24 days to go!

24 days until I arrive back in the UK! 

I am sorry I haven’t written in a while, my internet has been very bad. I am very excited about returning home for Christmas and Christmas has already started here in Tanzania with the Rehema Christmas Fair! We had an amazing fair which lots of people came to support and a great time was had by all. There was a special Christmas menu, a fully stocked shop and a variety of fun games. My favourite game was ‘Santa’s shaving shop’ where one person has shaving foam on their face and their partner has to squirt it off before the other pair does. It was great fun and both adults and children enjoyed the challenge and mess! We all gathered together for some carols and it was lovely to have all the children singing together. It was also very special to be a part of the Rehema women singing silent night both in English and Swahili. Their voices are stunning and their enthusiasm to learn the English inspired me to try just as hard with learning the Swahili. The day was a huge success for Rehema and I now can’t wait to start planning the Easter Fair! See Rehema’s facebook page for photos!

As well as preparing for the fair Nat and I finally got round to painting the house! The whole house was yellow and neither of us are that keen on the colour yellow so have painted the living room and hallway and the kitchen will be next! Painting was fun to start with but then it just became a job that had to be finished! We have lived with it this whole year and maybe should have painted it sooner but at least it will be done ready for next year!

Sarabi is great fun to have around and I will really miss her for the month I am home. She is always hyper and sometimes really annoying but she is always excited to see us and is great at fetch and just adorable.

We had a bit of excitement on Friday afternoon when I received a phone call during bible study from one of the Rehema women saying a tree had fallen down, there was water everywhere and I needed to go there. We all jumped into the Go Mad truck and continued our study on the journey there! Where we had been there had been no rain so I thought Gracie had been exaggerating but she really wasn't. A very large tree had partly fallen down in a storm. Praise the Lord that no real damage was done. It could easily have fallen another way and hit the shop and cafe. It had pulled up the paving slabs and the root was huge! Quite interesting to watch the guys chop it down! Clearing out the water from the shop was less fun!

WOW I nearly forgot to mention one of the most exciting things to happen...I TOUCHED A HIPPO!  On Sunday a hippo escaped from the lake and Go Mad know the government guy who has to shoot them for safety reasons so they received a phone call to go and see it. We witnessed the shooting, got to touch it and then were given meat to take home! Just another normal Sunday afternoon here in Tanzania!

Below is the link to the current Go Mad team blog. Please read William’s story and if you feel led to then please support them through prayer or financial giving.

http://www.getjealous.com/gomadoct2014/journal/3485448/william039s-story.html

Exciting news about 2015!

In my last blog I mentioned something about making sure I take a proper break next year, so I guess I should begin this blog by explaining myself a little! The exciting news is that after going home for about a month in December I shall return to Tanzania in January 2015 to work another year with Rehema. I do not know when I consciously made this decision but I think deep down I always felt this would not just be a year commitment and more recently, as this year is coming to an end, I feel I have so much more to give and I just cannot imagine going home for Christmas and not coming back out. I absolutely love what I do here and the women I work with. Working at Rehema has been great fun and very rewarding in many ways but it also has been very challenging at times and these challenges I believe have actually been good in developing me as a person. It is exciting to see all that has happened at Rehema over this past year and how much potential to grow that it has and I really want to continue to be a part of that. I have also learnt so much more about God and I love being able to serve Him in this way. It has been tough at times when I’m surrounded by suffering and people constantly asking for help and it can seem a helpless situation. In these times the faith of the Tanzanians is truly inspiring.

 Many people tell me that I should be thinking about the future, going to university, working to save money and start a pension! These are all fair points but they are the world views rather than actually trusting and relying completely on God. There will be times in life when we want to make our own plans and follow our own path especially when that is the easier option but listening to God and following His plan for our lives will lead to far greater things than we can ever imagine. For those of you who know me well you will know that a couple of years ago the thought of me living in Tanzania would just have been laughed at and actually up until then the idea of living here never even occurred to me. God works in ways we would never imagine! 

Life is pretty good here at the moment. At Rehema we are busy preparing for Christmas and starting to plan a Christmas fair which is exciting! I have also been able to spend a bit of time with Go Mad which I love. There is a team of three out here at the moment and I get on really well with them. There is also a girl staying with the Vink family who I also get on well with so we have all been getting together for meals, crazy games of articulate and just hanging out together.  I feel so blessed to be able to meet so many new people and being able to make really good friendships with them.  Last week we went to the Market Garden which is a Go Mad project that I was involved with on my trip and it was amazing to see how much progress has been made and how well it is doing. It looked completely different to when I last saw it. Today we started a water tank and then went up to Kyamajoje. I had been wanting to go up there for some time as I kept hearing about what the teams were building and wanted to see it all! It was just incredible to see how much has been achieved. The health centre is looking amazing and the doctor’s houses, toilets and a big water tank are all underway.

The other exciting news is that we have a puppy! On Tuesday our little German shepherd puppy, Sarabi, arrived! She is so adorable! It’s good to have a dog in the house again. For some of you it may be more shocking to hear me say I have a dog than it is to hear I am going to live in Africa for another year! 

My trip to Nairobi

I’m writing this sat on my porch whilst holding an adorable baby. TIA! A woman who is helping fill up Go MADs tank brought her baby to work with her. Yesterday we saw the baby lying in the Go Mad house just chilling in blankets on the floor and today as the mum walked past our porch she handed the baby to us to look after whilst she goes back and forth fetching water!

The most exciting thing to happen recently has been my trip to Nairobi. Rehema had been shut for two weeks but i really felt i hadn’t had a break. I was just exhausted and so had lost any motivation to work. When you are exhausted that is when the wobbly moments happen and i just had a wobbly moment of if this was what God really wanted me to be doing now. I also started worrying about the future and what i was going to do rather than trusting that God knows and will reveal the plan in his own perfect timing. So when the opportunity came up to go to Nairobi for a week, i went! It was a really good time away to just to have some space to think and pray things through and also just to switch off! The place i stayed in was beautiful and the perfect place to relax and being able to walk barefoot through lush green grass was such a good feeling! I did venture out to a shopping centre which was an interesting experience. It was great to go to Planet Yogurt, Subway and KFC (very food orientated!)but i just felt so out of place among all the shops and city life. It felt more normal seeing the security guards walking around with huge guns than it did shopping! There was a massive supermarket that had everything from Clarks shoe shop to beds, bbqs, a bakery and whole aisles of food, toiletries, toys, tools...everything! I normally go crazy in a shop like this in the UK but in Nairobi it totally freaked me out! I did buy a couple of treats to do me for the next few months but i couldn’t wait to leave! Even going in a lift and using nice toilets and hand dryers felt weird. I think it won’t be as big a culture shock returning home as it was going to Nairobi as in the UK you expect it, but in Africa that was just crazy. It was a fab time away and i have come back ready to put my all into the rest of this year. Living here can be so emotionally and physically draining and i just hadn’t realised the importance of taking a proper break. I am definitely planning one in for next year!

