A Day Life in the Life of Our Tanzanian Friend

Pictured here with Diane is our fellow parishioner Moris whom we met at the church where we live. Moris has become a good friend to us. Moreover, he is a very good informant about things Tanzanian, speaks English well, and knows how to correct my bumbling Swahili.

Diane had the idea of asking Moris to write a bit about his daily life and his family. So he wrote something in Swahili, then he and I together edited it and translated it into English.

We are posting both the Swahili and the English here. The notes in brackets are mine. -Earl

Maisha Yangu (familia)

Morris Damiani Chenga ndilo jina langu. Nilizaliwa mwaka 1970 terehe 22-12-1970. Mpaka sasa nina umri wa miaka (40) arobaini.

Nina watoto wawili na mke mmoja. Mtoto wangu Exsavery ana umri wa miaka 11. Alizaliwa Zahanati ya Ziwani mwaka 1999 mwezi wa tatu. Anasoma Darasa la tano katika shule ya Lilungu Manispaa ya Mtwara.

Dorith ni mtoto wangu wa pili. Alizaliwa tarehe 21-2-2003 katika hospitali ya Ligula saa 5:18. Sasa anasoma Darasa la kwanza. Anasoma shule sawa na kaka yake.

Lucy mke wangu pia anamiaka arobaini. Alizaliwa tarehe 25/9/1970. Anafanya kazi ya kufundisha watoto wadogo Mauntsore. Alisoma katika Shule ya Luagala.

Mimi mwenyewe Moris Damiani nilisoma mpaka Darasa la 7 toka mwaka 1979-1985. Nilifaulu kuendelea kidato cha kwanza. Nilisoma kidato cha kwanza na cha pili lakini wazazi wangu hawakuwa na uwezo wa kunilipia ada ya shule kwa kidato cha tatu na nne, kwa sababu mwaka ule zao la korosho halikuzaa korosho.

Nimekuwa nikifanya vibarua na kazi za mikataba kama mtunzaji wa nyumba kwa muda wa miaka 12 sasa. Kwa kipindi hiki sina kazi. Huwa nafanya vibarua kazi za kujitafutia chakula na mahitaji muhimu ya binadamu. Kila kukicha natafuta kazi ya kufanya.

KUTWA MOJA SHUGHULI ZANGU.

Ninaamka saa 11.30 hasubuhi kila siku. Ninaoga saa 11.45 na kujianda kwenda kanisani. Ninasaidia kusoma masomo na kazi nyingine za kanisani. Misa inaanza saa 12.30 hasubuhi. Namaliza ibada saa 1.00 hasubuhi. Saa 1.10 hasubuhi ninampeleka Dorith shuleni kwa sababu ya barabara kuu ya Dar-es-salamu. Ninamwacha shule saa 1.15. Narudi nyumbani ninaangalia kamakuna chai au uji. Ninakunywa na ninaanza kutafuta kazi ya kufanya ili nipate chakula. Kama ninapata fedha ninarudi nyumbani kuangalia chakula cha mchana. Saa 10.00 jioni ninaangalia watoto kanisani. Huwa nawafundisha kuhudumu wakati wa misa siku ya juma pili. Siku ya jumanne ninakwenda kwenye jumuia. Mimi ni katibu wa jumuia. Pia ni mwenyekiti wa vijana wa kanisa yaani Vijana Wafanyakazi Wakatoliki au (VIWAWA).

Mahitaji yangu ya chakula kwa mwezi kama ifuatavyo.

(1) Mchele kg 10 sawa na 13,000/=
(2) Unga wa mahindi kg 9 sawa na 9000/=
(3) Sukari kg 4 sawa 6000/=
(4) Mkaa mifuko 3 sawa 9000/=
(5) Mafuta ya kula lita 3 sawa 5400/=
(6) Mafuta ya taa lita 5 sawa 5500/=
(7) Viberiti kasha 1 sawa 400/=
(8) Pesa ya maji kwa mwezi sawa 1500/=
(9) Exsavery na Dorith pesa ya ada ya shule , kwa mwaka
1) Exsavery 7000/=
2) Dorith 7000/=
Michango ya ulinzi kwa wote 5000/= kwa mwaka
Wakati mwengine hela ya shuleni @ 100/= kila siku x 5, 1000/= kwa wiki moja, 4500/= kwa mwezi.

