I've been confounded by the problem of shaving for more than 12 years. It takes a lot of time, razors are expensive, and when you try and stretch out their useful life it hurts.
No more! I've discovered safety razors and I don't think I'll ever go back. The name "safety razor" is used to differentiate the product from a "cut throat" razor that one may have seen used in cowboy movies. The safety razor has a metal guard to prevent deep cuts while still allowing a close shave. The blades are sold in cute little packets containing five or six double sided blades individually wrapped in a cute little envelope of wax paper and then regular paper. They cost about 200-250 shillings a packet, about US$0.20 or US$0.04 per blade. I get between 2 and 4 good shaves per blade. The quality of shave is far superior to that of my old Mach 4 or whatever the latest shaver is at maybe a 100th of the cost. I'd often seen the blades for sale at the grocery store in the US but had never seen a razor for sale. I'm planning on buying a couple hundred blades to take back the US and would be more than happy to bring back razors (500 shillings each) for anyone else who wants to throw off the yoke of expensive shaving.
Annie is not at all sold on the idea, but month old armpit hair is a tough shave job for any razor.
A complete and comprehensive guide to the subject can be found on this Wikipedia page and you can see a picture of my razor with blade pack on the photo site here.
Nov 24, 2007
Nov 23, 2007
modes
confusion and an misunderstanding of purpose is a recurring theme in my travels, an i know for certain that i am not alone. often people here do things that to me and many outsiders seems inexplicable and at best we accept the cultural difference and at worst we proclaim the entire country full of illogical people. more often than not there is a simple explanation that we, because of language barriers or some other communication glitch just don't get. an amazing example of this dynamic for me is clothing. i have always been somewhat humbled by the way tanzanians present themselves, there's no better way for me to put it than fancy. everyone looks nice if it's possible. there were innumerable times when i was asked why wazungu look like they don't care-why is that mzungu walking without shoes in the city when he can obviously afford shoes? this is unthinkable to the tanzanians who in general are not only well-dressed in matching tailored outfits but always seem to have ironed their clothes. even if i have nice clothes it never occurs to me to iron them, i just walk around with wrinkly clothes and hope the wrinkles work themselves out. this was an inexplicable difference to me. i figured tanzanians have more self-respect than westerners or value what they have more than we do. which may still be true but i learned a more than reasonable explaination for the prevailance of ironing: parasites. apparently there is a paracite which lays it's eggs on clothes while they are drying in the sun. when a person wears the clothes, the larvea somehow get under their skin, wait a few weeks, hatch and then eat their way out. ironing kills the eggs. so logical! so i had come-up with this whole cultural explaination for something that turns out to be a parasite. i would make a great anthropologist i think.
so i continue to make or stumble into revelations about my life here and discover the reasons for seemingly inexplicable events or actions. but there are still so many mysteries such as: why is that stool sitting in the middle of that patch of barren earth and why are those nice-looking shoes sitting on the stool? what is the driving force behind frantically screaming wazungu? will i ever stop fearing the old man who sits with the scales and yells incomprehensibly as i walk past? will i ever understand what he's yelling?
i had a quite a lovely thanksgiving here, despite my initial apprehension. i went the the market in the morning, as i do everyday now, but this time bought loads of food for a classic thanksgiving meal instead of food for the neema cafe. having become familiar with a number of sellers in the market, i felt comfortable walking and explaining to them about the american sikukuu. (a brief explaination is that if you want to make anything bigger in swahili you add kuu: siku is a day, sikukuu is a holiday. mkuu is a boss or important person) i spent the day cooking at the home of an scottish ex-pat cooking two apple pies, stuffing, vegetable pot-pie, gravy, sweet potatoes, and green beans. the other contributor to the meal did the mash potatoes. then we moved down to andy and suzie's house, they started neema craft and are a lovely family with two small girls. our tanzanian host-parents came and it was almost everyone's first thanksgiving. i think we did the holiday justice and i felt amazingly thankful for being here, despite missing my own family quite a lot. that's one holiday down, one to go.
happy birthday mama.
love. annie
so i continue to make or stumble into revelations about my life here and discover the reasons for seemingly inexplicable events or actions. but there are still so many mysteries such as: why is that stool sitting in the middle of that patch of barren earth and why are those nice-looking shoes sitting on the stool? what is the driving force behind frantically screaming wazungu? will i ever stop fearing the old man who sits with the scales and yells incomprehensibly as i walk past? will i ever understand what he's yelling?
