Pounding rice and the Ipilili Centre

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

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

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

Last day in Germany

Monday 29th June  After checking out of our hotel, we took our bags to Jeremy's (left) then went to the North Duisburg Industrial Park.  This factory was closed 20 years ago, but used to make iron using coke from the Essen plant. 
Interesting sights: small fish in a ground-level storage bunker - how did they get there? trees and shrubs taking over the buildings and old railway tracks; a large wind sail near two cooling ponds (right); gas pipes stretching for kilometres over the countryside!  We climbed 253 stairs to the top of the furnace structure.  Our souvenir - a €5 flattened and embossed with the plant name by turning a handle!
After a brief rest at Jeremy’s, we went out to let Judith work uninterrupted.  It was SO hot, over 30°, that I got a really bad headache.  I wanted to get my hair cut before landing in Africa, but it turned out that but Monday is hairdressers' day off in Duisburg.
We took some books to the Botanic Gardens to read in the shade, but had to move off the grass when Jeremy got bitten by ants to some semi-reclining seats.
After repacking our bags and wrapping gifts, we caught the U-bahn to Düsseldorf. It was fun riding high above the pavements and roads in the free twin-carriage Sky Train, suspended below a curved concrete span, from the station to our terminal!After a search to find the right check-in desk, we enjoyed a good coffee and doughnuts with chocolate & hazelnuts inside before wandering around an interesting photographic display about immigrants living in various parts of the world.  It took a long time to pass through security, but we were happy to use some €2 vouchers to buy sweets for the Maasai children.