Part VI - Homeward Bound; Part VII - Where to from now?

Part VI - Homeward Bound
Saturday July 25th - Sunday 26th We had a good flight to Dubai, landing earlier than expected at 11.30 p.m. The heat (38°) hit you as you walked down the steps to the waiting bus; it takes about 1/2 hour to reach the new terminal, air-bridges are so much quicker!
After finding the information desk, we had a long wait before we got the information we needed. From then on, it went much faster. The Marriott lady confirmed our booking, told us where to find a taxi, and gave us a much-needed bottle of ice-cold water – wonderful! It was quite good to be able to use up some Skywards points!
We had a very interesting taxi driver from Eritrea, who took us on the scenic route on Sheik Zayed Road past a lot of immense and rather overly-opulent hotels. It was rather hard to concentrate on the scenery as all we wanted to go to bed, but we woke up a little when he started to tell us about his family/life in Eritrea.
He said that life there has been crazy under the current president who took over 15 years ago, & who doesn’t appear to know anything apart from running an army & waging war as he is a former guerrilla fighter.
The National Draft snares people once they finish school. If you try to run away to avoid it, they arrest and even torture your father till you return.
Life in the army is hard: although you get fed, you only get US$20/month for your family’s needs. There is no guarantee of when you will be released, & it’s hard to get a good job as there are no universities; the president closed them down following Chinese revolutionary principles. One of the taxi driver's brothers are still in the army after 10 years, the other after 15, and there's no knowing when they will be released from service!
He has told them many times to leave the country, via Sudan or Somalia, or even via Mauritius to Italy, so that they could live in peace/safety, but they are too scared and don’t want to leave their families behind. But these days all fleeing Eritreans are automatically guaranteed full refugee status, which makes it possible to rescue families that have been left behind.
He has a sister in Belgium & a brother in Chicago; all three send money back to help the rest of the family, but they find it very hard knowing how tough life is there. He says he never wants to go back!
We arrived at The Courtyard at 1.20 a.m. for our free stay. Unfortunately there was no free airport shuttle, but taking a taxi was still a lot cheaper than paying for a room! It was lovely to be able to shower to get rid of the rest of the African dust, we must have been well-coated in windy Dar – our refresher towels looked embarrassingly brown on the plane after use! My flannel turned a similar shade in the bathroom!
After washing my sandals so they’d pass inspection in NZ, I left them to dry in the bath, then went to bed to get about 4 hours sleep before the alarm went off at 6. I took the photo on the left from our window before going down to catch the taxi at 6.30. This time we had a bearded Muslim driver, who took us on the quicker route via the coast – mostly construction sites & sand dunes!
We had fascinating views of the long, strip-like fields and all the waterways near Bangkok on the way down. It was such a contrast after the aridity of Africa and the deserts of Dubai. It was a warm 32° at around six p.m.. Once again, there was no time to hang around and explore the airport, straight to the boarding lounge!
Monday, 26th July I managed to sleep a little on the way to Sydney, which was a fresh 9° when we landed! This time we were able to walk around the terminal several times, looking at the interesting goods on display, we didn’t want to sit down again too soon!
There were very few passengers to Christchurch - whole rows empty behind us – so it was easy for everyone to see the spectacular views of the Southern Alps, viewed in crystal-clear conditions, covered with fresh snow. Mt Cook looked amazing! Unfortunately the photo doesn’t do it justice! The pilot flew up the West Coast from quite far south, so we saw all the lakes. We crossed the alps just north of the Rakaia River, to start our descent over the plains towards Christchurch.
It was a beautiful day, sunny & calm, so 11° didn’t feel too cold after all! Bronwyn soon arrived with our car, which seemed to have survived its outdoor storage very well.
The concrete-block motel unit seemed very cold, and there was only a small fan heater, so after a hot shower, we put on layers of clothing.
We had a lovely long sleep once we got back from our restaurant dinner and brief shopping expedition.
We woke at 9, just time to get up & eat breakfast before checking out an hour later.
We were glad to be able to spend the night with my parents in Oamaru, we were feeling very tired, but the next day we went all the way home to Gore, where Bruce's brother Colin had been looking after our new house.
Part VII – Where to from now?
Our daughter Eleanor started an au pair job in October looking after three little children; Anthony is still looking for work as a builder and Nicola only has a part-time job cleaning at a school; Jeremy lives part of the week in Mannheim with Judith, but still spends a couple of days in Duisburg where his work is. He's been doing a bit of globe-trotting recently - Japan and Canada - on behalf of the firm.
Bruce eventually found work (19/9) on a 900-cow dairy farm while another worker recuperates from a serious knee injury, but I still am jobless.
Our Maasai friends are sinking into ever deeper trouble with hardship increasing every day, their remaining livestock dying. They have so far not managed to get any government or NGO help. The CBO has no funds. People are now burning the scarce trees to get income from selling charcoal. However, one good thing is that they are now linked in to the CHE movement and we hope that will help effect some long-term changes in their community that will benefit them all. BUT IF YOU'D LIKE TO HELP, PLEASE LET US KNOW!

Last day in Tanzania

Saturday 25th July Another nearly sleepless night – the nearby pub again! We got up shortly after six. Unfortunately I knocked my glasses onto the floor when getting my towel off the towel rail where I'd hung them up, it being the only dry spot in the bathroom. It chipped a piece off the top of each lens, but they were still usable.
We were disappointed by the complimentary breakfast: a toasted sandwich and a cup of coffee or tea – she brought us hot water for a second cup, then took the sachets away! I think you weren't really supposed to have two cups!
We repacked our bags leaving out the guys’ gear as well as the peanuts, rice & dried native veges that had been given, then the Michaels turned up at 8.30.
Little Michael had woken big Michael up at 6, wanting to visit mama (me), but was told I might be still asleep!
As they hadn't had breakfast and we were still hungry and thirsty, we decided to breakfast somewhere else, it was far too expensive at the guest house. One of the neighbouring houses was serving breakfast in a little opened-up room and also outside, so we sat on stools and had refreshments: 4 teas, 4 chapattis, 3 maandazi for 1,250 Tsh! Compare this to the price of having one cup of tea at the guest house = 1,000 Tsh!
After going back to our room, we took our bags to the office and started to walk to Michael’s with his bags. He was very sad we weren’t going to take the peanuts, and I felt bad knowing how much hard work had been done, but we had tried to explain a couple of days earlier that such gifts are not advisable due to NZ regulations. Bruce said Michael could start up a small business selling them to other students, he thought it’d be fun but better if he could cook them first, but so far he hasn't bought any cooking or eating things. He’s still eating with his former landlord.
It was an interesting walk through streets lined with small dukas outside and between the houses. We passed through a narrow alleyway (not for fat people!), walked down a grassy hill, and crossed the deep, narrow, smelly drain at the bottom. It's nearly choked with rubbish. Michael's little room is on a lower level past some other houses, you have to climb over a wall that has stones set in it, and then go down past a row of little rooms to reach his at the end, near the thatched bafu & choo. It's very clean & tidy but not very big. He hopes to squeeze in a couple of chairs, and buy a cooker & cooking/eating utensils soon. He paid 140,000 for the year's rent, and an extra 10,000 Tsh get it re-plastered/whitewashed inside. He missed out on a much cheaper (only 40,000 a year ($50)) and nicer room in an apartment block nearer his school, originally built for government workers. His bed cost 60,000 Tsh then he had to buy a mattress, a mosquito net & water containers as well.
We went for a good walk back to the main road to go to the university internet building – what a fast connection - well, once I got a different computer, the first had a problem!
Then we went to a large complex that housed banks, fancy shops and a Forex, however, no-one was willing to change our traveller’s cheques. AT least there was an ATM so we used the Visa card instead, and also changed our large USD notes at the Forex into smaller ones to use at the airport - we'd been told there would be departure tax, but there wasn’t!
On the way back to the guest house, we stopped to buy ice blocks from a roadside vendor – most refreshing, as Dar was very hot & windy. We went to a cheap restaurant for lunch - HUGE platefuls of food, including very nice chips + a yummy salad of tomatoes, onion & cucumber.
As it was now after 1 p.m., we went to pick up our bags and head for the airport. We had a ½ hour walk to the main daladala stand, otherwise we'd have had to have taken two, and it gave another opportunity to chat. You had to watch out for cars using the pavement as a road to get past all the traffic jams, plenty of those! In the daladala, at one point it took twenty minutes to advance just two hundred metres!
We got to the airport bang on time, but were disappointed to find that, like Nairobi, passengers are screened on entry so other people are excluded. My hopes of a proper farewell were dashed, we had to say goodbye very quickly before disappearing out of sight. If we’d got there a little earlier or known the layout, we could have stopped in the gardens in front of the airport, taken a group photo, prayed for each other, & had a proper hug. I had also wanted an opportunity to say some encouraging words before leaving Michael again.
We gave him most of the money we’d got out of the ATM (apart from the cost of our accommodation & lunch), hoping no-one bad saw & would mug him on his way home, before saying a quick goodbye. I managed to slip in a quick hug, but Bruce had already gone on ahead!
It's a strange airport, there are only a few shops, a cafe and a restaurant in the lounge. There also were only two or three boarding lounges.
The boarding procedure took us by surprised, we heard our flight being called so went into the lounge and wondered why there was a group of people crowding round a desk near the entrance but no desks near the exit as there usually are. We almost went to sit down, but I looked at the time and thought it was too close to departure time. We decided to investigate the desk, which was now not chokka with people, and saw there were two girls, one checking passports and boarding passes, the other ticking names off the list. You then just walk outside onto the tarmac, get directed to the appropriate aircraft & climb on board using the aircraft's stairs!

