Saying goodbye

There are so many things that I wanted to blog about from the past two weeks, I wanted to tell you about the special perspective I gained celebrating Thanksgiving in Africa; I wanted to give you an update on the child with hydrocephalus I wrote about in my last entry; I wanted to tell you how much fun I had last week in a village playing with the children, practicing my Swahili and working with other Imara staff and local volunteers as we did HIV testing; I wanted to remind you that December 1st was World AIDS Day and encourage you to find a way to get involved in the fight against AIDS . . . but today I am writing for another reason. Today I am mourning the loss of my dear Granddaddy, who passed from this earth last Wednesday. I am sad and grieving that I will never again see him here on earth or be embraced in one of his big bear hugs but I am rejoicing and so thankful that he is now at his Father's side and he is free from pain and suffering.

Before leaving home this year, somehow I knew that I was saying goodbye to him for the last time. There were so many reasons for me not to go when I did, this circumstance being one of them. However, the more I prayed and sought wisdom about it, the more assurance I had that it was God's plan for me to go to Tanzania at that time. It was a strange feeling to have that certainty yet be heart broken at the same time about what I was giving up by leaving. I was blessed to have a chance to spend time with my grandfather in the weeks before I left and I got to tell him how much I loved him and hear him tell me the same. That special time with him was truly a gift. I even got to speak to him on the phone on Thanksgiving Day, less than a week before he died. Even though his voice was just a whisper, I got to hear him say one more time "How's my little girl?" and I got to tell him I loved him.

So I have asked myself should I have stayed home for a couple months longer? Did I make a mistake coming to Africa when I did? No, and here's why.

Last week I spent several days in a village called Mwika, which I have come to love. There is a high incidence of HIV in this community and consequently, many children orphaned because of AIDS. Its always fun to go and just spend time with the children but this trip was also to do additional HIV testing and counseling with others in the community who do not know their status. The few days we spent there were long and busy, I was able to work with my hands and work directly with people (something I miss doing on a regular basis). One afternoon there was a lull in activity as most people there had already been tested and were waiting to be called into a room for counseling. Since my language skills are far from being proficient enough for counseling sessions I was outside playing with the children. As I was thinking back on the events of the day and having so much fun with the children playing games and learning new Swahili words from all my little teachers I remember thinking to myself "this is why I'm here, this is what brings me joy and brings honor and glory to God."

Friday afternoon, upon returning to the city and reading my email I learned the news of my grandfather's passing. Later that day as I was crying and thinking and processing things I realized that the day he passed was that same day that God gave me that confirmation that I'm supposed to be here right now, doing what I'm doing.

All this is not to say that I'm glad to be here in Tanzania instead of at home with my family because that is certainly not the case. I miss them tremendously right now, and I long to be with them. I want to hug my grandmother, my mom and the rest of my family. I want to be able to mourn and grieve with them. I am sad that I missed the funeral service on Saturday. But I know that God will sustain me during this time. He has called me here for a purpose and in doing that has also called me to make sacrifices. Because I know that the Lord is leading and guiding every step I know that he will also bring me through this time.

I would go into detail of what a great man my Granddaddy was; all the ways he served his family, church, and community; how he has inspired and encouraged so many people (probably without knowing it) but I wouldn't know where to stop. I will say this about him, he loved the people around him in his quiet and humble way and he was certainly well loved by all that knew him. He will be greatly missed by so many, especially me!

A mother's love

On Wednesday I accompanied a mother and son (along with a couple other Imara staff) to the hospital. This mother and her three year old son belong to the Maasai tribe, one of the largest and most fierce tribes in East Africa. To this day they still adhere to ancient practices and customs and take great pride in who they are as a people group. One of the customs of this nomadic people group is to literally discard children who are born with a handicap or defect. This mother, for some reason unknown to me yet, chose not to follow the custom (and probably the direction of her local elders) and kept her baby that was born with an enlarged head (hydrocephalus). Over the past three years the child's head has continued to slowly grow larger and at the same time his mother has continued to love and protect him.

He is small for his age and cannot walk but he can stand and hold his head up and is pretty good at "cruising" (moving on his feet as he holds onto something or someone). He always seems to be miliseconds from being off balance because of his large head but I never saw him fall once. Something he loves to do is to dance (sway forward and back like the Maasai traditional dance) as his mother sings. The love and joy was so evident on his face and his mother's that I was almost moved to tears as I watched this happen several times throughout the day.

