Hey Ron and Jan

Let's Start Talking

2010-03-05T10:26:00.005-06:00

If you ever have wanted to share the Good News but just did not know how, LST might just be for you! It is very non-threatening and non-confrontational, and it is based on a friendship approach to study. People in other countries desperately want to learn English better in order to improve their job possibilities or to even get a job. They are amazed that we offer free English conversation lessons, and they really want to learn English from native speakers. In most places there is an ongoing waiting list of people who want to practice English from the book of Luke.
Everyone is a winner in this approach!
Go to the Let's Start Talking website to find out more.

The following link is not to the general LST site, but it is to my donor page. Consider being a partner in our upcoming trips to Asia and to Africa. Ron and I plan on being at each site for 6 weeks and each of us reading approximately 7 hours per day for all 12 weeks.

http://www.lst.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=315698&lis=0&kntae315698=38FA21B7604E4231901946539B682F9B&supId=156710016

Trip Home----part 2

2009-11-16T21:36:00.005-06:00

On much of the trip home, there was not a cloud cover below us, so we could see some great scenery. First is the northern coast of Africa.

I wish I could remember the locations in the next photos. I believe that the first one is of the coast of Spain at Barcelona.

We were happy to get home and especially happy to see family after six weeks of being away. However, we brought many, many great memories home with us! We feel very blessed to have had the experience of living and working in Tanzania. We have many new friends that will not be forgotten. Our hopes are that the many people we met and talked with will draw closer and closer to the Father. Seeds were planted. We look forward to July of 2010, when we will return to Tanzania!

In early April we plan to return to Asia for 6 weeks of the English Conversation lessons. Come back to our blog site in early summer to read about that project.

We ask the Father's blessings on all of you who partner with us through prayers and contributions. Contact us if you wish more information or if you are interested in going yourself!

Trip Home----Mount Kilimanjaro

2009-11-15T21:15:00.005-06:00

It was time for us to leave Tanzania. First is a photo of the Dar es Salaam airport---not exactly a DFW airport! This is the entire airport building.

The next photos are of the scenes of Tanzania from the airplane.

We felt extremely lucky to be sitting on the side of the airplane which had a great view of Mount Kilimanjaro!
According to Wikipedia, Mount Kilimanjaro, in North East Tanzania, is the highest peak in Africa at 19,341 feet. It is considered "the tallest freestanding mountain in the world". It is made up of three volcanic cones, two of which are extinct, but Kibo, the highest peak is dormant and could erupt again. Its most recent activity was about 200 years ago. The mountain has 2.2 square kilometers of glacial ice. (You don't think of glacial ice in Africa!!)

Spending a Night in Dar es Salaam

2009-11-12T14:19:00.002-06:00

We spent the night in Dar es Salaam at a motel owned by the Pentacostal church. It is a very safe, clean, and inexpensive place to stay.
First are views from the back side of the property.

Next are photos of the outside of the rooms.

Ron and I did not get a photo of our room, but Muriel took this one of the room that she and Debbie E. shared. Notice the mosquito nets above the beds.

In the following photo Debbie, Jan, and Muriel are waiting for the trip to the airport the next morning. This is the dining area of the motel.

The grounds are very pretty.

In the following photo there is a solar water heater beside the roof.

Eating Out in Dar es Salaam

2009-11-11T15:28:00.012-06:00

The evening that we were in Dar, we ate at a very nice hotel that was beside the ocean.
We were glad that we arrived there in the daylight so we could see the surroundings.

The following man wanted us to take his photo.

The restaurant had an inside area and a more casual area. We ate in the casual area.

There was some kind of party going on while we were there. The restaurant had set up a buffet table out on the grass, and there were tables and chairs there as well. We had to go close to see what was happening when we heard loud bongo drums and people laughing and clapping. Following are photos of the entertainment at the party.
The snakes were real and huge!

Debbie and Muriel

Jan and Ron

(Can you tell that it was very windy?)

Cyndi and Bill

Chris and Tam

The company was great, the food was delicious, and the scenery was beautiful!

Moven Pick Hotel, Dar es Salaam

2009-11-10T17:17:00.002-06:00

This hotel is probably the nicest hotel in Dar es Salaam. It is where President George W. Bush stayed on his visit to Tanzania. We went inside this hotel to a business where we could confirm our airline reservations for the next day.

Larger Shopping Area

2009-11-10T13:50:00.014-06:00

In Dar es Salaam there is a very large indoor market area beside the water. The first
photos show boats next to the market.

Below is the pavillion. On the weekends there are many more vendors in this pavillion. Unfortunately we were not there on a weekend.

In one of the shops men were making pictures which they would personalize. This man is painting one for Bella. He signed his own name on the back.

These shops had traditional jewelry, carvings, clothes, shoes, purses, and many more items.

There was a very nice building with many more shops. We did not get any photos of the building, but Muriel took the following one of the man shining shoes. You can tell by the wall, chair, and floor that the building was very nice. We bought only a few things, but my favorite were the two wooden bowls in the last photo.

Shopping in Dar es Salaam

2009-11-08T14:18:00.007-06:00

This is one of the shopping areas in Dar. It is made up of many small shops arranged around a square. The shop owners come to the doorways inviting, sometimes almost demanding, visitors to come inside to look and buy.

In the following photo, on the left, you will see two men from the Masaai tribe. One man is dressed in black and the other in blue.

The man below is selling coconuts.

Chris, Cyndi, and Muriel are in the following picture. Chris gets the job of carrying purchases wrapped in newspaper.

Next are Tam and Muriel.

Sea Cliff Hotel----Dar es Salaam

2009-11-07T14:17:00.010-06:00

At the end of the project, when we left Chimala, we had to drive the 11 hours back to Dar es Salaam because that is the closest airport to Chimala. Even though it was a long drive, we enjoyed the scenery. We did not see as many animals as we passed through the wild life preserve, though, because there were intentionally set fires along the highway. The fires must have been set to burn back some of the elephant grass that grows so tall. The fires kept the animals further from the road than they were on our trip to Chimala a few weeks earlier.

In Dar, Bill and Cyndi took us to the Sea Cliff Hotel to shop in the gift shop. It was a really nice place with lots of quality items. There was very pretty jewelry, some of which had tanzanite stone, a blue stone that is only found in Tanzania. It was quite expensive, so we did not buy any. We did enjoy looking, though!

You can tell where the Sea Cliff Hotel got its name!

Ron

Muriel and Debbie E.

This is where the men waited while the women looked at jewelry! Ron is on the left, then Bill, and then Chris.

Jan

The grounds are beautiful! Does this look like winter?

"Bee" Party

2009-11-05T21:27:00.012-06:00

Our last party in Chimala was a great "Bee Party" planned by Muriel and Debbie E. It was fun and well-attended.
The first photo shows a wall decoration. On each of the "bees" is the name of one of our readers. It is very empressive to see so many names on the wall and to realize that each of them had spent many hours in English practice/Bible study! Some of them read for one hour per day five days per week for six weeks!

Muriel had made each of us Americans a "bee" bandana. She also made a few to give away for prizes, and everyone wanted one!

For the icebreaker, a picture of an animal was pinned on each guest's back. Each person then had to go around to other people and ask "yes or no" questions in order to guess what animal was on thisback. There were a lot of cheaters!

The medical students from Ireland are in some of the photos. They were very helpful during the games, and they added lots of enthusiasm.

There were several games, including one in which people threw beanbag "bees" into the "beehive" baskets.

Another game involved giving each team a group of letters and then calling out a word for the team to "build". The words came from our Luke study.

Following is Tam's team.

The next photo is of Atupele's little girl. Atupele is a teacher in the primary school and was a great help to us.

Next is Winfrida's daughter and Nazareth and Winfrida. Nazereth is the secretary for the Bible College and the School of Preaching. Winfrida works at the hospital. Both were readers.

Refreshments were passed out to everyone.

Everyone had a great time. There was fun, laughter, and visiting ----and getting to know one another better. Our readers really enjoy parties!! I do have to say that we were glad that this was the last one, as the parties are a lot of work!

(There are two other new posts published today before this one.)

