jambo!! welcome to Africa!
Arrived in one piece late WEdnesday night...with Peter at the airport waiting for me, so great to see him again, along with our driver Hamidu in a rented van and made our way from KILIMANJARO>>>over to arusha< and on to Mto Wa MBU>>>the night filled with stars< millions of them dancing in the black skies...the dark and very high sillouette of a giraffe towering at the side of the highway, four zebras running across the road, we make our way very slowly across their migration route..and make it into MTO WA MBU laTE, almost 3am. Charles isn't with us, called into Dar es Salam on emergency, won't be back till MONDAY....UNFOrtunate...but time now for me to unpack....visit the kids, get orientated..exhausted the next day, PETER BRINGs me breakfast from Mi Casa just around the corner...coffee with boiled mile, a boiled egg and what they call a kitimbua..a little round fried up rice bun...we catch up most of the afternoon....
Peter is 26...orphaned by HIV AIDS with his two siblings back when he was 16, his uncle took them in with his grandmother...he had primary school, with no English. got a job washing dishes from 7am till almost midnight at a safari lodge up in NGORA crater>>>>for four years....hard exhausting work, but earning enough money to help his grandmother with his siblings...A couple on safari from South Carolina were taken by his outgoing nature, his kindness, his great spirit..and sponsored him for four years secondary school up in UGANda and then on to two years high school, where he not only learned to speak perfect English, but became the head boy with the highest marks..this guy is a winner...
he visits MTO WA MBU>>our little village, on holidays to stay with his uncle who runs a pharmacy here, looking after his mother, wife, and two people who work at his store, his uncle introduced him to Charles and ICA, the ngo where we all work. I MET Peter two years ago while he ws visiting...he was part of the original team to set up the Majengo orphanage, we are great friends.
so he has graduated...and is praying for help to get to university. they are allowed two years i understand from when they graduate, to come up with the funds for university...he has dreams...and it is my bet that one day we will read about him in the papers...United Nation....World Health..whatever...president of Tanzania, he smiles, with those great dimples...but for now we have him working with ica and Majengo...lucky!
We make our way over to Majengo....circle our way round the back hiding from the kids till Amanda spots us and there is a huge roar from within...they race out, hugs, kisses...along with Glory the teacher who is crying, Grayson with a huge smile the other teacher who i tease has gained some weight this year...last year i took a felt marker and outlined his slim body upon the hall wall, naming the parts in Swahili first and the in English..i made him stand up against this wall body...he laughed and laughed...what a beginning...KILO< the two cooks...Witness the cleaner who washes all 40kids clothing everyday and keeps them clean...i am so impressed with these people...so hard working, and to see those kids now so happy, so together as one big family, laughing, holding hands, singing with delight, proud. SO proud of themselves>>>as they should be>>>
They put on a skit for us, about a dad and step mother who mistreats the two children, who runs away, who doesn't leave them food for the day, a neighbour who comes to visit, who brings them to Majengo...how happy they are today...Two stand up and offer their stories..from before, after their mom and dads died of HIV AIDS...how they were left just like this, with little food, and no care, left with neighbours who had too many children to look after themselves..but who had taken them in. Each child has a story. LAST YEAr WE interviewed relatives and neighbours, to make certain that the children being registered into Majengo were indeed amongst the most vulnerable and poor..this year, i would like to talk with the children themselves, if they wish....many are old enough to tell their stories...and may wish to be heard.
On to Pambazuko..the other orphanage, with 16 kids and Elias and Tabea, their new mama and baba childless two years ago, born again Christians, whose minister directed them into this new job of looking after orphaned kids...who now have 16 under their wing! imagine!! last year we helped move them into a new home as well..and just like MAJENGO>>>these kids are thriving>>>
peter and i making our way through banana groves along little dirt paths in amongst small houses built from cement, cow dung, and grass, corregated steel and painted wonderful bright colours of turquoise, yellow, pink...goats running about, chickens, the odd dog....or cow tethered at an old wooden post. Little kids half dressed playing outside< their mama washing clothes and sheets in a big red bucket>>>HANGing them up to dry...we come into sight of Pambazuko...and i see 15 little kids running as fast as they can toward us, arms outstretched shouting my name...oh me goodness, it is so lovely to see them again...
WE move inside...Tabea the mama....Elias the dad...and now Zack who is almost 14 and most definately this year, a little man, awaiting me quietly on the couch, no longer a boy running across the field. HE IS PREtending to be nonchalant..but i KNOW him..i have been teaching 6 of them how to swim over the last four years, and he is one of them..but he is a man now...the oldest at Pambazuko....i must respect this...

it is lovely to be back..
dinner at Mi Casa with Peter...myusual..rice, beans, greens, tomato sause of sorts..i will have to get used to this again....basically it is what i eat for lunch and dinner when i am here..
Friday...bus all the way back into Arusha..Peter needs to see a good doctor...i need to get to the atm machine..my tanzanian money is almost out...we have gone to four machines...my debit card is declined. We head to the biggest bank here in Arusha the NBC..National Bank of Commerce....i speak to the head manager..my card has worked over the last four years...so why not now?? He has no explanation...he cannot help me. I begin to become very scared. I have given PETER $20 equivalent for his doctor's appointment...and have $12 left....it costs $10 to get both of us back to MTO WA MBU>>I HAVE $2 left for water and that is it!! a woman i met on the plane meets me and buys me lunch....she has an Iphone..and lets me use it to call my kids....it is 7am in toronto...they are just waking up, and become alarmed by the tone of my voice..i am almost crying...
to make a very long story, short....they wired me money via Western UNION>>today i got up early and took the long climb up to kiratu< picked up the money and came here>>my pockets once more solvent> at least for now>>>i"ve written my bank< there is no reason for this card not working>>>IT WORked in HOLLAND>>>AND THE US and back home..but not Africa...someone has to fix it!! I feel okay right now...and am learning big lessons....myself....
IMAGINE>>>>most of us back home, we are able, in some way, to finance our lives, to work, to have money in our pockets, and hopefully with some set aside for emergencies...our so called rainy day. YESTERDay I HAD nothing...$2 left over...for water, no food, until i was able to borrow a little from friends through Charles. Out here, in a very foreign land...relying on the kindness of others, and that was all. I AM SORRY for peter i must say> i was well out of my comfort level>>>>and he was the lucky guy to be there!!
The 10minute sign just came up....
will try to edit a little..this machine is scratchy, jumping, caps sticking, and slow...again, remembering only a few days ago being home, with everything working, fast easy, we forget how lucky we are, we take these things for granted...once again, back in Africa...patience..ah, sweet patience..and the sense of thanking our stars for just being here, where we are, relatively healthy, with a few coins now in our pockets....ah....
will write again, when i can...
in the meantime..did i tell you...MATT"S mother>>diana is coming over!! WITH A friend...in a week or so....for two weeks!! i am so happy for her..i know she is going to love it..she has followed so keenly the work of her son, helped with the fundraising in Warren.....and now, she is coming to see for herself what we are all doing over here....very very exciting!! tO GET over our fears, to push forward..to trust...to allow ourselves to get through and past our comfort zone...and to take chances...Diana...i know you are out there...and i can't wait to see you....
everyone....take care....bidai!!
which means...see you later....Lynn