WE ARE RICH

We are rich.

Yesterday our neighbours were from Germany. Sunday we worshipped with Uniting, Lutheran, Anglican, and Methodist (from UK) visitors at the Anglican church in Kununurra.
During the week we shared campgrounds with people from different parts of Australia. At Gregory National Park we met a couple from the UK and at Keep River National Park we had a chat with a women from the Netherlands.
A week ago we shared at a cottage meeting (Salvos) and fellowship tea at a home in Katherine and in Darwin we enjoyed the African led service at the Salvos.
What a richness there is in interacting with people from such a broad spectrum of backgrounds!

GLASS HALF-FULL or HALF-EMPTY

Glass half full or half empty.
My camera gave up the ghost, one of my walking shoes fell apart 2 kms from the end of the walk and we stayed at an overnight stop where a guy's 'camper van' went up in smoke. But we went walking in some amazing country in Gregory and Keep River National Parks, sat at the lookout at lake Argyle and watched the sun set, saw a couple of freshwater crocs sunning themselves on the rocks by the Ord River, had a Frilled Neck lizard wander past our van at the caravan park, saw a wallaby with a jokey that was so young it didn't even have fur on it yet, got surprised by couple of snakes along the walking track and saw another slithering through the rocks by the rock pool, watched crimson finches flitting about among the reeds, and saw thousands of bats swarming off to find food at dusk.

I can share Graham's (our) camera, I got a replacement pair of shoes for $2 at Vinnies and we are happy, safe and well. All is good.

What a wonderful journey we are sharing together.

Having Fun !!!!

On the road

On the road again.

After spending time with family and friends after returning from Africa we are ‘on the road again’. Leaving Brisbane behind it’s follow your nose, stop where you like and get back to Melbourne by December, or there abouts.

First unscheduled stop – Canarvon Gorge. Intriguing sandstone cliffs that catch the sun, birds twittering overhead, kangaroos grazing here and there, turtles and echidnas for the lucky – us - and platypus if you are lucky - and we weren’t but did try.

Walking tracks throughout the Gorge total over 20 kms until you get to ‘remote’ areas. And we had to try them all except the bluff – too sore! Day 2 we walked through the main gorge with its majestic white sandstone cliffs and into a dry deep amazing gorge, a couple of lush cool beautiful gorges, saw cliffs with aboriginal art on them, huge king ferns, very tall straight spotted gum, crossed over 40 water crossings (rocks to walk on provided), and stopped on the hour for food and water. Nine hours later we were done – in more that one sense.
There’s got to be a morning after – and there was. It was quite comical as we moved slowly, discovering muscles in our backs, legs and feet that we didn’t know existed! Lesson, better walking shoes, better backpacks and more ‘training’. But definitely worth the pain!
PS. Had 2 great overnights stops on the way up. Chinchilla weir – a lovely peaceful ’lakeside’ stop with power and toilets for free, (max 2 nights). And a convenient stop at Injune $12 – all usual facilities provided PLUS we had Telstra internet reception.

Zambia

How good to catch up with friends. Jim and Marion and Pete and Emma at Lusaka and Deryn and Anthony at Chikankata. Jim and Marion were great to us providing us with a base for our month in Zambia and taking us to Chikankata and then Livingstone where we visited Victoria Falls and Chobe Game Park. Both were amazing experiences - as was our eventful stay in Livingstone. In Lusaka and Chikankata we again enjoyed interacting with the African culture. Enjoying the rural setting of Chikankata and the markets and day trips from Lusaka.
What did I take with me from our visit to Zambia.
An awareness of
- The friendliness of the people
- The desire of these people to make their world a better place.
- The vast divide between rich and poor.
- The great pain that AIDS has brought to the people of Zambia.
- The many children with only grandparents or relatives left to care for them.
- Again the ability of people to find a way to earn money even if it is only a small amount from our perspective.
As we leave Africa I know that in time I will process my experiences and will be changed because of them.

The wonders of modern technology.

Glimpses of Africa 4 The wonders of modern technology!

