Monica's story

The following is an English class assignment from one of our students:

“My name is Monica.  I come from a village in the Rukwa Region of Tanzania.  I am twenty-two years old.  My father’s name is Thomas and my mother’s name is Gaustensia.  In our family we are six children, three sisters and three brothers.  Our firstborn is a brother and his name is Exavery.  The lastborn is a sister.  Her name is Sarah. 

In 2005, I was 14 years old.  My father died.  I was so sad and so crying, but it was a big challenge in our family because in everything, we depended on our father, for example: for food, shelter, clothes and school fees.  Every one was so sad.

After one month, we all came together to decide what can we do in order to continue with our studies and to have basic needs.  It was so difficult to conclude what we can do, because every one did not understand what he/she could do in order to get money, especially for school fees.  After a long time, we concluded that all brothers must go to town to find any kind of job, which could help him to get 10,000 shillings per day.  (about $6.35)  All of the sisters must have a garden of fruits and vegetables.  Every day we must go to the market to sell fruits and vegetables and come back home with 5,000 shillings per day.  Every one was bold and earnest for his or her job.  It helped us so much.  At the end of the day, every one continued to study. 

When I finished secondary school, I wanted to continue my education.  I went to my oldest brother, who was working in a regular job and gets money every month.  I asked him to support me with school fees.  He said he would not, because I am a girl.  I was so sad and went home to tell my mother.  She told me not to give up and that I should try again.  I talked with my friend Namsemba and she told me about Irente Children’s Home, where she was going to study.  It sounded like something I would like to do.  So, I went back to my brother and this time he said “yes”. 

Now I am a first year student at Irente Children’s Home.  I am here to learn how to care for the children.  I believe that after my two years here, I will get employment and I will get money every month.  I would like to conclude that after I am working, I shall help my mother so much and all people who have problems like I had.  Thank you.”

Monica’s story is not unlike that of our other students, with the exception of her father’s death.  Many people here live from day to day, earning what they need for each day’s existence.  Education here is not cheap.  Money is needed for uniforms and school expenses even at the “free” government schools.  But education here is called “the key of life” and the “golden opportunity” to advance yourself and your family. 

Please pray for all students and their families who struggle to pay the fees due each term.

Our Saturday

     

A vegetable duka

     We woke up at 8:30 am Saturday morning.  We both couldn’t believe it.  We had slept for 11 hours.  The first time here in Tanzania, and first time in many years! Susan cooked a wonderful breakfast of pancakes.  We normally have them on Saturday and she cooks enough so there will be some for Sunday, since we must rise at 6:30 am for church.

     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.

   

She Is Gone

Happyness

       Just a few days ago she left us.  No one knew it was going to happen.  We had no time to prepare for this. It was such a sad day.  Out of all the children here she seemed to be the most outgoing and independent and everyone loved her so much. Having the greatest laugh and the most beautiful smile she brightened everyone’s day.  She just started talking a few weeks ago with the deepest voice you ever heard from a child.  You could almost hear her singing your favorite hymn.

     The students stood along the wall as she went by.  Tears were flowing like rivers cascading down a mountain.  They all said their goodbyes.  You could see their pain in their faces.  The students stayed along the wall not saying anything for the longest time, then they start talking about how a little child made such an impact in their life They all had been her Mama since she arrived about two years ago.   For the time that she was here, the students FILLED IN as her mother, playing with her, feeding her, holding her and most of all loving her. But no one could ever replace her mother.

       When in your life has someone FILLED IN to help you through troubled times?  Has someone FILLED IN when you thought you could not make it on your own ?   Has someone FILLED IN when you thought you were in your darkest time?  Has someone FILLED IN to walk with you so you never felt that you were alone?  Has someone FILLED IN to just to listen to you when you needed to talk?                 Has someone FILLED IN to pray with you?

     If you said yes to any of these questions then you received a gift from God.  All throughout the Bible it describes our responsibility to FILL IN (SERVE) as Jesus has taught us.  We all face difficult times through out our lives and what a gift it is to have someone be with us.

