Africa – The Journal pt.XIV

8/26/08 10:00PM (Dar es Salaam)

Well, today was heartbreak. We ate our last breakfast, lunch, and dinner in Moshi. I spent part of the morning packing.

We were supposed to go to a primary school (Masasita) at ~10:30am or so, but there was some mix-up, so we couldn’t do it then. We did get to see a huge wasp that had a tarantula captive. National Geographic in the raw. When the wasp first flew by, it was just a shock. I’ve never seen a wasp so large. It was maybe two inches long in the body, and really seemed to have some bulk to it. I made the comment that it looked like something I’d seen on TV before, a wasp that paralyzes tarantulas and lays eggs on them. Sure enough, we see it fly into a hole in the concrete, and there’s a tarantula in there. They belong to the family “pompilidae”. They are often called “tarantula hawks” or “spider wasps”.

The basic process is this: a female wasp locates a tarantula by smell, and the two generally get in a fight. The wasp does its best to get a good sting on the spider, which paralyzes it. Then, the wasp lays an egg on the body of the tarantula. The egg hatches, and the larvae has a nice snack to start out in life with. It’s a grisly business, spider hawking. I can’t believe I’ve seen this with my own eyes, but there you have it. The wasp is hard to make out in the pictures, because it’s so dark. If you look closely, you can see a leg sticking out and the iridescence of its wings. The tarantula must have already been paralyzed, because it didn’t move much while I watched. I was amazed that he wasp was so strong: it could lift the tarantula pretty easily. I don’t think they have enough lift to carry them in flight though… that would be scary.

Since there was some time to kill, the rest of the group went shopping, while I stayed at the MH. I needed to finish a book before I donated it to the school library. I had bought a Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass book to read on the trip.

We did (finally) end up going to the primary school at ~2:20PM. Montana spoke to the children about love. There was a Lutheran minister there also. He really appreciated the sermon, and it turns out that he’d recently experienced some personal tragedy as his son was killed in an accident a month or two earlier.

They had separated out all the Christian kids away from the Muslim and Catholic children. Tanzania is much different from the US in that respect. They have no trouble with having religion involved in school or everyday activities, and it looks like they even encourage it in many ways.

After we left the primary school, we went to FoH for the farewell ceremony. They opened with singing, and we all received a shirt as a gift. I cried a lot. Shocker. The leaders also gathered around us and prayed for us. I can still hear the headmistress praying “bind his hands to the hands of Christ, his feet to the feet of Christ, his heart to the heart of Christ, his mind to the mind of Christ…”

We were asked to speak, and I could barely say anything. I gave it a good try. I started off making light of the fact that I was all weepy, and then proceeded on with a fine demonstration of shaky voiced, overly-dramatic farewell speech. I’m not going to say I’m ashamed of it, but it wasn’t really one of my proudest moments either. I guess we’ll just go with “it is what it is” and leave it at that. Most of the students didn’t cry, but I think a few of the F1 girls were tearing up. We were not so strong. I wasn’t at least.

“You are fairer, much fairer, than the lily that grows by the wayside…”

Mgebi gave me a rock, which was pretty cool of him. I’d told him earlier in the week that I needed to find a good rock to take home. When I left home, I’d asked mom what kind of souvenir she wanted, and she said she wanted a rock, just a piece of Africa. I’d found one earlier that I liked, so I gave that one to her and kept the one that Mgebi gave me for myself.

Emmanuel finally prayed for me. This was another story that I didn’t really get into earlier. Emmanuel was one of the real leaders of Form One. He is a great guy (and will probably end up being a real lady-killer). On one of our outings to the children’s prison, he’d asked me about my glasses. I told him I’d had them for a long time, and couldn’t see very well at all without them. He told me he would pray for me, but we never got around to it. When everyone was clearing out after the farewell ceremony, I caught up with him and asked him if he was going to make good on his promise. I’ll take a prayer like that every day of the week, please.

I received a note from Gladness (Form One) also. Most (if not all) of us got special notes as we were leaving from the students, similar to our welcome cards. It was kind of funny, because the students didn’t deliver them directly to us, and Gladness came up two or three times asking if I’d gotten a note yet. I think she was really excited to get my reaction. It was very edifying, and a great touch. It’s nice to have something from them that I can pick up and read to refresh my memory of the place.

On our way out, a few of the third graders met us before we go on the van. I don’t think they’d be there for the farewell, because I looked for a few of them in the crowd but never saw them. I could hear little Gladness (Mahene, Grade 3) crying before I got to them. It really was an emotional moment for me. If you’ll remember, Gladness was the girl who drew the pictures for me earlier. Seeing the look on her face just went right through me. I really wept with her, just holding her for a while before we had to get into the dalla dalla to leave.

8/27/08 7:30AM (Amsterdam)

After we left the school, we ate our final supper at MH and hurriedly packed our things onto a truck and headed for the airport.

I had to check my stick (one of the several items I bought to bring home) on because it was considered a weapon. The first leg of our flight was short, because we were just going to Dar es Salaam.

I slept ok on the flight to Amsterdam, and watched a couple of movies. The flight passed fairly quickly. It’s been really easy traveling. I had Debbie as a travel buddy on all the flights, so at least I had some decent company, and she doesn’t snore or anything. I must’ve watched seven movies on the return flights.

We spent half a day in the airport in Amsterdam. Finding a place to sleep was difficult, and we ended up crashing out on some benches. Trying to fit lengthwise was a challenge, because there were armrests that you couldn’t move. I spent twelve dollars on a McDonald’s meal, just chicken nuggets, fries, and a coke. I guess it was still a better deal that the three bottles of water we got in Amsterdam on the way out. Those were $5 a pop. Yeah… airport prices plus the current dollar to euro conversion makes for expensive meals.

The rest of the trip home was mostly uneventful. I had to wait for close to an hour for my stick to come out on the baggage line in Memphis. The rest of my luggage was all small enough to take as carry on, so I was never in fear of losing anything. We made at least three requests to the help desk to have them look for it, but then never listened to me. Kim finally talked to them and gave them some good Seger motivation. After that, all was well, and we made it home around 9PM.

