Friday 8th April
We left Addis not long after midnight local time, spending 15 minutes waiting on the runway at one point. It seemed to be rather disorganised.
One thing we noticed about the service on the airline, you don’t get any refresher towels, and the food wasn’t very good. Breakfast consisted of fruit, juice, a rather dry, small ‘muffin’ and a spam roll. The latter two were not terribly appetising!
We landed in Paris just before 7 just as the day was dawning, but had to stay on the plane as it was only a short stop. We reached Brussels 45 minutes after taking off then had a ‘long’ wait at the immigration counters – well, the Americans standing in line thought it was very long. It actually was only half an hour! It hardly took any time at all to clear immigration once we arrived at the desk, and we wandered down to the train station. It was rather hard to find the correct timetable for our train and part of one platform was closed down, so it was rather confusing. Our train actually departed from a different place to where it had been advertised, and it was only by asking a guard that we were able to catch the right one!
Once at Le Midi, I tried to find a Brussels map, but they only had a rather large and expensive one at the first place I went to. We ate some coffee and cakes before heading off to our hotel. It was easy to find with the map, but we couldn’t go straight to our room as we arrived some hours before check-in time. So we left our bags there and wandered off around the streets for a few hours. We found a nice bakers’ quite close to the hotel, selling yummy cheap food. However, he thought I was saying ‘goûte’ instead of ‘coûte’ when I was trying to find out how much something cost! We walked down the street till we found a small park to sit down in. It was a very poor area of the city, lots of rather tatty-looking buildings. There were lots of African and Middle-Eastern people and an interesting-looking Turkish-Moroccan market. We bought some really nice oranges quite cheaply at a fruit stall and carried on on our adventure. At this stage we went completely off my map!
We ended up beside a canal, and watched a long barge with six loads of gravel go past. On the stern stood a car and a small dinghy. We enjoyed watching the Pont des Hospices bridge being raised, then lowered again to let the traffic cross. The whole road was winched up on both sides.
Further on, we came to an imposing gateway with a statue of a bull on each side. Inside was a market, and on the roadside was a café. We bought some coffee then wandered around the stalls, which were starting to be packed up at only 2 pm. Mostly they sold clothes or fruit and vegetables. Some of the vendors tried to persuade us to buy!
Just past the market was a busy street with many shops, many selling hams, salamis etc. One was called the King of Ham (in French). Bruce decided to try a hotdog at one stall, but the man didn’t reheat the frankfurter and onions properly. It looked like it had been a while since he last had had a customer, which is what put me off having one too.
We were pleased to see a street name that looked familiar, we had passed the other end of it on our way to the canal. We managed to successfully find our way back onto the map again, and back to the hotel, where we were able to book in.
We went for another walk after a rest, to find somewhere to eat tea as we thought the hotel meal looked a bit pricey. We went past quite a few eateries but Bruce didn’t like the look of them. On the way back to the hotel, we passed one that had a picture in the window advertising fish and chips for about 7 Euros. That sounded pretty good to me, so we went inside. The young lady who greeted us seemed a bit taken aback when I asked for the menu, and spoke to a young man who came up. She pointed us to the tables and we were rather taken aback to see a hookah on each one. She asked whether we’d like to sit at one of these tables or in the back room. When she took us towards it, I thought it looked just like one of those opium dens you see in films – everything was red, and there were reclining curtained couches around the walls. Needless to say, we backed out pretty quickly! Then I saw the front of the blackboard that was standing in the street – on it was a picture of a hookah with a price. We’d seen one or two other places advertising them too, and at first I wasn’t too sure whether or not the picture was of a rather fancy coffee urn! Perhaps such things are legal in Belgium!
We ended up having dinner at a Turkish restaurant and that was quite an experience. We were the only non-Turkish people present and it was a very traditional-looking meal. It started with an entrée of what at first I thought were green chillies – but which turned out to be okra, and pide bread with two dips – one was very sour and salty, the other a hot chilli paste.
After a while, we were brought a huge platter each of food. Bruce had asked for a combination of meats, and I’d asked for lamb, which was very nice, rather like barbecued ribs. Both plates were heaped high with salty-sour foods, a refreshing cucumber salad, and more pide bread. We had a lovely mint tea to drink too. It cost a total of 20 Euros, which was pretty good compared to other places we’d seen, and we certainly were well-filled!
Showing posts with label amusing incidents. Show all posts
Showing posts with label amusing incidents. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Back to Uganda
Wednesday April 6th
We slept till about 4am, and that was it! Dogs were barking, Bruce got up, the mosques started to blare out their call to prayer, then the roosters started. A man knocked on our door at 5.40 – he may have been from hotel management, otherwise he was in the nextdoor room and had been woken by the noise of our shower. We left just after 6 am and were on the bus at 6.20. We bought a loaf of bread to eat on the way, and the bus left at 7 sharp!
There was no checking of passengers at Kyotera on the Tanzanian side of the border, and we reached Mutukula at 8.30, and only stayed there a short time. One young man in a yellow T-shirt had been tugged and pushed onto the bus by a woman, his mother? before the border. When the bus stopped at the side of the road in Uganda where a man was standing, he didn’t want to get off and the opposite to what had happened when he got on! One wonders what the story was there!
Masaka was reached at 10.30, then the outskirts of Kampala at a quarter to one. A man got up and started trying to sell medicine – in fact he made quite a few sales – of creams, pills and potions that were supposed to cure anything from baldness to impotency. He was quite amusing as he pantomimed a bit and told all these stories as testimonials – some really made me laugh and amused the other passengers too. I was kept busy outlining it all to Bruce.
Half an hour later, we neared the city centre, where the traffic had practically ground to a halt. It took another hour to reach the bus centre, which the bus couldn’t enter as there were vehicles parked in front of the gates. many of the other passengers had already got off, getting frustrated with the lack of progress – not an option for us, not knowing our whereabouts! We found the taxi stand quite easily, and soon set off for Entebbe. This time we had a much faster journey! It was a pleasant day, 26 degrees. The minibuses stop right outside the Entebbe Flight Motel so it’s a very convenient place to stay.
After dropping off our bags, we went for a walk past the nearby supermarket to the small village shopping centre. Around the taxi park are many small shops and cafés. We chose one that said it served snacks and cold drinks. Lutheran music was playing and we seemed to be the only customers. It was around 4 pm by now. The menu was a little unexpected: the ‘snacks’ were all some kind of meat or fish accompanied by chips, whereas ‘meals’ were the same thing but instead of chips, were served with ugali, matoke or various Ugandan alternatives! I asked the girl whether they had anything smaller like chapattis, and she was able to offer us samosas. We enjoyed drinking mango juice as well. Whilst we were relaxing in that cool place, we noticed a rather amusing poster on the wall. It said that if you smoked, the staff would think that you were on fire and treat you accordingly!!!!
After that break, we walked around a small food market and bought some bananas. Bruce was interested in finding out the price of some very nice looking steak at a butcher’s, and we were surprised to find out that it was quite expensive – 7,000 Ush a kilo (nearly 3USD). In Tanzania it is about Tzsh 3,000 a kilo (2 USD).
We stopped at a rather modern supermarket and bought some water as it was much cheaper than the hotel’s. We had a look around at all the different foods on display and bought some fruit juice. They have an interesting system when you leave the supermarket – you have to hand your docket over to a person near the exit doorway, who has a brief look at your purchases before waving you on. There is also a guard at the entry point. Rather different from here in NZ.
I found out that you have a choice of ordering from a menu or eating the buffet dinner at the motel, so I decided to choose from the menu rather than have to try to eat lots of food at the buffet to make the extra price worthwhile. Bruce wanted the buffet, so this put the staff in a brief quandary. Normally people eating from the menu dine in one room, and those partaking of the buffet in a 3-walled room opening onto the main courtyard. However, they decided that they could serve me my meal there as well as long as we agreed on a suitable time for dining.
We slept till about 4am, and that was it! Dogs were barking, Bruce got up, the mosques started to blare out their call to prayer, then the roosters started. A man knocked on our door at 5.40 – he may have been from hotel management, otherwise he was in the nextdoor room and had been woken by the noise of our shower. We left just after 6 am and were on the bus at 6.20. We bought a loaf of bread to eat on the way, and the bus left at 7 sharp!
There was no checking of passengers at Kyotera on the Tanzanian side of the border, and we reached Mutukula at 8.30, and only stayed there a short time. One young man in a yellow T-shirt had been tugged and pushed onto the bus by a woman, his mother? before the border. When the bus stopped at the side of the road in Uganda where a man was standing, he didn’t want to get off and the opposite to what had happened when he got on! One wonders what the story was there!
Masaka was reached at 10.30, then the outskirts of Kampala at a quarter to one. A man got up and started trying to sell medicine – in fact he made quite a few sales – of creams, pills and potions that were supposed to cure anything from baldness to impotency. He was quite amusing as he pantomimed a bit and told all these stories as testimonials – some really made me laugh and amused the other passengers too. I was kept busy outlining it all to Bruce.
Half an hour later, we neared the city centre, where the traffic had practically ground to a halt. It took another hour to reach the bus centre, which the bus couldn’t enter as there were vehicles parked in front of the gates. many of the other passengers had already got off, getting frustrated with the lack of progress – not an option for us, not knowing our whereabouts! We found the taxi stand quite easily, and soon set off for Entebbe. This time we had a much faster journey! It was a pleasant day, 26 degrees. The minibuses stop right outside the Entebbe Flight Motel so it’s a very convenient place to stay.
After dropping off our bags, we went for a walk past the nearby supermarket to the small village shopping centre. Around the taxi park are many small shops and cafés. We chose one that said it served snacks and cold drinks. Lutheran music was playing and we seemed to be the only customers. It was around 4 pm by now. The menu was a little unexpected: the ‘snacks’ were all some kind of meat or fish accompanied by chips, whereas ‘meals’ were the same thing but instead of chips, were served with ugali, matoke or various Ugandan alternatives! I asked the girl whether they had anything smaller like chapattis, and she was able to offer us samosas. We enjoyed drinking mango juice as well. Whilst we were relaxing in that cool place, we noticed a rather amusing poster on the wall. It said that if you smoked, the staff would think that you were on fire and treat you accordingly!!!!
