06/21 - CIty Hall today

So if you read yesterdays blog...I was a little frustrated, angry, irritated.  Today, I feel better.  It was a combination of exhaustion and a feeling of helplessness in a strange country.  A little bit of rest and I am feeling much better.  I will throw out a comment that African tv has been very strange.  We have mostly stayed within the safe confines of the discovery channel so I now know how to escape from a terrorist attack at a mall, a home invasion, a bio weapon attack on a subway, and how to hillbilly hand fish (disgusting).

One of my favorite billboards yet...

Back to the work at hand... we went to city hall in town today and did an education session in front of more than 20 women.  The women today were a little more reserved than the ones at Kivulini yesterday.  They were a more "mature" group, but we still ended up drafting about 10 wills.  

Kelsey and I working on a will City Hall

City Hall sign

I am still sad that I was not able to do the radio program this morning (and apparently so were the producers because I saw one of the attorneys today who said "we were looking for you to do the show")  

Either way, the timing here is bad for public discussion of anything relating to LGBT issues.  Statements were made in the Parliament here yesterday reiterating that homosexuality here would not be decriminalized and that the western countries could keep their foreign aid money if it was tied to such conditions.  The response here from people of all levels is visceral and frequently violent.  I am glad I live where I do.  

We have almost finished our work in Mwanza.  On Saturday, we will be flying to Arusha for 2 weeks.  I am looking forward to a change.  The Hotel Tilapia has been a little less comfortable than our hotel in Dar in several ways.  The staff is rude and in a number of instances, they have tried to cheat us on the bills at the restaurant.  The rooms are right inside the gates and near some of the staff work areas so it is quite loud by our rooms at night.  At any rate, it has been safe for us here thus far and that is the important part.  If I visit Mwanza again, I will not stay here.  I guess I should be putting that comment on tripadvisor.com rather than my blog.