Hakuna matata, what a wonderful phrase

It was a good week for projects.

I should probably first try to explain the work ethic of Tanzania before I go any further. So, Tanzanians have mastered the art of going with the flow. The phrase 'hakuna matata' from that song in the lion king really does mean 'no worries' and if something breaks or starts late or isn't possible they just say hakuna matata and move on. For example, yesterday a peace corps volunteer was on a bus that broke down about a half hour from its destination. They couldn't get the bus fixed so everyone just spent the night on the bus. No one complained about how they had to be somewhere or that they wanted their money back. They just cuddled up with their neighbor and went to sleep.

Stuff like that happens all the time. Buses break down, meetings start 2 or 3 hours late, people make appointments then just do something else. Its just a very laid back culture. So when work does get accomplished its pretty exciting.

After standing the village up 4 times, the truck finally came to move stones to the dispensary site. The foundation has been dug and they are ready to start building. We are just waiting for the office in Washington D.C. to approve the grant. The wood for the bee hives is all cut and ready to be made into hives. A guy in my village agreed to build the hives for the equivalent of $1.50 per hive if the wood and nails were provided.

I also used the truck that brought the wood out to my village to transport the materials to fix my bathroom. I'm not sure if I wrote about my bathroom in another entry so I'll tell you about it now. At the moment it can't really be called a bathroom but rather a room with a hole in the floor. Termites have eaten the wood holding up the floor so that has started to cave in. Next week I start the renovations to fix it up. I got a bunch of re-bar and cement so I don't have to worry about termites or falling into the pit. Also, I bought a porcelain toilet and just chipped a whole out of the bottom of it (there's no running water so the flushing mechanism is out of the question). So starting in a few weeks there will be no more squatting for me.

OK, thats enough for now. Talk to you soon.