After that break, we walked around a small food market and bought some bananas. Bruce was interested in finding out the price of some very nice looking steak at a butcher’s, and we were surprised to find out that it was quite expensive – 7,000 Ush a kilo (nearly 3USD). In Tanzania it is about Tzsh 3,000 a kilo (2 USD).
We stopped at a rather modern supermarket and bought some water as it was much cheaper than the hotel’s. We had a look around at all the different foods on display and bought some fruit juice. They have an interesting system when you leave the supermarket – you have to hand your docket over to a person near the exit doorway, who has a brief look at your purchases before waving you on. There is also a guard at the entry point. Rather different from here in NZ.
I found out that you have a choice of ordering from a menu or eating the buffet dinner at the motel, so I decided to choose from the menu rather than have to try to eat lots of food at the buffet to make the extra price worthwhile. Bruce wanted the buffet, so this put the staff in a brief quandary. Normally people eating from the menu dine in one room, and those partaking of the buffet in a 3-walled room opening onto the main courtyard. However, they decided that they could serve me my meal there as well as long as we agreed on a suitable time for dining.
Monday, August 1, 2011
A trip to Bukoba
Monday May 4thThis time our sleep was disturbed by a mosquito, then poor Meshaki woke up in the middle of the night coughing. There seemed to be a big discussion going on between pastor and mama, and they all seemed to go outside for some time. Meshaki was crying, and still couldn’t stop coughing. it gook ages to get back to sleep, especially as the rats were very active. One fell with a great thump in the main room, from the top of the rafters. After some wild dreams, I was woken again by the rats, then a bat – which landed on me twice! At one stage, it seemed to be being chased around the room by a rat, and that made me really nervous. I’m glad that vampire bats only live in South America, it was rather worrying to have it land on my shoulder on one occasion. Then the mosquito returned, and at 2 am when pastor’s alarm clock rang, a peal of thunder crashed out and lasted for some time. A second thunderstorm began just before 6 am.
We left the house at 7 just as the rain was stopping, aiming at reaching Rushonga in time to catch the 8 am boat. However, pastor kept stopping and looking back to the hills where black clouds were amassing. he said that yet another storm was brewing. He hoped we’d be able to reach the primary school on top of the hill.
We just got there when the rains burst – it poured for about 20 minutes then stopped as suddenly as it had begun. There were impressive displays of lightning and huge roars of thunder, some right overhead. It was too noisy to be able to hear pastor and the headmaster’s conversation across the other side of the room.
As we were now too late to reach Rushonga in time, we decided to head to another landing stage where the boat would leave from at around 8.30. Danieli ran ahead once we reached the flat near the lake to warn the boat that we were coming. They’d started to blow the horn, the signal that they were about to depart.
We were very surprised to find out after some time that pastor hadn’t joined us on the boat – on previous occasions he’s come ashore with us – but I guess it was a good cost-cutting measure, it costs 10,000 Tsh to make the round trip – a lot of money over there.
On the way to Kemondo, we stopped at two more places to pick up passengers, but unfortunately, at the second, on another island, another boat had already taken all waiting travellers and goods on board so we didn’t draw right up close to the shore. It was quite windy by this stage, and we had to stand out some way from the landing.
Once out away from the islands, the waves became quite large, and at one point, the engine stopped! This meant that we had no steering and we started to get tossed around by the waves, the boat rocking further and further over onto each side so that the water came close to coming inboard. I estimated that the swell was about 1.5 metres.
We were glad when the engine was able to be restarted, and we soon landed at Kemondo, at 10.40 am – a quick trip really.
We went to a small cafe where we’d picked up a snack on previous occasions – but as it was too early for lunch, they only had 2 left-over chapattis from breakfast – but these were really nice so we enjoyed them with some Fanta.
Whilst we were there, a man came in, claiming to have seen us in Bukoba a few times when we were living there. He said he used to work at the Fido Dido but now worked taking tourists around and organising trips for them. He said he could speak German well, as well as English.
He told us he could get us a ride in a taxi for only 1,000 Tsh each, which we thought was much cheaper than the fare we’d paid with Gayle which was Tsh 1,500 each. So we agreed – although I did say that we’d much prefer to go in a daladala.
However, once he hailed a taxi that had a couple of spare seats in it, it appeared that he himself along with his elderly father would ride with us to Bukoba, and that we’d pay for all 4! There were already several people in the car, but the driver pushed most of them out, much to their anger and our horror – and I was about to remonstrate with him and say that we’d go by daladala and to let the other passengers use the taxi when he slammed the boot lid down on our cases and shoved us into the car. It was a squash – seven or eight of us in total! We were glad when 2 got out part-way to Bukoba, and another one on the outskirts, so that we ended up the journey in a little more comfort. However, the driver only took us to the taxi stand, not to our hotel – but as it wasn’t much further, we decided to walk. It proved to be a little hard to shake off our ‘Fido Dido’ friend and his father, but eventually, once at the hotel, they left and we were able to proceed to our room in peace.
As it was only lunch time, we went to the Rose Cafe for a snack and were warmly greeted by the proprietor, who knows us quite well from our Bukoba days. Many of these cafes have some rather unusual-looking menus – you can get ‘paper’ steak and chips, bittings (snacks) including ‘burns’, and in Uganda one was selling ‘diary’ food.
We visited the main market – the Soko Kuu – where we had had a number of friends including an elderly lady who sells fruit, eggs and vegetables. We bought some fruit from her and had a good chat. She had had a very sore, swollen foot for some time. One of our ex-students just happened to pass by and looked very surprised to see us but didn’t stop to do more than say hello. Apparently he’s doing very well, has now completed Form 4.
Inside the main building, we went to look for our old friends, the Fataks – but they were not there. A neighbouring stallholder told us that they’d gone to Arusha. We were greeted by several people who wanted to know how we were.
We started off to go to the lake to find an organisation called BUDAP – the Bukoba Disabled Assistance Project – as we’d put a friend of ours in touch with them and wanted to find out more about them and see the project up close.
After a bit of wandering around and asking some passersby, we found it by the lakeshore – an office containing a few of the items the disabled members produce – belts, jandals, postcards, jewellery and traditional drums. The man I’d corresponded with via email was very welcoming and told us a bit more about the project, but said that it is really difficult to continue, as, once trained-up, the members tend to end up starting up their own small businesses and cease bringing in income to the project. They are looking for more sponsors, as they are lacking tools and equipment, and are thinking of working more with widows. The project was started with the intention of helping the many victims of polio to learn a handcraft and thus be able to sustain themselves and their families.
Our friend Aristides Petromulaki had been one of the fundis that worked on the building site at Harvest alongside Bruce. He’d become quite friendly, and had invited us to his home shortly before we returned to NZ. There, we were able to share the Gospel, and we heard a few months later that he’d become a Christian, also his wife and children. Unfortunately he then fell on hard times – he had an accident whilst working chipping stone, and had to have an operation on one foot. We’d sent over some money to pay for the operation because we knew the family couldn’t afford it. Unfortunately this operation had left the wound infected, and over the course of almost a year, his foot had swollen up, then his leg right up to his knee and it of course became extremely painful. He delayed getting medical help, believing his leg to be infested by a demon, but we assured him that if it were due to that reason, that he could command the evil spirit to leave in Jesus’ Name – and if he found no relief, he needed to get medical help urgently.
He had a second operation after Christmas – they amputated his leg up to close to his knee, and he started a long period of recovery. Thanks to our putting him in touch with BUDAP, he was able to get their advice and help, and ended up going to Uganda to get an artificial leg. Unfortunately this cost him a huge sum of money that he had to borrow.
Whilst on the way back to our hotel, we met a mama in the street, an old friend of ours and retired nurse, mama Hermalinda Gabriel. She was one of the people that we hadn’t been able to let know about our visit, so it was a special joy to meet with her like that, especially as she now lives in a different place from when we were last in Bukoba. She was really keen for us to go to her home the next day, and gave us her phone number.
We had a lovely dinner at the hotel of fish, chips and salad. I enjoyed drinking the spiced milk that you were supposed to put coffee in – but I liked it just as it was! Unfortunately we got well-bitten by mosquitoes every time we entered that restaurant!
We left the house at 7 just as the rain was stopping, aiming at reaching Rushonga in time to catch the 8 am boat. However, pastor kept stopping and looking back to the hills where black clouds were amassing. he said that yet another storm was brewing. He hoped we’d be able to reach the primary school on top of the hill.
We just got there when the rains burst – it poured for about 20 minutes then stopped as suddenly as it had begun. There were impressive displays of lightning and huge roars of thunder, some right overhead. It was too noisy to be able to hear pastor and the headmaster’s conversation across the other side of the room.
As we were now too late to reach Rushonga in time, we decided to head to another landing stage where the boat would leave from at around 8.30. Danieli ran ahead once we reached the flat near the lake to warn the boat that we were coming. They’d started to blow the horn, the signal that they were about to depart.
We were very surprised to find out after some time that pastor hadn’t joined us on the boat – on previous occasions he’s come ashore with us – but I guess it was a good cost-cutting measure, it costs 10,000 Tsh to make the round trip – a lot of money over there.
On the way to Kemondo, we stopped at two more places to pick up passengers, but unfortunately, at the second, on another island, another boat had already taken all waiting travellers and goods on board so we didn’t draw right up close to the shore. It was quite windy by this stage, and we had to stand out some way from the landing.
Once out away from the islands, the waves became quite large, and at one point, the engine stopped! This meant that we had no steering and we started to get tossed around by the waves, the boat rocking further and further over onto each side so that the water came close to coming inboard. I estimated that the swell was about 1.5 metres.
We were glad when the engine was able to be restarted, and we soon landed at Kemondo, at 10.40 am – a quick trip really.
We went to a small cafe where we’d picked up a snack on previous occasions – but as it was too early for lunch, they only had 2 left-over chapattis from breakfast – but these were really nice so we enjoyed them with some Fanta.
