Goodbye Musoma Hello Zanzibar!!

I wrote this yesterday afternoon but then couldn't get any WiFi to upload it!

I'm currently sat on the floor in Dar airport waiting to check in for the last leg of today's journey. It started at 4.30am this morning as we left eagle lodge for the last time and went to Bweri bus stand to catch a bus to Mwanza. All the busses were full so we had to wait till 6.15 for a bus with space. Not the most comfortable of journeys by any stretch of the imagination, but we did get to see sunrise and more of the beautiful Tanzanian countryside. I also got a little bit of sleep in between bouncing off my seat as we went over speed humps. We arrived at Mwanza in plenty of time, so we had time for breakfast in a small cafe opposite the airport - chip omlette (possibly the best food invention ever) and chai for me! Our flight to Dar was delayed slightly due to weather conditions. It was another rough journey, especially as we were waiting to land in Dar. Now just got a short flight over to Zanzibar to come!
This week in Musoma has been a bit different, and a lot of it has been spent saying goodbyes. We had chance to go to the albino and blind school which was great to see, although it was a bit odd as the albinos have white skin that looks similar to us but they still have the same African hair and figures. We visited the lepers again and took them some food to share between them. One of the old guys there loves dancing so we put some music on and had a bit of a wiggle before we left.
Our chickens were supposed to be slaughtered this week but they're still underweight so they will be killed next week. The good news is that we have a client who is interested in buying almost all of them when they're ready.
The health centre foundations we were working on up in a village called Kyamajoje (where Mtani lives) look great now they're finished, and they're ready for the next team to come in and take on the next stage. Saying goodbye to Mtani was sad as we had built such a good relationship with him, but it was great to see him looking much better. We are looking at ways to help him out more - I'll do a special blog post on this when I'm home, so watch this space.
We finished our school lessons this week and had a presentation to give certificates, toothbrushes and soap for the kids who had attended at least 5 of our lessons. The kids loved the certificates and all wanted their photos taken so I now have 50 photos of kids! It reminded me of how excited I used to get when I got certificates at primary school.
On Friday afternoon we had a special service at the church where we have been working most of the time we've been here. We had chai and chapatti and mundazi (doughnut things) before the service with the congregation. The atmosphere was incredible, their choir sung, then we sang, then there were thank you speeches from them and us then they presented us all with some material to remember them by, and then everyone danced and sang together which was amazing! And to top it all off, it happened during a proper Tanzanian storm so the volume in the church was tremendous.
Saying goodbye was really sad and I will miss the kids and all the people we've worked with, and especially the team. But I'm very excited for Zanzibar which will mainly be a 2 week holiday with some of the team, but we will work for a few of the days as we have a nursery floor to concrete. I hope it will be a good chance to reflect on my time here.
Prayer requests:
Safety: safe travelling for the half of the team that are going home, and safety for us in Zanzibar.
Blessings: thank God for all the opportunities he's given us while we've been out here and for helping us bless the locals and for the blessing they've been to us
The team: pray for each team member, that God continues to work in their lives and that we will stay in touch and friendships will continue.

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Hamjambo!

Hello again!

This week has been great! The Christmas fair at Rehema on Saturday went really well. Lots of people came and lots of money was made in the shop and the cafe, and on games. The kids had so much fun and the Rehema ladies really enjoyed themselves too. Face painting was a particular highlight, and many of the team got their faces painted too (you're never too old!). On Monday Jess and I helped the Rehema ladies make Christmas cards which I always enjoy because it's such a lovely environment to be in and it's a chance for some great conversations with other team members who are there too. Mid-morning we had chai time, although Jess and I didn't actually have chai, we opted for a soda instead with our chapatis and mundazis (battered doughtnut things).

On Tuesday I went out to a village called Murangi, which is about and hour and a half south on Lake Victoria from where we are staying. It is amazingly beautiful out there and it was a fab day. It started off with (controlled) demolition and we took part of a wall down, we then replaced the wooden window lintels with concrete ones, and then learnt how to brick lay as we built the walls back up. About half an hour after we had arrived, before we had properly started work, we were told by the locals it was time for chai, so we sat around on plastic garden chairs under a tree. The chai was delicious, but when the bowls of rice came out, my heart sank. I can never eat the portions of rice the locals give us - they're huge, but fortunately one of the lads helped me out! As we were so far out of town, we couldn't go back to the hostel for lunch, so we had a picnic by the lake which was really nice, despite the rain.

I experienced my first school lesson on Wednesday which was really interesting to see. We taught the kids about preventing malaria, as well as playing some sport with them and teaching them a few songs in English. At the end of the lesson (all thanks to Natalie...!) the kids figured out how horrendously ticklish I am and I was tickled to the point they got me on the floor! All good fun though! In the afternoon we went back up to the market garden, which was great to see as everything has really grown and the insects are mostly being kept under control.