A disastrous trip

Friday July 24th Well, what a day! It started slowly, no-one apart from Bruce seemed to be in any hurry to get up, and eventually I had to ask him to settle down, he was getting me uptight! Breakfast was sooty peanuts and slimy pawpaw at 7. Michael hadn't as yet appeared, and the taxi was due in twenty minutes! We waited for him to join us, and he looked very surprised to see us still sitting there at 10 past, he’d forgotten all about food! Pic: Bibi & Mama Lucia outside the 'new' house.
Just as well the taxi was a little late, Jeremia had had to walk to Nzega to get it as the driver didn’t know the way to bibi’s. We were a bit surprised to see no bus waiting at the bus stand as it was supposed to leave at 8 sharp! Eventually we were told it had broken down on the way from Mwanza, but would arrive at 8.30. Michael jokingly said it wouldn’t come till 10!
Well, it hadn't come by 10 so we started discussing the possibility of getting a refund and finding another bus. Michael wanted to arrive before dark and Jeremia said we’d need to leave by 11! No-one was talking much, Michael kept wandering around the bus station. At one point he hugged Jeremia, asking, “Why are you so cold & your heart beating so fast?” “Mama’s running away, and I want her to stay & stay & stay....!” It was quite sad. He was going to return to Igunga later that day.
Well, we had to wait & wait & wait – until 11.45, when the bus pulled in and there was a mad dash to load up the luggage and push passengers on board. I delayed getting on to give Michael time to stow our bags away underneath the bus, aided by Jeremia who came up to say a last goodbye. Michael was only just in time, we were almost pushed up the stairs by the conductor!
It was sad, we couldn’t sit together again - it was a smaller bus, the seats were in pairs not threes. However, Michael sat behind us, and little Michael sat on my lap.
We stopped just after Igunga, they opened up the panel behind the driver’s seat to access the motor. Bruce was really worried by the hissing sound as they added water to the radiator, he thought we had or would get a cracked cylinder head!
The stop at Singida was only for 10 minutes, hardly time for anyone to get to the loo, so we just stayed on board.
I'd been told it’d be tarmac roads all the way to Dar, but after Singida, it was back to rough sand and dirt. The roads will be nice one day, there’s a major roading project as far as Dodoma. The new road’s being built to one side of the old one, some parts had already been tarmacked by prison gangs. We were only allowed on one brief stretch near Manyoyi.
The scenery near Singida and Dodoma is fantastic, there are amazing rock formations: huge crags and gigantic rounded rocks looking like they’d just been dropped from heaven!
Just after one of several weigh-stations near Dodoma, a helmeted policeman, waiting on a motorcycle at a police checkpoint, came on board to accompany us! At first I thought it was just a routine things, but it soon became apparent we were in trouble!
After stopping in the large car park outside the Dodoma police station, the driver and crew went off, with no announcements made re how long we’d be there. There were a few kiosks selling food, but no sign of public conveniences, and I was feeling uncomfortable.
After asking Michael if there were toilets, I thought he said no, and then he got off the bus. I was a little worried we’d have to stay in Dodoma as it was now 6 p.m., and public transport doesn’t normally run after dark in Tanzania
Bruce and I stood up to rest our weary behinds, but I got too desperate so went outside to see Michael, and was very relieved when Michael pointed around the corner – wondering why on earth he hadn’t come back to the bus to let me know!
Once I returned, I asked if he knew how long we’d be there and why we'd stopped – well, apparently the bus driver, well-known to the police, had been arrested for some minor misdemeanour on the way, and no-one knew how long it would take to get him released!
While Michael took little Michael to the toilet, one of the bus crew came out of the police station to tell the group of passengers standing around to go into the office, but he specified men only much to my relief, I was the only woman outside and there was no way of letting Michael know. I was more relieved that the man hadn't told everyone on the bus to get off.
When Michael returned, I told him what had happened, standing in full view of the three officers at the desk indoors. I don’t know whether the sight of a stranded Mzungu standing outside quietly made them relent or whether the men had had to pay a bribe – but they all trooped back out again, telling us to re-board the bus, we were off! It was great news, although by now it was nearly dark.
We reached Morogoro about 10 p.m., then the outskirts of Dar around 1 a.m., everyone dozing between stops. Just before each stop, the lights would be switched on & the destination announced to the sleepy passengers.
We were very glad to disembark at 1.20, waiting for the bags to be offloaded – somehow they’d switched sides on the way - then went by car to the guest house, which unfortunately had only a double room available, no singles. The two Michaels walked off into the dark back to his little room. Our bed might have fitted three but not all four!
We were glad the staff agreed to look after our bags the next day till the afternoon and to let us pay the next day. We needed a bank or ATM, we didn't have enough cash left and had an afternoon flight!

A trip to Isanzu

Thursday July 23rd The day started slowly, bibi was cooking rice for breakfast, and Michael catching up with his washing. As the house floors looked very dirty, with lots of puddles of wax and scraps from tea, I decided to do some sweeping - and for once, no one else had the grass broom! Once that was done, I found a twig one for outside, happy to relieve Michael of that chore to spare his sinuses, but it took ages, 1½ hours! Bruce was collecting & chopping up firewood for bibi, but as they don’t store it till it’s dry, the fires are terribly smoky and inefficient. Bibi reckons it’s the smoke that’s damaging her eyes, every so often they get very sore & weepy & she can’t see very far. Some passers-by were amazed to see us working, so bibi told them, “They’re the children of the household.”
One day she said if I was Michael’s mother, then I was her daughter & Bruce her farmer! She’s even offered us a piece of land to build a house on! Michael wants us to build a BIG house with four bedrooms so all our children can stay – but we said we like little houses, or could build a big one so he & his wife & children could live in it with us, but he didn’t seem so keen on that idea! Lots of people have asked bibi to sell them a piece of land but she’s keeping it for the family. If she dies, Mama Joyce will oversee it as oldest surviving child. Each member has their own portion to garden but any one of them can build a house there & live on the shamba, including us!
Whilst Bruce was away bathing, I took a photo of little Michael, Ibrahim, Jeremia and Michael outside the old house. Enock turned up just as Michael finished in the bafu. I sat in the back with the two Michaels and Jeremia, Bruce in the front. It's only about 1/2 hour to Isanzu by car, it's the other side of Nzega. I was glad that Enock was the only driver, the car seemed to slide a bit in the dust as he veered around the obstacles, tooting his horn to clear the way!
Isanzu is a tiny collection of dwellings and a small duka or two. Babu Mathias and Bibi Belta live on a shamba down a short track off the 'main' road. There are several traditional huts dating from the time all the family lived there. Babu is one of Michael's great-uncles.
Bibi was practically jumping up and down to see us, exclaiming, “It’s just like a dream!” over and over again. She was absolutely overjoyed to see Michael again, he is much loved by many people. We were taken inside a hut and sat together in one of the two rooms. The home-made wickerwork chairs only just squeezed through the doorway! After a nice chat with babu we ate lunch together.
They have five children: Rachel is Pastor Jonas Kulwa's wife, Musa is a carpenter, Zahabu is another son, Esther works in Dar and Neema is married. Bibi came from Mwanza originally, so Babu has been to the Sukuma-style Catholic cathedral there. After lunch, we talked about the Sukuma language. Michael found a hymn book and New Testament that had an extra portion including the Lord’s Prayer, the Apostle’s Creed and the Ten Commandments. He read them out & I copied - fun! Then he wrote the Lord’s Prayer on a piece of newspaper, I tried reading it out loud by myself apparently quite correctly - everyone was amazed, they find it terribly hard to read Kisukuma, they’re only used to speaking it, early schooling is done in Kiswahili.
Later on, we sat under a large mango tree chatting before going for a little walk through part of the shamba, which produces peanuts, maize and sisal. There are also mangoes & various palms, including dates & one with fruit resembling large coconuts that contain a large edible seed full of oil. The well was dry but Bruce thinks it just needs digging deeper. Nearby was a clump of straggly rosella plants.
Back at the mango tree, we were shown the long poles in its fork bearing maize cobs - a traditional method of storage. Nearby, sisal leaves and fibre were in various stages of preparation for weaving into rope or making other things.

