Orphanages in Tanzania

On our last day in Tanzania, Mama Kweka took us to two orphanages. My group wasn't sure if this was a good idea for me because they weren't certain I'd be able to tear myself away by the time we had to leave for the airport. Probably a good assumption on their part.

The first orphanage we visited was called Rifiki Foundation . It was a place where the philosophy is to raise the children in "families". They hire mama's or aunties to live in cottages with groups of children. They have beautiful classrooms they build on the facilities. It was so refreshing to hear the laughter and see the children playing like children who don't come from tragedy.

Melissa, the education director asked me if I'd consider coming there to teach. Hmmm...does it mean something if I didn't come out and say "no"?

The second orphanage was Neemah Childrens Home. Very different than Rafiki. This orphanage is for 0 - 3 year olds. The sister told us there are 4 reasons they get children there.
1. Their mothers die.
2. Their mothers can't take care of them because there is something wrong in their heads (mental problems)
3. They are born and thrown in the bush to die by mothers who don't want the shame of having a baby out of wedlock or one they can't afford to feed.
4. They have been abandoned at the hospital after being born.

Each child comes to this orphanage through social services. The babies I saw were 2 in a crib. There are 30 small children and only 4 daytime staff to care for them and 4 night time staff to care for them.

These little babies were craving attention. This happened to be the place where I left ALL of my money I had. Jenny and Lori gave me money to give to a good cause... well, this was a GREAT cause. I have a brochure I'll post when I get my journal back from Craig.

Thank the Lord for all you have been give and please remember to pray for those who are less fortunate than you.

Wading in the Indian Ocean!!

Due to really slow internet service right now, this will be a short post. Hopefully the picture will download.

Wednesday, there were 8 of us who loaded into a 7 passenger Land Rover and ventured on what we were told would be an 8 hour drive to the coast. WRONG!!! Our 8 hour trip turned out to take 15 hours. Remember the part where I said it was a 7 passenger vehicle... imagine 8 adults crammed in and then breaking down (TWICE). No airconditioning, no food... only the wishful thinking that the next hour would bring us closer to our destination.

We finally made it to Bagamoro at 11:30 P.M. In the morning we went out of our rooms and were so surpised by what we saw. We were on the beach. We didn't know we were staying at a resort on the beach. We were like little kids collecting seashells from the Indian Ocean.

Later we went to a few places and saw and learned about the slave trade. Bagamoro was the central location of the slave trade... another post on another day!

Bucket Showers!

Today I took my 4th shower out of a bucket. I'm getting really good at them and actually kind of prefer them to U.S. showers. What a water conscious way to take a shower. Picture this: You have a 5 lb paint pail filled with water that was heated from the fire outside. You stand in a 5 foot tall shower stall (keep in mind I'm 5'10. You carefully dip the cup into the bucket of hot water and then turn on a faucet in the shower that only has cold water and fill up the rest of the cup with cold water. You then proceed to pour it over your head (like you did when your children were little and in the swimming pool).

Today was such a good day. We woke up and had electricity so for the first time this week I've gotten to blow dry my hair. Not sure if I'll take showers and blow dryers for granted anymore.

We went into Moshi town to go shopping today. Found a few things I wanted to give as souvenirs, but not as much as I've gotten in the past. We are in town so we can meet Banerik, a student we have sponsored through bible college and now secondary school.

Tomorrow I will go to a small village church to teach Sunday School. I asked if there would be an interpreter and pastor said, "I will try". Given the fact that I only know food words and animals in swahili, I'm praying he will come through.

Peace to everyone back in the states! I'll write when I can!

Krist

WE MADE IT!

Whew! After 26 hours of being in airplanes and airports, we safely arrived in Tanzania Wednesday evening around 8:00 p.m. We didn't sleep well on the planes and when we arrived in Kilimanjaro, we were taken to the house we were staying and given a 3 course meal. We all sat around like zombies trying to hold conversations, and eat, but jet lag was catching up with us.
We've been without electricity for a few days. Actually, we did have it from 3:00-5:30 yesterday, but it has been out more than it's been on. I made a special trip to the school today just so I could get on the internet and get my fix of technology.
Today we went to 3 students homes in the village jungle. If I ever complain about not having enough, please remind me of these students. One bibi (grandmother) didn't even have a chair in her mud hut for us to sit on. One family gave Pastor Sara 2 guinea pigs as a gift for all she's done to help support their daughter. They said they raise them for food, but not a lot of people want to buy them. All I can say is I'm grateful they presented them to her "live" and not on a plate. :-)
The weather is rainy and somewhat warm. Tomorrow we are going into town to exchange money, buy supplies and have dinner with old friends.
Please continue to pray for the people of Tanzania. They have so little, yet care so much!
I'll post more when I can.

Flying Out Tomorrow and I Will Be

ready for the 20+ hour flight so I can SLEEP!!!! I've had too many late nights and early mornings finishing up all of the "home stuff" that needs to be done before someone takes off for 16 days.

