The weeks are flying by very quickly and here we are at the end of August. Summer is fading fast for those of you who live in the northern part of the earth.
We can feel it getting a little bit warmer here, although the mornings and evenings are still a bit chilly. The wind continues to be strong, and so the dust doesn’t all stay outdoors but seems to seep into the house more than I’d like. I’m happy to see that as people build their houses, they also plant trees, so that should all help as the years go by.
We had a fun time after Mass yesterday morning. Last week the children were all asked to bring something that could be auctioned , and the proceeds would go toward the building of the church. I’ve mentioned before how the people of this outstation are building the church little by little. Since we arrived the visible progress shows up in that the grillwork for the windows is now in. That, of course, doesn’t prevent the wind from blowing in but anyway it’s a step. They’re now trying to raise money for the glass for the windows and for the door. After that will be the plaster, the floor, and who knows what else.
Anyway, the kids participated wholeheartedly, bringing notebooks, pencils, candy, boxes of juice, jars of jam, peanuts, and even one live duck! And everyone soon got into the activity, with the adults bidding on the items. As with these kinds of charity auctions, items are sold for more than they’re really worth. Everyone tried to raise as much money as possible, and so many who might get the winning bid would then donate it to be auctioned again. When the items were finally given to the highest bidder they were then donated to the children at the Village of Hope (orphans who are HIV+), so there was a lot of generosity exhibited. The fellow who bid highest for the duck gave it to Father for his dinner. The children who gave the items were thrilled with the response and with the considerable amount of money that they generated, the equivalent of nearly $300. They were promised that some thing (like certain windows or pews or … ) would be bought with this money so that they can always remember what they contributed. And the fellow who won the bag of candy distributed it to them after Mass, so that was a happy moment!
On Saturday we spent some hours at an outdoor market that sells mostly cloth things, both new and used. The used stuff comes from the US or Europe, many items that stores are getting rid of, and is bundled in big lots and shipped here, although other things were definitely previously used by someone. The vendors buy a bundle not knowing what quality of stuff they’ll find inside, so it’s kind of a gamble. I was looking for curtains for my bedroom, and not looking forward to sewing them so I had hoped to find some readymade ones that would be just perfect. Unfortunately that didn’t happen, but I did buy some cloth that I’ll try to sew up and hope they’ll look ok. We also bought some secondhand fitted sheets for the beds. The mattresses that we bought are foam, and they are covered with a very slippery cloth. So when you make your bed with a flat sheet, in the morning the sheet is all bunched up and all over the place because it slides on the cover whenever you move. I had finally sewed four pieces of elastic on each side of the bottom sheet and tied them together to keep the sheet on the mattress since fitted sheets are not to be found in the shops. We consider these sheets a really good purchase. And hey, we have a safe bed to sleep in so who needs to complain!
Monday, August 31, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
23rd August 2009 - Activity Around Us
We had our meeting with the Diocesan heads of departments this past week, and the attendance wasn’t all that good, one reason being that there was some seminar or something that many of the priests were supposed to attend. We did, however, get the names and phone numbers of most of them, even those who couldn’t attend, and so we should be able to move forward from here. I don’t really have much of anything to do with most of them, and the parish priest from our parish was there, so that contact is a good one for me. He said that he has some classes going on at the parish for youngsters of 6th and 7th grade, to prepare them for secondary school, and it sounds like he’d be happy to have me involved in that program. I’d prefer to do this on the outstation level, but one has to start somewhere.
We’ve been having a noisy and dusty and busy week around here. The landlord decided to do the job of repainting the house and so that’s been going on since last weekend. Something wasn’t done right when it was painted the first time and there were spots where the paint was peeling, so another coat of primer was applied, then something they called “white cement” then that was all smoothed and sanded, and finally the paint went on. The trim was all done as well, and the garage door was painted for the first time. The window frames are all being varnished again, so the house is beginning to look really spiffy. Of course, the wall and gates are still being worked on at the same time, and that work is really going slowly. No matter – someday it will get done, and in the meantime the spaces around the house look like a disaster area. We just close our eyes as we walk in and out, and try not to fall over anything.
