Visit to Iraqw village

 

Today I visited one of the Iraqw villages with 4 staff members of 4CCP.  Nelson, James, Neema (who is my translator), and the driver (who's name I am forgetting).  It was a short drive to the village where I got to see twenty traditional dancers perform.  After the performance we all went into the classroom where I provided some advice on what changes to make (that fit within their culture) to make the performance even better.  At first I was very nervous and worried that I didn't prepare enough.  But based on my conversations with James yesterday and after the class today he said what I prepared was perfect.  He only wanted me to go over the basics of stage performance with these performers and to not give them too much information or they would forget it.

Before I provided any advice I thanked them for having me and for performing for us.  I applauded their performance and said that my suggestions would make the presentation all that much better. The advice I provide was centered around uniformity. Uniformity in their costumes, the positions of their hands, when they move and when they finish.   Neema translated to Iraqw for me and according to her and James that the group of 30 received my information well and all agreed.

It's a bit unsettling to be in a room full of people where everyone is talking and you have no idea what they are saying.  Neema was great in providing translation for me and also translating my information to the dancers in a way that was welcomed by the group. It's all in how you delivery the information. For the mistakes that I made today I will do better tomorrow.

There were lots of photos and a video taken of my class by one of the 4CCP staff.  They are going to share with me the video and photos.  I may share the video, it just depends on how bad it is.  lol

After we finished the class, they took me to a local Iraqw blacksmith who made a bracelet that I purchased for 10,000 tzs (which is equal to $6.00 Cdn). It was really interesting to watch him use traditional tools to make this metal bracelet.   He put the bracelet on me and tightened it in a way that made it secure. It was so secure I couldn't get it off.  In fact when we got back to where I am staying James and the staff driver came to my rescue to help get the bracelet off.  I love the bracelet but I prefer to have the option to wear it when I want to and not all the time.

There were lots of children gathering as we watched him create this beautiful bracelet and they were very intrigued by the idea of taking a selfie and I think me. One was like a little shadow holding on to me.

Funny moment that happened - when I was handing him the money to pay for my bracelet, one of the small children came up to me and held out their hand to receive the money.  Both the blacksmith and myself laughed.  See you don't need to speak the same language to enjoy something funny.

Here are a few photos from the day that I took:

Me all ready for the day and yes it was cold this morning:

The Iraqw traditional dancers:  

The Blacksmith heating up the metal:

Selfie with some of the children:

Cleaning/ shining the metal: 

Bending it into shape: 

Chisling the decorative pattern into the bangle (you can't tell from this photo but he is holding the 

bracelet in place with his toes): 

The finished product (after we got it off):

Tomorrow I am suppose to go on a morning hike with James and Neema and then go to. Datooga village however 4CCP staff have found out that there will be a funeral in Datooga village tomorrow and not sure how that will affect our visit. 

Part of this experience is to be flexible so we will see what happens. 

Next post.... Traveling to Haydom and my accommodations. Hopefully there will be a separate post about the Datooga visit. Stay tuned.......