Africa – The Journal pt.XIII

8/26/08 6:45AM (written about Monday, August 25th)

Yesterday, we slept in a little. We left later to go on some in-home visits. We had breakfast, and then we went to the school to pick up Weniel and little Emmanuel. Evelyn and Mama Eric came with us.

Our first stop was at Weniel’s house. His father is a pastor of a little congregation of about 60. Their home is mud, dung, and sticks. They live with a few of their children. They have seven total; I think there are ten people in their house.

They live in a pretty common manner. They farm a little plot of land for maize, keep a cow for someone else because they are getting the calf, and raise chickens. The roof was tin, and they have a little electricity for a light and radio. Water comes from a faucet about twenty-five yards from the house. They have had materials to build a house since 1995, blocks and bricks donated by their church, but haven’t had enough money to build even now. The construction costs are just too high for the simply income they have. The cooking area is simply three stones on the ground to support a pot that rests over an open fire.

The pastor was a very kind and hospitable man. He was wearing a suit when we arrived, and they brought out every chair, stool, and bench they had so that we could sit and speak with them outside. We sat and discussed their lifestyle, how they farmed, and how they had raised their children.
To be honest, the situation was a little uncomfortable. It’s like “we’re coming to see you poor people and how you live in squalor.” I didn’t take my camera out of the van. One thing I really tried to do with all of my photos is show how much joy there is here. I avoided taking pictures of the kids when they were in pain (after getting out of the dentist’s office), and I didn’t feel comfortable taking photos of this family’s house. I kept reminding myself that I’m not here to be a journalist, I’m here to love them and show them Christ. Plus, with what I learned and experienced at Fountain of Hope, for many people, I may have a more effective communication of why people should help by pointing out the absolute joy of being there and the love experienced by connecting with those children.

After we left, we went to Ema’s house, or rather his grandmother’s. It also was a small mud house with a tin roof, although I’m pretty sure she had no electricity. She buys water from her neighbors. She gathers grass to sell for hay everyday to buy food. The house she lives in is actually not even hers, it is owned by someone else. I’m not sure if she pays rent or if they just allow her to live there.

I’m not sure if I can really even describe how I felt sitting there with this woman. Again, we were treated as honored guests, but I almost felt like I was intruding. She told us the story of her daily work and struggle to get food and water. It’s a day to day existence. What was really troubling is that there were numerous banana trees in her front yard, and she was surrounded by fields of maize. However, even with food all around, the plants and land are not hers, so she cannot take from them.

Ema, his father, and his grandmother are HIV positive. Ema was left at the orphanage at 2mos old, and this was the third time his grandmother had seen him. No one knows where his mother is. I believe Ema’s father is working somewhere as a painter. The grandmother was very concerned for her family, and their spiritual well being. I think every heart broke as we asked if we could pray for her. Instead of asking us to pray out her lifestyle, or for more work, or healing, or that God would provide for her children, she asked that we would pray that God would give her wisdom about how to deal with her family.

Our day wasn’t all sadness though, Ramadan ran over her neighbor’s hedge while trying to turn around when we got to the grandmother’s house. Fortunately, he only got the end of it, and the people were very kind about it. It was very fortunate that they knew the people we were going to see, and I think Evelyn did a wonderful job apologizing for us. We also stopped on the way out of town to buy two boxes full of food and supplies that we gave to each family while we were there, and of course, we gave out candy.

After lunch, the dental team went to FoH to finish the 1st and 2nd grade kids. The rest of us went to Fountain of Joy to pick up the shirts we were having made, but it turns out they aren’t ready yet. I also got some dolls for J&B&D. We spent a little while there doing bracelets, talking to Mary, and listening to them sing a few songs.

We then headed back to FoH, because it was almost five. The dental team was still working, and they finished pretty late because this was their last day to work and they wanted to make sure and finish every child. I’m really proud of them. They’ve worked their butts off and have generally done a great job. I feel a bit ashamed, because it seems like I got to hang out and have fun for two weeks, while they had to scare/hurt people (people cover their mouths now when they see Jason ) and work.

The rest of us just talked to some of the students while we waited. Kili came out again; we only saw the mountain a few times the whole time we were here. It’s a beautiful sight, and I’d really like to climb it some day.

Supper was at Pastor and Josephine’s house. They live is a nice house near town, where I’m told they actually have a washing machine, although it’s not quite the same as what we think of when we talk about washing machines. Josephine cooked some traditional Chagga food, and we sat and talked until it was late. The food was quite different. There were green bananas (didn’t care for them much), some sort of root that was a lot like potato in taste (not bad at all). Then there was the fruit of that same plant, and I didn’t care for it as much as the root. We also had some curried chicken, which isn’t bad. Overall, I really can’t complain about the food we’ve had here. Actually, to say I can’t complain isn’t even fair. The cooks at the house were incredible, really. It’s better than I eat at home, by far.

It’s hard to say goodbye, because we really spent such a very little time with the Shoos since we’ve been here. Josephine is a wonderful lady, and Pastor is quite the jokester. I really enjoyed both the nights that we ate with them.

Africa – The Journal pt.XII

8/25/08 7:50AM (written about Sunday, August 24th)

Yesterday was a fairly full day. We got up early to make the 7AM service at iCC. Pastor Shoo spoke about being a child of God and how that applied to how we pray.

The form one students lead the praise and worship. They always do such a great job. The leaders of the fellowship prayed for us also. I got Josephine (Pastor’s wife), so, I mean, obviously I’m special.
We went back to the MH for breakfast, and then went to FoH where we led the school services. They split the school into two groups. I went with Debbie, Kim, and Jacob. Again, we had help from the Form One students. There, Kim continued speaking about prayer.

After lunch, we then got to the real fun. We went to visit the first and second grades, just to play. The kids there really enjoyed it. We spent time tossing them around, and showing them pictures from the safaris. They would all crowd around us so tightly to see the pictures. They love cameras. When you started showing them pictures, you would quickly be nearly suffocated by the kids pressing in on you. The whole time we were there, you could hardly see any white people because there would be a whole pile of kids stacked on top of them.

