three things…

Have returned to Arusha after what I hope was a successful trip to the wonderful island of Zanzibar… but won’t really know until I get a proper contract for work, I guess. I have sent six emails to pitch for training work at hotel level and sent my CV to an interesting NGO in Zanzibar who currently work with young adults… and one of their courses is hospitality so might be some work there. So keep your fingers crossed for me!

Everyone I have spoken to since I got here has advised me against working with the education authorities, they say it takes too long and is, too much of a hassle. And VETA here in Arusha have not been back in touch so maybe they are really not interested in my help… I won’t give up, though, but do think I’ll have to make it a second priority – get some experience and good connections, build my TZ portfolio and then try again at a later stage…

Anyway enough about work! I wanted to share three other things that have occupied my mind in the past week:

1.  Recycling 

I always tend to say that Africa is behind the western world by about 2 or 3 generations in most facets of life. And recycling is no exception, but I do think that Zanzibar might catch up sooner than the rest of Tanzania. There is more of a focus on responsible business amongst the hotels and resorts, it seems… (paper straws, filtered water etc.) although there is still a lot of work to be done. And, I saw this amazing initiative at the Tourism Show which I just really wanted to support, so I bought a plant!

But it’s actually the pot that is interesting, as it is made of recycled hard plastic – mainly water and other plastic bottle tops. This lady (Sjani) is passionate about recycling and their vision is to get the right machines to also recycle the water bottles themselves. Here is some information on the project, their vision and how they made the plant pot (bowl). Am staying in touch with Sjani and hope to get more involved in this project if I end up settling in Zanzibar.

2. Washing [sigh]

A few people have asked me ‘what will you miss the most?’ – and apart from the obvious; friends and family, I was only really able to name bacon… but I am already missing a washing machine a hell of a lot. Washing everything by hand is such a pain in the arse! First of all, it hurts my hands… I also don’t feel like the clothes get properly clean and finally it’s just boring as hell.

As soon as I get some paid work, I have promised myself to hire a local lady to wash my clothes! That sounds like such a diva or expat yuki thing to do, but I tell myself that I give some sort of employment to a local person…is not all bad, right?? Please agree with me! 😉

3. Water

OK, it’s the same theme as point one but a different point… Arriving here I was determined to keep my plastic waste to a minimum in particular since there is no official recycling here and the water bottles (and other plastics) just gets either discarded in nature or burnt as part of the other household rubbish.

Plan A was to boil tap water, put into bottles and refrigerate. FAIL. The water tasted horribly for some reason. Any ideas why?

So plan B is now water refill. Today I purchased 20 litres of water in this large bottle. I also bought a funnel, so now I can fill up my smaller bottles and when the large bottle is finished, I bring it back and get a new one. The bottle itself costs 15,000 tsh and the water 10,000 tsh. So not only am I making a significant cost saving but also wasting a lot less plastic… Feeling good about that!

Have a great week everyone!