As I sat in my office, I wondered if I had malaria. I felt achy, had a headache and a fever. I checked the internet, I had most of the symptoms, which instantly made me feel worse. I wondered whether it was worth going to a doctor and, more importantly, whether I would be able to find a doctor. After an hour or two of contemplating my navel and a short nap, I felt loads better. Ultimately, I think my self-diagnosed case of malaria was the result of my idle back muscles being unexpectedly relied on to keep me in an upright position in the dalladalla and a system that is still accommodating itself to the Tanzanian diet.
After that hypochondriac moment in the office, I was ready to get back to work. I’ve officially been working at the Legal and Human Rights Centre for nine days. It was off to a slow start at LHRC, as my supervisor was away on vacation and there was nary an office or computer to be found. As a result, I spent a good portion of the first week reading any and all LHRC publications. I was also taken on a field trip to the LHRC’s two legal aid clinics located in Dar, which are also the only legal aid clinics in Dar. At each clinic, there was a patient line of clients snaking their way out the door and the clinic itself was awash with files and ringing phones. I think organised chaos would be an appropriate way to describe the clinics. Part of my mandate while at the LHRC will be to analyse the client base of the legal aid clinics and, more specifically, assess the services they provide to women. Women are of particular concern, as some of the Tanzanian laws (and customary practices) are somewhat outdated in their conception of women’s rights and the issue of equality looms large. By the by, my office, computer and supervisor were all accounted for by Thursday of my first week.
The work day starts bright and early at 8 a.m. and we get off to a flying start with a morning meeting of all the LHRC staff. At the meeting, each individual has the opportunity to tell everyone else what he or she intends to do that day. I have to admit, the morning meeting goes against my Farris-trained instincts of getting into the office and going to it right away. The meeting is also in Swahili, which can be a tad frustrating. On the upside, I’m picking up some words in Swahili and I’m becoming intimately familiar with the pictorial depiction of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that appears on the table at which I sit. After the meeting, we move onto what is arguably my favourite time of the day, tea and chapattis. My colleagues have been incredibly gracious and generous in sharing their chapattis with me and making me feel included in this morning ritual. My colleagues are also my Swahili teachers, dropping by my office with a word or a phrase during the day and using every conversation as a teaching opportunity. So far, my favourite Swahili words are “kuku” (which I may have spelt incorrectly), which means chicken, and “pilipili”, which means chilli. A little food orientated, I know. I learnt both these words at a memorable lunch at a local restaurant where we identified the food on my plate. After some taste tests, I’m staying away from the pilipili; it’s a little hot for my taste. Working on the basis of tasting everything at least once, I also had what must be a unique TZ dish, a chip omelette. It is what it sounds like, an omelette with chips in it. You can have your chip omelette with chips on the side. I love it. I’ve vowed to limit myself to one chip dish per week, otherwise I’ll be a couple of hundred pounds by the time I return to Canada. On a total aside, the deep fryers here are large, black woks filled with oil that are well-balanced over smouldering fires waiting to be stoked into action. It’s incredible to watch the woks boil.
Food aside, I’ve started work on the LHRC’s 2008 Human Rights Report for TZ. While at the LHRC, my primary task is the researching and writing of this report. Initially, I felt a little overwhelmed at the notion of putting the entire report together. However, after drafting a work plan, creating some folders and having the opportunity to look at the previous intern’s methodology for organising her research, I feel a bit more in control of the whole process. I think working on the report is going to require a lot of initiative and an ability to work independently. Step one is to research and summarise the applicable human rights law at an international, regional and national level. I have to admit that after typing up fourteen or fifteen summaries of various legal instruments, I started to miss my assistant, Doreen, and my Dictaphone. Thank goodness, I developed lightening typing skills at law school. I’ll keep you posted as to how the report progresses.
After that hypochondriac moment in the office, I was ready to get back to work. I’ve officially been working at the Legal and Human Rights Centre for nine days. It was off to a slow start at LHRC, as my supervisor was away on vacation and there was nary an office or computer to be found. As a result, I spent a good portion of the first week reading any and all LHRC publications. I was also taken on a field trip to the LHRC’s two legal aid clinics located in Dar, which are also the only legal aid clinics in Dar. At each clinic, there was a patient line of clients snaking their way out the door and the clinic itself was awash with files and ringing phones. I think organised chaos would be an appropriate way to describe the clinics. Part of my mandate while at the LHRC will be to analyse the client base of the legal aid clinics and, more specifically, assess the services they provide to women. Women are of particular concern, as some of the Tanzanian laws (and customary practices) are somewhat outdated in their conception of women’s rights and the issue of equality looms large. By the by, my office, computer and supervisor were all accounted for by Thursday of my first week.
The work day starts bright and early at 8 a.m. and we get off to a flying start with a morning meeting of all the LHRC staff. At the meeting, each individual has the opportunity to tell everyone else what he or she intends to do that day. I have to admit, the morning meeting goes against my Farris-trained instincts of getting into the office and going to it right away. The meeting is also in Swahili, which can be a tad frustrating. On the upside, I’m picking up some words in Swahili and I’m becoming intimately familiar with the pictorial depiction of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that appears on the table at which I sit. After the meeting, we move onto what is arguably my favourite time of the day, tea and chapattis. My colleagues have been incredibly gracious and generous in sharing their chapattis with me and making me feel included in this morning ritual. My colleagues are also my Swahili teachers, dropping by my office with a word or a phrase during the day and using every conversation as a teaching opportunity. So far, my favourite Swahili words are “kuku” (which I may have spelt incorrectly), which means chicken, and “pilipili”, which means chilli. A little food orientated, I know. I learnt both these words at a memorable lunch at a local restaurant where we identified the food on my plate. After some taste tests, I’m staying away from the pilipili; it’s a little hot for my taste. Working on the basis of tasting everything at least once, I also had what must be a unique TZ dish, a chip omelette. It is what it sounds like, an omelette with chips in it. You can have your chip omelette with chips on the side. I love it. I’ve vowed to limit myself to one chip dish per week, otherwise I’ll be a couple of hundred pounds by the time I return to Canada. On a total aside, the deep fryers here are large, black woks filled with oil that are well-balanced over smouldering fires waiting to be stoked into action. It’s incredible to watch the woks boil.
Food aside, I’ve started work on the LHRC’s 2008 Human Rights Report for TZ. While at the LHRC, my primary task is the researching and writing of this report. Initially, I felt a little overwhelmed at the notion of putting the entire report together. However, after drafting a work plan, creating some folders and having the opportunity to look at the previous intern’s methodology for organising her research, I feel a bit more in control of the whole process. I think working on the report is going to require a lot of initiative and an ability to work independently. Step one is to research and summarise the applicable human rights law at an international, regional and national level. I have to admit that after typing up fourteen or fifteen summaries of various legal instruments, I started to miss my assistant, Doreen, and my Dictaphone. Thank goodness, I developed lightening typing skills at law school. I’ll keep you posted as to how the report progresses.
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