Oct 2007 newsletter

Here is our October 2007 newsletter

Since our last newsletter, our life has been filled with
many adventures, challenges and emotional ups and
downs. Once again we want to thank you all for your
prayers and support on our behalf. We see the blessings
brought about by your thoughts and prayers so often
throughout our days. This far ranging prayer support is
perhaps the greatest gift of being a missionary far from
home.
On July 9th the fish truck arrived at our house with 8
men from Shirati Hospital to load up all our possessions,
including our 4 dogs. We had spent the last week or so
packing up everything. We were truly amazed at how
much stuff we had managed to accumulate here in East
Africa over the past 2 years. With lots of hands the truck
was loaded in a couple of hours and we said our goodbyes.
The Hospital had approved for our good friend,
Samwel Ogoya, to make the trip with us. He is both a
driver and mechanic. This turned out to be a wonderful
blessing. We had planned to leave Shirati at noon on
Monday and arrive in Dar late Wednesday afternoon. Due
to a variety of vehicle problems, both ours and the moving
truck, we did not arrive in Dar until late Thursday. Our trip
covered 1475 kilometers. About 800 of those kilometers
were on very bad dirt roads. We left for the first leg of our
journey, Mwanza around noon. The roads are very good
on this part of the trip; however, it still takes about 5 hours
to drive the 300 kilometers. Part of this drive is along the
Western border of the Serengeti National Park, so we got
to see quite a number of animals along the way. At one
point, as we were crossing a river bridge, there was a
troop of baboons along the road. Keith decided to give
them some bananas. As they swarmed towards the car the
kids screamed at him to close his window. Afterwards, we
all had a good laugh.
Tuesday we drove from Mwanza to Singida. This part
of the journey took much longer than we thought. We
ended up driving until almost 10pm to reach our
destination. About 15 kilometers short of our destination
we were stopped by an army patrol. They told us this was
a very dangerous section of road with lots of bandits. They
suggested we turn around and follow them back the way
we came. The next town back was over an hour away. We
decided to continue. We said many prayers and thankfully
arrived without incident. Wednesday we traveled from
Singida to Morogoro with a stop in Dodoma to have lunch
with a Mennonite Pastor we know. Thursday we finished
the trip driving from Morogoro to Dar. This section of
road is paved and was very enjoyable compared to the
previous parts of the journey. Some of the trip highlights:
Brake problems with our land cruiser, radiator problems
on the moving truck which was temporarily repaired with
super-glue which allowed the truck to make it 60
kilometers to a town where correct repairs could be made,
Leah got sick from bad food eaten at a roadside stand.
Keith was not paying attention and drank motor oil instead
of water. We saw many new parts of Tanzania which are
very different from the Shirati area. We stayed at a
beautiful old resort which was undergoing renovation in
Morogoro. We had a great view of the Uluguru Mountains.
We stopped and bought honey for Gerry from a
shack along the road. We bought some traditional musical
instruments from a man outside Dodoma. We joked and
laughed a lot together as a family. We were very thankful
that God protected us on our journey.
On the Tuesday after we arrived, Leah became sick.
Over the next few days she became worse. Being new to
Dar, we struggled with where to take her and what to do.
On Friday we went to a clinic recommended by friends.
She seemed to improve slightly but then deteriorated.
Saturday we ended up at the IST hospital which is where
most foreigners go for treatment. Leah was immediately
put on IV fluids and antibiotics. She was diagnosed with
salmonella and septicemia. Later that evening she went
into septic shock and almost died. Sunday the doctors were
debating whether they should medi-vac her to Nairobi with
better facilities. Later on Sunday she greatly improved and
Monday and we were able to bring her home under close
watch. A follow up appointment on Wednesday determined
that she had improved enough that transport to
Nairobi was not needed. She continued on medication for
another week along with a very strict diet. So we have
been thanking God and spending lots of time with her. It
took many weeks to process and deal with the stress of
that week. It has also been very difficult to let her out of
our sight.
The experience has reminded us that we are blessed
and privileged. If this had happened in Shirati, Leah
would have died because the hospital does not have the
high end drugs she needed. Also, any of our Tanzanian
friends, even those here in Dar would have most likely
died because they could not afford the treatment. Serving
here, you see and are more aware of the inequities that
exist in the world. Not that being privileged and having
money is bad or wrong. It is rather a question of how we
allow God to work through us and use the resources and
gifts he has given to us. Are we storing riches on earth or
in heaven?
We had looked at many houses in Dar before finding
one which we liked. I guess as with all new places there
were many things that needed to be fixed and adjusted.
