Blessings and Challenges

The last few days have been full of the blessings and challenges of African life.  Some of the challenges…

No electricity: It appears Iringa is in line for hours of rolling blackouts to manage the power supply. On Friday the power went out about 8:30am and stayed out until 7:30pm at night. While we have been having blackouts off and on for the last couple weeks, it usually is only for a couple hours at a time. This was our longest stretch. The plan for supper was Fried Rice and some Samosas from the cooking school. So we fired up the kerosene stove that is in Noel and Sharon’s apartment (now we understand why it is there) and made the fried rice and heated up the Samosas in the well ventilated laundry room.  Saturday morning, again the power goes off at 7:30am and comes on again at 1:30pm for two short hours until a rain storm comes through, and then off again until about 8:30 at night. I guess we will see what tomorrow brings. Sharon and I are coming up with two meal plans per day-what can be cooked/heated on the kerosene stove and what could be prepared on a real stove.  I really am not complaining, because most people cook outside with little charcoal stoves close to the ground. I am not sure how this works in the rainy season???

Rain: Also, not a complaint. The rain is beautiful and the greening that is happening all around us is amazing. God’s goodness can be seen in this life giving water. African rain is not a gentle sprinkle, but rather a rushing torrent. Caleb said, as we looked out the window at the sheets of water coming down, “No wonder all the African’s run like crazy at the first drop!”

View from Kihesa of Iringa in late-September - BEFORE rain

View from Kihesa of Iringa in mid-November - AFTER some rain

Sukoni (Market): Since we were in need of more fruit and a few other staples to get us through the week-end the boys nicely volunteered to head to market (this was before the rain!). Since Noel and Dale are rarely with us on our market trips, the two veteran shoppers were Tobie and Caleb. It was fun to hear how they showed Noel and Dale exactly what to do (although Noel is still not sure how he had two cucumbers on his list and came home with 5!) Tobie walked right up to our pineapple guy and told him, “One big one-kshow (for tomorrow)” and then paid for it. It is fun to watch the pineapple guy sort through his hanging pineapples to find the perfect one that will be ready for tomorrow and then chop off all the leaves with his enormous knife. They did get a “sana moja kubwa”-a very big one.

Compassion: We headed back to the Compassion International project today at Kihesa.  Since Pastor Kinyoa (one of the pastors at Kihesa) has been Dale’s translator for a number of Sunday’s we have gotten to spend time with him. He was very eager to introduce us to the kids, have us speck to them and encourage them, and be introduced to the teachers. It is amazing how well the program is run and how dedicated the volunteers are. We meet a wonderful woman named Grace. Grace is a teacher by trade, and leads the group of volunteer teachers. The students get help in many school subjects and also learn about health, relationships, life skills and the Bible.

Of the 260 or so kids that are part of the Compassion Project, many have sponsors, but there is always a need for more sponsors to help a child with cost of school, clothing, and sometimes even food. On Saturday the children are given two meals, breakfast and lunch. We meet the women in the kitchen cooking up large vats of rice and beans.

The cooks making lots of rice and beans for the Compassion Kids!

Beans!

Many of these kids are in the Compassion International Program because of a variety of challenges in their living situation. They might be orphaned and living with extended family, or have a single parent. Their parents or guardians might be sick with Aids or Malaria and unable to work or support them.

The kids were very sweet, loving being near us, checking out our skin and hair. They wanted to hold our hands and touch (or pull) our hair. Even the hair on Dale's arms was facinating to them. They would lay their skin next to ours and then run their fingers up and down our skin like maybe this strange color would rub off.

Me playing hand-jive with kids at Compassion Int'l

Dinner Out: After playing Volleyball out at the farm with a large group of Europeans, Americans, and Tanzanians we decided to have dinner up the hill at a very nice restaurant that has a generator (it was very crowded). Halfway through our dinner a large group of people came in and were seated near us. They were a group of Peace Corp volunteers, mostly newbies in the middle of their training. They had come into the Southern Highlands of Tanzania to check out the sites they would be living at and assess their needs before starting mid-December. One girl who was from Hudson, WI was very excited to connect with other mid-westerners. We had a delightful conversation about what we were doing here with our family, what she would be doing, and life in Tanzania. I asked her if she went to Hudson High and if she remembers my Uncle Richard teaching there, which she did so it was fun to hear about him as a teacher. We exchanged contact information and I hope to hear more about here two year and what she is doing during this time.

Can you see how it is hard to separate out the blessings from the challenges? Long bumpy, muddy or dusty roads full of animals (oh no, goats/cows/donkeys crossing the road), men on bikes or women carrying large loads or sticks on their head, might make for long, uncomfortable road to travel. Yet, there is no way to not see God moving in the challenges, to see God moving in the smiles of the children, to see God blessing us each day we are here.

Well, it is about 1:20am here (which if you know me at all is probably not a surprise) but I should get this posted, because who knows when we will have power or internet tomorrow. At least dinner will be at the church after worship-beans and rice. 

Blessings to all our family and friends who I know are keeping us in your prayers! Thank you-we can feel them!!

Carrie