Ordering Dresses

Wednesday, March 13, 2019

How can these last days fly by so quickly? Since it was Wednesday, MaryLou headed off as usual to the Albino Peacemakers workshop to teach more English to the women there. She has been incredibly dedicated to this task, and I believe the women are feeling more and more empowered to speak for themselves with the tourists who come to hear about albinism in Tanzania and buy the beautiful items these women create.

I wanted to go to a small nearby shop, Terry African Design, and see if I could get the young woman there to make a dress for me and another one for Peri. I already knew that Terry spoke no English, so I had asked Beatrice from here at Kundayo to go with me as an interpreter. John also wanted to go along. We thought Beatrice would be ready to go at 10:00, but it was almost 11:00 before she showed up—with her boyfriend. The four of us quickly walked to the shop, and then the fun began.

Beatrice and her friend, Emanuel

Terry's new shop

What I thought might take at most 30 minutes stretched on and on. Being mzungu, I immediately chose the kitenge I wanted for my dress and another for Peri’s. I already had a model of what I wanted Peri’s dress to be like, and I described what I wanted, a simple shift. I thought that then I would be measured and we could return to Kundayo. But no! There was a lot going on in Swahili and I was shown a poster of various African style dresses I could choose from. Again, I described what I wanted, which obviously confused poor Terry. There was a stack of prepackaged gowns, long and flowing and generally ugly. Terry and Beatrice kept trying to find something I might like even though I kept saying no and trying to return the conversation to my order. At one point, I interrupted and asked what they were discussing, and they said they had been talking about which tribes like which colors best. Oh Lordy! Meanwhile, Beatrice’s boyfriend had his smart phone on the calculator app and was keeping track of what the charges for cloth and labor would be for my two dresses.

Beatrice helping to measure my kitenge

The display of many styles of African dresses

Trying to make decisions with Terry and Beatrice

It was close to noon when we finally got my order written in Terry’s book, and I made a down payment. Meanwhile, Beatrice had spotted a skirt hanging on the line of clothing already sewn and proceeded to try it on—over a plaid flannel shirt. The skirt looked cute, but the combination with the flannel shirt was hideous. Beatrice seemed to be suggesting that her boyfriend should buy the skirt for her, but he was not agreeing. Finally, I asked how much the skirt cost, and when Terry said 15,000 TSch ($6.50), I decided to buy it for Beatrice’s good-bye present. Oh happy day!

Beatrice loves the skirt

 Our friend Sharon Mkisi was coming to Kundayo to have lunch with us here, so we needed to be back at 12:00 noon. We made it back by noon, but Sharon was already waiting for us on the garden terrace. That’s just the way it goes here in Tanzania: Nothing works by exact clock time.  One either arrives on time and waits or arrives late which is much better. I’ve learned that whatever will happen will happen when it does.

We had a very nice lunch with Sharon out on the garden terrace: chicken curry with coconut sauce, rice, greens, and avocado salad. After that, we went over to our terrace for vanilla ice cream with freshly sliced mangoes. That is by far our favorite dessert here. It was a pleasure to have time with Sharon, who is usually very occupied with her work as the director for the Mennonite Central Committee in Tanzania. She wanted to hear all about my Sunday adventure out with the Meru women. I told her that I had been surprised by the size of the group and how elaborate the lunch, dancing, etc. had been. Also, I informed her that there had been absolutely no request for sponsorship or a donation. That is the major thing wazungu here are constantly on guard for.  Naturally, we Americans are seen as being very rich—we actually are, of course—and easily touched by the plight of orphans, widows, etc. However, one person cannot meet all needs, and I have learned to be very careful about focusing on the smaller needs I know well and can verify that my gifts make a significant difference for specific people. Many NGOs and projects may sound worthy, but they often have high overhead and are not administered by Africans themselves. Far too many well-meaning wazungu still have vestiges of the colonial mentality of white superiority over African co-workers. So, if people want to give to a real African project which makes a significant impact on the people, I suggest HEAL Africa in the DRC and Step-By-Step here in Arusha.

https://www.aidforafrica.org/member-charities/heal-africa-usa/

https://www.sslc-tz.com/