One of the ironies of the move is we now have what seems
to be an endless supply of water. Once the water to the
house was turned on we found many of the pipes and
fixtures in the house leaked. The landlord was helpful and
we worked through the process of fixing the problems in
the Tanzanian way including repairmen that only show up
with a hammer and a wrench! We had to laugh that in
Shirati every drop of water was precious. Here we
complain bitterly that we were constantly mopping up
water from the floors. It was also a reminder that what we
as Americans consider as an acceptable standard of
working is not the same as the Tanzania standard of
working. By way of example I mean if water comes out
of the tap it works. The fact that the tap does not shut off
is irrelevant.
We also had some electrical wiring and lighting issues
that are finally worked out. In Shirati, power was out
several times a week and sometimes for days at a time.
Since our arrival in Dar, the power at the house has been
off maybe 5 or 6 times for only a few hours at a time. We
also have affordable working high speed internet and
phone service in the house most of the time. This makes
getting things done here very easy. Again the difference
between Shirati and Dar is amazing.
The kids all started school at Haven of Peace Academy
on August 27th. Keith was away on a trip and missed the
first week. The kids have really enjoyed being at HOPAC.
We think it is as much the learning, as it is being around
same culture peers. They have been making many new
friends and are becoming involved in school activities that
have not been available since we left the States to come
here. Alex has excelled and was recently moved from 8th
to 9th grade. He is very happy with the change and now is
very challenged in his studies. Leah is making great
progress with learning to read. It is so fun to see her
excitement every time she masters a new word. Ellen has
been making paper hearts and they write each word Leah
masters on the heart and then tape them on the wall
outside of Leah’s room. Gerry has adjusted and continues
to be our social butterfly. School work has always come
easy for him until now. He chose to study German and is
really struggling. He readily admits he has to work at it
which is why he does not like it. Getting him to study is a
challenge because he is interested in everything but
studying. He is involved in after-school activities and has
a wide range of friends. He seems to have an invitation to
someone’s house all the time.
The last week of August Keith traveled to Musoma for
the Tanzanian Mennonite Church National Elections. The
meetings were very good with a lot of spirited conversations.
The church is really trying to move forward in new
directions. They are working hard to end old quarrels and
settle differences. They talk about working together as one
national church instead of individual dioceses. They
elected many new younger leaders who want to make
positive changes in the church.
After these meetings, Keith traveled to Shirati and
spent two days with the leadership team reviewing the
events of the past two months since we left Shirati. So
many good things continue to occur at the hospital. The
hospital contact was renewed with IMA for a second year
with funding increased from $54,000 to $180,000 and they
were given a new Land Cruiser as well. This is the second
Land Cruiser they received this year. Additionally, the
hospital needs new x-ray equipment. Friends of Shirati has
agreed to fund the purchase of new equipment to be
purchased here in TZ. The hospital has several doctors
coming this fall for 1 to 3 month stays which will help
them greatly.
Keith and the leadership team traveled together to
Kenya to visit Tenwek Hospital. The Shirati team had a
great experience there. They toured the hospital and met
with many of the senior leaders. They made valuable
contacts with other leaders whom they can communicate
and share experiences and ideas in the future. This trip
gave the leadership many new ideas and confidence that
they can make Shirati hospital into a great hospital. They
spent the 5 hour trip home talking about all the ideas they
wanted to work on implementing at Shirati. The team
prepared a report to the board with recommendations and
also gave a report in the Friday morning employee
meetings. I believe the most lasting impression they will
carry from the experience was the fact that the hospital
was run by Kenyans. They had expected it would be run
by all missionaries. This was a great learning and confidence
building experience for the team.
Back in Dar, Keith worked with the church staff to
hire a new Project Assistant for the Dar Project Office.
The woman hired has extensive development experience
in East Africa including 8 years with the United Nations.
She is a member of the Mennonite Church here in Dar.
She brings a level of experience and abilities that was quite
unexpected. Keith is working on various grant proposals
and documentation pieces for the church. In addition, he
is working on the planning of a national church development
meeting to be held in Arusha in mid-November.
Things are progressing well in his new work. He plans on
returning to Shirati and Musoma in mid-November.
Now that we are settled in Dar, we have been meeting
many new friends. There is a very large foreign population
of missionaries, government workers and private industry
contractors. We have been meeting many other parents
through Haven of Peace Academy. The opportunity for
same-culture friendship and fellowship here is vastly
different. We are splitting our Sunday worship time
between the Tanzanian Mennonite Church (Swahili
speaking) and Vineyard Church (English speaking). The
kids are very much enjoying attending the English service
and Sunday school. We miss many elements of the Swahili
service especially the vibrant colors and spirited singing of
the choirs. However, we never understood what a blessing
it is to experience worship in our native tongue.
