Friday, February 22, 2013

Manda Ulwile

I spent this morning (20FEB) at a small remote African village in Tanzania called Manda Ulwile. This village is on a large island in Lake Tanganyika. The only contact these people have with the outside world is when they get visits from people like me (which is not very frequently).
It was incredible to wander around and interact with the curious villagers, especially the kids. The population is approximately 200 (140 of which are children). There's not even a school on the island so everyone pretty much chills and just plays all day everyday...
I taught the kids the English words for some of the animals that they have on the island (dog, pig, goat, etc) and we made the animal noises. Then I found some small fruits and juggled for the kids. Our guide told me that they had never seen anyone juggle before - based on their faces I believe him. I showed some of the older boys the basics of how to juggle and a couple were actually decent. Then we played catch and I got a big stick of sugar cane and we played a ghetto version of baseball. Finally I taught them the only Swahili song that I know. The kids (about 30) were singing, dancing and laughing.
Then it was time to head back to my resort on the private island next door. This was one of the most incredible and authentic experiences I've ever had!

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