It has been buzzing at Rehema recently. We have had some amazing people take Rehema items home to sell and so far we have had amazing support and encouragement from the UK. It is exciting to be able to go in to work and tell the women that are products are being well received in the UK. We have also just started preparing for Christmas! I never understood why adults got so stressed out about getting ready for Christmas but now i think i do! I am stressed in a good way though! It is exciting seeing all the work needing to be done and knowing the women will be getting a lot of work. It is also a good excuse to make lists! I love lists! I know it is only just September but i have a feeling that these next few months will speed past and Christmas will soon be here!

Another TIA moment to end on. We were very excited to see work being done on the track to our house. It is a bumpy ride down the track (when we are fortunate enough not to be walking!) so we thought it was very exciting. We walked a bit further on and saw all the water pipes dug up and destroyed and realised it wasn’t such a great thing! We only have the water that is left in our tank and so we are using it carefully. That means washing up less often! Yay! Hopefully it will be sorted soon but that is doubtful so at the weekend we will find someone to fetch water and fill up the tank! Living in Tanzania definitely has its fun moments!

I had to give the baby back half way through writing this as she wouldn’t stop crying. It definitely wasn’t my singing that started her off!

Highlights of the week

It’s been a pretty awesome week this week and so I thought I would share a few of the best moments with you...

Let’s start with the most important. I found dream white chocolate with biscuit in. For ages in the UK you couldn't find it anywhere so when I came here I was most excited to find dream white chocolate. Imagine my excitement then when this week I discovered this new creation! Of course I had to buy a bar or two!

I absolutely love to go to the orphanage and this week I managed to go 5 evenings in a row. We get back from Rehema about half 4 and then I go and spend an hour and a half playing with them, bathing them and then getting them into their pyjamas! It is the best way to end the day, especially when Alexi and I have Swahili banter. Now, whenever one of us says kwa nini (why) in response to a statement the other responds’ kwa sababu’ (because) then  ‘kwa sababu nini’ (because what) and we go round in circles until one of us gives in! That is as much banter as you can have with a Swahili speaking 4 year old and a white person slowly learning swahili! Bathing them is great fun, especially with the older ones. They finish their food and then come over to me, some undressing whilst walking and others walking with their little arms in the air needing some help! Alexi can be a little monster in the bath tub and turned the dial so that the water shot out of the shower head and onto me. His laugh though is so cute that I can’t help but laugh! They love bath time so much and so it is great to be able to give them that little bit of fun, even though I get a few looks from the mamas who just want to get them into bed and even if it gets them a little bit hyper when they should be calming down! When they are all changed into their pyjamas and i’m cuddling them and putting them into their own beds, i could almost forget their horrible pasts, they are just like any other child being tucked into their beds and for that split second i forget they are living in the orphanage.

Some of you may find this next highlight a bit of a weird one. I absolutely love cleaning, tidying and sorting and this week before Rehema reopened after our two week holiday we needed to do just that. It was so much fun! It is such a satisfying feeling when you see what you have achieved. It was a great start to the week and it was such a good atmosphere cleaning with the women. I especially loved Flora and I cleaning together in the workshop, although I really hated all the spiders!  We are very like minded when it comes to cleaning which was fab! Being back at Rehema has been really good and busy and it has been lovely to see all the women again.

Great end to the week...holding a baby that was just 15 hours old! One of the Rehema women had a baby this morning and this afternoon after work I went with some of the women to have a cuddle! It is such an adorable baby. So tiny! I had a moment of panic (much to their amusement) as she was handed to me, as I have never held a baby that young before but her cute facial expressions, tiny tiny hands and feet and watching her sleep in my arms was something special and I thank God for this precious new life.

It’s something like 4 months 9 days until I fly home. I seriously cannot believe how fast this year is going!

Catching up in Kyamajoje

Just a quick update! Nat’s family have been here to visit which has been great fun and lovely to meet them. One day we hired a truck to show them around the different Go MAD projects and of course we went to Kyamajoje! It was amazing to see the progress that had been made on the health centre. The mural the team painted on the side of the health centre, of John 3:16 written in the shape of a cross on a hill created by handprints, is beautiful and it was great that a child i was holding pointed out her hand print! The current team are now working on houses for the doctor and nurses to live in. We then went on to see Mtani and his toilet and water tank. The toilet looks great and the mural they painted on it is also beautiful. It was awesome to see Mtani so happy!  When we arrived he wasn’t at the house but then we turned and saw him whizzing down to us in his bike which was great. I then showed her family into his room. His bed was neatly made and in the centre of it was his bible. I asked him if he has been reading his bible everyday and he said yes and smiled. He is such a great guy.  From the top of some rocks in Kyamajoje there is the most spectacular view so we did what you would never dream of doing back in the UK, we asked some barefoot children to take us up the rocks, with them going ahead on the lookout for snakes!

We also visited Anifa and her family which is always fun. We didn’t have a translator and i loved having to use the Swahili i know to communicate with her. Obviously my Swahili is way off being amazing but i also loved that i am so comfortable around these people now that it doesn’t matter if we laugh at the mistakes made. We are patient with each other and eventually, after rephrasing sentences with words i know and after some acting, we figure out what we want to say!

Rehema has been shut for two weeks to give all the women a well deserved and much needed break! It has been great to have a couple of weeks to sleep, go to the beach and go and play with the children at the orphanage! I also went out with Go Mad to start a water tank in Kyamajoje which was good.  Whilst Nat’s family were here we went over to Lukuba Island. It is so beautiful there and a great place to relax for a couple of days at the start of a two week holiday! It’s just 40 minutes away from Musoma but you just feel like you are in the middle of nowhere which is amazing! Slightly less amazing was the snake that popped his head out of the roof above our heads as we are eating breakfast!  TIA!

There have been a few snakes around recently which is quite unnerving. There was one in the workshop at rehema, one on the beach, two at Lukuba and then the biggest was found on our compound. It was a forest cobra that was over a metre long and that was found outside the house opposite and then chased before being killed. It was fascinating to see it but has made me more conscious of them! 

8th July 2014

I’d like to start with a big thank you to everyone who donated sunhats, cream and glasses for the albinos. We have a good collection now to suit all ages which is amazing and means they can try several on to get the best fit. At Rehema we get albinos coming in for help but now we have lots of items i would love to be able to hold a day where we invite lots of albinos and and distribute the hats etc but also be able to spend time with them and educate them in the importance of the cream and hats but also to spend time talking about God and his love for them.

Albinism is a genetically inherited condition where the person has a lack of pigmentation in the hair, skin and eyes causing them to be vulnerable to sun exposure and bright light. They are at high risk of skin cancer and lack of suncream and wide brimmed hats lead to epidemic rates of skin cancer in all ages. The average life expectancy for an albino in Tanzania is 30 years but in countries with adequate health care an albino has the same life expectancy as the general population. There are powerful myths concerning albinos because of a lack of education of the medical causes. This lack of knowledge leads to people killing albinos as they believe that their body parts possess magical powers capable of bringing riches when used in witch doctors potions. Others kill albinos as they believe that they are a curse, bring bad luck and are a punishment from god. Another myth is that albinos are born to a black woman who has slept with a white man. The father of the child will accuse the mother of being unfaithful and abandon her and the child. The chid will then often be treated as unwanted and in many cases are killed.

