What a week so far!

Last week after Evangelist Kipingu led morning devotions at the children’s home, he mentioned that the rainy season (called the “short rains”) would begin on Sunday the 13th.  Sunday morning was a lovely day, so we decided to walk to town after church.  While in Lushoto, the clouds moved in and by the time we were walking home the torrential rain began. 

This rainy season is called the short rains, because it rains almost every day, but only for a short time.  Often the rain falls during the night.  On Monday the rain continued on and off all day.  Our laundry hung inside the house all day, but did not dry.

Tuesday dawned with the clearest sky we have seen in a long while.  The sky was a brilliant blue.  All of the laundry went outside and Veronica added to it with the day’s wash.  By evening everything was dry.

After devotions in the morning, we got together with Mama Mdemu, Mama Mrisho, and Christian, the driver, to take a ride to the home’s shamba (farm) up in Irente Juu (Upper Irente).  Tom drove up past Irente Farm and toward the View Point.  We turned onto a narrow dirt lane, past some small houses and farm plots, until the road ended.  Tom parked and we got out to walk.  The walk through the forest was wonderful.  The shade protected us from the hot sun and there was a nice breeze.  Some men had been hired to dig the soil.  Soon the field will be planted with corn and beans.

We walked back to the car and found two goat kids enjoying the shade underneath.  With the goats safely back with their mamas, we turned around and headed back up the road.  Ahead were many boda boda’s (motorcycle taxis) bringing people to a house.  As we approached we could hear loud crying.  We stopped to see what had happened. 

The woman who lived there had just received the news of her granddaughter’s death.  With cell phones and a great community spirit here, many people came to console the family.  Some women were already beginning to prepare food for all who would arrive. 

We all walked up to the house to shake hands with each person and express our sympathy.   Frankly, this is something which feels awkward to me.  In a great time of tragedy like this, who really wants perfect strangers arriving?  But we were warmly welcomed and appreciated.

This morning, Wednesday, we awoke to find that there was no water.  Tom walked up to the home to find out if the water was still working there.  It was not, but he was able to fill some buckets from the sims tank there.  Within a few minutes, two students arrived with two more buckets full and our neighbor Zulfa brought us two more.  When I thanked them, one new student named Rita said, “No, we thank you Bibi and Babu”.

Tom’s job this morning was to take some students with lots of buckets to the next village to bring water back to the home.  With 39 children plus the students and staff, lots of water is needed for washing, cooking and laundry.  He will probably make another water-run this afternoon. 

Hopefully, the problem will be resolved before too long.  One of the things I have learned to appreciate and miss from home is tap water, something we mostly take for granted.  How wonderful to be able to enjoy a glass of water whenever you want, straight from the tap! 

On Friday this week, we are traveling to Handeni to visit with our friend Pastor Shemkala, who was previously pastor of Kana Lutheran Parish in Tanga.  His new congregation has many Masai members.  This will be our first time in the Handeni area, which is located south of Korogwe, about a four-hour drive from here.  Pastor is sending his driver for us.  We are looking forward to our time with him, his family, and his congregation.  We will return home on Sunday after church services.

We are thankful to God for all of His blessings.  The water came back by lunch and we did not lose power at the same time.

Youth Sunday at Irente Lutheran Parish

September 29th was Youth Sunday at Irente Lutheran Church.  There had to be about 100 children in church. Their ages ranged from maybe 13 or 14 down to five of the small kids from the home - Husseini, Daudi, Furaha, Bahati and Martha, ages 2 to 3.  

The gospel was Mark 10: 13-19 when Jesus blesses the little children.  Some of the kids presented a little skit.  Eleven of the older children were wrapped in robes (11 disciples, minus Judas…maybe no one wanted to be him) and one boy was Jesus.  A large group of the younger kids came down the aisle from the back and they re-enacted the gospel story.  When the disciples tried to chase the children away, the boy portraying Jesus came to them and placed his hands on each one’s head.  It was a very moving presentation.  Unfortunately, even after almost two years, our Kiswahili is not good enough to follow all of the words, but it was not necessary.

