I leave my Arusha home tomorrow after having been taken in since my arrival back in Tanzania almost four months ago. And this move has made me reflect once again on "home". Many times when I meet someone for the first time I'm asked where home is. Sometimes I don't know how to answer because it seems like I have so many homes and so many people have welcomed me into and made their homes be mine. The answers range from Maryknoll NY, to the family farm in ND, to Singida/Arusha/and now presumably Dodoma Tanzania, to dear friends in NJ and NY, to brother in Casper WY, to family in Bismarck ND and wherever they are. Everyone of these places and the people there welcomes me and invites me into their lives and I am at home with them. What a gift that is, and one for which I'm very grateful. I guess that's one of the characteristics of a missioner - to be at home wherever, and so maybe the words of the song are true: Home is any place you choose to put your heart. For now my heart is definitely here in Tanzania and notwithstanding how much I miss family and friends in the U.S., it is very good for me to be here.
I go to Dar es Salaam tomorrow, a 9 hour bus ride, and on Thursday will meet my Maryknoll sister, Connie, with whom I will be living with. I'll let her have a couple days to rest and to get over jet lag, and then we'll go to Dodoma, where she'll see if the possibilities that I saw in Dodoma look as positive to her as they do to me, and also we'll make a decision about housing. On June 18th we'll go back to Dar es Salaam where the Maryknoll Sisters will have a meeting and we'll be assigned to our new home. After that presumably we'll start setting up house and get to work as quickly as possible. This is all very exciting for me, and I'm really looking forward to settling in and meeting the people with whom I'll be working.
I was interested to compare the weather of Arusha, Dar es Salaam and Dodoma - this is what I found. This afternoon the temperature in Arusha is 73 F., Dar es Salaam 81 F., and Dodoma also 81. Low expected is Arusha 57, Dar es Salaam 78 and Dodoma 59. However, the humidity is 65 per cent in Arusha, 70 in Dar es Salaam and 39 in Dodoma. So, as expected, the temperatures of Dar and Dodoma don't vary much but the comfort level is very different because of the humidity. And the low temperatures between Arusha and Dodoma don't differ much but it feels colder here in Arusha because the humidity is higher. I'll let you know what it's REALLY like when I get to these places! Stay tuned ...
Monday, June 8, 2009
Thursday, June 4, 2009
5th June 2009 - Packing
This is my last full week of being in Arusha and so I'm gathering my things and re-packing for departure next Wednesday. These last couple of weeks have been really cool here, but today the sun came out really early and it has been sunny all day. The wind is strong today, and I remember that such is the case during these winter months. Murigha (Singida school) was a really windy place, and as the rainy season gets further and further away, the dust blows something awful. Because we had planted a lot of trees on the school property, that helped so much to deflect the wind and also to keep the dust down. People used to come to the school just to get away from the wind and dust and to enjoy the trees. You might ask why they didn't plant trees themselves. Well, it's really hard to have a tree grow in an environment where goats and cows run quite freely. Supposedly the herds (some really small herds, but groups of goats and cows) are cared for but the herder is often a small boy (or girl) and sometimes playing gets in the way of watching the animals and so what shouldn't get eaten does in fact get destroyed. How did I get off on that track??
I drove into downtown Arusha on Tuesday and was once again amazed at the amount of traffic. Cars and trucks and bicycles and motorcycles and carts and buses and pedestrians are all vying for a place on the single lane road. Some days are less congested than others, and some times as well, but I guess I chose the wrong day and time to go. There are a lot more cars and motorcycles around these days because there are a lot of second-hand ones being brought in and so somehow affordable to a certain group of people. Most of these vehicles come from the Far East and it seems that some of them are good bargains and others are real lemons. I don't know how you can guarantee to get a good vehicle, but maybe that's part of the bargain. Petrol (gas for cars) sells at $3.50 per gallon and many folks buy only a gallon at a time. Sometimes that's true also of taxi drivers, and they might ask you to pay part of their fare first, stop to put in some gas, and then take you where you need to go.
When I went to buy my bus ticket for Dar es Salaam today I was reminded about what happens on a Friday. The ticket seller was not there, and when asked where he was, the reply: He's gone to pray. Friday is the holy day of the week for Moslems and it's important that they go to pray around noon time. The official day off here in Tanzania is Sunday so Christians don't usually have that conflict of balancing work time and prayer time. Anyway, someone else finally got around to selling me a ticket but he didn't have a pen with which to write out the ticket so I now have one less pen. I didn't want to ask for it back because there was a fellow in line behind me and if I had taken the pen then he wouldn't have been able to get a ticket. And so it goes. Thanks to the children of my home parish I have lots of pens!
