Following his 36-year career in the position of director of building and grounds at Shelburne Museum, longtime Shelburne resident Bob Furrer made a decision a few years ago. He was not ready to "retire." His decision was to join the Peace Corps.

After a lengthy application process, in May of 2009 Furrer left Shelburne, family, and friends for a 27-month commitment to work in Tanzania. According to his daughter, Polly Raine, it was a decision that fulfilled his quest for a momentous change in his life.

Furrer has supplied Shelburne News with a first-person account of his time in Tanzania to date. The second part of his report, from the town of Kongei, follows below.

I have found people here to be outgoing, hard working (I do have to say especially the women), and very friendly. I have been welcomed warmly and with an intense curiosity regarding western culture. While staying with my Muslim host family in Mkanyageni, I was repeatedly asked by my host "father" two questions: "Why do you only have one child?" and "Why do you only have one wife?" Both of these questions were of course reasonable and understandable from his perspective.

There have been times, as a westerner, that I've been viewed with skepticism - especially in regard to my motives for being here. This is understandable considering that Tanzania's freedom from colonial rule and embedded influence only came to an end in 1961.

Life here has been an interesting and challenging adjustment for me.

Transportation can be described as quirky. Very few people have cars; those that do are of the upper class and usually live in urban centers. Long distance travelling is most often done via bus. Shorter trips are usually done in vehicles known as "dala-dalas". Dala-dalas are similar in appearance to a Ford Econoline or Dodge Ram transport van. They're generally over 10 years old, have beat up bodies and frames, and are mechanically questionable. There is no occupancy limit for these vehicles. That being the case, it makes economic sense for the owner/driver to fit as many passengers as possible into the vehicle so as to collect the most fares possible. The only limiting factor to occupancy is whether the sliding side door can shut. This "rule of thumb" only comes into play on paved roads. On dirt roads the sliding door is left open so another six to eight passengers can plant their feet on the floorboards and grasp the roof's rain channel with their finger tips! Often when boarding one of these vehicles I feel like I'm taking part in an event to break the Guinness World Record for occupancy in a van!
I've attended many church services of different religions since my arrival. Though I'm an agnostic, I attend services of different faiths as a way to integrate within the community as well as demonstrating respect for various religious beliefs. I also find the atmosphere at most services to be positive and energetic, yet tranquil. On New Year's Day, I attended a Lutheran service at a church of which my counterpart's family is a member. It was located about 125 km from my site in a tiny village high in the Pare Mountains. At the start of the service I was asked to introduce myself, which I did by explaining the basics of where I was from and what I was doing in Tanzania. At the end of the service, an impromptu ceremony was held outside the church to acknowledge the Peace Corp's presence at the New Year's service and to reaffirm the church's commitment to responsible care for the environment. As part of the ceremony, the pastor and I planted a very freshly dug seedling. I understand that you may think it "corny", but I really felt it was more than just a token gesture. It felt sincere. That afternoon, I attended the village's New Year's celebration. I would compare it to a quiet block party in a small agricultural area of Vermont. The celebration was a family event at which everyone gathered around the village "dukanis" (markets) to visit and play games. Storekeepers passed out candy, nuts, and fruit to those attending. Views from the market area included Kenya to the north and a nod to Mt. Kilimanjaro in the distant northwest. A very quiet, peaceful, and completely different New Year's Day!

My living quarters here in Kongei consist of one half of a single story slab on grade brick (unfired) duplex house built by the government for Kongei Primary School. The other half of the house is occupied by a primary school teacher. My half has four rooms and was unfurnished with the exception of a cot when I arrived. I've delegated the rooms to a kitchen, bedroom, guest bedroom and sitting room. It's sparsely furnished and I'm quite comfortable here. There is no running water or electricity. I use a kerosene lamp or a solar lamp for night reading. Water is delivered in five-gallon buckets carried on the heads of girls from Kongei Primary School. There is a squat toilet outside and a separate area where I take bucket baths. I've started a small garden in front of the house consisting of about 60-lineal meters by one-meter wide double-dug beds in which I grow predominately vegetables with some flowers. As some of you may know, gardening is a passion of mine and I'm in an ideal part of Tanzania to experiment and have fun with it. Challenges are different from those at home. Both drought and excessive rain have to be dealt with. It's now started to rain with a vengeance after a long dry spell fueled by a strong constant wind.

The mountains around Kongei have been about two-thirds deforested. Every inch of open land, even the very steep slopes, has been committed to growing corn, beans, or sugar cane. With the advent of the rainy season, erosion is visible almost daily. The Lushoto District of the Tanga Region where Kongei is located is a stunningly beautiful area of Tanzania. The climate here could be considered temperate enabling the region to produce a greatly varied assortment of fruits and vegetables year round. Within a hundred yards of my house, there are avocado, papaya, mango, and banana trees. In the valley beneath me are commercial gardens that grow everything we do in the Champlain Valley. About 700 ft. above me are coffee, plum, and apple trees. Other than fresh fruits and veggies, I eat lots of rice, beans, and "ugali" (stiff porridge made from corn flour). I rarely eat red meat. One has to be vigilant when buying meat as most of it is "naturally aged" in sunny store front windows. I do occasionally eat chicken. I know it's fresh because it's slaughtered when ordered.