Pics: left = Baba Enocki, Babu Matthias, Jeremia, Bibi Belta, Michael, little Michael, and Bruce outside one of the huts; right = Jeremia at Isanzu;
On the way back to bibi’s mid-afternoon, we stopped at the attractive-looking orphanage to meet the children plus another staff member. Unfortunately, little Michael didn’t want to get out of the car to play with them.
Back at bibi’s, we were given a large bag of peanuts to shell – I found it quite difficult, only doing one nut to Michael’s five, and my fingers got really sore! After a short break, Michael showed me how to do it properly & suddenly I could almost keep up and didn’t get sore at all!
L = ‘Michael in the bush’ (the bougainvilleas at bibi’s).
Eventually he decided he'd had enough, so after taking a photo of him 'in the bush', we walked up to the large rocky hill in the distance, where little Michael had had fun the day before sliding down the rocks.
It’s a little way from the shamba, down the Tabora road, and is quite impressive – the rocks rise up sharply off the plain behind a collection of a few huts and a couple of dukas.
It was a bit of a scramble to reach the top, but once there, there were lovely views over the surrounding countryside - bibi’s is way in the distance just past a dust cloud on the left of the road, top right!
As dusk was coming, we climbed back down an easier route, returning to the road via a different path to enter the shamba via the short driveway behind the new house, edged by attractive native trees that babu left when he cut down the rest that were growing in this part of the shamba; Michael says they look lovely when they flower in the wet season.
Shelling peanuts continued even after dark, sitting round on stools outside the porch of the old house, where bibi was preparing rice. Mama Lucia’s oldest girls turned up a bit later.
We had quite an interesting and varied conversation – Michael said he’d tar-seal up to bibi’s house & put in pipes running with milk if he became an MP!!! Bibi said her 12-15 goats won’t be enough for the bride price for five grandsons, but I said there were only two really needing them: Michael and Jeremia as they have no parents. Also the other three are a lot younger, although the 3rd Michael (yes, another one!), Mama Regina’s oldest son, is in Form 4.
After a rather late tea with all mama Lucia's daughters, their mother, and a young Uncle John, we had a short time of fellowship together before going to bed around 10. However, I was kept awake by the guys shelling peanuts in the sitting room – still! I thought we’d finished them!

Harvesting rice

Wednesday 22nd June Michael swept the area around the houses today, and I’d never seen it so immaculate! Bibi said she only had a little work to do so didn't need my help, so I sat outside with Bruce who was working on a message for bibi’s church in Nzega – we’d been asked to go there in the afternoon as we hadn’t gone on Sunday. We were surprised to see some mamas going along on the path near the house, carrying small dishes of white stuff - Michael told us later that it was flour. Someone had died in the village and it was time for people to pay their respects. One lady came to get flour from bibi, then another one came by to invite bibi to accompany her. Breakfast was buns and chai today, then Michael and I looked at photos indoors, from when his grandfather was a young man to Michael's time in Bukoba at Harvest. It was interesting seeing more pictures of Michael as a baby, his baptism age 15, working in a store after he left school. There were a few from his time at Biharamulo Teacher Training College. Only three of the students were men, the rest women, who wore a uniform of pale blue skirt and white blouse; the men wore a blue & white striped shirt over whatever trousers they had. It was interesting seeing the dolls & Ludo boards they had made. There were some nice photos of Michael relaxing on a rock near the school, also one of his first class of five little students at Harvest, Bukoba. I recognised two of them who I'd taught on occasion – a very difficult job! Bibi came in, urging him to hurry up as he was needed to supervise Ibrahim and little Michael, who’d gone to the rice shamba. She looked surprised when I went with the men, perhaps she'd hoped I'd stay and help her or chat. On the other side of the Tabora road, a footpath wends towards the paddy field past a short path to the village pump. Rice is grown in small rectangular plots surrounded by thorny, weed-topped mud walls. Ibrahim had already cut a few bundles using a small sickle, but Michael took over. Little Michael was just messing around!Bruce had a brief turn at cutting the rice, but found the bending too much for his back. Once there was a big enough area cleared, we laid a large tarpaulin down, lining up the cut bundles along one side. Threshing is done by picking up small bundles and hitting the heads against the tarp or a stone to dislodge the dry grains. Ibrahim used another method, laying several bundles head to head on the tarpaulin, then beating them with a large stick. Once we’d finished the first bundles, Ibrahim was kept busy collecting them from Michael, bringing them over to us to thresh. Little Michael ran back off to the home shamba, although he could have made himself usefull carrying bundles or chasing the neighbour's straying calves away. 1½ hours later, we'd cleared two plots and needed to return to bibi's as we had a lunch engagement. Shaking the grains into the middle of the tarp, we skimmed off the rubbish before pushing the rice into a sack for Michael to carry on his back, it was about 15 kgs.Bruce went over to the pump to see if he could help the youngsters drawing water, he thought they weren’t pumping it very well – but soon found the seals were too worn to pump any other way. The mamas at the intersection greeted us, commenting about how tired we must have got from all our work in the fields - but I said it was very enjoyable! Bibi also thought we’d be tired, but really we were fine! We had got pretty hot though, so were glad to bathe before going to Paulo’s. I had to laugh, Michael trotted out just in his shorts looking slightly embarrassed – briefly! Paulo’s is only a short walk away. The big wrought-iron gate opens into a small courtyard between the house & other buildings. We had a lovely time there, good food and good conversation! Mama had made a very tasty mchuzi and a delicious side-dish of ground peanuts/tomatoes/salt. She'd prepared both ugali & spaghetti, perhaps fearing we wouldn't like ugali, but we quite like it!
Afterward, we chatted with Paulo, Michael chatting with his aunt. Paulo says if you put the two of them together, it’s hard to stop them talking!!! He used to clean and maintain the swimming pool at the Swedish school until it closed, working every day from 7 a.m.. Alternate days finished at 2 p.m., the other by midday. The one hundred students were taught in Swedish, but they picked up Kisukuma playing with the local kids - it’s a Sukuma area. The adults also picked it up instead of Kiswahili, causing a few problems for those working at the hospital - some of the other staff plus patients were from other tribes!
The pool now only gets used by visiting Wazungu, Africans don’t normally like to swim – probably a modesty issue re togs, although the men seem quite happy to bathe in a river in a secluded spot! Woman aren’t allowed to show the thigh or midriff though. Paulo picked up Swedish so well that visitors often ask him when he’d visited Sweden! He now works as a Bible College watchman, having on a rotating shift: Day 1: 7 p.m.-7 a.m.; Day 2: 7 a.m.-3 p.m., Day 3: 3 p.m.-10 p.m. He also sells phone vouchers from home and at the bus stand, making about 20% profit. His children help, he says it’s good training for them to take part in a small business; too many young people are becoming lazy, sitting on benches drinking & smoking, saying there’s no work! In the old days, that’s what the old men did. He says the young ones are drinking their strength away, so if they do find work, they can’t do it anyway! He says there’s plenty of work if you go out & look for it.They only have two children, Happy (Form 2) & Matthew (S6). Happy didn’t want to go to Nzega Day School, so they found her a place at Umoja Sec, 100 kilometres away in the bush. She didn’t want to go there as she’d heard tales of lions, snakes & hyenas!
She phoned up after just a week there, wanting to come home: there were wild animals, and she had no friends. But she’d never actually seen any wild animals, just heard a hyena one night! She agreed to finish the term.
They discussed it again in the holidays – by which time she loved it – great teachers and great friends! However, her brother wants to go to Nzega Day, he thinks they study too hard at Umoja! Paulo wanted to know if we’d like to use the sauna - they all laughed when I said I thought it could be dangerous, one could get too dehydrated, and also I don't like the idea of dripping with sweat! It might be one way of keeping warm in a cold climate though, but Africa is too hot!
We had to be back to bibi’s by 3 so that we'd be in time for church at 4. We were met by another visitor, Michael's younger brother, Jeremia, who gave us both big hugs. He’d come on the bus from Igunga where he lives with Aunty Joyce. Aunty Lucia there too, telling us Uncle Enock would take us to Isanzu tomorrow.
After getting our Bibles for church, we waited outside for bibi, who came dressed in a fancy blouse. I must say I was a bit shocked to see Jeremia start to unbutton it, especially as she had nothing on underneath - but he was only trying to help, she hadn’t done them up properly!!
We got to church on time, but of course it left no opportunity to go to the net. Poor Bruce had got overheated AGAIN, so Michael went off to buy water while we waited in the church office for the service to begin. Some of the elders greeted us and we signed the visitors’ book; the pastor was away visiting a bereaved family in another village.
The service started 40 minutes late as no-one turned up apart from the elders till then, so we could have gone to the net after all! The elders quipped that they should only wait ½ hour then lock up & go home - that’d really confuse the latecomers!
The new church is really large but isn't finished yet. They say it is full on a Sunday. The old one is only used for Sunday School now. However, only about 20 turned up for the mid-week service. Naturally it’s hard for workers to get there, so most were elderly like bibi.
The teaching on prayer was excellent, given by one of the elders, a school teacher, as part of a series. He translated the odd phrase for us, I quietly did the rest for Bruce. At one point, he used Jeremia in an example of the believer’s close relationship with Christ, walking arm in arm around the front of the church - Jeremiah (Jesus) even stroked his face and shoulders! It was quite funny!
Bruce was given a short opportunity to share, I tried translating, but the teacher chipped in to hurry things along, going away like a rocket! I would have preferred him to have done it all really!
We greeted everyone afterwards, including a blind evangelist, whose prayer isn’t to receive his sight, but rather to be used more by God.
It took an hour to return via the dirt roads; the dust upset Michael’s sinuses so he had a rather disturbed night. Little Michael got into big trouble from bibi for something later on, I think he'd been playing with the candle indoors.
Once it got dark, we were asked to wait indoors while Michael went to Mama Lucia’s to see how much Baba Enocki would charge to go to Isanzu, but the shrieks and laughter from the girls outside made me wonder just what was going on, and I think he was a little late leaving - although of course it could have been Jeremiah that was causing all the commotion! I wasn’t sure if we should go out to join the fun or stay in, it was pretty boring inside!
Michael was just back in time for our late dinner, saying we’ll only have to pay for seven litres of petrol, half the cost of a taxi. He said we could all take turns driving as we all could drive!
Michael of course had done a one-month course last year, and Jeremia a six-month one some time ago. I must say I didn't really want to – but driving on rough roads veering round potholes, livestock, cyclists, pedestrians and the occasional car, bus or truck – no way!
We were a bit shocked to find out that you can get a licence just by paying a fee, without having ever driven, had lessons or studied the road code! No wonder there are so many accidents! Jeremia would like to get a commercial licence but it costs 100,000Tsh and Michael thinks it’s too dangerous being a taxi driver anyway, lots die every year especially in Dar from hijacking – I was thinking they just died in accidents!
We found out that Michael hadn’t started primary school till he was nine, which is why he finished so late aged 16. In the year 2000, the government developed a new scheme of special schools for such late starters, so that they could complete an abridged syllabus in just two years, instead of the normal seven.
We were interested to hear that Jeremia can play the piano & loves classical music, he plays keyboard at church but of course has no instrument at home to practise on. He'd like to find his own place in Igunga. At present he's at Aunty Joyce's, where he’s started a chicken farm with 100 hens (local & European) that are laying well. He started it there rather than Tazengwa because there are more opportunities to sell eggs. We were all disappointed that we didn't have an opportunity to visit it.