The Gospel Chariot

2009-11-04T13:42:00.005-06:00

Since 1994 big trucks called "Gospel Chariots" have been used to preach the gospel in 11 different African countries, including Tanzania. The preachers work closely with World Bible School in contacting students who have expressed a desire for further study or to be baptized. In 2009 about 1000 people were baptized through the work of the Gospel Chariot. While we were in Chimala, the Gospel Chariot truck came to that area for several months.

This side of the truck opens to make a speakers' platform. Inside, there are 100 plastic chairs to set around the platform for visitors. A VERY loud speaker system sits on the roof when the music or speaking begins. Custom is that the speaker system should be "overdriven" to cause garbled and very loud noise to attract people. It certainly had the opposite affect on us!

The children in this village were eager to help distribute the chairs. The village had a Church of Christ at one time; then the preacher had to move, and the church in that village died. The sermon was by Bill Stinson, and another man from the Gospel Chariot organization spoke and answered questions for about 3 hours.

The children did not always listen to the message!

Old Mission on the Mountain

2009-11-03T21:21:00.009-06:00

"The first known attempt of the church of Christ to enter Tanganyika was in 1948 when Eldred Echols went to Dar es Salaam to obtain permission to enter and preach. However, permission was not granted. Since Tanganyika citizens could not sell land to foreigners, two farms were found which had been owned by Germans since before World War I. Some American congregations of churches of Christ bought these so our missionaries could enter the country. One farm was at Chosi at about 3,500 feet elevation, which they continued to farm. The other land was at Ailsa, which had been a pig farm, located on the plateau south of Chimala at about 6,000 feet elevation. Here the Tanganyika Bible School was started. It was later abandoned about 1971." (This quote was taken from "The History of the Chimala Mission".)
Recently the Tanzanian government ruled that Chimala Mission still owned the mountaintop land which is more than 200 acres, the site of the original mission. There are plans to send preachers to that area to work with the Christians who are scattered on the mountain. Plans also include the possiblity of growing avocados or other crops to help to support the current Mission property, especially the hospital.
The road up the mountain is very narrow and rough, and we were told that it has been greatly improved in the last few years! We did meet a few trucks carrying rice for processing and the laborers. We saw baboons crosssing the road more than once. There were some houses close to the road, but not very many. The homes must be further off of the road.

The mountain plateau is not visible from below the mountain. The vegetation on the side of the mountain does not make it look like fertile farm land. It is said that the plateau is fertile; what we saw when we got there was tall elephant grass. There was very little under cultivation.

The huts we saw on the way up did not look to be the center of wealth, but here we saw a wooden door and a bicycle.

Next door, was another bicycle.

Following are some scenes from the top of the mountain looking toward the Chimala Village.

We stopped to see what the valley below looked like from the mountain; some people on the ride were also saying they needed to get out and walk their jammed bones for awhile. The ride had many, many sudden lurches and jerks.

There is smoke visible in the center of the land at the bottom of the mountain. That is the behind the mission hospital/school area in Chimala.

Ron is asking Bill Stinson to explain to him what they see.

This may not appear to be so, but on the right is our road down the mountain.

We met a truck load of people coming up the mountain on this curve.

Below us lies the best part of the road.

Mission's Water System

2009-10-31T20:14:00.004-06:00

The water that comes to the Chimala Mission and the village of Chimala comes from the mountains to become the Chimala River. The photo below was taken in the middle of the dry season. The river water is clear and fast, but it has almost no fish.

Some of the water goes to this pond on the mission site above the Primary and Secondary Schools. Monkeys, baboons and other wild animals can be found here getting their drink.

This pool is also where all the church baptisms were done before the church building was built on the mission site.

The water is channeled from the river via a hand dug canal to the pump for the mission. The length of the canal is about 3/4 to 1 mile in length; it has to be constantly repaired to eliminate leaks. The ground drops 4o feet on one side in some places making it difficult to repair.

When the canal ends at the pump area, it goes into a cement bypass channel or into the pump channel on the right in the next photo.

This photo shows a filter screen before the pump feed line. The hydraulic pump was originally installed by German farmers around the early 1900s. The pump is powered by a branch of the river that turns a turbine to pump the water to all of the mission. The leaves are the only things that really get filtered out.

This is the hydraulic pump down below the canal which was originally dug by the German farmers.

This photo is of a holding tank that is more than 100 years old. It has been used as an emergency supply for the mission during the dry season.

Flowers

2009-10-30T21:40:00.001-06:00

Even though it was winter in Tanzania, there were still flowers blooming!

Igawa Village

2009-10-29T17:10:00.004-06:00

The village of Igawa looks like every other small village in Tanzania. The first photos are of houses and businesses. Everywhere there is dirt, and everywhere there is poverty.

The sticks in the following photo are protecting some kind of tree or plant.

Next is the church building, which again, is much like every other small church building in the villages.

One difference in Igawa is that there is a river that flows through it. The river is directly behind the church building, and it is very picturesque.

The river is used for washing clothes and for bathing.

Notice that on the board inside the church building are the names Bill, Chris, and Ron. The church members are very happy to have visitors that will take part in the worship services. Bill had warned Ron and Eddie to be ready to preach at a moment's notice in the village churches, and he was right. Ron preached (with maybe 5 minutes notice) the day we were at Igawa.

First is the song leader.

The communion is ready.

Ron is preaching in English with Menard as the interpreter in Swahili.

Children crowd in at the back and sit on the floor.

After we took the photo above, more and more village children came to get into the photos!

The children enjoyed shaking hands with Ron.

Debbie D. gets lots of attention, too!

The first video is my favorite song in Swahili.

The next video is a short clip of Ron preaching. He did a really good job.

A Visit to Lulu's Home

2009-10-28T14:33:00.004-06:00

Lulu Chengula was one of Ron's readers. She invited us to go to her home one Saturday. We talked with a few of the people we knew to make sure that they thought it would be a safe place to go. We were assured that it was safe. Lulu lives with her grandparents, and her grandfather is a doctor.
Lulu said that it would be a long walk to her house, but it was actually only about a ten-minute walk! She met us at the edge of the Mission property. Balaka Mehenge, the young man who read with both Debbies, was with her.
In the first photo Lulu, Balaka, and Ron are walking toward Lulu's house.

The next photos show some of what we saw along the way. The first is the furniture making business. I think that the photo of this was in a previous blog.

Next is the house being built by Balaka Mehenge's family. As you can tell, this is going to be a very nice house. Balaka's father, Dr. Mehenge, is one of the two doctors at the Mission Hospital. His two sisters read with Jan.

This is the pharmacy that the Mehenge family owns. It is across the street from their new house. They also own a small shop on the main road through Chimala.

Next is the front of Lulu's house. The front part is a small pharmacy which is owned by her grandfather.

This is the door to the pharmacy. I am not sure what the Swahili words mean.

In the front yard is a persimmon tree. Lulu said that just the week before she had killed a copperhead in the front yard. Evidently that is a very common occurrence!

To get to the front door of the house, you must go down this alleyway and around to the back. All of the dirt yard is swept very clean. Lulu said that is her daily job.

Next is the living room of the house. Lulu was happy to introduce us to her grandmother, on the left, and her mother, on the right. Lulu's mother is a primary teacher. See from the following photos if the house looks like the house of a U.S. physician......This is actually a very nice house for Tanzania.

The door on the right is the front door of the house. It opens into a courtyard. Across the courtyard is the cooking area. We did not get to see that. The door was left standing open. While we were there, a mouse came in the door and ran across the floor.

Lulu had the table all ready for our meal.

These next photos show the pictures on the living room walls. The largest one in this first one is a former and very respected president of Tanzania. The small one is the current president.

The next one is a picture of Lulu's grandfather when he was young.

The biggest picture of all was a very large poster of Obama! Africans love Obama because they think that he will give Africans everything that they want and need!

Ron and Balaka and Lulu are eating the food that Lulu prepared especially for us. We were very honored.

We had beans, rice, spinach, and bottled water. It was all very good. No one else in the house was eating.

Lulu and Balaka

Lulu's grandfather came home from work. He was very happy to meet us. He spoke fairly good English.

Next is Lulu's aunt, who is a nurse/midwife (but not at Chimala hospital).
She spoke excellent English and was anxious to ask our opinion on everything! The whole family thought that she had visited the U.S., and even she thought so, but it turned out that she had actually been to Germany!

When we left, the grandmother and aunt walked outside into the courtyard with us to say goodbye. They were very gracious to us.