      In the American entertainment industry, awards shows are held each year whether in films, music or Broadway shows.  All of theses programs are televised. When people in the audience are participating in the program whether it is to present an award or receive one, their seat is occupied so the room always looks filled.  That person sitting there has no other job than to fill the seat.  Our job as Christians is not only fill the space, but to provide the love and support that we have been taught.

    Today, wherever you may be, think of someone who you could help by filling in. Could that someone be you neighbor or maybe a member of your family?  How about your co-worker?

    God has given each of us special gifts.  He wants us to use them.  Become a person that FILLS IN and you will find that you will receive much more than you ever gave.

   And now for the rest of the story:

    Yes that day was very sad for everyone, but it was a day to celebrate.  You see Happyness went home with her father and aunt.  She lived here at the home because her mother died when she was born and her father couldn’t take care of her.  This is the situation with many of the children here.  Her father now can start to build a relationship with her filled with joy and love.

    We thank God  for Irente Children’s Home and the students and staff who are willing to FILL IN .    

Bibi Maria

Last week, one of the women from church invited us to visit her for tea.  Her name is Mama Tumaini and she is our housekeeper Veronica’s mother.  She lives in the village of Kivumbi, a walk of about 1-1/2 hours.  On Wednesday, Bwana Alfred came to our house to take us there.  He is a member of Irente Church Council and a good friend to us. 

We left our home at around 2 pm and walked up the mountain, past a small waterfall, through part of Irente Farm property and then onto the next mountain.  The scenery was beautiful and the walk was not too strenuous.  Alfred was surprised that as two “wazee” (old people), we could walk without too many stops to rest. 

We passed through several small villages of brick or mud homes.  Almost every home we passed had a small flower garden and a shamba (farm).  The area around each house is well cared for.  Many people greeted us as we walked.  Because of our truck, many of them have ridden with us, so they knew us already.

When we arrived at Tumaini’s home, we were greeted very warmly.  She lives in a mud home surrounded by similar homes of many family members. Tumiani served us coffee, a delicious vegetable stew, and some roasted corn on the cob, all home grown.  She grows and prepares her own coffee, which she sells in town.

Mama Tumiani and Bibi Maria

After a short time, her mother arrived.  Bibi Maria is a small lady with beautiful, clear eyes and a big smile.  She walks with a stick that is almost as tall as she is.  She does not speak Kiswahili, so Alfred translated our conversation into Kisambaa (the local tribal language).  Bibi had some coffee with us and started eating the corn on the cob.  We were amazed to learn that she is 110 years old!

Bibi Maria was born in 1903.  She has no idea of her birthday, only the year of her birth.  She raised nine children and has many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  Many of the children who sat in a row across from Tumaini’s house watching us are her descendants.  She understood that we are here from America.  She knows about President Obama and that his father was from Kenya.  We enjoyed our visit and our conversation with her, Tumaini, and Alfred.

Bibi Maria was born when Tanganyika was a German colony.  She saw the defeat of the Germans and the arrival of the British.  She lived to see the independence of her country and its union with Zanzibar to create Tanzania.  She has lived through many things.

After we returned home, Tom and I talked about Mabel Haller, the matriarch of a large family from home.  Grandmom Haller was the oldest living person we had ever known.  She missed reaching 100 by a few months.  At her funeral a granddaughter’s husband spoke about her and all of the progress she had seen.  I remember that Lou had asked her what the improvement was in her lifetime that she appreciated the most.  Listening to his question I thought of man landing on the moon, automobiles, and jet planes.  Grandmom Haller had answered “indoor plumbing”.   Tom and I talked about places like Kivumbi, where there still is no indoor plumbing.  Close to Tumaini’s house, there is a water tap and community wash area for everyone’s use for laundry.   They have a latrine outhouse.  Like us, they wash with bucket showers. 

On our way home, a large Tanesco truck, the Tanzanian electric company, had passed us.   The truck was loaded with electric poles.  They are in the process of bringing electric service to Kivumbi.

We were struck by the differences in the lives of Bibi Maria and Grandmom Haller.  Because of the places where they were born, their living conditions were almost opposite.  We in America and “the West” are blessed in so many ways that our brothers and sisters throughout the world cannot begin to imagine. 