Another thing they love is hair. They would just sit and play with the hair on your arms, head, face, legs, or chest (according to Jason). Odd as it is, people in Tanzania don’t have much body hair. Plus, they don’t let the kids grow their hair out unless they can take care of it themselves. So, we show up and they were just mesmerized. We’ve got hairy faces and arms and legs. They really made Becky’s hair a mess. With her long pretty hair, it was really unavoidable. She had also brought her glitter duster, and that was a big hit. There was glitter all over those kids. They were sparkling like disco balls.

Two that I met were really special (well, every one of them were very special, but still). One was a little girl named Joy. She just hung out with me a lot that day. The other was a girl named Miriam. She had some tribal scars on her face and chest. I believe they said she came from the Hadzabe tribe, and those scars were either due to “beautification” or possibly some sort of tribal medicine ritual. Either way, she was a terrific little girl. If it’s not already obvious, I’m a total sucker for little girls. My daughters will walk all over me some day. My four nieces pretty much already do.

Jacob was a huge hit. You’d just see him making rounds of the building running with a huge group of boys chasing him. Once or twice I was worried, because they started rough housing, but everyone was laughing, so they were obviously loving it.

Before we left, we gave them all a bit of candy: a sucker and a tootsie roll. They really liked it. We also got some group pictures of them. For some reason, Zamlata went inside and kind of avoided us. I think she was upset for some reason. She did come out toward the end to see us and get some candy (it’s a big draw).

Continuing on, we got to the climax of the day – nursery! We all love the kids there, because they get so excited to see us. When you pull up at the building, they are all basically jumping up and down shouting for you. I got to see the little darling Jessica again, and also had two more girls that also got to me. One was named Josephine. We didn’t talk much, but she stayed right by my side the whole time we were there.

But if she stayed by my side, Esther stayed in my lap. Esther was the little girl who had specifically learned my name that last time we visited nursery. From the moment we got there until the moment we left, she barely let go of my hand. Actually, I had to make her let go twice: once so she could let Jason and Sean swing her around and again to get her candy. Otherwise, I was content to let her sit in my lap the whole time. I seriously would bring her to the US if it were possible. I think she’d fit in my backpack.

I guess part of what makes the nursery time so great is that the kids just soak up all the attention. I’m sure that it’s hard on them being away from home so long at that age. They just love anything and everything you do with them. They are old enough to really play and don’t have any of the hesitation we saw with the babies at FoZ. Also, they are still young enough to just cut straight to your heart with their innocence and cuteness. The cuteness factor in nursery (and grades one and two) is through the roof. Watching them eat their candy was hilarious.

Obviously, saying goodbye was very difficult. We told them we loved them, and tried to run away before we flooded the place with tears. Looking back, it’s best that I wasn’t sure if I’d be back to see them again or not. Now, knowing that it’s the last I’ll see of them, I don’t think I would have been quite so composed.

One of the interesting things today was seeing some of the kids that were clearly little siblings of some of the older students, like Salome’s little sister. They looked so alike! I guess you’d have had to be there. I mean, I suppose I should have expected that there would be brothers and sisters in the school, and mentally I did know it, but it was still a little shocking to be walking around and see a little clone of one of the older kids looking up at you.

We had hamburgers for supper. Kim went to visit friends and we had ice cream drumsticks. It rained hard last night. First real rain since we’ve been here.

Ps. 37:1-8

Africa – The Journal pt.XI

8/24/08 6:15AM (written about Saturday, August 23rd)

Yesterday we began by going with some of the Form One students to town for street ministry. We all (and I mean all) piled into Ramadan’s dalla dalla and headed for town. I was paired with Debbie, and we teamed with John, Joseph, Joanne, and Gladness. That was the basic format: two mzungu and four F1 students. Doing the math, that’s eight members of the team, plus sixteen students, plus Abel (the accompanying teacher), and Ramadan driving. If you’re claustrophobic/ochlophobic, you may want to avoid public transport in Africa. We had people stacked up on top of each other.

We went to a market area in Moshi, where we talked with several shop owners. The first man I talked to was young, about 22. He said he was Muslim, but that he would like to receive Christ but he still lived with his family. We prayed for him and invited him to Pastor Shoo’s church. We ran into that situation a few times, where people said that their family was Muslim, and that was really the only thing hindering them.

Many people wanted us to stop and pray for their business, even Muslims. We prayed for people’s children, health, and families. No one received Christ, but a few said they would try to make a service at Hindu Mandel. I think probably they were just being polite, but we’ll see. It’s obvious that they believed God could help their wallets, so hopefully they believe that He can change their lives.

The FoH kids did a great job. They served as our interpreters, but they also had a lot of initiative. Joseph did a lot of talking with several people, especially the last man. He was Muslim, and didn’t want us to pray for him. I only spoke a little, but did most of the praying. Generally, we worked in two groups, with Debbie and the girls working together while the guys and I operated close by in the same area.

After lunch, we grouped with another set of students form Form One, and we went back to the children’s prison. There, we taught about teeth, and I also spoke on Christ’s family and our freedom from our past. Jason gave a more evangelistic sermon. I spoke from Mt. 1 and 2Cor. 5. I also tried to lead a song. It didn’t go so well. It’s been way too long since I played guitar.

The students did a drama and spoke on prayer. We also did some singing, and gave out some candy. I was really touched again by the sense that the Warden really cares about those kids, or at least that is the impression I get. He’s been very encouraging when we’ve been there, urging the children to interact and pay attention.

I always have fun with the Form One students. They operate with a lot of joy, and it’s so amazing to see how dedicated they are to the outreach they do in the children’s prison and on the street. I know that all of us piling into a dalla dalla was surely a funny sight. I wish I had a picture of it. I think it was not quite so enjoyable for some of our team members, as personal hygiene becomes a critical issue when you’ve got twenty-six people crammed into a sixteen passenger mini-bus. You just can’t help but notice, but it’s just something you’ve got to deal with and get over. Once I embraced the situation, it was actually kind of fun. It’s a bit like being in a big dog pile.

Africa – The Journal pt.X

8/23/08 8:00AM (written about Friday, August 22nd)

So, yesterday we went to the crater. The drive in was fairly uneventful, because there was a lot of fog and cloud cover. We cold barely see twenty feet out the windows. I’d heard enough beforehand to know that coming in and out of the crater can be quite frightening. I guess the fog helped, because the only scary thing was that we could have had a head-on collision on the narrow road and barely known it was coming before the impact.