I admit that when i was on a go mad trip in October and we visited the disability school where there are lots of albino children i was a little bit freaked out. It was just as we were approaching in the truck and there were so many of them around that i was a little bit apprehensive. It’s not like i believe any of the myths about them which are just horrendous but previous to this visit i had only seen a few albinos walking around and always quite far away and it was a shock to see so many and then they sang ‘we are marching in the light of god’ in English which just threw me a bit! After spending time with them i felt so bad for how i had first felt. They were just like any other children. Since then i have come into contact with many more and am currently helping an albino family that i have previously spoken about. We are going to visit them this week which i am very much looking forward to. Before, albinism was something that i just saw and heard spoken about but i never really thought much about how horrific their lives are and how each day they must fear for their lives plus face their physical problems. As you may have realised by now, i am keen to learn as much as i can to be able to help them.

Last week, the son of a friend of ours became very sick. He had a malaria count of 800. Normally a count of 4 is bad. It was awful to see him in the hospital so ill and his face was scrunched up in so much pain. A little bit later we discovered the cause for such pain...he had a huge worm in him. After the worm passed out of him he looked more comfortable but still had a very high temperature. We went back the next day and he was so much better. He completed his medicine and now praise God he is doing much better. It was tough seeing a boy of 4 years old fighting for his life but i found it was also a reminder to me how precious life is and without Rehema there to help he wouldn’t be here today. I don’t say that to boast but to encourage everyone that the money is being used to make a difference to everyday situations like this one.  

Low point of the week -This week was a very sad week as it saw the departure of the Go Mad team that have been here with us since January. They arrived a week after me and the last few months would definitely not have been the same without them here. They were so welcoming of me every time i joined them on projects, at church, for parties and dinners and i made some good friends that i will miss very much. Most lunch times they would pop by rehema and it was great to hear about what they had been up to and what was going on with people in the village. It’s not like the compound is going to be quiet without them though as more teams are arriving throughout the summer.

Highlight of the week- This week Nat and I had a city break in Mwanza! I needed to meet up with a guy who does work for Rehema and Nat needed to stock up on things for the cafe. It was the perfect opportunity to have a night away and visit the beautiful supermarket. It is the first time we had done the journey on our own but thankfully had no problems at all. We had air con and a tv in the room we were staying in  which was amazing, even though i did freak out when i first picked up the remote as it felt such an alien thing to be holding! We explored a bit but both of us just wanted to get to the supermarket! This time there were more white people around so i had to contain my excitement a little bit but we still had a great time browsing the shelves and seeing familiar brands. I would like to be able to say we did a sensible grown up shop but that is so not true! We came away with a fairly unhealthy bag of shopping but one that will see us through the next 6 (maybe 3) months! Highlight was when we just happened to pop into this little shop on the street and found milkybar chocolate!

Forgot to say in my last blog that I have sent some gorgeous Rehema products home for mum and dad to sell so if you are interested in buying some beautiful bags, table runners, cards, giraffes and much much more then please get in touch with them or me. All the money from the sales will go straight to helping women and children living in desperate situations.

Last but not least, i randomly found this song last week and absolutely love it so just thought i would share this thought provoking and challenging song with you... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OaqjPt8phA

When my dad and best friend came to Tanzania...

Hi everyone!

 I will start by apologising for being a bit quiet on here recently.  I am very sorry. It has been so long that i had forgotten my password for this blog!

The last two weeks have been really good. My dad and best friend came out to visit/check up on me! We had an amazing time together and it was good to be able to show them around Musoma and meet everyone on the compound where i live. It was a boost for me in terms of Swahili as i was their translator! I am very far off being fluent but it felt good to realise that i have learnt a lot since being here and love speaking it! It was lovely to be able to introduce them to the women at Rehema and show them all that goes on there.

We had a very busy time when they were here as i wanted to show them EVERYTHING! I knew Lydia would love the orphanage and so that was one of the first things we did! Of course she couldn’t help but fall in love with the children and it made me smile to see dad playing on the floor with them and chasing them around outside.

I had been so excited for them to experience travelling on a dalla dalla and it did not disappoint! No matter how tall you are you get squashed in just like everyone else and it was entertaining to watch dad on one! In that same day i introduced them to the hostel lunch. The least said about that the better!

On one day we hired a truck and driver and Nat came with us as we went to visit some of the villages that i worked in when i was with Go MAD. Having told them so much about these places it was great that they were able to see it all firsthand. We went to Kyamajoje first where we stopped to see the health centre that the current team are building. It is looking so good and it is amazing how much they have achieved. Whilst there we managed to recruit a boy that would take us up the rocks behind the church! There is the most stunning view from up there and you can literally see for miles and miles. I was thankful that we managed the climb without any injuries or snake bites! We were then able to visit Mtani who i am sure i have said before is the most amazing guy. The team are in the process of building him a disabled toilet which will make a huge difference to his life. He is such a joy to be around and has the loveliest smile and i am so happy that dad and Lydia could meet him and him them. After Kyamajoje there was time for a quick Rehema lunch and then a visit to Anifa and her family in Mikaringo. They were so welcoming and as friendly as ever! We then arranged to meet a guy who was going to take us to visit an Albino family that rehema has been helping. They lived in the middle of nowhere but i am so glad we visited them as we had a truly special time with them. We played with them and handed out sunhats and glasses and lots and lots and lots of balloons! In return they gave us lots and lots of rice and beans! Nat and i are used to this happening and prepare ourselves for it, Lydia on the other hand didn’t know what to do when faced with a heaped bowl full of rice! They were so thankful for our visit and walked with us the whole way back to the car, gathering more family members along the way! As if that wasn’t enough excitement for one day, we were invited over to the Vinks house for dinner and darts. I was meant to impress dad with my amazing new darts skills but he was too busy being an embarrassing father to notice and give me some fake congratulations!

Wow, just realised i haven’t even started talking about safari yet..! Safari was awesome! My highlight was having a bath and a swim but seeing 5 sightings of lion really close up (nearly seeing one hunt and seeing a group of them chilling on a picnic bench), 22 giraffe in one go, an elephant and a lots of zebra, warthogs, hippos and monkeys wasn’t that bad!

There was a bit of time allowed to just relax and enjoy Tembo beach and wander round the market looking at the beautiful material. After hearing so much about eagle rock from my go mad trips i had to take them up it. It was as stunning as ever up there and it was refreshing to be up there with people experiencing it for the first time.

I don’t know how dad coped being in a house with three very noisy girls for two weeks but he survived! He sought sanity by going out with Go Mad a few times and even trying to kid himself that he is still young by going out to play football with them...of course he came back with an injury!

