Kising'a Visit

Sue and I have visited Kising'a more times than we can count and it has become a second home because of the way they welcome us.  When we arrived, Pastor Wihale told us that we were going to stay in a different room this time and took us to a larger room which was nearly filled with the biggest bed I have ever slept on.  Mattresses in Tanzania are generally 6 ft by 3.5 ft and Pastor Wihale built a custom frame to hold two mattresses to make a bed 7 feet long.  I wish I had that bed at home.

We worshiped Sunday in the new Church with a lively crowd.  The choir was preparing for a big choir competition in Iringa which we were able to attend when we got back to Iringa.  They had 26 choirs coming from surrounding villages to perform with each choir having between 40 and 80 members.  Amazing music that went on all day.

The water system that St Paul Partners installed is working great.  There are 5 taps connected to a 10,000 liter tank and we saw a steady stream of people come for water in the morning and late afternoon.  Even with heavy use they were not able to withdraw water faster than the tank was filling.

One family came with a big bucket for mama, a smaller bucket for the older girl and the smallest girl had a water bottle.  It was fun to see her carry it on her head to be like her older sister and mom.

Carrying water up the hill Tanzania style.

The women heat water for us for a bath with one bucket of very hot water and a second of cold.  You can choose your water temp by mixing with the scoop.  The floor of the bath drains out the back so you just wet down, soap up, and rinse off.  The basin is for soapy water and wash cloths.  It feels really good to get a bath after a few days in the village because there is more dust than at home.

Sue and I strip down and take a bath at the same time for efficiency. (Not a pretty picture)

Six nights is a long time for partners to visit their congregations because of the work involved in hosting.  We stay in the pastor's house but the parish rotates church members to do meal preparation.  We try to say we like ugali (corn flour staple that is like mashed potatoes) and beans, which is their standard fare, but they want to give us a full guest treatment with each meal with kuku (chicken), rice or pasta, soup sauce, mboga (cooked greens like spinach) and fresh parachichi (avocados) with almost every meal because they know we like them.  When we asked for a simpler meal with ugali we got the full treatment plus a side of ugali.

Yesina, Pastor Wihale's wife, in the kitchen using the classic three rock 'stove'. Smoke is a real problem, especially for children who are often on their mother's back during cooking.

Kuku (chickens) run loose in the village except for the one in the 'on deck circle' with a string around its leg.  Lunch time, batter up.  Nice to see where those frozen packages in the store at home come from.

Breakfast can have fresh bread made in a Dutch oven, chapati, or fried bananas plus eggs and sometimes potatoes.  This time we had egg chapati which is like a cross between scrambled eggs and a flour tortilla.

They boil small viazi (potatoes) and then lightly fry them in sunflower oil. They were especially good wrapped in an egg chapati with chumvi and pili pili (salt and pepper)

A soccer team in Minnesota donated One World soccer balls to BKB to bring to Tanzania.  They are made of a foam with solid core so they never deflate.  We brought 16 in a large bag and they x-rayed it in customs in Dar es Salaam and wanted us to pay duty.  I was able to talk the officer (a woman) out of it by saying they were zawadi for watoto (gifts for children).  We brought 4 balls to Kising'a, one for each of two primary schools, one for the parish children, and one for the Kising'a team which was presented to the village chairman and members of the team.

Primary students with new One World soccer ball.

We started bringing reading glasses when we started bringing books because they are not available in the village.  People who have trouble reading come and try out different strengths.  Only one person needed glasses as strong as the ones that I use.  Pastor Wihale is a 2.

Yesina Wihale trying out new reading glasses

We brought UV sensitive beads that change color when exposed to the sun.  They are white inside and quickly change to different colors in the sun which fade when brought inside.  It is kind of a fun surprise for people and we made necklaces for Yesina, Anna, and Ester.  They are also useful for their intended purpose to demonstrate chemical change and UV energy.

Yesina with her multi colored necklace.

Kising'a has two village buses now that run on different days, leaving at 4:30 AM and returning from Iringa at 1 PM.  A ticket costs 4500 tsh (about $2) and people can come to Iringa, do their business or bring goods to market, and leave in the afternoon.  I have taken the bus back from Kising'a several times but this was a first for Sue.  The buses start blaring their horn about 4:10.  The horn is very loud and heard all over the village and repeated several times.  Imagine doing this in America.  It is not so bad in the village because most people get up by 5 AM to be in the shamba (farm) by first light.  In fact, there is a 5 AM service almost every day at church for people on their way to the farm.  The bus stops along the way to pick up people and goods for the market which are placed on the roof.  The horn blares every place where there might be someone to pick up.  The money we saved by not having a car come to pick us up was used to transport the choir to Iringa for the competition. 

Sue trying to protect her ears at 4:30 before we got on the bus.  Strangest Florida Tour I have ever been on.  The other bus, which I have taken, is called Vitu Laini which means Smooth Thing.  That bus is even bigger and much older and doesn't quite live up to its name.