Reflections - January 1-24, 2010

Because we arrived ahead of everyone else, we are finding our way around Iringa with a different set of eyes. Many of the wood dukas (shops) downtown are gone or have been replaced by more solid structures. With that has often come new tenants and the challenge has been to find the ones we were used to buying from. Maasai Row, the shops along the post office road, has also been torn down and with it Iringa seems to have lost a piece of it’s uniqueness. We understand and accept that Iringa wants to become more modern and is working to change it’s image but it is sad to see something we have identified with since our first visit in 1995 gone. Many of the shops have moved a few blocks away, across the main street, but we haven’t found them yet. We now have 3 “walk-in” grocers – 2 with shopping carts. These places are really no larger than a 15” x 20” room so it it is entertaining to watch others use a cart. The vegetables and fruits are as wonderful as ever and this year there are even more options. In the market, I have seen broccoli, cauliflower, egg plant, sweet potatoes, oranges, etc. Jo, the manager of the Lutheran Center, introduced me to signing up for a “vegetable box” which is food raised by a local, mostly organic farm – Australians. We received our first box the other day and it contained strawberries, corn on the cob, baby carrots, sweet peas, green beans, broccoli, bak choi, egg plant, 2 kinds of squash, cherry tomatoes, leeks. I have been challenged to find recipes to cook all of these wonderful items. I ordered 10 chickens through a source and they ended up being about 3-5 lbs. each. We were used to getting less than 1 lb. chickens so the group thought they were in heaven the other night when I baked one and made mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, stir-fried cabbage and carrots. Through Jo, I also got eggs – large ones – not the typical “slightly larger than a marble” ones. I have been making banana bread and my goal is to learn how to make regular bread while here.

I wanted to sew the other day and realized I had not brought any “straight pins/quilt pins. I discovered here that they are called office pins and you purchase them in a stationery store. Stationery stores are everywhere here but they have little to offer and so you have to go around from one to the other until you find what you wantI brought along a little sewing machine – Singer Pixie Plus which weighs about 2 lbs. and is plastic but works like a charm! I’m hoping to make coverlets for all the beds and some variation of curtains for windows where they are missing. . And, you can even get limited HP printer ink cartridges now! We bought a microwave as our Christmas present to each other and I now have an office chair with rollers as my birthday present.

Last Sunday, we attended church at Nduli, our companion congregation. Pastor Laiton asked us to be there by 8:30 – he wanted to show us around and talk about the progress with all the gifts from CTK this past year. Beehives have been built and placed in the forests, we saw the water tank, piglets, goats. The children all had t-shirts on that said Christ the King and Nduli. The group visiting in February will get to see them – they are very proud of them! The corn is up and this week they are planting the beans. Pastor Laiton has a large pile of rocks in front of the parsonage and is planning on building a new parsonage as the cracks in the original house are getting larger and the house is becoming less safe with time. Emilianna, his wife, looks good and is feeling much better and expressed her thanks for the funds provided for her medical trips to Dar. Lydia, their youngest daughter was there as well as Alin, who returned to school this week in Form III. Ndelwa, the treasurer and one of the evangelists, sat with Roger and I and helped us through the service. Owiny Request, the theology student intern, from last year did the sermon and the new intern conducted part of the service as well. Both had lunch with us at Laiton’s, then rode back into town with us. It was wonderful to see all again, especially the tiny older lady (never have found out her name) – she was so excited to see us and gave me a huge hug! Four different choirs sang during the service. Pastor Laiton is hoping to lay the cornerstone at Kipululu when the CTK group is here in February and is hoping to finish Inging’lanyi and have the dedication. Roger has hired the members of Mgongo preaching point, under the direction of Pastor Laiton, to do the weeding at the Tumaini Institute of Agriculture, Mgongo farm so they are earning extra money to do some repairs and finish additional projects at Mgongo preaching point.

We went to the Iringa Christian Fellowship church today, Jan. 17. We visited there in 1996 and 2001 with Arne and Mary. The members are mostly Brits and Aussies and the service is in English – with each of them taking turns doing the sermon. We were re-introduced to Liz and Jobst DeLeyser and Richard and Victoria Phillips as once they heard our names, they asked about Arne and Mary. Dan and Sue McIntyre, who are here for 6 months, having arrived last weekend, with Don Fultz and Gary Langness, attended with us. It was good to meet some of the people we have met in the past and to make new acquaintances. Suzie and Andy ?, managers of Neemah’s, the craft shop operated by all handicapped people were there as well.

