Long Trip Home

I want to give you an idea of how long it took to fly home. We left for the Kilimanjaro Airport at 11:00 Monday morning Lincoln Time. We flew from Kilimanjaro to Dar es Salam, but that only took an hour. We had to stay on the plane for an hour and then took off for Amsterdam. That was about a 9 hour flight. When we left Amsterdam we flew to Minneapolis... about 9 hours. Then we had an hour flight to Lincoln. I arrived in Lincoln around 7:00 p.m. Tuesday evening. It was a long, tiring trip, but well worth it. Thanks again for going on this journey with me. I hope your hearts have been touched by some of my experiences.

My Happiness

I found out the reason God planned for me to go on this mission trip. It was because I was to develop a personal connection with the AIDS Orphan that my family sponsors. It was the most amazing experience getting to know her and telling her all about my family. I asked Happiness what she needed. She said she needed some shoes because when it is muddy she doesn't have a dry pair to wear after she washes hers. I asked her to trace her foot. She came back with a string. She didn't have any paper so she measured her foot with a string. That string is one of my most valuable possessions. Happiness wants to be a lawyer! When I was there she was in "study hall" studying physics. Yep, she must take after her mother... ha! I told her, wow, I can't help you with your homework. She's so smart. One of the hardest things I've ever had to do was leave her. She truly is my daughter. She wrote a letter to my family that brings me to tears every time I read it. She said that she had joy like a king because her mum (Krist) came to see her. She also said it was hard for her because she knew I was leaving. She said, "Who will care for me when mum is gone? Who will ask questions about me? Who will treat me like she did?" Happiness, I did not leave you. I left a piece of my heart with you. I am trying to figure out how I can come back to see you or I will find a way to get you over here to meet the rest of your family. You are an important member of our family Happiness. We love you so much, always remember that.

Here is a video of Happiness playing volleyball!!

Going on Safari

I've already talked a little about this, but wanted to share a few of the pictures and stories. I had the privilege of going on safari with the Students at Uroki Secondary School. My plane landed in Tanzania Tuesday evening around 9:00 p.m. We went to bed around 12:30 that night. I had to get up at 5:30 a.m. to go on the school tour. I woke up to pouring rain. I was so worried about how we were going to get off the mountain. Guess what, I had good reason to be worried. The bus was stuck at least 5 times and a total of 1 1/2 hours. The students and villagers all had to push. It was a horrible mess. We finally got out of the mud by a homemade banana leaf rope and a truck. I was so surprised that no one got run over of smushed in the process.

You may have already heard that there were 46 people on the bus. I counted the seats and there were 24 seats... and that includes the driver. It was so horribly crowded. We had luggage on our laps, students on students laps. Many people had to stand up for hours at a time. It was definitely a new experience for me.

Our safari was three days long. We went to three places. Lake Manyara, Nongorongoro Crater, and Tarengeri. Our driver was a bus driver and not a safari driver. We had to yell at him to stop if we ever saw an animal. We were so packed in the bus that only the people on the side the animal was on could see the animal. I got to where if someone said there's an animal, I would just pass back my camera and ask the students to take a picture of it for me.

I wouldn't change this safari experience for anything. I learned so much about the students and the country by going with natives of the country. Even though I enjoyed the safari, I still enjoyed the people more.

Click here to see a video of two impala fighting... or play fighting.

Teaching

The main reason I go on these mission trips to Tanzania is to teach. Funny how I always feel like I'm the one who comes back having learned more than what I leave there. I teach at a secondary school called Uroki. Secondary schools are not funded by the government... they are private schools. Students have to pass an exam in order to get into the school. Each year they have to pass National Exams, which are in English. If they don't pass, they most likely won't be able to come back because their families would have to pay $400 for another year of education for them and that is quite a sacrifice. Yes, their education costs $400 per school year... and that includes room and board at Uroki. Many children don't go to secondary school because their families can't afford the tuition or maybe even the uniforms.

When I go I work on teaching English with the students. In 2005 we played Scrabble. This time I worked on adjectives and nouns with them by teaching them the game Apples to Apples. I also made my own bingo and board games that had prepositions.