i had a quite a lovely thanksgiving here, despite my initial apprehension. i went the the market in the morning, as i do everyday now, but this time bought loads of food for a classic thanksgiving meal instead of food for the neema cafe. having become familiar with a number of sellers in the market, i felt comfortable walking and explaining to them about the american sikukuu. (a brief explaination is that if you want to make anything bigger in swahili you add kuu: siku is a day, sikukuu is a holiday. mkuu is a boss or important person) i spent the day cooking at the home of an scottish ex-pat cooking two apple pies, stuffing, vegetable pot-pie, gravy, sweet potatoes, and green beans. the other contributor to the meal did the mash potatoes. then we moved down to andy and suzie's house, they started neema craft and are a lovely family with two small girls. our tanzanian host-parents came and it was almost everyone's first thanksgiving. i think we did the holiday justice and i felt amazingly thankful for being here, despite missing my own family quite a lot. that's one holiday down, one to go.
happy birthday mama.
love. annie
Nov 21, 2007
Contact info
We have a new cell phone, +255 78 282 0244 and a mailing address of sorts, c/o P.O. Box 329, Iringa, Tanzania. If you are good at searching you should be able to find a phone card to call cell phones in Tanzania for less than $0.15/min.
Nov 18, 2007
happiness is a warm gun
chris and i have finally moved in with the lovely family of which we spoke before. pastor stafford and mama happiness have welcomed us most profusely into their home. the house itself is a kind of square shape with a courtyard in the center which is where all the activity centers. chris and i have a small room off of the courtyard with a small sitting room, quite lovely. all of stafford and happiness' children are grown and moved out but they have taken in three boys who were previously living in the street and an nephew and a niece. and there's another american, paul, who also volunteers at neema building a bottles to beads kiln. living with a family again is really nice, they are quite attentive and provide chai at every waking moment. those of you who know my struggle to leave my addiction to caffiene in america will laugh at the return of my steady drip now.
mama happiness is somewhat of a character if only because she says "asante sana" to absolutely anything you say, really anything.
our new home is a bit of a distance from town which means we had to buy a bike. i say one bike because we are planning to travel with me on the rear rack and chris doing all of the work, this is the most economical means possible. buying the bike involved about three full days of bargaining which included me offering to bring another mzungu woman for them to marry in exchange for a couple of thousand shillings off of the price of the rear rack. this was only after having to refuse an offer to be swept away to another village away from my husband, in which case i could assume chris would get the bike for free in exchange.
i'm considering either planning a thanksgiving celebration for our host family or ignoring the holiday altogether so i'm not reminded of missing my family terribly during arguably my favorite holiday. i'll let everyone know. love. annie
mama happiness is somewhat of a character if only because she says "asante sana" to absolutely anything you say, really anything.
our new home is a bit of a distance from town which means we had to buy a bike. i say one bike because we are planning to travel with me on the rear rack and chris doing all of the work, this is the most economical means possible. buying the bike involved about three full days of bargaining which included me offering to bring another mzungu woman for them to marry in exchange for a couple of thousand shillings off of the price of the rear rack. this was only after having to refuse an offer to be swept away to another village away from my husband, in which case i could assume chris would get the bike for free in exchange.
i'm considering either planning a thanksgiving celebration for our host family or ignoring the holiday altogether so i'm not reminded of missing my family terribly during arguably my favorite holiday. i'll let everyone know. love. annie
Nov 15, 2007
There is a great deal of sun here.
Why build solar panels in Tanzania? It's where they keep all the sunlight.
A brief explanation of the solar project at Neema Crafts that I am working with:
We make 1/2W, 1W and 2W panels that sell for about US$8 to US$20 each. They can be used to charge cell phones, charge batteries for LED lights or directly power radios. The competing solar products on the market here start at US$400 for a 14W panel, battery, charge controller and 2 6W CFL lights, enough to light two rooms in a house. We do the same thing for US$40, but a little bit more inconveniently as you have to hook the lights up individually to charge them, and they probably are not as bright. They are bright enough to light up a small sitting room well enough to read and write by, certainly brighter than the kerosene wick lamp people use now.