Tonight we had dinner at the Lutheran Center with the group that came with Dr. Randy Hurley and will be at Ilula Hospital. Emily Grimshaw, who grew up in New Brighton and now lives by Gary Langness was in the group as well as Tara ?, the nurse the CTK group met in 2008. The other day we were with the Gustavus Adolphus student nurse group – they come ever year during J term and spend time at several dispensaries in the area.

I have been spending a lot of time at the Lutheran Center advising the manager and accountant and also auditing the financial statements for 2009. As a result of a few questions, most of the months have been revised and I am hoping to present them to the management advisory committee on Tuesday with a recommendation that an audit be conducted again this year. The new accountant is just out of university and very eager to learn so it is a delight to work with her.

Roger has been busy getting everything organized and planned out with the Ibrahim and Gabriel and this past week, they started their visits to the companion villages, delivering beans and fertilizer. There are 10 villages in their second year and 10 being the first year and Roger says there is a very big difference in the enthusiasm of the participants, the first timers obviously being more inquisitive.

Tomorrow, Bega Kwa Bega and the Diocese begins the schedule of delivering food to several villages. Many congregations and individuals in the St. Paul Area Synod have generously contributed the funds. Don says that each individual will get about 10-15 kilos (5 gal. bucket) of maize. I am looking forward to the adventure and serving as a volunteer in this capacity. I think we are going to 3 villages this week and 3 next week as well after the Augustana group arrives this weekend along with Eunice Fultz and Carol Langness. See the Food Distribution document for details on this experience. The next project will be delivering textbooks to the diocese secondary schools.

We recently heard that Iringa now has a population of almost 450,000, and we have been telling everyone that they were around 150,000. They are expecting another 3-4 universities to locate here and housing projects, hotels, etc. are expected as well. A new highway is being built from Mikumi National Park, past Iringa to Mbyuni. The hill along the road up to Iringa Town has been blasted and a new road should be completed as well soon. There is also a large water project going on in Iringa and there are two large piles of pipes near our apartment.

A new dining adventure – the house that Arne and Mary and Gary and Carol Langness used to live in is now a restaurant. It sits up the hill from where we are living and the view is incredible – looking out over the valley. We have been up there to eat several times – it is quite strange sitting in the “once” living room and having dinner. They do have quite an extensive menu and the food is good – the cook is actually the cook that left the Lutheran Center when the re-organization occurred last summer.

Gary and I found most of the Maasai vendors – in temporary wood structures along one of the roads going out of town!

Sunday, January 24 – we have spent most of the day trying to catch up on things – me mostly in the kitchen and doing a little financial review and Roger working on financial reports. That of course led to a discussion as we tend to run our questions, concerns, comments by each other either for reinforcement or clarification. After two trips downtown yesterday for food and other items, I realized how nice it is to go to a fully stocked grocery store and in a car. However, the exercise is good!

How’s that dishwasher working? Boiling the water and then doing the dishes by hand doesn’t quite fit the scenario and we seem to be creating quite a few every day so I have “dishpan” hands. Guess I should quit cooking for the gang – currently 7 of us. Yesterday and today as I was soaking vegetables and fruit in water with a little bleach and then in boiled water that has been run through a filter, I was thinking about the bags of vegetables that we buy at home and put in the microwave. The vegetables are wonderful here but it really is going back in time and needing time for preparation. Each time we grumble about something, we then say – “you know, it would be pretty boring in Arizona!”

Life is good – God is doing marvelous things and we are glad that he has led us in the direction of serving our brothers and sisters in Tanzania. Every day we meet up with someone we have met here before and they are so excited to see us back and, we them as well. You realize you know you are where your heart is.

A busy week is coming up with working on getting student scholarships paid to the schools, food distribution and Roger will be wrapping up the first round of visits to all the 2009 and 2010 companion village demonstrations plots, delivering the beans for planting as well as fertilizer for the second application to the corn.

GUIDED BY THE GOSPEL: GATHERING • GROWING • GIVING