We’ve also had the chance to see some road construction, Tanzania style. You know what they use for highway cones? Rocks. Big rocks. At first I thought there’d been a rockslide, but it turns out that was just to keep the cars from driving into the people working, because it was so foggy you couldn’t see the people (or the hole in the road they were waist deep in) when you were driving around the rocks. Looking back on it, I’d say the rocks are pretty effective. I mean, you can drive over a highway cone without messing up your car. It’s tough to run over basketball size rocks without doing some damage though. Oh, and yeah, construction was all shovel powered on the crater road. Our first stop in the crater (after we checked in at the entry office) was a Masai boma. They charged $50 for the entire truckload to enter. They did some customary singing and dancing (jumping); I actually jumped with them. Obviously, these were fairly commercialized Masai, because they had all their jewelry and items spread out to buy.

They took us into one of their hats, where we saw how they lived. The smoke from the small fire really stung my eyes. The interior of the hut is all black from soot. They have about four rooms, really: one where the wife and children sleep, one for the man, adjacent is the cooking/main room, and then a room for a calf or storage near the door. The whole thing may be 150sqft. We took a couple of quick pictures, while our guide told us about their way of life. He has three wives but only one at that boma.

Masai huts are standard mud, cow crap, and stick construction. I say “standard”, because many houses in Africa are made from the same materials, but with different architecture: square instead of “beehive-esque” like the Masai huts. The house is framed up with saplings and covered on the outside with the mud/poo mixture. There are small holes for ventilation and a port for a door. Like I said, this stick/mud construction is used in a lot of housing in poorer areas, however in those houses, they have more westernized wall/roof construction. Noticing this led to my “crappy house” theory on education in Africa. That being: children are much more interested and diligent in school when they are faced with the prospect of living in a poop house if they don’t have an education. I mean… that’s solid capitalistic motivation right there. Get an education or build your house out of animal litter. You’d be amazed at how well the kids paid attention in class.

After we left the hut, we looked at their stuff for sale. Like I said, these Masai were very commercialized. Even while we were looking others would come up to sell things. Our guide tried to keep us in one section, for apparently these were the items his family had made and he would receive the money from that sale.

The prices were quite high, so I didn’t really buy much. Just two small bracelets for $20. I wanted a club, stick, blanket, or spear, but they were really high. We got the same stuff in Moshi later at much better prices. It’s funny; they yell at you if you take their picture in town, but for $50 they’ll invite you into their home, take YOUR picture in their house for you, and dance and sing. “Here, pose with the kids!” We kind of joked about the possibility of them having an RV encampment just over the ridge that we couldn’t see, with hot-tubs and plasma TVs, because there were at least four truckloads of people that stopped while we were there. I can see them all sitting on their leather couches, drinking martinis, and laughing about the stupid mzungu. It’s not that I blame them, but it does seem that money cures a lot of problems.

We proceeded on to the crater, seeing cape buffalo, wildebeest, hartebeest, jackals, various birds, baboons, elephants, gazelle, hippos, and even some lions. Rhinos were sorely lacking and dearly missed. Apparently, those are very rare and hard to see.

The massive number of animals was amazing. At one point, a herd of wildebeest (and probably various other ungulates) strung out for at least half a mile. We also enjoyed breathtaking vistas over and over as we drove past calderas with the crater rim constantly in the background. The rim gives you a sense of always being near a range of hills or mountains, and so you always have it as a back drop in your photos. Granted, the crater is something like 12 miles across, so the rim isn’t always large in the background, but it’s almost always visible.

We got to see a pride of lions fairly closely. It was easy to spot where they were because of the traffic jam of vehicles lining both sides of the road. Lions are popular. They are the jocks and cheerleaders of Ngorongoro High. I don’t even know what you’d classify a rhino as… maybe like if you went to high school with John Wayne’s kids or something. I’m not sure how anyone could ever be cooler than that.

We stopped for lunch by a lake, where there were bathrooms and hippos to watch. Oh, and birds. Lots of birds. You had to be careful, because there were apparently falcons that would take your hand off to get your sandwich if you gave them the opportunity. A lot of the little birds were really aggressive also. They would land within feet of you to try to nab a snack. Some even went inside our truck after a peanut. Funny enough, there were (crested) guineas all over the place also. I suppose they are native here.

I guess the highlight of the day would be the elephant that just about climbed into the truck with us. I now have new found respect for those things. This one was eating a thorn tree/bush. And when I say thorns, I mean thorns: four inch long wooden nails really. I don’t know how it kept from piercing its own tongue, but it didn’t seem to be bothered at all. The elephant would just reach out with its trunk, yank a bunch of thorny limbs off the bush, and chow down like it was celery or something. I must have taken seventy five pictures of it, because it was so close to us. It ended up crossing the road and moving on, barely paying any attention to us. I guess SUVs full of white people just don’t impress like they used to.

The drive out was vastly different from the drive in. The sky had cleared mostly, and we could see how close and how steep the edge was. It is a dramatic and frightening drive. We saw paint scrapes on the side of the road wall (it was cut out of the crater rim, so the sides were sheer) where vehicles couldn’t quite make the hairpin turns. You could look out the other side of the vehicle and not really see any hillside, it was too steep. You had to look ahead or behind to really see the ground fall away.

At the top, we stopped and took some photos, since its some 2000ft above the bottom of the crater. I was a little disappointed in the pictures, because the floor is so far down that it’s difficult to show in a photo. Plus, it was so hazy that it’s hard to see the details in a photo like you can in person. There were a couple monuments there for people who’d died doing research and protecting the crater from poachers. Some had died in animal attacks, or plane crashes. I think a couple were killed by poachers hunting rhinos. Poaching of large game is an act that really makes you disappointed in humanity (and aware of our real need for redemption). I’ll leave it to you to research it online (beware, the pictures can be disturbing), but it really is a stupid, petty way to make a buck.

Our drive home was mostly uneventful; we stopped at a couple of high priced shops, where barely anything was purchased. Beware, tourist traps are alive and well in those parts. If you really want to go shopping for souvenirs, do it in Moshi.