One day I was showing Anande (a teacher at Uroki) some of the things I'd prepared. She said, "So when can you come teach?" I said, "Well, I was hoping to teach tomorrow, but it's a holiday and there's no school." Anande said, "If you want to teach then, they will come." I was like, no way, I don't want to make them come to class on their day off. She said they would like to. I didn't believe her so she said, "Let's go ask them." We went over to the window, stuck our heads in a classroom and she said, "Form two's, this teacher would like to come teach you tomorrow, will you come." They all said yes. Then she asked them if they were excited to come and they cheered. Sure enough, at 9:15 the next day when I walked into the classroom, they were all there ready for me to teach.

When you walk in the room they all rise. I didn't realize that they don't sit down until you give them permission to sit. Imagine me talking away for a few minutes and then finally realizing that they weren't sitting down on their own. I needed to tell them to sit down. One time I walked into the classroom, the students stood up. I immediately told them they could sit down. Then I introduced myself and said Good Morning. When I said this they all stood up again. I realized that they will stand up for Good Morning as well as when the teacher walks in the room. I quickly learned to tell them good morning, ask how they were doing and THEN I could ask them to sit down, otherwise they would like like yo-yo's going up and down, up and down.

Tanzania Photo Album

I hope you can find time to watch the slideshow of my trip to Tanzania. I accidentally deleted the first four days worth of pictures, so the story starts up while I'm on the last day of safari with my students. You can pause to read the captions or if you hold your mouse over the bottom right corner of the slideshow you will see a pretty circle which will take you directly to the photo album and you can slow down the slideshow or look at individual pictures.

Thanks for going on this journey with me. Stay tuned. Two more stories soon to come.

My Sister Church

My Lincoln church (Southwood Lutheran) began a partnership with our Uswaa, our sister church in Tanzania in 1994. Each year we can feel the bond growing stronger and stronger. I want to share with you a little about Uswaa and some of the people.

It is tradition that those who go to Tanzania teach Sunday School at Uswaa. We can expect anywhere from 250-400 students. We went this time not really certain with what lesson we were going to do. We decided to make fish necklaces and had a song, I WILL MAKE YOU FISHERS OF MEN. When Mama heard us talking about that song she knew it and taught us the song in Kiswahili. I'll include a video of the students singing the song with Mama and one with them singing it with my interpreter. Mama also helped us figure out how to make the string look nicer by twisting it on our legs. I've included a picture of Scott and Mama twisting the string. Every walk we took we came across kids who would hold up their fish necklaces. A simple lesson turned out to be a wonderful message.

The reason I went in August this year instead of July is because our sister church was having their 100 year celebration on August 12. It was so much fun to be able to go and be a part of this jubilee. They anticipated 5,000 people attending. It was a wonderful honor when they finally didn't see us as guests anymore and saw us as family. We knew that day happened when they let us help prepare the food for the jubilee. Some of us peeled bananas, some peeled garlic, and some cleaned rice. I got to clean the rice. We were taken to this group of women with rice in these bamboo basket lids. They were shaking and tossing the rice. They didn't speak English so they couldn't tell us how to do it. We just copied them and eventually we think we got the hang of it. Well, maybe we didn't get the hang of it. The next day during the jubilee all of us admitted that we had little stones in our rice. Oops. All of the food was donated. It was amazing how much food there was.

Click here to listen/watch the video of Mama singing with my students.

Click here to watch the dance which was the same as the one Heidi and I participated in, during the jubilee celebration. This video shows the dance where the lady came over and gave me the plant top... as seen in the picture above. I couldn't understand them when we were dancing with them, but I'm fairly certain they were making fun of the tall Mazungo (white person).

Faraja Primary School

I'm back in the states now, but now that I have easy access to the internet I'll be posting at least 3 or 4 times so people can find out about my experiences and see some of the pictures.

Today I'll tell you about Faraja! Heidi, Gail, Jo and I took a 2 hour ride to one of the only schools for handicapped children in Tanzania (I think there are 3 total). My teaching background is special education so I was really looking forward to seeing these children.

We had a tour of the school, peeked into a few classrooms, saw the dorms the children stay in, and had tea. We got the sense that they didn't really want us to be in the classrooms... which was the reason I came. I didn't just want to be an observer, I wanted to teach the students. I'd forgotten that God had a greater plan for us and that I needed to forget my own agenda. Finally the pastor asked if we wanted to play with the children on the playground after school was out. Sure, fine. It wasn't teaching, but at least I'd get to socialize with the children. We took adaptive toys like frisbees, velcro balls, bubbles, wands with strings, and music to the playground with us.

