What happens to Tanzanians when thieves steal their stuff?

:: in May 29, 2014 :: in Development :: Comments Off on What happens to Tanzanians when thieves steal their stuff?

Amina surprised me by kissing me on the lips when she greeted me yesterday. Normally Tanzanians shake hands (in a complicated secret-handshake kind of way). They don’t hug, as evidenced by Gudila (one of the dadas who works at Mama Luce’s, my go-to neighbourhood breakfast joint) asking me who the…

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And Sometimes Extremists Hack Your Blog

:: in May 29, 2014 :: in Development, Featured :: Comments Off on And Sometimes Extremists Hack Your Blog

Well, that was fun. Roman emailed me the other day with a screenshot of my website, asking if there was some joke—instead of a little blog about my thoughts on life and social enterprise in Tanzania, a DOS-command-prompt-from-circa-1995-looking screen greeted me instead. Thanks to some help from Scott (love you! and…

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Why don’t you bring more American woman here?

–I can’t promise that they’d want to come.

Tell them how many goats we have. There are so many goats.

–Ronan, a Tanzanian at breakfast (who is right about the goats…ladies…)

What A Four-Winged Insect Teaches Us about Architecture

:: in May 2, 2014 :: in Design :: Comments Off on What A Four-Winged Insect Teaches Us about Architecture

‘Habari ya jioni!’ Good evening! I called to Filimani, our askari (guard), through the window as he patrolled the perimeter of the house. ‘Salama! Habari, Lulu?’ Peaceful. What’s new with you, Lulu? he replied. ‘Salama kapisa. O! Nina shida kwa nyuki… Subiri kidogo.’ Completely peaceful. O, I have a problem…

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