Lulu seemed so happy to have us in her home, and it was a real treat for us! That was the only Tanzanian home that we got to visit, and we were treated like honored guests. We hope that we get to go back to Tanzania some day and see Lulu and her family again!

Chang 'Ombe Village, Part 2----Children and Toys

2009-10-26T13:04:00.014-06:00

Following are some photos of Chang'Ombe Village.

The next photo shows a beehive that was about 20 feet up in a tree.

More and more village children came to the church building after the worship service. They wanted to see the white strangers!

Many brought their "toys" along with them. I am not sure if the toys were made by Fisher Price or Playschool!

Don't you love the "cars" in the next photos!

Notice that some of the wheels the next car are made of corn cobs.

The boy on the left may not have much, but he has a water bottle!

These last two boys probably attended church because they are clean and dressed better than most of the children.

Chang 'Ombe Village, Part 1

2009-10-25T10:14:00.019-06:00

Bill S. normally goes out to different village churches on Sundays to preach or to teach Bible classes and to encourage the people. One Sunday we visited Chang'Ombe.

Next is the village church building.

Ezekiel translated into English for us.

Children were clean and all dressed up for church.

Children from the village wandered into the service, maybe because visitors were there! They are not so clean and not so well dressed----but they are precious children with lots of smiles.

The girls in the next photo are the Irish medical students who were doing volunteer work at the Chimala hospital. They are Sarah, Rachel, and Naomi.

Menard

Boaz

Jan wore her skirt made of African fabric (with the matching purse).

The children loved getting their pictures made with Debbie E. and Muriel. Debbie and Muriel also have on their new African skirts.

Ron, Jan, Debbie, and Muriel

The following video is of the singing in the worship service.

Kimani Falls, Part 3----the Summit

2009-10-24T18:43:00.003-05:00

These are the views as we walked up to the top of Kimani Falls.

You can barely see our truck way at the bottom of the hill.

The following photos were taken when we got to the top of the falls.

The two brothers---Eddie and Bill

Menard

Debbie

Jan and Ron

We rested and ate lunch.

Was Ron snoring?

When Ron accidently dropped his sunglasses down in a gulley, he noticed something sticking out from under a rock. He called Menard to look, and Menard said that it was a Monitor lizard! Menard poked at it with a stick to get it to come out.

When the lizard came out, he ran so fast that it was hard to get a photo! He was about 6 feet long!

We had a wonderful trip to Kimani Falls! Thanks to Bill and Cyndi for taking us!

Kimani Falls, Part 2

2009-10-23T17:54:00.043-05:00

We were ready for our adventure! From left to right are Cyndi, Eddie, Jan, Ron, Debbie, guide, and guide Menard. Bill S. was taking the photo.

Cyndi and Bill

Ron, Bill, Debbie D., and Eddie

The next photos were taken on our way up to the top of the falls.

Next is a centipede.

We had to go up a ladder made of sticks. It looks fairly easy in the photo, but some of the rungs were missing and the remaining ones were wet and muddy. It was very slippery!

Photos from the top of the falls will follow.......

Kimani Falls, Part 1

2009-10-21T20:59:00.033-05:00

Saturdays were our days off. One Saturday we went to Kimani Falls, which is only about 30 miles from Chimala Mission. However, it took over an hour to get there. The first photo shows the Land Rover Defender in which 8 of us rode.

Two men went with us to serve as our guides. Kimani Falls has no signs leading the way (in fact, no signs once you are there), so we needed someone to show us how to get to the falls. The two men and Ron got the honors of riding in the back of the truck. The ride was so bumpy part of the way that they had to hold on, and their heads occasionally hit the top of the truck!

Debbie and Menard

This part of the road doesn't look too bad. It is well traveled by villagers as they transport their rice and produce by bicycles and carts.

Following is a termite mound.

The next photos show the parts of the road that are less traveled. The elephant grass was sometimes as tall as the vehicle.
This does not look like the way to a tourist spot, does it?

The next photos do not do justice to how rough the road actually was! Bill had to drive carefully around (and sometimes through!) large rocks, huge holes, and steep parts (30 degree angles) of the road. At times it felt as if we were going to tip over sideways.

Once we arrived, we all piled out of the truck. The first thing we did was spray with bug repellent!

Now for the beautiful part! Kimani Falls is gorgeous! If it had been in the U.S., there would have been all kinds of tourist businesses and people, but here there was no one! That is part of what makes the falls so spectacular! Ron and I have recently been to Niagara Falls, and we both think Kimani Falls far outshines Niagara for beauty! More photos of the falls will follow on the next post...

Matebete Village, Part 3----Hospitality

2009-10-10T19:32:00.021-05:00

The man driving the motorcycle is the village leader. Even though he is not a member at the Village church, he came to the worship service to greet us. At the end of the worship, he got up and welcomed us and invited us to come to a pavilion, which was a short walk from the church, to have sodas. We really did not want to accept the sodas, because these are very poor people with little to give, but we were told that it would be an insult to not accept his gift.

The pavilion is in the center of the next picture.

On the left is one of the Harding nursing students, and next to her is Debbie D.

One of the men opened the sodas and others passed them out .

Ron and Bill

The children stayed outside, but they really wanted to watch us!

One of the Harding students and the village leader

It was really hard for some of us to drink the whole bottle of soda so quickly. We could not take the drinks with us because there is a deposit given back for the returned bottles, so the only polite thing to do was to drink all of it.

The people were so kind and generous and really wanted to treat us like honored guests! They invited us back the next week on a Thursday to see their big harvest celebration with games and dancing. We would have really loved to have gone back for that, but Thursday was a work day for us.

I really like the following photo because it symbolizes how much the Masai people wanted to welcome us and to be our friends. The people, though very different from us in culture, are our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Matebete Village, Part 2----the Village Church

2009-10-09T15:06:00.021-05:00

The Matebete church building looks much the same as all the village churches. It is a small, one-room building and has no heat or air conditioning.

It had been swept clean for the morning worship.

The "bell" calling everyone to services looks much like the "bell" which is at the hospital that calls everyone to the devos!

The bell is rung.

People began to show up. The first one was this lady with her small child. Standing at the window are two of the nursing students from Harding University. Notice the seating!

Communion has been prepared and is waiting in the window.

People do not seem to mind sitting on the hard benches.
Even the children sit very still.

After worship there is the traditional greeting circle.

Ron and Jan are with some of the church people after the worship service. The young woman on the right is the preacher's wife.

The preacher is holding his small son. The preacher's mother is on the left.
His first wife died, and now he is married to the woman in the previous photo.

Just like everywhere else, the children love to see their pictures!

Isn't he cute!

Boaz, in the middle, is the husband of our cook and is a teacher in the School of Preaching.

Bill S. , on the left, talks with the village official, who is on the right.

Boaz is on the left .

The young man in the middle was an LST reader.

The following video is of the singing.

Bill did the preaching that day. Ezekiel was his interpreter.

Matebete Village, Part 1---the Masai tribe

2009-10-07T15:05:00.047-05:00

We went to visit the village of Matebete, a Masai village, one Sunday morning. I had heard about the Masai tribes in Africa and had seen them on t.v., but I had not realized that they are in Tanzania. They number about 430,00 in Tanzania, and there are also many in Kenya.

Masai are known for being nomadic people, cattle herders, and fierce warriors. The Masai history is very interesting. They believed that all cattle had been given to them by God, and thus it was not wrong to take cattle from other people---it was only taking back what was rightfully theirs. They fought with spears, shields, and clubs known as orinka. The orinka can be accurately thrown about 100 meters. The Masai moved from place to place in order to find food and water for their cattle. They lived among the wild animals of Africa, but they did not eat wild game or birds. In the past, their diet was mainly meat and milk from the cattle. They mixed and drank blood with the milk.

The next two photos show the Masai orinka club that we bought in Tanzania.

In the following photo the man on the bicycle has a club hanging on his waist. This is where the men carry them.

Today the Masai are much more peaceful people. Many have converted to Christianity and a few have become Muslims. They tend to stay in one place more, partly because of government encouragement. They eat maize, beans, fruit, rice, potatoes, and cabbage. The measure of wealth is still the number of cattle and children. 50 head of cattle is a respectable number. But even with 50 cattle, if a man does not have many children, he is not considered respectable. Multiple wives are common. Boys, beginning about age 4, herd the cattle. Women make houses, carry water, collect firewood, milk cattle, and cook. What do the men do? I am not sure!