The house was a little quieter after our guests left, even quieter when our little puppy Kip died. She had an incredible short life though and achieved quite a lot...her biggest achievement (though not funny at the time) was killing our chicken Rusty. We came home from work one day and she had taken down this chicken and eaten her from the inside out. Really disgusting and upsetting but quite a big achievement for such a little puppy!

An adventurous week in Africa!

It is easy to get into the routine of doing the same thing each day. Slightly different things happen each day but mostly our days have become a bit predictable. I’m not saying this is a bad thing but i had just begun to notice that we have settled into just sticking with what we know and not doing exciting new things. After thinking this we then probably the most full on adventure day so far! It started out going material shopping at ‘material lane’ one of my favourite places to go to. We have done this many times and have our set order in which we visit the shops! We had just reached our first shop when suddenly about 100 men come running past from all directions. We learnt from the lady in the shop that someone stole something and now they were trying to catch him. We do not know what he stole but these men were chasing him with big rocks in their hands. We even saw one man with a mallet and another with a hacksaw. The chase lasted a little while with them running backwards and forwards and when we thought it was safe to leave we left our shop and carried on shopping. As we turned up the lane we saw the crowd at the side of the road, they had clearly caught the guy. We hurried into our next shop and as we did so a gunshot rang out. Safe in the shop we heard another couple of shots and saw the crowd moving away from us down the street. I do not know what they did to the guy but my guess is they killed him or seriously injured him. It was quite scary being so near to where i knew someone was being really hurt and hearing shots so close but i think the even scarier thing for me is seeing the look on the guys faces as they chased this man. They looked and behaved like animals and also looked to be enjoying themselves.

Back at Rehema we quickly recovered and then headed out to visit Bhoke. Some of you may have heard about Bhoke. She is a women that works at Rehema making jewellery. She has been going through a particularly rough time recently and has been in hospital so we wanted to go and see how she was and take her some food. Isabella from the kitchen saw Nat, Flora and I getting into a taxi and decided she would come and visit as well. We had a little food shop and then piled back into the car for the bumpy long ride to Bhoke’s house. I was amazed when the taxi could make it down the bumpy roads and was willing to take us there. We walked the rest of the way and when we got to Bhoke’s i really didn’t know what to expect and how she would be. I was totally amazed when she came running to meet us and then went running to the next house to grab some chairs for us to sit on! She was a proud mum and introduced us to her children who were absolutely adorable! It was such an answer to prayer to see her looking so well. We had been there a little while when she told her sons to catch a cockerel. Nat and I discovered that we were both thinking the same thing, we are either staying for lunch and eating that chicken or she is going to give us that chicken. Sure enough as we were leaving she ran into the house and came out with it! I’m very happy that she handed it to Nat to carry and then we put it in the boot of the car! He spent the rest of the day sat outside my workshop but when we came to go home we tried putting him in a box and for a while he was quite content but then he started flapping his wings and we both freaked out! Fortunately the taxi driver knows us by now and so he took the chicken and put him in the footwell at the front and even carried it to our back garden for us! He has had a couple of escapes but is now happy in his new home and even goes into the chicken coop at night of his own free will! He is far better behaved than Kip! We gave Kip another bath today. I hold her and Nat chucks water over her (and me!). It was going well and she was being a good girl  until we washed her head. She then freaked out and decided the only safe position was to straddle my arm, wrapping both front and back legs around and refusing to move! She looked like a hog roast!

If that wasn’t enough adventure for one day we then went to a party! Joyce, one of our beauticians had invited us to a party that we thought was a wedding but sadly it wasn’t. We weren’t sure whether to go or not but then she turned up at our house and said she had come to take us to the party! We put on our party dresses and trekked up the track to the party with no idea what to expect and no one who spoke English! When we arrived everyone was sat in a big semicircle and cheered when we walked in. Feeling very awkward we were given front row seats and given a drink. I am so glad i said i was full and didn’t want food as i couldn’t even identify what meat the lady next to me was eating! It was like no party i have been to before. Joyce and this guy (who i now know is her husband) stood at the front with a bowl and people came up and put money in. What we didn’t realise is that this goes on for a while so we go straight in with the big notes and soon realised our mistake when the bucket kept coming to us! So even though we realised we had probably only been invited because we are white people it was lovely that the other spa women were there and came and sat with us! We didn’t want to stay long as it was getting dark so Joyce said if we had a dance we could then go. I said we would only dance when others got up but clearly my Swahili isn’t that great or she just ignored me as the next thing we know some old school English music is blaring out and me and nat are up there, dragging the other two women with us and expected to dance. I decide we are not awkward shuffling like Nat wanted so much to her horror I launched into a speedy macarena! She soon joined me and it got quite a good reaction from the other guests!  

On Saturday we had an amazing time with the Go Mad team doing a ceilidh. It is so much fun even if everyone is so sweaty and it is a great form of exercise! Some of the cafe women came over to watch and even joined in which was cool.

Yesterday was awesome as we did Sunday School for some of the missionary children. A local missionary lady was being ordained at the cathedral and so to help out Deb, Nat, Andrew and I took the kids and had a great time acting out the story of Noah, playing games, singing and of course doing some craft! It was so good to do Sunday school again and it was great doing it here and actually being able to talk to the kids without needing a translator! It turned out to be a 3 ½ hour service with everyone staying for lunch afterwards. With a big rice lunch I was ready to join some of the team in the afternoon climbing dead chicken rock.

We have had some crazy times here but we feel safe in God's loving arms and trust in him to guide us and protect us each day.

Sorry it has been such a long one! If you have made it this far, thank you for sticking with me!

Easter and my birthday!

It has been so refreshing to celebrate Easter here. There aren't chocolate eggs everywhere (it was nice to have a packet sent from home though!) and people are focused on the true meaning of Easter. On Good Friday Rehema was closed so i was able to join the Go Mad team for a service at Mikaringo church which was really good. Then on Easter Sunday i went to the cathedral with the team. The service started at 8.30 and 4 hours later it finished! It was an amazing service though and there was a true feeling of celebration. It is amazing how much can be put into a service. There were baptisms, communion, auctions, lots of singing and other bits where i didn’t really know what was happening! There were several different choirs and we were one of them! Being up the front of the cathedral is something special. I love their singing and dancing and the spontaneous dancing that broke out in the congregation every now and then!  The bidding was also very interesting. They started with the usual kind of stuff and then produced chickens and a duck and pieces of material. The bidding was a bit more confusing at the cathedral because people didn’t always bid against each other but just added more to the price to raise the price of how much something went for. This is because the collection was done by area and everyone wanted their area to give the most so went crazy in the bidding. One piece of material went for 107,000 tsh (i would usually buy for 25,000tsh!)! The auction went on for quite a while! One of my highlights from the service was when a guy was asking visitors to stand up and wave and he then looked at us and began asking us to stand when the bishop interrupted him and said we weren’t visitors! I am a resident of Tanzania, not a visitor. That feels good to say and i don’t think that feeling will ever get old!

