Richard was a volunteer working in Mikindani, Tanzania for a charity, Trade aid.

My first impressions of Mikindani were what an improvement it was on my initial reaction to Dar-es-Salaam, [probably influenced by jet lag and the uncomfortable heat]. After the long journey it was a relief to get into Mikindani, and all I really wanted to do was sleep, however we had to prepare for the long awaited home stay. It was initially a shock, and various words were running through my head, which I shall not repeat. I found my home stay family to be extremely helpful and tolerant towards my bad Swahili, and repeatedly getting the wrong end of the stick.

Home stay was initially difficult, but once you have settled in you learn to ignore the screaming kids “watoto”, and you get on with things. However there is one thing I never got used to, Ugali (Cornmeal Porridge). It’s foul, and each meal was a bit of a trial, with Mama Asha encouraging me to eat more, and me desperately and as politely as possible trying to convey the message that “as much as a like Ugali I’m really actually very ill”.

So it was with some relief that I left my home stay and settled into the base house. I do still go back to my home stay family, just never at meal times.

It was now time to start on the project [bee keeping], and things seemed to get rolling pretty quickly with the help of Mr Thomas and Fabian, the ex-government beekeeper from Mtwara. It took some time to actually get the hive built and it is only now complete, all we need now are the bees. The bees will either come from a feral colony behind the Boma [a natural colony], or they will come from Mtwara. If we get them from behind the Boma we will wait for the bees to naturally colonise the hive, which is baited with bees wax [very much the lazy mans option]. If we use the bait hive then we are going to use some strange and mysterious Tanzanian method of catching bees, which Fabian has yet to reveal to me, should be interesting.

Teaching is something else that I have started since home stay. Teaching the staff has been particularly successful and enjoyable. Computer lessons, swimming lessons and English lessons seem to be the order of the day, and several of the staff seem to be making good ground in some of these areas. However, different things can be said about teaching at the schools. I have come to the conclusion that to get yourself, a head teacher, children, a classroom together at the same time requires an act of divine intervention, to be fair there are usually good excuses, however it is still infuriating.

I have found that a laid back attitude is required when working out here, and that flexitime is essential i.e. “so what time tomorrow morning?” “In the morning” “yes but when?” “Sometime”.

I know that when I get back to the England it is going to be difficult not being famous anymore, it’s quite strange when you walk around Mikindani and several thousand people all know your name. It really would be too easy to get delusions of grandeur.

It has been quite entertaining to watch some of the guests who have never been to Africa before, let alone Mikindani. In a place that feels, not exactly like home, but somewhere that I have got used to, the sight of a large group of Europeans clustered together and meekly discussing how different everything is, seems quite odd. But then I think back to my first reaction to Tanzania and Mikindani, and I realise I was the same.

It has been strange in the way that Africa seems to bend time, the pace of life is extremely slow, and for some reason it doesn’t seem like I’ve been here six weeks.

For more information about Trade Aid, volunteers and their work, please visit their website www.mikindani.com or e-mail Sherie on tradeaid@netcomuk.co.uk