That reminds me of something that has struck me many times since returning – how one has to be very careful while walking everywhere in order not to trip or fall. In the U.S. it seems like places have to be kept pretty fall-proof; I suppose to avert being liable to litigation is one reason. Here it seems like everything is on different levels, including in the house. There’s a little one or two inch step up into every room so you have to be careful and remember that when going in and out. On the streets and paths there are open pits and man-hole type places, uneven sidewalks with holes, everything on a slightly different level. It keeps us alert!
Another thing I was reminded of is the extra time and effort it takes to do relatively simple things. The other day I made some granola type breakfast cereal. Some kinds of cold cereal are available here but it’s pretty expensive, and I always think it tastes a little bit not quite fresh (aka stale!). And so I bought some oatmeal in a package and raisins in a bag, went to the market and bought peanuts, sesame seeds, and sukari guru, which is a substitute for brown sugar. It’s the sugar that comes from one step of the process in refining sugar, and has a stronger, more molasses-like taste, and is sold in a hard square or ball. The next step was to clean the peanuts, e.g. to pick out the bad ones and the stones, then to wash them and dry them, then roast them in the oven. The same process was followed for the sesame seeds (and you know how small they are!!!), then melt some of the brown sugar, mix everything together and roast it all once again. That whole process is time consuming but the result was good. And at least we have an oven to roast it all in ….
We’ve been having a noisy and dusty and busy week around here. The landlord decided to do the job of repainting the house and so that’s been going on since last weekend. Something wasn’t done right when it was painted the first time and there were spots where the paint was peeling, so another coat of primer was applied, then something they called “white cement” then that was all smoothed and sanded, and finally the paint went on. The trim was all done as well, and the garage door was painted for the first time. The window frames are all being varnished again, so the house is beginning to look really spiffy. Of course, the wall and gates are still being worked on at the same time, and that work is really going slowly. No matter – someday it will get done, and in the meantime the spaces around the house look like a disaster area. We just close our eyes as we walk in and out, and try not to fall over anything.
That reminds me of something that has struck me many times since returning – how one has to be very careful while walking everywhere in order not to trip or fall. In the U.S. it seems like places have to be kept pretty fall-proof; I suppose to avert being liable to litigation is one reason. Here it seems like everything is on different levels, including in the house. There’s a little one or two inch step up into every room so you have to be careful and remember that when going in and out. On the streets and paths there are open pits and man-hole type places, uneven sidewalks with holes, everything on a slightly different level. It keeps us alert!
Another thing I was reminded of is the extra time and effort it takes to do relatively simple things. The other day I made some granola type breakfast cereal. Some kinds of cold cereal are available here but it’s pretty expensive, and I always think it tastes a little bit not quite fresh (aka stale!). And so I bought some oatmeal in a package and raisins in a bag, went to the market and bought peanuts, sesame seeds, and sukari guru, which is a substitute for brown sugar. It’s the sugar that comes from one step of the process in refining sugar, and has a stronger, more molasses-like taste, and is sold in a hard square or ball. The next step was to clean the peanuts, e.g. to pick out the bad ones and the stones, then to wash them and dry them, then roast them in the oven. The same process was followed for the sesame seeds (and you know how small they are!!!), then melt some of the brown sugar, mix everything together and roast it all once again. That whole process is time consuming but the result was good. And at least we have an oven to roast it all in ….
Sunday, August 16, 2009
16th August 2009 - Another week
It’s so good to be able to communicate with family and friends so easily now that we have internet connection. And thanks for all the positive comments about the blog, the photos, etc. I appreciate that, first of all, someone reads all that I write, and secondly, that you’re finding some of it interesting.
I’ve been looking at the syllabus for English (it’s a new one since 2005) and it looks like I’d be able to handle that. I do like teaching the younger secondary students, those who are just beginning their learning in English. It’s nice to be able to give them a good foundation since they need it in all of their subjects in secondary school. On Tuesday we have the meeting that has been arranged with the heads of Diocesan departments, so it will be good to hear what they have to say. I am especially interested in making some arrangements with either the parish or our outstation so that I can begin some tutoring for those who are finishing their primary school education next month. Those who go on to secondary school would benefit from some intensive English learning before January, when they begin secondary. I would hope that could go on even if I do the English at the Village of Hope secondary school. At that school there are seven English periods each week, and since they plan on having two classes of each Form (grade), then I would be doing 14 periods per week for the first year. That would give me time yet to do some tutoring, so I’d like to see how that works out.
