A Glimpse of Chagga Land

Before I continue on with the saga of my trip with the Vintons to Madisi Secondary School and the struggle of the others to cross over into Dar, I thought you might be interested in seeing a few photos of the area the Chagga call home.  It's on the slopes of Kilimanjaro, where water is plentiful and the flora is lush and green.  The Teshas arranged many of the details for this visit and act as the overall hosts during the week.

The view from the terrace of the guesthouse where everyone stayed

Green, green Chaggaland.

Baba Tesha and the local parish priest.

Mama Tesha serving dinner to the group at her house.

Mama and Baba Tesha, who live in Arusha but, like many urban Tanzanians, still maintain a family shamba (small farm) in Baba's home village.

Preparing to spend the morning in the fields,

Students hoeing in the banana grove.  The Chagga said they had never seen wazungu work like this before.

Out on a hike.  You can see how steep the terrain is.

John at a local waterfall.

Students climbing behind the falls--of course.

Enjoying a break along the way.

A common local sight, women washing clothes in a stream.

The ritual of pounding coffee.  The Chagga have grown coffee for many years but are now changing to other crops as disease and low prices make coffee less profitable for them.

During the day, the students had some lectures and discussions of their readings  as well as a visit to a local dispensary, a morning in the fields, and hiking.  The evenings, however, were for pounding coffee, listening to stories, and dancing--lots of dancing.