Strange English, bibi's house, God's protection

Tuesday July 21st I felt really tired in the morning, it'd been hard to get to sleep, and I woke too early. I was also disturbed during the night by someone else having trouble sleeping, their bed creaked each time they turned over! However it was a nice morning, a bit warmer as there was no cold wind.
After a breakfast of peanuts + chai, I briefly looked at 2 English books Michael’d been given a few years ago. The first was written by a Kenyan Rastafarian and had Kiswahili-style pronunciation guides for each sentence. I tried reading one out loud and sounded rather African! The second was written by a Tanzanian in supposedly American English, but had some very strange phrases, such as: “Would you mind standing in camera?”!
Michael helped me understand some Kiswahili words I'd been having trouble with using his dictionary; he’s a good teacher. Bruce was busy reading the CHE book. Soon it was time to farewell Mama Joyce + Maria; Mama Lucia came to say goodbye too.
Michael showed us around the old house, he’d like to renovate it to use it as his own home. It'd be too expensive to knock down + rebuild. He actually helped the builder build it, acting as his navvy: fetching water, mixing clay plaster, carrying bricks.
Past the porch where bibi cooks, you enter the living room. A bedroom is on one side. A second door leads into what was a food preparation cum dining room and another bedroom. The door to the now-vanished outside kitchen has been bricked--in, as has a window. A long narrow store room stands between the old dining room and the main bedroom, which also has another store room on one end.
Some of the walls have huge cracks running through them, others have been filled with plaster. The aluminium roof has huge holes in it (it replaced the first roof when that started to leak). It'd be a big job to renovate it!
Before having a small lunch of ugali and mchuzi at noon, we looked at a model family tree to discuss names. Michael said we would eat two dinners later on!
Michael took me to the pool at the far end of the shamba near the damp depression where babu wanted to dig a well so I could do my washing. Bruce stayed behind, but little Michael tagged along, not wanting to play with the neighbours’ children. As he hadn't brought his dirty clothes with him, 'our' Michael had to go back to get them! After I finished our clothes, I washed their trousers whilst Michael did their shirts!
We met Bruce on the way back, he must have been wondering what had taken us so long! He’d been planning house renovations, so we went back to have another look before he put them on paper.
We were surprised to be offered cucumber + bananas at 4, thinking of our 2 dinners that were coming up, but ate them all the same to keep bibi happy!
Our first engagement was at the Kulwa's, but pastor was resting in a singlet! He'd had malaria for a week & his wife came home with it too. She’s on hospital medicine, but he’s taking papaya seed tea, a local remedy.
We looked at more photos, and talked a lot over dinner. He invited Bruce to teach a 5-day seminar on our next visit, and he'd also like a church team to come to do village evangelism, there are lots of unreached places near Nzega.
We were surprised to hear it’s unsafe for Wazungu in many parts of Tanzania these days, even in Ipilili after dark! We'd thought it was only in cities like Dar & Arusha, or near the borders with Rwanda, Burundi + the DRC.
He told us the following story. In June, he invited a man into his home as he said he needed to talk. He and 3 others had planned to raid the house in April, when the Kulwas had Wazungu guests. One was armed with a rifle, another with a pistol & they were prepared to kill someone if necessary.
As they approached the house, they heard the sound of people marching towards them, so they ducked round the corner. Everywhere they went, the sound followed them, so eventually they ran away. This man had been so upset that he eventually decided to confess to the pastor, & to ask about who was protecting the house.
Jonas told him there were no bodyguards, only God. The man wanted to know more, and ended up becoming a Christian. He's now an active baptized church member, and led one of the other thieves to the Lord who'd been imprisoned for another crime. Now the other prisoners are hearing the gospel!
Jonas was amazed hearing Michael speaking a little English, and gave him some simple greetings to translate for Bruce. He was so successful that we told him he’d soon be translating in church!
On the way to Mama Lucia's for our second dinner, we visited another pastor’s house. As he was out, we chatted to the two men sitting outside: another uncle + a friend of Michael’s, who said that Michael’s his pastor! Bibi had told me that lots of people call him that because he studied the Bible so hard by correspondence that he was able to advise & counsel many people in the village.
It was dark before we arrived at Mama Lucia’s so Michael helped me again, the pathe was really stony. We met her husband Enock Kakole for the first time. He works at the new orphanage opened in June by the Mission; before that he worked with the children at the Swedish school for 15 years, then at the Bible College for 5.
We watched news on the TV for a while, run by a small solar-powered generator, then we discussed the best way to get to Isanzu in two days time to visit Babu Matthias (a great-uncle). We wanted to walk to save money; Michael had said it was only 12 kms, and would cost 20,000 Tsh to go by ca, but bibi had been horrified and said it’d take 3-4 hours! We thought if we left first thing, we could arrive by lunchtime, & get a car back – BUT there are no vehicles in the village. Enock said he might be able to take us, and would let us know the next day.

Divine appointment in Nzega

Monday July 20th  Windy/cold at first, hot later.  Michael showed us an old letter he'd been sent by a USA Bible College re a pastor’s course.  Even back in 2003, the fees were a total of USD 14,000 for one year live-in, with only 10 hours' guaranteed teaching time per semester!  Overseas students in difficult circumstances could do it by correspondence as long as their home church would guarantee the tuition & book fees.  Then he showed us his chekechea teacher-training certificate from Biharamulo.  He studied there from 2005/6, a Swedish missionary paid his fees.  He also showed us last year’s one-month driving course certificate.  He'd been a bit disappointed by his results, but we told him it’s hard to learn to drive in such a short time.
Mid-morning, we walked to Nzega through lovely countryside, passing an English Medium Primary School in the town outskirts.   We met lots of Michael’s old school friends, and sat in the shade of a veranda outside a guest house owned by one of them.  It was being renovated so they had no soda to offer. 
We were surprised to be waved at by an Mzungu in a passing Land Rover which then stopped.  She came over, asking Michael in excellent Kiswahili who he was, before introducing herself as the Finnish missionary who employs Mama Lucia as cook and housekeeper!  As they hadn't been in Tazengwa for very long, and only stay there for breaks from their work 100 kms away, Michael had never met them.  We ended up being invited for coffee at 5!  It was truly a ‘divine appointment’, they’d only got back the night before & were to leaved again the next day!
As we were feeling thirsty, we went to have soda + buns at a cafe before going to the internet.  We met a young boy on the way, who looked about 8 but was 11.  He spoke really good English, and asked Bruce SO many interesting questions!  Great fun! 
Unfortunately I'd accidentally left my notebook in our room, so couldn't upgrade our seats as I didn't know our Skywards numbers.  We were able to read some emails at last as I eventually managed to find Xnet's new webmail address.
We then went to book seats for Friday, but only paid half the fare: if you pay it all, they might resell the seats!  After that we went to the Post Office to buy post cards – but they don't sell them!  Bruce was suffering from the heat again, so we didn’t want to walk back through town to find a bookshop and to go to the market (soko) to buy bibi some fruit and vegs. 
We heard whistles being blown & marching - along came a team of women dressed in bright uniforms, advertising a concert.  They were all smiles when I greeted them in Kiswahili!
On the way back, we eventually found a roadside stall where we bought some tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, onions + bananas.  Further along the way, we bought a huge pawpaw, then at a kiosk, we bought Michael a new toothbrush, some toothpaste and candles.  He'd accidentally left his toothbrush and toothpaste at Rosa's and had used up our spare airline set.
We reached home at 3 and had lunch an hour later, a good thing we'd had a snack in town!  After a brief break, it was time to go to the Swedish Mission.
The first Swedish missionaries arrived in Tazengwa in 1932 and started a school for Swedish missionary kids from all over Africa.  It closed 5 years ago, but reopened as a Bible College for training African pastors up to degree level.  It's now solely run by African staff.We passed Michael's primary school, which is two blocks of classrooms set in sandy land - one block is shown in the photo (top left).  The monument (above) across the road is in memory of the first Swedish missionary, and nearby is the FPCT church (left) where babu was the 2nd African pastor.
The mission compound is surrounded by a tall netting fence, a thatched kibanda houses a security guard just inside the large gates.  The grounds are attractive, and you follow a broad, smooth, sandy drive towards the large thatched house. 
No-one answered our calls at the front door, so we went round to the back.  The noisy generator had drowned us out.  Hanna Väyrynen + Lucia were in the kitchen, but sent us back to the front veranda to eat & drink together: home-made Finnish yeast buns, spicy biscuits + real coffee (Kenyan) or tea if you preferred. 
We had a lovely time with Markku + Hanna, who practiced her English so Michael felt a bit left out.  Bruce said now he’d know how he feels!  We were surprised to hear that Finnish is quite similar to Kiswahili so they pick it up fast; they find English very hard to master.
We shared about our backgrounds, families and work in Africa.  Hearing about the Maasai’s problems, they lent us a book on a Christian community development programme (CHE) that they use.  It's used in many countries and seems to be really effective.
It was lovely to find people with hearts like ours, and who see the problems of the typical African mindset of depending on outside help, and wanting to have bigger, ‘better’ churches – i.e. more Western-style, instead of being content to use what they have/can afford. 
We went home via another babu’s place.  As a retired Primary School teacher, he has good English.  He thanked us several times for helping Michael study, saying the family wants to help but don’t have the resources. 
I was really touched when Michael took my hand on the way home, leading me round the stones and dips in the path - it was dark, we had no torch, and I don't see well in the dark.
It was a big gathering for tea, including Mama Lucia + her girls.  We had rice, curry, bananas + cucumber, then a time of worship together.  Pic: Mama Joyce, her daughters Maria & Editha, little Michael.