It was the most amazing experience ever! ! I immediately noticed that despite having a physical handicap these children were so extremely happy. They didn't let their disabilities or hardships get in the way of their enjoying life. They were so capable of doing things I would never have imagined them being able to do. One boy (I will attach his picture) wanted to teeter totter. No big deal except he had no legs. I tried to help push the teeter totter for him but he kept shooing me away. He would bounce to get it to go up and down. When he was done, he just walked away using his arms with his empty pant legs trailing behind him.

Heidi brought an ipod and speakers and we did the Hokey Pokey. The children who could stand caught on easily and did the actions with us. Those that were in wheelchairs or who couldn't stand without a walker, we went over and picked them up and helped them do the dance. They were laughing and having the best time. There are only approximately 8 adults for 80+ children so they don't get very many opportunities to have adult assistance. We were surprised at how the students take care of each other. They push wheelchairs, they get walkers for a school mate, the help feed those who can't move their arms. It was so wonderful to see how they formed their own community and included and helped everyone be successful.

We spent the night in their guest house and the next day, after morning prayer service, the pastor let us go into the classrooms. I think the playground time the day before showed him that we deeply cared. I went into a kindergarten classroom and helped with numbers... the children spoke Kiswahili, but were learning their numbers in English. After that we went into the computer lab. They were just given four computers, but didn't know how to use them very well. I worked with one student on word processing. We may have had different languages, but communication was never a problem.

I had to write Brad and tell him that I gave away most of my money while I was at Faraja. I felt compelled to donate what I had because they were doing such wonderful things and I needed to have it continue. I went there with a full pocket book and left with a full heart! What a trade-off!

Feels Like Home

I sadly only have 2 days left! I feel so at home here. This is the only time I've gotten to an internet cafe in the week so I will try to catch people up on what I've been doing.

First, my family sponsors an AIDS orphan and pays for her education. She happens to be going to the school in which I am teaching. I've gotten to spend some quality time with her and it will be very hard for me to leave her. When I get back to the states I will post pictures of her. She is such a bright spot in my life. When you ask about my children, I will now say I have 4. Happiness is my 4th child and she truly feels like family. She graduates from Form 4 (Senior) next year, so I am going to have to try to figure out how to get back here to see that. I did tell her that my family would continue to sponsor her for form 5 and 6 which is like training before college. She cried when she found out that she won't have to worry about that for 3 more years.

I spent 2 days at Faraja, which is a school for mentally and physically handicapped children. I was in heaven. The students were so happy and well taken care of. They live there and it has become their home. I have about 4 children in the kindergarten class in which I visited that I would LOVE to take home with me. Wait until you see those pictures. Their faces and smiles will take your breath away.

We are getting ready for the big celebration at our Sister church tomorrow. We heard that we will have to get up at 4:00 a.m. to start cooking. We get to help peel bananas and potatoes later today when we get back there. They are expecting around 5,000 people to attend. The animals that have been donated so far and are being kept on the yard of the church are 5 cows, 15 goats, 8 sheep and 160 chickens. Butchering day is today... hopefully I'm not around when that happens. I about cried yesterday when I saw the villagers bring animals and I knew what was going to happen to that animal.

I'm going to end now. Please know I am safe and very happy with my Tanzania Family! I'm crying right now thinking of leaving them because they really have warmly taken us in.

Oh, last night we sat by the fireplace in the dining room to get warm. I'm wearning a scarf around my neck right now. Just thought I'd mention it because we heard that you are in a heat wave. I'll think of you all tonight as I sit by the fire to keep warm.

Kwa Harinie

I'm Here

I don't know where to start. It has been an amazing adventure already. It started out pretty rough with my daughter getting sick and going to the doctor while I was in flight. I was so worried about her. I called from Amsterdam and she was getting better but the dog broke his back and was paralyzed. I found out now he's had surgery and is home now. Maybe now I can quit worrying about home and do God's work here.

I went on Safari with 36 students and 3 teachers and 3 American's and 1 Brit and 2 drivers. That doesn't sound impressive until you find out that we were on a bus that only holds 26 people. We drove hundreds and hundreds of kilometers packed in tighter than sardines. People were sitting on laps and more people on top of those laps. It sounds awful, but it was so wonderful. No better way to get to know the students then to be crammed into a bus like that for 3 days. I only have 6 minutes left on the internet so I'm going to go on and if I have time later I will elaborate.

