My Host Family!

Tanzania is a socialist, collectivist society where the notion that “It takes a village to raise a child” dictates the family structure.   Positive relationships within the family and with neighbors are considered vital to survival, and Tanzanians never want to be perceived as selfish.  The mantra “What’s mine is ours” dominates the Tanzanian psyche and people are expected to share money and possessions with family and friends.   That being said, if you are middle class or upper middle class and someone you care about stumbles upon tough times, it is normal for you to welcome them into your home for an extended period of time and share limited resources.   I cannot emphasize enough the importance of relationships in this culture. People tend to avoid confrontation or conflict and speak in an indirect manner.  Also, as I said in an earlier post, everyone is considered brother, sister, mother or father.    Now why am I explaining all of this in a post about my host family?  The reason is because I do not always know who is in my family or how they are related. 

I should start by saying my family is considered middle class in Tanzania, so there are always people coming over.  We have electricity and running water occasionally, and my Baba (or father) works out of town to provide for the family.  He visits home every two weeks and is very nice. My Momma is only 32 and is a lot of fun.  She is very social and is always visiting friends or entertaining guests.  They have two children.  Ester is a very intelligent 10 year old girl who often acts as a mini-Momma.  She loves to learn and help me with my Kiswahili.  Junior is a very stubborn six year old boy who loves to whine until he gets his way; however, he does have a very sweet and loving side.  I believe those are my Momma and Baba’s biological children.   There is another 11 year old girl named Adijah who lives with us and I thought she was a sister just like Ester; however I recently found out that she is actually the daughter of my Momma’s little sister.  My Momma is raising her and I consider her another dada (sister).   Now it gets more complicated…

My Momma has a friend who has been living with us.  She has two children; one boy and one girl.  The girl’s name is Mariam and she is good friends with Ester and Adijah.  The little boy is around Junior’s age (I always forget his name) and they are friends.  We also have a house girl named Happy who we call sister.  A house girl is someone who does the household chores (cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc.) and lives with us until she can save up enough money to move out.  Recently, another girl moved in with us.  Her name is Esta and she is 16 years old.  I think she is a cousin and I know she will be living with us for a few years but the reason is unclear. Everyone is called sister or brother so trying to figure out familial relationships is complicated.    I love having Esta live with us!  She is a very shy teenager and goes to school where I am internship teaching.  I do not teach her class but I teach her level.  Since she does not have an English teacher, I am going to teach her English privately and she is going to tutor me in Kiswahili. I must admit her language skills are far better than mine and she is often my Kiswahili translator. 

My Host Momma with my Kaka (brother) Junior.

A picture of our living room

As soon as I took out my camera, all of the children nearby wanted to be in the picture. Junior is leaning on Ester, Adijah is next to Ester in the back row, and Miriam is next to Adijah

My Momma's friend who lives with us is cooking!

That was a basic summary of my family.   If you have any specific questions, please leave a comment and ask.