Today the Masai do other kinds of jobs, such as farming and having small businesses. Many women make and sell the traditional bead jewelry.

Following is some of the jewelry that the women make to sell.

Masai can be easily spotted because of their traditional clothes, although many have begun to wear modern clothes. Some of the men still carry the clubs and large knives. Fewer and fewer are following the custom of piercing and stretching of the earlobes.

There have been Masai students in the School of Biblical studies and also in the School of Preaching at Chimala. There is an active church in the Matebete village. Two Masai came to read with our LST group.

The first photo shows Ron going up to two young boys who were herding cattle in the village.

The boys are dressed in the traditional clothes of the Masai.

Following are photos of some of the people. Notice the pretty jewelry.

The two women in the next picture were dressed in their finest for church.

This next man is what people usually think of when they think of Masai people. He is very tall and very thin. Many of the Masai of today are not so tall and thin.

If you look closely at the next photo, you can see huge holes in the man's earlobes!

There are birds in the trees in the next two photos. They were unusual birds with strange calls. The trees are bare because it was winter when we were in Tanzania.

Next are views of Matebete.

Mbeya , Part 3-----the Market

2009-10-05T17:34:00.030-05:00

The daily market in Mbeya is larger and much more organized than the one on Saturdays in Chimala. In Mbeya there are some permanent structures. The first photos are of the area where food items are sold.

The next photo is of some girls who are probably secondary school students.

The next woman is making baskets for sale.

The following is an iron that uses charcoal for heat.

Lots of fabric is for sale.

Ready-made dresses are for sale.

There are many tailors at work.

Mbeya, Part 2---Grocery stores, Restaurant

2009-10-02T14:35:00.016-05:00

Cyndi does her grocery shopping in Mbeya every week when she and Bill make the trip there to buy medicine and supplies for the Chimala Hospital. There is no big Walmart or Kroger, etc.----only very small grocery stores whose merchandise varies from week to week. If Cyndi sees something she wants, she buys it that day, because next week it may be gone. She generally goes to two different stores. The first is Ndiyo, which is a little ways out of the main shopping area of Mbeya..

The next photos are taken inside of another grocery store in the downtown area.

The Apricourt Restaurant is in the downtown area. The people who work there are very friendly, and the food is safe to eat! We ate here both times that we were in Mbeya.

Debbie is going inside.

The waitress, Bill, and Cyndi

Debbie D. is asking about a menu item.

Eddie

We enjoyed the drinks!

Ron is enjoying the food!

The food is steaming.

We really enjoyed the meal and the company both times we were at the restaurant.

I am probably glad that I did not see where the food was actually cooked!

City of Mbeya, Part 1

2009-10-02T08:56:00.056-05:00

Mbeya is a fairly large city, with a population of 291,600. That compares to the roughly 24,000 in Chimala and roughly 27,000,000 in Dar es Salaam.

There are many types of construction in Mbeya, but as shown in the first two photos, there are many traditionally built Tanzanian houses even in the large city.

The next photo shows a large church, but we do not know what kind of church.

This next type of construction could be in any modern city.

There are many, many small businesses along the streets.

We shopped in this area. There were a few tourist type items for sale, but mostly there were items for the local population.

I'm not sure that we would name a shopping center PMS !

The next photo shows the store where medications are purchased for the Mission Hospital. This is where Bill and Cyndi come every week for the needed items. Personal medications can also be purchased here for a very cheap price---with no prescription needed! There are limited types and quantities of medications, though. A very nice middle-eastern man owns the store.

These next two photos were taken at another location in Mbeya. These two businesses cater to tourists.

The word "Karibu" over the doorway is Swahili for "Welcome". The owners of the shops were very glad to see us!

The small building on the right in the following photo is a church building that is being redone. Bill wanted to go by to check on the work.

This next picture shows the scene looking down the street from the church building. Can you believe that we actually drove on this "street"! Needless to say, it was a bumpy ride!

The next photos were taken close to the church.

These children were dirty and had on very ragged clothes, but they still had smiles!
I don't think that there would be a way to keep children clean on these dirt streets!

Road from Chimala to Mbeya, part 2, scenes along the way

2009-09-24T21:10:00.056-05:00

Our first stop on the way to Mbeya was at the gasoline station. Notice the hand pump! We were told that the electricity bill had not been paid, so the gas station had to resort to hand pumps! Menard is standing beside the car, and Bill is by the open door.

Beside the gasoline station, two men were cutting and bundling thatch for roofs.

First the thatch is cut to length.

Then it is tied into bundles.

After I took the photos, one of the men held out his hand for money for taking the photos.

The 50 mile drive from Chimala to Mbeya is a beautiful drive. There are lots of hills and cultivated fields. The cultivated fields are noticeable in the first photo and in many of the other ones. The main crop along the way is rice.

The following few photos show the rice being harvested by hand.

The boy in front is carrying firewood. Every week most people must gather firewood for use in cooking.

Next are police women.

Cultivated fields make the hills look like patchwork.

The bicycle is loaded with sacks of rice.

Road from Chimala to Mbeya--- Part 1, Hidden Falls

2009-09-23T20:44:00.004-05:00

On the way to Mbeya from Chimala is Hidden Falls. From the road it looks just like a place to pull over to stop the car, and there are no signs indicating what is there. One must know what is there to see!

From the road the hill down to the falls is steep and very rocky. It is not at all the kind of place to walk in sandals or flip flops---- or wearing a long skirt!
Ron, Debbie E. and Muriel are in the following photo.

From the top, it looks like a normal stream of water.

As you walk further, you can see the beginning of the falls.

Eddie and Ron

In the next photo you can see where the big drop off is.

Debbie D.

You can't see where the water finally goes!

The next photo shows the scene looking back up the hill toward the car.

Everyone starts back up the hill. The first three people are the medical students from Ireland. You will notice that they are wearing pants. Pants are acceptable for women to wear when away from Chimala on our days off, but skirts are still the preferred dress.

Both times we went to Hidden Falls we attracted some local children. Cyndi is with the younger children.

Jan is with the older "children". They really wanted to talk to us, but their English was limited to about three words!

Everywhere there is water, someone is washing clothes!

Getting to Know You Party

2009-09-22T20:16:00.008-05:00

Our third party was a "Getting to Know You" party. First we had an icebreaker activity. Then, as shown in the first photo, Ron taught the old Girl Scout song, "Make New Friends".

Each person was given a blank white tagboard paper doll cutout. Everyone was told to decorate the paper doll to look like him/her. The paper doll should have some objects drawn on it to represent interests or hobbies or something about the person's life. A few people were hesitant to get started, but they all wanted to show off their finished product! They were to tell the people at their table about why they drew what they did. This activity was to promote everyone getting to know each other better.

Towera is on the right.

Winfrida is on the left. Dotto is in the black shirt.

Everyone at the following table must have thought that one person was good at drawing noses, because every nose on the paper dolls at this table looked the same! Beatus is the man in the photo.

Next is Sophia and Dotto.

Next is Winfrida.

Eda

Oscar

On the right is Moses.

Bernard

Ester

It is hard to see, but at the back right hand side, people are gathered around a table to decorate quilt squares with their names and whatever decorations they wanted to add. Everyone at the party rotated through this activity.

At the end of the party there were refreshments. Names were drawn for small prizes.

Chimala Market, part 2

2009-09-21T20:00:00.028-05:00

Used clothes from the U.S. are sent to Africa in big bundles. Africans will buy the bundles and then sell the clothes at markets such as this one in Chimala. We saw such bundles in Uganda, too, several years ago.

It was really interesting to us when we saw two t-shirts from the Metroplex area----one from a Keller school and one from a Mansfield elementary school! Maybe some of your clothing donations to various organizations have ended up in Africa!

There were also many t-shirts with American sports teams' logos. We were told that many times manufacturers make up shirts before big games, and then if a particular team loses the game, the shirts do not sell well. Those unsold shirts are shipped to African countries.

Many of the clothes for sale were lying out on the ground.

What color of men's pants do you like?

Tools for sale

The following man was holding up a list of medical problems with the corresponding remedies. You will see the remedies in some of the next photos!