FROM ELLEN, OCTOBER 2007
I am amazed at the contrast in our lives from July to now.
Desert to oasis (except this oasis is as hot as a desert!!!).
It was hard in some ways to leave Shirati. I recall sitting
in the church that last Sunday and feeling a kaleidoscope
of emotions. I looked at familiar faces, of lives we have
touched through YOUR help and support, and I felt joy
and accomplishment, and some sadness. Some of the
faces brought to mind missed opportunities due to a
number of reasons, mostly a lack of language fluency. I
remember feeling so limited in my relationships there with
the women, since I was not fluent in either Swahili or Luo.
Other faces almost brought me to tears as I knew I would
miss them terribly; Chirangi, Samwel, ChaCha, Magesa,
Julita and so many others. I got up to say good-bye to the
church and could not articulate the depths of my feelings
in my limited vocabulary, but I think people knew how
much I loved them. I recall the Nursing School choir
beginning to sing in their angelic, deeply moving way and
I wanted to stop time just for a few more minutes. We had
a going away party at our house before we left. About 60
people came and countless kids (oh, how I miss the kids!).
Once again, it was a visual reminder of the lives we have
touched, through your support and through God’s strength.
I am glad for the experience there, but also glad to move
on.
Dar es Salaam…an isolation with a different name. In
Shirati, we were isolated from like-cultured families. In
Dar, we are isolated from Tanzanians. We have walls
around our small yard. I do like the privacy, most of the
time, but also miss the Tanzanian people that I have grown
accustomed to expect at all hours! I find here, that I have
to be more intentional about becoming involved in the
Tanzanians’ lives. Being here in Dar, I feel like life is
much similar to life at home. I spend many hours a week
at the school, volunteering at the library, helping teach
swimming lessons to the primary grades, and other
projects. There are church activities and community
activities. The foreigner community is fairly small and we
mostly go to the same church, the kids attend the same
schools, and we are involved in each other’s daily lives.
This is my oasis. I have realized how truly isolated I was
in Shirati, although there was much I loved there. I want
to know the heart of a person and I was so unable to do
that there. Here I have been able to form deep
relationships already in this short period of time. One
aspect of missionary life that I have loved is that we
“bond” quickly. Many of us are in very similar situations,
having left family, friends, and familiarity behind. There
is an element of understanding that is hard to find
elsewhere. I wonder, Lord, what other vast transformations
is my soul going to undergo before I meet you face
to face? I feel I have changed so much in the time I have
been in East Africa.
FROM GERRY, SEPTEMBER 2007
We have recently moved to Dar es Salaam from Shirati,
which was in Northern Tanzania next to Lake Victoria.
We haven’t really finished organizing our house yet. Alex,
Leah and I have been in school at Haven of Peace
Academy for one month already! I really like school, it’s
fun and I am making new friends. That really helps the
transition from “bush” to city living. I am getting good
grades in all my subjects except for German, which is
really hard. I started after school activities this week which
has been fun. On Tuesdays I play Ultimate Frisbee and on
Fridays I do cross-country. Cross country is hard since it
is right after I have gym class, but I still like it. It is often
in the mid to upper 90’s while I run, so I am exhausted
when it is over. I also play soccer throughout the week
during lunch breaks. One of the teachers organizes the
games for us. Alex and I are on the same team.
For the first time in my life, I have my own room! I
keep it very clean and organized. My sister, as always, is
annoying and her toys spill out into the hallway which is
even more annoying. I really like our new house, but not
as much as our home in America. Right now, our friend
Solar is living with us while he is trying to get into medical
school. Also, our new guard/gardener, Bilali lives with us,
too. He keeps all of the plants perfect and nice looking,
washes the car, and cleans the driveway. Mama Mbwa,
one of our dogs from Shirati, died a few weeks ago and we
buried her in the yard. The rest of our dogs are doing fine
and not sick.
FROM ALEX, SEPTEMBER 2007
Since the last newsletter many things have happened. We
moved from Shirati to the city and we started school.
School began almost five weeks ago now and it is amazing
how fast time goes when you are busy doing things.
I have seven subjects each day, forty-five minutes
each. My favorite subjects are math and history. My least
favorite subject is art. As for activities, I am helping with
the school newspaper and playing on the school’s
intramural soccer team. School is going well.