Yesterday I accidently erased ALL of my pictures on my camera. I wasn't even concerned about it because over here you know there are much worse things in life. Yesterday I got to feel what it is like to go hungry. While at a National Park we were at the picnic table eating the one tortillia and cooked meat and a babboon came up and took our tortillia. He left the meat that was cooked about 5 days ago and brought along in a bucket for our school trip. Needless to say, we went without lunch because I was not going to eat that meat. We didn't have breakfast, so we were looking forward to lunch. Oh well, that night at 8:00 we finally got to eat a meal. Yes, now I know how the people in Africa feel. I have a new understanding for when they say the starving people of africa.

Only 3 minutes left on the the computer so I need to close.

I have only been on Safari. Today I will go to a wedding. Tomorrow I teach Sunday School. Then I will teach for the rest of the week. I will try to make it back to the cafe and let you know what is going on. I did read my e-mail so those of you who took the time to e-mail me please know I did read them and was so glad to hear from you!

I feel like the luckiest person in the world. Thanks for letting me share this experience with you.

Kristi

I Need to Get Rid of Some Weight

A Tanzanian Kitchen

How can I be overweight? I was really careful. I had only the things I needed. I don't know how to get rid of the extra two pounds I'm packing. If you haven't figured out by now, I'm talking about my luggage, not me personally. I have a 50 lb. weight limit for both of my check-in bags. Fifty pounds is NOT very much when you are leaving the country. I hate to admit, but I think most of the weight is with my hair products. How humiliating. Hopefully I will get over my vanity and will be able to leave most of my "material possessions" there for those who really need them.

Granted, I'm weighing my luggage on my bathroom scale and it may not be that accurate, but I want to have about a 3 lb. leeway for the airport's more accurate scale. I decided to leave my National Geographic magazines home, along with a pair of pants that I was hoping to be able to wear, but secretly knew I wouldn't be able to. The magazines were going to be for a lesson I was going to teach, but I can find magazines somewhere else, right?

Whatever possessed me to take 14 pairs of underwear and 12 skirts???? I'm sure I'll be able to have laundry done sometime, but there's always the chance that I won't find anyone that can do it for me. I'm sure I'll wear all 4 pairs of shoes (down from 6). What am I thinking?? I don't need all of this stuff, but I'm having a hard time thinking of being "without" my stuff. What if I need my rain jacket and not my light jacket or my sweater. Geesh, I'm pathetic. Guess it's time for me to go back to Africa and learn what is really important. It's most certainly not the things I'm taking, but the lives that will be touched (mine included) by this mission trip.

Tomorrow at this time I'll be on my way! Thanks for your support.

Packing and Eating

Six days until takeoff! Time is now flying by. I haven't packed yet, but I have a lot of PILES of things to take with me. I'm so amazed at the generosity of the people who know I'm going. Everyone is thinking of what they can do to help out, so it's not just my mission, it's "our mission". I've gotten money to take with me to "help" someone over there. It will go so far and be such a blessing. I'll be sure to tell you what I've done with the money while I'm there. A friend is giving me a box of old racquetballs to take and give to the kids. I think I'll share them with the students at my school so they can have something to do when school is out. The students are boarded there, so once school is out in the afternoon they don't have much to do. I'm also taking quilts, pens, bubbles, bracelets, and a really nice picture. I'm having a nice big bowl of ice cream right now. That's the one thing I will miss while I'm over there for 16 days. I remember in 2005 we literally ran in the airport in Amsterdam to the Hagen Das booth. Milk will also be something I will miss. They serve milk sometimes, but I was never sure if it was cow's milk or goat's milk so I didn't drink it. I will most likely have "tea" every day around 11:00. We all stop what we are doing for "tea". I may even be brave this time and try the banana stew (they put banana's in everything). I'm going to savor every bite for the next 6 days because my taste buds are going to be in for quite the shock. Maybe I'll like "goat" this time around?!?

The picture is of a market that sells meat. Anyone want me to bring you back some?

Winter in Tanzania

Phew! It's almost 100 degrees Fahrenheit today in Lincoln. That is 38 degrees Celsius. I looked up the weather in Arusha, which is about 40 minutes away from where I'll be staying on the mountain. It's supposed to be 66 with a low of 59 tonight. Ahhh, doesn't that sound delightful? I've cut and pasted the weeks weather forecast for Arusha. Hope it works when I hit post. I doubt if it will change much when I leave (in less than 2 weeks).

