Church and visits on Bumbire Island

Sunday March 27th 2011
It was a cool, wet morning, and quite thundery at first. We started the day with a breakfast of cold leftover rice and black tea, also some bread. After the rain had eased off a bit, around 10 am, it was time to go to church. The paths were quite slippery, but we managed to climb the hill without falling over.
It was our first time in the new brick church that we'd last seen in the early stages of construction. On our first visit to Bumbire Island in December 2006, we helped carry large rocks to help build the foundations. These were later concreted by a fundi, but there were some problems. The first fundi to do the concreting asked to have all the money paid in advance - saying that he had some urgent family needs. He then absconded, leaving the foundations only half-completed. The second fundi didn't mix the cement and sand together in the right proportions, so, when we arrived on our second visit in August 2007, parts of the concrete could be brushed off the foundations as it had been made with too much sand. We spent some time removing the poor quality concrete so that it could be replaced it with a better mix. All this cost the small church far too much money.
Between those two visits, the church had been busy making bricks. Some had been stacked all around the site, others needed stacking, and there were some ready to be burnt in a kiln. We took part in the work of stacking bricks and assisting with fetching water to make more. The biggest problem was convincing pastor that we really wanted to help - otherwise we would have been sitting around, feeling rather bored and useless!
Brick-making involves one man puddling away in the bottom of a deep hole in the mud whilst others, including women and children, go to the water source to fetch water in 10 or 20l containers. It was some way off, entailing a walk down the path along the top of the hill, down the steepish hillside through a couple of shambas, and finally down a shortish path to a reservoir that had been built by missionaries. It is filled by a clean spring which then flows out of the concrete-lined pool to form a stream that continues down a narrow ravine, eventually passing below the Mugaruras' shamba.
I tried carrying a 10l container on my head, placing it on a round, twisted grass cap. Unfortunately, I didn't quite fill it right to the brim, trying to avoid getting wet. I thought the cap might come off if there was too much water-pressure on it! The containers were plugged either with a piece of a plant or by fastening thin plastic over the opening with a rubber band. The water moved too much when I was climbing the hill, causing quite a headache and a lot of pressure on my skull. Many of the women carry 20l containers!!! I decided it was much easier just carrying the containers by hand, and ended up taking 2 x 10l the next trip. They thought I was very strong, but I think they are too!
The water is poured into the hole and the soil is trampled in and dug out of the sides as well. Others assist by bringing suitable soil from further away. When the mud reaches the desired consistency, it is scooped up out of the hole and given to men holding wooden forms. The mud is pressed into them and the excess smoothed off the outside. The resulting brick is pushed out of the mould onto the ground and placed on one side to dry.
The bricks have to be turned from time to time until they are dry enough to stack. The stacks are about 1/2 metre high; the bricks are placed loosely, first lengthwise in two rows, then the next layer crosswise. We helped do this one day. Each pile ends up being covered with an umbrella of dried grass so that rainwater is shed. If this isn't done, the unburnt bricks start to crumble and dissolve!
After a while, the bricks are restacked, as different layers dry at different rates. Eventually they are built into a kiln, and a fire lit inside to burn the bricks. The process can take quite a long time.
On this, our third visit, the church had been in use for some time, and already the site of the former church had become overgrown with young trees and vegetation. It was hard to discover where it had been. We were really a bit sad that they had decided to build a brick building; we had really enjoyed the atmosphere of the traditionally built thatched one, and thought that the traditional method is so practical and cheap to put up, using local renewable resources. The biggest problem would have been maintaining the thatch so that people didn't get wet in the rains, and replacing the walls if/when they get destroyed by ants or termites.
The new church had been roofed with iron sheets - a big expense - but the Agape church provides its churches with these if the congregations do the rest of the work in building the main structure. Swallows had built a few nests under the roof, so were flying in and out as we held the service, which was quite fun really!
There was only a very small congregation at first: us, the four Mugararas, and the faithful elder, Daniel. However, after an hour or so, several other people turned up, including lots of children, so the total congregation was 18. I was asked to translate Bruce's sermon and managed pretty well, although I got a bit stuck on a few phrases so was glad that Pastor was able to help me out.
Lunch was rice and chicken (the same as we'd had the previous night) - but there was nothing offered to drink. Fortunately we still had some water in our room that we'd bought in Bukoba. After lunch, we went down the steep path to the stream, crossed it (you have to take a big step or small jump across from one rock to another then clamber over slippery tree roots to meet the path on the other side), and then climbed up the path to Fideli’s house, one of the next-door neighbours.