Menard told us that this man is the "witch doctor". After we took his picture, he followed us wanting some money for letting us take his picture!

The next photos show the medicines. Which ones do you want to take?

I'm not sure how much benefit shoe shines are on the dirt paths and roads!

Someone must be cooking lunch!

Debbie E., Jan, Menard, and Muriel

Bananas for sale

We really enjoyed going to the market, even though it was a very busy, crowded place. It was neat to visit the local market that tourists would not normally get to see.

Chimala Market, part 1

2009-09-20T20:28:00.030-05:00

Every Saturday in Chimala there is a big market just across the highway from the Mission property. It is very crowded with all kinds of things for sale---much like an African Traders' Village! Everyone warned us to not go to the market without a native going along with us. We would be targets for pickpockets, as we would really "stand out in the crowd"! Menard was kind enough to go with us, and he was very patient with us wanting to look at everything. We experienced no problem at all, in fact, the people were very friendly.

The first photo shows the view from the Mission across the highway to the market area.

This is the small street that is the main entry for the market.

There is lots of sugar cane for sale!

Debbie E. had to buy some of the sugar cane. She has good memories of sugar cane from her childhood. When she finally tried some when we got back to the house, she said it is much more difficult to cut and eat than she remembered!

Beautiful fresh fruit and vegetables are for sale. The prices must be good, because all of the local people buy it.

The two middle sacks are filled with tiny dried fish.

There is a huge selection of beautiful fabric for sale! Muriel is a quilter, and she loved the designs and colors----so did the rest of us! We ( well, except for the guys!) all managed to buy some!

In the middle of the picture there is a tailor with his treadle sewing machine.

One can buy fabric and have it made into a garment right here!

Next is another tailor.

The next photo shows charcoal cooking pots.

Mattresses are for sale.

Furniture is for sale. There were not big crowds around the more expensive items.

Village of Chimala

2009-09-19T15:47:00.040-05:00

Chimala, Tanzania seems to be much smaller than the population figures (24,817) show. That number must include the area surrounding the actual village of Chimala.
Chimala is about 50 miles from where the U.S. reporter Henry Stanley found the famous British explorer, Dr. David Livingstone in 1871. On finding Livingstone, Stanley said the well-known words, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"

The first photo shows the major east/west highway that runs in front of the Mission property. It is always busy with vehicles and with people on bicycles and on foot. The sign on the left side of the photo is one of the signs on the Mission.

Even on the major road, there are animals crossing!

Buses travel up and down the road.

The following photos show businesses in Chimala. Most businesses are along the road shown in the previous photos.

There is a truck weigh station near the hospital, so there are always trucks stopped and waiting to be weighed.

The next photo shows the hardware store.

The blue building in the next picture is a grocery store. Small grocery stores like this one usually specialize in a very limited number of items. One store owned by the mother of three of our readers sold only eggs, sodas, and plastic buckets! Evidently that store had good business. Each week the owner made the 50 mile trip to Mbeya to purchase eggs for the store.

Next is a furniture building business.

The furniture is actually very pretty.

The next two photos show hair salons.

Debbie is bargaining for a set of really neat insulated serving bowls (like ones we saw at Cyndi's house) that she wants. Bargaining is customary. The first asking prices are very high, especially for foreigners! The only problem is that there is a language barrier! Debbie is using a calculator to explain what she wants to pay.

The shop owner called over a man from the next shop to do some interpreting. Debbie did end up with her dishes, though she did not get the price down quite as low as she had wanted.

This man is a tailor. He does his work on a treadle sewing machine. He made some skirts and purses for us. He is also the one that Winfrida hired to make the clothes that she gave Ron and I. He speaks no English, so we had to get Ezekiel or Menard to translate for us.

"Football" (our soccer) is a very popular sport in Tanzania. One Saturday there was a huge tournament between Chimala and a rival village. Chimala won! Several of our readers went to that game.

Carrying water

Washing clothes

The next photo shows corn (they call it maize) laid out to dry.

Rice is also put out to dry. There is no protection for the food from stray animals, bugs, birds, or dust!

The sacks in the next photos are filled with rice. Rice and corn are the staple foods in Tanzania.

Baseball Party

2009-09-18T19:35:00.013-05:00

Our second party was a Baseball Party.
Cyndi was a big help with passing our the name tags!

In the next two photos Ron is explaining a little about how the game of baseball is played and about some of the "baseball words". He taught them the song, "Take Me Out to the Ballgame". Of course, he had to explain "Cracker Jacks"! Later on in the party everyone tasted Cracker Jacks for the first time----and they loved them!
If you wonder about the ladies wearing skirts to a baseball party, it does look a little strange, but skirts are the custom in Africa!

The group was divided into eight teams, with baseball terms as their team names. There were four stations with four different games. The teams competed against each other.

Debbie D.'s station was a baseball throwing game.

Ron's game was a relay where two people had to hold a "baseball" (beach ball) between them on their backs.

Jan's game was one in which a small baseball was thrown by one person and caught by another person using a small Texas Ranger cap. Scores were kept by how many balls each team caught.

Eddie's game involved the pitcher (Bill) throwing a small baseball to each person, who tried to hit it with a tiny plastic bat. The ball had to land within the boundaries on the wall.

Prizes (some of the baseball toys used in the games) were given to each team, with the winning teams getting the "best" prizes. Refreshments were served.

Afterwards there were many photos taken. Most of the guests wanted their photos taken. This was Debbie's and Eddie's last day in Chimala, so there were many tears!

We were all so busy that it was hard to get good pictures, but we all really enjoyed the party. Bernard told us that he loved the parties because they were so much fun and made him feel like a kid again!

Chosi A Village, part 3----houses

2009-09-17T15:50:00.021-05:00

The following photos were taken on the way to Chosi A from Chimala and also in the village of Chosi A.

Choose the house that you would like to move into!

Washing is done by hand in buckets of water, and then the laundry is hung out to dry. The good thing is that in the dry season in Tanzania, laundry dries quickly.

In the next photo, on the right there is a partial wall of a house. Because the bricks are made of mud, and some of the bricks are not fired, they do not last for very many years. When the house starts deteriorating and leaking, the people just move out and build another house close by.

Notice that the ground immediately around the houses is swept clean.

The next photo shows two houses that are very close to the church building.

I wonder if there are windows on the back sides......

More than likely the fabric on the ground had been spread out on the ground and used for drying rice.

The following building is a "kitchen". It has a "chimney" for the smoke to escape. Notice the cooking pots on the ground. Wouldn't it be fun cooking in one like this on a hot summer Texas day?

Many people keep chickens, mostly for the eggs they provide. Chickens are too precious to eat them very often.

The following photo is a little fuzzy, but it shows two people walking down the road. Evidently the man is going to work in his garden. Take a close look at his hoe. Maybe his wife is going to gather food?

The truck ahead of us is filled with bags of rice. We were in Tanzania during the time of rice harvest.

Chosi A Village, part 2---the children

2009-09-16T12:49:00.042-05:00

We have so many photos of the children at Chosi A that we had to have a post just for them. It was hard to leave many of the photos out! The children are precious!

The following little girl was a favorite!

Big sisters take care of little ones.

Notice the children's "toys" in the next two photos.

The children gathered around the Americans. They especially wanted to have their pictures taken! In this photo Eddie and Debbie D. are interacting with the children. In the background are Ron, Cyndi, and Bill.

Muriel

Debbie E.

This was the scene as we left!

Chosi A Village, part 1---the church

2009-09-16T11:22:00.032-05:00

There are many very small churches in villages surrounding Chimala. Two of the small villages are Chosi A and Chosi B. At one time the Church of Christ owned a large farm in the Chosi area. That farm grew food for the Chimala Mission Hospital and for the Bible College. By 1980 the land had been taken over by locals since there had been no Christian missionary to farm it for several years. There are still two small churches. Some people from the Arlington area had a part in the construction.
We visited Chosi A. several times, and the photos are from more than one Sunday.
The first photos are of the outside of the building. It is made of mud bricks and has no electricity.

Debbie E. and Muriel are going inside.

Bill S. is teaching the Bible class.

On the right are Jan, Chris R., and Eddie.

Bill and Ezekiel

Before the worship service, the names of the men to lead prayers, etc., are put on the chalkboard. Tam R. is sitting on the bench at the lower left. In front of her are Cyndi S. and Jan.