Of course, the singing is always lively and wonderful.  The kids really get into it. The children from the home were the youngest there and started getting antsy after the first hour or so.  Tom ended up taking Furaha and Bahati outside before the end of the service. 

Prayers were offered for the children and the Sunday School teachers.  There are 120 children on the roles at Irente Lutheran Parish.

Sunday School is usually held during the early service in the lower level of the church.  We really enjoy listening to the children’s voices throughout the service.  Many weeks the singing runs through the sermon.  It is great to hear the joy in the children’s voices as they sing.  My understanding is that the older children get to play the drums.  One of our students told us that Husseini said he can’t wait to be the one who plays the drum.

After church, we walk back to the home with the children and the students.  It is fun listening to the kids talk about what they did in class.  Here it is all about stories, prayer, and songs.  There are no arts and crafts or drawings to bring home.  This is one of the things that is not missed by the kids, because it is not expected.  With Bible stories, prayers and singing what more do you need?

Graduation, September 27, 2013

Friday the 27^th arrived bright and sunny.  It was the event our second year students had looked forward to for so long….graduation.   On Thursday, they all went to town to various hair salons to have their hair done.  All but one student had extensions added to their short hair.  Magreth decided to go with a short, straight wig instead.  They came out of the dorm dressed in their caps and gowns with slacks underneath and high heels.  With their long hair and makeup they looked amazing.

After Tom brought the MC with his amplifier and speakers, the electricity went out.  Fortunately, the people from Finland, who live across the road, have a generator, which we borrowed. 

Esther explains how to make fresh juice.

Guests began arriving around 9:30 am, but the celebration did not get underway until 11.  The graduates processed out waving handkerchiefs, preceded by Mama Mdemu and followed by the staff and first year students.  The first item on the agenda was a review of all of the topics learned during their time here.  Each student talked about one item ranging from preparing food, formula, and juice to what one should look for when washing a child…head to toe.  They all did a great job explaining their assigned topic.

Now second year students sing their goodbye. 

During the celebration, the graduates sang several songs and presented a short play of how an abandoned child arrives at the home.  The skit brought much laughter to all because of the humorous acting skills of the students.  Along with the graduates, the now second year students sang songs saying goodbye to their graduating sisters.  Also, the choir from the Blind School sang several songs.  It was a very enjoyable time and it went by so quickly.

Fatuma receives her certificate.

                       Speeches were followed by the presentation of the certificates to each student.  Some students had tears, but most had huge smiles.  It was so great to be there to watch them finish this long process.  Tom and I talked about how next year’s graduation will be the end of our time here. 

After the ceremony, lunch was served and the students sat with their families to enjoy the food picnic style.  Several professional photographers were on hand to take pictures and offer them for sale at the end of the day.  The most touching photos were the ones where the graduates posed with some of the older children.  They will miss these children so much and we will miss them.

ICH Graduates, Class of 2013

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Visitors from Home

The day after we arrived back in Tanzania, we drove to Tanga to meet a group from our home congregation, St John’s Lutheran Church in Philadelphia.  The Lutheran Church worldwide has a program connecting synods around the world as partners.  Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod is partnered with the North Eastern Diocese of the ELCT.  Our congregation is partnered with Kana Lutheran Parish in Tanga, a small city on the Indian Ocean.  This partnership is how we came to be here in Irente.

In Tanga, we enjoyed the fellowship of our friends and visited Kana and it’s members.  Our pastor preached at the Sunday services and led a Bible study group in a discussion of disciples of God, especially those called by God, who at first objected to God’s call.  We visited a small sub-parish for worship on Sunday, where they held a fund-raiser to be able to complete the walls of the church and install a door. 

On Monday morning, we visited a sewing school, which is a project of Kana.  The school teaches young women to become seamstresses and tailors in order to provide them with a living or opportunity to open their own small shop.  These students are young women (and a few older ones) who pay a small tuition to attend the school.  The sewing machines are the treadle style and there are far more students than machines.  We were very warmly welcomed and got to see some of the clothing they were making.

