African Mission Update

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Greetings from Tanzania,
Habari za mchana (good afternoon in Kiswahili)
We are becoming more and more comfortable in our new surroundings, and as a matter of fact, we may be enjoying it too much. The weather, the people, the social life, the country surroundings and the experiences have been just wonderful. Tanzania, with all its characteristics, is much more than we anticipated. There are many, many needs here, but the positive attitude of the people is so inspiring. Their smiles and friendliness are contagious. We have made many new friends; from students to teachers to members in the community.
Teaching here is rewarding, but sometimes frustrating. Jeannie is finding teaching bookkeeping quite a challenge without a syllabus. And there are no textbooks for the students who are very shy and insecure about their English. Rob is teaching English and students are keen to learn, but lack the confidence in their ability to express themselves correctly in English, so avoid class participation. It is sometimes baffling when he asks a question or looks for an opinion and sees 15 blank faces. However, we’re working through it. His next lesson is to teach them how to raise their hands above their shoulders. These are the same students who sing and dance with great joy and exuberance, in their own language.
Last weekend, on Saturday, we, along with another expat, Peta from England, and Ernest, a local pastor and his wife Ester, who are studying here at Msalato, drove with us to Ernest’s home village at Kilimatinde in the Eastern Rift Valley. We also visited the Bishop of the Diocese of the Rift Valley, the Right Reverend John Lupaa, in Manyoni. The view of the Rift Valley from the village was spectacular. We visited St. John’s Place - a private high school and bible college, (where Peta worked for a year when Ernest was a teacher and principal there), the local church, and finally the local hospital and nursing college. I have included pictures of the school and hospital and some of their facilities. Their classrooms each service about 55 students. The only ones with a text book are the teachers. Their lab resources are minimal and the library books are outdated, but they (teachers and students) persevere. Currently, the village and the school is without water as their pump to retrieve the water from a deep well is broken and they don’t have the parts to fix it. We’re attempting to look further into this problem, to see if it is something we can help with. Right now, everyone in the village has to fetch water from local shallow wells in buckets and boil the water. In spite of these hardships, the staff was very gracious in providing us tea and chapatti and taking time to discuss all aspects of their establishment. They asked for nothing but our prayers.
We then went with the local pastor to his church and the house. The church was very impressive and the house is a lovely white stucco structure with 5 large Spanish archways on the front veranda. It was built by Ralph and Dora Banks in the late 1920’s, the first missionaries in this area whose autobiography Jeannie had just read, so she was excited to see the house from the book. They also established the hospital that we went to visit next. When we arrived, we were greeted by one of their four doctors on staff, who was wearing overalls and rubber boots. He looked like the local plumber and in fact was working on restoring the water supply to the hospital as a pipe bringing in the water was broken. He took us into his office and shared history and statistics with us and talked about the adjoining nursing school housing 150 students. This is a private diocesan hospital and so most of the graduate nurses leave for better paying jobs and more secure jobs in government hospitals. Only one stayed from last year’s class. He then took us on an extensive tour where we noticed many women sitting outside the hospital with bags and buckets of food. We learned that the hospital does not provide food for the patients so relatives must bring and cook food there in the outdoors for them. We were concerned about offending them by taking a picture, but when we asked, they were delighted to have their pictures taken. Of course they had to see the picture which brought gales of laughter. From here, we headed to the Bishop’s offices in Manyoni, so Peta and Ernest could visit their old friend from their days at St. John’s.
In Manyoni, we entered the Cathedral grounds and had to drive slowly to avoid hitting any of the children playing on the grounds. These children were being sponsored by Compassion, an organization started in South Korea, with their head office currently in Colorado. They work with street kids all over the world. There is also a Compassion organization here in Dodoma and where our gardener volunteers every Saturday morning. Rob is planning to go with him one Saturday to learn more about this organization. We met the coordinator of the program whose office is in the Bishop’s office building. We were also greeted by a very gracious and charming Bishop Lupaa, and his entire staff who provided us with a wonderful lunch. He gave us some background of the Rift Valley Diocese and many of their needs. When he learned of Rob’s background working with children he tried his best to convince him to work with the children in his parishes. They all want the best for the people they serve. He then gave us a tour of his beautiful big Cathedral. Many children were inside practicing for a big celebration of Sept. 3rd. On our tour, we were introduced to the sub-dean of the Cathedral, a man with a huge smile named Benjamin. It just so happens that he lived and worked for a time at Holy Trinity in Aurora; yes the same church from which our current priest came and he knew the Reverend Stephen Kern well. What a small world!
All these tours took more time than we anticipated and we left for home later than we planned in order to get back before dark. Driving in the dark here in Africa is an experience. Let us just say that Rob’s goal for two years here is that he doesn’t hit any Tanzanians as they ride their bikes and walk all over the unlit roads, seemingly without regard for their own safety. And the colour of their skin does not make it any easier.