A few months ago a medical team from the US came to the village near to where they live in northern Tanzania. Although "near" is a relative term, I usually think of distance in terms of how long will it take to drive from point A to point B but to travel the same distance on foot is a different story. So this mother walked for hours to bring her child to where she heard the doctors would be. The Americans decided they would definitely help the child but he would need to be seen at the hospital. So this past week everything was arranged for him to be taken to Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center, one of the biggest hospitals in the country. By next week a decision will be made by the doctors at KCMC if surgery is even appropriate for this child and if it can be done there or in Dar Es Salam. Please pray for this child, his mother, and for the doctors. Obviously I want to see him have the opportunity to grow up as a healthy and fully functioning child but also a successful surgery will be such a testimony to the rest of his Maasai community. Pray that God would be given glory whatever the outcome.

auto mechanics 101

Who knew that by moving to Tanzania I would become more familiar with what's under the hood of a car. The car that I share with my friend Meagan had some major engine work done this past week. Our mechanic, who also maintains all the vehicles owned by Imara, loves to explain everything he is doing, and wants to show us the different parts and tell us exactly why they need to be replaced. I've had several "lessons" each day this week. While I really appreciate his enthusiasm and honesty in all of this, a lot of the information unfortunately goes right over my head. However, I can now say that I know what the inside of the driveshaft looks like (as well as a plethora of other parts I didn't even know I needed).

So can you tell me what's wrong with this picture?

for more, click on my photos

So how do I put my first month in Tanzania into words?

It seems as though I constantly have a zillion thoughts running through my mind. Leaving a comfortable, familiar life and moving to Africa will do that to you. The things I have seen and experienced in the last month have sent me on quite a roller coaster ride. There have been times of joy, peace, frustration, excitement, being humbled, feeling overwhelmed, feeling homesick . . . the list could go on and on. It is nearly impossible to put all of what I am experiencing into words simply because I often don't know how to sort it out in my own head.
How do I express the feelings I had when I met a widow who is the same age as I am, lives in a mud house, has three young children and is HIV positive?
How can I describe the fun it is to sit and laugh with a group of children as they touch my skin and my hair because it looks so different than theirs?
How do I express how much I feel like a wimp when I see women sit in the hot sun all day and break rocks to earn a few pennies, or see children carrying heavy loads of water, wood, produce, or any number of other items on top of their heads?
How can I possibly tell you how cool it was when I saw my first glimpse of Mt Kilimanjaro since arriving? (OK, so I can tell you the best part about it was the fact that it was a clear cloudless night and the moon was so bright it was reflecting light off the snow and ice on the top of the mountain)
I really do want to share my time here with you and will hopefully make posts more frequently. Now that I have settled into some sort of routine I think I'll do a better job.
I have found that I express myself better with the help of photographs. I have now linked my online albums to this blog (look on the left side of this page). So far I only have a few, but trust me, there will be many more to come!

Enjoy!

One Light Town

Arusha is now a "one light town." A traffic light was recently installed (as in since I've arrived a week ago) and just started functioning yesterday. It is quite a strange concept for many people here and they didn't grow up with the understanding that green means go and red means stop. My friend Meagan told me about teaching a group of people the game "Red Light, Green Light" and that was dangerous enough! Now we're playing the game with cars and pedestrians. Last night as I was being dropped off at home we passed through this intersection. I saw a lot of people waiting patiently for the walk signal to cross the street, and I thought wow, they're already following the rules perfectly! But then I noticed that the light was already green the way that they were heading and that they were actually just watching. I suppose it would be fascinating to me as well if I had never seen traffic move in this fashion. If I get bored this Saturday night at least now I know where the most happening spot in town is :)

adjustments

Life always requires adjustments in one form or another. Since arriving in Tanzania last Thursday night I've had to make quite a few. Here's what I've had to try to adjust to so far:

~a time zone seven zones away from what my body is accustomed to
~driving on the other side of the road (I haven't actually gotten behind the wheel yet, but it won't be long)
~sleeping under a mosquito net every night
~simple errands taking a lot longer than what I expect
~being a minority
~not understanding the language (yet)
~always having at least a little bit of dust on me
~spending time with people taking importance over "productivity"

~new roommates (including the gecko that seems to live in the vent above my bedroom window, since he eats mosquitoes I think I'll let him stay)

This gives you a little bit of an idea of what my life is this first week in Africa. I'm really enjoying myself although things are not always easy. Keep praying for me as I continue to adjust!

its official

I am officially on my way. I left NC at 12:20 today, now I'm just "enjoying" my 3.5 hour layover in Detroit.