I also just want to thank those of you who sent me birthday messages and emails. I am now a grown up 20 year old! I had an amazing day full of surprises. The night before my birthday i was asked if i was going to join the Go Mad team the next morning to listen to a sermon. The sermon is at 8.15 and as it was my day off i was thinking of just having a lie in but Deb told me i needed biblical teaching and i should probably go! So the next morning i do as i am told and the sermon was really good. After the sermon Deb came and blindfolded me and a few bumps later i am sat on my porch being served mango, French toast and coco pops! After opening some awesome presents and cards from home I am told that i will be going on an adventure to find clues that lead to presents. A few hours later i had been to the orphanage, Vink’s house, my old bed in eagle lodge, a neighbours chicken coop, up the track to the soda shop and eventually ended up up eagle rock enjoying a picnic (marmite and cheese sandwiches...yum!) with Nat and Deb. The trail took me to some of my favourite places and people and places with special memories. The team came up to eagle rock  later for games and then we watched the sunset in the rain. By then i thought that must be the end of the surprises but oh no! After sliding down eagle rock (unfortunately that is literally speaking, i have the bruise to prove it!) i found the team on my porch singing happy birthday and i go inside to find a puppy in a box! As a child i always put a dog at the top of my Christmas list. I never got one though, probably because my parents knew i was scared of dogs! Now a lot of things have changed and liking dogs is one of them so to have Kipwriggler come and live with us on my birthday was just the best. The day still wasn’t over as we went to eagle lodge for pizza and a time of worship and the best chocolate cake! After (finally!) getting my birthday cake i thought the fun must be over but i was wrong again. I had just finished locking Nat and I in for the night when Deb comes round and tells me she has come for a sleepover! Food, films and facemasks later my special day is over. It was such an incredible day and it showed me what amazing friends i have. I thought it was exciting to have a birthday in Africa last year even though most of it was spent in an airport. Little did i know that i would have another birthday here and be spending it with people who have become such special friends!

Kip is settling in to her new home well and we are having lots of fun with her! The first few nights  she spent a lot of time howling which resulted in us feeling like sleep deprived new parents but thankfully she is now much better.

My last day as a 19 year old!

WARNING: Some of you may not want to read this first paragraph...it is about a beautiful secluded island that I escaped to for a wonderful weekend!

A boat came to collect us at Tembo beach here in Musoma and then 45 minutes later we arrived at Lukuba Island and was greeted by a man holding a tray of non alcoholic cocktails with crystallised sugar around the rim and a slice of lemon! We were then shown to our cabin on the beach which was beautiful. The food was amazing and there was lots of it. Each meal had 3 delicious courses and although i loved them all i was most excited about having weetabix, custard and bacon (not together of course!). We had time to do devotions together and also to have a time of worship and listen to a great sermon together and play games. We went on a sunset walk and it was awesome to be given a soda and popcorn when we reached the end of our climb up! Going out canoeing, swimming in the pool, going round the island on the boat for sunset and chilling on the beach (keeping a wary eye on the monkeys! )made for a very relaxing weekend and I could have happily stayed there for several more days! Previously i wrote about a big storm and hearing the loudest thunder i had ever heard but that was nothing compared to the storm we had on the island. It was right above us and the whole sky lit up so i could see the beach outside and we had to shout to be heard above the noise! It was very surreal in the morning to wake up and hear the water calmly lapping outside.

I get an extra day off once month and last week I spent it all with Go Mad and had a really good day. In the morning we went out to Kyamajoje and it was incredible to see the progress on the health centre. It is looking so good and i couldn’t believe how much had been done since I last saw it! We then went to Mtani’s house where the team are building him a toilet. That is also coming along really well and I was able to help move the lintels onto the pit. It will make such a huge difference to him when that is built. In the afternoon I went with the other team to the chicken sheds and had a wonderful time with Anifa and her family. I absolutely love what I do at Rehema and the women i work with but it was so lovely to be able to spend the day with the team and be back in the villages.

Yesterday Rehema had the Easter Fair. The Friday was a busy day and we were there until late transforming the shop and putting out new stock but we had the awesome Go Mad team there with us being a big help. It was then an early start on the Saturday to finish putting up decorations and setting up the games. It was great that so many people came and at one point they were queuing up to get in! The atmosphere was just what i had hoped for, the children were running around playing games and having a great time and the adults were all chatting to each other and watching the children play. The egg and spoon race was so much fun and watching everyone get involved in that was super and it felt like I was at a school sports day! Then it was time for the Easter egg hunt where the children had to find a silver egg made of paper and then find the ‘chicken’  (aka Callum on the Go Mad team who was dressed up as a chicken) to get some mini eggs! It was great to look around Rehema and see people relaxed and enjoying themselves. The day was so much fun was a very good day for Rehema.

I can’t believe how fast time is going here and that tomorrow is my birthday and I will be turning 20! How exciting! 

More ramblings!

Hi Everyone!

I’m sorry that it has been a little quiet on here lately. The truth is that I am still loving it out here but the more that this becomes my life, the more I find it harder to write about what i am getting up to, as for me it is now just my everyday life. But here goes...

Since my last blog I have been with the Go Mad team to Kyamajoje church for a Sunday service. It was great to see the progress the team have made on the health centre and it was great just to be back in that village and see some familiar faces. The church was different to the last time i saw it, they had hung material from the trusses and it was fascinating to watch a boy climb up and take them off at the end of the service! It wasn’t so great when the Pastor asked me if i remembered a certain song and when i said yes he asked me to sing it! Fortunately I could shift the attention away from me and when the congregation started singing I could then just join in! I think it is much better for everyone that way! It was good to be able to take Mtani to church and to see his happy face!

Last Sunday i had an awesome day and spent pretty much the whole day with Go Mad. We went to Church in the morning and then in the afternoon the boys had arranged a football match with some of the guys in the village. It was fun just to play with the children and watch the match. We cheered on the ‘wazungus’ whilst the kids cheered on the Africans! It then poured with rain so we ran for shelter whilst the boys played on. A yummy dinner at a place in town and then back to Eagle Lodge where we listened to an awesome sermon on Jeremiah 1.

We have had some cool storms recently and an amazing one on Monday night. We had just put a pizza in the oven when the power went off. Typical! The thunder was the loudest i have ever heard and the lightening was so bright it lit up the whole area.  It was an awesome display of God’s power and Chris Tomlin’s song ‘Indescribable’ came to mind.

Exciting things are happening at Rehema. The pedicure training is going really well and it is exciting to see the women improving and enjoying the work. I never thought that i would be sitting at work having a pedicure! I am always happy to volunteer when they need feet to practice massaging and nail painting and can’t wait until they start learning manicures! I do have to try and restrain myself when they do my feet as i am very ticklish and don’t want to look in pain in case they think they are doing it wrong and are hurting me!