The next photos were taken during worship services.

Debbie E. is on the left.

The children's class met outside with Menard on Sunday evenings.
During his lesson, more and more children from the village wandered up to take part in the class.

The Chosi A church members have the tradition of lining up to shake hands with each other at the end of each worship service. Muriel and the medical students from Ireland are in the middle of the photo.

Then there is time for visiting with each other.

Notice the contrast in the clothing of the next two ladies.

Ron is beside a tree on the church property.

The following video is of one of the songs during the worship service at Chosi A. This is one of my favorite songs. I wish that we had recorded more of the song.

Bunco Party

2009-09-14T18:51:00.025-05:00

We had a party for our readers each week. The parties had several goals. One was helping the readers get to know some of the local church members and another was to help the readers get to know each other. When we leave a project site, we want our readers to have formed some relationships that can be carried on after we are gone. Of course, another goal was to provide a fun time for all!

Our party time was 4:00 p.m. because people want to be home before dark----with no street lights, it is not safe to walk after dark, especially because of snakes! The parties were held in the church auditorium. It was convenient that the benches could be moved or rearranged as needed.

Debbie D. planned our first party, a Bunco party. When the people arrived, they each got a nametag. The nametags proved to be very appreciated, because none of the native people had ever had a nametag before! Debbie modified the Bunco game into a much simplified version. It was a great success, as you will be able to tell by the faces of all of the guests!

The first photo shows Debbie explaining the game with the help of an interpreter. She called the game "Lion Safari Bunco", and each time someone called "Bunco", he would be thrown the stuffed lion. At the end of the games, the one with the most Buncos won the lion.

You will be able to tell by this next photo that the party was well attended!

After the explanation of the game, each of us went around helping people and explaining the rules again if necessary. In the next photo Eddie is talking with some of the guests.

Next is Ron.

Cyndi played, too. She got to be at the head table for a while!

Next is Jan.

There were many smiles and much laughter!

Of course, there were the serious players, too!

Notice the LST Luke Workbook on the table. So many people wanted to come to the parties, we had to limit those who could come to only the readers and local church officials (some relatives were also allowed); with this limit, there was still an average of 55 people at each party. Our LST budget does not allow for much money to be spent on the parties. Many people would bring their workbooks to prove that they were really readers. A couple of workbooks were even stolen (by kids) and used to validate an invitation to the party!

At the end of the game, there were sodas and homemade cookies (by our cook Jane) for all. Most had never had cookies before, so we had to explain what they were!

We all felt our first party was great! Many of our readers told us later that they had really had fun.

Hospital Devotionals

2009-09-13T15:38:00.013-05:00

Every morning at 7:30, this "bell" is rung to call people to the hospital devotional. Many of the hospital staff come, as well as the families of patients.

People began to gather under the pavilion.

The devo starts each day with singing. There are a few songbooks, so if we got one, we could try to sing along in Swahili! Notice that the women are all wrapped up----the mornings were mostly cool (about 50 degrees Farenheit). Even on cool mornings, flipflops were the normal shoes.

Hospital staff wears uniforms of various colors, depending on their job.

Whenever the speaker was speaking in Swahili, there was an interpreter in English just for us.

Ron and Eddie were both asked to speak at the hospital devos. The next photo shows Ron speaking one morning.

Bernard was interpreting in Swahili for Ron.

The following photos are of some of the people. The hospital maintenance men were always in blue. Moussa, the man on the right of this photo, worked at keeping the outside walks and gardens cleaned. His daughter had wanted to read with us, but her English was not good enough for her to converse. When we told her she would not be allowed to practice this year, she cried. We had to explain through an interpreter to her father the next day. Almost every day, Moussa greeted us with a big smile and handshake.

The following three young ladies are medical students from Ireland. We recall their names as Sarah, Naomi and Rachel. They were telling us that in Ireland, they do not have to get an undergraduate degree---they just go straight into medical school. That is why they look so young when they only have a year left before they are full -fledged doctors at 21 years old! One of the requirements for their school is that they spend some time at a hospital in a third world country. When they searched the internet while looking for a place to volunteer, they came across the Chimala website, and they applied to come there! It was good for the hospital to have extra hands and good for the girls to have such an interesting experience!

The Harding nursing students stand with their teacher/supervisor, Janice; they attended the devos every morning. One of the young men said he knew he would be back after he graduated.

Debbie E., Muriel, and Jan

After the devo each day, we would all go around the crowd and shake hands. Some hands felt normal, and some were quite warm with fever! The people were all friendly and seemed to enjoy any attention paid to their children. Almost none of the hospital visitors spoke English. A few of them would say, "Hello. How are you?" We tried saying "good morning" in Swahili !

The following is a video of the singing. Toward the end of it you will see a large woman wearing pink and standing next to Debbie D. That is Bernard's wife. She sings very well, and the strongest female voice you hear is hers.

The Shop

2009-09-12T08:51:00.063-05:00

The shop area of the Mission is a very busy place. It consists of a wood shop and a maintenance area (all kinds of maintenance, from vehicle to electrical, etc.) The first few pictures are of the outside of the main shop building.

The wood in the next photo is for constructing the furniture for the new secondary school that is scheduled to open in January of 2010. All the wood is rough cut and "green"; it must be air dried before it can be used.

The next view is of the inside of the wood shop. Although there is much hand work to all of the projects at the mission, there is a joiner and a surface planer. Drill presses, table saws and power hand saws are also available.

The next photo shows desks and chairs that are being made.

These desks and chairs are in the primary school, but they are the same type that are being made for the new school.

This is another area of the shop. Although you can see several lawn mowers around the mission shop, it is doubtful that any of them are serviceable. No parts are available in Tanzania. All mission mowing is done by hand - sling blades.

This is a parts room.

Next is the vehicle maintenance area. The tractor under the shed roof is separated between the rear axle and the engine. The parts needed cost too much to complete the repair. The white Land Rover "Defender" in the right of the photo is one of two being put together to make one vehicle. Oil changes and tire repairs are done under this shed or on the open ground nearby.

The truck in the photo is known as "Big Blue". It blew a head gasket while we were there because one of the head bolts had been left out. Bill Stinson had to become involved to see that a proper repair was accomplished. In less than a week, Big Blue was going down the road again.

This is a picture of electric generator that Bill Stinson had refurbished on the Mission property to use in the new water pump shed. It will provide electrical power to pump water in the event the public power fails. We saw it moved into place in a new building while we were there.

Next is one of the fire places for burning trash.

We alternated between the shop and the hospital for our devotional each weekday morning at 7:30. (During the school year there are five devos going on every morning at the same time.) Men who work in the shop area usually lead the devotionals and lead the singing; this is considered part of their paid workday. Bill, Chris, Menard, Ezekiel, and a few others also speak. Visitors are commonly asked to give short talks. Afterward, it is also a good time to make daily work assignments and rehearse what was accomplished the day before.

Next is a picture of Eddie giving a devo message with Menard as his interpreter.

The following video that Debbie D. took gives you a view of the shop devo. We did not get a video of the singing, but it was very good each day.

Our Adult Readers

2009-09-04T17:00:00.104-05:00

We also had many delightful adult readers. They were many of different faiths.
First is Beatus, a Catholic and one of the receptionists at the hospital.

The next photo is of Muriel with her reader from the Masai village. He had a baby daughter while we were there, and he named it Muriel after, as he said, "my teacher"!

Jan is with Winfrida, who works in the hospital supply room. Her husband is a doctor who is in another town doing some training. He will come to the Chimala Hospital to work sometime this year. Winfrida came every day and was always on time. It was sad to leave her when we left Chimala.

Next is Winfrida with her two little girls. The young lady (and she really is female!) on Winfrida's left is the children's nanny. Winfrida brought her children to say goodbye to me on our last day and to give me the gift of a skirt and blouse made by her tailor. She also brought a matching shirt for Ron.

The following man is a Chimala Executive Officer (district manager) named Ponsiano; he and his wife Agripina have names that sound as if they are from Italian descent.

Ponsiano is an intelligent man who is wanting to move up in politics; he needs expertise in English in order to qualify for that position. Several times he had to miss his appointments to read in order to settle a dispute. He acts as a civil judge or arbitrator in his district. Any public projects such as sewer, water, or road improvements require taxes, which few can afford to pay. It is Ponsiano's task to help them decide what they want to pay for and then to see that the taxes are collected.

