Jamie's miles - Part 2!!

I am very happy to report that Jamie has gotten way more than the 1.2 she donated. I have been running in Tanzania... a lot! Thanks to my Garmin (of course I brought it...) I can tell you I have run 137.92 miles in TZ. Every morning I get up around 6 (my roommate at least pretends not to mind when I briefly wake her up) and hit the pavement (or dirt paths) of Magugu village for a run! After accidentally getting lost in a sunflower field (not as pretty or nice as it sounds), and getting tired of almost twisting my ankles on the paths, I have opted to generally stick to the "highway." The view is pretty nice!

A little different than a Somerville sunrise run

I also get some company! Kids will run with me for a while on the way to school! Usually they don't last very long, but one kid did come along for almost 3 miles. We only parted ways because I had to turn around. Which confused him a lot. Running is weird in a land where everyone is always at least 20 minutes if not 2 hours late. Especially running just for the sake of running. No rush here.

I'll take this over Boston traffic

Typically I just get a lot of people yelling at me from their houses or as I run by them. "Mzungu! Where are you going?" "How are you?" "Good morning!" "Good evening!" (despite the fact that it is still morning. I can't judge, my Swahili is much more limited than their English.) My favorite is when people say "Pole!" to me. Pole means "Sorry." Usually you say this to someone after they have worked really hard at something. For example, our host family says it to us when we come home from a long day. It's weird to have someone feel bad for me for running, since I'm usually thoroughly enjoying myself. On hot mornings, however, I do miss being able to wear shorts and a tank top. (I have to wear capris and t-shirts here, and then when I'm finished I change right into a skirt.)

Since I'm out almost every morning, and one of four white girls in the village, people definitely know who I am because of it. Kids at the schools we teach at have told me they see me in the mornings, and some tell me they ran with me too!

Unfortunately, it does not look like I will be making it to Kenya for the marathon... but I am very grateful to be running in TZ. I'm even more grateful, just to be here, working with SIC. There is a lot to be done here to combat HIV and the stigma around it, and I feel like I am really helping to make a difference. I wish I could write about everything I've been up to, but that would result in a novel and a half. So here are some highlights:

We've already taught hundreds of kids at the schools in Magugu (Magugu is the main village in the area, so they have a population of about 10,000, other villages have much less), and the secondary school is going to start a peer educator program, so the kids will keep teaching each other about HIV.
We are having a testing day in less than a week, and are hoping to test a few hundred people. We found out that the hospital doesn't always keep results confidential, so hopefully SIC's day will encourage some more people to get tested.
We met with some HIV positive people in the village, and learned a lot about how living with HIV has impacted their lives, and how we can help improve their situation.
We met with the village leaders, and will start teaching community groups in the sub-villages soon.

So thank you Jamie, for the wonderful miles I have been running in Tanzania! I hope you are having a wonderful summer in Boston. When I get back, we'll have to log some miles together as well!

Baadaye! (Later!)
Natalie