I was taking note of and reflecting on all the different kinds of work people do here in order to make a living. Because there’s so much construction going on, that is the occupation of many. There are the real fundis, those who have studied a trade like carpentry or masonry and do the jobs needing those kinds of skills. And each fundi has at least one assistant who carries the cement or water or boards or whatever. Then there are the folks who water the cement as it sets – many of these are women. Others find large rocks or boulders and one sees them all over, pounding the rocks into smaller pieces so that they can be used for building. There are different sizes needed for different work, it seems, so in so many places you can see the different piles of rocks out, ready for sale. I understand these are sold by the bucket, and many folks, even the old and young, get their money from doing that. You see many young men doing the hard work of digging the foundations.
Besides the building industry, there are lots of other ways folks make their livings. When we had a small table made for the kitchen at a carpentry shop down the road, in order to get it to the house we hired a young man to carry it on his head. When the bed, made at the same place but considerably heavier, was ready to be delivered a young man with a two wheeled trailer that he pulls brought it with that. Some folks have small stands along the road where they sell fruit or vegetables or cooking oil or charcoal – whatever needed as other people walk by. So these sellers go to the main market in town and bring these things back, add a few shillings to the price, and in that way make something to live on. I had my umbrella fixed by a man with a table under a tree, and Connie had her shoe fixed by someone under a different tree. You see bicycles on the road in the mornings, coming from outer areas with sacks of charcoal on the back. They have cut trees and made charcoal for use in the town. Other folks on bicycles are carrying containers of milk – all going into the city to sell them. The "informal sector" is alive and well here in Tanzania, and probably not given enough credit for its contributions to society.
Another wild life sighting: We had a large scorpion in our yard the other day. I had never seen such a large one, and this one was black. My experience of scorpions was of the reddish-brown ones, and much smaller. This one was at least 4 – 5 inches long, and he was ugly looking. I went to borrow a hoe from our neighbor in order to kill it, but the neighbor himself came to do the job. It reminds us to be careful when we’re caring for our plants because he had camouflaged himself pretty well in the shade of the plants.
I guess my "favorite" wildlife are our friends, the mosquitoes. But that's matter for another day....
I’ve been looking at the syllabus for English (it’s a new one since 2005) and it looks like I’d be able to handle that. I do like teaching the younger secondary students, those who are just beginning their learning in English. It’s nice to be able to give them a good foundation since they need it in all of their subjects in secondary school. On Tuesday we have the meeting that has been arranged with the heads of Diocesan departments, so it will be good to hear what they have to say. I am especially interested in making some arrangements with either the parish or our outstation so that I can begin some tutoring for those who are finishing their primary school education next month. Those who go on to secondary school would benefit from some intensive English learning before January, when they begin secondary. I would hope that could go on even if I do the English at the Village of Hope secondary school. At that school there are seven English periods each week, and since they plan on having two classes of each Form (grade), then I would be doing 14 periods per week for the first year. That would give me time yet to do some tutoring, so I’d like to see how that works out.
I was taking note of and reflecting on all the different kinds of work people do here in order to make a living. Because there’s so much construction going on, that is the occupation of many. There are the real fundis, those who have studied a trade like carpentry or masonry and do the jobs needing those kinds of skills. And each fundi has at least one assistant who carries the cement or water or boards or whatever. Then there are the folks who water the cement as it sets – many of these are women. Others find large rocks or boulders and one sees them all over, pounding the rocks into smaller pieces so that they can be used for building. There are different sizes needed for different work, it seems, so in so many places you can see the different piles of rocks out, ready for sale. I understand these are sold by the bucket, and many folks, even the old and young, get their money from doing that. You see many young men doing the hard work of digging the foundations.
Besides the building industry, there are lots of other ways folks make their livings. When we had a small table made for the kitchen at a carpentry shop down the road, in order to get it to the house we hired a young man to carry it on his head. When the bed, made at the same place but considerably heavier, was ready to be delivered a young man with a two wheeled trailer that he pulls brought it with that. Some folks have small stands along the road where they sell fruit or vegetables or cooking oil or charcoal – whatever needed as other people walk by. So these sellers go to the main market in town and bring these things back, add a few shillings to the price, and in that way make something to live on. I had my umbrella fixed by a man with a table under a tree, and Connie had her shoe fixed by someone under a different tree. You see bicycles on the road in the mornings, coming from outer areas with sacks of charcoal on the back. They have cut trees and made charcoal for use in the town. Other folks on bicycles are carrying containers of milk – all going into the city to sell them. The "informal sector" is alive and well here in Tanzania, and probably not given enough credit for its contributions to society.