I'll write one more post early next week before I leave Arusha. Have a good weekend.
I drove into downtown Arusha on Tuesday and was once again amazed at the amount of traffic. Cars and trucks and bicycles and motorcycles and carts and buses and pedestrians are all vying for a place on the single lane road. Some days are less congested than others, and some times as well, but I guess I chose the wrong day and time to go. There are a lot more cars and motorcycles around these days because there are a lot of second-hand ones being brought in and so somehow affordable to a certain group of people. Most of these vehicles come from the Far East and it seems that some of them are good bargains and others are real lemons. I don't know how you can guarantee to get a good vehicle, but maybe that's part of the bargain. Petrol (gas for cars) sells at $3.50 per gallon and many folks buy only a gallon at a time. Sometimes that's true also of taxi drivers, and they might ask you to pay part of their fare first, stop to put in some gas, and then take you where you need to go.
When I went to buy my bus ticket for Dar es Salaam today I was reminded about what happens on a Friday. The ticket seller was not there, and when asked where he was, the reply: He's gone to pray. Friday is the holy day of the week for Moslems and it's important that they go to pray around noon time. The official day off here in Tanzania is Sunday so Christians don't usually have that conflict of balancing work time and prayer time. Anyway, someone else finally got around to selling me a ticket but he didn't have a pen with which to write out the ticket so I now have one less pen. I didn't want to ask for it back because there was a fellow in line behind me and if I had taken the pen then he wouldn't have been able to get a ticket. And so it goes. Thanks to the children of my home parish I have lots of pens!
I'll write one more post early next week before I leave Arusha. Have a good weekend.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
28th May 2009 - Sounds
These days I've been noting the sounds I hear in the mornings. The first thing is the 5.00 a.m. call of the local muezzin. I think there must be two mosques in hearing distance because I often hear what I think are two different voices. The call is basically telling the Moslem faithful to get up and get to the mosque for their morning prayer, and of course he (always a "he") also chants that God is great, etc. At about the same time the vehicles start travelling on the road which is just on the other side of the hedge/fence of the property here. This road starts at the main Arusha-Babati road and the paved part of it ends here (it was paved when President Bush came to visit Emusoi Centre). Many mornings there are what sounds like small cars or taxis passing although this morning there was obviously large trucks going somewhere, and they were loud. Then the pigeons begin to coo. There is a nest under the eaves just outside the windows to my room, and so they awake and start their day with their sounds. By the time they've finished the other birds begin, and it's about this time that the sun begins to come up. More and more birds sing as there is more and more light, and there are some quite varied songs coming from them.
Just on the other side of the road, so the closest neighbors, are offices and residences of a law firm. It's a large compound with several buildings, and this firm maintains all the plants and trees alongside the road. Apparently the founder of the firm was one of the first Tanzanian lawyers, and it is now being run by his son. They advertise themselves as experts in Real Estate and Property law, Corporate law, Commercial law, Tourism and Wildlife law, Trust law and litigation, and they obviously take good care of their staff, since the houses are very nice and there's a social club included. They're good neighbors and very quiet.
Kitty-cornered from this property is another large compound, and this one is a tour company. They are the ones that have a lot of safari cars going in and out, and many times are coming and going early in the morning and late at night. They also have a bunch of dogs, so those dogs and the dogs here when they get going together create quite some cacophony. Some bark, some howl, some do both, and they really are loud some nights. Sometimes also some animals dare to come around and into the compound, and so that drives the dogs really crazy. These animals aren't large nor very exotic (the most common is like a weasel) but they sure drive the dogs wild.
During the day there isn't a lot of noise except for the times when someone is teasing the dogs outside the fence and they get wild and bark their heads off. Besides in the morning, the Muz zein calls people to prayer at noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and the last time around 8.00 p.m. On Thursdays and Saturdays the Pentecostals are singing and praying, and although they are way down the street, they can be heard very clearly. I've begun to know some of the songs by heart! And in the evenings the girls at Emusoi Centre pray,and their singing is also very loud. There's the occasional sound of a herd of goats passing on the road, and children talking and laughing as they go to school -- all nice sounds.
