When life gives you lemons...

JUNE 27, Friday

Each morning I spend time either writing or working on the computer. This morning as I sat down, the power went out within 5 minutes. Our voucher has expired. The compound I live in is steadily filling with tenants. One of the newer families shares electric with us and it was their turn to buy the voucher. I was hopeful that the electric would be on when I returned from TAFCOM. My computer is old and the battery is rather worthless with a very short life.

When I walked into TAFCOM today a young teen-aged boy was sitting in the office. Nie and Jonas asked if I recognized him. I could not even guess. It was John, a 14 year old I met in 2012. When he was 9 he broke his leg. His father did not seek medical treatment and the leg became infected. John had his leg amputated at the knee. An American couple has been providing the funds for a new leg each year as he is still growing. Along with Nie and Jonas I accompanied him in 2012 to get his new leg and then bought him shoes from the second hand market.

John lives about an hour away so there is no way I would ever have expected him to be in Pasua. He is spending his school break with Nie and Jonas. John got his new leg at KCMC this year and it is much better quality than in the past. He needs shoes again so I will go to Memorial market on Friday.

John enjoys school and is learning English. Since I had finished organizing the teacher resource shelf earlier in the week, John and I were able to find some books in English for him to read during his time here. The books are very young for a teenager but he started school late and the fact he is willing to read them is very encouraging.

There was a generous donation made for Micro-Loans. Nie visits families almost weekly and she identified 6 families that would most benefit. Today we were visiting 4 of those families that lived near the center. The first two women share a stand and I pass them every day going to and from TAFCOM. Janet sells fruit juice but her goal is to expand her decorating business. She put up the tent and decorated for Lynn’s event. Because she has limited funds Janet must rent the materials and is selling the juice to save money to purchase her own materials. A Micro Loan will definitely help kick start her event business.

Hadija is the mother of 4. Her husband left her for another woman and does not provide support. Janet and Hadija’s stand is in an open area where a crowd of kids play. They are one of the groups I refer to as my “mini paparazzi”. I learned that her two youngest boys are among these children so they were delighted to see me and loved it that I took their pictures.

After tearing away from the kids, we moved down the road to meet with Zainabu. She had come to the office a couple weeks ago requesting assistance. She is a single mother of 4 who operates a fruit and vegetable stand. She was living with her sister but a money conflict resulted in Zainabu having to leave. She is with friends until housing is found. One of the challenges with moving is that landlords expect 3 months rent up front which is a hardship for many.

As Nie was explaining how TAFCOM would help with a Micro Loan, I could see the gratitude fill her eyes and face. She was so visibly expressive I felt like I could see into her soul. I am so fortunate to experience these types of encounters that touch me so deeply.

Deborah’s story is heartbreaking. A very pretty young woman of 25, Deborah discovered she was HIV+ when pregnant with her first child. The father left when he became aware of her pregnancy and HIV status. Sadly, the baby contracted HIV while in utero and died at birth in February of this year.

The other two people who would receive the Micro Loans included Hendry who we visited before. He has the 18 month old daughter who comes to the center while he works. The other woman was attending a funeral and will come to the office next week when she returns. All recipients were asked to come in on Monday to receive their loans, fill out a contract and review some business tips. They will also receive a business manual and accounting ledger.

I ended the day by visiting the teachers to see what they had planned for the next week. I was able to provide them with a number of tools from the resource shelf and cabinet. It brought back many fond memories of my times working in the library at my kids’ elementary school as I reflected on an efficient strategy for cataloging and designing a check out system that will be easy and efficient.

Lynn and her group come off the mountain today and we all met up at Indo-Italiano again for a farewell dinner. They fly back to the states Saturday evening. Lynn requested copies of the Upper Level Children’s profiles and some class pictures. My plan had been to take care of this in the morning so when I returned home this afternoon and there still was no electric I was a bit concerned. Neema said the woman who was getting the voucher would not be home until 6pm. I was being picked up at 6:30 to go to dinner. I was a bit frustrated but could make arrangements to see Lynn on Saturday if necessary.

