A vegetable duka |
We both got ready
to go to town and walked up the road to our truck. I put the key in the ignition and, low and
behold, the battery was dead. I asked
some students to help push the truck so I could jump-start it, but no luck. We had been at the home all week and were
really looking forward to our trip to town. So we decided to walk to Lushoto.
It only took an
hour to get down to Lushoto. The walk
was actually very enjoyable. We met so
many people. They would stop and talk
with us, asking us how the children at the home were. I would guess we probably talked with twelve
people on our trek. This is the custom here
in Tanzania.
Sandals for sale |
When we arrived in
town we stopped to get a soda and to rest. After resting we walked to the post office in
the northern part of town to see if any mail or packages had arrived. Nothing for us this trip, so we decided to
walk to the bakery in the southern part of town. At the bakery we purchased fresh bread from
the oven and pound cake. The pound cake
is the only form of pastry that is available here. It is such a treat. Most Tanzanian meals don’t include desert. As a child growing up, our family would have
pound cake and chocolate syrup for desert. Yes, that’s right, Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup,
imported from South Africa.
As we were walking
back from the bakery on the side of the road, I heard people behind me so I
told Susan to move to the side but keep walking. As the people started to pass us we realized
they were prisoners from the jail in town on their way to a work area. They were walking three abreast five rows
deep. The first prisoner was carrying a
machete and the one next to him had an ax. There were two guards carrying WWII rifles on
theirs shoulders. Here we were walking
with the prisoners and the only thing I could think to say to Susan was “try to
blend in”, mind you they were all in orange jump suits with the word jail on
their backs. We started laughing and we
couldn’t stop. We spoke to many of the
prisoners, sharing greetings. One of the prisoners stopped and talked with a guard and ran
across the road and down to a duka (outside store). The guard kept on looking back for the
prisoner, but the group was now a quarter mile away. A few minutes later we saw the prisoner
running to catch up with the group. He had
purchased vegetables for their evening meal.
We started our trip
back up the mountain, meeting people as we walked. We had people walk with us that we had never met
before and as they did, they carried our packages. This is also a custom here, to help the “older” people
when needed. Could you imagine allowing
someone in your neighborhood to carry your packages not knowing who they were? We arrived home safe and sound knowing that not
only our neighbors are caring for us, but most of all God walks with us each
and every day of our lives.
I love this post. It shows us so much about the wonderful community you are a part of. Thanks.
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