Whilst we were there, a man came in, claiming to have seen us in Bukoba a few times when we were living there. He said he used to work at the Fido Dido but now worked taking tourists around and organising trips for them. He said he could speak German well, as well as English.
He told us he could get us a ride in a taxi for only 1,000 Tsh each, which we thought was much cheaper than the fare we’d paid with Gayle which was Tsh 1,500 each. So we agreed – although I did say that we’d much prefer to go in a daladala.
However, once he hailed a taxi that had a couple of spare seats in it, it appeared that he himself along with his elderly father would ride with us to Bukoba, and that we’d pay for all 4! There were already several people in the car, but the driver pushed most of them out, much to their anger and our horror – and I was about to remonstrate with him and say that we’d go by daladala and to let the other passengers use the taxi when he slammed the boot lid down on our cases and shoved us into the car. It was a squash – seven or eight of us in total! We were glad when 2 got out part-way to Bukoba, and another one on the outskirts, so that we ended up the journey in a little more comfort. However, the driver only took us to the taxi stand, not to our hotel – but as it wasn’t much further, we decided to walk. It proved to be a little hard to shake off our ‘Fido Dido’ friend and his father, but eventually, once at the hotel, they left and we were able to proceed to our room in peace.
As it was only lunch time, we went to the Rose Cafe for a snack and were warmly greeted by the proprietor, who knows us quite well from our Bukoba days. Many of these cafes have some rather unusual-looking menus – you can get ‘paper’ steak and chips, bittings (snacks) including ‘burns’, and in Uganda one was selling ‘diary’ food.
We visited the main market – the Soko Kuu – where we had had a number of friends including an elderly lady who sells fruit, eggs and vegetables. We bought some fruit from her and had a good chat. She had had a very sore, swollen foot for some time. One of our ex-students just happened to pass by and looked very surprised to see us but didn’t stop to do more than say hello. Apparently he’s doing very well, has now completed Form 4.
Inside the main building, we went to look for our old friends, the Fataks – but they were not there. A neighbouring stallholder told us that they’d gone to Arusha. We were greeted by several people who wanted to know how we were.
We started off to go to the lake to find an organisation called BUDAP – the Bukoba Disabled Assistance Project – as we’d put a friend of ours in touch with them and wanted to find out more about them and see the project up close.
After a bit of wandering around and asking some passersby, we found it by the lakeshore – an office containing a few of the items the disabled members produce – belts, jandals, postcards, jewellery and traditional drums. The man I’d corresponded with via email was very welcoming and told us a bit more about the project, but said that it is really difficult to continue, as, once trained-up, the members tend to end up starting up their own small businesses and cease bringing in income to the project. They are looking for more sponsors, as they are lacking tools and equipment, and are thinking of working more with widows. The project was started with the intention of helping the many victims of polio to learn a handcraft and thus be able to sustain themselves and their families.
Our friend Aristides Petromulaki had been one of the fundis that worked on the building site at Harvest alongside Bruce. He’d become quite friendly, and had invited us to his home shortly before we returned to NZ. There, we were able to share the Gospel, and we heard a few months later that he’d become a Christian, also his wife and children. Unfortunately he then fell on hard times – he had an accident whilst working chipping stone, and had to have an operation on one foot. We’d sent over some money to pay for the operation because we knew the family couldn’t afford it. Unfortunately this operation had left the wound infected, and over the course of almost a year, his foot had swollen up, then his leg right up to his knee and it of course became extremely painful. He delayed getting medical help, believing his leg to be infested by a demon, but we assured him that if it were due to that reason, that he could command the evil spirit to leave in Jesus’ Name – and if he found no relief, he needed to get medical help urgently.
He had a second operation after Christmas – they amputated his leg up to close to his knee, and he started a long period of recovery. Thanks to our putting him in touch with BUDAP, he was able to get their advice and help, and ended up going to Uganda to get an artificial leg. Unfortunately this cost him a huge sum of money that he had to borrow.
Whilst on the way back to our hotel, we met a mama in the street, an old friend of ours and retired nurse, mama Hermalinda Gabriel. She was one of the people that we hadn’t been able to let know about our visit, so it was a special joy to meet with her like that, especially as she now lives in a different place from when we were last in Bukoba. She was really keen for us to go to her home the next day, and gave us her phone number.
We had a lovely dinner at the hotel of fish, chips and salad. I enjoyed drinking the spiced milk that you were supposed to put coffee in – but I liked it just as it was! Unfortunately we got well-bitten by mosquitoes every time we entered that restaurant!
Thursday, July 28, 2011
A Tanzanian funeral
Saturday April 2nd 2011
Unfortunately it had been rather a bad night – the rats were very active, Meshaki had many coughing fits, Bruce was restless and my pillow seemed lumpier than ever – in the end I gave up on it and put it off the bed. Like the mattress, it was just filled with straw. As the head of the mattress was quite raised, I didn’t miss it very much at all and just put my head on my dressing gown.
It was a day that started with bright sunshine, but some clouds came over quite fast. We were glad that all our washing got dry apart from our underwear, which of course was languishing indoors!
We had a very interesting breakfast – passion fruit, the guavas, cold rice and eggs. Yum.
At about 10 am, we walked down to the stream then up the hill the other side to Fideli’s. There were so many people there and still more on the way, from every part of the island as well as perhaps some of the smaller ones off-shore. The men congregated outside near a large fire, and the women sat inside in the vestibule on the dried grass and mats.
Mama and I sat indoors with the women for quite some time before going outside. But first we had to go into a tiny room to greet Fideli and a strange mama (I think she was a pastor from a neighbouring church). The old lady’s body was lying wrapped up on a mat on one side. I tried to encourage Fideli, who had been weeping, by assuring him that his mother was now with the Lord and was rejoicing in heaven, free from her weak, sick body at last. She had been a keen Christian for several years.
The ladies were all quietly chatting, some looking after small children or breastfeeding babies. Small groups of people came in, greeted us all round, then filed into the little room to view the body and comfort Fideli. The mamas were very surprised that I would choose to sit with them, so mama mchungaji explained that I was her friend. They talked a little about mama Christine, the American doctor, and how much they liked her, she was always so hospitable and friendly.
The men outside took turns to dig the grave and to help make the coffin. Bruce spent some time with them with pastor and another man who knew a little English.
Eventually mama decided it was time to return home for lunch, which was ready at 1.30. We had been told that the funeral would start around 2, so we ate in haste – sweet potato, rice and fish. I was surprised just how much rice Danieli and pastor ate! They didn’t leave anything behind this time!
We were very happy to meet an old friend from previous visits, Amin. He lives in a small village at the end of the island past the AIM church and clinic. He and his wife now have 2 children, I think.
Mama had to walk up the hill carrying a bundle of dry grass – all the women had been asked to make a contribution. At first I’d assumed she meant that they each had to take some food or tealeaves – but it appears it was dried grass for the funeral. Other people did take food with them because many would be staying with the family for at least the next night or two.
When we arrived back at Fideli’s, we sat outside on a log under a silk bush which had just started flowering – very pretty. We chatted with some children who told us that the funeral wouldn’t start till about 4 pm. It looked like there were at least 60 people gathered on grass and wooden slabs on the ground outside. The sun had got really hot and I felt like I was getting quite burnt – ouch! It was quite hard to stay in the shade as the sun kept moving round.
At around 3.30 people started gathering outside the house, and many of the men went indoors. The mama’s body was brought out from the little room and placed in the coffin. The broody hen we had noted a few days earlier made a grand entrance during the singing of a hymn, and everyone had to leave her a path to walk through. As there was not enough room inside for everyone to gather, some of us stayed outside whilst several songs were sung and some prayers made. Then everyone trooped outside again and sat down near the grave. I’d been asked to take many photos as a reminder of the occasion, but unfortunately, the camera decided to go on strike, and I was not feeling very comfortable with photographing such an event. As Bruce had been asked to speak, he was standing at the head of the grave with pastor M and another pastor, and I was asked to join them – but had to stand behind them as there was no room – it was not a good position for taking photos!
The coffin was placed in the grave straight away, then we sang some songs and a prayer was made before Bruce gave an encouraging message, with Pastor M translating. He did get stuck a couple of times and occasionally rather garbled the message but I didn’t try correcting him, not wanting to do anything that might be misconstrued. Overall he was quite accurate!
Pastor was the first to throw some clods of earth on the grave, then all the men took turns tossing a few shovelfuls of earth on it. One young man got rather carried away, and tossed the earth so hard that people close by got spattered. Once the grave was filled in, the mamas brought bundles of cut grass and laid them around it, then some of them gave flowering plants to the little children who planted them on the grave.
We were a bit surprised when the island chairman stood up at the end of the service and gave a formal notice about a collection of money for the local schools. It caused quite a bit of dissension amongst those present. He told them it was a government edict, not his own idea – and that it would mean that the school would be theirs, not the government’s. It kind of seemed a bit odd to us to have such an announcement at the end of a funeral, but as pastor noted, it was a good occasion as the whole village was present.
We went back past the Mugaruras’, continuing up the hill to the very top to see a site that they’d like to purchase and use as a life-skills training centre for the locals. Bruce thinks they could run a school to train people in various skills such as starting and running a small business, using better agricultural practices, Bible teaching, etc etc. They would really love it if we would return and teach there. They say I could teach English to all ages and would get students from all over the island! The cost of a few hectares of land would be at most a few hundred dollars. They would be prepared to make the bricks and start building, and to plant a shelter belt around the outside. They reckoned it was an ideal spot, being fertile land – although it was pretty rocky so I was doubtful about the depth of topsoil present. There certainly were plenty of rocks to use for foundations! The biggest problem would be water. If you had to go all the way down the hill to the stream below the Mugaruras’, it would be a huge task, and it didn’t look like there was a closer stream on the other side of the hill. It would increase the cost of building hugely to put on an iron roof and put up some kind of water tank. Transporting one up there would be difficult so you might have to build one out of the stones and make sure it was water-tight with a good concrete lining. Lots of things to think about, but certainly not a project we could do in a hurry. We’d need to try to get backing from a missionary organisation, partly for our own protection and support, as well as do a heap of research re what might be feasible. One possibility could be to see whether AIM would help us as they already have missionaries on the island and perhaps such a project could complement their medical work. Life is hard for those who are not fishermen, and good sources of income hard to get. Even the fishermen might find life rather tough shortly, as the government wants to put a 3-month moratorium on fishing in Lake Victoria to try to build up fish stocks again. It is becoming harder and harder to find the large fish needed for export, and the fishermen are catching and selling far too many small fish on the local trade.
