Farewell Albert

Mike and I have said many times that the most boring job in the whole world must be a guard at our house. We have 2 guards at a time who sit on 12 hour shifts....and just sit....and wait....for nothing. They open the gates for our car when we come and go. They turn on our outdoor security lights at dusk and turn them off again at dawn. And that's about it.

The Embassy policy is to rotate guards among all of the houses on a regular basis. However, there are about 3 guards who remain at our complex (our neighbor works for the Embassy security office, so she can pull some strings).

One of those guards is Albert. Albert was one of the first guards we met when we arrived. We soon learned that he has been working at our complex for 2 years now. Albert is young, early 20's I would guess. He is soft spoken and respectful. And he loves Sadie! One of Sadie's favorite games is to run around the corner and "talk" to the guards. Albert lights up when he sees her coming. He will sit with her and ask her to name him different colors ("what color is the table", "what color is my shirt"). He calls her 'da-da', which is Swahili for 'sister'.

We brought a new swingset with us in our sea shipment. When it arrived Albert and his sidekick, Jeff, were the ones who put it together for us.

One afternoon I looked outside and saw Albert painting. It brought tears to my eyes watching him. Mike and I went out to admire his work. We found out that he was taking art classes. There was something about learning that that really struck me. I enjoy talking to our guards and meeting them, but I had never really considered what their lives were like outside of our complex. I had certainly not thought about their hobbies. And here Albert was, with very simple paint and brush, making this beautiful creation on a piece of wood. Mike and I wanted to do something for him, so we went inside and found a set of watercolor pencils (practically unused from a whimsical "I'm going to learn to draw" moment). We presented it to Albert as a gift. Immediately we saw the emotion sweep across his face. He was so grateful, he was practically speechless. He quietly whispered "thank you" over and over again as he stared at his new pencils.

Last week, Albert knocked on our door. He was wearing street clothes, so immediately we knew something was up. He explained to us that he was going to be leaving, returning to his home in Malawi. We learned that his parents have already passed away and he has only his uncle still alive. His uncle is very sick and Albert is leaving to go care for him. He told us that now that he is a man, he must do this for his uncle. He wanted to tell us himself that he was leaving.

Mike and I were both surprised and humbled. Back home, if a family member is sick, you send flowers, you send a card, you call, you check on them, you visit. But most people wouldn't quit their job, leave school, leave their house and friends and move back to take care of that family member. Africans have a much different sense of family than we Americans do.

We will miss Albert very much. We hope to see him again one day.

Tragedy and commonality

So by now, most of you have heard about the tragic event in Tanzania where a ferry going between the island of Zanzibar and Pemba capsized killing over 200 people. Most of the victims were small children who were heading back for the start of school. In a country such as Tanzania, almost 11% of children under 5 will die before the age of 5. The children that have died on the ferry incident had past that window. When you combine it with a small community such as Pemba, then you not only lost kids in one family, but you lost their cousins so multiple relatives were affected. The ferry accident was caused by the ferry boat being very much overloaded. Between the rice, vehicles, flour, household goods, and over 1000 people on a boat designed to carry only 500 tops. Combine that with choppy water and winds, the boat capsized at 3 am. In the US, we have a tendency to be quick to rush with our prejudices and think “that’s Africa”. But in a sense, it’s most of the world. Even though the fares on these ferries are very small (about $1), in terms of third world salaries it is a significant amount. Crowding 20 people on a 12 passenger van is not uncommon. Putting 100 people on a 40 passenger bus happens all the time. 1000 people on a 500 person ferry are commonplace. Economies of scale are the only way they can make it. Unfortunately, it often leads to tragedy. Ferry accidents happen all around the world every year. We just seldom hear about them in the US. Attached is a photo of a similar ferry as to the one that sunk from our trip to Zanzibar.


I was talking with a colleague from USAID today who commented, “I’ve worked in several places but I have not been around as much death as I have here in Tanzania.” Within 2 months, one of her colleagues at USAID lost his wife as she was giving birth to their first child. The ferry accident has cost over 200 lives. One or two others in the Embassy have died in the past month with heart attacks. The deaths we are seeing are common place in third world countries. It really does open your eyes to the blessings that we have in the US. Healthcare is exceptional. In the US, there is always, in the back of your mind, the thought that something could happen. Here, it is expected that something WILL happen. Your joy of bringing in a baby is tempered by the worry that you may lose the mother. In Tanzania, 454 out of 100,000 births, the mother will lose her life. Combine that with the 11% child under 5 mortality rate, then you see the greater risk of either losing the mother or the child before the age of 5 is quite high.

"When any calamity has been suffered, the first thing to be remembered is how much has been escaped."

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) British author.

The easy thing to do is to write off Africa as being corrupt, backwards, and primitive. In the US, all we see are National Geographic specials of naked Africans sitting in the mud houses. We are actually in a major city with successful businesses, doctors, and such. My opinions of Africa have totally changed and it’s given me a thirst to see more of the world. I was speaking with a Tanzanian colleague. He asked me what I expected from Africa. I told him I expected primitive people and lots of animals because that’s what we saw in the US on TV. He said that when he was in the UK, he saw programs on Africa and that’s what they showed as well. He thought to himself, “Where are they in Africa? I have not seen these places.” I challenge everyone to learn more about the cultures and places around the world then what you see on TV. The world is so much more than that.

In the end, life is no different in Tanzania than it is in the US. People want good health, steady work, and peaceful communities. We’re not so different after all.