Nazareth was Debbie D.'s reader and also Debbie E.'s. Nazareth is the secretary for the School of Preaching and for the Bible College. She was always dressed in beautiful clothes with matching shoes and hair ornaments. Her nephew, Dudley, who lives in the same house with her, also came to read with us.

The next reader, James Blackwell, has a long time connection with the Mission. His father was instrumental in the early work of the hospital and mission. His father died in auto accident while transporting a patient to a hospital in another city. James works on the Mission as a driver/mechanic. In his spare time, he works with relatives on other people's vehicles at his brother's home.

Renatus is a Catholic man who speaks English very well; he was one of Ron's readers. Renatus was building an addition to his house. Everyday before he came to read, he would make his bricks of mud. He plans on firing the bricks before he builds with them. Because water in Chimala does not flow from the public plumbing, he has to hand carry all the water needed to build his bricks. Every time he came to read, he was already cleaned up after making bricks. He is a smart man who pays attention to international politics and football (soccer). He was ready to assist in interpreting for us or making other readers feel welcome.

The next lady, Sophia, is a midwife at the hospital. When we could not fit her in our schedule at first, she would come every day anyway to see if there was space for her. Finally we were able to work her into the schedule.

Both of these young single men are named Jeremiah, and they are close friends. One is a tailor and one is a rice farmer. They both loved studying English and always prepared their lessons and had good questions. They would spend time together in the evenings discussing the lessons.

This young lady is a nurse in a very small hospital in another village.

The next photo is of Towera, a housekeeper at the hospital. She is married and has a young son. She is from Malawi. Her husband's family has been connected to the mission since the 1960's.

The next two girls are sisters. Both are students in secondary school. Their father is one of the two doctors at Chimala Hospital. Margaret is on the left and Sophia is on the right. Every day they worked hard at home carrying water, gathering firewood, cleaning the chicken yard, and cooking---and most of that was before their 10 a.m. lesson with me! Margaret wants to be a nurse, and Sophia said that she wants to be "a traffic", which I finally figured out to be a policeman who is a traffic cop! They are such sweet girls! They studied their lesson every night along with other people in their family, only one of which was reading with us.

Balaka is Margaret's and Sophia's brother. He read with both Debbies. He is studying to be a lawyer.

Each morning in the entry hall/reception area of our building there was hot tea (chai) and either bread (rolls) or a kind of "tortilla-looking bread" for our readers to enjoy. These refreshments were brought every morning from the hospital canteen.

During the first three weeks a lady named Tausi was our "greeter". She is the wife of Venace, the head of the Primary School. She was really friendly to our readers as they had their refreshments after their lesson.

Sometimes they had their tea outside on the porch.

At the end of the first three weeks, Tausi was needed as a cook for the group of medical students that had arrived from Ireland. So then Atupeli, one the of male teachers from the Primary School, was our greeter.

This was just one of the ways that the local church was able to interact with our new friends.

Readers and More Readers!

2009-09-03T10:11:00.017-05:00

Sometimes God answers prayers very quickly!
On Tuesday morning of that first week in Chimala all four of us were busy reading with people that had come to our Information Meeting when we heard a lot of noise outside of the building. When we went outside, we saw about 100 Primary School Children on the porch to our building and spilling out onto the grass. Their teacher had brought them to read with us! Needless to say, we were overwhelmed! We could not possibly read with so many, so Ron asked the teacher which ones were the best English speakers. The teacher turned to the students and asked them who was good at English. Most children raised their hands! So it was up to us to determine which ones could speak well enough to read in the LST program. It took us several days to test the English of all who wanted to come. The ones we were turning away were in tears, and some even tried to sneak back in to be tested by someone else in hopes that another person would qualify them to have lessons! Because it was so difficult to turn children away, we ended up letting some small groups of students read with us instead of the normal and the preferred method of one-on-one lessons. Most of the students who ended up qualifying were the older ones, from 15-17 years old, but there were a couple of 14 year olds who spoke English better than the older ones. The English level still wasn't what it should have been to read and really understand the lessons, but we all worked very hard with these young people. Many had different religious backgrounds---they were sent to the Chimala Primary School because it has a reputation as being a good school. They especially liked attention from us because they were living in the dorms and had been away from their own families for many months. They were starving for adult interaction.

God definitely answered our prayers for enough readers to fill our time slots. We felt our "cup was running over"! After three weeks, when Debbie D. and Eddie left, many of the kids were in tears about them leaving. The same happened when Debbie E. and Muriel and Ron and I left at the end of the six-week project.
Following are photos of some of the children. You will notice that many look to be about 10 years old. We thought so too, but they are actually several years older!

Our workdays were now very full!

Our daily schedule, Monday through Friday, began with a walk around the Mission property, then breakfast. We went to a devotional each morning at 7:30----either at the hospital or at the shop. Our reading day began at 9:00, with readers scheduled each hour until our lunchbreak from 12:00-1:00. Reading sessions begain again at 1:00 p.m. and lasted until 6:00 p.m. We were tired by the time evening arrived! We were always so grateful to walk into our kitchen and find food in the oven waiting for us! Evenings consisted mainly of record-keeping from the day's work, statistics reports, and party planning. There was no time for T.V. and little time for reading. Bedtime came early for some of us....

Information Meeting

2009-09-02T18:39:00.009-05:00

Eddie, Debbie D., Ron, and Jan arrived in Chimala on a Sunday evening. On the next day, Monday, we took a walking tour of the Mission grounds. Most of my posts so far have been kind of a general introduction to the Mission as a whole and the place where we stayed. Many of the photos were taken on that first day as we walked around the Mission.

We were finally ready for the work to begin! The afternoon of that first Monday we had an Information Meeting. A Let's Start Talking project is usually kicked off with an Information Meeting, to which potential readers are invited. At the meeting the program is explained----the main point being that we will be helping people with conversational English by one-on-one conversations using the Bible as a text. After the explanation, people are invited to sign up for whatever times are convenient for them.
For the information meeting at Chimala, Bernard, the hospital administrator, was the interpreter in Swahili as Ron explained LST in English.

Some of the church leaders were invited to the meeting so that they would have a good understanding of what we would be doing and so that they would feel like they were involved in the project. The following photo shows some of the church leaders from the Mission Church and the Chimala Bible College.

After Ron's explanation of Let's Start Talking, the potential readers were then divided into groups, with each group going to a place in the room with one of the LST workers. Questions were answered, and then the readers signed up on our individual reading schedules.

The following photo is very fuzzy, but it shows Eddie talking with some of the people who came to the meeting. The two young men on the right are from the Masai village.

The next two photos are of Debbie with Bernard and her reader group.

We read with people of all ages and faiths. We very seldom have anyone refuse to read with us because of our use of the Bible as the text, even if they are atheists or of a non-Christian belief.
The LST lessons are friendship based and are non-threatening to the readers. Our reading with them is not dependent on their agreement with our beliefs. We just talk about the ideas in the text. We are "seed planters"; we never know how much influence the seed will have in someone's life.

We were disappointed with the number of readers who attended our Information Meeting. We knew that we had work to do to recruit more readers in order to fill our time slots each day. We all prayed that night for more readers! Little did we know how God would answer that prayer the next day! More about that in the next post.......

More Mission Housing

2009-09-01T15:47:00.026-05:00

There are many houses on the Mission property. Some of them were built over the years for missionary families, and others were built for workers.
As there are only two missionary couples at Chimala at the present time, several of the missionary houses are vacant, but they are in continuous use by visitors, temporary workers in the hospital, or temporary teachers in the School of Preaching or the Bible College. The first photos are some of the missionary houses.
I believe that the first house is being used presently by one of the guards.

The next one is the Mays house, named after Dr. Mays, who was one of the first doctors at the Mission hospital.

This is the largest of the houses, with six bedrooms. While we were in Chimala, it was used by the Harding nursing students and then some Dr. students from Ireland.

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At one end of the house is a covered carport. Several times men came to sell souvenir items, and they displayed the items here. We were told that the men are Christians and had come from a village 50 miles away in Malawi.

This is the house where the lady who oversees the garden lives.

She grows gourds behind her house.

