Ninaumwa, Nina Matatizo ......

Wow if I was charging money for counseling services here I would be making a killing. Its interesting to see how my new found meditation and centering skills can be used here. The problem is that when someone is sick or hurting emotionally (which is just about everyone I know here at the moment) I sit with them and help them to carry the burden. fine. awesome actually. That's what I came here to do. but without the community at my meditation centre or the privacy of my shrine room, my cbt and meditation exercises must come in spurts (like on the back of a dirt bike deep in the village or while I am washing up). I am in Mwanza now, supporting my friends (Canadian, Australian and Tanzanian) while they run many different projects and I bounce between them daily. This might be my first trip where I have done so much "intangible" work but feel like I am accomplishing a lot. I miss my friends. I miss Jerry and Sophia. I miss the kids. Robbie, Baila, Ema, Fortunatus, Paulo, Augustina, Marwa... it is devastating watching them slip through my fingers and knowing there is nothing I can do about it. Every minute I get closer to understanding what it is like to be Tanzanian and every minute I loose my ability to express it to people of my own culture.