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!