Oh, I did need to mention that we found out that the Masai spearheads are manufactured in a factory in Arusha. And after we left the boma, we stopped before entering the crater. Other Masai approached us selling their special blankets… they were still in the packages! This led to a unique revelation… the items you buy in stores in Moshi are basically just as authentic as what you buy from the Masai directly, only much cheaper. I guess it would be cool to say that you’d bought something directly from the tribe (thus the two bracelets that I paid $20 for), but that’s the only difference in the actual product. It’s funny to see “Made in Arusha” on the blanket packages though. As a comparison, those two bracelets would’ve cost probably $5-$8 in Moshi.

We got to see a lot of impressive artwork in our shopping. The woodcarvings are excellent, and some of the bowls and soapstone works are really beautiful. I wish I’d had some more space (and money) so I could’ve gotten one of the knife paintings. It’s hard to describe the style, but it’s a painting done in a way that all the figures are really vertically stretched and angular. The presentation is beautiful. Generally, the subjects seemed to be Masai people, and it accented some of the attributes you think of when you see Masai. That is, that they are tall, thin, and dominated by primary colors. It’s a great artistic representation.

Anyway, we did stop on the way home for Kim to buy some red bananas in the town that had trees covered in crane poop near Lake Manyara. It still stank. The bananas were great though. The red ones don’t taste any different. The little stubby bananas are the best. Tastey.

The biggest scare (of the entire time in Africa, I think) was driving through Arusha at night. People are everywhere. We saw one man that looks like he was struck by a car. Bicycles come out of nowhere. It’s hard to see anyone in the dark, and the street lighting is really poor. All of us were cringing so much, I think it would have been easier if I would have just closed my eyes and not known about it. Really scary, but we made it home ok. We unloaded, said goodbye to Daniel, and went to bed following some discussion and prayer. We also prayed over the items we purchased, just in case.

Africa – The Journal pt.IX

Thursday 8/21/08 9:45PM

Today we woke up and left at 8AM for safari (actually, they call it a “game drive,” since I think technically safari can refer to any type of journey). First, we drove to change some money, and then to FoZ to drop some it off for the shirts that are being made by FoJ. They needed more cloth to finish the shirts.

The road out of Moshi to the northwest is actually pretty decent. It’s better than chip and seal, and for the most part is pretty smooth. The African countryside has a blend of interestingly different and surprisingly normal landscapes. You see plenty of maize, and people just walking around, or some greenhouses on a hillside, but then you see a monkey, or a cactus tree (I wish I’d have gotten a picture) and realize that this ain’t Colorado.

We saw many Masai, their villages (or reputedly, ONE Masai’s village, with his multiple wives and hundreds of children.. it’s a long storey), baobab, acacia, coffee, banana, and other crazy trees. Cactus trees, sausage trees. Cactus trees are exactly what they sound like. It’s a tree, but when you look closely, the branches and everything… it’s a big cactus. Again, I got no pictures (sorry), but it’s one of the craziest things ever. Sausage trees are pretty unique also, but unfortunately, they are not edible (sadness).

The drive from Moshi to Arusha is a gentle climb. Because of that, the land gets gradually greener along the way. One of the striking things is that there seem to be banana trees everywhere. You see them growing out of creek banks, in front yards, and randomly poking out in ditches on the side of the road. I guess it is Africa’s monstrous analogue to daffodils. This does mean that I have eaten the absolute best bananas I’ve ever tasted here. I suppose freshness counts for something.

We’ve also seen some fields of coffee. It’s not a tree, like I thought. It’s really just a bush. They plant shade trees throughout the fields to shade the coffee as it grows. Apparently this gives it better flavor. I don’t drink coffee, but Sean claims that even the instant coffee he’s had here is pretty good. It’s kind of funny, all the stuff that we don’t grow in Arkansas they apparently grow here. Bananas, mangos (ooohhh the mangos are good!), coffee, papaya… you just see it hanging on trees over here. We also saw a few rice fields… it’s not done with quite the same panache as it is in the US. People here just muck around with hoes and stuff. I don’t think we’ve come across any John Deere service centers recently. There is a Ford dealer in Arusha though. The trucks don’t look the same.

We’ve crossed the Usa (pronounced oo-suh) river. Arusha has some larger, more impressive buildings, but even these are surrounded by the small one and two story dirty concrete staples. I think they must have a “square beige concrete building” factory somewhere around here.

We drove through Arusha and headed for Lake Manyara. Close to the entrance to the park, we drove through a town (can’t remember the name) with some really, really impressively huge trees. Unfortunately, the trees were home to some special crane or something. Half the town was covered in a light colored dust… crane poop. I can’t really describe the smell, except to say that we made the mistake of having the windows open, and we paid dearly for that lack of foresight. It’s sort of an acrid, ammonia smell. I’m not sure why anyone would build there house under that, but people did. I suppose if that’s the land you’ve got, that’s where you build your house. Wow did it stink though.

In the park, we saw baboons, bush bucks, dikdik, impalas, giraffes, cape buffalo, elephant, blue monkeys, vervet monkeys (with blue scrotums… seriously), tree hyrax, flamingos, hippos, wildebeest, zebras, and a variety of birds. Also, warthogs and some other monkeys. Bonus fact: the John Wayne movie “Hatari” was filmed in the Arusha area near Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro.

Out of all of it, the most memorable moment for me was when we finally came out into the open by the lake (most of the park is trees with roads cut in it) and could see giraffes in the distance. I think they have to be the most impressive animal I’ve ever seen. The males are huge! You see them walking around, and it’s a little hard to believe something like that should exist. Plus, they actually move pretty gracefully for a thing that’s basically a neck with legs. One of my “welcome to Africa” moments was seeing a giraffe walking by a group of zebras in front of a flamingo covered lake that was fed by a hot spring that’s heated by underground volcanic activity. Toss in a few acacia trees, and you’ve got a Disney movie.

The lake (as I mentioned) is fed by hot springs. It’s an alkali lake, and is very shallow (3-5m). The spring was very hot, as it was heated by volcano. The whole area lies in the Great Rift Valley, which stretches some 10,000km from the middle east across eastern Africa. We walked down to where a spring came out of the hillside. It’s hot. Really hot. I’m pretty sure you could cook with it. Lake Manyara is home to something like three million flamingos. I’m not even kidding: you see more pink and white than blue when you look at the water.

