In The Company Of Cheerful Ladies

Of course it seems like no time at all since I was at Hampden Park in September, screaming my lungs out at Robin Van Persie and the rest of the Dutch team as they stylishly hammered a giant Oranje nail into George Burley’s managerial coffin.

Since then, four months have come and gone and I’m closer to the end of my Tanzanian experience in March than the beginning. But thankfully, I still have a lot to look forward to in these last months; not least my new projects which begin next week.

One of them is with an enterprising women’s HIV group called DINKWA, where I am to offer some marketing and PR advice. The other project is on more familiar ground – a placement inside the newsroom of the local weekly newspaper, the Arusha Times. Both projects look thoroughly interesting and will doubtless prove a worthwhile way to see out my last days in Africa before I’m back in my baltic homeland.

= = =

Until Tuesday, the aforementioned Scotland vs Holland match was the last football match I attended.

Not any more. Accompanied by MondoChallenge’s stellar Country Manager John, I took advantage of having a free day (that day was 12 January – Zanzibar Revolution Day, a public holiday here) to watch an Arusha Fourth Division match at Arusha Stadium (or the Sheikh Amri Abeid Stadium to give it its full name), next door to the Mondo office.

Having watched lower league games of all descriptions up and down Scotland, I felt quite at home watching a fairly risible kickabout between Flamingo (dark blue) and Soweto (fake England replica kits).

Lively backing from the 200-or-so locals and the knockdown admittance fee (500 Tanzanian shillings – about 25p) made for a fun afternoon out. I probably won’t get the opportunity to watch Tanzania playing at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam as I had hoped, but the charm of this small-scale endeavor was nicely in keeping with my years spent following Stenhousemuir FC.

And if for any reason the Arusha Fourth Division results were not broadcast on Sky Sports News, Flamingo won 4-0.


Ross