"It's a Small World after All"

After snorkeling, I hopped a cab to Mangapwani, where classmate Derrick Rainey has spent the past ten weeks doing his IPSP.  Well, my original intention was to take a dala dala (public bus) up there for a mere 1300Tsh ($.88), but the cab driver that was taking me to the station talked me into riding up with him after bargaining him down by about $12 for the round trip.  Turned out to be a good decision because he was fascinating!  Born in Stone Town, his father left the family, leaving him to live with his mother and grandmother, both of whom had no income.  In order to help his family he started working and saved up to put himself through English school and then driving school, which allowed him to become a taxi driver.  Eleven years later, he owns his own cab (very clean!), a taxi business that contracts with other cabbies, and has bought his own house for his wife, two children, mother, and grandmother…cool story! He was fascinated with the projects that we do for IPSP and Capstone, and I think we have inspired him to start an NGO in Zanzibar assisting villages with their lack of clean water.

Anyway, I was able to visit Derrick in his village and received a full tour of his IPSP partner, Creative Solutions, an organization that provides education in English, art, carpentry, sewing, cultivating, and now thanks to Derrick, music, to young adults and pre-schoolers in Mangapwani.  The complex is fascinating as every structure is artistic, colorful, and utilizes local resources.  It seems like he has really had a great time and been very successful.  With the help of our friend, Margret, one of the students at CS, we went to the famous slave chamber, where Arab slave traders would hide slaves after the trade had been outlawed in the area.  The chamber was protected by the cliff on which it sits.  After the chamber we headed to the beach for a swim in the west coast waters, a bit different of an experience but a beautiful sunset.  It was great catching up with Derrick and hearing about the upcoming wedding that I will unfortunately miss.  Congrats to Derrick and Lonnie!

Turns out my day with Derrick was his last full day in Zanzibar, and coincidentally our flights off the island were only fifty minutes apart, so although we did not realize it until he showed up to the terminal and saw me standing in the gift shop, I was able to be Derrick’s last familiar face before heading back to the states! 

My next story of connections occurred at the Dar airport in the security line to get back into the airport (no matter whether domestic or international, all those flying into Dar must exit the terminal and re-enter the airport).  I was standing in front of two Americans and as all mzungus in Africa seem to do, we started talking.  They tell me that they are graduate students from Berkeley who spent the summer doing graduate research in Kampala, Uganda (where two of my classmates are).  I excitedly tell them that I’m also doing graduate work and that two of my classmates are also in Kampala.  As soon as I tell her that I’m a student at the Clinton School of Public Service, she says, “oh yeah, isn’t that in Little Rock?”  I’m incredibly impressed/surprised that she knows this, and she quickly explains that she met a guy at an internet café in Kampala who went to CSPS...Andy Lewis, my guess is you’re that guy.

Finally, I landed early evening in Mwanza and was picked up by none other than Ben Mwangi*, an old family friend of CSPS classmate, Shamim Okolloh.  We had only met through Facebook, so it was an interesting waiting period outside the airport, wondering if he was actually the guy standing right next to me, but we easily found each other thanks to cell phones.  It was a great time getting to know such a close friend of Shamim’s and Mama Shamim’s, my two favorite Kenyans, and I think that I’ve almost talked him into coming to Little Rock for our graduation next May, so we’ll see if he follows through.