Enjoy the sounds in your life.
Just on the other side of the road, so the closest neighbors, are offices and residences of a law firm. It's a large compound with several buildings, and this firm maintains all the plants and trees alongside the road. Apparently the founder of the firm was one of the first Tanzanian lawyers, and it is now being run by his son. They advertise themselves as experts in Real Estate and Property law, Corporate law, Commercial law, Tourism and Wildlife law, Trust law and litigation, and they obviously take good care of their staff, since the houses are very nice and there's a social club included. They're good neighbors and very quiet.
Kitty-cornered from this property is another large compound, and this one is a tour company. They are the ones that have a lot of safari cars going in and out, and many times are coming and going early in the morning and late at night. They also have a bunch of dogs, so those dogs and the dogs here when they get going together create quite some cacophony. Some bark, some howl, some do both, and they really are loud some nights. Sometimes also some animals dare to come around and into the compound, and so that drives the dogs really crazy. These animals aren't large nor very exotic (the most common is like a weasel) but they sure drive the dogs wild.
During the day there isn't a lot of noise except for the times when someone is teasing the dogs outside the fence and they get wild and bark their heads off. Besides in the morning, the Muz zein calls people to prayer at noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and the last time around 8.00 p.m. On Thursdays and Saturdays the Pentecostals are singing and praying, and although they are way down the street, they can be heard very clearly. I've begun to know some of the songs by heart! And in the evenings the girls at Emusoi Centre pray,and their singing is also very loud. There's the occasional sound of a herd of goats passing on the road, and children talking and laughing as they go to school -- all nice sounds.
Enjoy the sounds in your life.
Monday, May 18, 2009
19th May, 2009 - Connections
It's been awhile since I've posted anything so I guess it's time to let you all know what's happening. I went to Dodoma again last week and spent two days looking for housing. I rather enjoyed it, and was reminded again of how important connections are. All of the contacts were friends of friends of friends ..... and so it goes. The word goes out and somehow things happen. One of the people who showed me a house was someone that was asked to do so because the original contact was out of town. Amazingly enough, in the course of the conversation I learned that he was married to a former student of mine! After that connection was established I certainly got the red carpet treatment.
Hopefully we will be able to make a decision about the next step soon after the arrival of Sr. Connie, with whom I will be living and working. She comes next month, so I'm looking forward to settling in.
One thing that struck me during the 12 hour ride to and fro was the grass cutting along the sides of the road. The rainy season is now finished or finishing in most parts of the country so the grass which grew so tall along the sides of the road and in the ditches is now being cut. It's being cut by men with slashers and machetes, all by hand. I'm not sure what portion of ditch is given to each person but it's obvious that each fellow has his piece and works at it. It would be interesting to know how many people are hired to do this grass cutting each time it's done since Tanzania is a big country with many, many miles of roads.
The day before I left for Dodoma I visited a woman who lived near the school in Singida when I was there and who now lives outside of Arusha. She has a very long and very tragic story, but the short version is that she has five children with her who she ran away with from her husband who is a drunk and was beating her within an inch of her life. When she first came to this area she managed to get a job at one of the flower farms, and she said it was a great job. She was paid almost $2.00 per day and was also given morning tea and a noon meal, and with this job she was able to pay rent for two very small rooms and to buy food for her children as well as school uniforms and supplies for the two youngest (the oldest boy has finished primary school; the oldest girl and second boy had to quit school and so don't even have a primary school certificate). Unfortunately, with the demand for flowers bottoming out because of the financial situation in Europe and the U.S., the farms have had to lay off many workers, and because she was among the latest employed, she was among the first to go. And then in March she fell when getting out of a bus and broke her arm so that is just now healing. The oldest boy does whatever job he can get, and together they are just barely managing. She says that the only job available to the oldest girl is selling local beer, and she doesn't want her to do that since sellers always have to taste the gourd of beer first (a guarantee that it isn't poisoned). I'm sure that stories such as hers are multiplied many, many times but her loss of what she considered a very good job shows again how the world is connected and especially how what affects the developed world has many repurcussions for the developing world.
The cold season has started and mornings and afternoons see us all with sweaters or jackets. I even sometimes pull up a second blanket at night so that 's a big change from February.
