The Loliondo Adventure

Well, I have to say that we are so happy to be alive right now! We finally made it back to Arusha from a very long and tedious trip to Loliondo, an area 2 hours from the Kenya border mainly populated with traditional Maasai villages. After our drilling experience with Spear, Landon and I have begun considering a large water project, which would bring clean water to the villagers. In seeking out possible well sites and locations, we decided to travel with a group of volunteers offering a first aid and medical training session in Loliondo in order to assess the need for water and soil type. Sarah and Chanel had been to the area before and informed us that the people there were getting their drinking water from a local drainage pond, the same source in which they wash and animals drink from.

The trip was a very exciting one from the very beginning. We arranged a ride with a friend to the bus station at 5:30 am because being out in the city when it is dark is extremely dangerous. We arrived just as the bus began pulling away and even though we had bought tickets in advance, the bus was filled beyond capacity, meaning people had paid to stand in the aisles. We began trying to pile in with no place for our 4 large bags. It turns out our assigned seats were in the very back row and were currently occupied. By the time half of our group had pushed and shoved our way through the aisle packed with people, me and two other volunteers were still attempting to get on the bus as it would start pulling away every few minutes, threatening to leave. The moment Desert grabbed hold of the handle, the bus took off with the three of us barely inside and still 3 other men hanging on behind her. Climbing over baggage, seats, and people, we all eventually made it to the rear and had to kick the current occupants out of our seats. Since we would be spending multiple days in Loliondo, we had lots of luggage as a group. Some of it was stuffed beneath our feet and the rest took up one of the seats, so we actually traded off sitting between the headrests of the seats because of a lack of space.

Our view from the back of the crowded bus!

You probably know that you always get bumped around much more in the back of the bus than towards the front. This made sleeping and reading absolutely impossible. For the first 2 hours we thought that the paved roads with some big potholes were bad, but we were nowhere prepared for what would come of the remaining 10 hours. 

So about two hours into our journey, the bus stops and they start making some of us get off. No one on the bus speaks very good english so we didn't exactly know what was going off. Landon, being his impatient self decided it would be much easier to just jump out through the window than wait for everyone in the aisle to clear out. And of course our bus is lifted so high that Landon could almost stand straight up underneath the vehicle! Anyways, before the rest of us made it off the bus, it starts to drive away. Landon quickly realizes that he is being left behind and starts running after the bus. He jumps up and grabs the window so all we can see is his hands going 20 mph. He is using every ounce of strength to climb back in the window and we are freaking out and yelling stop when the bus pulls off into the weighing station! Landon jumps back off to see a handful of Africans laughing at the recent incident. After unloading and weighting 2 more times, we were finally able to continue on the adventure. It still doesn't make any sense to us why they are allowed to unload passengers in order to pass a weight inspection. Later down the road, our bus driver was actually fired for having so many passengers. I can't imagine having to stand in the aisle way for the entire 12 hours. 

Well, we finally made it to the road turn off toward Loliondo which was an easy comparison to a dirt road through the Utah Mountains. However, this time we were on a 60-passenger bus holding over 90 people and going at least 65 mph. It was the longest wooden rollercoaster ride of my life. The road was very dry and dusty so anytime the bus would slow down at all the dust would whirl in through the windows opened for ventilation and cover us all in a blanket of dirt. We were able to see some wildlife along the journey, which was pretty neat. Lots of zebra, wildebeests, giraffe, antelope, and flamingos and of course the usual cows, goats, and donkeys herded by young Maasai boys. 

However, the most exciting events of our trip were definitely hiding at each of the gates. To reach Loliondo, we have to pass through national parks and because we are white, they expect us to pay because they assume we are tourists, even though we arranged in advance forms that explained we were exempt from the charges as volunteers. Some of the gates are still just too stubborn so as we approached them, we would shut the curtains in the back row and all huddled down in our hoodies and blankets to hide our white skin. The first gate we were caught so this is our bus driver trying to argue our case with the gate officers. We all felt like illegal aliens trying to cross the border or something!

Everyone arguing about letting the Mzungus through

The last 4 hours were probably the longest. It had been a very long day for all of us. We were hot, sweaty, and dusty, ready for a good night of sleep. We were so happy when we finally arrived. We stayed at an orphanage run by the MACAO Organization, one of HELP's partners from last year. They also held school for all of the orphans and several children from the surrounding area. The kids were extremely smart and knew English very well because the material is all taught in English.

Landon playing a game with all the students

Lunch time at the school!

Adorable orphan kids :)

Landon and I spent the first day going around talking with the district leaders and engineers about possibly drilling a well. We were sad but somewhat relieved to find out that the water table was far out of reach for the Village Drill and the area was saturated with fluoride, only because we weren't too thrilled about making another long and dreadful trip out to Loliondo. With this news, we spent the rest of our time helping with the first aid training in the Maasai Village.

The Maasai people are a very traditional group. There are hundreds of tribes scattered throughout Tanzania living in small villages. The Maasai are very strict about sticking to their traditions and culture. They practice polygamy which causes many problems with HIV and though they have been educated about the issue they (the men)  refuse to change their ways. The men have a reputation of having all control and doing what they want, which is usually just sitting around all day. Each of the wives is responsible for building their own boma, a mud and cow dung structure held up by sticks with absolutely no windows, collecting fire wood, cooking food, caring for the children, and more. Rarely do the men associate with the women. The women are rarely allowed to speak and must do what the men say. When a man comes to her boma, the woman cannot refuse sex from him. The Maasai are known for their livestock herding. The boys are taught at a young age how to herd and spend all day herding the cattle and goats to areas of grass. We also learned that some men own over 400 cattle making him very wealthy; however, as a Maasai you would earn more respect having more cattle than actual money. So even though they have the means to improve their living situations, they refuse to, also holding to their traditions. We wanted to give them anything they would accept that could improve their lives.

The volunteers spent 2 days in each of the 2 villages, handing out first aid kits assembled as an eagle scout project in the US. They used the kits to teach the people basic health and injury treatments. We also taught them about water purification and hygiene. It was so sad to sit and watch as 10 flies would cover a child's face because they are not clean. The people were very excited about the kits and the trainings and we hope that they will continue to use the methods they have learned.

Landon and I volunteered to demonstrate CPR since we are "married" 

Our bus ride home was far more pleasant than the way there, although we did still have to argue our way out of tourist charges and still came home plastered in dust. Only the worst experiences create the best memories! :)

Covered in dusty dirt!