Another wild life sighting: We had a large scorpion in our yard the other day. I had never seen such a large one, and this one was black. My experience of scorpions was of the reddish-brown ones, and much smaller. This one was at least 4 – 5 inches long, and he was ugly looking. I went to borrow a hoe from our neighbor in order to kill it, but the neighbor himself came to do the job. It reminds us to be careful when we’re caring for our plants because he had camouflaged himself pretty well in the shade of the plants.
I guess my "favorite" wildlife are our friends, the mosquitoes. But that's matter for another day....
Sunday, August 9, 2009
9th August 2009 - More photos
I Living room. Me on the front porch. I couldn't get more than five pictures on the first try so here are some more.
Kitchen - you can see only the cabinets
My bedroomDining Room
Connie nearing the front of the house, coming home with some oranges.
Connie nearing the front of the house, coming home with some oranges.
9th August 2009 - Photos
Left Dining Room, Below Kitchen
Left Back Door, Below Front with neighbor
Many of you are asking about photos of where we live. Well, let me try to share some with you. If I were a better photographer I probably could situate the house better in the neighborhood, but you will pretty much just see the house. There is a tremendous amount of construction going on, and as time passes we'll probably feel a bit cramped (most of the lots are quite small) but for now there is still a lot of open space. Our house is really lovely and very comfortable. As is usual when constuction and furniture making is done by hand and not in a factory, a lot of things are uneven and not quite straight. That only adds to the charm, don't you think? Anyway, I hope you get an idea of our living conditions, which are really great.
9th August 2009 - Village of Hope
On Thursday we went to visit the “Village of Hope”. This is a place only a couple miles away as the crow flies, adjacent to St. Gaspar’s Conference Centre. It is run by the Precious Blood Community, Sr. Rosalia and Fr. Vincent (both Italians) and four Tanzanian Sisters who are also of this community. They have a lovely and large compound where they offer a range of services, most connected with people infected by HIV Aids. In the middle of the compound are six duplexes, so twelve living communities, where orphaned children who are also HIV positive, reside with a married couple who act as “parents” to these children. These living spaces were built to house about 10 children in each unit, but there are at present over 150 children in residence there. There’s a large kitchen which provides food for all the residents and there is housing for the Sisters in addition to medical services offered. These services include an outpatient clinic where local mothers can come with their children for medical care, a state of the art laboratory where testing for the HIV virus is done, and a unit where those who need hospitalization can be helped. We visited this unit and there were four mothers with their children in one ward, including one who had just given birth the previous evening. In another ward were three babies who had been brought recently, orphans, and they were so sick. The staff hopes to save them with good nutrition and the right drugs, and hopefully they will. There’s also a church and a nursery school for the children right there on the compound, and they’ve also built a residence that houses the volunteers that come frequently from Italy to help out in various projects.
Adjoining this compound is a primary school which has about 500 students. This school was begun for the children residing in the Village of Hope, but all the children who attend are not HIV positive. The school is open to others in the area and so the children mix freely all together. Those with families go home each afternoon, and the children from the Village go to their home as well. The primary school was begun seven years ago and so the children who started in Standard I at that time are now finishing Standard VII and are preparing to take the national examination given at the end of primary school.
And so there is furious building going on in order to have a secondary school ready for occupancy in January of next year. This will offer education to the children from the Village of Hope, both boys and girls, and they will also open it to girls from outside, and so the building includes dormitories for the girls, classrooms, kitchen and dining facilities, library, science labs, offices, etc. There were about 20 Italian men working on these buildings alongside the Tanzanian contractor who is doing the building and his crew, and the construction is very nice.