Hopefully we will be able to make a decision about the next step soon after the arrival of Sr. Connie, with whom I will be living and working. She comes next month, so I'm looking forward to settling in.
One thing that struck me during the 12 hour ride to and fro was the grass cutting along the sides of the road. The rainy season is now finished or finishing in most parts of the country so the grass which grew so tall along the sides of the road and in the ditches is now being cut. It's being cut by men with slashers and machetes, all by hand. I'm not sure what portion of ditch is given to each person but it's obvious that each fellow has his piece and works at it. It would be interesting to know how many people are hired to do this grass cutting each time it's done since Tanzania is a big country with many, many miles of roads.
The day before I left for Dodoma I visited a woman who lived near the school in Singida when I was there and who now lives outside of Arusha. She has a very long and very tragic story, but the short version is that she has five children with her who she ran away with from her husband who is a drunk and was beating her within an inch of her life. When she first came to this area she managed to get a job at one of the flower farms, and she said it was a great job. She was paid almost $2.00 per day and was also given morning tea and a noon meal, and with this job she was able to pay rent for two very small rooms and to buy food for her children as well as school uniforms and supplies for the two youngest (the oldest boy has finished primary school; the oldest girl and second boy had to quit school and so don't even have a primary school certificate). Unfortunately, with the demand for flowers bottoming out because of the financial situation in Europe and the U.S., the farms have had to lay off many workers, and because she was among the latest employed, she was among the first to go. And then in March she fell when getting out of a bus and broke her arm so that is just now healing. The oldest boy does whatever job he can get, and together they are just barely managing. She says that the only job available to the oldest girl is selling local beer, and she doesn't want her to do that since sellers always have to taste the gourd of beer first (a guarantee that it isn't poisoned). I'm sure that stories such as hers are multiplied many, many times but her loss of what she considered a very good job shows again how the world is connected and especially how what affects the developed world has many repurcussions for the developing world.
The cold season has started and mornings and afternoons see us all with sweaters or jackets. I even sometimes pull up a second blanket at night so that 's a big change from February.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Finally some photos
Mt. Hanang
Bibiana & Family Easter
Maryknoll Sisters & Friends
Morogoro Retreat
Arusha house
Mt. Meru (Arusha)
Gladys, M.M.
Morogoro
Deo making juice Easter Sunday
Sunday & his mother cooking on Easter
Friday, May 1, 2009
1st May 2009 - May Day
Today is a national holiday here: Worker's Day. There are national celebrations taking place in Musoma and everyone has a day off. Usually the national celebrations consist of a parade of workers, speeches by politicians, etc., so the president is there in Musoma doing what needs to be done for the occasion. As I remember there is usually some promise of wage increases on this day, so we'll see if that happens this year. I'm sure all the workers are anxiously awaiting and hoping for an increase because I hear so often complaints about the increase in cost of living.
Yesterday I had an enjoyable morning visiting a lot of shops in downtown Arusha. I was looking for ballpark figure prices for things we'll need as we set up a new house and so decided to walk the main street to see what is available. And there I found some shops the same as years before and some very different. I have had in the past quite a lot of experience with shopping in Arusha, but a lot of that shopping was for books and school supplies or tractor spare parts. And I never needed gas or electric stoves nor refrigerators so looking at those things was a new experience for me. I remember some shops that sold household things, and they were really very ordinary and had not a lot of variety to choose from. Those same shops now are quite different -- spruced up, lots more things to choose from, nicely displayed and nice things to buy. Many of the goods are from UAE, Dubai, that area, but there are also things from Europe and East Asia. And the prices vary a great deal. At one shop I was looking at bed sheets and towels and noticed some blankets on the shelf. I asked where they were made (Korea) and the price and was told that they sold for the equivalent of almost $90.00! When I asked the price of the locally made blankets, the shop attendant told me that they didn't carry them. "But," I said, "you probably know the price, don't you?" And she told me that they are sold for less than $10.00! You can guess which blankets we'll buy.
There are stoves, mostly gas but some electric, simple ones without a lot of bells and whistles, ranging from about $300.00 to nearly $1000.00. The same is true for the prices of refrigerators. Some of the price variables come from size, some comes from where it's made. Anyway, it was interesting to see the variety of things available. Even before I left in 2004 there had been quite a lot of trade liberalization taking place, but now obviously there is a lot more.
