Humility, Wonder & Reverence

MAY 23, Friday Night

The week ended with a rousing game of Phase 10. Mary, Neema and I battled it out and I lost soundly. It is an easy-to-learn dice game. Friday has officially been designated as Game Night. Bisura will be invited to next week’s event and we will make guacamole – yum!

MAY 24, Saturday

I headed in to Moshi early. My To Do list was going to take a chunk of time and I had promised the guys at the Sempai Fitness Center in Soweto that I would visit. In 2012 I joined the local fitness center which proved to be more than adequate with a killer exercise class that I can only liken to an African music Zumba class. I have kept in touch with the two young men who worked there through Facebook.

Joining a fitness center was not included in my budget for the 2012 trip. I was quite satisfied running on a dirt track near my home. After tripping over rocks which produced goose eggs on both my knee and elbow I decided safety was more important than frugality. It just so happens that I fell last week again while running and scraped the other knee and elbow. I am glad that I only have 2 arms and 2 legs because I am done falling! I am now walking a lot and have filled 2 large water bottles to use as weights.

Fortunately one of the small stores near our house carries medical supplies. Neema kindly went for bandages and ointment while I cleaned up. Bandaids are referred to as “plasters” which conjures up a rather scary picture when your skin is scraped raw and bleeding. Even worse, I forgot Neosporin (at Ibrah’s) and Neema returned with Iodine Tincture. I had flashbacks to childhood when my mother applied it to my shin after a mishap during one of my early shaving experiences. OMG that stuff is screamingly painful. I digress…..

I arrived at Jambo Stationery store which was like my second home in 2012 because I frequented it so often. Alice and Stella remembered me and we shared a happy reunion. Almost 2 hours later I completed my tasks and had a bag stuffed full of papers for the Micro-Loan workshop.  

I also carried a bag of items for a Tanzanian family. A friend in Ohio introduced me to Julie, who is Tanzanian and lives in Columbus. Although Tanzania is twice the size of California, her brother and father live in Moshi. I love small world stories. Julie’s brother, Louis, is out of town for the week so I gave the items to one of his staff. Louis will call me upon his return and I will spend a day at his volunteer organization. I am hoping to establish a partnership with TAFCOM.

Even after disbursing my 2^nd bag, the weight of all the papers was too much to make the trip to Soweto so I headed home. Neema and I took an hour walk along the railroad tracks. The roads were full of activity - people carrying their wares on their heads, bikes and motorcycles; children playing in the streams and puddles. The sun was starting to set and Kili was out in full splendor. Except for the first time I saw the mountain with Lee Ann, this was the most beautiful I have ever seen it. This is an ordinary day for those who live here but for me I am overwhelmed with a sense of wonder and reverence for all I experience.

MAY 25, Sunday

First and foremost – HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Lee Ann!!

Neema, Mary and I had all agreed to attend the Lutheran church close by. Neither of them had attended this particular church and it turned out to be quite an experience. As expected, I was the only muzungu in a congregation of over 200. I was quite pleased to see that the minister was a woman. Although I could understand little of what she said, her demeanor was very charismatic. We sat on wood benches with no backs for 2 hours. As the service was coming to a close, the minister asked me to introduce myself. Totally taken off guard, I stumbled through my Swahili stating my name, where I was from and that I was volunteering in Pasua for 2 months.

After the service, the congregation followed the minister outside. One of the assistants had a sack of vegetables. He pulled out a bag of onions and appeared to be selling it. The next thing I know the bag is presented to Neema. Someone bought it for me as a welcome gift. It never ceases to amaze me how many humbling experiences I have with these people.

I talked briefly with the minister and it turns out she has spent time in Iowa, Indiana and Michigan!

I left Mary and Neema at the daladala stand and rode to Soweto. The fitness center is closed on Sunday so I met up with Jenn, the volunteer living at Afrishare (Ibrah’s volunteer house). I was greeted with the biggest hug that lifted me off the ground as I was welcomed by Magembe. He is a student living with Ibrah and Debra. Magembe and Debra were the two people I hung out with the most in 2012 and they both hold a very special place in my heart. We all headed down to Ibrah’s for a visit with the family. We made plans for a pizza party and a game of spoons for next Saturday. I will spend the night at Afrishare with Jenn.

Heading home I felt rejuvenated and eager for the week ahead.

MAY 26, Monday

I woke up at 4am to the sound of rustling plastic coming from the area of my duffle bag which was zipped shut. Inside are my Clif Bars secured in their own zip-lock bag. I was convinced that a mouse had sniffed out the Clif Bars and made his way into snack heaven. Knowing I wasn’t going to deal with this alone I went back to sleep. However before drifting off I chuckled thinking that a great title for this story would be “If You Give a Mouse a Clif Bar”!

I called to Neema as soon as I knew she was up. I was flabbergasted to find a huge cockroach outside my bag near some items I had in plastic baggies. I was planning to spare the mouse’s life but everything changed when I saw it was a cockroach. Neema confidently bashed the creature. We then checked my duffle bag to make sure it was critter-free and carried on with our day which was otherwise pretty uneventful. 

I found a website Fascinating Talking Points about Cockroaches (Who writes this stuff? lol) which provided indispensable facts: "Studies have shown that cockroaches break wind on the average of every 15 minutes. even after death they will continue to release methane for up to 18 hours. In a global scale, insect flatulence is estimated to account for 20% of all methane emissions. This puts the cockroach as one of the biggest contributors to Global Warming. My research indicates that the other major contributors due to gastronomical acoustics are termites and cows." Little did I know that I was helping to save my favorite planet!

On to the work of the day… The final preparations for the Micro Loan workshop were completed. A trip to the local market in Moshi for food and several other errands tied up all the loose ends.