Pictured are Fideli and his wife, Pastor Kaserwa (from the mainland) and Bruce, photo taken December 2006. We were amazed to find out that Fideli now has five children: three boys and two girls. He only had the three boys when we last saw them in 2007: Mika, Meshaki (called Meshaki 1 to distinguish him from the Mugaruras' Meshaki), and Melkizideki, who was nearly a year old when we left and was not yet walking, much to everyone's concern. They told us that most babies start walking at around 8-9 months old! Melkizideki had taken everyone by surprise by weaning himself at 9 months of age; usually the babies are fed for 2-3 years or at least till the next one is nearly born. He obviously hadn't been getting the right kind of diet as he was quite small and seemed rather lethargic.
It's very hard for the locals to provide the right mix of protein, fat, carbohydrate and vitamins for newly-weaned babies and toddlers. Meals are based mainly around starchy staples. Meat, poultry and fish are very expensive so aren't eaten very much or in small quantities, and fresh fruit and veges don't feature very strongly in the diet. If you have your own shamba you try to grow as much of your own food as you can, but many things are seasonal and can only be eaten out-of-season if you can get to a market that brings in foods from other parts of Tanzania where the seasons are different. The mchuzi – a soup-like liquid served in a bowl, sometimes one for each person - usually contains onions and tomatoes, but these might be the only veges eaten in a day if you don’t count the starchy roots such as cassava, taro or sweet potato. If meat, poultry or fish is cooked, the cooking liquid becomes the mchuzi.
All of Fideli’s children are very friendly, well-mannered, and quite delightful, and were very happy to see us. I amazed them (and myself!) by correctly identifying Meshaki. Fideli's mother was very sick, and was in the vestibule lying on a mat on the grass-covered dirt floor. She was very weak, and although she did manage to sit up, could hardly walk. Mama Mugarura helped her outside at one point - presumably to visit the choo, and that seemed to completely exhaust her. We were told that she'd been sick for about 6 weeks, had a high fever, wasn't drinking properly, and couldn't keep any food down. They had tried all kinds of treatment without success, including antibiotics, so were discussing whether to take her to the clinic run by African Inland Mission the next day.
Most of the local huts and houses have a kind of vestibule or room just inside the front door where visitors sit, usually on mats. Fideli's house is quite large, so this room could seat quite a good number of people. There was a lovely clucky hen in one corner sitting on some eggs - this is quite common! In one house, we were very amused to see a hen sitting on one of the chairs! When you visit, you are usually offered some kind of food or drink - we were offered some fresh pineapple - yum!
Once we'd finished our visit, mama went home, but pastor, Bruce and I went down another path and crossed the stream further down. After a good walk around the side of the hill, through a section of bush, then down a rockier path right to the lakeshore, we arrived at Kiiza's house. His brother was the one who had provided us with sodas in Kemondo. Kiiza offered us cold rice and spiced tea - yummy! We had a very nice conversation, and he expressed a desire that we'd stay in Tanzania and build a house on the island! He doesn't have a very good source of income, and has a wife and two children to feed. Sometimes he can earn a little cash by carrying burdens for people at the landing stages, but mostly they survive on what is grown on his shamba. He is living in a very interesting home, it has belonged to the family for some time, I think, and may have been built by Germans. The doors are solid timber, quite ornately carved wood, and the house looks solidly built of well-laid bricks and is quite large - but the vestibule had obviously been added on at a later date, and the concrete floor was parting company with the rest of the building!
It was quite hot on the way back to the Mugaruras’, and some time after we arrived back, the children returned with their two goats. The goats are tethered for many hours during the day as well as all night, but once a day they are taken down to the stream for water and up the hill for grazing (usually the children’s job). Meshaki lost his goat this time, he finds them rather hard to hold - but I managed to catch it for him.
We had quite a late dinner with Daniel - rice, chicken and tea again. Unfortunately I felt a little nauseous after drinking some tea, so decided to be very careful how much I ate. We ended up going to bed close to 10 pm.
The evenings close in quite early; darkness falls quite abruptly around 7 pm, and with no electricity, it's impossible to read - although pastor likes to try, using a torch. He now has a rather interesting battery-powered lamp that resembles a kerosene one in shape and size. Unfortunately the light it gave barely enabled you to see what you were eating, so if Pastor wanted to read, he had to use a torch as well!
I was glad to have a much better sleep; there was no wildlife for quite some time, although I woke up briefly in the early morning to hear rats running around in the house.