More important, though are the similarities.  Both of these women lived or are living long and wonderful lives.  Both have, or had, large families who surround, or surrounded, them with such love.   Most important of all, God’s love for each of them is the same.  

Visiting America

(written 12/10/12 but unable to post until now due to computer difficulties!)

What a blessing it was to be able to visit our family and friends in America.  In many ways our time there was very short and in other ways it was long.  We missed seeing many people that we meant to see.  Some of our plans did not work out for obvious reasons.  We had intended to take the train to NYC for the day and also to go to Point Pleasant at the shore.  Hurricane Sandy changed those plans for us.

Here are some of the things we enjoyed:

We spoke at several churches about our work here.  We were warmly welcomed to our home congregation, St John’s in Philadelphia.  We also visited St Luke, Devon; the Northeast Conference All Saint’s worship at St Timothy, Philadelphia; Lutheran Church of the Resurrection, Yardley; and St John’s Lutheran Church on Oahu, Hawaii where our son and his family are members.  We also attended the Bishop’s Fall Gathering. It was a joy for us to meet so many people and talk about God’s work here in Tanzania.

We enjoyed time with our children and their spouses and especially with our eight grandchildren, who have all grown so much.  Lilliana ran right up to us in the Philadelphia airport and we thank God for the gift of Skype.  We enjoyed watching Mira and Milan play soccer at their last games of the season.  We swam in the Pacific Ocean with Connor, Kadyn, and Avery and got to sing “Happy Birthday” to Lukas on his second birthday.  We enjoyed our Thanksgiving dinner with Maureen, Louis, Ella and Lilliana at a beautiful old inn in PA.  We went to the Junior ROTC ball with Chris and Abigail and had the great pleasure of listening to her A Cappella group sing the National Anthem.   We also enjoyed going to the movies with them and an amazing Amish breakfast there.

We were moved by our visits to the Arizona Memorial in Hawaii and the 9/11 Memorial at the Pentagon.  

We flew over thirty thousand miles!  We also drove about 2500 miles while in PA, NJ and MD.  Getting re-accustomed to the traffic in America was very challenging, especially on the Washington Beltway!

We managed to eat our way through our food wish list.  When we returned to the Children’s Home, our students proclaimed us both “bonge” (fat)!  Now we are back to our rice and fresh vegetables and fruit.  This is really a more healthy diet, but we did enjoy all of the things we had been craving.  In answer to the question of what we ate first, I had a Wawa meatball parm sandwich and Tom had a Wawa hoagie. 

Both of us had minor meltdowns in stores at home.  When Maureen and I went shopping at Boscov’s in Pottstown, I could only stay in the store for about 15 minutes and needed to leave.  Too many choices!  Tom had the same thing happen when we stopped to pick up a few things in a grocery store.  The life of plenty can be overwhelming when you are not used to it.

On returning to Tanzania, we discovered that the update to our Mac computer resulted in not being able to use our Airtel modem.  Airtel requires a new update, but without being able to connect to the internet, we were unable to run the new download for Java.  It has been a Catch 22.  Right now I am writing from Uhuru Lutheran Hostel in Moshi on their wireless internet.  Hopefully the download that is running will solve our connectivity problems.  If not, who knows?   We are very sorry that we have been out of touch for so long!  It will take some time to catch up with emails.

We are here in Moshi to meet Chris and Abigail at Kilimanjaro Airport tonight.   We can’t wait to show them around and have them be able to re-assure the family that we are doing just fine here.  I am sure some people have their doubts that things are really good here.  Mama Mdemu, the staff and our students are so excited to get to meet some of our family.

While they are here, we will spend a couple of days at a resort in Pangani on the Indian Ocean.  We will celebrate New Year’s Eve in Arusha and spend the 1^st and 2^nd at Ngorongoro Crater and another national park.  They leave for home early in the morning of the 4^th. 

We thank you all for your love and understanding that we are so far away.  We feel that this is where we are meant to be right now.

Love,

Susan and Tom