The Rehema Easter fair is coming up soon and I am loving planning this next event. I had great fun making a big sign with fabric letters for the event with a girl on the team and it is great that doing crafty stuff that i enjoy is my job! Prayer that all this planning continues to go well would be great and that i can be organised but not stress out about it!

Nat and I had a fun day out last week. Andrew needed to go to Mwanza and we needed to buy some stuff for Rehema so we tagged along. It was a very early start (5am!) but it was totally worth it! Before entering the supermarket I was told not to act like a kid in a sweet shop and i just thought yeah yeah whatever it is just going to be a supermarket. However i have to admit i did go a little crazy! The first thing i saw was Old El Paso taco shells and i just couldn’t believe it. Not that i am a massive fan of those but i was just so surprised that i would find them here in Tanzania! There was just so much exciting stuff in that supermarket, including marmite and toffee crisp bars! I bought both and made a complete mess on the bus eating my melted toffee crisp but it was so good that I didn’t care about the horrified look Nat was giving me as if I was an embarrassment to her! We went to a bathroom store to buy some tiles and it was just like being back in a bathroom store in England which was really strange and surprised me as much as the taco shells! I also got to try a banana pizza which was unusual but good! It was exciting to have treats and a little taste of home which we had been craving. There is nothing more exciting than the anticipation of a parcel coming in the post! We are becoming friendly with the people at the post office as we keep checking in for parcels...we live in hope!

Swahili is still coming along slowly. Nothing really to say about it except I just want to be fluent! I still have lessons each week and had a good lesson this week learning another noun class. There are 12 noun classes and I think we have now done 3! It all makes sense but my trouble is remembering it all!

The puppies are still adorable (and covered in fleas) and Kipwriggler is getting bigger everyday! They are now moving around the garden at eagle lodge and this week Nat and I started planning the building of a fence ready for when Kip moves in! On our day off this week we had guys round to talk fences (we had no idea about anything!)  and also had to get someone in to sort out our drains (we had no idea about those either!) so it wasn’t a relaxing day off!

In a couple of days I will be heading off to Lukuba Island for a women’s bible study weekend away! I am really excited and it will be nice to get away and have a break and just have time to reflect and get to know the women in my bible study group better. I will be sure to let you know how the weekend goes and how beautiful the island is!

There is a first time for everything

It is said that there is a first time for everything. Well, this week has been a week full of firsts.

For the first time in my life i got a bead stuck in my foot this week. I can laugh about it now (and i did a bit at the time) but it was actually really painful! I was sat on the workshop floor sorting ribbons and buttons (one of my favourite things to do!) and when i went to get up and brush myself off i noticed something on my foot. Went into the kitchen to see Nat and realised my foot was quite sore. Looked closer and then got Nat to look. After panicking me when she said i had something under my skin Mama Dibo one of my craft ladies who wasn’t working but just happened to be there motioned me over so i promptly put my foot in her lap and she held it still whilst Nat got a pen knife and sliced my foot open and out came a tiny broken bead! I still no idea how a bead came to be under my skin!

Another first this week was seeing puppies immediately after they had been born. Nat and I were in a business meeting (very grown up!) with Amy next door to eagle lodge and we heard the shouts that Isla had finally had puppies. Amy kindly let us run round to see them! Sadly one died but now there are 6 healthy pups and another girl (Kipwriggler) will be joining Nat and I in our house! I am not a massive dog lover and had no idea about holding puppies but i have had lots of practice now. For years, at the top of my Christmas list, was a dog. I never got one (probably because i was terrified of dogs) so i am happy to finally be getting a dog!

Playing darts for the first time was one of the most intense things i have done in a while! After a lovely dinner with the Amy and her family we then played darts. No one really leapt at the chance of being on my team and we did lose both times but i feel i didn’t embarrass myself too much. It was great fun. Playing with very competitive people who are amazing at darts can be quite scary, especially when you can actually feel the change in the atmosphere.

It was awesome this week to go up on Eagle rock for sunset with Andrew playing the bagpipes. The sunset is just beautiful and to be able to just sit up there and watch the colours change is the perfect way to end the day. It seems strange but just going about my daily life i sometimes forget that i am living in Africa and don’t stop to fully appreciate it. Sitting up on eagle rock though and looking around, it is impossible to not stop and appreciate the beauty i am surrounded by.

Another super exciting first was shopping in town today for manicure and pedicure products. Rehema has been praying for someone to come out who is skilled in manicures and pedicures who could train up some women to do them at Rehema. Casually mentioned it to the GO MAD team the other day and was told that there is a trained beautician on the team. Nat and i went crazy and when we told Amy she was equally excited. Thankfully our beautician said she would love to train up some women and so today we went shopping! I wasn’t very optimistic that we would find what we needed but went to Musoma’s version of ‘Boots’ and did surprisingly well, even finding a cuticle clipper thing! We were all very happy with our purchases! Today was also the first time i have eaten mango off a plate without using my hands and the first time i have run around a dark room looking for bananas! One of the GO MAD team had a birthday and i was very kindly invited round for the party with these crazy games which were so much fun!

This coming Saturday i will be helping a woman to find a dress for her big day. Rehema has a collection of wedding dresses, tiaras, shoes and veils that a shop donated and that people can rent out. I have never given advice to someone about their wedding dress before so this will be an interesting experience!

T.I.A

It has been a T.I.A week!

I had been weed on by two babies, we had no water for 4 days, dodgy electricity, a hedgehog loose in the house and a dead mouse in the cupboard. A mountain of washing up and a clogged up toilet as we didn’t want to waste shop bought water by throwing it down the drain. It was one of those days where everything seems to go wrong. We actually got to the point that we went past caring and just laughed about it instead!

Fortunately, we were able to have a wonderful shower at the Vink’s. Received tank water from Go MAD so we could tackle the washing up (we had started to eat from bowls and even straight off the chopping board!) and flush the loo too! Andrew found and removed the dead mouse that had become trapped in some material in the cupboard of the spare bedroom and Natalie found the hedgehog in the middle of the night scratching at my door! I am so thankful for our neighbours who we know we could call on for literally anything.

We spoke to Jono Vink again about our water situation as basically we had no water in the taps and in the tank we only managed to get half a bottle of green water! He took us to another tap and turned it. The sound of water gushing into our tank was amazing! Apparently the children like to play with the taps and had turned ours off! At least we will know for next time! The truly funny thing is that the other day when I went into Rehema feeling dirty and disgusting and actually wanting to shave my hair off, (yes it was that bad!) the women said I looked beautiful and began playing with my hair. I don’t know if they were being serious or not, but it was an important reminder to me that what I look like really does not matter. These women could not care less if I had greasy hair, filthy feet and baby wee on my clothes. More importantly, neither does God.

