Kilengapasi

Last year I went to Kilengapasi with Gary and Carol Langness on Easter Sunday.  When we pulled up I saw that the pastor was Aid Kasenegala who was a sponsored student of ours and it was a pleasant surprise.  I visited again last Sunday but Sue wasn't feeling the best and decided to stay home to rest.  I had planned to take a bus from Ipogoro to Kilengapasi, which is near Kilolo, but Aid thought better of that and arranged a car to pick me up.  It was a wise decision, the bus would have been more difficult than taking a bus to Ilula or Mafinga.

They had two full services and I caught the end of the first after having Chai in the pastor's house.  I think they extended the music program until we were done.

Aid with his wife Ester and daughter Holybless.

The pastor's family had the friendliest cat I have ever seen in Tanzania.  She was up on the chairs rubbing against people and ended up curled up in my lap purring at one point.  After the picture below was taken, she jumped down and grabbed the chapati on the plate and took it to the floor to eat.  Aid did not pay any attention to her so this was apparently normal.

Aid being hugged by his paka (cat)

Services were full and the gentleman in the colorful blanket I found out later was conscripted by the British in 1939 to fight in North Africa in WWII.  He said he served 8 years there.

Church was full for both services

Kilengapasi is also the only church I have seen that has guitars, they were there last year also.  They have an amplifier in the church that they can plug their guitars into and sound great.  Nice to see a little boy with a book, even if it is upside down.

Guitar singing after the service.

There were not many children at Church because it was market day and they were there with their families.  Villages have market day once a month when vendors come in with trucks and lay out a lot of merchandise.  This is also a good time for people to get together in one spot.  It is also a good time to butcher cows because there are a lot of customers and the meat must be used in a few days without refrigeration.

Youth practicing singing after church

  They have been building a bigger church and are already using it for weddings and baptisms even though it needs iron sheets for a roof and finishing.  They need a larger church because this area is growing.

Choir in new church building that needs iron sheets for the roof.

 Last year I learned that they did not have a good source of water and came back with Hanael and Peter from St Paul Partners.  We met with village leaders in the nearby community of Luhanga where St Paul Partners had drilled a well which had not been working for years.  Hanael encouraged them to collect fees and repair the well and I found out that they did this last August and the well has been working very well since.

Old St Paul Partners well from 2006

 The well is a good producer and has very clear water.  They are collecting 100 shillings (about 5 cents) per 5 gallon bucket.  The woman who is monitoring the well said people take about 40 buckets per day and they are collecting about 40,000 shillings a month so some people must not be paying, perhaps more needy ones.  The fees are to be used for future repairs and this is a good thing although some people are going to the river instead because they have little money.  Since the well is a good producer, I suggested they could charge 50 shillings and maybe increase use and still collect as much money.  Ester says that her family uses about 10 buckets per day and this well is still a good walk from the church.  The area farther out is growing and there is a need for another well close to the church.

Well is producing crystal clear water and never goes dry.

 The well is open at certain times and secured with a bike chain and padlock when no one is there to collect fees.  This is a nice example of what we want villages to do for sustainability of their wells.  It is especially nice that they did this without any assistance from us and found their own fundi to repair the well in Kilolo.

Well security to ensure payment for water taken.

Iringa History

Darlene Parker is a Canadian living in Iringa who has been researching the history of Iringa.  She has developed a nice walking tour pointing out many old German and British buildings from the colonial era.  You can see some of the information and photos she has gathered on the Iringa Walking Tour Facebook page.

The tour starts in the Commonwealth War Cemetery  which has 131 graves from WWI and one from WWII.  There are soldiers from British South Africa units and even 16 German graves, three of which were German Navy who ended up in Iringa after their ship, the Konigsberg was sunk on the coast in 1915.

Commonwealth War Cemetery

James McIntyre Fairweather from Scotland with the South African Motorcycle Corps.  My fathers name was James McIntyre

South African Rifles unit with the Springbok emblem, Springboks is now the name of the S.A. National Rugby Team.

The tour continues looking at old German buildings including this one which was a hospital during German occupation before WWI and became an administration building under the British.  This building is being restored and will be opened as an Iringa history museum later this month.  Darlene has other old photos for buildings that are still in Iringa including the main market building.

German Hospital Building

German Gun

The clock tower in a round about on the main road in Iringa has the torch of freedom on top which I had never noticed.  The torch was the symbol of independence in 1961.  Called the Uhuru Torch, it was first lit on top of Mt Kilimanjaro in 1961.

