We arrived in Kising’a at about 2pm on Friday afternoon and were immediately greeted by a lovely young woman who shook our hands and warmly said, “Karibu sana.” She then explained that she is a theology intern who will be in Kising’a for the next 9-10months and in particular will be serving the preaching point of Isele in anticipation of their being an independent parish in the future. Her name is Peweni (pronounced paywaynee) and she was with us, along with Pastor Wahali, all weekend long. She served as our interpreter, but also served as a guide and a wonderful teacher of Swahili and Hehe. I couldn’t help but wish that Pastor Jan and Intern Wendy were along to serve as colleagues and role models. I know that there would have been a wonderful connection.
We were served lunch first thing – the most delicious potatoes which were “boiled” whole in vegetable oil. Probably not so healthy, but, oh, they tasted so good! We also had fresh pineapple which we had brought along with us as a special treat for them, but I think that they served most of it to us.
Following lunch we went to check out the well. Dan said that a seal or gasket needs to be replaced so that the pump will work more efficiently. (It probably is working at about 40%.) Dan indicated that it is not a difficult thing to do nor is it expensive, but if it is used much more as it is, it will probably wear the pump out. During their inspection of the well, I met four teenage “girls” (probably around 15 or 16) who stated that they are in Preform 1 which is a level that the Vintons institute in their schools to help the students get a jump on learning English. One of the girls, named Anna, asked if I had a dictionary that I could give her. A fifth girl was in introduced as the head girl and her English was exceptionally clear as was the English of the other four. I explained that several dictionaries were left at the school a couple of years ago and should be available for use by them. As I write this, I wonder if they are still available for use or if they have mysteriously disappeared. (We did not see them when we visited the Kising’a secondary school, but they may have been locked away in a secure place. The Vinton Schools frequently do this when they are concerned about things disappearing. But locking things up make them less accessible for use as well.)
Following the inspection of the well, we headed up to the primary school to show it to Joan and Richard. Everywhere we went we had a group of young children tagging along behind us. Richard amused them with his camera, showing them the pictures of themselves as he took them. At that point we headed up to the dispensary and met the nurse who had retired at least a year ago, who was covering for the other two nurses who were either off for the weekend for a vacation; (likely, b/c it was a holiday weekend) or at a conference. She appeared to be quite busy, but took the time to greet us just the same.
We made a complete circle and saw a large semi in the middle of the main road with a huge caterpillar loaded on the back. Apparently the road to Ipalamwa is being improved at the present time. We arrived back at the house and it was rapidly becoming dark. Dan brought out his computer and put on the movie, “Finding Nemo.” Pastor Wihale asked, “Is this a cartooni?” The adults and children both seemed to enjoy it. Right after the point at which Nemo gets kidnapped, Dan switched the movie to one of the dvds in the BBC series, “Planet Earth.” Again, the adults and children both seemed to enjoy the video and at the point when the first 45 minutes segment was finished, it was again time to eat. Stephano said in Swahili, “After we eat movies again!” He looks much like his father and he, like his younger brother, always seems to have a runny nose. The other matter that concerns me is how small this little guy is. He is now five years old and appears to be no more than 2 ½ or 3! It is either because he is sick much of the time, or poor nutrition, or both. He has really great coordination and motor skills; he’s just very small.
Following breakfast on Saturday morning, the four of us drove with Pastor Wihale, Peweni, and two evangelists over to Kidimuka, one the preaching points. They have now outgrown their church and are in the process of building a new one. They have marked the boundaries of the structure and had started to bring big rocks to the dug-out boundaries of the future walls. They also had many bricks drying at the site. The four of us helped with hauled the big rocks over to the projected foundation site. I was feeling ever so proud of myself because I was able to help carry the boulders; then I looked over at Pastor Wihale and saw the mammoth size boulders he was carrying.
Many of the women greeted us in Hehe. They giggled when I responded to them in Hehe and they started to laugh again when we started hauling rocks. During this time we met a secondary student, Redson, who is a younger brother of Aid Kasenegala. Redson has just completed his Form 4 exams and up to this point had been attending Kising’a secondary school. I pulled him (not literally) out of the crowd, and gestured to the younger children who had gathered and suggested that he help them learn English, citing the fact that school for him must be a constant challenge, because he is not studying in his native tongue, that he might make their future studies a bit easier. The building site is situated on a hillside and overlooks a lovely valley of pine trees in various stages of growth. Prior to leaving this site the group sang to us in the loveliest harmony and we all prayed together. We asked for their prayers because of the drop in numbers in all of the mainline churches in the US.