As soon as Sr. Rosalia and Fr. Vincent found out that I’m an English teacher, I was immediately offered a job. They are anxious that these youngsters who are beginning secondary school have a good foundation in English, and we also talked about offering classes to them as soon as they finish their Standard VII exam, so that they can manage their other lessons as well when they begin their secondary education. I’m really tempted and am thinking seriously about taking this on. For at least the first year there would also be time to do some tutoring of young girls, another dream of mine, so we’ll see. They would also love to have Connie as their Biology teacher, but are open to the other things she has to offer, like values education, seminars on various topics, etc. And as I said above, it’s only a relatively short distance from our house. It would take about 45 minutes by foot, and 5 minutes by car.
The little children who we saw are so adorable. They ran up to us and gave a hug and chatter away about what they’re doing. We visited the classroom of those of about four years old, and they were singing and drumming and having a good time. Because of the good care they get and the drugs that are now available to them they look so healthy. I just can’t imagine their lives without this intervention. What do you think about throwing my hat in with them???
Adjoining this compound is a primary school which has about 500 students. This school was begun for the children residing in the Village of Hope, but all the children who attend are not HIV positive. The school is open to others in the area and so the children mix freely all together. Those with families go home each afternoon, and the children from the Village go to their home as well. The primary school was begun seven years ago and so the children who started in Standard I at that time are now finishing Standard VII and are preparing to take the national examination given at the end of primary school.
And so there is furious building going on in order to have a secondary school ready for occupancy in January of next year. This will offer education to the children from the Village of Hope, both boys and girls, and they will also open it to girls from outside, and so the building includes dormitories for the girls, classrooms, kitchen and dining facilities, library, science labs, offices, etc. There were about 20 Italian men working on these buildings alongside the Tanzanian contractor who is doing the building and his crew, and the construction is very nice.
As soon as Sr. Rosalia and Fr. Vincent found out that I’m an English teacher, I was immediately offered a job. They are anxious that these youngsters who are beginning secondary school have a good foundation in English, and we also talked about offering classes to them as soon as they finish their Standard VII exam, so that they can manage their other lessons as well when they begin their secondary education. I’m really tempted and am thinking seriously about taking this on. For at least the first year there would also be time to do some tutoring of young girls, another dream of mine, so we’ll see. They would also love to have Connie as their Biology teacher, but are open to the other things she has to offer, like values education, seminars on various topics, etc. And as I said above, it’s only a relatively short distance from our house. It would take about 45 minutes by foot, and 5 minutes by car.
The little children who we saw are so adorable. They ran up to us and gave a hug and chatter away about what they’re doing. We visited the classroom of those of about four years old, and they were singing and drumming and having a good time. Because of the good care they get and the drugs that are now available to them they look so healthy. I just can’t imagine their lives without this intervention. What do you think about throwing my hat in with them???
Thursday, August 6, 2009
6th August 2009 – Caught Up To Date
30th July 2009
My thoughts and prayers have been rather preoccupied with the final illness and death of my sister-in-law, Kathy. May she rest in peace. It’s always difficult to be away from family at times like these, when the remembering of our loved one together and the support of each other means so much. It’s a consolation to know that the good that a person does never disappears, and Kathy has left a large legacy.
I’m certainly getting back into the mindset of everything taking lots and lots and lots longer than anticipated. We still haven’t got our internet connection, still haven’t got out check book for our bank account, still haven’t gotten the rest of our furniture. I think one of the reasons is that people have a certain desire to please and so they tell you what you want to hear. “Oh, yes, the furniture will be delivered on Monday” because of course that’s what I’d like to have happen. However, when Monday comes there’s a problem with the hinges not being available, or the varnish not yet being dry, or the person working on it has had to travel somewhere, etc. etc.
We had a meeting with the Bishop the other day and once again he was warm and welcoming. He will facilitate a meeting of the heads of the various departments in the Diocese, our parish priest, the chancellor of the Diocese, and us. That should be a good learning experience for us and a chance to know the things that are happening in the Diocese. And a chance for those folks to know us as well. I hope it doesn’t take too long to come to pass.
And very good news: The funding for a car has been approved!! The request was made to Mission Projects Funding of the Maryknoll Sisters, and the actual funds will come from the fund raising initiative in the Netherlands. Now we need to place the order and, what will probably be the most daunting task, follow all the procedures in order to get exemption from the taxes connected with such a big purchase. As a religious group we are eligible for tax exemption but I hear that the procedure is rather long and arduous. It will be worth it, however, so we’ll do it.