Our home is about ½ mile from the Indian Ocean. We
often get an ocean breeze here which is nice. We go to the
beach about once a week, which is one of my favorite
times. It is so beautiful there, white powdery sand,
turquoise blue water, with islands not far from the shore.
It is not cold like the Atlantic Ocean, but very warm most
of the time. Some places, the water is really clear and you
can see down to the bottom.
I also like our new house. It is a big step up from our
house in Shirati. We each have our own room and outside
my room every morning is a bird that sings as I get up.
Here in Dar, it is much hotter than anywhere else I have
lived. It usually is in the mid to upper 90’s. In the evenings
it goes down to 75degrees. It is supposed to get much
hotter beginning in November through March! Overall, I
really like it in Dar and am very glad we came.
FROM LEAH, SEPTEMBER 2007
I really like living in Dar! I go to school every day and I
have friends there. In school I have learned to read. On
Monday, I am going to begin swimming lessons in the
school’s new pool! Mom is going to be one of the
volunteers to help with our class in the pool. I had my first
field trip to the beach a couple weeks ago. Mom and Dad
went along. We had a lot of fun! We got to see lots of sea
life like shrimp, hermit crabs and starfish. We even saw a
lion fish but we didn’t get too close since they are
poisonous. They are very pretty with lots of stripes. My
teacher is very nice. She is Miss K from Australia. She is
a new teacher and will be leaving the end of October. Our
new teacher is coming from the US. I got to have some of
my teachers spend an evening at our house and I loved
showing them my room and all my books I read. I am
very excited because my birthday is coming up and I am
going to have a party and invite all of my new friends and
some of my teachers! We live near a small water park
along the beach and we will have it there. I can’t wait!
SHOPPING IN A THIRD WORLD COUNTRY
I was downtown yesterday to spend some time with the
Project Assistant I am mentoring. After covering my agenda,
I left her to her work and headed to City Center to look for a
lap top computer for the project office. I decided to walk part
of the way to enjoy the variety and energy of the city. It was
mid-day and the temperature was in the high 90’s.
The contrast and absurdities of life in the third world are
nowhere more evident than in a major city such as Dar. The
streets are filled with cars, trucks, bicycles, push carts and
people balancing loads atop their heads. The buildings a mix
of modern high rises of glass, steel and concrete with older
smaller concrete and stucco building of topical pinks, purples
and blues. Small shops spill their goods out upon the
sidewalk, next to the towering plazas of the high rises, which
pushes pedestrians out into the street to duck and dodge the
traffic.
The streets are alive with smells, some sweet and
pleasant while others assault the senses driving one to pick
up the pace. Vendors selling sugar cane chunks, oranges,
bananas and nuts prowl the streets. The colors are a collage
of brilliance; a mix of traditional tribal dress ranging from
the Masai, robed and beaded, to the Sambura clad in colorful
kangas, all mingle with traditional western business suits and
black and white robed Muslims disappearing in a sea of
movement as far as the eye can see.
I ducked into one computer shop after another. I kept
wishing for the ease of America where I could have let my
fingers do the walking through the yellow pages or searched
the web to find the best deal, having it delivered to my door
within a few days. Instead, my afternoon was spent meeting
one shop owner after another, finding a wide range of prices
for the same equipment and wondering how much lower I
could push the price if I was not a foreigner or had better
bargaining skills. I did have several good conversations and
made two contacts that will be helpful in the future.
I finally settled on one shop from which to purchase a 4
in 1 printer/fax/copier/scanner. Her price was $40 lower
than any other shop I had visited. I made arrangements to
return next week. Yet another challenge of Third world –
“We only take cash no check or credit card.” I have yet to
decide on the purchase of a lap top. It is hard to bring myself
to spend $1200 for a lap top which I could purchase in the
states for $800. Should I purchase it in the States and have
someone carry it here on their next trip? But then how would
that help to build the local economy, build capacity and
support the growing business community here in Tanzania?
What is it that makes a computer so much more expensive
here than in America? How is it that you can have a small
item shipped overnight from Hong Kong for a few dollars
and to ship 1 pound or less to the US from Tanzania cost
$80? Lamenting this issue recently with a friend here, we
decided it is akin to being connected to the interstate verses
the back roads of Montana (no offense intended to those of
you from Montana).
Returning home I realized I should just be thankful I
know how to operate a computer and have the resources to
purchase one. God provides what we need, not necessarily
what we like or want.
Love Keith, Ellen, Alex, Gerry and Leah