Before a fairly late tea at 8.30 of ugali and beans, i had an opportunity to speak with Julietta on the phone. At first, I spoke with her uncle, who speaks good English, but unfortunately the battery went flat after a while so I couldn’t say much to Julietta. She would have loved to have been able to travel to Kemondo to meet us off the boat, but unfortunately she couldn’t afford the bus fare. She has learnt how to use a sewing machine so is helping with the family finances. Her little baby, Christina (named after me!), is doing well.
Unfortunately it had been rather a bad night – the rats were very active, Meshaki had many coughing fits, Bruce was restless and my pillow seemed lumpier than ever – in the end I gave up on it and put it off the bed. Like the mattress, it was just filled with straw. As the head of the mattress was quite raised, I didn’t miss it very much at all and just put my head on my dressing gown.
It was a day that started with bright sunshine, but some clouds came over quite fast. We were glad that all our washing got dry apart from our underwear, which of course was languishing indoors!
We had a very interesting breakfast – passion fruit, the guavas, cold rice and eggs. Yum.
At about 10 am, we walked down to the stream then up the hill the other side to Fideli’s. There were so many people there and still more on the way, from every part of the island as well as perhaps some of the smaller ones off-shore. The men congregated outside near a large fire, and the women sat inside in the vestibule on the dried grass and mats.
Mama and I sat indoors with the women for quite some time before going outside. But first we had to go into a tiny room to greet Fideli and a strange mama (I think she was a pastor from a neighbouring church). The old lady’s body was lying wrapped up on a mat on one side. I tried to encourage Fideli, who had been weeping, by assuring him that his mother was now with the Lord and was rejoicing in heaven, free from her weak, sick body at last. She had been a keen Christian for several years.
The ladies were all quietly chatting, some looking after small children or breastfeeding babies. Small groups of people came in, greeted us all round, then filed into the little room to view the body and comfort Fideli. The mamas were very surprised that I would choose to sit with them, so mama mchungaji explained that I was her friend. They talked a little about mama Christine, the American doctor, and how much they liked her, she was always so hospitable and friendly.
The men outside took turns to dig the grave and to help make the coffin. Bruce spent some time with them with pastor and another man who knew a little English.
Eventually mama decided it was time to return home for lunch, which was ready at 1.30. We had been told that the funeral would start around 2, so we ate in haste – sweet potato, rice and fish. I was surprised just how much rice Danieli and pastor ate! They didn’t leave anything behind this time!
We were very happy to meet an old friend from previous visits, Amin. He lives in a small village at the end of the island past the AIM church and clinic. He and his wife now have 2 children, I think.
Mama had to walk up the hill carrying a bundle of dry grass – all the women had been asked to make a contribution. At first I’d assumed she meant that they each had to take some food or tealeaves – but it appears it was dried grass for the funeral. Other people did take food with them because many would be staying with the family for at least the next night or two.
When we arrived back at Fideli’s, we sat outside on a log under a silk bush which had just started flowering – very pretty. We chatted with some children who told us that the funeral wouldn’t start till about 4 pm. It looked like there were at least 60 people gathered on grass and wooden slabs on the ground outside. The sun had got really hot and I felt like I was getting quite burnt – ouch! It was quite hard to stay in the shade as the sun kept moving round.
At around 3.30 people started gathering outside the house, and many of the men went indoors. The mama’s body was brought out from the little room and placed in the coffin. The broody hen we had noted a few days earlier made a grand entrance during the singing of a hymn, and everyone had to leave her a path to walk through. As there was not enough room inside for everyone to gather, some of us stayed outside whilst several songs were sung and some prayers made. Then everyone trooped outside again and sat down near the grave. I’d been asked to take many photos as a reminder of the occasion, but unfortunately, the camera decided to go on strike, and I was not feeling very comfortable with photographing such an event. As Bruce had been asked to speak, he was standing at the head of the grave with pastor M and another pastor, and I was asked to join them – but had to stand behind them as there was no room – it was not a good position for taking photos!
The coffin was placed in the grave straight away, then we sang some songs and a prayer was made before Bruce gave an encouraging message, with Pastor M translating. He did get stuck a couple of times and occasionally rather garbled the message but I didn’t try correcting him, not wanting to do anything that might be misconstrued. Overall he was quite accurate!
Pastor was the first to throw some clods of earth on the grave, then all the men took turns tossing a few shovelfuls of earth on it. One young man got rather carried away, and tossed the earth so hard that people close by got spattered. Once the grave was filled in, the mamas brought bundles of cut grass and laid them around it, then some of them gave flowering plants to the little children who planted them on the grave.We were a bit surprised when the island chairman stood up at the end of the service and gave a formal notice about a collection of money for the local schools. It caused quite a bit of dissension amongst those present. He told them it was a government edict, not his own idea – and that it would mean that the school would be theirs, not the government’s. It kind of seemed a bit odd to us to have such an announcement at the end of a funeral, but as pastor noted, it was a good occasion as the whole village was present.
We went back past the Mugaruras’, continuing up the hill to the very top to see a site that they’d like to purchase and use as a life-skills training centre for the locals. Bruce thinks they could run a school to train people in various skills such as starting and running a small business, using better agricultural practices, Bible teaching, etc etc. They would really love it if we would return and teach there. They say I could teach English to all ages and would get students from all over the island! The cost of a few hectares of land would be at most a few hundred dollars. They would be prepared to make the bricks and start building, and to plant a shelter belt around the outside. They reckoned it was an ideal spot, being fertile land – although it was pretty rocky so I was doubtful about the depth of topsoil present. There certainly were plenty of rocks to use for foundations! The biggest problem would be water. If you had to go all the way down the hill to the stream below the Mugaruras’, it would be a huge task, and it didn’t look like there was a closer stream on the other side of the hill. It would increase the cost of building hugely to put on an iron roof and put up some kind of water tank. Transporting one up there would be difficult so you might have to build one out of the stones and make sure it was water-tight with a good concrete lining. Lots of things to think about, but certainly not a project we could do in a hurry. We’d need to try to get backing from a missionary organisation, partly for our own protection and support, as well as do a heap of research re what might be feasible. One possibility could be to see whether AIM would help us as they already have missionaries on the island and perhaps such a project could complement their medical work. Life is hard for those who are not fishermen, and good sources of income hard to get. Even the fishermen might find life rather tough shortly, as the government wants to put a 3-month moratorium on fishing in Lake Victoria to try to build up fish stocks again. It is becoming harder and harder to find the large fish needed for export, and the fishermen are catching and selling far too many small fish on the local trade.
Before a fairly late tea at 8.30 of ugali and beans, i had an opportunity to speak with Julietta on the phone. At first, I spoke with her uncle, who speaks good English, but unfortunately the battery went flat after a while so I couldn’t say much to Julietta. She would have loved to have been able to travel to Kemondo to meet us off the boat, but unfortunately she couldn’t afford the bus fare. She has learnt how to use a sewing machine so is helping with the family finances. Her little baby, Christina (named after me!), is doing well.
A walk to the church and a death in the neighbourhood
Friday April 1st
The day started off quite windy which made it quite cold. It was really gloomy, wet and thundery from early on till about 2 pm. This made it hard for mama to get a fire going in the jiko, so we didn’t have breakfast until 11 am. It was the usual cold rice and hot chai. I first noticed a rather large yellow stain on the big bowl of rice in the middle of the table, and thought that either mama had used the mchuzi spoon to get it out of the pot the night before – or perhaps there was a more sinister reason. I made sure that I selected rice from another part of the bowl. However, I didn’t notice something rather nasty until I looked down at my bowl, ready to eat. There were mouse droppings in the rice! Bruce noticed my reluctance to start eating, and threw one of the offending items out the window, unfortunately drawing pastor’s attention to the problem. I left a small portion on the edge of my plate containing another unwanted addition to my meal! I must admit it was rather hard to eat the rest!
Once the weather cleared in the afternoon, we did our washing and then walked up the hill to the church to have a look around. I was really glad that I had enough energy to climb the steep hill – I had thought of trying a short walk on the flat the day before but a good opportunity hadn’t really presented itself. We went round the back of the new building to where the old one used to be, and found the site completely overgrown, covered in young trees, cassava and passionfruit vines.
The new building has been surrounded by young pine trees to act as a windbreak, but we thought they had been planted far too close to it for safety. They say that the winds can be strong enough to lift off a roof if you build on the hilltops of Bumbire, but you don’t really want the branches close enough to touch the roof or to fall on top of it.
As we turned away from the site, we were amused at the antics of a long-tailed bird we had observed on previous occasions, but never so close at hand. It has quite a small body, but has the longest tail i have ever seen on a bird that size. It uses it to counterbalance itself when feeding on the tops of the long grass stems that can grow to nearly 2 metres high. It flew ahead of us along the church’s drive to the main path along the crest of the hill, but then turned away. We were quite disappointed, but really thrilled to have seen it so close to us.
There seemed to be many birds out and about today. We have often been amazed at the sheer variety of birds in Tanzania, and some are really spectacular or have rather unusual calls.
We had lunch at 3.30 – matoke, fish, rice and supu. Danieli came round later on, and said that he had really bad toothache, and in fact, his face was quite swollen on one side. We had brought some antibiotics with us that Bruce had been given but not used as they had to be changed to another kind to treat an infection he’d picked up in NZ, and so we were very willing to give Danieli the 5-day course. He also complained of his little children (the oldest two are aged 7 and 8 years, the youngest is only 18 months old) coughing at night, till they almost vomited. At first we thought of whooping cough, but as he said they were really well during the daytime, we decided it was probably due to the cold nights sleeping on mats on the floor. Meshaki also had this problem which cost him a lot of sleep at times.
