P.S. A visit with Ronika

I am adding this as a P.S. because our side trip to visit our World Vision child whom we have sponsored for the past five years really wasn't part of the Hosanna mission trip.  But I do want to share the experience, as it was at Hosanna that we began our relationship with Ronika.

One Sunday at our church, hundreds in the congregation  were moved to sponsor children throughout Tanzania after a presentation from the World Vision organization.  We met Ronika through letters and pictures from her worker in the small village south of Arusha.  We saw her grow up from a 7-year old little girl to a 13-year old girl who loved going to school, learning English, and had dreams of continuing to be a teacher or a nurse someday.  We always thought it would be such a blessing to meet her  and when the opportunity to go to Tanzania on a mission trip evolved, we checked  to see whether it would be at all possible.

After emails and phone calls with the World Vision staff, we discovered we would only be about three hours from her village....and yes, they would indeed welcome us to visit her and her family!  We wrote her to tell her and she also was excited! I packed a small suitcase with some clothes for her and her family, a children's Bible in simple English, a few pieces of jewelry, and some school supplies and games.  Arrangements were made for us to go ahead of our team by a few days so that we could make the side trip before our mission team arrived.




The day after we arrived, we were picked up at our hotel by World Vision staff who lived in Tanzania and were assigned to take us to her village.  They clued us in on what supplies the family would need and helped us shop for them in Moshi, a large city on the way.  We could see the curious looks on the faces of people nearby as we walked into the  small stores to buy rice, cooking oil, corn meal, flour, and soap.....lots of it!







As we drove south,  we stopped at a small hotel where we were joined by a couple of staff members who worked with the village, one that specifically helped Ronika with her letters and translation.

We had some breakfast and a potty break.....YIKES!  I hadn't seen this since my trip to China!






The landscape changed from the green landscape of the area on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro to a drier area that reminded me of Arizona.  Vegetation was scarce, but enough for the herds of cattle and goats....

.....and we finally arrived at her village, a mixture of mud huts and dried brick houses.

And then we got our first glimpse of Ronika, coming back from the well with a pail of water on her head!

She was shy at first,  and slipped into her house to put on her white and black dress which she had been able to buy with Christmas money we had sent.  After introductions and finding a shady spot under a tree, we talked with her and her parents, met her two older sisters (she is the youngest....and her father is in his 70s!)

....and shared pictures of our family on the ipad.  Not only they, but the World Vision staff also had never seen such a thing!

Ronika's father makes a living as a fisherman.  They live on a large reservoir, built by the Germans, and it provides enough fish for the family and to sell.  They dry the fish on the straw roofs and also cook it for their daily meal with rice or corn meal.  It is basically the same every day.  As honored guests, we were invited for lunch in their tiny dining area.  We sat on buckets around a small table and had boiled fish (our translators called it tilapia), chicken, rice and soda pop.  I am sure it was a generous thing for them to do and it was actually quite good!  There is no electricity or running water in the house and they usually eat outdoors when the weather is nice.....and it is usually one meal a day.


We had some curious village onlookers peeking through the window....

When we opened the suitcase and gave out our "gifts", we could see the big smile on her face...and her mother let out the traditional African "squeal", showing her deep gratitude.  We all felt blessed.

Ronika was anxious to show us her village and the lake, so we took the short walk to the shore, with a sweet group of preschoolers following us (the older children were all in school and Ronika was excused for the day for her special guests).  How those children loved getting their pictures and videos taken....and then saw themselves on the tiny camera screens!

She was so anxious to take us for a boat ride in her father's boat, so Lyle reluctantly got in and I volunteered to take pictures and video of his ride......we were all laughing as it nearly tipped over!

                   (And how they balance those buckets of water on their head I will never figure out!)

We walked back to the village, past the fishermen working on nets...

.....visited a little with the curious children and took more photos...

We knew the afternoon had to end, just as we were all feeling comfortable with each other.  Ronika tried some of her English words with me and also told me she loved me.  Wow! Her mother wanted to pray for us so we all joined in a circle, held hands and prayed for each other.  There were tears as we climbed back into the jeep to head back.  But we promised her that we would continue to write to her, support her, and see her through school if she wanted to continue after this year (schooling is free until age 14 or so, but then families must pay tuition).  It was a blessed time with her and it impacted both of us more than we imagined.

On the way out of the village, we stopped at Ronika's school and visited her classroom.  We again were "honored guests" and the students stood up to greet us.  Many of them have sponsors in this village, but to actually meet them is quite a treat.  We were impressed at their smiles, politeness, and eagerness to see us...

As we drove away, we saw their water buckets under the tree...a reminder of how important the water well is to the region, and of the children's responsibility to bring the water home as they walked the mile or two back to the village.  Life there is not easy......but with help from many World Vision sponsors, the children are getting an education and are being prepared hopefully for a brighter future.