The next photos are of the houses occupied by Mission workers, some of which are hospital workers or translators or teachers in the schools.

The next photo shows Menard's house and his little girl. Menard is one of the translators, and he was a great help to us on the Mission and in the villages.

Menard and his daughter pose for the picture. Hiss wife is expecting another child by the end of the year. We are sure that we must have seen his wife at church, but we could never tell which husband went with which wife, as it is customary for the men and the women to sit separately in the worship services.

The house in the following photo was on the property when it was purchased from German farmers many years ago. The house was once used as a hotel. Notice the satellite dish on the house. One is required for television usage, and it is very inexpensive in Tanzania.

Mama Julie

2009-08-31T08:00:00.001-05:00

It was hard to get used to the use of "Mama" in names! The custom in Tanzania is for a mother to take the name of her firstborn child, whether it is a boy or a girl. So in Tanzania, I would be Mama Julie and Julie would be Mama Lauren. Joan would be Mama Staci, and Staci would be Mama Brody! It seems to make it more sad when someone doesn't have a child. Cyndi's cook is Mama Betty, but our cook was Jane. Jane has no children of her own, but she and her husband Boaz are raising several children who needed a home. Boaz is always wanting to bring a new one home!

Tanzanian Food

2009-08-30T15:43:00.022-05:00

Just across the road from our house was a beautiful garden. The pictures just don't do justice of how nice it was to walk by it every day and see all the plants in the well-maintained garden! The garden was not here before Bill Stinson's arrival at Chimala, but now many vegetables are grown for use by the missionaries and the guests in the various houses on the mission. In the garden are okra, cabbage, tomatoes, eggplant, corn, and much more. River water is routed to the garden for irrigation.

Every day workers are in the garden taking care of it.

This is the son of one of the workers. He wanted his picture made, so he ran over to the fence!

The next photo shows the hand-dug irrigation ditches.

The man in the following photo works for the people who live next to the garden. The woman who lives in the house is in charge of the garden. Most of the workers around the mission are afraid of their dog, Stavrous, but he is actually very friendly.

Here are the banana trees. You will be able to see green bananas on them. The bananas are picked green because if left on the trees to ripen, the monkeys will steal them!

Next is a papaya tree.

The following is a view of our pantry with the banana stalk hanging from the ceiling. These very small bananas are less than six inches long but very sweet and good!

Next is our cook, Jane. The photo shows the first thing she did every morning, which was to tie back the kitchen curtains to let the light inside. She is a great cook. She has been cooking for Americans so long that she knows how to cook American food for them! She makes everything from scratch, even hamburger buns, biscuits, loaves of bread, and cinnamon rolls-----everything is wonderful! There was a long list of choices of food that she could cook for us, so each week we decided on the menus for the week. Jane bought a few food items across the street at the Chimala market, but most of the food was purchased by Cyndi on her weekly grocery shopping/medicine-buying-for-the-hospital trip to Mbeya, which is 50 miles from Chimala.

It was great to walk home at lunchtime every day to find a delicious, hot meal on the table waiting for us and to come home at 6:00 p.m. and find food in the oven for dinner! We wish we could have brought Jane home with us! We got spoiled quickly!

The next photo shows Jan looking over the long list of food from which to choose the week's menu.

The last week before we left we asked Jane to prepare a traditional Tanzanian meal for us. We had beans, rice, spinach, a type of tortilla, and a dish called ugale, which is made from ground white corn. The closest food we know to ugale would be grits. It really has very little taste. The Africans usually eat it with their hands and dip it into some kind of spicy dip. It is the main food that is eaten every day by the natives. Because corn is widely grown in Tanzania, ugale is a very inexpensive meal.

Ugale is in the plate at the bottom of the next picture. Notice the spinach in the second photo below; it was really good. It is not like our common spinach in the U.S. If anyone could let us know where we could purchase it here, we would love to buy some.

Walks in the Morning

2009-08-28T17:07:00.012-05:00

Almost every morning Ron and I went for about a thirty-minute walk around the mission area. Because we needed to be at a devotional at 7:30 each morning, our walk had to be very early. We tried to begin our walk about 6:00 a.m. We usually started out in the dark, but many days we got to see the beginnings of the sunrise. We used flashlights, and we took a walking stick to scare away any snakes on the path! Here are some of our photos from our morning walks.
First is the back of our house.

A few mornings we could hear rustling in the leaves of the trees close to Bill and Cyndi's house. When we shined our lights into the trees, we could see little bush babies. They are nocturnal, so we never saw them in the daytime. Our flashlights scared them and made them run away, so our photos were not really good. The bush babies can really move quickly! In several of the pictures you can just see shiny eyes!

You will have to click on this next one to see the shiny eyes.

Bill and Cyndi's House

2009-08-24T14:40:00.020-05:00

Bill and Cyndi's house is the house reserved for the Mission administrator. It is the newest of the houses, very nice and comfortable, and the rooms are very large. Home construction in Tanzania is still not what it is in the U.S., however! Because it is really expensive to ship furniture from the U.S., the Mission's houses are furnished with furniture that has been collected from various missionaries over the years.
The first picture is of the front of the house.

Next is the garage area for some of the Mission vehicles.

Bill and Cyndi made home-made pizza for us every Sunday night. It was really good!
Bill was the "crust maker".

Jan is on the left, then Bill, then Cyndi.

Debbie D., Eddie, and Jan.

Bill and Cyndi, Ron, Debbie, Eddie

On Tuesday nights we had a devo at Bill and Cyndi's house. The week these photos were made was one of the weeks that some nursing students from Harding University were at Chimala.
They really enjoyed working at the hospital.

The three men on the right hand side of the couch work with the Gospel Chariot, which is sponsored by World Bible School. They go out into the villages to preach. We will write more about that work later.

On the left is Chris Raynor, a missionary in Chimala from California. He and his wife, Tam, have been at Chimala about five years and are scheduled to return to the States in December. Chris works with the Bible College and the School of Preaching.

Bill and Chris

This is the road in front of Bill's house. The road is on Mission property, and it is part of the big circle that we walked (for exercise) every morning.

If you follow the road in the photo above, it curves to the right and goes toward our house. The part of the road after the curve and headed to our house is in the next photo.
There is a banana grove on the left, and on the right is our yard and a favorite place for monkeys to play after they have eaten their fill of bananas! Notice Jan's jacket----I don't think anyone in Texas was wearing a jacket in June or July!

Tanzania is famous for snakes----cobras, black mambas, and green mambas. The green mambas are ranked as the most dangerous snakes in the world because of their deadly venom and because they are also aggressive snakes. Mambas are usually up in the trees, and cobras are usually found on the ground. We always used flashlights when walking in the dark! Thankfully, we never saw a snake in the six weeks that we were in Tanzania!

Bill and Cyndi have 6 dogs, mostly for keeping snakes away from their house and yard. One evening just a few hours after we had walked home from the Tuesday evening devotional, the dogs started barking. They had killed a cobra on the path!

The next photo is of a puppy that belonged to one of Cyndi's dogs. That puppy went home to live with Cyndi's cook, Mama Betty.

Chimala Mission Church

2009-08-22T18:19:00.029-05:00

There is a church building on the mission property. It is a self-supporting church with about 250 in attendance on Sunday. The children living in the Primary School dorms attend the church every Sunday, so attendance numbers fluctuate greatly according to whether or not school is in session. The church leaders are already trying to make decisions on how to accommodate the students who will attend the new Secondary School beginning in January, 2010.

The grass is mostly brown because it is winter time in Tanzania. Temperatures were from the 50's at night to the low 70's during the daytime.

The following photo was taken inside the building during a worship service.

The baptistry is in the front right corner of the church building. The girl on the left is getting ready to be baptised.

The church has a really neat custom of forming a line outside after every church service. Each person goes down the line shaking hands with every person in line and then takes his place at the end of the line. Songs are being sung during the whole time.

There were two women's conferences while we were there. One was for older women and one was for young women. Each conference lasted a week, and women came from villages all around. They stayed in the empty dorms (Students were on break.).

The following photos were made one morning as the women were waiting for the conference to begin.

Next are some videos that you might find interesting. The first is of the singing at the Mission Church.

The following video is of the singing at one of the women's conferences.

This last one is of the greeting time after a worship service. (Sorry some of the video is blurry!)