Supposedly people in this area are spending about 1/3 of their monthly income on fuel and batteries for lights, about US$18/month. People need light because the sun goes down at 6:30pm every night and kids need to do homework while parents do cottage industry type work. Even a few extra hours of light can make a huge difference.
People use cell phones to check market prices, contact vendors and customers as well as communicate with family and friends. Many people without access to gird power have cellphones and need to charge them. Instead of spending all day traveling to the nearest power station and then paying to charge, they can buy our cell phone chargers that are powered by the 1W or 2W panel.
The solar glass is imported from Croatia at about US$3.75/watt and then wired and assembled into a frame by a team of disabled workers. The business model is potentially quite profitable and hence self-sustaining. We are working now to expand our sales network, adding shops in rural villages as well as commissioned sales people.
My role in the endever is as technical adviser, troubleshooting bugs, improving productivity and streamlining the manufacturing process as well as producing sales material. Similar projects have been started in Kenya, Benin and probably other areas of Africa. There are many larger solar companies, but their products are priced beyond the reach of rural farmers. The success of projects like ours will probably inspire those companies to enter into the micro-solar market, although they may have a hard time competing on price.
You can read more about the project here:
A brief explanation of the solar project at Neema Crafts that I am working with:
We make 1/2W, 1W and 2W panels that sell for about US$8 to US$20 each. They can be used to charge cell phones, charge batteries for LED lights or directly power radios. The competing solar products on the market here start at US$400 for a 14W panel, battery, charge controller and 2 6W CFL lights, enough to light two rooms in a house. We do the same thing for US$40, but a little bit more inconveniently as you have to hook the lights up individually to charge them, and they probably are not as bright. They are bright enough to light up a small sitting room well enough to read and write by, certainly brighter than the kerosene wick lamp people use now.
Supposedly people in this area are spending about 1/3 of their monthly income on fuel and batteries for lights, about US$18/month. People need light because the sun goes down at 6:30pm every night and kids need to do homework while parents do cottage industry type work. Even a few extra hours of light can make a huge difference.
People use cell phones to check market prices, contact vendors and customers as well as communicate with family and friends. Many people without access to gird power have cellphones and need to charge them. Instead of spending all day traveling to the nearest power station and then paying to charge, they can buy our cell phone chargers that are powered by the 1W or 2W panel.
The solar glass is imported from Croatia at about US$3.75/watt and then wired and assembled into a frame by a team of disabled workers. The business model is potentially quite profitable and hence self-sustaining. We are working now to expand our sales network, adding shops in rural villages as well as commissioned sales people.
My role in the endever is as technical adviser, troubleshooting bugs, improving productivity and streamlining the manufacturing process as well as producing sales material. Similar projects have been started in Kenya, Benin and probably other areas of Africa. There are many larger solar companies, but their products are priced beyond the reach of rural farmers. The success of projects like ours will probably inspire those companies to enter into the micro-solar market, although they may have a hard time competing on price.
You can read more about the project here:
http://solar-aid.org/neema-crafts-solar-project-update/
and here: http://solar-aid.org/diy-solar-in-tanzania/
Chris H.
Nov 12, 2007
food service strikes again
i have recieved one complaint that it has been far too long since i last posted, that's enough to propel me to write again, even if for my one fan. so...
we're still settling in iringa, hopefully to be moving in with a family tomorrow, but as many things here, i've been told "kesho" many times, so we'll see. but it should be a nice change from staying in a funny dorm-like place with a receptionist who is alternatively very friendly, holding my hand as we walk, or quite mean, barring her teeth ferociously. actually right this minute, we're staying with the family who started neema crafts and they're a lovely family.
we are just returning from an expedition in dar es salaam in which we spent days wandering the market looking for 100 camping lights, 150 small plastic christmas balls, and 480 binder clips. i am proud to say we found all of the above although not without the casualties of losing/having our phone stolen and me with a myriad of skin problems due to the extreme heat in the city. i mean really the heat was incredible. my poor ring finger is swollen quite too large to wear my ring and is now losing some skin. ugh. but we also made quite an unexpected friend, while walking down the street. Jake, (our newly appointed friend) is an out-of-work navigator on ships who speaks about four languages and has been in at least as many different jails in various countries. he invited us for dinner at his house, which is a single room with a bed and we dined on a quite lovely selection of beans and rice.