After visiting the presently utilized parish, we then drove over to the grove of pine trees that they are partially using for the framing of this new church. Another beautiful area which is on the road to Ipalamwa, the trees are situated on a hillside that overlooks fields that are either being planted or are newly planted. Church Members had cut many logs and were in process of milling boards out of them. Everything is so green and beautiful.
We then visited the building site of the future sanctuary for the Madisi preaching point, (Madisi PP is where the pastor’s house is located). No progress has been made at this site since our last visit. Apparently they were told that the funds had been used up, so we will have to check with BegaKwaBega and LCP to get an update on this. After that we stopped at Kising'a Secondary School and met the new headmaster and a women from Idaho who will be teaching English for 4 months in Kising'a. There will be 30 new primary graduates from the church who will be attending preform english classes to prepare them for starting Secondary school in January.
That evening we had dinner at Enne’s house. When we arrived, we were greeted with big hugs and she then showed us the chickens, her ducks and cows. Enne’s animals are very well cared for and the chickens are thriving. She fed us a feast of chicken, avocadoes, rice, and vegetables. When we finished we watched the 8 o’clock news on her television which is solar powered. We then had a conversation about Tumaini, Enne’s daughter. Tumaini had contacted me via email and had inquired about funding assistance with her college tuition. She is in her second year in Dar in education. She has been a good student and therefore has an 80% government loan. I asked Enne if it is indeed true that her daughter could use some assistance and Enne replied, “yes.” I then explained to Tumaini my conditions for us to assist her: to complete the application through the BKB office and that I wanted to be more than a source of financial assistance to her daughter; that I wanted Tumaini to correspond with us regularly, to tell me about her studies and her concerns. That we would in turn share our lives and thoughts and concerns with her and that we could then keep each other in our prayers. I explained to Enne that I wanted her to know, because I wanted her blessing on these conditions. She gave me an affirmative answer that she was okay with these conditions. When our evening came to a close, Enne quietly informed me that she would be sending us on our way with the gift of a chicken for our evening meal on Sunday.
Sunday started out with a very warm bucket shower for all of us. It felt so good to be clean. At breakfast, Pastor Wihale was giving me a hard time for not eating more than one egg. I explained that my cholesterol was high and that many of my father’s relatives died at my age of heart attacks. The son of the district pastor had traveled with his father that morning to help to translate his father’s sermon. His name was Crispo. Crispo listened to my explanation to Pastor Wihale. Pastor Wihale suggested that I eat the two eggs and then run around outside to get some exercise. Crispo immediately asked me, “So, do you think you are going to live forever.” A reminder of what a fatalistic outlook many Tanzanians have! Why practice preventative health when you could easily die of pneumonia or an auto mobile accident, malaria, typhoid, etc.?!
The choir was all decked out in red and yellow kangas that they had made into “robes” that went over their street clothes. They were all made differently, but they were all made of the same fabric. Some of the women had the loveliest headdresses on. We proceeded into the church behind them. Peweni attempted to translate some of the district pastor’s sermon for us. Then Peweni read the letter that Pastor Jan had emailed to me. Dan had googled Swahili translate, so she read the translation afterwards. She had some difficulty reading the Swahili translation, so Dan explained how the translation had been obtained. Realizing how he had done this, Pastor Wihale immediately burst out laughing. He is so jovial and yet he is very sincere and caring as well. He and Richard had a great time together and he made Joan and Richard feel very much at home. He had instructed us to introduce them to the congregation as the true guests because we are no longer guests in Kising’a. We are apparently supposed to think of it as a second home. (Although, they still won’t let us work while we are there!) Following lunch, we had a lengthy goodbye with the church elders and Enne came to Pastor Wihale’s house with TWO chickens – one for us and one for Joan and Richard. Joan and Richard gave theirs to John Mhekwa and Dan and I gave our chicken to Sele, the gardener at the house where we live. John’s chicken was eaten that night and Sele told us that he was going to raise it for the eggs. Apparently he is raising pigs at his grandmother’s place as well. (Prior to leaving for Kising’a on Friday morning, Dan went back to the house for the videos that he had forgotten and when he arrived back at the house he found Sele’s mother here and she told him that she was hungry. Dan gave her some food. I think that the next time that I see her that I will give a small amount of money for food. One cannot help but form a bond with these people and their families. Your heart just breaks when you realize how much we have and how little they have!
Sue