The internet. It is our lifeline here to the rest of the world. It is part of life in western countries. Here it is still a dream for most people. Electricity isn’t even available to many of the areas of Mbeya – the city in Tanzania in which we are staying. In the rural areas it is hardly even thought about. This morning ladies came to the college to get water from the supplies here. Filling up their large buckets and carrying them away on their heads. What percentage of this city has running water I am unsure.
So is it any wonder that the young adults, most of them in their mid-twenties or over, who come to this college are starting from scratch with computers and have never sent an e-mail in their lives. What a privilege Shukrani college has to offer students experience in important skills for the business world of today.
But we see the struggle of students trying to master skills in IT when they have never touched a computer until their adult years. They can’t go home or back to their rooms and practice as most could never think of affording such equipment. But these are intelligent capable adults and young adults who are pursuing an education that will give them better opportunities in life.
As Graham struggles to teach an accounting package to these students on computers that are old by our standards and as we give them the opportunity to send some emails on a very slow Tanzanian internet, we are encourages that they are learning and be exposed to things which we in the ‘west’ take for granted.There are a couple of students who have good computer and IT experience and some who have exposed themselves to the very slow internet cafes that you can find in this part of Tanzania.

Food Glorious Food!!!

Glimpses of Africa 4 Food Glorious Food!!!

Pizza, Chinese, Sizzling steak ….yes we have eaten these in Mbeya. Even a cappuccino! But these are the exception rather than the rule. We have also had cooked green banana stew I guess you could call it, from one of the market ‘restaurants’and delivered to the college. And at the local market ‘food hall’ we have eaten chippsies and tomato, and chipati – like pancake - and chai, and mandasi, (I’m sure I’ve spelt that wrong!) – like donut.
We have shared the hospitality of teachers and their families in their homes. Much of the cooking has been done on charcoal burners. Rice, boiled potatoes, vegetables such as peas, beans, pumpkin leaves and finely ground nuts, or tomato and onion salad and also some meat like chicken, goat or beef or a meat stew, have been prepared for us and we have been very appreciative of this. Depending on the area you originate from in Tanzania you may prefer rice, Ogali – made from maize flour, or cooked green bananas as the staple food. Rice is easily available in Mbeya and has been offered at every home we have visited. The meal has usually finished with fruit. At the moment bananas seem to be abundant.
Tanzanians don’t seem to snack on food as we Aussies do. They do have their takeaways here but they are not McDonalds or KFC. The many roadside cooks who ‘BBQ’ bananas or maize, or cook hot chips (chippsies) and perhaps combine them in a frypan with a beaten egg to make chippsies mayo, or the children or women who sit by the road selling Mandasi or other yeast based fried breads, these provide an abundance of takeaways. You can also buy small packets of shelled raw peanuts, sometimes popcorn or other local snacks from the young men trying to make a little money to keep them going.
A trip to the market exposes you to this and much more.

Glimpses of Africa 3 United in Christ

United in Christ.
Church and Sundays go hand in hand for the half of the population of Tanzania that are Christian. Its what you do! From the small Corps in the tin shed at Kipunguni to the large Moravian church the has 2 congregations of over 300 on a Sunday morning or the AOG style church with its keyboard, guitar and singers whose African service is translated from English into Swahili, there is joy and sincerity in their worship. We have worshipped in 5 different congregations since arriving in Tanzania – 3 Salvation Army, 1 Moravian, and 1 AOG style. Each has accommodated us as English speakers with a translation of some form.
In Mbeya you walk, catch a crowded bus (daladala) or if you are one of the privileged few - drive to church. It seems like Sunday mornings is one of the busiest times to be out. (Mbeya doesn’t have many Moslems even though half of Tanzania’s population is Moslem.)
Singing, (including a number of choirs per service), with beautiful harmony, perhaps with a choir leader and a drummer, have featured in most of the worship we have enjoyed. Some of the singing, especially at the Moravian church, included old hymns sung in Swahili and in the Winners Church (AOG), they sang one chorus, (He is a Mighty God), in English. The choirs on a number of occasions danced from their seats to the front where they sang as they moved together to the music.
Tanzanian preachers are animated, and if amplified, can be quite loud. The expectation is for long sermons and longer services than we are used to. Last week we had a 3 ½ hour service, the longest we have experienced here. The first hour was just music – probably partially to give people time to arrive. There are no bus timetables here. The bus runs when it is full. People walk varying distance to get to their church. As with us they may pass near a number of other churches before they get to their’s. And there area an abundance of churches of all sizes and varieties here in Mbeya. A walk around our small block takes you past 4 plus a mosque. And there are many more nearby.
Prayer is alive and vibrant in these churches. A number of times in the service, and this was across denominations, everyone would pray fervently at the same time. This was for a number of reasons I guess, but I noticed that when praying for others this was often the case. Each would pray their own prayer, and a loud muddle of words but clear and sincere requests, no doubt, would be wafting up to God at these times. Life is fragile here. Daily food is not guaranteed. Worship and thankful praise are part of life.