61°F
Mostly Cloudy
Wind: E at 17 mph
Humidity: 94%

Tue

66°F | 59°F

Wed

68°F | 53°F

Thu

69°F | 57°F

Fri

68°F | 55°F

It's funny, but we think 66 degrees sounds comfortable, but Natives of Africa think it is cold. I will post a picture so you can see what type of clothing they wear in 60 degree weather. We layered and wore sweaters, but had them off by the afternoon.

I'm beginning to think about packing. I will have to wear skirts for 2 weeks. Yuck.

Fifteen Days Away

I can't believe how quickly time is going by. I went and picked up my malaria and diarrhea medicine last week. Over $200 for just those two medications. Then I also have at least $50 in over the counter medications that I'm taking along with me.

I'm so excited because I heard back from Peter. Peter was our driver in Tanzania in 2005. He's kept in touch and often sends pictures of his children. He invited Heidi and I to his moms house in Machame. It is an honor to be taken to meet someone's mother. We need to think of a special gift for her and for his boys, too. I can't wait to see Peter and find out what has been happening to his life the past two years.

I got an e-mail today from Isaria. Isaria is a beautiful girl who happened to be my translator in church. She is from the area, but went to college and was home on holiday. She now lives and works in Dar so I don't know if I will get to see her or not. I hope she will be able to make it to the 100 year celebration of our sister church.

I'll attach a picture of Peter and one of Isaria so you can see my friends from the other side of the world.

I found out that I am going to be going on Safari on August 1-3 with some students from the school I will be teaching at. I have no idea where we are going or where we will be staying, but it will be a great experience to go on safari with them. The AIDS orphan that my family sponsors (Happiness) will be going on the school trip too!

I also found out that I get to go to a wedding while I'm there. When I was there in 2005 I got to experience a wedding in Africa. It was amazing. Guess I will be having goat on this trip too! They used the goat as we use wedding cake. (see attached picture).

Putting Things in Perspective

Okay, I had three comments on my "anxiety" post. All three people had WONDERFUL suggestions. The main theme was "put it in God's hands." They are right. This really isn't my mission. It isn't about me and what I'm going to do or my needs. It's about the people I'll run across. It's about their needs being met. It's about offering hope to those that have given up. It's to help me see God in the tiny things again.

I found out that we are going to be staying at the church (Uswaa) while we are there. Uswaa Parish is on Mount Kilimanjaro. It's a beautiful place in the middle of the jungle. I remember the last time the bush babies kept me awake all night. I thought they were gorilla's. The next morning I found out they were about the size of a tiny squirrel. They are so loud. Go to the following link to see what a bush baby looks like. If you click on the picture you will hear the sounds I will hear in the middle of the night while sleeping at the church.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13505034/

Sleepless Night

I kept waking up in the middle of the night thinking about everything that I need to do and everything that is "uncertain" about my trip. It shouldn't be this stressful, should it?

1. We are supposed to teach Sunday School when we are there. What are we going to teach?
2. I get to go on a school tour "field trip" for 5 days with the school I'll be teaching at. What do I pack? Where are we going? What will the sleeping conditions be like? When we went on safari last time we stayed in nice places, but our drivers stayed in places that were less than desirable. Will that be what the students and I will stay in?
3. Last time one of our Doctors was shaving in the shower and cut himself. He got a horrible infection from that. They say don't drink the water, but I guess you also have to be afraid of getting water in cuts. Should I get a prescription to take with me in case of infection?
4. Where will we be staying?
5. Will anyone pick us up from the airport when we arrive late on the 31st?

See why I couldn't sleep? Those are only a few of my questions going through my head. Feel free to post a comment to "reassure" me!! Blessings!

Preparing for Africa

Only 26 days and I'm off to Tanzania again. I'm more apprehensive this time then I was before. I'm not worried about physically being there, I'm worried that we haven't heard from anyone there and we don't know where we will be staying or what we will be doing while we are there. The saying in Africa is poly-poly (slow down, relax). Guess I should remember to just put it in God's hands and relax.

I have been busy buying small tokens for gifts to give to the students and the people I meet while I'm over there. I bought small bottles of lotion, picture frames, standing crosses, calendars and beads to make male and female salvation bracelets. My family has been so wonderful with helping me make the salvation bracelets.

I leave on July 30 and return the middle of August. Please keep my trip in your prayers and check back here every few days if you want to find out what I'm doing to prepare and find out about my Great African Adventure.