If you looked up procrastination in the dictionary, I bet you'd see my name and picture there. Oh wow... talk about waiting until the last minute. I literally had NOTHING packed, no gifts, hadn't done one lesson yet (I guess I had a few of them in my head). Craig is at Kinko's right now copying tons of pages that will go in the teacher notebooks I have yet to fully create and put together... before 8:00 a.m. tomorrow.

It always amazes me how generous and thoughtful people are. My friend, Lori, from work wrote a $50 check and asked that I do something "good" with it. I can't wait to tell her how far her $50 went. My friend, Jenny, sent me $100. Heidi heard I didn't have any gifts and she had a lot of jewelry that didn't sell at a craft show, so she is sending those with me to give to the people we need to exchange gifts with. I feel so blessed to be surrounded with such caring, loving friends!

I heard from my daughter, Happiness, today. She is going to ask for special leave time from her teaching position so she can come and spend a few days with me. I can't wait to see her. My family had sponsored Happiness since 2005. She is the most amazing daughter a "mum" can ask for. I can't wait to post pictures of her and blog about our time together.

My plane leaves at 11:00 tomorrow morning! Godspeed and blessings to all!

Flashlights and M&Ms

I went shopping yesterday for the small necessities I will need (toilet paper, hand sanitizer, three bags of M&Ms, etc.) I even made sure my flashlight had fresh batteries because when you take walks in the jungle in the evenings, it gets pretty darn dark. The hand crank flashlights are wonderful gifts we've discovered because the villagers don't have to worry about batteries. Last time I was there, my cousin Matt and I were walking down a path in the jungle and an old lady came out waving her machete with us. We were rescued by an elderly man, who took us to his home. It was a mud hut with no electricity. Our flashlights helped us be able to stay in there and visit for awhile. After he had his wife walk us back home, we gave her our flashlight. She told us that was one of her most valuable possessions.

It's Almost Time!!

I board the plane for Tanzania in less than a week. I should be nervous, but I've been too busy to even think about the trip yet. What a blessing it will be to get there and only have my mission to focus on.

Four of us will embark on a 20+ hours of flying time starting Tuesday, June 21 at 11:00 A.M. and ending on Wednesday, June 22 at 9:00 P.M. We are going to the other side of the equator, so we will be arriving there during the beginning of winter. How many people leave somewhere in the summer and go to somewhere it is cold?

I have literally done NOTHING to get ready. Okay, okay... I got my shots (cholera and typhoid). I picked up my malaria meds and my antibiotic, in case I drink some bad water. And lastly I've begun this blog update. I haven't prepared any lessons, I haven't considered packing, I haven't purchased gifts for my hosts, I haven't prepared my notebooks for the teachers I'll be training. The problem is, I'm not sure when I'll be able to find time to do those things... but I am confident God will help me find a way to get everything done.

My hope is to post a little bit each day so you can walk this glorious walk with me! Mission work is not about the person doing the mission, but the people that we come in contact with, and that includes those of you who have been praying for me and supporting me as I prepare for this journey.

"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15

I Know Now That You Love Us

I have many powerful things that happened while I was in Tanzania this time, but one of the most powerful was what the headmaster of the school I teach told me. Click this link to read the story on our church blog. Southwood Lutheran blog

Slideshow of Pictures

Here are some pictures that show my trip from beginning to end. I will still post some blogs, but thought some people might like to see some pictures sooner than I'm getting my posts up.

Bathroom Obsession?!?

Going through my pictures I discovered I have way too many pictures of bathrooms. What's up with that? Each one has a little story behind it. Maybe if I tell you some of the stories, you might understand the obsession.

1. The first picture is a bathroom I encountered many times. Finally on the airplane I asked Heidi, "Which way do you stand, or squat actually, when you use an Asian toilet?" She said she turns around and faces the door, I always face the wall. Anybody know the right way?
2. I had a real shower at my room in the church. No shower curtain or cold water, but I had a real shower.
3. I had a beautiful bathroom at Amini's house. Problem: see the shower... but where is the drain and how do you take a shower with the toilet right next to you? Well, the shower wasn't working so see the bucket? He left that there for my shower. Problem... I had no idea how to use it since there was only a tiny little sink in the corner. How would you take a shower in this situation?
4. Answer to #3... you add another bucket!!! I asked Amini the following a.m. how I was supposed to take a shower or at least wash my hair. He looked at me like I was crazy. He said, "Didn't you have a bucket of water?" Well, yeah, but I had to explain to him how I still didn't know what I was supposed to do. I said if I dumped the water over me it would get the bathroom floor all wet. He said, "Of course. That's what you do." What? Just dump a cup of water over your head in the middle of the bathroom. Apparantly there is a drain behind the toilet and sure enough, the water does eventually find it's way there. The 2nd bucket was for warm water so I had a cold water bucket and a warm water bucket. I actually thought this was my best shower I'd taken during my whole stay there. Loved the warm water.
5. One place made it pretty easy to tell which was the women's bathroom. Look at the shoe nailed by the entrance.