Late Monday morning, we traveled to Irente.  Pastor Tricia and her husband David, rode in our car and the others were in the Kana vehicle.  We wished we could have seen all of their faces as we went the last 30 km up into the mountains from Mombo to Lushoto.  The road is narrow and steep with no guardrails and hairpin curves.  One person told us they rode most of the way with their eyes closed.  We remember that feeling!

At Irente, we were very warmly welcomed by the staff and students of the children’s home.  They greeted us all with bouquets of flowers and the singing of “Karibu Wageni Wetu” (Welcome our Visitors). 

The group stayed at the hostel at the home, but we had all of our meals together at our home.  Veronica did all of the cooking and arranged for a friend to help her while our group was there.  Catherine did most of the laundry and helped with cooking prep work.  I believe everyone enjoyed their meals, since we have had several requests for recipes from Veronica.

The group consisted of our pastor, four teachers, and a CPA.  Everyone got busy right away with various projects.  Mary and Rochelle worked with the school-aged children who were home on holiday.  The kids learned some new songs, made “books” about themselves, read stories and did a lot of math.

Don, David, and Vickie worked painting the kitchen at the home.  St John’s raised money in order to repair the walls and ceiling (which was starting to fall down because of roof leaks).  The new ceiling and plaster- work were done by some fundis (skilled workers) before we arrived.  The kitchen is now a beautiful, sunny yellow color.  It is a wonderful room to work in now.  St John’s also raised money to construct a protective awning so the students can walk from the prep kitchen to the cooking room without getting wet.  They also donated money for the purchase of two new tables and chairs for the dining room.  With these, all of the students can eat together in the dining room.

Pastor Tricia worked diligently in the shamba (vegetable garden) with the students.  Using a jembe (hoe), she dug planting beds until she had blisters on her hands.  She also enjoyed time for conversation with the students while they worked.  They really were impressed with pastor and how hard she worked. 

Besides painting, Vicki joined the students with all of the work they do everyday:  washing dishes, babies, and clothes (by hand), hanging laundry, and helping with food preparation. 

It was a wonderful time for Tom and I.  We enjoyed having friends from home with us.  They lived our life for a short time, complete with power outages, internet disruption, bucket showers, and for some, Eastern toilets.  We visited the market and they did some shopping.  We attended the early service at Irente Lutheran Church together.  We enjoyed a lively game of “Nacho Loco” and had some meaningful Bible study and conversations.

The visit was over too soon.  They traveled from Irente to Arusha on Sunday afternoon.  There they were to visit some schools through the Mwangaza Education program of the ELCT.  And of course, they concluded their trip with two days at the national parks at Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire.

We enjoyed their visit so much and wish others could come to see how great, but different, life here is.  We say, “Karibu tena” (welcome again) to our friends, and also we welcome you to join us too!

ELCA Summer Mission Gathering

While in the states, we had the pleasure of traveling to Chicago and then to Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin to attend the ELCA’s Summer Mission Conference. 

We drove from Philadelphia to Kenosha and back in order to enjoy seeing some of the country.  We especially enjoyed the hills of Western Pennsylvania and the farm country of Indiana.  It was also a wonderful time to talk about our visit home and our plans for the upcoming year in Tanzania. 

Carthage is a Lutheran college located on the shore of Lake Michigan.  The campus is beautiful.  There we joined with 128 mission personnel, who serve all around the world, and staff of Global Missions.  We enjoyed time of worship, learning, and fellowship over five days.

We had attended the conference in 2011 before we came to Tanzania.  On our return this year, we were able to reconnect with friends from our cultural training in Toronto.   We also had time to catch up with others we met before and also new people heading out for the first time.

The SMC is a wonderful chance for people serving God in many places to refresh and recharge.  The ELCA Global Mission staff did a great job organizing and conducting this event.  I believe everyone there left with a greater sense of God’s love and why they are doing what they do.

Some of the places represented were: China, Lithuania, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Argentina, Peru, Mexico, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Egypt, Uruguay, and Japan.