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!