Pounding rice and the Ipilili Centre

Sunday 19th July We helped bibi prepare rice for breakfast, the products of Martha's hard work had all been eaten. We took turns using the large pestle and mortar. Once it was cooked, we ate it with bananas.
We had a nice walk through the countryside to Ipilili Centre where Pr Jonas’ church is. Part of the area looked like sand dunes near a beach, so I said the sea was “just over there!”
I enjoyed dancing African-style during the songs, remembering the words after nearly 2 years! Bruce preached, I translated, which was hard work as I was a bit out of practice, but it eemed to go very well. Michael told me people kept asking him how many YEARS I’d lived in Africa!
Bruce and I sat under some trees afterwards, waiting for a church board meeting to finish, chatting with a few people including Pr Peter from near Singida, who'd taught Pr Jonas at Bible School. He was very happy to visit him and his church for the first time, and wasn’t worried to see how few people were in church, saying what's important isn’t the size of the building, its appearance or how many people turn up, but rather it's the evidence of spiritual life and outreach. This church has started two others in neighbouring villages.
He spoke in English, slowly but well, which was nice for Bruce. We walked in the now-hot sunshine (we had to wear sweaters in the morning!), looking at the new chekechea building started 2 weeks earlier. One block had its walls up, but already was showing some serious structural cracks! The other two blocks were only at foundation stage.
I enjoyed watching Michael chatting with his friends; I love the way they all laugh together, slapping hands when someone says something funny! They were discussing why Tanzanians are so slow to learn English, & overseas people so quick to learn Kiswahili!
Eventually we were welcomed back into church, and introduced to some of the board, but some were away. Apart from the pastor, there was the treasurer, secretary, and an elder, Silas (another relative of Michael’s!). They told us about the projects they’re doing, such as the chekechea and village outreaches.
After a rather filling lunch of rice, mchuzi, Fanta and pieces of banana, we all went outside to look at the church property, peeping through the windows of the old building, now a Sunday School, before passing through the chekechea site and inspecting the fields.
They increased the land by 2 more plots this year, adjoining the present land behind the kindergarten. One was given by the government, and as it's next to a mosque , the locals want a police station in between! The Christians say it wouldn't be them that would casue any trouble! Maize is being grown at the moment, but the land will be used for the chekechea and also to build a primary school.
We walked back to bibi’s, and I got sunburnt – ouch! - I'd forgotten to put on sunscreen! We were so tired, we went to bed to rest. Bruce & I got up at 5, Michael was still asleep, but got woken up by bibi for peanuts + Rosella tea.
This is made from the petals of Rosella flowers, and looks & tastes like rosehip syrup! We had a nice chat, and found out that Michael can study in a library for a small annual fee – a real benefit when text books are so scarce. They don’t loan books over there, there is too much dishonesty.
We noticed there were more siafu outside, some trying to come in, so Michael tried burning them up with bundles of grass. Bibi got a bit cross at the waste, and her precious pot plants were catching fire! She nearly set fire to Michael's trousers before sweeping up the remains, a bit scary!
I suggested moving the pots away from the house for a few days, they were attracting the ants because the plants were being watered. It kept us all busy for a while, also sweeping up debris from underneath and burning up any ants that didn't escape underground.
We then walked to Pastor Jonas’, and were taken on a tour of his house, which was started in 2001, but is still unfinished. He and his wife Rachel (who's the eldest daughter of one of Michael's great uncles) had 5 sons, but the eldest died as baby. Nathan (15) is in Form 1, Joel (12)in S6, Ezekia (9) in S2, Erick (8) in S1. Erick loves electricity, and makes things that use batteries. Mama had arrived back in Nzega from a 6-month chekechea teacher training course in Korogwe the same day as we did, but she'd left Arusha on a different bus which arrived a bit later! If we'd known we might have been able to have travelled together!
Jonas gave Michael a letter – oh, what familiar handwriting – it was from me! I'd sent him one in early January, not realising he’d returned to Kisiwani to stay at Mama Rosa’s, I thought he would be in Tazengwa until February. It was good he could at last read it and look at the photos I'd sent!
Jonas showed us lots of family photos including some of Michael helping him build his house. There were even some of Jonas at a Bible College in Sweden, where he'd studied missions.
Michael was anxious to leave although we'd been invited to tea, but the meal hadn't even been started & bibi was expecting us back.
We were almost full after eating ugali and cabbage when the girls brought in rice & beans which we couldn't eat! After a nice chat, we went to bed, but the cousins were eating & chatting heaps, so it was hard to get to sleep. We were glad the strong winds had died down, but a mosquito woke us in the night, so I had to get out of bed to put on repellent as the net hadn't been put up.

