Lots to smile about
I, unfortunately, haven’t been able to update as much as I would like, so the entries keep getting longer and longer…bear with me! Tuesday was quite the adventure. I got my hair done again. This hairstyle is called Kilimanjaro. Any ideas what it looks like? Well, it’s braids with a mass of hair on the top of my head! Hehe. I’ll get a picture online as soon as I can. It’s the most popular hairstyle here, but it’ll never fly back home! While getting my hair done, I learned that children all around the world play while in the “bathtub.” There was little boy taking a bucket bath in the middle of the “courtyard.” This “courtyard” was an area in the middle of several homes with nothing but dirt. However, it also served as the bathing area, cooking area, and socializing area. So, this 4 or 5 year old boy, was pouring water over his head bucketfuls at a time, singing, and laughing all the while. He would dump the water on, and then put the bucket on his head like a hat. He was truly happy, not a worry in the world. It made me smile and think that even children in extreme poverty know how to play and not worry about where their next meal will come from. We take a few hints on loosing the worrying and focusing on enjoying the moment. I know I learned a thing or two! I experienced many things while getting my hair done, for 4 hours. Yeah, I have 46 braids! After Mama Rahma finished my hair, she cooked for me. I had ugali, dgaa (the tiny fish I wrote about before), and okra. Yummy! It was good. Then, Shakila (Mama Rahma’s oldest daughter) and I went from her house to see Mama Victor. When we got there, she was cooking makande (beans, corn, onion, and coconut milk). It is SOOOO stinkin’ good. Yum! Anyway, she offered me some (it’s rude and insulting to say no to anything offered in this culture), so I said yes. Then, she went and bought me a coke and a bottle of water. As I sat there with this woman, I couldn’t help but see the face of Christ. This woman has nothing (she’s lost it all), yet she has given me a good portion of what she does have left. Every time I go visit Mama Victor, I am broken. I truly thank God for her and her incredible gift of giving. After that, it was a long bus ride home. I got on my first dala-dala that broke down. I knew it was only a matter of time, I see them on the side of the road all the time. So, we climbed out and hopped onto another one. No big deal, which is proof that God has worked miracles in my own life. There’s much more in life to worry about than the little things. Once home, I ate dinner and crashed at 9:30. I was worn out!
Wednesday brought some great memories as well. When I got to Neema House, some of the boys were playing with their ujii (kind of like cream of wheat in a more liquid form - they drink it here). Kevi had taught them how to do “cheers.” So, each of the four boys clanked their plastic cups together, made some “uhh” noise as the cups hit, took a drink, said “ahhh,” and did all over again. It was the cutest thing. They were truly enjoying the time they had together. Oh yeah, all these boys were only about 4 years old. I can’t help but smile now just redrawing the picture in my mind. :0) So, Monday I told you about my new friend Mai. Wednesday, during our teaching time, she sat on my lap the entire time. She played with my watch, she wrapped my arms around her tightly, she even pulled my head down next to her face, and just held it there. Again, she brought tears to my eyes just thinking about her loss. What three year old should have to go through life without a mother and a father. I am grieved over the lives of so many of these children. But Mai was so happy just to have me there. After the teaching time, I was approached by Bibi Mudi. A relative of hers is getting married in 3 weeks, and I’ve been invited to the wedding. I don’t even know this relative, but I’m invited! I am sooo excited. It will be quite an experience b/c it’s a Muslim wedding. I won’t get to be a part of all of it b/c women aren’t allowed in the mosque, so I don’t exactly know how the bride and groom can marry in a mosque, but hopefully I’ll have those answers in 3 weeks. And, we’re all getting matching kangas again! Yeah!
Thursday was exhausting. It started out great, I taught Mama Safi, her son Babuu, and the guy that brings the eggs to Neema House how to play “spoons.” They loved it! We played for a little bit before it was time to feed the kids. During the feeding time, I had the opportunity to talk to Mama Saidi and Mama Lelatu. I was truly amazed by how much I understood and was able to respond to. The Lord has truly answered that prayer! And Mama Saidi is all excited about me going to her village. (We’re taking one of the groups out to her village in about 3 weeks) She’s apparently been telling her father all about me. Here I’ve made another great friend and not even realized it. She’s such a sweet woman! And her son Saidi has played more of a role in my story here in Africa than she’ll ever know. Let me explain…I had a dream the night before Mitch came and spoke at my church. In that dream, a boy came up to me and held out his hands. That is all I can remember about the dream. That next day, Mitch came to share about his ministry in Tanzania. In his presentation, he showed a video and in that video was the little boy’s face from my dream. That boy was Saidi. Tears streamed down my face as I watched the rest of the video. And now, here I am working in Tanzania with the boy that was in my dream. And you want to know the best part of all - his mother is the woman that got saved during “The Passion of the Christ.” God works everything together for good! I am truly amazed at how He does it all. So, now back to Wednesday, I had to go prep my English lesson after breakfast. This is where the stress kicked in, but God took care of it all. The TV broke last week, so Mitch brought a projector for me to use - it wouldn’t make the connection between the VCR and the projector. After trying for a while, we gave up, and Babuu tried to see what he could do with the TV. He turned it on, and it worked! I was sooo happy! So, an hour and a half later, I had viewed the videos for class and gotten everything ready. I wasn’t as prepared as I would have liked for it to be, but you work with what you have here. I felt everyone’s prayers during my teaching time b/c everything ran perfectly without any snags or problems. Thank you for your prayers! After my lesson, I had to go say goodbye to my friend Safi. She is leaving to go to school tomorrow (Saturday). So, I said goodbye, we exchanged addresses, and then it was off to the dala-dala. Again, I got home late, ate dinner, and crashed. That’s starting to become a routine.