This week, we had two days off as the whole country celebrated “Edi”- a Muslim holiday. This gave the students time to spread out recently purchased rice for the college all over the college road for drying. After 24 hours, they bagged the rice to store it for future use. It also gave Rob time to go to town with one of the students who found a place to buy a volley ball net. We shopped the dukas in town like the ones at the Msalato Mall in the included pictures. The shopkeepers were very helpful and we also bought volleyballs, a net ball for the girls, a soccer ball, some whistles and a pump. This cost S220,500. It is hard to get your head around these large figures, but this amounts to about $150. This is the Reids’ African Mission first purchase and it may not sound like much, but it is greatly appreciated by these students. They are currently digging holes to prepare for cementing and installation of the poles for the new net. These poles first had to be removed from their old cemented location – no easy manual task. The courtyard also had to be made suitable for playing volleyball. Can you imagine Canadian students doing all that? I think you get the idea that these students work hard to get an education. We are also moving the netball poles closer to the facilities for the girls so they can make better use of the equipment. Monday and Friday are sports days at the college and last Friday Rob refereed their soccer game. Wow; their skill level is very impressive and they didn’t even argue when the old white guy missed some crucial calls. It was a real thrill for Rob to be able to participate. We are currently looking into buying some proper shoes for the students so they can play some much wanted games against surrounding teams.
Wednesday evening we went out once again to a dinner with colleagues. It is a tradition here that all new volunteers are invited to dinner by the current staff. We have been spoiled with wonderful food and great hospitality. It provides a great opportunity to get to know the staff and learn more about local customs from the Tanzanian staff. Last week we went to dinner with our school office accountant who is Tanzanian - Monica (known as Momma Tuppa) and her husband David. Aside from their day jobs, she and her husband operate a small farm. After dinner they s howed us how they produced what they call ‘bio-gas’ for their stove to cook our meal. They collect cow dung and mix it with water to produce the gas which is then transferred to a piping system which extends into the house and eventually to the stove. It is an amazing technology. We plan to purchase two cows when we get home to implement the technology in our back yard and hope that no one will object. We’ll even share.
Thursday evening we went to Hilda’s place for dinner. She is a Tanzanian pastor who is teaching Islam here at the college. What a marvelous story she told us of how she came to teach Islam and how the missionaries here enabled her to complete her education by getting a Masters’ degree. The church believes it is very important to know Islam because there are so many Muslims and their numbers are growing, and it is vital to having a peaceful coexistence with them. She is a single woman supporting two nephews and is very involved in women’s issues.
Last night we were with the Reverend Iri Mato and his wife Kate in their home here for a lovely dinner. Kate and Iri are from New Zealand and have been here 7 years, but are going home this December for good. As you might have guessed, Iri is a Maori descendent - Kate is not. They are a delightful couple with many stories about their time here in Msalato. Currently, Iri is in charge of maintenance of the homes and Kate is head of the English department. They will be greatly missed.
Today we have been invited to dinner with the family of a young man names Moses, 18, who is studying computers in Dodoma and who Rob met at the local duka here in Msalato. His mother is a nurse and his father works for the HIV/Aids agency in town. We will be bringing our Canada coffee table book with us to share and will no doubt discover more about rural life in Dodoma. This is a unique opportunity for us as he is not associated with the college or the Anglican Church that we know of. He is picking us up at 5:00 and will walk us to his home, but after dinner his father will drive us home so that we don’t get lost or encounter any snakes in the dark. We’ll update you on the visit in the next blog.
Next Sunday we are going to visit Lugala where this adventure all began. We are taking three students from Msalato with us. Two of them are from Lugala and will be our guides for the day. We are excited to see how they are doing since St. Philip’s partnership ended last year, as we’re sure many at St. Philip’s are too. We will let you know.
Intermittently, for three days, we were without power last week. Fortunately two of those days we were out to dinner at Tanzanian homes where they cook all their meals with charcoal, except for The Tuppas who use bio-gas. We considered buying a charcoal cooker, but were advised that a gas one is better for us ex-pats. So we bought a two-burner gas stove-top with gas tank to use when we run out of newcomer dinners and electricity. It fits nicely on our countertop and after testing it on Friday, found it works very well, but we’ll keep it for emergencies, only. The tank is just too big to be carting back and forth to Dodoma for refills.
Again, we thank all those who are praying for us and supporting our mission. We miss you all!
Enjoy the pictures and God bless everyone.
Rob and Jeannie

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Photos

School Classroom
Typical classroom acoommodating 50+ students at St. John's School

School Lab
Peta displaying the lab facilities

Library
Library for all 250 students at the school

Kitchen
St. John's school

Expectant Mothers
Waiting outside maternaty ward

Food for Patients
Food from relatives for patients in St. John's hospital at Kilimatinde

Bishop Lupaa and Staff
The Bishop with his staff, Rob, Peta, and Ernest

Benjamin
Sub Dean of Rift Valley Cathral at Manyoni

Footballers
Msalato football team

Robert the Footballer
Robert is an outstanding footballer on the Msalato team

Netballers
Msalato girls netball team

Sunset
Sunset view from our home