Kwaheri (good bye) Tanzania.....(part 2)

Our trip to the airport included one last look at the wild side of Tanzania.  We stopped at Lake Manyara National Park for a game ride.  This park stretches along the base of the Rift Valley and covers 127 square miles with the beautiful Lake Manyara within its borders. Earnest Hemingway called it, "the loveliest I had seen in Africa".

 It is truly a microcosm of the Tanzanian experience as we were driven through the lush jungle-like forest filled with baboons and monkeys....

  

......to the grassy floodplain of the alkaline lake (often lined with the flamingos and other exotic birds) where we caught glimpses of giraffes, wildebeests, hippos, and gazelles....

.....and ending in the woodlands where the elephants roam and lions sleep in acacia trees (although we didn't see the lions this time).....

It was the hottest day of the week, probably over 90 degrees, but the coolness of the forest and the heat of the plains just reminded us how varied a land Tanzania can be.

Two more special "events" happened on the way to the airport. First,  being invited guests for dinner in the home of Karashi, our Tanzanian guide and spiritual leader.  They had prepared a wonderful African meal which we thought was the best we had eaten all week!

 ......and last, but certainly not least, a view of the famous Mt. Kilimanjaro as the sun set behind us!

Tanzania has a way of getting to you, which is why three on our team have been there multiple times. Dennis even stayed another week and went into the bush with a couple of pastors.  That's another story! And Lyle and I were able to visit our sponsored child from World Vision at the start of the trip (see the Post Script),  There is a good chance that some of us would likely return.  In fact, Meghan is already planning another trip this summer.  Maybe we will all be saying, "Tutaonana tena" (see you later)!

Kwaheri (good bye) Tanzania.....(part 1)

As the week closed,  it was time to say our good-byes to the pastors and evangelists, whom have come to be dear  friends and with whom we had shared our time, talents, and what little we could bring them.  It was somewhat bittersweet as we wondered how they would carry on.  But that is what we hoped in our hearts....that they would all be able to continue the work that had been planted on the many mission trips before.  The work is now theirs and they seemed full of hope and ambition that the work would continue.  After our last breakfast, we sang and prayed together, exchanged gifts, email addresses, and took photos.....

We were so thankful for the help with translation, spiritual support, and cultural understanding from our dear African co-workers, Esther and Peter.  How hard it was to say good-bye to them, too!

We packed the jeeps with fewer suitcases this time, having left many of them at the schools, churches, clinics, and the orphanage filled with supplies we had brought.......including mosquito nets!

It had been a full week, yet the work seemed almost like "a drop in the bucket".  There is so much more to be done, but as parents must let their children become more independent, the same is being realized by many church groups.....we need to let go and let them.  This is the new direction that our church is now taking and one that we embark with hope and anticipation. It seemed so timely that I read that morning the following from a devotional book by Robert Schuller:

"The problems in this world can seem overwhelming.  Everywhere you look, people are being affected by crime, poverty, sickness, loneliness, and grief.  At times, it can feel like we're swimming in an ocean of tears.  And then we turn on the evening news to hear the latest horror from Bosnia or Rwanda or wherever people have decided to slaughter and maim their neighbors and former friends.  The problems in this world just seem too big to face.

God doesn't expect you and me to solve all the world's problems.  He simply asks us to make a difference wherever and however we can - one person at a time.  Whenever we reach out to the less fortunate - one of the people Scripture calls 'the least of these' - it's like reaching out to Christ.  Touch the world - one step at a time."

Eats and Treats......

So, what did we eat while in Tanzania?  How safe was it?  Could you drink the water?  These are questions we both had before we left...and were asked when we returned.....

 I can't say we were "deprived" at all.  Food was basic and good,  and I didn't get sick (although a couple of people in our guys had a few minor "issues").  While staying at the hostel, we had a breakfast of eggs, cereal,  fresh fruit, toast, coffee  (even French-pressed, thanks to Greg).

 We would then get lunches packed for us to take to our "job sites", and these  were the same every day....and which we learned to share because it was usually too much!  We had chicken, a boiled egg, fruit and fruit juice, cookies, sausage stick, plus cold French fries. Sometimes we would gather what we had not eaten and gave it to the other workers or preschool children, who loved our generosity!

And dinner always started with a pureed soup of some sort, whatever vegetable was left over from the night before, I think.  The main course was either beef or fish (although sometimes we were not entirely sure what it was....goat?), cucumbers, tomatores, rice or potatoes.

We couldn't complain.

As for the water.....we always drank bottled water, which we had plenty of.

One night in the middle of our work week, we were able to visit an actual resort, catering to the Safarri tourists.  It was beautiful and such a treat!

 Tropical plants....

 coffee plants.......

 .....and walking paths were a treat to explore.

 We felt we were in another world, seeing a whole different side of Tanzania!  And the sunset brought all of our cameras out!

We enjoyed a buffet dinner, complete with ice cream.  Our dear African friend and translator, Peter, had never tasted it before.  In fact, he had never been to such a place, growing up in a farm family near Karatu.  It opened his eyes and his heart to want to return to school to learn to work in the tourist industry!  And with his learning English, we are hoping that we can help him with this opportunity.