Yesterday we visited the leper colony in the morning. The kids there are amazing and they were completely fascinated by bubbles, more so than a lot of the other kids out here. We helped to clean the wounds of the older lepers. Their wounds are so disgusting, one of them had maggots in but they were so happy to have had them cleaned by us. One of the men loved dancing so we put on some music and had a wiggle! After lunch we went to buy chicken food, and whilst we were sat in the market we became aware of a car horn going and suddenly realised it was our truck. We ran back to the truck to see who was in it, and who should pop out but mama, our friend with down syndrome who always finds us when we're in town, who had spotted the car but couldn't find us so he thought he'd use the horn to get our attention!

The pranks have gone to a new level this week, and it is definitely a state of war in the house. Toothbrushes frozen in glasses of water, coffee in the shower head, boxers stapled up round the house, lightbulbs hidden, phones hidden in bedrooms with alarms set for ridiculous times in the night etc. The boys are really uninventive and just resort to throwing water at us or copying our pranks.We will win!

Mtani's chair has been fixed the way we asked, and although there are still a few small amendments to make, we can do them ourselves. He is still struggling with some pressure sores he has on his bottom, meaning he is unable to sit down so he has spent the last week or so lying on his bed. At least we bought him a matress before this happened so he is more comfortable than he might have been. We are taking him to hospital next week to hopefully get this sorted properly. I did struggle with seeing him in so much pain, but he is always so smiley, despite his situation and I really thank God for his joy. Hopefully we can sort some things out to make his life easier.

Magani has had his op on his leg and it went successfully, but we have been unable to contact him for about a week now so we don't know whether he has been discharged or not and we are a little concerned. Just praying that God will have his hand on the situation and we will be able to contact him soon.

Prayer requests:

Magani - that we would be able to contact him soon and find him safe and well
Wisdom - that God would show us how to best make use of our final week out here
Chickens - our chickens are due to be slaughtered this week but they are very underweight. Pray for a sudden weight gain so that we can slaughter them before they eat too much more food!
My health - my stomach is playing up a little this week, so please pray that it will settle again so I can properly enjoy my final week in Musoma.

Finally, you're lucky this week, I had time to sit and wait for a photo to upload!

Chai time at the hostel

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Just a quick update!

Just a quick update while I'm sat in the internet cafe waiting for others to finish. Today is a training day, and we have planned our final two weeks here. I can't believe how fast it has gone! We are slowing down on the building project side of things, which means we have more time to get involved with people, doing bible studies, visiting the leper colony, the disability school (where are the albinos are - thank you to everyone who donated hats or glasses, I'll let you know how it goes when we give them out next week!), and lots of time to eat lunch with the locals (hurray for rice in huge quantities....!). I have spent loads of time with Rehema this week on the craft side of things, helping them get ready for Saturday. I am so excited for this Christmas fair, everyone on the team is behind it and there is going to be so much going on! Rehema has been such a great place for us while we've been out here that it's great to have the opportunity to give something back. Praying that it will be a huge success! The past few days have been a bit wetter, so hopefully our prayers have been answered and the rainy season is properly starting. Although it can sometimes disrupt our work, working in the rain is actually rather fun. Majani (the boy with the hole in his leg) has had his first operation and will hopefully be coming home tomorrow. I will let you know how he is after we've met up with him next week. We took Mtani's wheelchair back to him this week after it had supposedly been altered, only to find they hadn't done what we'd asked, so that's gone back to the workshop and will hopefully be sorted this week. Been thinking about what I miss and what I don't miss from home this week. Besides people, the biggest thing I miss is cereal and milk! The milk powder we use out here is gross!!

Prayer requests:
Enthusiasm - Pray that we will be just as excited about focusing on work with people rather than building projects. Pray that the people we work with will be open minded and will be receptive to message we share.
Rehema fair - Pray that is goes really well and loads of people come, and that it is a great day for all.
Wisdom - as we draw towards the end and our budget become tighter, pray that we will have wisdom in how to spend our money.

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Mambo rafiki!

Hello again! Made it to the internet cafe once more. Life here is still great, but busy as ever. During the past couple of weeks we have completed the first chicken shed extension and very nearly finished the second. The pit latrine we are building is coming on well, as is our first water tank. We start our second water tank on Monday. The water tanks are a particularly important part of our work out here because they make such a difference to people's lives. It prevents many water borne diseases by providing them with cleaner water. It also reduces the time people have to spend collecting water, enabling the girls to go to school and the women to do other work.

We have had a busy few weeks with health matters. We met a boy called Majani at church two weeks ago and his mother told us he had a hole is his leg as a result of an infected wound a few months ago. When he removed the bandage, it was more than just a hole - it was like the front of his leg was missing, and most of the bone was exposed. We arranged for him to travel down to Mwanza to the hospital there so he can be treated. The operation is going to be very expensive, but we have raised enough to fund it.