There were a couple of interesting incidents near the end of our day in Lake Manyara. First, we were trying to get over to the hippo pond before the park closes at night, and a large bull elephant was blocking the road. Now, in the parks, the animals have the right of way. You are not allowed to honk or push them out of the way, because you’re in there home, right? Well, this elephant decided he was just going to stay there. I think he was a little bothered by us, because he was flapping his ears and kicking up dust at us. We sat there waiting for nearly five minutes before Daniel (our driver) decided to turn around take the long way. Elephants can be dangerous. In some parks, they’ve been known to flip vehicles over occasionally, so you’ve got to be careful.

So, we made it to the hippo pond where, honestly, things were pretty boring. You see, hippos live in the water (shocking, I know), so, there’s really not much to see except hippo backs. It just looks like a shoal of big smooth rocks. But, to our benefit, one male did decide to come up on the bank for us. Yes… we know it was male; it was kind of obvious. The funny part was that we discovered one of the more disgusting habits that exists in the animal world. Hippos whirl their poop around with their tails like a propeller. They even do it in the water. Supposedly they do it to help mark their territory, as it distributes the feces over a larger area than just letting it fall. This guy did it in the water, and then again when he got up on the bank. Karibu Tanzania! Have some hippo poop! Don’t drink the water!
We did not see the tree climbing lions, or any other cats (like leopards). Lake Manyara is evidently the only place in the world where you can find tree climbing lions. I think we did see a couple of lions lying in the sade *under* a tree, but we did not, in fact, see any in the trees themselves.

Our lodge is over the ridge in another town (Keratu). It’s the Kutu lodge. Nice place. Toilet doesn’t work very well though. They did have passion fruit Fanta though, so that’s a plus. The minus is that it’s a tourist resort, so they charge extravagantly for it. Oh well, at least the food was good… but so far I’ve like most of the food here.

Leaving Lake Manyara, we had to climb a huge escarpment (they don’t call it the Great Rift Valley for nothing). On the top, we stopped to gaze out over the valley below. It is a really beautiful sight. The valley floor and the lake rest about 2000ft below the top of the valley walls. I don’t believe the portion we reached was quit that high, but it was breathtaking nonetheless.

Tomorrow- Ngorongoro

Africa – The Journal pt.VIII

Thursday 8/21/08 7:30AM (written about Wednesday, August 20th)

We went to the school at 8am yesterday morning. The teaching team was going back to FoZ, but I still was unsure about when I would do the class for Form One. After we discussed it, it ended up being that morning, so I missed the FoZ trip. That’s a little sad, because it means that I only got to see the little little kids just once.

So, I started off teaching on balance sheets, and then moved into a lecture on what people use the information for. We covered assets and liabilities, some investing issues, and different types of businesses. I tried to point out several uses for the information that accounting generates and how it would apply to local businesses that they knew about. They asked a lot of questions about phones. I was really impressed with the interaction. After the class got warmed up, they were pretty free with asking questions.

After that, they asked about my family. It was basic stuff about how I grew up, what life was like in the US, and then they asked me to teach some math. First up was radicals, dealing with roots. What a treat! I don’t feel that I did so well with that part. I made a few basic errors, and utilized that to tell the kids to always double check the teacher, because they are just as fallible as anyone else. I think I screwed up enough to drive that point home.

Following roots, they asked a few more personal questions (do you want to be married some day. I just can’t avoid that issue, even ten thousand miles from home. ), and then about coordinate geometry. I did a little better with that. Lines are pretty easy, so we just went over basic linear formula and what the variables really represent. I tried to point out that people really just use graphs for representing math visually. I’m not sure if I got into to much philosophy on that, but one thing I wished I’d have realized back in high school is that math isn’t about just getting an answer and solving a formula, there’s usually a point and a purpose to the answer. It represents something in real life (i.e. addition and subtraction means dollars and cents in your pocket when it comes to keeping your budget). I hope they grasp this, because have a good math background will open up a lot of opportunity for them in the future.

A girl named Jane brought me tea and biscuits at break. That was before we got into the math. I’m not sure if they do tea every day, but it seems pretty common. The biscuits were kind of an odd bread, and the tea was pretty good. I wasn’t really wanting anything, but Jane didn’t ask; she just brought it to me. She’s a sweet kid.

After the teaching, they just asked me questions about the US until Kim came and got me for lunch. You could spend days just chatting about life with them.

Added 9:32PM

Following lunch, we returned to the school. The rest of the teaching team returned also, except Sean who stayed home because he needed some rest. We’ve been going pretty steady the whole time we’ve been here. It’s not been too hard, but every day is pretty much planned out for you, so you’ve almost always got somewhere you’re supposed to be.

As we were walking to the classrooms, Mary Mahene (with the hat) asked if I would lead the 7th grade class in Bible knowledge. We covered the last chapter of Luke, concerning the resurrection.
Montana had went to the Form One class. When I finished with 7th grade, I had heard F1 singing, so I went to their class. Jane led most of the singing, and it was really beautiful. And just in case you haven’t noticed from what I’ve written so far, Jane and the rest of Form One will rock your face off. They will rock your world. I had a great time and even sang the chorus to one of my favorite songs, “If I stand” by Rich Mullins. It was probably not the most beautiful rendition, but they clapped anyway. I felt justified. After we ended with a prayer, led by Victor, class was dismissed.

I went out to just walk the campus, and came across little Gladness (turned out to be Mary Mahene’s daughter). She looked to be in a great deal of pain. She had had four teeth pulled. I asked if they had given her anything for the pain and she said no, so I took her to the office. Kim told me she could see the matron and get some Tylenol.

We headed back out to find the matron, hand in hand. We went all the way back and forth across campus only to discover that the matron apparently wasn’t on campus at that time.

I felt so bad for the little girl, so we just went and sat on the steps of the office. I asked if she liked to draw, and gave her my pen and this notebook, hoping that maybe it could keep her mind off the pain. If nothing else, I got one of my favorite souvenirs.

