First Day at Work

So we met our client, Institute of Accountancy Arusha (IAA), for the first time today. I was actually looking forward to walking to work (given that I am in this quest to "lose xx lbs" while I am here). Alas, the university is more than 5 kms away and walking that far to work is never a good idea -- thus, we're going to manage with a daily 10-min cab ride instead. The other 2 teams, however, AWF and TATO, will be braving the 10-15min walk to their respective offices. If our walk around town yesterday is any indication of how things will be for them everyday, then they would really need to learn to handle the pack of street vendors we encountered. They gathered around and followed us for a good 3 blocks, selling painting, beads, hats -- anything! -- with the usual script of, "Pls buy, sister, I will not have dinner if you don't buy from me!" or "My wife is pregnant, please help with the bills." They said those things with a good-natured laugh, so you know that they are just using these lines on you. They will not harass you or anything, but oh, they can be quite persistent! A firm, "Hapana, asante" (No, thank you), will apparently do the trick.

Going back to the topic of IAA... we met with the Director for ICT and his team this morning. One of his guys, Bakiri, was gracious enough to be our host for the day. He took us around the campus, fed us my first Tanzanian lunch, and made arrangements for Chris and I to share his office for the duration of our stay.

The campus itself, surprised me, to be honest. With more than 2000 students, 11 computer labs and a computer to student ratio of 5:1, they are actually more advanced than the average public university in the Philippines! Bakiri took us around and introduced us to some of the faculty and school administration staff. In general, the people here in Tanzania are very friendly. You will not walk 10 meters without someone shouting, "Jambo" (Hello!), or "Karibu!" (Welcome!) to you.

I have yet to meet the Director of Business Promotion, my main client, and I am hoping to do that before the day ends so I can finally firm up my scope for this project.