31st July 2009
The rest of our furniture arrived yesterday afternoon – yippee! I had tried to phone several times during the last few days but hadn’t managed to have anyone answer a phone. I was beginning to think that they were avoiding my phone calls …. However, when we least expected it the phone rang and we were told that the furniture would be delivered that afternoon. And so it was – What a nice surprise and how happy we are to finally put away our suitcases. For me, this has been since 12th February, when I was packing to come to Tanzania. Living so long out of a suitcase can get old, so putting them away and out of sight feels like a real accomplishment. By the way, the furniture is worth waiting for. These guys do a really good job and everything looks great. The explanation of the problem was that the hinges that came weren’t the right kind, and so the doors weren’t up to standard and they waited to get the right kind so that everything looks good.
1st August 2009
A new month means that we have been in this house one complete month. We had expected that the completion of the walls and gates as well as the landscaping would have been accomplished by the end of July but that hasn’t happened. We did a bit of prodding of our landlord via text messages on the phone, and he promises to come next weekend. Hopefully a lot of things will be done when he arrives. I especially feel bad about the trees and shrubs he planted but which are beginning to look really desperate for water. We could water them but there’s a trench along one side so most of the water just disappears into the trench. And for security reasons we will certainly need the garage and the gates before bringing a car.
Our Small Christian Community continues to meet early every Saturday morning. Our turn for hosting the group will be coming up before too long. I don’t know where we’re going to borrow the chairs from, but maybe more mats will do the trick.
5th August 2009
Sunday after Mass we went to the Nane Nane grounds that are a few kilometers further down the road out of town. Nane Nane (eighth day of the eighth month) is celebrated as Farmer’s Day, or a day to celebrate agriculture, and the celebration is always held at the large fair-ground here outside Dodoma. There are booths and tents and some permanent buildings in which government departments, companies, community groups, etc. educate and exhibit their work. We only managed to walk in one area (it’s a large area and the sun was hot) and there were lots of interesting things to see. We saw some domesticated animals shown by the department of agriculture and livestock and some wild animals shown by the department of wildlife and tourism. The latter had a lot of visitors and so many Tanzanians got the chance to see one of Tanzania’s great resources up close. Most have never been able to travel to a national park because of the distance or fees or travel costs, etc. so having a chance to see up close a lion, a leopard, hyenas, python, wild cats, parrots, tortoise, etc. was a great thrill. We visited some of the tents showing local crafts and bought a lovely mat for the living room, table mats for the dining table, a couple candles that are supposed to repel mosquitoes. Lots of people were enjoying the festivities, and it was nice to see entire families out together.
We have finally been connected to the internet, thanks to a very competent and caring sales person – her name is Peace (what a nice name!). We had been promised the connection last week but it seems that the modems are out of stock in the country so have had to be ordered from abroad. I don’t know if they come from South Africa or Europe but apparently it will take some time for them to arrive. In order to help us, Peace was ready to lend us her modem, and so on Friday I brought it home. I couldn’t get it to work, so contacted her, and she said she’d try to come. Well, she was busy at the Vodacom booth at Nane Nane so hadn’t managed to come. Finally she did find time, and spent the whole afternoon here, much of the time on the phone with a technician in Dar es Salaam, until she got it to work. Those two young people were so patient and just would not give up. Peace even had to go back to town to her office to get some different software, and finally things work. Hopefully when the new modems come in we’ll have no problems connecting as well. The technician says that some of the Windows programmes work differently, and apparently that’s what he had to work with. Anyway, thanks be to God for their perseverance.
My thoughts and prayers have been rather preoccupied with the final illness and death of my sister-in-law, Kathy. May she rest in peace. It’s always difficult to be away from family at times like these, when the remembering of our loved one together and the support of each other means so much. It’s a consolation to know that the good that a person does never disappears, and Kathy has left a large legacy.
I’m certainly getting back into the mindset of everything taking lots and lots and lots longer than anticipated. We still haven’t got our internet connection, still haven’t got out check book for our bank account, still haven’t gotten the rest of our furniture. I think one of the reasons is that people have a certain desire to please and so they tell you what you want to hear. “Oh, yes, the furniture will be delivered on Monday” because of course that’s what I’d like to have happen. However, when Monday comes there’s a problem with the hinges not being available, or the varnish not yet being dry, or the person working on it has had to travel somewhere, etc. etc.
