Was it a dream?

I decided to tell you about my thoughts now that I've been back at home for one week. It still feels a bit unreal to be in Finland, but at the same time the whole safari (safari means journey in Kiswahili) to Africa feels dreamlike. Did I really do all that? And also: was it a dream come true?

It might be that I'm writing this too early, because I seem not to know what to write. Nothing is clear in my mind, I don't know what to think. The only thing I'm sure of, is that I am happy to be in Finland, at home, where everything is simpler, safer, more reliable, understandable to me and most importantly, where all the people who really matter to me, are.

I have been one of those people, who never want to go back home. The grass has always been greener on the other side of the fence. But now, three months in Africa finally did it to me: even I started to miss home. During my last weekend in Africa, which I spent in Mombasa, I actually thought that I'd rather be at home!

It is unbelievable that the tap water is running every time I want to take a shower, not to mention that I don't need to drink bottled water. I really appreciate the fact that when I go to the toilet anywhere, it will be one with a seat, there will be a toilet roll, and the toilet will flush. (Africans would call it a mzungu-toilet.) No more holes on the floor! And no more matatu rides! Don't get me wrong, every morning was an adventure thanks to the matatus, but I can't help loving Finnish public transportation after all that trouble getting to places in Africa.

The thing that I love most about being in Finland, is that I am invisible again. No-one pays any attention to me when I'm walking on the streets, no-one shouts anything after me, no-one runs after me, no-one thinks that I am rich and no one tries to charge 10 times more from me because I am white and when someone wants to be my friend, it is not because of "my money".

On the other hand, no-one asks about my "news" when I sit next to a person on a bus, the sun shine is not guaranteed and the children don't want to hold my hand anymore. There are so many things that made the time in Africa incredible, unforgettable and definitely worth it. Time will tell, whether I want to go back there ever again, and for how long time.

For the time being, I have no further comments to make. I hope I have succeeded in writing stories that are interesting to read. It has been a pleasure to write these stories. Thank you for following!

The end. But might be continued - some day.

Video: In a matatu

This is just to give you an idea of the matatu rides. This matatu is quite empty by the way.

Video: Me riding an ostrich

We visited Masai Ostrich Farm, where I got to ride an ostrich!


To be honest with you, this was my second go, not the first... ;)

Video: Lions mating (K18)

Enkasiti School and the donation

After I made the donation in the orphanage, I still had 208 € left of the money I was given. That money I used for Enkasiti primary school I was working for in Kenya. Here's what the school got:

• a second hand computer
• 40 story books
  
• english dictionary and grammar reference book
  
• a world map

Why a computer? (They had a computer class, a computer teacher and even computer lessons in their timetable, but no computers.) It might not seem like something you'd prioritize when buying something for a school in a developing country. If you think about it more, you'll realise that it actually is very important to have a chance to learn how to use computers. As you know, it is already now very important to have basic computer skills no matter what you do for your living in Europe. Africa is getting there too, and the students who study in public schools that have no computers are beeing more and more left behind from the developement and will not be able to compete with students coming from other schools when they are applying for work of almost any kind. Here's the computer.









The story books will be used as teaching material in Swahili and English lessons. Students can also borrow the books to read just for fun, which will give the imaginative children (generation after generation) a chance to spice up their lives by reading many different stories. Here are some of the books.


















Here are some pictures of the students.


















Here I am working in my office at the school.









This was the toilet I was doomed to use for one month. It is proved now: one can get used to anything. Notice the hole on the floor, no seat.

Funny little stories

• In Kenya the girls had to wash the floors of the school every day. One morning an other teacher and I waited outside for the girls to finish with cleaning up. The teacher asked me, if I had had to wash floors at school when I was a school girl. I told her that in Finland children don't need to clean up at school and that we have special cleaning ladies who do all the cleaning. She looked at me and her jaw basically dropped down. Then she asked the question: "How did you learn how to wash the floors then?!!" I was tempted to answer (jokingly) "Well, I didn't", but then thought that it might have been too much for her.
  

• In Tanzania it was very important for the adult students to get to know me personally. The typical questions asked concerned about family and religion. Once a student asked if I was married or not. I told her that I am not married. The student next to her then asked if I had children. Before I had time to answer, the student who asked about my marital status, poked the student who asked about kids and whispered (loudly): "She can't have children: she is not married!"
  

• This gives a good idea about how unaware of different ways of living some people were. In Tanzania and Kenya all the people belong to some tribe. Many times when people were asking questions about me and Finland, I also got to answer the questions "What is your tribe?" and "How many tribes are there in Finland?". The first time someone asked about my tribe I didn't get a word out of my mouth because I couldn't believe my ears: "I must have heard something wrong!" Then I got used to the question and was quite enjoying breaking the news for the africans about the "tribeless" Europe. Their faces were worth seeing indeed.

• When I was teaching in Kenya, I also took the chance to tell about the "nightless night" and the "dayless day" above the arctic circle in Lappland. Of course, the students were amazed of that story (and about many other stories about Finland as well). I was asked two different questions that I didn't expect to hear: "Do everybody just stay inside all the time when it is dark?" and "How do you then know when it is time to go to sleep or to wake up?". This was when I understood how important role the sun actually plays in people's lives near equator. They don't live by the clock, they live by the sun.

• As everybody knows, HIV is very common on Africa. Teaching about HIV and how to avoid getting it is one of the important aims of school. There was a poster on the wall in the corridor next to my room, which had a picture of a family. The text in the poster made me breathe in quite deeply. It said: "Protect your wife and your children. Use condom every time you have sex." That's how it is in Africa (or at least in Kenya); it is ok for the man to have sex outside marriage. Just don't bring HIV home and you'll be just fine. This was one of the moments when I really had to use all the cultural understanding I had: I have to accept the way the local people live, even if I don't agree with them.
  

Home, sweet home!

I am safely at home, but I've still got a couple of things to tell. I'll make the final updates next week: keep on following...