I hope from my photos you can tell that I have been very busy in the 3 plus weeks I have been here. There are so many places to visit. There are scenic places to go and many ministries to be involved in. I wanted to post pictures of a variety of things. There are photos of chimps, baboons, forest, etc. from the Jane Goddall Chimp Reserve. There are pictures of fishing boats as well as a picture of the boat that belongs to the mission. There is one photo of a local boat going up the lake. You probably can't tell from the photo that there are between 150-200 people in that boat. The picture of the sailboat I took because the sail is made from canvas sacks stitched together. There is a photo of one of the many villages along the lake. There are also photos from the destitute camp of me washing the peoples' hands and feet. There is also a photo of a toy that the kids at the destitute camp have built out of things they could find. There are photos of me in the classroom with the Bible College students and a group photo of the class being silly. There are photos from the Kids' Club ministry here, the womens' bible study ministry, and a photo of a Kids' Club meeting that is held in a Christian woman's yard in a village that is 99% Muslim. There are so many more photos I have taken. I have taken over 1700 pictures and I still have to take photos of the art classes I am teaching at the primary school that the mission runs as well as photos of the safari we will be going on. This past Friday was my last day teaching at the Bible College. At the end of the class I was crying. These men have become so dear to my heart. They call me "mother" or "mama" which is a term used for adult women. I do plan on going to morning chapel this next week and eating lunch with the Bible College students on Wednesday. They want to see the photos I have taken and they want to take photos of me with them. Talking about eating, one of my friends who is a nutritionist wrote and asked me what the people ate here because she will be teaching a class on Cultural Foods this winter. They eat alot of rice and beans here. Fortunately, I love rice and beans. Jim(my sister's husband) and I have beans and rice for breakfast quite often. Sometimes when the people here make rice it has vegetables in it but sometimes it is just plain rice. It looks like sticky rice. Before they cook the rice they have to sift through it first and pick out rocks, twigs, bugs, etc. Then they wash it thoroughly and cook it the same way we do. The beans look like refried beans when they are cooked but they aren't smashed. The staple food here is called ugali. It is made from casaba root which is pounded down and ground into a flour. Then it is mixed with water and made into something that looks like paste. It has no nutritional value but it does fill up the stomach. Since many people can't afford rice and beans and may only eat one meal a day, ugali at least fills them up. They also have mchicha. It is similar to spinach but looks like seaweed. I have not tried ugali or mchicha yet but I will try them before I return home. People here either grow mchicha or casaba or they buy it at the market. The market has everything imaginable. You can buy fish, live chickens to butcher, meat hanging from hooks, produce, fabric, shoes, pots and pans. You name it you can find it. The market is like a maze with narrow alleyways. If you went by yourself you would easily get lost. I love going to the market. It is a bustling place and a true adventure. I was really made for life here. The pace of life is so much slower and laid back than it is in the States. Time means nothing here. For example, my sister says if you tell the Tanzanians that something starts at 9 am, they might show up between 10 and 11. She also said if for some reason I had been late for starting class at the Bible College by 1-2 hours, my students would still be sitting in the classroom patiently waiting for me and they would stay however long the class went. It took me a while to not worry about whether I was somewhere on time. I forgot to say that they also eat chapati and mandazi. Chapati is like a tortilla. It is made with flour and water and then fried. Mandazi is like an old fashioned cake donut but not as sweet. The people here eat the same things they ate 100 or more years ago and they will still be eating it for many years to come.
I started teaching art at the primary school last week. I will have 3 days with the kindergarten class and 3 days with the first grade class. I centered my lessons around creation, so with the kindergarten class I have taught them how to draw the face of a lion; we did tissue paper fish, and we are doing sun, moon and stars tomorrow. Tom arrives tomorrow afternoon. Then on Friday the four of us (my sister, her husband, Tom, and I) will go on safari for 3 days. When I return home I am going to put together a large album of several hundred of my photos. Also, I plan on putting together a presentation for my church. They were such a blessing by supporting me in many ways. I could not have done all of this without them. I also could not have done this with out all of you(my family and friends). I appreciate all of your prayers, support, and interest in what I have been doing here.
Today we went to a Tanzanian church service. Everything is done in Swahili. One of the mission staff members and his wife go to church there so they translated for us. They have 4 different choirs and they all got up to perform. There was the church choir, the womens' choir, the youth choir, and the childrens' choir. They really know how to sing and dance. The music is so beautiful. I couldn't understand all of the words but it didn't really matter. The church service was 3 hours long and we sat on narrow wooden benches that are low to the ground. I got up and went outside to stretch for a minute. There were mothers and children out there and one little girl about 2-3 years old. She took a shine to me and came and held her arms up. I picked her up and she was looking at my skin, my eyes, and my teeth. She chattered away, kissed me quite often, and played peek-a-boo. When I went back into the church and sat down she came to me and sat in my lap. Her mom came to get her because she was worried the little girl was bothering me. I let her know it was no problem. She stayed on my lap through most of the service. When the service was over she went to her mom. Her mom brought her over to kiss me good-bye. There is so much more I could write, but this is quite long. I probably won't write again until after I get home. Once home, I will create an album of some of my photos and post them on Facebook. I hope you aren't bored with all I have written. Love, Shawn
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