We were talking outside the jiko, and I noticed just how precarious the whole structure looked. Bruce had helped pastor with part of the framework four years ago when it was being built as an alternative to the rather cave-like structure that mama was cooking in. Now after such a short time, it is becoming unsafe, and pastor is worried lest mama gets buried under the building should it decide to collapse. At present, one of the walls is propped up by a strong branch, but that only supports part of the wall, and when the roof is wet with rain and the walls take on water too, it becomes much more dangerous.
We received news from Fideli’s house – his mother was really bad now. She had been unable to move at all the previous day and could no longer speak. Obviously her trip to the clinic had come far too late to save her, and our prayers for her healing and recovery were not answered. Pastor and mama decided to visit and spend some time with her.
Whilst they were away, Fideli’s second son, Meshaki I, came down to let us know that his grandmother had gone home. He’s the boldest of the five, and would often come to the house and, when I was lying sick on the bed, greet me through the net curtain that covered the doorway. When the front door was open, it was possible to see right inside the little bedroom through this curtain, it was no barrier at all. One had to be really quick in the mornings to get dressed before anyone else came into the living room and out the front door!
The Mugaruras returned a couple of hours’ later saying that she had passed away whilst they were there after they had prayer for her. They had stayed to help bathe her body and clothe it in clean clothes ready for the funeral the next day. The church had been open for prayer when we visited it earlier in the afternoon, but now it had to be closed again as there would be no mkesha – an all-night prayer meeting. Danieli went off up the hill to do this. Instead, people would go to spend the night with Fideli and his family.
Pastor and mama had returned to Fideli’s house, at first saying they might stay the night there. However, they came home around 9.15 and we had a dinner of cassava, rice and fish. I was able to eat a good meal this time, my appetite had almost returned to normal. Danieli was still around and about, and brought us two guavas – we decided to eat them for breakfast although they looked rather green.
The day started off quite windy which made it quite cold. It was really gloomy, wet and thundery from early on till about 2 pm. This made it hard for mama to get a fire going in the jiko, so we didn’t have breakfast until 11 am. It was the usual cold rice and hot chai. I first noticed a rather large yellow stain on the big bowl of rice in the middle of the table, and thought that either mama had used the mchuzi spoon to get it out of the pot the night before – or perhaps there was a more sinister reason. I made sure that I selected rice from another part of the bowl. However, I didn’t notice something rather nasty until I looked down at my bowl, ready to eat. There were mouse droppings in the rice! Bruce noticed my reluctance to start eating, and threw one of the offending items out the window, unfortunately drawing pastor’s attention to the problem. I left a small portion on the edge of my plate containing another unwanted addition to my meal! I must admit it was rather hard to eat the rest!
Once the weather cleared in the afternoon, we did our washing and then walked up the hill to the church to have a look around. I was really glad that I had enough energy to climb the steep hill – I had thought of trying a short walk on the flat the day before but a good opportunity hadn’t really presented itself. We went round the back of the new building to where the old one used to be, and found the site completely overgrown, covered in young trees, cassava and passionfruit vines.
The new building has been surrounded by young pine trees to act as a windbreak, but we thought they had been planted far too close to it for safety. They say that the winds can be strong enough to lift off a roof if you build on the hilltops of Bumbire, but you don’t really want the branches close enough to touch the roof or to fall on top of it.
As we turned away from the site, we were amused at the antics of a long-tailed bird we had observed on previous occasions, but never so close at hand. It has quite a small body, but has the longest tail i have ever seen on a bird that size. It uses it to counterbalance itself when feeding on the tops of the long grass stems that can grow to nearly 2 metres high. It flew ahead of us along the church’s drive to the main path along the crest of the hill, but then turned away. We were quite disappointed, but really thrilled to have seen it so close to us.
There seemed to be many birds out and about today. We have often been amazed at the sheer variety of birds in Tanzania, and some are really spectacular or have rather unusual calls.
We had lunch at 3.30 – matoke, fish, rice and supu. Danieli came round later on, and said that he had really bad toothache, and in fact, his face was quite swollen on one side. We had brought some antibiotics with us that Bruce had been given but not used as they had to be changed to another kind to treat an infection he’d picked up in NZ, and so we were very willing to give Danieli the 5-day course. He also complained of his little children (the oldest two are aged 7 and 8 years, the youngest is only 18 months old) coughing at night, till they almost vomited. At first we thought of whooping cough, but as he said they were really well during the daytime, we decided it was probably due to the cold nights sleeping on mats on the floor. Meshaki also had this problem which cost him a lot of sleep at times.
We were talking outside the jiko, and I noticed just how precarious the whole structure looked. Bruce had helped pastor with part of the framework four years ago when it was being built as an alternative to the rather cave-like structure that mama was cooking in. Now after such a short time, it is becoming unsafe, and pastor is worried lest mama gets buried under the building should it decide to collapse. At present, one of the walls is propped up by a strong branch, but that only supports part of the wall, and when the roof is wet with rain and the walls take on water too, it becomes much more dangerous.We received news from Fideli’s house – his mother was really bad now. She had been unable to move at all the previous day and could no longer speak. Obviously her trip to the clinic had come far too late to save her, and our prayers for her healing and recovery were not answered. Pastor and mama decided to visit and spend some time with her.
Whilst they were away, Fideli’s second son, Meshaki I, came down to let us know that his grandmother had gone home. He’s the boldest of the five, and would often come to the house and, when I was lying sick on the bed, greet me through the net curtain that covered the doorway. When the front door was open, it was possible to see right inside the little bedroom through this curtain, it was no barrier at all. One had to be really quick in the mornings to get dressed before anyone else came into the living room and out the front door!
The Mugaruras returned a couple of hours’ later saying that she had passed away whilst they were there after they had prayer for her. They had stayed to help bathe her body and clothe it in clean clothes ready for the funeral the next day. The church had been open for prayer when we visited it earlier in the afternoon, but now it had to be closed again as there would be no mkesha – an all-night prayer meeting. Danieli went off up the hill to do this. Instead, people would go to spend the night with Fideli and his family.
Pastor and mama had returned to Fideli’s house, at first saying they might stay the night there. However, they came home around 9.15 and we had a dinner of cassava, rice and fish. I was able to eat a good meal this time, my appetite had almost returned to normal. Danieli was still around and about, and brought us two guavas – we decided to eat them for breakfast although they looked rather green.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Bruce's trip to Rushonga
Wednesday March 30th
I'd managed an excellent night's sleep so woke up feeling somewhat refreshed. The day looked like it was going to be fine at first, but then a thunderstorm arrived at about 9.30, much later than usual - they often seemed to start between 6 and 7. This time the rain persisted until the afternoon.
Filipo and Daniel came for breakfast, which we didn’t eat until 10 am - cold rice and chai as usual - and despite the tablets, I still felt very nauseous and only managed one cup of chai and a few spoonfuls of rice. Usually I'd drink anything up to four cups in the morning, knowing that there'd probably be no more fluids until dinner time unless I drank some water. Pastor had been out early and had bought some fish, but he didn't eat any breakfast; mama told me it was his day for fasting.
Bruce visited Fideli in the morning, and found out that his mother had been diagnosed as having severe malaria, jaundice, and dehydration. She had returned home the night before. We had news that Chris Hamilton might turn up so we were really looking forward to seeing her.
Lunch was quite late, 3 pm, and consisted of fish and rice - really yummy. I was starting to feel much better.
Bruce and pastor left after lunch to go to Rushonga, and got back around dusk. Bruce had bought a bit more time on the phone, so I was able to text a few people to let them know how we were. However, as he'd only bought two 500-shilling vouchers, I had to ration texts as I didn't know when we'd be able to buy any more. We heard from Michael Kikumbo, our Tanzanian son in Dar es Salaam, that he’d passed his English exams, so we were really pleased.
Whilst the men were away, a lady came to visit mama, and I went out to join them for a while. When she left, I chatted with mama for a while about all sorts of things. It was really good, and I was so pleased to be able to sit up for a while without feeling too tired.
Mama is really concerned about Rosemary's future. She says that the secondary school is a terrible place of immorality, and many young girls, even 12- and 13-year-olds, fall pregnant each year. She’d like their daughter to be able to attend a Christian secondary school like Harvest, but the huge drawback is the fees charged. Most families struggle to put their children through the government secondary schools – I think that nationally only 10% ever get to attend – and a private school becomes out of reach for all bar the rich or those able to get sponsors.
Dinner was really nice, we had sweet potato as well as fish and rice. Pastor joined in this time, which was good. Unfortunately I still couldn’t drink a full cup of tea.
The night ended up being a bit disturbed. Pastor had set his alarm for 2 am for prayers - we often heard him and mama waking up in the early morning to pray together. Just at the moment that the alarm sounded, a rat fell off one of the poles supporting the plastic over our bedroom right onto my chest! I let out a small shriek - but was rather relieved that the rat ended up abruptly on the floor and didn't do any running around on the bed! It made it rather hard to get back to sleep, because every time I heard another one on the wall or on the rafters, I got scared that it might fall off again and land on me!
We didn’t have the protection of a mosquito net on this visit. On our first visit in 2006, at 4 am on Christmas Day I was rudely awoken by a mouse just dropping in to say “Merry Christmas”! It landed right on my nose, but owing to the net, bounced off straight away.
I'd managed an excellent night's sleep so woke up feeling somewhat refreshed. The day looked like it was going to be fine at first, but then a thunderstorm arrived at about 9.30, much later than usual - they often seemed to start between 6 and 7. This time the rain persisted until the afternoon.
Filipo and Daniel came for breakfast, which we didn’t eat until 10 am - cold rice and chai as usual - and despite the tablets, I still felt very nauseous and only managed one cup of chai and a few spoonfuls of rice. Usually I'd drink anything up to four cups in the morning, knowing that there'd probably be no more fluids until dinner time unless I drank some water. Pastor had been out early and had bought some fish, but he didn't eat any breakfast; mama told me it was his day for fasting.