I didn't bother looking at furniture because I know that we will have it made locally. There are local carpenters in every town who make furniture as you want it made. I'm sure we'll go with a simple frame with sponge cushions for couch and easy chairs, and that that will be relatively inexpensive. Beds will be the same: frame with wooden slats and a sponge mattress. I think I know the kind of mattress that lasts (the same kind we had at the school) so that will be fine. I notice that the manufacturer is still in business here in Arusha.
As I went around I remembered how much I enjoyed this kind of interaction with people, in shops or wherever. At one shop I went in to ask for directions and got into a long conversation with the shop attendant. One of the reasons that happens is that folks are surprised at my command of Swahili, and so they're interested to know all about me. When I was ready to go home, I engaged a taxi to bring me back here. The taxi driver and I also had a good conversation, and one thing I was interested to hear is how he, as a very young man, attributes the stability of the country to Nyerere. I thought that maybe after quite a long time since Nyerere was in power and ten years since his death, the young people may have moved on and forgotten his contributions to the country. Not so, and I was glad to hear that sense of history and gratitude from him.
Have a great month of May.
Yesterday I had an enjoyable morning visiting a lot of shops in downtown Arusha. I was looking for ballpark figure prices for things we'll need as we set up a new house and so decided to walk the main street to see what is available. And there I found some shops the same as years before and some very different. I have had in the past quite a lot of experience with shopping in Arusha, but a lot of that shopping was for books and school supplies or tractor spare parts. And I never needed gas or electric stoves nor refrigerators so looking at those things was a new experience for me. I remember some shops that sold household things, and they were really very ordinary and had not a lot of variety to choose from. Those same shops now are quite different -- spruced up, lots more things to choose from, nicely displayed and nice things to buy. Many of the goods are from UAE, Dubai, that area, but there are also things from Europe and East Asia. And the prices vary a great deal. At one shop I was looking at bed sheets and towels and noticed some blankets on the shelf. I asked where they were made (Korea) and the price and was told that they sold for the equivalent of almost $90.00! When I asked the price of the locally made blankets, the shop attendant told me that they didn't carry them. "But," I said, "you probably know the price, don't you?" And she told me that they are sold for less than $10.00! You can guess which blankets we'll buy.
There are stoves, mostly gas but some electric, simple ones without a lot of bells and whistles, ranging from about $300.00 to nearly $1000.00. The same is true for the prices of refrigerators. Some of the price variables come from size, some comes from where it's made. Anyway, it was interesting to see the variety of things available. Even before I left in 2004 there had been quite a lot of trade liberalization taking place, but now obviously there is a lot more.
I didn't bother looking at furniture because I know that we will have it made locally. There are local carpenters in every town who make furniture as you want it made. I'm sure we'll go with a simple frame with sponge cushions for couch and easy chairs, and that that will be relatively inexpensive. Beds will be the same: frame with wooden slats and a sponge mattress. I think I know the kind of mattress that lasts (the same kind we had at the school) so that will be fine. I notice that the manufacturer is still in business here in Arusha.
As I went around I remembered how much I enjoyed this kind of interaction with people, in shops or wherever. At one shop I went in to ask for directions and got into a long conversation with the shop attendant. One of the reasons that happens is that folks are surprised at my command of Swahili, and so they're interested to know all about me. When I was ready to go home, I engaged a taxi to bring me back here. The taxi driver and I also had a good conversation, and one thing I was interested to hear is how he, as a very young man, attributes the stability of the country to Nyerere. I thought that maybe after quite a long time since Nyerere was in power and ten years since his death, the young people may have moved on and forgotten his contributions to the country. Not so, and I was glad to hear that sense of history and gratitude from him.
Have a great month of May.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
25th April 2009 - Cooler Weather
Can you believe that I’m looking for something to wrap around my shoulders today! It’s chilly after a rain last night and because we’re moving closer toward June and July when it’s usually the coldest months here. I hope that just the opposite is happening in the northern hemisphere and that you all are finally getting some spring weather.