Mahitaji ya sabuni ya kuogea vipande 5 x 250/= = 1250/=
Sabuni ya kufulia kg 4 6000/=

Mahitaji haya ndiyo ninayohitaji kwa mwezi. Najitahidi kutafuta kazi kuweza kumudu maisha, lakini wakati mwingine nashindwa kupata mahitaji haya yote.

--------------------------------------------
My Life and Family

Moris Damian Chenga is my name. I was born in 1970 on 22 of December. Now my age is 40.

I have two children and one wife. Exsavery is eleven years old. He was born at Ziwani Dispensary in March 1999. He is studying Standard 5 [fifth year of primary school] at Lilungu Municipal School of the town of Mtwara.

Dorith is my second child. She was born 21 of February, 2003, at Ligula Hospital at 11:18 in the morning. Now she is studying Standard 1. She is studying at the same school as her brother.

My wife Lucy is also 40 years old. She was born 25 of September, 1970. She works teaching small children at a Montessori school. She studied at Luagala College [near Nyangao].

I myself Moris Damian studied up to Standard 7 from 1979 to 1985 [at Chikunja Primary School in Masasi]. I passed the exam to continue with Form One [first year of secondary school]. I studied Forms 1 and 2 but my parents did not have the means to pay the school fees for Forms 3 and 4, because that year their cashew crop did not bear fruit.

I have been doing manual labor on contract as a domestic worker for the past twelve years now. At this time I do not have work. Usually I do some manual work so as to find food and essential needs for human beings. Every day I look for work to do.

MY ACTIVITIES FOR ONE DAY.

I wake up at 5:30 in the morning each day. I bathe at 5:45 and get ready to go to church. I help with reading the readings and other work at the church. Mass starts at 6:30 a.m. I finish the Mass at 7:00. At 7:10 I take Dorith to school because of the main road to Dar es Salaam [which has much traffic]. I leave her at school at 7:15. I return home and see whether there is chai [tea with sugar] or uji [porridge made from corn flour]. I drink it and I start to look for work to do so that I can get food. If I get money I return home to look for lunch. At 4:00 in the afternoon I look after children at church. Usually this is me teaching them to [altar] serve during Mass on Sundays. Tuesdays I go to the community ["small Christian community", groups of which the parish has several]. I am secretary of the community. Also, I am chair of the church youth, that is, the Young Catholic Workers (VIWAWA).

My food needs per month as follows.

[The currency symbol for the Tanzanian shilling is /= which is at about 1300/= to U.S. $1]

(1) White rice, 10 kg, 13,000/=
(2) Maize flour, 9 kg, 9000/=
(3) Sugar, 4 kg, 6000/=
(4) Charcoal, 3 bags, 9000/=
(5) Cooking oil, 3 liters, 5400/=
(6) Kerosene, 5 liters, 5500/=
(7) Matches, 1 package, 400/=
(8) Water expense per month, 1500/=
(9) Money for school fees for Exsavery and Dorith, per year,
1) Exsavery, 7000/=
2) Dorith, 7000/=
Contribution for security [school watchmen] for both, 5000/= per year
Other monies for school, @ 100/= per day x 5, 1000/= per week, 4500/= per month

Soap needed for bathing, 5 pieces x 250/=, 1250/=
Soap for washing, 4 kg, 6000/=

These necessities are what I need each month. I try to make sure that I find work to be able to support life, but at times I fail to get all these necessities.

Some time ago we started to hire Moris to do weekly food shopping trips and other errands for us. When we asked him to write about himself he also brought back to us several letters of reference. An excerpt of one of those letters follows. -Earl

I am writing to recommend Morris Damian for employment. Morris worked for me for two years (2004-2006), cleaning the house and washing clothes. Morris is a very reliable and trustworthy employee. Furthermore, he is an ethical and honorable person. I have recommended him to many other Peace Corps volunteers in the course of my two years of service, and have heard only praise regarding Morris work from these colleagues.

... I consider myself very fortunate to have had Morris in my life, as a friend and employee, and am all too happy to advocate for him.