Bruce visited Fideli in the morning, and found out that his mother had been diagnosed as having severe malaria, jaundice, and dehydration. She had returned home the night before. We had news that Chris Hamilton might turn up so we were really looking forward to seeing her.
Lunch was quite late, 3 pm, and consisted of fish and rice - really yummy. I was starting to feel much better.
Bruce and pastor left after lunch to go to Rushonga, and got back around dusk. Bruce had bought a bit more time on the phone, so I was able to text a few people to let them know how we were. However, as he'd only bought two 500-shilling vouchers, I had to ration texts as I didn't know when we'd be able to buy any more. We heard from Michael Kikumbo, our Tanzanian son in Dar es Salaam, that he’d passed his English exams, so we were really pleased.
Whilst the men were away, a lady came to visit mama, and I went out to join them for a while. When she left, I chatted with mama for a while about all sorts of things. It was really good, and I was so pleased to be able to sit up for a while without feeling too tired.
Mama is really concerned about Rosemary's future. She says that the secondary school is a terrible place of immorality, and many young girls, even 12- and 13-year-olds, fall pregnant each year. She’d like their daughter to be able to attend a Christian secondary school like Harvest, but the huge drawback is the fees charged. Most families struggle to put their children through the government secondary schools – I think that nationally only 10% ever get to attend – and a private school becomes out of reach for all bar the rich or those able to get sponsors.
Dinner was really nice, we had sweet potato as well as fish and rice. Pastor joined in this time, which was good. Unfortunately I still couldn’t drink a full cup of tea.
The night ended up being a bit disturbed. Pastor had set his alarm for 2 am for prayers - we often heard him and mama waking up in the early morning to pray together. Just at the moment that the alarm sounded, a rat fell off one of the poles supporting the plastic over our bedroom right onto my chest! I let out a small shriek - but was rather relieved that the rat ended up abruptly on the floor and didn't do any running around on the bed! It made it rather hard to get back to sleep, because every time I heard another one on the wall or on the rafters, I got scared that it might fall off again and land on me!
We didn’t have the protection of a mosquito net on this visit. On our first visit in 2006, at 4 am on Christmas Day I was rudely awoken by a mouse just dropping in to say “Merry Christmas”! It landed right on my nose, but owing to the net, bounced off straight away.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Traffic jams
Friday March 25th 2011
We ate the provided breakfast, which is quite nice – mango juice, fresh tropical fruits, then toast and jam. There is also tea and coffee. We then took our bags across the road and down the way to the minibus taxi park, trying to dissuade all the hopeful taxi drivers (of both cars and bodaboda (motorcycles) from giving us a lift. It was quite cool and cloudy so it was easy to carry our packs - and we were travelling light – we only had one large pack and two small ones. It was easy to find a minibus going to Kampala, so we climbed aboard and didn't have to wait long before it was full enough to set off.
The first part of the ride was fine, travelling through the lush countryside as far as Kampala, but once in the city, the traffic became totally chaotic. It wasn't nearly as bad four years earlier when we’d travelled through the city on a big bus! Instead of the usual 40-minute trip, it took an hour and a half!
This time there were solid lines of gridlocked minibus taxis - some were stationary waiting for passengers and others were trying to get somewhere! In places they were lined up 3 deep.
Once we had disembarked at the Old Taxi Park, we tried to remember where the Gateway buses leave from, but unfortunately all we could remember was that you have to go uphill. We chose a likely-looking street and tried asking some passers-by, but they couldn't help us. One group of three young men wanted to chat with us, but after a while, Bruce decided that one man's attentions to me were a bit over-the-top! He had first called me "sweetheart", then wouldn't let go of my hand - so Bruce said, "Leave my wife alone," - which caused a number of questions! Qualcel bus 60,000 sh!!! + 10,000 Mutukula to Bukoba on Gateway. Stuck ¾ hour petrol station, passed bus depot 1 hour after setting off, ½ hour to leave city – at noon!
Eventually we found someone who reckoned he knew where the Bukoba buses leave from, but we were rather perturbed when he set off downhill. We followed a little reluctantly and ended up at a different bus depot where there was a bus due to depart to Bukoba about half an hour earlier than the Gateway bus would leave. I was rather surprised at the price charged for the tickets – the ticket-seller told us the fare would be 30,000 shillings – each! However, I assumed that the price was higher due to it being a different company and the steep rise in fuel costs. As it was getting rather late, and we weren't sure if we could find the Gateway depot in time, we decided to take the ride.
We were glad to be able to buy some water very cheaply from a lady who came onto the bus to sell her wares, and then it was time to set off. First the driver went to a petrol station and put just a few litres into the tank before setting off - only to find that he couldn't exit the petrol station because the traffic was so busy on the street that it was really hard to exit onto it. We were stuck behind several other vehicles and had to wait our turn. After a while, the driver got impatient and followed someone’s very silly advice to try another exit. So, after reversing from where we were, and manoeuvring to another exit, we found that it was totally jammed by 2 or 3 rows of stationary daladalas (minibus taxis), some waiting for fares! No-one would let us out, and eventually our driver caused some extra chaos by reversing back towards the pumps again, then returning to our first exit – as the vehicles that had been in front of us before had all managed to leave, and in fact, there were fresh vehicles queuing up there, waiting for the rare gaps in the traffic. By the time we were able to leave the petrol station, we’d spent 45 minutes there, and slowly completing a circuit of a block, we arrived outside the bus station again, a whole hour after we’d left! I was hoping that we wouldn’t re-enter it again to pick up more passengers! Fortunately we already had our quote and it was time to get going! Another half-hour later, we exited Kampala. It was great to be out in the countryside, the only disruptions to the traffic being the frequent judder bars at the entry and exit points of villages and towns, and the odd police check.
We made quite good time and reached Mutukula around 4pm. What a surprise it was when everyone started to disembark before the border post and started to climb on board a Gateway bus!!!!! The new conductor asked for another 10,000 Ush and I explained that I thought I'd already bought a ticket for the complete journey - oh no, that was just for the Qualcel bus! At least 10,000/= wasn't too much to part with, and it was a little amusing really!
We didn’t have to spend too long at the border, and were soon in Bukoba, very happy to be greeted by our friend Gayle Smith, together with an ex-student of ours, Hassan. She’s sponsoring him through school as his Muslim family disowned him when he became a Christian. Unfortunately he got a much lower grade than expected in the National Form Four exams, but was still able to get a scholarship for a school in the South East of Tanzania. We’d first met Gayle just a few months before we left Bukoba in 2007, when she came to start teaching at the school where we were working. She is now working at a different school.
We had time to buy an SIM card for our phone and a voucher before squeezing into a taxi with several other people. Gayle says it’s the usual way of getting to Kemondo now if you’re too late for the daladalas. But it isn’t very comfortable with 6-9 people in a car built for 5!
We were thrilled to be hailed by someone in the street near the taxi stand – our friend Aristides, one of the stone-cutters Bruce worked with at Harvest. He’d had an accident since we last saw him and had had his leg amputated below the knee late 2010 as an earlier operation had never healed properly and had left an infected wound. He’d managed to get an artificial leg and proudly showed it to us. More about that later!
Our taxi driver did a surprise detour on the way to Kemondo – to avoid a police check. He said the policemen is like Colonel Gaddafi!
Once at Gayle’s feeling rather weary after all our days of travel, we waited for tea. She makes a really yummy avocado dip. She’s sharing a house with a couple of other teachers at the mission school. We’d visited it briefly 4 years earlier.
We ate the provided breakfast, which is quite nice – mango juice, fresh tropical fruits, then toast and jam. There is also tea and coffee. We then took our bags across the road and down the way to the minibus taxi park, trying to dissuade all the hopeful taxi drivers (of both cars and bodaboda (motorcycles) from giving us a lift. It was quite cool and cloudy so it was easy to carry our packs - and we were travelling light – we only had one large pack and two small ones. It was easy to find a minibus going to Kampala, so we climbed aboard and didn't have to wait long before it was full enough to set off.
The first part of the ride was fine, travelling through the lush countryside as far as Kampala, but once in the city, the traffic became totally chaotic. It wasn't nearly as bad four years earlier when we’d travelled through the city on a big bus! Instead of the usual 40-minute trip, it took an hour and a half!
This time there were solid lines of gridlocked minibus taxis - some were stationary waiting for passengers and others were trying to get somewhere! In places they were lined up 3 deep.
Once we had disembarked at the Old Taxi Park, we tried to remember where the Gateway buses leave from, but unfortunately all we could remember was that you have to go uphill. We chose a likely-looking street and tried asking some passers-by, but they couldn't help us. One group of three young men wanted to chat with us, but after a while, Bruce decided that one man's attentions to me were a bit over-the-top! He had first called me "sweetheart", then wouldn't let go of my hand - so Bruce said, "Leave my wife alone," - which caused a number of questions! Qualcel bus 60,000 sh!!! + 10,000 Mutukula to Bukoba on Gateway. Stuck ¾ hour petrol station, passed bus depot 1 hour after setting off, ½ hour to leave city – at noon!
Eventually we found someone who reckoned he knew where the Bukoba buses leave from, but we were rather perturbed when he set off downhill. We followed a little reluctantly and ended up at a different bus depot where there was a bus due to depart to Bukoba about half an hour earlier than the Gateway bus would leave. I was rather surprised at the price charged for the tickets – the ticket-seller told us the fare would be 30,000 shillings – each! However, I assumed that the price was higher due to it being a different company and the steep rise in fuel costs. As it was getting rather late, and we weren't sure if we could find the Gateway depot in time, we decided to take the ride.
