So much has happened!

Well, I'm back, after quite some time away from the blogging scene, mainly due to a very, very busy schedule, these past months.

So much has happened since the last post, that I am not quite sure where to start. The most important news, however, is that we finally succeded in becoming a local Zanzibari NGO. Just two days before I left back to Europe I was handed the ZANZIBITS NGO certificate from the Cheif Registration Officer.

It was quite a journey, which at times I have thought hellish, with countless visits to the Ministry's office, even more visits to the Ofici ya Mrajis, where Mr. Rajab was of very good help and many, many hours of patience. For those who don't know me, I am not really a patient person. I like efficiency. But in the end of the day, we were succesful.

For this I want to especially thank Mr. Mohammed and Mr. Khalil from the Ministry of Women, Children and Youth Development, Mr. Rajab from the Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Aziz Ramadan, who has been a great support from the very start, and who has tought me so much about the local culture, the ladies at the copy shop on Soko Muhogo, without who's help I would probably have screamed a lot more than I did and finally, to all the local friends who gave me a listening ear when I was complaining...

But now we are set, and the games can begin.

In the meanwhile, the head teacher I told you about in my first post had appeared on the scene. His name is Emmanuel, and looked really very good on paper. I had given him a contract, to start heading up the school and the office. He seemed quite enthousiastic, when I picked him up from the port, on sunday, and we immediately went to work.

We bought a computer, had desks made, bought loads of UTP cable, green backup power and started to equip the office. Within a few days things were really getting things set up, and I could already see it, a signboard with our logo, kids coming in for interviews, teachers applying for jobs! A bustling place.

Then came friday, and my friend Emmuel told me he had gotten malaria and wanted to go back to Dar es Salaam for some treatment and to pick up his personal affairs. Nothing wrong with that, right? So I gave him an advance on his salary and brought him to the port.

Little did I know that this was the last time I would hear from Mr. Emmanuel, ever again. And the sad thing is, I still don't know what happened to him. Did he find another job, did he just change his mind, did his girlfriend tell him not to go back to zanzibar, did he loose my number, or did the malaria kill him? I hope not the latter, though in the beginning I was VERY angry with him. But this is again a lesson in patience and the African way, which has tought me a lot.

Keep on smiling, it the motto, right?