Neema sensed my frustration and I explained the phrase, “When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.”  The tailoring women are ready to sew the items I am bringing home so Neema, Mary and I spent part of the afternoon planning the best use for each piece of material. I had purchased 10 pieces of material. I was so glad to have their help because it was a daunting task which I kept putting off because of my indecision.

With no electricity and time on my hands I decided it was also time to pamper and clean my feet. I mostly wear flip flops and the combination of mud, dust and dryness transforms ones feet into foreign looking objects. Using lotion or sunscreen adds another dimension since it acts almost like an adhesive or dust magnet.

My feet had not been truly dirt free since the swim at Chemka Hot Springs. I put some water in my shower bucket, added soap and got out my loofah. After much soaking and scrubbing, and probably the loss of a few layers of skin, I once again remembered what feet are supposed to look like. I lathered my feet in lotion and oils, and put on socks. My feet felt great. Perhaps I missed my calling as a pedicurist! I also couldn’t help but think how this gave me an entirely new perspective on the biblical stories of washing other’s feet and a special empathy for Mary Magdalene.

Jonas came through with a short term voucher for electricity. Power returned at 6:15 and I hastily loaded my flash drive for Lynn. Nie had a toothache and so Jonas and I headed to the restaurant. We had reserved a large table and the restaurant was quite crowded. It took 2 hours for us to get our food! The food was excellent as always although by the time we were served anything would have been delicious.

JUNE 28, Saturday

As much as I dislike shopping, I enjoy wandering the streets of Moshi. One item on my To Do list was to find a specific thread that is used for braiding bracelets. I visited multiple stores with no success. Finally a woman told me she knew where I could find the thread and walked with me at least 3 blocks to the store’s location. Later when I shared this story with Jenn she reiterated the same experience looking for whistles. It is astounding and refreshing how people will go out of their way to help others.

I decided to go to Soweto to see who was around. I had a rain jacket for Mussa that I thought would be useful for a guide or porter when climbing Kili. He was very appreciative and I found $10 in one of the pockets. I spent some time with Mussa and his wife looking at their wedding pictures. He also gave me an extra as a keepsake. Jenn was gone so I went to see if Debra was home. She was not feeling well so Ibrah had taken her to the clinic. Dennis and Moody were watching the baby. I hung out with them and we planned another attempt at spoon fighting for this upcoming Friday night. They were open to the idea of my bringing Neema and Mary.

Riding home on the daladala I noticed a sticker on the front windshield which said, “This car is protected by the mood of God.” I am sure something was lost in the translation but I could not help but chuckle and hope that God was in a good mood!

Game Night concluded a very pleasant day. As always we played Phase 10 but also had so,e laughs over our own version of tongue twisters. I have a difficult time pronouncing a number of Kiswahili words. Many have multiple syllables with up to 4 and 5 syllables of two letters (consonant, vowel, consonant vowel, etc). I frequently flip syllables. Neema and Mary help me practice pronunciation and I have been thinking of tricky English words like aluminum and anonymous for them to learn. It is a silly game but then we are easily amused.

The electric went out again this evening but only in our rooms. The hall light was fine. This was of no use to anyone. The landlord was called and fixed it rather quickly. These last few days have been a real test of my patience.

JUNE 29, Sunday

The short term voucher that Jonas purchased for electricity ran out this morning. Fortunately the neighbors were not gone long and we only lost a few hours. No electricity was the motivation I needed to take a nice, long run. I spent the majority of the day catching up on my To Do list.  

I joined Nie, Jonas, and their son, Jovin for dinner at Deli Chez. This is a favorite restaurant in town. They have an upstairs that is open to the outdoors on one side. The view of life in Moshi town is great and Kili was even out for a while. The menu is huge and covers ethnic dishes form many countries. I am a creature of habit when I eat here because they have an Indian dish I love called Saag Paneer. It is a combination of cooked spinach with cottage cheese cubes and Indian spices. I was not disappointed.