I really haven’t done much today. I’ve done some reading, written in my journal, and studied Swahili a little bit too. Aside from that, not too much else has happened. Now, I have to go work on another scholarship for Seminary. Oh joy! Well, I hope that everything is going great in FL, PA, Holland, TZ, wherever you are all reading from. Write me a note and fill me in on your lives, since you know pretty much everything about mine. Take care and I’ll post again soon.
Wednesday brought some great memories as well. When I got to Neema House, some of the boys were playing with their ujii (kind of like cream of wheat in a more liquid form - they drink it here). Kevi had taught them how to do “cheers.” So, each of the four boys clanked their plastic cups together, made some “uhh” noise as the cups hit, took a drink, said “ahhh,” and did all over again. It was the cutest thing. They were truly enjoying the time they had together. Oh yeah, all these boys were only about 4 years old. I can’t help but smile now just redrawing the picture in my mind. :0) So, Monday I told you about my new friend Mai. Wednesday, during our teaching time, she sat on my lap the entire time. She played with my watch, she wrapped my arms around her tightly, she even pulled my head down next to her face, and just held it there. Again, she brought tears to my eyes just thinking about her loss. What three year old should have to go through life without a mother and a father. I am grieved over the lives of so many of these children. But Mai was so happy just to have me there. After the teaching time, I was approached by Bibi Mudi. A relative of hers is getting married in 3 weeks, and I’ve been invited to the wedding. I don’t even know this relative, but I’m invited! I am sooo excited. It will be quite an experience b/c it’s a Muslim wedding. I won’t get to be a part of all of it b/c women aren’t allowed in the mosque, so I don’t exactly know how the bride and groom can marry in a mosque, but hopefully I’ll have those answers in 3 weeks. And, we’re all getting matching kangas again! Yeah!
Thursday was exhausting. It started out great, I taught Mama Safi, her son Babuu, and the guy that brings the eggs to Neema House how to play “spoons.” They loved it! We played for a little bit before it was time to feed the kids. During the feeding time, I had the opportunity to talk to Mama Saidi and Mama Lelatu. I was truly amazed by how much I understood and was able to respond to. The Lord has truly answered that prayer! And Mama Saidi is all excited about me going to her village. (We’re taking one of the groups out to her village in about 3 weeks) She’s apparently been telling her father all about me. Here I’ve made another great friend and not even realized it. She’s such a sweet woman! And her son Saidi has played more of a role in my story here in Africa than she’ll ever know. Let me explain…I had a dream the night before Mitch came and spoke at my church. In that dream, a boy came up to me and held out his hands. That is all I can remember about the dream. That next day, Mitch came to share about his ministry in Tanzania. In his presentation, he showed a video and in that video was the little boy’s face from my dream. That boy was Saidi. Tears streamed down my face as I watched the rest of the video. And now, here I am working in Tanzania with the boy that was in my dream. And you want to know the best part of all - his mother is the woman that got saved during “The Passion of the Christ.” God works everything together for good! I am truly amazed at how He does it all. So, now back to Wednesday, I had to go prep my English lesson after breakfast. This is where the stress kicked in, but God took care of it all. The TV broke last week, so Mitch brought a projector for me to use - it wouldn’t make the connection between the VCR and the projector. After trying for a while, we gave up, and Babuu tried to see what he could do with the TV. He turned it on, and it worked! I was sooo happy! So, an hour and a half later, I had viewed the videos for class and gotten everything ready. I wasn’t as prepared as I would have liked for it to be, but you work with what you have here. I felt everyone’s prayers during my teaching time b/c everything ran perfectly without any snags or problems. Thank you for your prayers! After my lesson, I had to go say goodbye to my friend Safi. She is leaving to go to school tomorrow (Saturday). So, I said goodbye, we exchanged addresses, and then it was off to the dala-dala. Again, I got home late, ate dinner, and crashed. That’s starting to become a routine.
I really haven’t done much today. I’ve done some reading, written in my journal, and studied Swahili a little bit too. Aside from that, not too much else has happened. Now, I have to go work on another scholarship for Seminary. Oh joy! Well, I hope that everything is going great in FL, PA, Holland, TZ, wherever you are all reading from. Write me a note and fill me in on your lives, since you know pretty much everything about mine. Take care and I’ll post again soon.