On a particularly warm and humid Christmas Eve Santa
\nClaus came back to Mikindani for the third year running.
\nReturning volunteer to the Trade Aid project Matt Maddocks
\nonce again donned the red robe, festive hat and fake beard
\nto bring some excitement to the children of Mikindani. This
\ntime around, the Bedford army truck was adapted to become
\nhis sleigh by the decorative efforts of Emmanuel at the
\nBoma. As we set off for an afternoon tour of the village,
\neverything seemed quiet… was about to change.<\/p>\n
The sleigh ride was accompanied by the sound of cheesy
\nTanzanian pop music and, having rented the most powerful
\nsound system south of Dar, children all over heard us
\ncoming and came running. There were handfuls of sweets for
\nthe children, who followed the sleigh as it made its way
\naround Mikindani and then headed on into Mtwara. Many of
\nthem broke into spontaneous dance-mode when we approached.
\nAs we made our way down to the far end of town I saw a
\nlarge woman wade through the throng of children like a
\nmassive battering ram, take off her headscarf and try to
\nuse it as a net to catch all of the sweets. We tried to
\navoid her reach to get some sweets to the little ones, but
\nshe clearly had to satisfy her sugar fix and blighted our
\ngenerosity for a few minutes. The atmosphere was jubilant
\nand everyone was waving and laughing. Matt was relishing
\nthe role and the sight of him dancing on the back of the
\ntruck in front of hundreds of people is one I will not soon
\nforget. When he then turned his back and proceeded to shake
\nhis derriere in true African style there were screams of
\ndelight and laughter from the crowd.<\/p>\n
We went up the main road towards the boatyard, before
\nlooping round to Jangwani Street by the fish market. In
\nthis densely populated area the number of kids swelled and
\nwe had more than six hundred people following the sleigh.
\nWe then made our way towards the market and veered off to
\nHaikata, where we were briefly attacked by a swarm of bees
\n(not from the Boma hive!) before returning to Bomani
\nStreet. We passed the Trade Aid house and made our way in
\nto Mtwara from there. Apart from subsequently breaking down
\nin Mtwara whilst dressed like a bunch of prats, the event
\nwas a complete success. It was great PR, although, it being
\nin Mikindani with a majority Muslim population, I did hear
\npeople asking each other what the significance of a
\n‘fat red bloke with a beard’ was. Matt was the
\nstar of the show and he pulled off a great performance; one
\nthat, dancing in front of so many people, most of us
\npusillanimous souls could only muster after three triple
\nwhiskeys and a jug of Stella. It was a great day for all
\nand no doubt the children of Mikindani will look forward to
\nthe event next year…<\/p>\n