this one and my boss is hoping (as am I) that I will be the lead. The second is an expression of interest (kind of a mini-proposal) to carry out an HIV/AIDS training needs assessment in three East African countries.

Right now I’m living and working in the same compound. The office is in a house and just behind is a schoolhouse that has been converted into consultant accommodations. When I arrived, they were in the middle of renovations, but slowly things have come together. I now have a functioning kitchen and bathroom, though I’ve given up on having a hot shower. The tank is tiny and eats a lot of electricity. Plus, for some reason there’s less water pressure when the hot water is on, so I have to squat down to get anything to come out of the spout.

Anit’s cousin Bansi and her husband Jai live here and Dar and they have been taking good care of me. I’ve been over to their place a few times for dinner and they’ve kept me busy over the weekends. So far, I really like Dar es Salaam and am learning my way around, at least my part of town, pretty quickly. I currently don’t have a car, but Anit is planning to leave his here with me when he goes to Mozambique. He is in Arusha (northern Tanzania) right now. His family has moved all their curio goods and jewellery from their shops in Mombasa to four shops in Arusha. His brother Punit and his wife Sisca have been living there for the past year and now his parents are planning to move there as well. Anit’s plans to move to Mozambique are still in place, though his timeframe remains (surprise surprise) uncertain. Arusha, and Tanzania in general, is crazy right now because President Bush is here (or will be here in the next day or so). Bansi works as a travel agent and talks about how it’s been impossible for her to get people hotel bookings because he and his delegation have booked huge blocks in all the best hotels.