Dodoma Life

One Saturday morning I open the curtains and notice the bougainvillea, severed by the gardener only a few months ago, is growing back beautifully. Coming back to dormant Dodoma after a short and intense visit home for 3 weddings and much love and bustle, has its challenges. I return to a house covered in a thick layer of black, moist dust. My gecko roommate comes out to greet me. It now has two extra little ones. “At least there were no break-ins!” I joke with myself.

Whilst being away the team has coped extremely well. The one-to-one trainings we introduced for the rest of the staff, together with a more efficient division of labour and a prolonged dosage of morale boost have began to flower and I find my colleagues, whom I am supposed to be supervising, are truly self-sufficient. With initiative and responsibility flourishing among the team members at this rate I begin to seriously consider whether Sunseed’s long-term future requires a two project development officer management structure at all.

To my surprise the social life in Dodoma starts to pick up. Dutch VSO friends, Renee, Lars and Walter, are still here as are the Italians, Malaika and Francesco, from the Italian Cooperation initiative. Then some lovely volunteers for the Jesuit mission, Jana and Thomas, arrive from Germany, and two nice girls my age, Kate from Canada and Maja from Switzerland (with whom I studied in the same department and year at LSE but had never met!).

I had brought a personal laptop this time round to fill in the many hours I anticipated I’d be spending alone at home but sadly it breaks a few days after I return. Ironically, time starts to fly anyway. I go on a bit more church hopping, with my colleagues Gideon whom I watch lead the vibrant choir at the Lutheran Church, and Levina to 6 am mass at the sparkling mosaic lined “Loman” (Catholic) Cathedral. Both two hour services, notices taking up at least 45 minutes of that time!

Besides the little kitten Malaika leaves in my care when she returns to Rome, there is now more company for all sorts of activities; climbing Simba Rock at sunset, taking my first dala dala into town, exploring new vegetable markets, visiting the Cheshire Home for disabled children, the kids at the HIV orphanage, and going for live music at Royal Village, driving to Hombolo lake for a picnic, and even attempting to line-dance Bongo Flavour at Club 84! Sunday afternoons by the pool become more frequent and a series of small dinner parties keeps my evenings occupied. But I start to wonder if this leisurely lifestyle is really a reason to remain working in a place that in truth does not need me.