DAY 5 - "Officially Here" - in Tanzania! - July, 2010

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Day 5 Highlights: (1.) Beautiful sunrise in Kampala. Sunrises around the world unite us; (2.) Loved riding to Mutukula (Uganda/Tanzania border) with Ben our trusty driver and Carsten, our new friend from Denmark. Watching Steve 'see Africa' for the first time is something I will not forget; (3.) Reunited in Kayanga with old friends at the ELCT (Evangelical Lutheran Church of TZ) Headquarters - Vincent, Treasurer George. My heart melted when I saw Edina! Genegeva!; (4.) Walked around Kayanga with Steve. Hello red dirt roads! Hello crowded shops! Hello smells teasing of food and then compost! Hello stares for Wazungu! Karibu sana Steve! This is Kayanga!; (5.) Our friends gave us a warm welcome reception with Bishop, Rev. Ngambeki, Venant and Carsten. Ahh, Edina's cooking at the Kayanga Hotel. We are officially "here".

NARRATIVE: Ahh - today is the day we get to go from Kampala, Uganda to Karagwe, Tanzania. We are headed to a small village in Northwestern Tanzania close to the Rwandan border. We will stay in Kayanga which is a village in the District of Karagwe which is in the Region of Kagera. We could use a few more "K's" to make it really confusing. We enjoyed very much getting to know Ben, our driver who was very familiar with Kampala. We also enjoyed Carsten who had lots of travel experience and experience in Kayanga as a worker for DanMission. The four hours to the border left lots of time for chit chat. We 'slowed down' at the equator and waved at the familiar looking marker there. Carsten shared that he was originally from Germany, then Denmark. He lived in Tanzania and actually met his wife there. He was smooth getting through the border having phoned our Tanzanian driver, Venant and arranged a pick up. Steve was dutiful and basically did as he was told to get through the border. I had told him that people and sellers are everywhere and that people want 'his business'. It was good to have Carsten with us who really knew what he was doing and had an aura of 'don't mess with me just now'. It all worked well. We met Giselle and Felix who were leaving Kayanga after having taught classes and having worked IT. I continue to be impressed with the ever-expanding suite of initiatives and services offered by the ELCT to assist the people of Karagwe.

The road from Mutukula to Kayanga was bumpy and dusty. There had been a drought for some time and the dry dust was nearly impenetrable at times. Men on bicycles wore parkas with the hoods tied tightly so only their eyes were bared. In spite of mid-90 temps, they needed protection from the fine, red dust that permeated everything. It was downright fun for me to watch Steve absorb Africa while Carsten and Venant chatted about old friends, Kayanga, mutual concerns, etc. It was a great ride. I explained about the single pylon for energy from Uganda, pointed out the ruins of churches destroyed by Idi Amin, marveled at the height of the grasses and termite mounds and lack of water, and re-familiarized myself with all the walkers on the sides of the road. Steve just stared at it all barely taking his eyes away from the window. After about two hours we neared Kayanga. My heart was beating faster as the landscape and road became more familiar. Venant drove us straight to the ELCT Headquarters where we were escorted into George the Treasurer's office. Just then Vincent walked into George's office and I said, "Vincent!" He looked absolutely flabbergasted and exclaimed, "Oh Professor Jan!" He nearly fell over himself then hugged me with a two-sided head hug. Wonderful! I introduced Steve and he hugged Steve enthusiastically laughing and saying "Karibu sana!". He even hugged Carsten and looked just a tad shy. You cannot fake a genuine welcome.

Venant brought Steve and me to the Kayanga Hotel with Carsten. Edina came from the office and embraced me and we said each other's names over and over. So happy! Dada Edina! Dada Jan! Then Edina yelled (I mean YELLED) for Genegeva saying "Mama Jan!" Genegeva nearly tripped over herself running and screaming. She hugged me, lifted me up and said "oooohhhh....". It was heartfelt and good. Ah, Karibu sana. After all the excitement, we floated along in our "glow" and settled into our rooms. Steve was pleasantly pleased with the size of the room, how nice it looked, the full bed with the mosquito netting, the small, thin carefully placed rug, the 'flip flop' shower shoes, the small wooden desk and chair and the one bright light announcing our arrival. Very nice.

In my mind I envisioned a reception with all of my old friends and was amused with myself. In reality, it was the bishop, Venant, Rev. Ngamibeki and Carsten. After our meal we gave the bishop diapers we had brought for his baby son, Prince. He was very happy with that especially that we remembered the baby wipes. After some small fanfare, the bishop announced that we were "officially here".

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Take me to the Educate Tanzania website.

http://educatetanzania.org

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