We had a meeting with the Bishop the other day and once again he was warm and welcoming. He will facilitate a meeting of the heads of the various departments in the Diocese, our parish priest, the chancellor of the Diocese, and us. That should be a good learning experience for us and a chance to know the things that are happening in the Diocese. And a chance for those folks to know us as well. I hope it doesn’t take too long to come to pass.
And very good news: The funding for a car has been approved!! The request was made to Mission Projects Funding of the Maryknoll Sisters, and the actual funds will come from the fund raising initiative in the Netherlands. Now we need to place the order and, what will probably be the most daunting task, follow all the procedures in order to get exemption from the taxes connected with such a big purchase. As a religious group we are eligible for tax exemption but I hear that the procedure is rather long and arduous. It will be worth it, however, so we’ll do it.
31st July 2009
The rest of our furniture arrived yesterday afternoon – yippee! I had tried to phone several times during the last few days but hadn’t managed to have anyone answer a phone. I was beginning to think that they were avoiding my phone calls …. However, when we least expected it the phone rang and we were told that the furniture would be delivered that afternoon. And so it was – What a nice surprise and how happy we are to finally put away our suitcases. For me, this has been since 12th February, when I was packing to come to Tanzania. Living so long out of a suitcase can get old, so putting them away and out of sight feels like a real accomplishment. By the way, the furniture is worth waiting for. These guys do a really good job and everything looks great. The explanation of the problem was that the hinges that came weren’t the right kind, and so the doors weren’t up to standard and they waited to get the right kind so that everything looks good.
1st August 2009
A new month means that we have been in this house one complete month. We had expected that the completion of the walls and gates as well as the landscaping would have been accomplished by the end of July but that hasn’t happened. We did a bit of prodding of our landlord via text messages on the phone, and he promises to come next weekend. Hopefully a lot of things will be done when he arrives. I especially feel bad about the trees and shrubs he planted but which are beginning to look really desperate for water. We could water them but there’s a trench along one side so most of the water just disappears into the trench. And for security reasons we will certainly need the garage and the gates before bringing a car.
Our Small Christian Community continues to meet early every Saturday morning. Our turn for hosting the group will be coming up before too long. I don’t know where we’re going to borrow the chairs from, but maybe more mats will do the trick.
5th August 2009
Sunday after Mass we went to the Nane Nane grounds that are a few kilometers further down the road out of town. Nane Nane (eighth day of the eighth month) is celebrated as Farmer’s Day, or a day to celebrate agriculture, and the celebration is always held at the large fair-ground here outside Dodoma. There are booths and tents and some permanent buildings in which government departments, companies, community groups, etc. educate and exhibit their work. We only managed to walk in one area (it’s a large area and the sun was hot) and there were lots of interesting things to see. We saw some domesticated animals shown by the department of agriculture and livestock and some wild animals shown by the department of wildlife and tourism. The latter had a lot of visitors and so many Tanzanians got the chance to see one of Tanzania’s great resources up close. Most have never been able to travel to a national park because of the distance or fees or travel costs, etc. so having a chance to see up close a lion, a leopard, hyenas, python, wild cats, parrots, tortoise, etc. was a great thrill. We visited some of the tents showing local crafts and bought a lovely mat for the living room, table mats for the dining table, a couple candles that are supposed to repel mosquitoes. Lots of people were enjoying the festivities, and it was nice to see entire families out together.
We have finally been connected to the internet, thanks to a very competent and caring sales person – her name is Peace (what a nice name!). We had been promised the connection last week but it seems that the modems are out of stock in the country so have had to be ordered from abroad. I don’t know if they come from South Africa or Europe but apparently it will take some time for them to arrive. In order to help us, Peace was ready to lend us her modem, and so on Friday I brought it home. I couldn’t get it to work, so contacted her, and she said she’d try to come. Well, she was busy at the Vodacom booth at Nane Nane so hadn’t managed to come. Finally she did find time, and spent the whole afternoon here, much of the time on the phone with a technician in Dar es Salaam, until she got it to work. Those two young people were so patient and just would not give up. Peace even had to go back to town to her office to get some different software, and finally things work. Hopefully when the new modems come in we’ll have no problems connecting as well. The technician says that some of the Windows programmes work differently, and apparently that’s what he had to work with. Anyway, thanks be to God for their perseverance.
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