"Muzungu, Muzungu"

Everywhere I go I hear the words muzungu, muzungu…which just means "white person". People would ask me if I was Obama’s sister or if I would stay and live with them. It’s funny to get all this attention…but at the same time I get tired of being the foreigner.

Here is a small Swahili lesson:
Jambo-hello
Karubi- welcome
Habari- how are you?
Pole pole- slowly
Mzuri-good
I am trying to speak as much Swahili as I can…but it’s kind of a difficult language to learn. I will keep working at it though.

The internet here is sooo slow…it’s kind of hard to communicate with the outside world. That’s kind of good- but kind of bad. It helps me to really be here…but then I’m not sure what’s going on outside of my little village of Ntagacha.

This week I have been helping get things ready for the kids. Everything from helping build bunk beds, processing children and organizing kids clothes. There is a lot to be done…and only a few weeks to do it all. Yesterday I was able to go in town to Tarime with Lucy, a local woman here. We had so much fun. We went to the butcher, the meat market, the vegetable stand and bought eggs, bread and milk. It was cool to see where everything came from. However, when I saw that fish market…it made me not want to eat fish. It smelled horrible in there and there was fish juice and scales flying everywhere. We also went over the border to Kenya to buy a few things that we can’t get here in Tanzania. Here it is so easy just to hop from country to country…I didn’t even have to show ID. That would never happen in the states!

I have been doing a lot of cooking here. I like it a lot…but it’s a little tougher. We have to haul in our water, and we don’t have the conveniences like a microwave etc. Things are simpler here, and it makes you all the more appreciative.
The other night our generator broke, and we realized how much we rely on it. We couldn’t use our power tools, our computers ran out of battery and had to do everything by candlelight. It made for a long evening, because it gets dark at seven.

Last week I went out to the village to interview children. There were some heartbreaking stories. There was one boy who has living with his 80 year old grandmother. She was so thin and feeble and could hardly walk. His dad died of cancer and his mom left right after that. He was abandoned and his grandmother can hardly support him. I like to go out to see these children, but it is so hard for me not to bring them all home with me. There are also children as young as eight left alone to care for their siblings all day. It is too much responsibility for a young child. You almost feel helpless, there is no way our small orphanage can help every needy child in the area. That is the hardest thing of all!

Raining....again

The rainy season is upon us here in Tanzania…and it is very evident. Today we had a flash flood…the whole garage was full of water and the water came half way up the tires in the van. It ran through the fields and make waterfalls down the banks. It makes a mess! It also hailed for a while…just imagine that under a tin roof. It’s almost more than your ears can handle. Every afternoon you can see the dark clouds floating in ready to bring a downpour.
This week I have been doing some odd jobs again. I helped organize the storage room that holds all of the orphans clothes, sheets, toothbrushes etc. That was quite a task, but I got it accomplished. I also helped fix the bunk beds, put grout around the tiles and did my best to assist in fixing the generator. Tomorrow I will be going out to a town called Borega to meet some children. We are in our final stages of interviews and are searching for the right children to bring into the City of Hope on opening day. The time is coming near and we have lots to do. I am sure I will be busy in the upcoming days.
I have greatly enjoyed playing with the kids that live right beside my house. They are so cute and even though they speak Swahili, and I English, we have so much fun playing together. Their favorite game is chakula, simba…which means food, lion. It’s a game of tag- and they spend hours playing it.
I also like the evenings with the team. After dinner we often play games and then sit around and tell stories. It is so interesting to hear different experiences from people in all walks of life. It really is a sense of community here and I love it.
Even in this short week Tanzania has begun to feel like home. There are things I miss about my life in the states, but because things are so different here and there are always new experiences, I don’t think about the things I miss. The people here are so friendly and welcoming. I am lucky to live with those that I do.
Food… The food here is simple but good. We often have rice and beans, tomatoes and sometimes beef or chicken. I actually enjoy the food a lot more than I thought I might, which is good.

Life in Tanzania

It has been raining about everyday which makes the evenings cool, but the afternoons get pretty hot, especially under the tin roof. The local people have been fighting. Cows and land are being stolen and so they go to “war” with their bows and arrows. That, more than anything, makes me realize I’m not at home. I’m not worried because they are glad to have us in their village and have nothing against us, but it is still strange.
I love the food here- though we have some American staples; we eat a lot of rice, vegetables and fruit. Every afternoon we eat mango, it is so..o..o delicious and usually we have pineapple or bananas for breakfast as well.
In the mornings I have been helping Hannah feed the animals. We have dogs, a pig and chickens and roosters. I have been enjoying just doing the little things to help around the house. I have also been helping put up tile this week- we need to get everything ready for when the kids come. The tile makes a mess and there is dust everywhere. It’s a little harder to clean here. We take advantage of our vacuum cleaners, outdoor hoses and just things that don’t easily clog.

This weekend Mwita and I stayed back with the kids while the rest of the team headed off to a town called Mwanza. I had fun being a mother of three . :) We played lots of games, ate candy and watched movies on our laptops. I really like spending time with the kids. They are so much fun and have such imaginations. What a childhood they must be having! They get to have new experiences every day.

This week I will begin to help get the place ready for the kids. We need to get their rooms ready, and make profiles for them so they can be sponsored. I am so looking forward to meeting these children and to help give them hope of a future. What an opportunity I have right now. I am experiencing new things everyday in a wonderful place with beautiful people. I am so happy to be in Tanzania!!!!

I've arrived!

Here I am in the beautiful village of Ntagatcha Tanzania. It took a few days to get here…three airplane rides and a couple of vans and trucks- but I arrived. It’s amazing here. You can see the green hills roll on for miles and miles and the blue sky seems to never end. Donkeys, cows, dogs and roosters are common background noise here and they roam around freely. At night it is pitch black - you can’t even see your hand. I don’t have electricity yet, but it’s coming. The children here are beautiful and so loving. As soon as you walk outside, they flock to you.
There are bugs of every kind here. Mosquitoes are everywhere, as well as moths, cockroaches, ants and flies. There are also bats in my ceiling and lizards walking around. I am so thankful for my mosquito net at night. It keeps the creatures out and away from me! Somehow though, I don’t really mind. I did however get about 50 flea bites when walking through the grass. My legs have huge red dots all over them. But hopefully they will heal up just fine.

Tanzania...here I come!

Two weeks...

It's down to two weeks before my departure. Every day I become more and more excited at the opportunity I have to travel to Tanzania and help the people there!!!

If you are interested in finding out more information about what I am doing, or the City of Hope visit http://www.teamworkcityofhope.com/ !

Also...a BIG thank you to all of you who have donated and made this trip possible for me. I truly could not have done it without you!

Departure

As my departure date, January 19, draws closer, I have become even more excited. I am now hearing stories of the children that are coming to the City of Hope. I cannot wait to great them when I arrive! The AIDs epidemic in this part of Africa is devestating at the least, but it will be so wonderful to be able to give some of the children a new life.

One of the missionaries that is already there wrote this in her last email :
" I met our first six orphans. They should be here soon. I stood with them and listened to their grandmotherʼs story. She just finished burying the last of her sons and daughters. They have all been victims of the diseases that have gripped this culture. Sheʼs of the older generation, with her ears enlarged by the plates she carried in them as a young girl. More and more children were given to her. Her heart is big, yet her resources few. She lives just beside us. It is good to know we can help this poor widow, along with her widow friend as well. "

It's about six weeks until I leave and my "to do" list is growing longer and longer, but I know it will come together and on January 19 when I board the plane...I will be ready to move to the City of Hope!