Clock Tower with Torch of Freedom

There were many more buildings on the tour including the Retco bus station which was the Regional Transportation Company descended from the East Africa Railway company which connected trains, buses and ferrys.

The photo below is a gentleman I met at the church in Kalengapasi who belongs on the history page.  I do not know his age (he might not either) but he was conscripted by the British in 1939 and taken to North Africa to fight in WWII.  He served there for 8 years.  There is a monument in the central park in Iringa with names of the Iringa casualties from WWII, all conscripted like this gentleman.

Ilula Nursing School

Sue and I have not hired a car except for the day we went to Kising'a so we took a bus to Ilula to see Dr Saga and the Nursing School.  The bus to Ilula is a nice coaster and a ticket costs 1,500 shillings or about 75 cents. The bus leaves when it is almost full and picks up more on the way. People also load it with goods purchased in town or things like bags of maize that they are bringing to Iringa to sell.  We were sitting in front and I helped pull an older gentleman into the bus who was unable to put weight on his leg.  He sat in front of us and handed me his phone and a voucher card so I could enter the code to add credit to his phone (I think this was difficult for him because of poor eyesight).  Before we left, a young girl, a secondary student, was carried onto the bus unable to walk.  Both got off the bus before we got to Ilula and the girl was put on a motorcycle to take her home.  They probably were returning home after coming to Iringa Hospital.  Happy, a nurse at Ilula who has worked there for 4 years, was sitting next to us on the bus and helped us know where to get off.

Sue with nurse Happy, her personality matches her name.

We had a nice breakfast with Dr Saga at his home.  Dr Saga is retired now and recovering from a very bad accident and is doing well.  His new wife, Anita, prepared chapati, eggs, and milk tea for us and we had a nice visit before going to the school.  He is still using a computer we left with him in 2010 and I helped him with the internet so he could send some emails.  He was unconscious for several days after the accident and he was very pleased to have remembered his email password.

Dr Saga in front of his lovely home.

 We toured the Nursing School and the facility is very nice.  Anifa is a teacher who was acting principal that day and took us around.  She said she did inspections of 5 nursing schools for the government and the Ilula Nursing School has the best learning environment.  The dorms and dining hall are bright and clean and they have a computer lab with 5 computers and a nice library.

Dining Hall at the Nursing School

Part of the Nursing School Library

 The school received some books from a Books for Africa shipment that went to the University.  Books for Africa is based in St Paul and sends millions of donated books to Africa in large shipping containers.  Many books from this shipment were added to the library but many were also deemed not usable for them and were left in boxes.  For example, I picked up one 600 page volume  from the box on Testicular Cancer dated from 1984. Shoulder to Shoulder has also sent books more carefully selected for the library and they have a very nice collection now.

Left over books from Books for Africa.

 A group of Nursing students from Concordia Moorhead had visited the school and brought materials for their training room.  A previous group brought the patient in the photo by bringing body parts in their carry-ons.  Not sure what customs must have thought in Tanzania.  Sue noted a list of a few things still needed.

Patient Model in training room.

Training room with Anifa, who is a teacher for midwifery who came from Ilembula Nursing School.

 Kari Hurley took nice portrait photos last year of each of the 13 nursing students and we brought the framed photos that people might have seen at the Shoulder to Shoulder fundraiser.  Each student got their framed photo with 3 smaller photos and an extra set of small photos was given to the school.  The students were very pleased to receive the photos and I imagine some of them might go to their families back home.

Nursing students with their framed photos we delivered for Kari Hurley.

 The hospital is a ways a way from the main bus stand and we took a three wheeled bajaji from the hospital.  There are a bunch of them running between the hospital and town and a ride costs 500 shillings (25 cents).  We even picked up two extra passengers on the way plus a pail of something going to market.  When we got back to Iringa, we met with Tuli and Rita for coffee.  They were attending a seminar and going to head back to Ilula the way we came.  They both are a lot of fun and I know the medical groups that come in January really enjoy working with them.  I bought a couple cinnamon rolls, thinking they would go well with coffee, but they were reluctant to try them because they thought the frosting looked like cheese.

Sue getting on a bajaji to take us to the main bus stop.

Back in Iringa we met with Tuli (on right) and Rita for coffee.  Both are faculty at the Nursing School.

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.