Oh and the cuddles I had from the babies was totally worth getting weed on! Once was at the orphanage and I love them all too much to care about a bit of wee, and besides, it goes nicely with the dribble and snot! The other baby was Mtani’s niece. I went out with the GO MAD team one afternoon to see Mtani and hear the plans for his toilet and washroom. Seeing him was awesome and I have to admit I was glad he hadn’t forgotten me! The bonus was getting cuddles with the baby, who (the way I like to think of it) felt relaxed enough in my arms to wee! Please keep the GO MAD team and Mtani in your prayers as they plan all the logistics and finances involved in building a disabled toilet. He is doing really well but has some nasty sores. He is still reading his bible, still smiling and very happy to be getting a toilet.

This week we also had great fun in the rain! Woke up to the torrential rain and had no idea what to wear. Not in a i want to look good today kind of way, but more like, what do i actually have that is appropriate for rain! I ended up in canvas shoes which weren’t the best idea! We had to navigate the puddles and try to not slip over as the roads had turned to slushy mud which Nat, in her Toms with no grip, struggled with much to many people’s amusement! When it rains here life slows down even more than normal. Where there would normally be loads of people around getting a dalla dalla into town it was deserted on the sides of the road. People just wait for the rain to stop before carrying on with their day. As we arrived at Rehema everyone abandoned their wet shoes at the workshop door and removed soaking clothes and flung them over the roof trusses! No time spent moaning about how wet they were like it would be in England as you drip your way into work, or as i hear at the moment, getting on a boat and rowing to work. I discovered that my raincoat really isn’t that waterproof and so the rain had got through every layer therefore i ended up in Nat’s spare jumper, even after i had laughed at her that morning for packing spare clothes! That same day we also had the electrician guys in (getting power in the workshop which is very exciting!) and i stopped and looked around the craziness that was the workshop. There was a ladder going over one of the tables, dripping wet clothes hanging off the trusses, and ribbons everywhere as i was trying to sort the cupboards and in the midst of it all was Mama Jackie happily sewing on her sewing machine. It was such a crazy scene but you couldn’t help but smile.

Highlight of the week- There are sooo many high points to this week but Mama Jackie arriving at the workshop with her sewing machine was amazing. She is such a lovely friendly woman and so skilled. It is awesome that Rehema now has a sewing lady in the workshop and hopefully she will soon be joined by others. The workshop is really coming together now so praise God for that! 

Patience

But the fruit of the Spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self-control. There is no law against such things as these. Galatians 5:22-23

When I was on Go MAD trips we would often say ‘TIA’ (this is africa) when the day didn’t go to plan or when things were taking an exceptionally long time to do. I now find myself saying this quite a lot! I love it though and have learnt that the best thing to do is just embrace the way of life here!

I would think of myself as a fairly patient person but i feel that God has definitely been teaching me something more about patience recently. Nothing moves quickly here (except some crazy drivers). Life is slow and a very relaxed approach is taken to many things. It was on a particularly slow dalla dalla one morning this week that i began to think about patience and when i especially need patience here. I began to think of quite a list!

There are the little everyday annoying things like how long it takes for the internet to load. That circle to show the internet loading can be quite mesmerising! I discovered this evening that a bucketful of patience is needed when trying to talk to your family on skype! I shouldn’t really moan about this as having the internet in my house and having a working laptop is such a blessing but you definitely need patience! Then there are the times when you go shopping and wait for the person behind the counter to a) acknowledge you and b) to stop reading their paper or chatting to other people and actually serve you and not serve the person who jumps in before you. This is a weird one as you find yourself wondering if they actually want your money and thinking we should be less British and just be more pushy!

Getting a dalla dalla to town is definitely a time where you can get stressed out about how much time it is taking to get from a to b. It doesn’t help that whilst you are going about 10mph and stopping every few seconds you are being squashed by the person sitting very close next to you. There is no such thing as personal space on a dalla dalla! At the end of a long hot day, you are tired and just want to go home. These are the times when no dalla dalla appears! Breathe in and out and have patience!

“The times we find ourselves having to wait on others may be the perfect opportunities to train ourselves to wait on the Lord.” ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

This past couple of weeks there have been times at work when my patience has been put to the test. I have had a couple of women come in to Rehema to be trained in something. One lady, Bhoke, i knew had been in before and previous people have tried to help her learn a new skill but with no success. This made me a bit apprehensive as to what i could do differently. I sat and tried to teach her to make a bracelet. It amazed me that this woman could not do a simple braided bracelet but we took it step by step. The frustrating thing was that this woman began to think she could do it by herself and began ignoring me sat next to her doing each step. Then you just have to breathe in and out stop her and begin again trying to do it a different way. After several hours i thought she was getting it and was so happy. Then she did a move that was completely out of the blue and i realised she really didn’t have it. Sitting at a table for hours training someone, repeating the only words i could say to help this situation (i have never said over, under, wait and no so many times in one day!) can really test your patience. Fortunately my amazing friend Nat came and kept me sane! Another hour or so going over it and then i gave her some string to go home and practice on. She came back this week and the great thing was that she had practiced. The sad thing was it looked nothing like what it was meant to look like and wasn’t consistent enough that she would be able to do it again. Breathe in and out and think of something else for her. A beaded necklace. Stringing white beads onto elastic with a colour bead thrown in at regular intervals. No joy there either. The truly frustrating thing was that you could see how much getting this work meant to her and how her trying to speed ahead and do it her own way was just her way of desperately trying to learn and be able to earn some money to feed her family. The situation wasn’t helped though by the fact she kept stopping to feed her baby - right there and then! The sweet thing was that the second time she came she also brought her son so he could look after the baby. Nat put him on the swing in Rehema and his whole face lit up as he had his first experience on a swing!

“Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them– every day begin the task anew.”  ~ Francis de Sales

The humbling task of learning Swahili is also quite a test. I am so impatient and just want to be fluent now! I have to keep telling myself this is not going to happen overnight and rather than spend time stressing about it, actually pick up my book and learn a new word! My Swahili lessons are going well and i have an hour and half lesson each week.  The rehema women are amazing at encouraging my Swahili but i just long for the day when i know what they are saying to each other and also the day when i can understand what everyone on the dalla dalla is saying about us mzngus!

Living here it is definitely not always easy but it is good to be challenged!

Highlight of the week- Going to the orphanage on my day off and Alexi getting really excited when i played music on my phone. Such a simple thing but it brought such a smile to his face and to mine! The smile lasted throughout my time there despite most of them having wet bottoms and snot and food down their tops which also ended up on my top!

First week of work...

I have no idea where to start! I am so excited by all that is happening and just want to share so that you guys can be a part of it.