We were glad to be able to buy some water very cheaply from a lady who came onto the bus to sell her wares, and then it was time to set off. First the driver went to a petrol station and put just a few litres into the tank before setting off - only to find that he couldn't exit the petrol station because the traffic was so busy on the street that it was really hard to exit onto it. We were stuck behind several other vehicles and had to wait our turn. After a while, the driver got impatient and followed someone’s very silly advice to try another exit. So, after reversing from where we were, and manoeuvring to another exit, we found that it was totally jammed by 2 or 3 rows of stationary daladalas (minibus taxis), some waiting for fares! No-one would let us out, and eventually our driver caused some extra chaos by reversing back towards the pumps again, then returning to our first exit – as the vehicles that had been in front of us before had all managed to leave, and in fact, there were fresh vehicles queuing up there, waiting for the rare gaps in the traffic. By the time we were able to leave the petrol station, we’d spent 45 minutes there, and slowly completing a circuit of a block, we arrived outside the bus station again, a whole hour after we’d left! I was hoping that we wouldn’t re-enter it again to pick up more passengers! Fortunately we already had our quote and it was time to get going! Another half-hour later, we exited Kampala. It was great to be out in the countryside, the only disruptions to the traffic being the frequent judder bars at the entry and exit points of villages and towns, and the odd police check.
We made quite good time and reached Mutukula around 4pm. What a surprise it was when everyone started to disembark before the border post and started to climb on board a Gateway bus!!!!! The new conductor asked for another 10,000 Ush and I explained that I thought I'd already bought a ticket for the complete journey - oh no, that was just for the Qualcel bus! At least 10,000/= wasn't too much to part with, and it was a little amusing really!
We didn’t have to spend too long at the border, and were soon in Bukoba, very happy to be greeted by our friend Gayle Smith, together with an ex-student of ours, Hassan. She’s sponsoring him through school as his Muslim family disowned him when he became a Christian. Unfortunately he got a much lower grade than expected in the National Form Four exams, but was still able to get a scholarship for a school in the South East of Tanzania. We’d first met Gayle just a few months before we left Bukoba in 2007, when she came to start teaching at the school where we were working. She is now working at a different school.
We had time to buy an SIM card for our phone and a voucher before squeezing into a taxi with several other people. Gayle says it’s the usual way of getting to Kemondo now if you’re too late for the daladalas. But it isn’t very comfortable with 6-9 people in a car built for 5!
We were thrilled to be hailed by someone in the street near the taxi stand – our friend Aristides, one of the stone-cutters Bruce worked with at Harvest. He’d had an accident since we last saw him and had had his leg amputated below the knee late 2010 as an earlier operation had never healed properly and had left an infected wound. He’d managed to get an artificial leg and proudly showed it to us. More about that later!
Our taxi driver did a surprise detour on the way to Kemondo – to avoid a police check. He said the policemen is like Colonel Gaddafi!
Once at Gayle’s feeling rather weary after all our days of travel, we waited for tea. She makes a really yummy avocado dip. She’s sharing a house with a couple of other teachers at the mission school. We’d visited it briefly 4 years earlier.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
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!
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!
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.
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.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
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.
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.
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.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
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.
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.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Back to Nairobi
Saturday July 11th It was a somewhat cool night disturbed by hyenas, and was cloudy when we got up at 6.15, but cleared up later, and was very hot in Nairobi! After an early chai, there were lots more farewells. We left at quarter to 8 to walk to Ezekiel’s where we had some more chai before walking to the school. The taxi driver had refused to return to Luka’s, saying it was too far and too expensive – TOO TRUE! - but he wouldn’t drop his fee for the shorter trip – GRR! There were lots of passengers this time: us, John, Ezekiel + Joseph (one of the Enkiloriti teachers). Daniel accompanied us to the car to see us off.
It only took 40 minutes to get to Duka Moja this time. On this better road/track, it was possible to drive at 20 kph! Ezekiel farewelled us there, having business to attend to, but Joseph came all the way to Nairobi with us to get some exam papers for the school.
I had a private giggle in the taxi: the radio announcer was talking about various celebrities who were sharing a 'bath day'!!!!!
We reached Nairobi soon after 11, it was a good trip, but we were shocked at the condition of the cattle we passed, and of course the maize was in an even worse state.
At the internet, I still couldn’t access Xnet mail, but was pleased to have an email from my parents on Yahoo saying they’d successfully contacted Amex on our behalf. We changed some USD into Ksh to cover our last expenses in Kenya, also giving John his wedding present.
After a cheap lunch, and even cheaper public toilets (10 Ksh for two), we took a bus back to near Nicholas’ – but during the slow journey bin heavy traffic, it caught the edge of a matatu whilst on lane-changing manoeuvres. They just swerve from lane to lane without indicating or checking that the way is clear, it's amazing there aren't more collisions. Quite a kerfuffle ensued, each driver accusing the other of causing the damage, some of the passengers got involved too! I was praying it wouldn't become physical!
As our bus had ended up diagonally across 1 ½ lanes in a 3-lane carriageway, vehicles on our left had to veer onto the footpath to get past! Some of the passengers started to complain vociferously about the long delay, some even got off the bus and started walking to find another.
Eventually a police van passed us, without slowing down or showing any sign they’d observed the problem, but it must have stopped at the next roundabout & told one of those on point-duty to attend to it, as soon afterwards, a policeman was seen striding purposefully towards us. After a quick word to both drivers, both vehicles started up & drew into the nearby petrol station. Another brief discussion, then we were on our way again – don’t know if any money changed hands or not, couldn’t see.
When we reached our stop, Joseph accompanied our bags on a motorbike taxi back to the ‘shopping centre’ whilst we walked! Poor Bruce wrenched his back again stumbling on a stone. We were saddened to see a dead cow in a patch of grass on the way.
After backpacking our bags from the centre to Nicholas', arriving at about 2.30 to a quiet house, we were greeted by Elizabeth, Emily + the little ones. We wennt to bed to rest whilst John & Joseph returned to town to find the exam papers. We got up a couple of hours later when some children started playing noisily outside. After repacking our bags, we sat in the living room waiting for someone to turn up.
I walked round looking at all the pictures and calendars festooning the wall. One calendar (from a Pentecostal church) had ‘miraculous’ stories – one situation was frankly impossible: a woman gave birth after being pregnant for three years! Another one really made me laugh: “a woman conceived and gave birth to a boy after being in bareness for 4 years!”
After John & Joseph returned at 6.30, we were offered ‘cocoa chai’!!! John was very surprised to hear we hadn’t been offered anything earlier on - so were we! He told us Yasintha is also drinking cocoa instead of tea, they believe it’s bad for mother & baby. She’ll also have LOTS of uji, like the Wahaya in the Bukoba region – they get really fed up with it in the end!
John got Michael on the phone unexpectedly. He was so excited to hear me speak, his voice sprang up an octave, but we didn’t have much time for more than greetings, as John's phone ran out of credit. Michael didn’t ring back but we'd be meeting the next day anyway!
We talked about visiting the local pastor again, but again John was too tired. We watched the TV news & weather, surprised to see the maximum temperature was only 22 deg, it seemed much hotter! We spent the rest of the evening chatting with Nicholas, who'd come to Nairobi 17 years ago to be closer to good grazing. They are used to having the kiangazi (drought/dry season), but it’s the worst he’s known.
Our supper was very late, at ten, but was very delicious: cabbage (a vege at last!) + chapattis, followed by pieces of orange & banana – YUM! Poor Maurice had gone to sleep on a chair, but could only eat just a mouthful or two before slipping back into sleep again, nearly in his plate! It seems cruel to expect little kids (he's only 4!) to stay up so late, I don’t think they realise how much sleep they need.
We didn't get much of that, it was a VERY noisy night: barking dogs outside till early in the morning, then a rooster clapped its wings together & started to crow well before dawn!
It only took 40 minutes to get to Duka Moja this time. On this better road/track, it was possible to drive at 20 kph! Ezekiel farewelled us there, having business to attend to, but Joseph came all the way to Nairobi with us to get some exam papers for the school.
I had a private giggle in the taxi: the radio announcer was talking about various celebrities who were sharing a 'bath day'!!!!!
We reached Nairobi soon after 11, it was a good trip, but we were shocked at the condition of the cattle we passed, and of course the maize was in an even worse state.
At the internet, I still couldn’t access Xnet mail, but was pleased to have an email from my parents on Yahoo saying they’d successfully contacted Amex on our behalf. We changed some USD into Ksh to cover our last expenses in Kenya, also giving John his wedding present.
After a cheap lunch, and even cheaper public toilets (10 Ksh for two), we took a bus back to near Nicholas’ – but during the slow journey bin heavy traffic, it caught the edge of a matatu whilst on lane-changing manoeuvres. They just swerve from lane to lane without indicating or checking that the way is clear, it's amazing there aren't more collisions. Quite a kerfuffle ensued, each driver accusing the other of causing the damage, some of the passengers got involved too! I was praying it wouldn't become physical!
As our bus had ended up diagonally across 1 ½ lanes in a 3-lane carriageway, vehicles on our left had to veer onto the footpath to get past! Some of the passengers started to complain vociferously about the long delay, some even got off the bus and started walking to find another.
Eventually a police van passed us, without slowing down or showing any sign they’d observed the problem, but it must have stopped at the next roundabout & told one of those on point-duty to attend to it, as soon afterwards, a policeman was seen striding purposefully towards us. After a quick word to both drivers, both vehicles started up & drew into the nearby petrol station. Another brief discussion, then we were on our way again – don’t know if any money changed hands or not, couldn’t see.
When we reached our stop, Joseph accompanied our bags on a motorbike taxi back to the ‘shopping centre’ whilst we walked! Poor Bruce wrenched his back again stumbling on a stone. We were saddened to see a dead cow in a patch of grass on the way.
After backpacking our bags from the centre to Nicholas', arriving at about 2.30 to a quiet house, we were greeted by Elizabeth, Emily + the little ones. We wennt to bed to rest whilst John & Joseph returned to town to find the exam papers. We got up a couple of hours later when some children started playing noisily outside. After repacking our bags, we sat in the living room waiting for someone to turn up.