Repairing the bathroom; a village expedition; the wars of the ants

Saturday 18th July Sunny with a very cold wind: we wore sweaters in the morning! Breakfast was bread, bananas + cold chicken, Michael said it was like a feast day! We talked re family trees + our different naming systems which are a bit tricky to get used to!
Afterwards it was time to repair the old bafu: Umoja (unity) & Fun! We first made strips of bark from two types of branches, Michael was splitting them in half, I was peeling off the bark. Ibrahim was helping too - he's one of Regina's sons and lives with bibi, he's probably about 10 years old. Bruce was indoors, not sure what he was doing.
Once we had quite a pile of kamba, we helped Michael repair the frame. Ibrahim and I held new branches in place whilst Michael tied them to the vertical frame with kamba. Piece by piece, old bundles of grass were replaced by new, Ibrahim binding this time. As he decided we needed stronger ties for the frame, Michael went to cut branches off an oil palm, using the midribs. They look nice, having pale green stripes on darker green. I was sent to talk with bibi, until some of the girls turned up to help prepare mchicha (spinach) - then I went back with the camera to check building progress and found that Bruce was now helping.
More kamba was needed, so I had to learn to split the branches exactly down the middle, a lot harder than it sounds, and one variety was quite tricky! The men extended the frame on one side of door to better conceal the occupant on windy days – there’s a kanga curtain in the doorway only.
Once they'd finished, I helped Michael remove the stones from the inside (because of scorpions), which we replaced after sweeping out the bafu.
After a good lunch just after 2 of beef/mchicha/ugali & bananas, Michael and I spent the next two hours chatting whilst Bruce rested: African affairs, NZ visas, leadership & aid corruption, his need of a wife. He estimates that only 10% aid gets to the people who need it, so countries are unwilling to help.
Once Bruce came back outside, we went for a walk around the 6-acre shamba, to see the boundaries. It must take hours to prepare for planting in December when the rainy season starts. The place where babu, Michael’s mother & aunt are buried was pointed out. The family also has another shamba for maize & a third for rice, just across the road.
Martha (M. Lucia's oldest daughter)was busy pounding rice in a large painted wooden mortar to remove the husks, so that bibi could cook it for tea once the chaff/dirt was removed. Maria (her sister), Ibrahim and Editha (Mama Joyce’s eldest daughter who also lives with bibi) just stood around while bibi went off to get water - I was a bit annoyed, because Editha & Ibrahim are supposed to help her with chores when they’re not at school.
After bathing, we went for a walk into the village to visit Michael’s pastor Jonas Kulwa, greeting a group of people sitting on a mat outside a house on the way, some of whom were more relatives! We followed one of them, a very friendly lady, to a nearby house which had a small shop in the front room. We were very surprised as Michael had said nothing about going shopping! The reason was to buy us all jandals for bathing as we’d been borrowing other people’s, but we also added a few other essentials for our stay: soap, laundry powder, a biro, matches, some sweets for little Michael, + toilet paper. After briefly visiting the pastor’s, we returned to bibi’s for tea.
It was exciting when Mama Joyce and her other daughter (another Maria!) arrived from Igunga after tea. She’s a seamstress, probably unmarried as she uses her maiden name Kikumbo, but said the girls’ father is in Moshi. As Mama Lucia came round with her four girls, the living room was very crowded! She told us to give her our washing in the morning, she knew we hadn't had time to do any just yet. I was a bit reluctant as it would be a Sunday!
We were sent off to get ready for bed, but it was hard to get to sleep as everyone was talking just through the wall and there are no ceilings. Every time someone went outside or came back indoors, the door would squeak and bang. Eventually it got quiet and I started going to sleep at last.
However, I didn't manage it - bibi & Mama Joyce started talking again, a lamp was lit, I could hear the twig broom sweeping, and even heard a fire being lit outside! Quite mystifying + terribly annoying; my eyes & head were so sore from being awake for so long. I knew bibi wasn't senile, she'd seemed perfectly sane the day before, so I started to think perhaps she was an insomniac, & was worried about the house being clean for Sunday! I was shocked when she woke up Michael, it seemed most unfair! Once everything quietened down again, I DID get to sleep.
Suddenly I woke up again, Bruce was fidgeting around in bed, exclaiming “Yuk”! I thought his rash had come back as we’d had beans for tea! However, he switched on the torch and said there were ants swarming everywhere, even in the bed biting his legs – they soon found me too. Not having my glasses handy, I was pretty helpless and could only see dark swathes roiling on the floor and had no idea where the ants were in the bed. Fortunately Bruce managed to stretch across the room to get them so we stood on the bed stomping up & down, brushing our legs.
Michael called out, “Kuna wadudu?” (Are there insects?) “Ndiyo, siafu, mahali pote hata kitandani!”(Yes, safari ants everywhere, even in the bed!) He came in to see, saying we’d better go outside for a bit. We eagerly agreed, gingerly reaching out for our jandals, stepping onto them brushing off the ants & squashing as many as possible, stamping all the time! Bruce managed to grab a shirt, I had only a nightie on and didn't have time to rummage in my bag! I was glad it was dark, and dear Bruce lent me his shirt when I started feeling cold.
Bibi started sweeping ants outside with a twig broom dipped in kerosene/ashes, into a fire that was lit for the purpose. Michael lit bundles of grass, sizzling up the rest on the floor. Soon we were allowed back to bed - but we saw more hiding under/in it. So the process was repeated, we even had to do it a third time as no-one had checked under our bags!
By now it was 6 a.m., only a brief last attempt to get some sleep. Bruce seemed OK, but after I got bitten another 3 times by an ant that had escaped, I got dressed & dozed in the sitting room until everyone got up to make breakfast half an hour later! Talk of being worn out! We found out that the first attack had been at 2 a.m.!

Tazengwa at last!

Friday 17th July  We woke up far too early at 3.30!  We'd just finished getting ready when suddenly, loud cries rang out: “Mwezi, mwezi” (Thief, thief!).  My blood ran cold: if a thief gets caught, they are often stoned to death! Michael turned up soon afterwards, & went to find out what had happened - the thief had used a wire to open a window & hooked out some money + a cell phone.  He hadn’t been caught.  We were glad we’d put our things well away from the window, we’d locked it but the bars were rather far apart.
We weren't pleased when the taxi driver charged double because it was night.  We could easily have walked but it isn’t safe; even taxis get held up, especially when carrying Wazungu: we show up like beacons!
The bus was in a poor state of repair: our seats tended to recline if someone put a hand on the back.  My seat cushion wasn’t fixed in either, so I had to push it back every so often to stop being squashed into the seats in front; the men behind us had their feet under the seat!  At least we were able to all sit together this time!
We set off at 6 sharp, but after an hour on tarmac, it was bumpy roads. We stopped at a petrol station in Singida for 20 minutes, just time for a comfort stop and to buy some food and water.  It was expensive: takeaway chicken/chips was 3,000 Tsh, twice the price and half the quantity of our tea - so we ate buns! An earlier toilet stop had involved using the roadside, not so bad for men, but no good for the ladies, unless you have the right kind of skirt!  It pays not to drink very much on bus trips so that you last out! 
We arrived in the dusty bus park at Nzega at 2.30, then took a car to Tazengwa a few kms away, turning off down a wide sandy track - the main road to Tabora - before leaving the road for an even-smaller one winding between trees past a couple of houses towards 2 entwined bougainvillea trees, 1 orange and 1 purple, in front of bibi’s house. 








Well, she actually has two houses now: the old house (left, front entrance) is only used as a store as it’s getting too broken-down to sleep in, + the newer one (right, back entrance) was built about 5 years ago (or less) with the help of missionaries when they saw the condition the old one was in.
After greeting bibi, who was just as I'd imagined her, except shorter!, our bags were put into the new house, then we went for a little walk with Michael round part of the  shamba, which is partly native vegetation, & partly ridged for cultivation.  The remains of maize, beans, + cow peas were dried up & breaking down. 
At one side of the old house is the ‘bafu’ (bathing shelter) made from branches covered with long grass, but as it was rather broken down, it would be our job to repair it the next day. We were told we'd go to Mama Lucia’s to bathe this time. 
Further over are the remains of the small 2-roomed house where Michael lived with an uncle, (well, a 1st cousin once removed – but most relatives your parent’s generation are ‘uncles’ or ‘aunts’ – apart from your mother’s sisters who are mamas, & your father’s brothers who are babas!)  After the back wall fell down it was used for goats, but these are now in another village. 
A section further on has been set aside for a school or another project.  At one side is where his mother & Boniface lived before she died - now it’s just scrub!  Returning towards the old house we turned left past the brush-walled pit toilet: the curtain door is a bit low down & is a bit tricky when it’s windy – but at least the neighbours are some distance away! 
Closer to the main track is what remains of Michael’s little house. He made his own bricks and built it with the aid of a fundi.  He was so sad, when he came home after being away for more than 2 years, to find it had fallen down: he’d obviously been very proud of it, he kept saying in English, “Good house, good house!”  Cheeky me said it couldn’t have been that good, or it wouldn’t have fallen down!  He moved into bibi’s new house after that. 
Bordering most of the paths is a succulent hedge that he planted, it needed pruning, but you have to be very careful, the sap can damage your eyes: the antidote is milk from a nursing mother!
I was interested to hear that he’d been born near Shinyanga, but a year later, his grandfather moved the family to live next to the Free Pentecostal Church of Tanzania (FPCT) in Tazengwa, he’d been called to become its second pastor.  They went to the shamba later on when he retired and another pastor took over.
We sat down on chairs outside the old house, then some of Michael's cousins turned up – they were happy to greet him, but not us, preferring to stand behind the porch giggling!  So he put a small stool on the ground (just a few inches high, used for sitting on when you’re cooking over the open fire), said it was the welcoming seat, & made each sit on it in turn & greet us in English!  It was very funny! 
Mama Lucia also came to greet us briefly, saying she’d return later.  Her husband, Enock, had gone with some other village folk to a neighbour’s funeral in Bukoba.  They have 4 daughters: Martha (19), Maria (15), Magdalena (10) & Margaret (who’ll be 3 in November). 
‘Uncle’ Paulo arrived later on – first we were told he’s babu’s sister’s son, but later on that he’s Michael’s great-grandfather’s first wife’s sister’s son – no blood relationship at all as babu was one of the second wife’s sons! Confused yet?There was a bit of a lull in activities: Michael went indoors presumably to sort things out for later on, the cousins lounged around outside or helped bibi cook, so I spent a little time playing soccer with Michael mdogo.  It was quite fun and eventually Bruce joined in too.  We were glad to have some ugali + chicken mchuzi after a while, very welcome!
Mama Lucia came back to take us to her house to bathe and to put on clean clothes – ours were filthy after the dusty trip!  I got worried when she told me she wanted me to dress in two kangas (a rectangle of cotton) afterwards like the local women do!  They don't seem to like to change into their clean clothes in the bafu, I don't know why!
I don't mind wearing a kanga as a skirt with a T-shirt on top; it was wearing just a piece of cloth on top that bothered me, it leaves your shoulders and half your back bare!  Being so pale I felt a bit like a beacon, and the bafu was between their house and the neighbours'!  I was glad no-one was outside, but felt really embarrassed to see Michael looking at me from the sofa as I dashed past to reach the safety of the bedroom! 
After bathing, we returned to bibi’s, but Michael stayed behind. He soon appeared with a small procession of cousins bearing a bedstead, mattress, mosquito net & bedding.  We went inside when it got too cold, but as everyone seemed so busy, I didn't want to bother them about trying to find our sweaters.  Instead we sat all alone in the gloomy sitting room, which was lit only by a candle, until all was ready – then we had peanuts + Fanta before going off to bed.