Another important person we have met is a young man called Mtani. He is 19 and lives in a village about 30 minutes out of town.When he was younger he fell out a tree and as a result is paralysed from the waist down. A previous team did a lot of work with him, sorting him out with a wheelchair etc. When we visited him, it was sad to find his wheelchair didn't fit him and that his legs were covered with sores. He also told us he broke his leg a few months ago when he fell out of the chair. We took him to the Coptic hospital in town where he stayed for 3 nights to have his sores cleaned and antibiotic injections to prevent infection in the broken leg. We are also in the process of getting his wheelchair adjusted to the right size. He's a really inspiring person, his faith in God is very encouraging and his smile is so infectious! It's really moving meeting someone who is so happy despite his disability in an area where it is very difficult for him to get anywhere. His dream is to open a shop, which we hope to enable him to do, especially as him and his grandma (who he lives with) have no source of income and are struggling for food.

The weather out here is very hot and sunny, which is great in some ways, especially when I get texts telling me how cold and miserable the UK is! However, this really should be the rainy season, but we've only had a few rain storms here, and the last time it rained was about a week ago. People's crops are not growing and food stores are running low so we are getting approached by a lot of people who haven't eaten for days. It's difficult as we are not able to help all of them, and the point of GoMAD is not to just hand out money. However, we have been able to provide some of them with work so they can earn money to buy food.I do find it quite hard that we spend the day with people who really struggle for food, then we jump in the truck at the end of the day, all saying how hungry we are and sit down to a good dinner every night at Eagle Lodge. We spent 3 and a half days without running water this week, which got a bit frustrating but in comparison to the people we spend most of our days with, we are still so blessed!

My Swahili is definitely improving. I love the language and I am getting more confident with speaking to the locals.As part of my logistics role, I am involved in buying a lot of the materials we need for our building projects. I can therefore order nails, steel, wood, roofing sheets etc in Swahili. My food words are good too, as I help organise the shopping list for our cook every morning.When it comes to talking to kids, however, I do lack some vocab which would be really helpful! I can greet them, ask a few questions and then I get stuck.If in doubt, produce some bubbles or a camera and everyone is happy! Being out here is also developing my clothes washing skills, as everything has to be done by hand. Nothing is ever properly clean though, and I have forgotten what white socks look like! I brought mostly the right clothes, although it would have been nice to have something else to wear around the house in the evenings but I've just had some African shorts made and I LOVE them! I have material to get trousers and a skirt too. The material is amazing, I walk into a material shop and just want to buy it all!

I am enjoying getting involved with lots of different projects in and around Musoma, including the orphanage which is a fab time to spend with some beautiful kids. Although you are sat down playing all morning, I find it just as tiring as building, especially when they're all grouchy. I am also getting involved with Rehema, helping to make Christmas cards, organising a Christmas fair next Saturday, writing their next newsletter and helping work out their private hire contract and costs. It's such a lovely place and the women who work there are great. The Rehema project is such a fantastic organsiation, who focus on helping women and children. They have a cafe open from Wednesday to Saturday each week, where they serve burgers, lasagne and other western food. The banana bread is just awesome! They have a craft shop next door, which I just can't resist. The products are all made by local women, all of whom have stories in which Rehema has turned their life around for good. Each week the women who work for Rehema have a bible study so they can learn more about God. They also have a support system for other women who come to them saying they are struggling for food or healthcare. They way they split their profits is very well thought out, including saving money for maintenance issues if and when they should occur, and putting money aside for a long term project they are hoping to start in the future.

Yesterday we had a spiritual reflection day, a time to spend with God, learning more about him and listening to what he has to say. We listened to a great sermon on the adventure of calling, got up for sunrise (of which I took 141 photos - the photographer in me will never die!) and went up Eagle rock again for worship at sunset. Some of the quotes that particularly spoke to me include 'We are immortal until God calls us home', 'God thinks you've got what it takes to be the person he wants you to be' and 'Life a life that demands an explanation'.

Today is a day off and then tomorrow we go to a huge church service where the three local churches in our area join together for a 5 hour service! I usually use the service time to read the bible. I am working my way through some old testament books, which I then study with others on the team. So far we've worked through Esther (cracking book - definitely worth studying!), Malachi and we are now on Ecclesiastes. Any suggestions as to which book we should pick next can be posted below!!!

I hope everything is well back home, we are very disconnected from news here and my short time with the internet is spent catching up on emails and writing my blog! I am actually enjoying being disconnected from the internet from most of the time, it is quite liberating.

Prayer requests:

Energy - being at our half way point, a lot of people including myself have hit a bit of an energy low. Pray that God will renew our strength and we will be re-energised.

Team unity - a couple of issues surfaced this week over some banter than has gone a bit too far, but these have hopefully been resolved. Pray that any other issues will be resolved quickly so we can stay close.

Opportunities - Thank God for the opportunities he gives us to share our faith with those we meet. Pray that we will have more opportunities to share his amazing love. Also pray that we will have more opportunities to build each other up in faith and to strengthen our belief in God.

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