Kising'a Dispensary

Lutheran Church of Peace collected an offering for medical supplies before we left for Tanzania.  We contacted Yoram when we arrived in Dar and he and Pastor Wihale checked with the dispensary to find out what they needed.  Pastor Wihale met us in Iringa with a list of medications for a 2 month supply and a need for 12 blankets and sheets.  We went to Green Zone Pharmacy and they had the medications.  We did not need prescriptions as long as they are for a dispensary.  The generous donations from Church allowed us to triple their request to provide a 6 month supply.  The dispensary is a government dispensary and they provide medications but not enough so this addition should last more than a year.

Green Zone Pharmacy with a very helpful sales person

6 Months of Medications

We were happy to find out that the dispensary has expanded their staff since last time we were there.  They now have a clinical officer, a registered nurse, a midwife nurse, a medical assistant and four other support staff.  The dispensary serves about 4000 people in Kising'a and Kidamuka.  Kidamuka is a preaching point of the parish which is now a separate village but still part of the parish.  The dispensary sees about 35-40 people per day with about 14 deliveries per month.  The presence of a Clinical Officer means they can treat AIDs patients with antiretrovirals in the village.

Richmond, the new Kidumuka Executive Officer, carrying 60 lbs of medications to the dispensary.

Dispensary staff with medications, Joyce, the Clinical Officer, is the woman with the brown striped sweater.

The gift is from our Church but of course we receive gifts in appreciation as the couriers.

Patients waiting to be seen in the morning, the young girl in front looked very sick.  I would guess malaria with fever.

The dispensary does a good job of record keeping and maintains a top ten list every year.  Diarrhea is markedly down in the areas of Kising'a served by the new St Paul Partners water project. HIV/AIDS is up to 85 but that is because patients remain under treatment for the rest of their lives. URTI is Upper Respiratory Tract Infection and probably the most common issue in the US too.

Sue had a nice 2 hour meeting with women of the parish and Joyce, the clinical officer.  Joyce is the third woman from the left and unfortunately Pastor Wihale's wife Yesina is outside of the photo to Sue's left.  The women had many questions about health; it was an enjoyable evening.

Kising'a Library

Kising'a has a partnership with the Lutheran Church in Sweden as well as Lutheran Church of Peace (LCP) through Bega Kwa Bega and together the three of us have built a nice library/community center in Kising'a.  Pastor Wihale's vision was to use the old church as a library and they repaired the floor, plastered the walls, replaced the windows and doors for security, and put on a new roof with metal sheets and cement given by LCP.  We have been bringing Swahili reading books the last few years and the Swedish partners have provided many primary and secondary textbooks for the library.  The Swedish partners donated a big solar system this year with battery storage and an inverter that converts to 220 Volt AC current for running computers and other devices.

We brought two computers for the library now that they can run them and did 4 days of classes for about 20 young people who have graduated from Secondary school and also some teachers, the agricultural officer, and a VEO (village executive officer).  We worked on computers with them for about 6 hours per day for 4 days.  The computers had a lot of educational content loaded on them including a collection of offline wikipedia articles, math and science videos, health documents, and more.  Sue and/or I have visited Kising'a every year since 2006 and we had more than 1000 photos from these trips in folders by year.  People in the village greatly enjoyed looking at photos and seeing those they know, some from 10 years ago. We also brought BBC nature videos (Planet Earth, Africa, Life, and Blue Planet) which have tremendous video.  People young and old really enjoyed watching them and there are many hours of entertainment ahead.

Sue with Lucy and Bernadetha at TPH Bookshop in Dar.  Lucy and Bernadetha helped us pick out Swahili books for the library.

Sue and Anna stamping books to add to library.  Anna is Pastor Wihale's oldest daughter and is the head librarian.

The Library

 Anna and Sue with the bookshelves.

 We taught computer to about 20 students who have graduated from Secondary School.  Hosea, the young man standing on the left with the grey jacket, was a sponsored student who taught himself electricity.  He installed the solar system and maintains it.

 Primary students come every night between 7 pm and 10 pm to read books and work on their exercises.  Standard 7 students are preparing for their exams which will determine if they are invited to continue in Secondary School.

 We were able to get a cellular signal strong enough for internet but only outside of the building in front of the library. Here we are sending an email from Pastor Wihale and I am holding a copy of the english translation done by the students.  Someone got my hat and put it on my head because we were in pretty hot sun which made it hard to see the screen.  The best time to check internet outside is just as the sun goes down before the bugs are attracted to the lights.

 Watching the BBC Africa video.