I just returned across the hedge from Emusoi Centre, where there are a bunch of girls studying English, maths, history, Swahili in order to prepare them to enter Secondary School next year. I was reminded again of the different customs practiced by the different ethnic groups here in Tanzania. There are over 120 tribes who live here, most of them Bantu but a few others are Nilotic or Cushitic . Each has a different language and somewhat different customs. These days there is a lot of intermarriage so some of the cultural expressions are becoming national expressions or are not practiced as much as they used to be. One that I find with fascinating differences is how a youngster greets an older person. At Emusoi the students are mostly Maasai, and so when I pass a student in the hall there, she greets me and bows her head, expecting me to lay my hand on her head and return the greeting. Where I lived in Singida, it’s just the opposite: the child raises her hand to me and I’m supposed to bow down so she can lay her hand on my head and greet me. Wouldn’t it be interesting to know how the differences came about?
Yesterday I went to visit another friend from the early 90’s. He was a young man in those days and got married around that time. He now has five children, two of them already in secondary school. I like the names they have named their children: Bahati (Good Fortune), Baraka (Blessing), Faraja (Comfort), Fadhila (Kindness), and Wema (Goodness). Of course they also have saints’ names but these “Majina ya nyumbani” (Home names) are wonderful, don’t you think? This man wanted to be a priest when he was a young man but his father refused to give him permission to go to the seminary. And so he started work, got married, has those very nice children, and is quite involved in the religious and church life of the community. He is the Vice-Chairman of the parish council, his wife the Chairperson of the Catholic Women’s Group and sings in the choir. They showed me pictures of two of their children who received First Communion this year -- two of 200 in the group ! He is also the leader of the Small Christian Community in the neighborhood where they live. When I asked him about this group, he said that they get together for prayer and discussion of the needs of the community every Saturday. I assumed it would be in the late afternoon or evening but he told me that they meet at 5.30 a.m., before they go off to their shops or fields or wherever! He said that there are about 40 adults in the group, and there are usually at least 25 who attend these meetings. He has a job as an Agricultural Extension Worker and his wife has a couple knitting and sewing machines so she has a business of knitting sweaters and sews and embroiders cloth. The house that they started building in 2003 isn’t finished yet because they, like so many others, build slowly as money becomes available. Right now all their extra income goes into paying school fees for the children so the house, although they live in it, can wait for the finishing touches.
Hope everyone who reads this is well.
I just returned across the hedge from Emusoi Centre, where there are a bunch of girls studying English, maths, history, Swahili in order to prepare them to enter Secondary School next year. I was reminded again of the different customs practiced by the different ethnic groups here in Tanzania. There are over 120 tribes who live here, most of them Bantu but a few others are Nilotic or Cushitic . Each has a different language and somewhat different customs. These days there is a lot of intermarriage so some of the cultural expressions are becoming national expressions or are not practiced as much as they used to be. One that I find with fascinating differences is how a youngster greets an older person. At Emusoi the students are mostly Maasai, and so when I pass a student in the hall there, she greets me and bows her head, expecting me to lay my hand on her head and return the greeting. Where I lived in Singida, it’s just the opposite: the child raises her hand to me and I’m supposed to bow down so she can lay her hand on my head and greet me. Wouldn’t it be interesting to know how the differences came about?
Yesterday I went to visit another friend from the early 90’s. He was a young man in those days and got married around that time. He now has five children, two of them already in secondary school. I like the names they have named their children: Bahati (Good Fortune), Baraka (Blessing), Faraja (Comfort), Fadhila (Kindness), and Wema (Goodness). Of course they also have saints’ names but these “Majina ya nyumbani” (Home names) are wonderful, don’t you think? This man wanted to be a priest when he was a young man but his father refused to give him permission to go to the seminary. And so he started work, got married, has those very nice children, and is quite involved in the religious and church life of the community. He is the Vice-Chairman of the parish council, his wife the Chairperson of the Catholic Women’s Group and sings in the choir. They showed me pictures of two of their children who received First Communion this year -- two of 200 in the group ! He is also the leader of the Small Christian Community in the neighborhood where they live. When I asked him about this group, he said that they get together for prayer and discussion of the needs of the community every Saturday. I assumed it would be in the late afternoon or evening but he told me that they meet at 5.30 a.m., before they go off to their shops or fields or wherever! He said that there are about 40 adults in the group, and there are usually at least 25 who attend these meetings. He has a job as an Agricultural Extension Worker and his wife has a couple knitting and sewing machines so she has a business of knitting sweaters and sews and embroiders cloth. The house that they started building in 2003 isn’t finished yet because they, like so many others, build slowly as money becomes available. Right now all their extra income goes into paying school fees for the children so the house, although they live in it, can wait for the finishing touches.
Hope everyone who reads this is well.
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