This is a tale of how Trade Aid's Tanzanian Manager perceived the UK on his recent and first trip over to England. Trade Aid is a UK charity whose aim is to create sustainable employment in a particularly lovely part of southern Tanzania, Mikindani, near Mtwara.
On the 14th June, after a long wait, our beloved Mikindani leader, Mr Dennis Willy Massoi, arrived in England. After Mtwara International Airport, he looked totally shell-shocked at Heathrow, particularly when it was pointed out that he was only in Terminal 4, the smallest! A quick excursion onto the M25 was enough for him to decide that he didn't want to drive in England (know the feeling?). Two hours later, after an M3 experience, he was dropped off in the New Forest at my home. He did notice that there seemed to be more animals (horses, cows, pigs and deer) running around than in Mtwara area.
That night he was taken to the Salisbury Bandari Club, (also known as The Chicago Rock Café) which was full of drunken ladies dancing on tables and celebrating Hen Nights. Dennis said it would never happen in Mikindani. On Saturday, suitably attired in an England football shirt, Dennis watched the England-Denmark game in a pub in Salisbury and seemed to enjoy the 3-0 win as much as the locals. After a few days with Jacob Amuli in Taunton, Dennis returned to work at Trade Aid. Several exciting things had been lined up for him, but probably the most interesting was the visit to Tony Herbert's apiary in the Chalk Valley. Clad in spacesuits, we were still very nervous of the thousands of bees who seemed oddly irritated at us opening the hive and removing their honey. It is hoped in the future to have a beekeeping trial project in Mikindani under the supervision of Tony.
Very, very early on Friday morning, we collected Dennis from Salisbury, along with some former Trade Aid volunteers, and headed for Stonehenge, to watch the sunrise over the stones on the Summer Solstice. Dennis had probably never seen 22,000 people all in one place before, and especially not the eclectic group that gathers there each year, with music, dancing, drums and fire eaters, children, dogs, colourful costumes and some rather dubious practices, all benignly watched over by the Wiltshire Constabulary. English weather was true to form and the sun didn't so much rise as ooze into the lowering clouds. When we felt that Dennis had seen enough of the spectacle, we walked the mile or so back to the car through the teeming rain, and headed for Salisbury, and the England – Brazil match.
After another Friday night out boogying, it was all building up to the big Saturday night event at Burgate. We had around 100 guests who enjoyed a marvellous African Buffet by Pompi Parry, after listening to talks by Tony Herbert and Len Coleman. Ian and Nicola, recently returned from Tanzania, were there, together with many ex-volunteers and visitors to Mikindani. The highlight was Dennis explaining what he thought of England! Apparently he had been worried at Mrs Brian's absence. “Who will do the cooking?”
The answer was Mr Tesco, convenience food department. These totally unhealthy items, pizza, steak pies, fish and chips, Indian takeaways, combined with those marvellous machines ' the Microwave and the Dishwasher had him wondering “why on earth does anyone in England get married?” Good point Dennis, I'm sure there is an answer to this tricky question, but we'll have to think about it. An excellent evening raised about £850, which will be spent entirely in environmental projects in Mikindani.
On the Sunday Dennis went up to London and saw all the main sights from the London Eye. On Monday he did a bus tour to have a closer look, Buck House, Houses of Parliament, Big Ben etc etc, all caught his eye. By around 4pm though he'd had enough of the culture and was to be found in a pub near Trafalgar square. Before he returned to Tanzania on the Tuesday, we asked what had made the biggest impression on him, was it the Stonehenge Solstice, Heathrow, Houses of Parliament etc? None of these impressed him as much as the Salisbury B & Q! So many tools and building materials under one roof, he couldn't believe it.
For more information about Trade Aid, volunteers and their work, please visit their website www.mikindani.com