More pics/presentation

We plan to give a presentation on our trip March 9 after the 9 a.m. service at Bethany. We hope it will give our congregation and anyone else a good idea what it was like in Tanzania and what some of the needs are in Mbakweni.

Also see a Flickr page for more photos.

Mbakwene Lutheran Church

Here are some views of Mbakwene Lutheran Church. The building was in pretty good shape, but it needs some paint (both exterior and interior),  some plaster work, and floor repair. 

In this pic of the choir, you can see some of the inside of the church, and how the painting isn't complete.

Roads

This was a good section of road!
Here's a common scene on the Pare Mountain roads- a farmer with his goats. You'd see this in many places; the goats were tethered on a rope

A couple more pics...

Just adding a couple more pics from the Sunday service at Mbakwene. First is Pastor Marty preaching the sermon; the second is Pastor Mmbaga conducting the service with some cute kids sitting in front.

Choirs

One of the highlights of the trip for me was hearing the choirs at Mbakwene and others in the Pare diocese. The singers were amazing; Mbakwene had four choirs and each performed while we were there. The songs, sung in Swahili, included both tradtional Lutheran hymns and some with a traditional Tanzanian melody. The choirs filled the church with their combined voices of praise, making such sweet music. It really filled my heart with joy! We made some audio and video recordings of the choir to share with Bethany members. Here's a short one:

Back home in snowy Iowa

We returned to Iowa on Wed. Feb. 6 after a long flight from Kilimanjaro airport. Made it through customs ok, except for a brief dousing of my shoes to prevent any animal disease. After all, I had been around livestock.

Our flight from Detroit to Des Moines was cancelled, so we were diverted to Des Moines. Iowa City had about 10-11 inches of snow; quite a change from the 80+ temperatures in Tanzania. Back to winter coats and boots, and now I can put away my short-sleeve shirts and sandals. Such a different world in the USA, with hot showers, flush toilets, 70 channels of TV, and pre-packaged food.

I brought home a few boxes of Tanzanian tea and made a pot of Chai Bora. Very finely ground tea and very strong- need to mix with lots of milk and sugar. I miss the raw sugar we had- will have to find some here.

Will be posting more pics and reflections later.

Safari!

Just finished with our first day of safai at the Tarangire Game Reserve and we're staying at the Taragire Sopa Lodge at the park. Amazing day! Saw lots of elephants, giraffes, impala, warthogs. Also a few ostriches, dik-diks, and the highlight at the end of the day- two lions snoozing very close to the road. As I'm writing there are some monkeys and hyrax (small rodents) running around just before sunset.

The monkeys are very agressive - one stole a bit of Paula's lunch at a picnic area! We viewed all the wildlife from a open roof Land Rover- took many pictures. Picked up a few souveniers along the way- some tingatinga art and such. Also saw many Maasai and their herds of cattle on the way from Arusha. Still very hot and dry here. Can't believe the trip is almost over! We'll get up at 6 am and go another safari when it's cooler, and then leave for Arusha and go the Heifer International offices, and then head for Kilimanjaro airport.

So much to say....a wonderful trip!

Not able to use computers much, but now we are back in Same after being at Mbakwene and nearby towns for the past week.

Thursday we visited a hospital in Bombo, and were able to view the good work there with HIV/Aids prvention, and . Heard about the palliative care project and had tour of the hospital. Otherwise, the past few days at Mbakwene were great- I stayed in a house w/ solar panels, so I had electricity, so I can charge the cameras. The church service was amazing and were greeted by the choir on our first day-- people are warm wonderful. Singing is such a vital part of their services. We were able get some audio and video and will share when we return. The have bascis needs met, but no income for much else. Lots of needs at the church structure; also water, books for schools, as well as needing a way to generate income.

Been eating lots of great fruit- fresh pineapple, sugarcane, mangoes, bananas, etc, as well as cassava, and potatoes and rice.

On Monday, we wnet on a hike @ 2 miles up the mountian to a cultural tourist area under construction, and then next day to elementary school and high school. We have some pen pal possibilities also.

Am getting in good shape with all the walking! Perfect weather @ 80-85 and cool at nite. Very rough roads to drive from town to town.
Am done with our stay at Mbakwene- sad to leave our friends there. Tomorrow, we will worship at Same Lutheran Cathedral and then travel to Arusah.
So much more to say!! Had to post pics with slow connections...