Nat and I started work on Tuesday and it has been really good but also really tiring. A typical day is leaving the house at 7.45 and walking 10 minutes up the track to catch a dalla dalla. This is normally pretty easy as there is usually an empty one waiting. Having a choice of seats on the dalla dalla is great as you can make sure you don’t get squashed in the back corner, making it very tricky to get out! However, it does mean that the guy running the dalla dalla then drives extremely slowly, stopping often to pick up more customers until the van is packed.  It does provide some entertainment in the morning. One morning there were two dalla dallas in fierce competition for customers. Both were stopped and instead of risking the woman getting on the other dalla dalla our guy ran and grabbed the lady’s son and carried him into the dalla dalla and gave him to someone else on the dalla dalla to hold. The funny thing is this is normal, the mother did not seem at all bothered! It takes around 45 minutes in total to get from our house to the anglican dicocese where rehema is. Nat and i have re introduced morning devotions with the rehema cafe women and workshop women coming together for it. The first day was interesting as they hadn’t done morning devotions together for ages but it was a really good time together. Now when it gets to 9am they know it is time for devotions and we gather together. It is sometimes hard to know what to plan for devotions as it has to be a really good message in very simple terms as Isabella (a woman in the cafe) attempts to translate for us but it has been so encouraging when Flora (who i work closely with in the workshop) says she enjoyed them and later in the day the women are still discussing it. I then spend my time in the workshop with the women. Then at about half 4 we hop on a dalla dalla home, which again can take while, grab a soda at the top of the track to get us through the walk home! 

The first day i enjoyed just sitting with the women and helping them make cards and just enjoying being back with them. Then i realised i should maybe do what a manager would do. Still trying to figure out what that is exactly! This first week has been tough in that i am still finding my feet and need to keep reminding myself i don’t need to know everything at once. It has been great to be in the shop and sorting and tidying that. And next week i am hoping to have packs ready to give out to women so they have all they need to make stuff and also hope to begin training a woman to make bracelets.  I did my first business transaction on our front porch the other day which was fun! Amy brought round a guy that does amazing wire animals with beads on and left him with me to decide what to buy and to pay him. His english was ok and my numbers in Swahili are pretty good so we muddled through successfully!

Nat and I also go to the 8am morning prayers in the cathedral 2 mornings a week. The people that work for the diocese come together there in the mornings so nat and i wanted to go. It is an early start though, leaving the house at 7.15, and we don’t understand any of it but it is good to have that quiet time in the morning before starting work. On Thursday when we went at one point lots of the people started turning round to look at us...that is when i realised they wanted an introduction! Fortunately, Jono Vink was there and he came up the front to help us! He did the waffle about what we are doing in Tanzania and then we just had to do names and where we are from which is easy J

This week I had my first Swahili lesson and will now have them once a week. I really hope i can pick it up quickly as i cannot wait to be able to talk to the women properly. It is really good to be surrounded by it everyday especially in the workshop and i love how excited they get when i speak in Swahili.

Another first for this week was going to women’s bible study. There were 4 other women there and it was really good to spend time with them  and study a passage in Romans. I hope to be able to meet with them every Friday afternoon.

Last but by no means least....the orphanage! It was soooo good to go there on our day off on Monday. Alexi running towards me shouting my name was just the best thing! The children there are just so adorable and it is great to just be able to give them some love and attention, even if i did come away with aching arms from swinging the kids too much!

Life out here is so different but now feels so normal to me which is awesome!  The Go MAD team arrived this week so it has been great to meet them and have a lovely meal out with them...and use their gas oven for our chicken pie when we had no power and the only food we had in needed electricity! TIA!

Hello from my new house!

A big hello from Tanzania!

Amazingly i have got the internet to work in my house so communicating this year will be much easier than i thought! I also have a beautiful new laptop which works...MASSIVE thank you to my wonderful Uncle Andrew who helped me buy it and set it all up for me after mine decided to die the Friday night before i left on the Monday!

When January 20^th came round it still didn't seem real that i was going to live in Africa. I am absolutely loving it though! The journey was straightforward and the looooonng bus journey wasn't actually that bad. We arrived at the compound in the evening and it was lovely to have our neighbours (The vink’s) and their children come round with torches and help us with our bags. Nat and I went crazy that evening unpacking and showing each other what we had brought for the house. Instead of being sensible and going to bed after a full day travelling we stayed up late making the living/dining room look pretty and feel like home. It has been really fun unpacking and setting up my room with photos and bunting.

No major disasters have happened yet but we are having a lot of fun with our new house. Woke up to no water on the first morning and then that evening we had no power. Still not sure what was wrong with the water (fixed now) but the problem with the power was that the switch had tripped and all we had to do was turn a dial- which that morning i had glanced at and thought i must find out about that! Fortunately we have kind neighbours! It has been fun and games though with geckos dropping from ceilings and hanging out in our toilet! We have also adopted a baby tortoise which we have named Eugine and as i write this we are letting roam free on the floor for a bit and Nat has just accidentally kicked him...he is still alive! It is also cool that the Vink’s have a calf who was born only last week and they also have an adorable puppy! We were over there this afternoon and i looked around wondering what was more crazy, me living in Africa or me being in a garden with 3 dogs, (one of them  massive!) a puppy and a cow and feeling comfortable with it!

These past few days Nat and I have been finding out what our roles include. It is a long list but i can’t wait to properly get stuck in next week. We went in to Rehema and it was great to see the women again, especially when Gracie clambered over Isabella who was sat down so she could hug us! The kitchen was full of laughter and smiles and it was brilliant!

Nat and I had our first dalla dalla ride with just the two of us today and we survived with no problems! We also had a successful trip to the market to stock up on some essentials and some heavy items as we were kindly offered a lift in one of Go MAD trucks! It feels so normal being here now and coming back to our house in the evenings and feeling so comfortable here. I am sure that there will be many difficulties that we come up against, both at work and in having a house but i am confident that this is where i am meant to be and nothing will be too big to deal with with God by our side. 

Hello from Nairobi!

Just a quick post to say I have arrived at the anglican guest house in Nairobi and now making the most of free wifi! A good, safe and smooth journey so far and will complete it tomorrow with a very long bus journey! 

As always the goodbyes were tough but now Natalie and I just can't wait to get settled into our house! 

More from me soon!

Happy New Year

Happy new year!

I have never done a blog so you might have to bear with me a bit! I have decided that whilst I am away this will be the easiest way to communicate with you lovely people back home. Those of you who have received my rushed emails on my past trips with numerous amounts of spelling mistakes and grammatical errors will be used to my ‘think it so type it’ approach but I’m hoping that on here I will be able to communicate with you in way that you may be able to understand my rambling!

I fly on the 20^th January and so have 13 days left at home. This panics me slightly as I do not feel prepared yet! Since returning at the end of November I have worked in Disneyland for a week, (who would have ever thought I would have that opportunity!) had a lovely surprise family weekend away in Cornwall, worked back at Waitrose, had a family Christmas and celebrated New Year in Scotland with friends from my first trip. These have all been great things to do and an amazing way to end a crazy exciting year but it has meant that I have had less time to organise and prepare for moving away! I thankfully have been able to have another 2 weeks work at Waitrose but this again means I am worried about how little time I have. Apart from worrying about getting everything bought and packed I am feeling surprisingly calm! This makes me worry that I am not worrying…I’m strange I know! I am not looking forward to the goodbyes which I will soon have to start doing but I know that this is what God wants me to be doing this year and I am excited to get there and settle in to my new house. Getting away from this awful weather will be good too!