A lot of the other kids kept coming by to tell her how sorry they were for her. I guess that the girl named Salome must be one of her best friends, because she even took her old gauze and threw it into the burn pit. That’s love, that is.

After a while, another adult came along and took Gladdie back to the office, and I think they gave her something since the matron wasn’t there. We got a few pictures with the kids and headed home for supper.

Africa – The Journal pt.VII

8/19/08 8:20 PM

Today we went back to the school. We (the teaching team) basically just sat around in the morning until about ten. Then, we headed to the nursery (kindergarten). It’s difficult to describe how fun and wonderful those kids were. We taught two classes.

The first class contained Jesca (for that was the way it was spelled on her little dress), the Masai girl that I had held yesterday. Today, she was a little bundle of joy. She was still very quiet, but she was all smiles when we showed up.

The second class contained Ruth and another girl I met named Shiloh* (or so it sounded to me at the time. Turns out it was Esther.). Esther was brilliant and beautiful. She made sure to learn my name and didn’t want to leave my lap.

All the kids had a great time with the bracelets, and they all loved the cameras. In fact, it was hard to stop taking pictures because they begged. They loved seeing their faces on the tiny screens. I think we would have stayed all day, except that we found out that grades 1 & 2 were actually held at a different location.

It was so hard to leave. I walked to the front of the building to say goodbye to Jessica, and the little dear gave me a kiss. I think she would have held me all day. Add in that I could hear Esther shouting “Goodbye Ian!”… it was a tough goodbye.

From there, we went to the first and second grades. Zamlata was in the 1st grade. She is such a doll. Super pretty and I think she knows it.

After we had lunch (beans! I ate them!), we went back to the school. I had thought that I would be teaching today, but it never happened. Maybe tomorrow.

In the afternoon, we went out and played with some of the 3rd, 4th and 5th graders. I met a Gladness (Mary’s daughter [maheni]), Ava Grace, and Salome. Great girls. It started out when Mary Maheni gave one of the kids some tennis balls. The situation quickly delineated into mass chaos, mainly because the boys used the tennis balls as soccer balls, and ran around seeing how high they could kick them. Since they were quite a bit more aggressive, it didn’t take long until only the boys were really having fun. I saw Ava Grace kind of standing to the side, and so I asked her if she wanted to play.

So, I nabbed one of the tennis balls and delivered it to her and a few of the girls, who proceeded to have a nice delicate little game of catch. I wandered around for a bit, and ended up back over around there group, where they started including me in the circle. Suddenly, I was being berated for making a gross error, without knowing what I’d done. My sin was that I had apparently thrown the ball to a fourth grader… the game had become keep away while I wasn’t paying attention.

Sean and Montana soon became involved. Sean (traitor that he is) went to the evil fourth grade side, while I was the main captain for the third graders (because them’s my peeps!). What was so funny is that, since we didn’t really know the classes that well, and third and fourth graders don’t look that different (especially considering that the age ranges are larger than they are in the US), the girls quickly started to take advantage of us. You’d be standing there getting ready to throw, but then EVERY girl out there would start claiming to be in the appropriate grade. If I had the ball, I was chorused with “I’m grade three! Grade three!” while Sean saw no one but fourth graders. The little buggers were crafty! I’m sad to say that the fourth grade fairly dominated. I declare them cheaters, because I think some of their team was actually fifth and sixth grade. The extra year of dexterity really paid off for them. Since the third grade is the youngest on that campus, I think there was a little hazing going on. It was a great time though.

We wore ourselves out throwing tennis balls around, and headed home for supper. I did some washing tonight (they wash our clothes for us… except for the underwear) and half of the team went to a small worship service at a house nearby.

P.S. – I love passion fruit Fanta.

Africa – The Journal pt.VI

8/18/08

Today we started at 8AM. We drove to school and found that the power was out. The teaching team started with the 5th grade. We did bracelets today. One of the girls in 6th or 7th grade is El Shaddai. I think she is one of the staff’s daughters. She gets so embarrassed around me. This became almost a running gag. I think I actually started to annoy her a bit toward the end because I made such a big deal out of it. I probably should give her such a hard time about it.

We took a walk down to where they are building the new classrooms for Form Two (which will start next year for the Form One students, obviously). Interesting stuff… check out the site of the termite mound! It was only two weeks old.

I took several pictures today, especially of some of the “nursery” or kindergarten kids. They had come to see the dentist. The teacher or mother over them told the group to stay by the “keep off the grass” sign. And they did. It was amazing. They would walk right up to the edge of the grass, but wouldn’t leave it. This was totally unsupervised.

I was really shocked at how different children are in Africa. I suppose that it’s because they have more responsibility at younger ages. You see little (and I mean little) kids walking around by themselves a lot. We talked to some of the older kids at FoH about it, and for the most part, they implied that kidnapping and that sort of thing is much rarer in Tanzania than it is in the US. But this experience, seeing how this group of little kindergarteners stayed right where they were told to stay, seeing how obedient they were, taught me a lot. I can’t imagine what would’ve happened with a group of US kids that age.

They were such hams for the camera, too. Whenever I would lift the lens to them, they would start making faces and flipping around. So cute. But this made it very very hard on the dental team. Giving shots and pulling teeth on such sweet little kids was so difficult for them.

When the kids would get done, they would go sit in the front of the office to wait for everyone else to get worked on. We spent a lot of time in the afternoon there, playing and loving those kids. I had met a first grade girl named Zamlata earlier that day. She was really sweet and a beautiful little kid too, with a huge smile and these long eyelashes that you couldn’t help but notice. When we were leaving she told me she wanted to pray for me, and she did! I knelt down and she put her hand on my head and really went at it.

Zamlata is an interesting story. Apparently her parents work for the government in some capacity, because they live in the President’s house. So, I guess Zam could be considered to be an upper class student from a pretty wealthy background. She spoke basically perfect English, which hints that she started learning it well before she came to school. The odd thing is she’s six and living at a Christian school, but her parents and the whole household is Muslim. FoH apparently has a good reputation, and some of the other people in the house were educated at Christian schools, so it’s not that strange. Plus, Muslim/Christian relations in most of Tanzania are not strained like they are in many places… it really is a (comparatively) peaceful country in a lot of ways.