our trip back to iringa was fairly uneventful besides that we changed buses and rode in te much more flashy "Sumry" bus that plays loud hip-hop, has curtains with little baubles and serves soda. the attendents on the bus were under the impression that we spoke no swahili and so made sure to translate every announcement for us which was so kind, i didn't have the heart to speak swahili. it did make for some amusing translation when the bus pulled to side of the road and it was announced that we had "three minutes for a short break" which meant you could run to the side of the road to pee.
things at neema seem to be taking shape really well although as my title suggests i once again find myself in food service. neema has a lovely little cafe staffed entirely by deaf people, however when going over the books this past weekend, it was discovered that it is loosing quite a bit of money. so i was asked to spend some time working in the cafe to see if there's something systematic going terribly askew. i know, who goes to tanzania and ends up working in a cafe? me. but it's actually quite nice. i'm also starting investigating the possibility of dyeing wool naturally and making various felt crafts to sell. there's one flock of sheep in the entire country who have wool, not hair and we have access to them, but we need to figure out a process and fiddle around with fun dyes and crafts. thank you appalachia for teaching me about wool.
we also seem to be making progress on the solar front, figuring out sales packages and trying to make out the best way to set it up as a micro-credit project. chris is going with some of the guys from the workshop to a village tomorrow to see the current sales process and whatnot. i have to stay at the cafe which is somewhat disappointing but i will probably get to go next time.
anyway, sorry this was not a more colorful, detailed story, filled post, but i felt i needed a larger update. so there you go. love.
we're still settling in iringa, hopefully to be moving in with a family tomorrow, but as many things here, i've been told "kesho" many times, so we'll see. but it should be a nice change from staying in a funny dorm-like place with a receptionist who is alternatively very friendly, holding my hand as we walk, or quite mean, barring her teeth ferociously. actually right this minute, we're staying with the family who started neema crafts and they're a lovely family.
we are just returning from an expedition in dar es salaam in which we spent days wandering the market looking for 100 camping lights, 150 small plastic christmas balls, and 480 binder clips. i am proud to say we found all of the above although not without the casualties of losing/having our phone stolen and me with a myriad of skin problems due to the extreme heat in the city. i mean really the heat was incredible. my poor ring finger is swollen quite too large to wear my ring and is now losing some skin. ugh. but we also made quite an unexpected friend, while walking down the street. Jake, (our newly appointed friend) is an out-of-work navigator on ships who speaks about four languages and has been in at least as many different jails in various countries. he invited us for dinner at his house, which is a single room with a bed and we dined on a quite lovely selection of beans and rice.
our trip back to iringa was fairly uneventful besides that we changed buses and rode in te much more flashy "Sumry" bus that plays loud hip-hop, has curtains with little baubles and serves soda. the attendents on the bus were under the impression that we spoke no swahili and so made sure to translate every announcement for us which was so kind, i didn't have the heart to speak swahili. it did make for some amusing translation when the bus pulled to side of the road and it was announced that we had "three minutes for a short break" which meant you could run to the side of the road to pee.
things at neema seem to be taking shape really well although as my title suggests i once again find myself in food service. neema has a lovely little cafe staffed entirely by deaf people, however when going over the books this past weekend, it was discovered that it is loosing quite a bit of money. so i was asked to spend some time working in the cafe to see if there's something systematic going terribly askew. i know, who goes to tanzania and ends up working in a cafe? me. but it's actually quite nice. i'm also starting investigating the possibility of dyeing wool naturally and making various felt crafts to sell. there's one flock of sheep in the entire country who have wool, not hair and we have access to them, but we need to figure out a process and fiddle around with fun dyes and crafts. thank you appalachia for teaching me about wool.
we also seem to be making progress on the solar front, figuring out sales packages and trying to make out the best way to set it up as a micro-credit project. chris is going with some of the guys from the workshop to a village tomorrow to see the current sales process and whatnot. i have to stay at the cafe which is somewhat disappointing but i will probably get to go next time.
anyway, sorry this was not a more colorful, detailed story, filled post, but i felt i needed a larger update. so there you go. love.
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