I walked round looking at all the pictures and calendars festooning the wall. One calendar (from a Pentecostal church) had ‘miraculous’ stories – one situation was frankly impossible: a woman gave birth after being pregnant for three years! Another one really made me laugh: “a woman conceived and gave birth to a boy after being in bareness for 4 years!”
After John & Joseph returned at 6.30, we were offered ‘cocoa chai’!!! John was very surprised to hear we hadn’t been offered anything earlier on - so were we! He told us Yasintha is also drinking cocoa instead of tea, they believe it’s bad for mother & baby. She’ll also have LOTS of uji, like the Wahaya in the Bukoba region – they get really fed up with it in the end!
John got Michael on the phone unexpectedly. He was so excited to hear me speak, his voice sprang up an octave, but we didn’t have much time for more than greetings, as John's phone ran out of credit. Michael didn’t ring back but we'd be meeting the next day anyway!
We talked about visiting the local pastor again, but again John was too tired. We watched the TV news & weather, surprised to see the maximum temperature was only 22 deg, it seemed much hotter! We spent the rest of the evening chatting with Nicholas, who'd come to Nairobi 17 years ago to be closer to good grazing. They are used to having the kiangazi (drought/dry season), but it’s the worst he’s known.
Our supper was very late, at ten, but was very delicious: cabbage (a vege at last!) + chapattis, followed by pieces of orange & banana – YUM! Poor Maurice had gone to sleep on a chair, but could only eat just a mouthful or two before slipping back into sleep again, nearly in his plate! It seems cruel to expect little kids (he's only 4!) to stay up so late, I don’t think they realise how much sleep they need.
We didn't get much of that, it was a VERY noisy night: barking dogs outside till early in the morning, then a rooster clapped its wings together & started to crow well before dawn!
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Visits to Ezekiel and John Nkalo, Inkoirienito church.
Friday 3rd July A sunny day, but a cool breeze. Visited in the morning by Frank, in Standard Five aged 13, one of Raheli's sons. He tried to speak a little English with us: “Will you come to the house of my mother?”
More men came to visit and tell us their problems, including Ezekiel Nkalo who we’d met in Duka Moja.
Ezekiel had 300 sheep/goats and 200 cattle, he now has 50 sheep/goats + 30 cattle; 2 wives and 12 children (aged up to 12).
John Nkalo, his brother, had similar numbers of livestock, but has fewer cattle left now. He has 4 wives and 20 children! He's the chairman of Enkiloriti School Board.
Pastor Daudi from Inkoirienito AIC only has 5 cattle left now.
Ezekiel has been saved five years, but already had 2 wives; the first is a Maasai chosen by his family; the second is a Kikuyu married for love! He'd like to be a pastor but would have to forsake a wife. Bruce says he can still be an evangelist.
We walked to Luka's dam for human/stock water - nearly empty, it should be nearly full!
Then we walked to the maize/bean plantation (left). Eland & giraffe
had got over the boma in the night and eaten some of the plants that have survived. Only a few look any good, they are in a damp spot where water/urine drains from the yard: some half dozen had tassels or silks, the rest were small & stunted. We were told that maize crops grown near towns/villages are at risk of theft, people bring donkey carts to take the cobs to sell in Nairobi! Then we visited some of the sites where dead livestock (above right) that died near home were taken, but hyenas had pulled some down the hillside. Most died on the mountains, too weak to cope with the 2+ hours' walk. We saw no feed suitable for cattle, only a picking for a few sheep/goats.
Pics: feed situation (left); the best feed (right): just a few square metres of 1 cm long grass!
Back at Luka's, they were helping an old man, walking with two sticks, onto a motorbike to take him home. He’d come the night before, thinking we’d brought relief food with us, very disappointed that there was none. We had chapattis, chai and a wash before walking to Inkoirienito church.
The large government-built reservoir has been fenced to keep out livestock, they are only allowed in in supervised groups. The intake area needs altering to prevent erosion and silting, water has been entering below the concreted stone area. It has never had much water in it since it was built in 2007. Pics: left = 2007, Bruce is way down the far end! Right = water remaining 2009.
The church water tank built with funds from NZ shows a little seepage, it's nearly full, being conserved for John’s wedding! Pic: 2007 after thanksgiving service.
A large area has been cleared near the church to use for a school or kindergarten.
We walked to Ezekiel’s house past more heaps of bones and the remains of his failed watermelon crop. On the way we'd passed close to the River Elina (right). Steep gorges fill with rushing water from the mountains when it rains. Many cattle are lost each dry season, falling down the banks trying to get to the grass in the river bed. There were LOTS of flies there.
His 4 year old son came to meet us, dancing for us with incredible skill! He's said to be an excellent mimic & singer, and wants to be a pastor!
We talked about the problems in the area and the need for sponsors/aid whilst we drank chai and ate rice and potatoes together.
Enkiloriti Clinic started 3 years near the primary school but is unusable, as it has no roof. Going to Duka Moja for treatment is very expensive.
The Primary School doesn’t have enough teachers; no suitable teachers' houses; the parents can’t pay teachers’ salaries – non-government teachers rely on these, they have only passed Form 4. To work for the government, you need a College diploma.
After walking round Ezekiel's shamba, we went to his brother's, but only his wives and some children were there. They have also lost many stock on the mountain, but some died near the huts.
The men were amused, as we sat on stools outside, by a boy uttering strange cries - I was embarrassed to be told that the first were those of girls before circumcision, the second those of boys!
Pic: nice view of distant mountains, huts + donkey corral: the poor things only got let out at midday!
Amusing sight: 2 little girls carrying shoes in lesos on their backs, each holding a jar of VERY dirty water – their ‘babies’ and ‘milk’!
Returning to Luka’s through the bush, one section was so slippery I was given Luka’s stick to help! There was some kind of monkey in the trees, but I only caught a brief glimpse.
We were visited by 2 girls in the evening: Shumbai and Dagili, + some women: Mary (just had her first baby), Maria & Susannah. I was given 2 bracelets, both made by Shumbai: 1) Kenyan flag design from Shumbai; 2) “I love you” given to Bruce by Susannah, but too small - given to me instead!
More men came to visit and tell us their problems, including Ezekiel Nkalo who we’d met in Duka Moja.
Ezekiel had 300 sheep/goats and 200 cattle, he now has 50 sheep/goats + 30 cattle; 2 wives and 12 children (aged up to 12).
John Nkalo, his brother, had similar numbers of livestock, but has fewer cattle left now. He has 4 wives and 20 children! He's the chairman of Enkiloriti School Board.
Pastor Daudi from Inkoirienito AIC only has 5 cattle left now.
Ezekiel has been saved five years, but already had 2 wives; the first is a Maasai chosen by his family; the second is a Kikuyu married for love! He'd like to be a pastor but would have to forsake a wife. Bruce says he can still be an evangelist.
We walked to Luka's dam for human/stock water - nearly empty, it should be nearly full!
Then we walked to the maize/bean plantation (left). Eland & giraffehad got over the boma in the night and eaten some of the plants that have survived. Only a few look any good, they are in a damp spot where water/urine drains from the yard: some half dozen had tassels or silks, the rest were small & stunted. We were told that maize crops grown near towns/villages are at risk of theft, people bring donkey carts to take the cobs to sell in Nairobi! Then we visited some of the sites where dead livestock (above right) that died near home were taken, but hyenas had pulled some down the hillside. Most died on the mountains, too weak to cope with the 2+ hours' walk. We saw no feed suitable for cattle, only a picking for a few sheep/goats.
Pics: feed situation (left); the best feed (right): just a few square metres of 1 cm long grass!
Back at Luka's, they were helping an old man, walking with two sticks, onto a motorbike to take him home. He’d come the night before, thinking we’d brought relief food with us, very disappointed that there was none. We had chapattis, chai and a wash before walking to Inkoirienito church.
The large government-built reservoir has been fenced to keep out livestock, they are only allowed in in supervised groups. The intake area needs altering to prevent erosion and silting, water has been entering below the concreted stone area. It has never had much water in it since it was built in 2007. Pics: left = 2007, Bruce is way down the far end! Right = water remaining 2009.
The church water tank built with funds from NZ shows a little seepage, it's nearly full, being conserved for John’s wedding! Pic: 2007 after thanksgiving service.A large area has been cleared near the church to use for a school or kindergarten.
We walked to Ezekiel’s house past more heaps of bones and the remains of his failed watermelon crop. On the way we'd passed close to the River Elina (right). Steep gorges fill with rushing water from the mountains when it rains. Many cattle are lost each dry season, falling down the banks trying to get to the grass in the river bed. There were LOTS of flies there.
His 4 year old son came to meet us, dancing for us with incredible skill! He's said to be an excellent mimic & singer, and wants to be a pastor!
We talked about the problems in the area and the need for sponsors/aid whilst we drank chai and ate rice and potatoes together.
Enkiloriti Clinic started 3 years near the primary school but is unusable, as it has no roof. Going to Duka Moja for treatment is very expensive.
The Primary School doesn’t have enough teachers; no suitable teachers' houses; the parents can’t pay teachers’ salaries – non-government teachers rely on these, they have only passed Form 4. To work for the government, you need a College diploma.
After walking round Ezekiel's shamba, we went to his brother's, but only his wives and some children were there. They have also lost many stock on the mountain, but some died near the huts.
The men were amused, as we sat on stools outside, by a boy uttering strange cries - I was embarrassed to be told that the first were those of girls before circumcision, the second those of boys!
Pic: nice view of distant mountains, huts + donkey corral: the poor things only got let out at midday! Amusing sight: 2 little girls carrying shoes in lesos on their backs, each holding a jar of VERY dirty water – their ‘babies’ and ‘milk’!
Returning to Luka’s through the bush, one section was so slippery I was given Luka’s stick to help! There was some kind of monkey in the trees, but I only caught a brief glimpse.
We were visited by 2 girls in the evening: Shumbai and Dagili, + some women: Mary (just had her first baby), Maria & Susannah. I was given 2 bracelets, both made by Shumbai: 1) Kenyan flag design from Shumbai; 2) “I love you” given to Bruce by Susannah, but too small - given to me instead!
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