Off to Arusha

Thursday July 16th We were up at 7 and went outside to wait for Michael as usual, then Ntarula came out, hearing us talking, and told us Michael had already gone to Rosa's, so we went together to look for him. He was outside cleaning his teeth!
At breakfast, we were joined by another of the Mzee’s brothers, Saidi’s father, who’d come down the mountain for the day.
We went to the bus stand around 9, Michael had wanted to leave earlier, Rosa wanted us to delay! We were to take Michael mdogo with us too (pictured with mama + Bruce)!!
It seemed a long wait before we left in a battered old landrover. First Michael had to bargain over the price: the driver wanted to charge for little Michael, although small children normally travel free as they sit on a lap. It's always a bit nerve-wracking waiting, they keep on tooting the horn like they’re ready to go, then drive away to make a circuit of the village to try to find more passengers before returning to the bus stand. Our luggage stayed up on top without being tied on for ages, but once it was fastened, it was REALLY time to go.
We drove off the road into part of the village criss-crossing a drain + squeezing between trees to pick up a passenger from his house. Back on the ‘main road’ – a dirt track wide enough for 2 vehicles - we stopped to hoist a motorcycle onto the roof, it almost didn’t make it! We ended up with several people on the roof + hanging off the back door!
We'd been told Same was only 1/2 hour away, but we Took 1 ½ hours! It was a very rough road, the countryside a mixture of lush, wetter areas & dry thornbush-covered land. Little Michael was very proud to be coming with us, not at all concerned to be away from home, but he soon thought we’d already arrived!
Once in Same, we travelled down the dusty streets to gingerly cross a drain on wooden boards to arrive outside a mechanic’s workshop to drop off the motorbike. It took a bit of manoeuvring to reverse the Land Rover back onto the street, there was no room to turn round!
It took a while to find a bus with enough spare seats going to Arusha at the bus stand. We'd decided to stop there for the night instead of Moshi, to be able to visit Michael’s sister Evelina. We bought some bananas, biscuits, juice & water while we waited. Bruce + both Michaels sat in the back seat, but I had to sit by a rather sulky lady + young baby. It was nice to have tar-seal roads, although shortly after reaching a large town at noon, the bus broke down, just 28 kms from Moshi - a broken tie-rod.
Many got off the bus or stood up during the 25 minutes it took to fix it. Unfortunately my neighbour spilt juice on my seat, and I started to wonder if it was ‘accidentally on purpose!’ as she didn’t even want me to sit on the edge of the seat.
I was very pleased to be able to change seats after Moshi, where a lot of people disembarked, and Michael even came over to sit next to me and chatted the rest of the way to Arusha!
I was very impressed by Moshi, it's very clean & beautiful – the only part of Tanzania to have anti-litter laws! This region is lush & green, there are lots of good crops & trees, very unlike many other parts we passed through.
We arrived in Arusha about 3.30, and Michael left us with the bags + little M to buy tickets to Nzega + find a taxi to take us to a guest house. We then went to a nearby ATM, as we didn't have enough cash for both the tickets + a guest house. The glass cubicle was guarded by an armed man sitting inside a small room with a roll-up door. As the taxi was waiting, I only briefly checked the money, and later on found the last 3 notes were only 5,000 Tsh each instead of 10,000!
The guest house was nice, quite close to the bus stand in a very quiet street. We were glad to put on our sweaters before going by daladala to Eve's. The busy streets were lined with people selling wares, and we even saw 6 Europeans!
Once off the daladala, we walked along a narrow, raised dirt pavement alongside a deep drain, and stopped at a small shop to ask where Evelina was; Michael had expected to see her selling corn but she’d gone home early.
We went through a dirty alleyways, stepping over a smelly drain to enter a gate in a tall mud brick wall. Eve’s was the last on the left in a small alleyway between 2 buildings. 2 small boys, Joshua & David, came out from the opposite curtained doorway to greet us, then Mary (Evelina’s step-mother - Boniface has remarried) invited us into her small living room: a bed on the right, 2 sets of chairs with a low table in the middle (not much leg-room!) + a large wall unit on the left. A second curtained doorway leads into another room. It's typical rental accommodation: you rent 1-2 rooms in a house and share an outdoor kitchen, choo & bafu.
We sat on the chairs, Michael on the bed, listening to Mary. She’d just got over being sick for a month, firstly a lung infection then a painful stomach. Eve entered without greeting us properly, rather reluctantly sitting next to Michael, who eventually got her to greet us in English, even to answer a couple of questions + count to 100! She likes school & is in Standard 4.
She was sent back out with the 2 boys to buy soft drinks; Bruce had fun trying to take the tops off with no opener! Betty (Mary’s teenage daughter from another marriage) came in with the pastor’s eldest daughter who's 19 and has excellent English. Her mother came round with her youngest son Tito (6), inviting us over for a chai afterwards, although her husband was still at church.
Boniface turned up later on his bicycle, he’d had trouble getting back from work as the roads were so busy. He’s a salesman. He’s very nice but isn’t a Christian, unlike his wife.
We all went to the pastor’s for chai, and were told it was the first time they’d had such visitors, other Wazungu have refused to come! How rude!
I tried to take a photo of Eve, her father + the rest, but the battery went flat & the spare one was in the guest house! That was sad, our only opportunity.
Both families accompanied us out to the street, we caught a daladala with Boniface back to the guesthouse, then he left us at a nearby café where we ate chicken/chips for tea – yummy! Little Michael ate an omelette with his & whilst we were waiting, we played with a marble on the tabletop! But it escaped & got lost!!!
We went to bed about 9.40, arranging to meet at 5 the next day for another early bus.

A quiet day - family history, interesting people & a soccer match

Wednesday July 15th Cloudy, not so hot today. It was a quiet day, we felt lazy! An elderly man came up to greet us as we sat on the steps waiting for Michael, telling us that he was off to the hospital up the mountain, and needed money for medicine. I didn’t know how he’d get there, he was so frail, although matatus do climb the hill. We had no small change to give him.
When I heard a noise inside, I went in & got a lovely smile from Michael who was tidying up his room. He said he’d been up a little while!
We had a nice breakfast of boiled eggs & maandazi (square doughnuts).
Afterwards, we looked at family photos. There were a couple of Michael aged 9 or 10, he looked SO different! There was also one of his mother taken in the early 90’s when she worked as cook for Swedish missionaries in Tazengwa. Before that she travelled around, giving birth to Michael in 1980 & Jeremia in 1984 to unknown fathers, leaving them with her parents. She eventually married before giving birth to Evelina in 1998. A couple of years later, she got sick with a stomach ulcer, but they couldn’t operate because she was pregnant again. After asking for the pastors to come to pray for her, she lost the ability to speak, then died - so they don’t know whether she’d become a Christian or not. Evelina now lives in Arusha with her father, Bonifac, who's a businessman.
Babu died on Michael’s 18th birthday (20/9/98), it was a severe blow to the family. He’d biked up country to take some seeds to his younger brother, and seemed fine until he entered the house, when he was hit with severe stomach pains. They called the local missionary who got him to hospital, where they were told that if they’d been half an hour later, it would have been too late. They operated, but he remained very sick, and eventually was sent to a larger hospital. A 2nd operation uncovered a pair of scissors left behind from the 1st! Unfortunately he never recovered, and after having both legs amputated, he died. He told Michael to look after the family being the oldest male descendant.
We were shown some photos of him, one when the new church was opened in Tazengwa – he was its 2nd pastor. We looked at another book but it was mostly of Rosa in different outfits - we teased her about that!
Michael got out his English course certificate from last year, he was sad to have only got C’s, he wanted A’s – but as he averaged over 60%, (GOOD), I gave him my hearty congratulations!
We walked to Saidi’s place later, he's one of the mzee’s nephews, & sat in the shade drinking weak tea. His wife is from the same tribe & village as Michael so they get on pretty well. We talked about the drought and how dried up the fields are. They are looking after a child with severe tongue-tie from an area suffering severe hardship, and also have two others, aged 5 and 6. The little girl was SO scared, it was a real shame!
We walked back through the primary school grounds, lots of boys came over to say hello, and didn’t want to stop shaking my hand. They kept asking us to come back when we carried on walking!
Lunch was at 3: of ugali, yummy mchuzi, bananas, avocadoes & oranges. We got full up fast as we had 2 cups of fresh fruit juice first!
We watched an interesting TV documentary about wildlife problems caused by climate change as a result of deforestation. It covered a whole year in a river catchment in Tanzania. It was fascinating to see a brown trickle meandering down a dry river bed shortly becoming a raging torrent, sweeping large section of bank away, but it was sad to see the wide-spread death of wildlife in the floods and also in the dry season.
We went for a short walk to visit Saidi’s old aunt briefly, then watched the first half of a soccer match between two local teams, played on a bumpy sandy pitch. One team was much better than the other (won 7-0), but the ball would shoot off at odd angles, and once knocked a spectator off his chair, which everyone thought was veyr funny! There were no nets, just goalposts, and the lines were marked with silver sand. We were surprised to see an armed soldier patrolling the grounds; a group of ladies were rather cheeky to him so he only passed them once.
Back at Rosa’s, we watched some of the Tour de France on TV, then a music channel. Poor Frank slept on a sofa for two hours after school!
I was told the squeaky noises on the roof were rats not monkeys, so I was glad they weren’t visible!
We bathed at the guesthouse, before eating fried salt pork and mashed potato sausages at the restaurant with Fanta to wash it down.
After tea, we went into town in the dark to visit the mzee’s mother, who’s over 100 years old! We were shown into a room in a large house by one of her daughters:- the tiny lady was top n’tailing with another of her daughters. A friendly little boy came into the room too.
She’s very frail, only sitting up with help; her hands are deformed & crippled by arthritis so she has to be hand-fed - she can just manage to hold a cup. She has to have throat massages + sips of water, that she tries to gargle & spits back out, trying to remove phlegm.
A short walk away is her husband's house, he's an elderly Muslim. He'd been out the day before. We were told by three men sitting outside to go in and wait, so we sat down on the sofas. I had to reach past Bruce to shake his hand when he came in, and got quite a fright when he seized my arm & dragged me forwards to face him! However, he was really very friendly, and loved talking to us!
Afterwards, we said goodnight to the 3 men sitting outside in three languages – Kipare (the local tribal language), English & Kiswahili - it did make them laugh!