So, anyway, Zam is at FoH, and got saved. Pastor Shoo met with her parents and explained to them that she is now a Christian, not a Muslim. Crazy.

But I can’t help but say that my favorite was a little Masai girl named Jessica. They pulled four of her teeth today. Apparently, she didn’t even flinch. I sat and just held her for probably half and hour afterwards. She never spoke, but I got her to giggle a little by tickling her. She wouldn’t really look me in the eye either, but when I stood up with her, she really clamped down and hung on tightly. She did give me a hug when I left. I didn’t take a picture with her though, again… she was Masai*.
I basically sat there with her until it was time for us to go. I hopefully will get to see her again before we leave.

8/19/08 7:10 AM

I also got the bookkeeping and commerce books yesterday. I’m going to try to do some teaching some time before we leave.

*Funny side story.

We were driving down one of the main roads in town the other day, and we saw a few Masai on the side of the road. They are pretty unique, and stand out in a crowd because many Masai still dress in traditional tribal clothes (wrapped blankets mostly). So, I was messing with Debbie to take their picture while we passed by.

Here’s the thing, Masai DO NOT allow people to take their picture. Apparently they think it’ll take their soul or something. It’s a big taboo no-no.

Well, Debbie slides the window open (we’d come to rest for a moment in traffic) and snaps off a picture. Just as soon as she hit the button, they guy turns and looks at us and sees the camera. Now, Debbie’s camera is slow. It takes like, two seconds between when you press the button and the camera captures the photo. So, there she is, with this Masai looking at her, and her camera’s flash goes off while she’s trying to pull the camera down from the window (because she realized he’d seen her). The guy starts pointing with his stick and yelling… it was so funny/scary! We’re all like “Let’s go! Let’s go!” trying to get Ramadan to take off again.

Fortunately, we did, so we escaped safely. So, just FYI, don’t take pictures of Masai people unless you ask first. They will not appreciate it. (Sorry Debbie!)

Africa – The Journal pt.V

8/18/08 7:10AM (written about Sunday, August 17th)

Yesterday we had to start a bit earlier. We attended three services yesterday, the first started at 7AM. He has started a congregation called International Christian Church or iCC.

We began the service with praise and worship. Pastor Shoo preached on faith and prayer. They are praying for a building to meet in. Right now, they are renting the ground behind a Hindu building. There is a soccer field adjacent to it where people played soccer during our service. Pastor had to ask them to quiet down once or twice, which I thought was kind of bold. However, he later told us that iCC actually rents the whole area, and the soccer field is included. So he could actually tell them to leave if he so wished, but he doesn’t really mind them being there, since they hear the message while they play. The service is actually held on the volleyball court.

(Mosque across the parking lot)

Jason and I gave testimonies during the service. Also, a girl named Lulu came forward to have her ear prayed for. She was deaf in one ear. Lulu was a friend of Princely, Pastor Shoo’s son. Meeting him was a great blessing. He has been accepted into a Christian university in Kenya, where his sister Zoe is. This has been a special thing, because he is being allowed to skip forms 5&6 (and part of form 4) to go. In Tanzania, kids actually have two grades past 12 before they can go to college.

After service, we went back to the MH for breakfast, then went back to the same location for the youth service. This was led by Princely. There was a small group of young people, maybe six or eight there. We talked about happiness and peer pressure, and other difficulties that teens face. It was interesting to see how similar some problems are everywhere.

After this, we played musical chairs. It was really fun. It’s so interesting to see teenagers there enjoying such a simple child’s game. We talked about that later. We decided that kids here just aren’t too cool to have fun.

(Written at 6:45PM)

I came in second to a girl named Lucy. It was so funny, because as we were playing, they were keeping score for mzungu (white people) vs. Africans. It was 2-2 until one of the kids got put out and then 2-1 because Montana, Lucy, and me were left. I guess the Africans won, but we think they cheated. Princely was running the sound, and there was some trickery at the end I think. Lucy just sat in the chair while the music was still going, laughing at me. It’s not like I could just toss her out, so she won by default when the music stopped because she was already in the chair.

What struck me is just how little people are affected by race here, at least. If someone is white, they call them mzungu. If you’re black, you’re black. It’s no big deal, at lease that’s how it seemed in my opinion. It’s more like making fun of someone for their hair color. It’s kind of fun and liberating really. I never had that “walking on eggshells” feeling on the issue. It just is what it is, you don’t have to avoid the subject, but at the same time nobody really cares too much.

(Onlookers!)

We came home for lunch and then returned for the afternoon service. They do it a little early so everyone can get home before dark. This was something that I never would have thought about on my own. Not many people here own their own cars. Some do, but I’m guessing most don’t. Plus, people do a lot of walking. That makes it important that they can get home without having to walk far in the dark, especially when you take into consideration the driving in the area. I would not want to be someone walking on the side of the road at night… it’s a dangerous activity.

(Lulu is in the yellow shirt, Lucy in the white, and Princely is translating for Montana)

Afterwards, we went out to Café Chez for supper. I had some Indian chicken dish, in a coconut sauce. Sean got an order of spiced chicken, which we called a spiced frog leg because it was so small. I felt bad for the guy, but it was really funny. It does make you wonder what we feed chickens in the US, because these were not the same freak-o mutant Tyson chickens we are used to.

Pastor Shoo came and sat by us during supper. Through talking with him, we found out that the Swahili name for the orange headed lizards translates as “Muslim lizards.” We see these occasionally on our way to the school. What’s so funny about this is the reason for that name. The lizards pump up and down sometimes, and the people say that they look like Muslims bowing down in prayer.

I do need to mention the weather here. It’s been absolutely beautiful, especially tonight. We ate on an open air room on the second floor. The moon was out, there was a gentle breeze, and it was just a great night for eating outside, not muggy like back home. The only thing you have to watch out for is the mosquitoes. They will light you up if you’re not careful, but I didn’t have any real problems. If you’re going to be outside at night, wear bug spray.

After supper, we returned back home. We said goodbye to Princely (since we wouldn’t see him again, he left for Kenya the next day), prayed, and went to bed.