Harvesting rice

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

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

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

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.

A seminar and Moses Teeka

Saturday July 4th We had an early breakfast of chai/chapattis, then had time to bathe + wash my hair, waiting for Ezekiel to come. It was a bit embarrassing having a big audience of mamas and children when I went outside to comb hair in the breeze - one mama had a go too!
We left at 9.30, carrying our day packs, to attend a seminar at Nalepo Baptist Church. On the way, we visited a family badly affected by the drought, and had chai in the mama’s hut, listening to their story. One son owes 10,000 Ksh school fees, so he can’t get his Leaving Certificate - which means no work or college prospects. Bruce shared a word about having hope: the mama started crying, so I stayed in the hut to pray with her; we had a tearful hug.
They had 400 sheep/goats & 300 cattle, but now only have 200 sheep/goats and 30 cattle. 2 sons took us round the manyatta, some corrals are not even used now, although all used to be full.
We were all told to go to the toilet in the bush before reaching the church – no facilities there + the seminar would have NO breaks!! When we arrived at 11, it had already started. As it didn’t finish till 5, we were glad of the frequent opportunities to stand and sing between speakers. John & another man took turns translating into English. We enjoyed the messages apart from one. The preacher was repeating a message he’d heard in town: the drought was God’s punishment on the Maasai as they hadn't been giving to Him; they needed to give Him everything, especially their best. He also said their church was too small so they should build a big stone one! It's true there were over 400 packed into the iron building, but a lot were from other churches!
The 2nd speaker was good, sharing from 1st/2nd Timothy, firstly about the need for wives to be obedient, and not want to emulate women in other places who strive to be church leaders. Instead, they should set a good example for the other women. Men and women are equal but have different roles. He encouraged the men to ‘fight the good fight’, i.e. to be diligent in the faith and not give up.
When the meeting ended, we were told to stay inside to eat with the pastors: potato stew, chapattis & beef -it was so tough I finished ½ hour after the rest!
After 1 ½ hours' walk, we reached Moses' manyatta just before dark, to be greeted by many people. One baby had a pale swollen face – malnutrition? - but I didn't get another look at it.
We sat chatting with Moses in the hut we were to stay in. There are 20 primary school children + 15 pre-schoolers on the manyatta. Soinkan, John’s full sister, is the only one at High School, she's in Form One at Najile, and has been chased away for owing fees. John’s youngest sister, Pirisat, changed primary schools this year as the teachers were absent so often her studies were affected.
Only 3 of Moses’ 5 wives are still living here, John’s mother is at Luka’s to get feed for John’s stock and another is with her eldest son.
Moses had 300 sheep/goats and many cattle, but now has only 60 sheep/goats, and a few cattle. As a fat sheep is now only worth 1,000 Ksh instead of 5,000 (over $100!) he’d have to sell 20 to be able to send all his children to school!
It was hard to get to sleep as dogs were fighting outside our hut until very late; one of the young ones kept getting picked on, making me jump with its sharp yelping.