A day in Kiswani

Tuesday July 14th It was hot today!  We went outside at 7.30 to wait for Michael, sitting on top step watching the passers-by, mainly children going to school.  When I heard Michael’s door open, I went inside to let him know where we were and received a lovely warm greeting.  We went to mama's for chai & bread after being told to sit in the porch in the early morning sunshine to get our Vitamin D!  While Michael went off to fetch water from the nearby stream, we sat outside with Rosa, who told us a little more about the family, and Michael's sickness last year.
Michael's grandparents, Michael and Maria Kikumbo, (bibi and babu) had lived with their seven daughters (Maria, Joyce, Lucia, Regina, Rebekah, Rosa and Upendo) in Tazengwa (Nzega-Tabora region). Only five are left now: Michael’s mother Maria died in 2000, and Rebekah died of snake bite last year, aged 33. She was still at bibi's, having never married, due to being mentally handicapped and epileptic. 
Rosa moved away ten years ago when she got married, Regina lives in Singida, Joyce in Igunga, the other two are still in Nzega. 
Last April, just one week after starting his English course in Moshi, Michael was taken to hospital.  After a day there, he was transferred to the large Christian hospital, KCMC, where he had a hernia operation.  When he phoned his aunt, she was SO upset to hear his quavering voice saying, “Mama, I’m so weak” – this really upset me too!  She went by bus to Moshi to try to find him, it took all day!  It’s a very large hospital, over 1,000 patients, with many wings & floors, and is built into a hill with entrances on at least two floors, which caused confusion when people tried to give her directions.  She was just about to give up & go home when she decided to try just once more time – success at last!  Michael was SO pleased to see a relative, although the director of his school had been looking after him. Over there you need people to bring you food and to wash your clothes, hospitals don't do this as a rule, although they found out that KCMC will provide some services for a fee. As it wasn’t too expensive, they made use of this.  He was there for two weeks, then spent a month at Rosa’s before being well enough to return to Moshi to start his course all over again.
One of her husband’s first wife’s sons (aged in his 30's) had died when Michael was in hospital, and is buried in the nearby public graveyard. Rebekah also died about this time, so it was a very difficult month for the family.
Michael returned, saying we could do our laundry. He and Bruce started washing outside, I washed our undies inside throwing the dirty water down the choo. I was pleasantly surprised to be told I could hang them outside, as usually you put them in your bedroom, it's offensive to air them in public! The guys were still busy soaping up when I went back outside to hang mine on a clothes line near the cattle pens. I was slightly embarrassed but also amused to see that Michael was washing all my clothes, not Bruce’s!  When I joined in, we formed a production line – Michael sudsing, Bruce doing the 1st rinse, myself the other two!  We had fun measuring our hands against each others’- Michael’s are just slightly larger than mine, but Bruce’s are much larger than both! Michael refused our help with his washing as he only had a few to do. 
Whilst lunch was being prepared, we sat outside chatting about the political systems of Tanzania & NZ – challenging talking re proportional representation in Kiswahili!  At once stage I completely lost my train of thought, it took a while to find where I'd got to again! Very embarrassing!
Some monkeys started jumping and swinging through the trees towards the stream, the old male coming last - they were fun to watch but were very obscured by leaves & branches so I didn’t get the camera  – then one walked near our tree!  GRR!
Lunch was ugali, mchuzi + sukuma wiki – a kind of kale cut up very finely - followed by oranges. The topic was the drought in Kiswani – some people are eating uji once a day like the Maasai.  The rains started as usual so they planted maize; then the rains stopped and the maize withered up once it reached 1'.  Some people are getting food in the mountains, but it’s too far to take the cattle: they cut/carry from the bush.
After lunch, we talked politics again indoors, then outside under a tree we talked about the different foods grown in NZ & Tanzania.  One grown near Tazengwa has a leaf that elongates greatly if you roll it between your hands.  As there's only one rainy season down there (Dec-March), they have to preserve food well to last till the next one.  Sweet potatoes are cleaned and peeled, boiled, then sliced up very finely before being dried in the sunshine. They are stored in the dark in sacks.
Later on, we went for a walk, but couldn't use the stream-crossing near the house as some men were bathing there. Michael had suddenly turned back, saying we’d better go another way because some men were bathing and "I wasn’t used to it!"  Too true!  Crossing the stream higher up, we followed a track leading to the dirt road up the mountains - Michael mdogo’s school is up there, passing tall trees + bush. It was nice & green up the mountains, but the flats were dry.  Michael pointed out some of the more interesting types of tree including a kapok tree.  He used to collect the huge seed pods in Tazengwa when he was young, filling sacks with 10-20 kgs of down to get 200 Tsh; it takes a very long time and is very bad for the lungs.  Date, oil & coconut palms grow here, Bruce was very surprised to see coconuts away from the coast.
We didn’t manage to get high enough to get a good view of Kiswani, Bruce got puffed before we cleared the tree line. On the way back down, we took pics of and from the rice paddies.
We met little Michael & Frank on the way home, dragging an old tyre that they’d been playing with.  Michael wanted to hold Michael's hand, but annoyed him by dawdling, and ended up holding mine. I praised him for being so well-behaved, he gets told off so often as he tends to get into mischief, his hands are always busy! It was nice he was feeling friendly today, the day before he'd been so shy he wouldn't come close.
We went through the village to visit Michael mdogo’s aunt, then his grandfather – but he was out.  His grandmother was too sick to be visited.  I greeted some mamas plaiting hair, they wanted to do mine too! 
At the bridge, Bruce was pestered by an old beggar & a strange-looking lady who got annoyed because he wouldn’t answer her.  Just as well he didn’t understand, she wanted to go home with him or have him go to her place!
Outside the guesthouse, we greeted a young Maasai we’d seen the day before. Unfortunately it soon became apparent he was drunk and also sniffing something off his fingers!  He invited us to have a soda, so I went over to Michael, who was sitting on the steps watching, to tell him what was going on. He came over, stressing that we only drink soda, not beer.  He went off, saying he’d be back soon.  The miller came over, inviting us to his place - but we didn’t get a chance to go.  He showed us the dried cassava he was making into flour, I thought he was grinding stones!  In the mornings we would see schoolgirls dropping off small bags of grain or cassava. Some had bikes and would leave them in a rack there.
I was very glad when Michael said it was time to go to bathe & still no sign of our Maasai friend! 
We were met by a young girl near Rosa's, she went off with Michael & he came back carrying a ladder. The fundis had arrived to fix the electricity! It seemed rather late to be climbing up in the semi-dark - it was nearly 7 p.m. 
Michael went to the jiko to discuss something with Rosa, then came back to tell us the news - he was so surprised when I said I’d already understood, as they’d been speaking in Kisukuma not Kiswahili! No wonder I’d been a bit puzzled about some of the words!  It caused a lot of laughter!  They’d decided we should take some hot water over to the guesthouse to bathe as the water there would be too cold. They wanted us to be able to see what we were doing!
Well, our power went off just as I finished dressing in the bafu. Fortunately I was able to find the bed without tripping over. The lights soon came back on so Bruce was able to bathe without any problems at all. 
Michael was most concerned when he came back in case we’d been inconvenienced, then asked us to wait on the sofa. At 8.45 along came Michael & Rosa bearing pots of food + a large basket of plates.  But they’d forgotten water, a stool and a table!  It was very nice: rice, chicken, bananas & spinach; Michael loves rice & bananas!  We talked till Jeremia phoned at 10, we went to bed so Michael could ring him back.