Saturday in Tanzania, May 31, 2008

Mike works the crowd. A Tribute to Women. Saturday in Tanzania.

Please let me clear up a few things - my spelling of the village names is getting better but I am sure that I've misspelled and misquoted some items. For this please forgive me as I am just learning.

Today's early start had us loading some small seedling trees into the vehicle. These were from seed by Solomon. He would teach about how to cultivate different trees during the afternoon sessions with the kids. Although the young ones became interested in other items several older kids worked with him to create new "pots" and plant some orange and tangerine seeds from the foods we have been eating.

Pastor Kirway (sp) joined Solomon, Mike and I as Grant drove us to Mkuyuni. The ride out was as comfortable as an old stagecoach being chased by bandits. The bumps and turns had us grasping for handrails and bouncing along. We were absent the dust but the excitement was there.

About a mile from the village the road is really deep with ruts and mud. There was a man and child on their way to Mkuyuni so we stopped and picked them up. Then three other children gladly jumped in the back as well. They were very pleased to get the ride in the automobile and were giggling as they bumped along. A lone man was working on the rutted road and chopping rock to lay in the deep ruts, we thanked him and later saw that he had completed about 20 feet of roadway. We may think this useless or insignificant but if you could see (or feel) the before and after of the efforts you would appreciate his deeds as much as we did.

Pastor Raymond (I called him Jacob in the last post - Raymond just graduated from seminary - Jacob is the evangelist at this village) and Pastor Leonard stayed the night at Mkuyuni, as did four teachers, a few helpers, and many children. This assisted as it would have been too difficult for any of them to return home after dark - and far away. The kids watched part of a religious movie thanks to the TV items Grant provided and some local ingenuity with the troubled generator.

Spirits were high as we unloaded and we received greetings and hugs. We shared tea and spoke of the previous night and the excitement of both the children and adults. Everyone was ready for a full day of lessons and laughter. Wisely, the teachers separated the children into three different groups. By age, the teachers rotated between the groups to provide Arts, Science, and Religious lessons. At the beginning there were about 40 children with a few from the villages trickling in.

Art was led by Ezekiel who taught songs and foot movements. He has a great tenor voice and maintained his patience throughout the day. He also kept his presentations upbeat even though he sang the same verses over and over and over again until the children knew each word.

Mike and I were impressed with his continued efforts as his group sat in three pew benches that were moved under one of the trees. What makes it impressive is that Mike was working the crowd of "nonbelievers" or at least non-participants. These children stood behind the church or came partially into the area of activity but the would not engage and would shy away quickly when approached. Mike quietly would walk to them and motion them over and welcome them with karibu. One by one Mike was able to gently grab a hand, provide a pencil, take a picture or engage them in some other manner. This allowed him to bring the child into one of the groups and then the teachers would invite them in. The most disruptive of these activities was when Mike and I used cameras to take pictures and the kids would get very animated and excited. Even during these outbreaks, Ezekiel kept his cool and got the kids attention again so he could continue the lessons.

Through Mike's efforts, some additional parents bringing in children, the low noise of the VBS kids attracting other locals swelled the ranks. By lunchtime there were 75 children participating.

The kids all had full plates, really full plates, of food and every one of them was wiped clean before they were turned back to the women. After the adults communed together we went back outside to restart the events. Solomon began his demonstration on cultivating trees, Mike sat on the steps of the church and was quickly overwhelmed by a crowd of kids, and I got to engage a few kids one-on-one. Mike was funny as he learned to count to 10 in Swahili and helped the children count to 10 in English. He was trying to learn their names and get them to write on their papers which were provided to them but they just wanted Mike's signature! The teachers were laughing at his interaction with the children. Several of the younger ones in my group were getting anxious so we engaged in some advanced hand clapping routines. It was slow going at first but then several of them caught on. I tried to get them to play with each other and a few did but most of them wanted individual attention from me, which they easily received.

Between all of us there were belly laughs, wide eyes, and thanksgiving. It was a fun experience. Then we pulled out the parachutes and ratcheted up the play. The kids went wild over the bouncing of balls on the round, colorful nylon circles. Most of them figured out how to play the different games - popcorn, breeze, catch - and after a while all of them were tugging and pulling a bit too hard. One of the kids in the group was very quick to learn and figured out my hand gestures. He helped on crowd control and got the other kids to handle things more gently although they continued to bump the balls high into the air and giggle and jump up and down.

During this time, Mike was able to work with another group and show them how to make a beaded necklace, which also had a cross. The kids were eager to use their little brown fingers to thread the beads and tie the ends together. While this doesn't seem like a very large task, please picture small children, full of energy sitting on a 10" wide board that is about 8' long. Now imagine that there are 14 of them on this one bench! There are no tables or workspaces other than their laps so little fingers, working with little rolling beads, with elbows bumping is quite a feat. We hope the kids wear their necklaces to church tomorrow and hope those who were playing parachute get to create their necklaces tomorrow so we can take pictures of them.

The day went by quickly and we had to leave. The pastors said a prayer for us and let us say good-bye to the kids. We were sad to leave but had a great time in recalling different events of the day as we set off on the 1-hour "Baja road race" back to the seminary.

A Tribute to Women
Being selfish I'll talk of ours first.... Mike and I are grateful to our wives (one each) who have not only allowed us to go on this trip (Mike's 4th - my 1st) but have also supported us in it. To you we provide our thanks and our love. Thank you to Mary Ann and Marilene at the church for all of your help and guidance and to Donna Miller for posting our notes and keeping the communications flowing.

Now for the Tanzanians - Men I know we cook and clean a little and help with the chores but the women here never stop working. They dress in colorful clothes, carry more weight on their head than we can lift, and cook all day long. On each journey out of the seminary and even watching locals cross through the grounds, the women are the ones carrying firewood, water (5 gallon buckets), pots, pans, food - you name it - and they do it all on foot. Now, we do see several hard working men who do these things, but by far those along the sides of the road are women - walking. Most men are riding or pushing bicycles. There are many men who are pushing heavy loads of charcoal, grain, fruit, or even tripling up on bicycles which they rent out. But it is the women who you see the most.

The women are wrapped in colorful sheets of fabric called congas. You can see them at a great distance because of these colors. They may only have a few clothes and change only when required but they always look neatly attired. The young girls smile a lot and have long curling eyelashes. The ladies are beautiful with high cheekbones and flawless skin. Their eyes are bright and in the village they chatter and laugh during their many chores. The elder women have wrinkles that tell stories of long lives, hard work, and motherhood. Their eyes are dim and their mouths frown more than smile. They have been over worked but continue to carry the heavy loads and care for others. They have beauty in their grace and their service.

Watching as we drive along we cannot discern their thoughts but are consistently shown their faces of many ages and experiences. The young are spirited, the middle aged, hopeful, and the elderly concerned and tired. They are all wonderful.

So, to you who are reading this, our wives, friends, and sisters in Christ, Thank you. Thank you for being our mothers, daughters, sisters, friends, and wives. To you we owe much.

We have another day with the kids and we'll pass out as many hugs for you as we can.

Mike and I wish you all to be well.