The Retail Fix !

The retail fix.

We've just been for a walk to the market a block and a half away. We buy 4 carrots at 100 Tanzanian Shillings each, (about 10c ea), from a seller we haven't bought from before. Luckily between us we are able to communicate with a little English, a little Swahili and some sign language. As we wander we smile at those who catch our eye. Ladies adorn the edges of the unsealed road with their square metre or two of space to try and sell a few vegetables to those who pass by. We pass many but will we buy peas and from whom? Eventually we are lured by the seller of some fresher looking peas. 100 shillings for enough for the 2 of us for tea. She has made a sale. We try to communicate. They laugh, we laugh as we enjoy the transaction. Not often that you make a sale to a mzungu (white person). Now to find the children selling fried cakes of dough that vaguely resemble donuts. 100 shillings each. I buy from one of the girls and Graham from another. We say, "Asante sana" (thankyou very much) as we walk off with our donuts which have been hygienically placed in pieces of newspaper with a fork. We also need tomatoes. Our favourite saleswoman has provided us with good quality tomatoes often and so we visit her again. Her friends laugh as we try to communicate. Knowing that her tomatoes are 200 shillings for 4. We make our usual purchase and thank her, "Asante sana". As we wander the short distance back to Shukrani some schoolboys greet us. They are standard 7, ( year 7 primary school). We converse briefly with them in English and wonder whether we will be their topic for show and tell tomorrow. We wander the remaining distance along the potholed road. Chooks scratch around in the rubbish on the corner, bikes and people share the road unless a car or the occasional truck wants to get through. Another successful visit to the market.

A Trip to the mountains - an hour and a half away.

A drive in the country.

The major highway is sealed and busy. Busy because it not only services cars, 4WD vehicles, trucks and buses but motorbikes or scooter, bicycles, lots of pedestrians, and handcarts. The horn can be a useful accessory for your vehicle here. Along the side of the highway crops of maize, beans, tomatoes, potatoes etc are growing in unfenced plots and in some cases being harvested.
As we leave the main highway we leave the sealed roads. Luckily it isn't the rainy season or some of the roads, which today the 4WD navigates, would have been the topic of fervent prayer. The two bridges on our route are only recent additions and stories are told of hours spent stuck in mud, of water invading the passenger section of the vehicle, of women praying as the driver passed through the waters. (The promise of 'the Lord our God to be with us' comes to mind here) We pass through farming areas observing the mud brick houses that are well laid out and tidy with brush or corrugated iron rooves and crops in neat rows. Individual or small groups of cows, goats, sheep, and chickens are all part of the scenery. We notice some different crops, coffee and pyrethrum. The white daisy like flowers of pyrethrum being harvested nearby.
Occasionally we pass through a town with its more dense collections of houses, small dukas (shops), and increased pedestrian and animal traffic. The women, always in traditional dress, are often carrying something. (Women carry the wood, the water, the groceries, the clothes....men, well they push wheelbarrows or carts sometimes). The men are in trousers and shirts. The many children are watching all that is happening, its unclear who they belong to unless they are babies (mtoto) on their mother's backs. Utes, trucks and 4WDs are often loaded up with passengers. Our own vehicle, a 4WD ute, had about an extra 12 passengers in the back as we headed back to Mbeya after our day out, the sky darkening as the sun went down.

A month? .... NO only a WEEK ! ! !

A month. No only a week!!!
Travel and more travel. Four different 'homes' in one week.
Johannesburg - smooth transition, one night stay, good service, safe location. Stone Town Zanzibar - hot and sweaty, narrow streets, Jambo!!!(hello) called at us from everywhere, a candlelight dinner by the sea on the evening before Valentine's Day.
Jambiani Zanzibar - white sand, blue water, swimming, walking, poor fishing village, friendly locals, fruit and fish, cold showers, relaxing, fun, the start of understanding the culture.
Dar es Salaam - large city, good sized Salvo compound, welcoming (karibu), enjoyable Sunday worship at Kipunguni Corps (small poor corps), prawns garlic, early start for 12 hour bus ride. Bus trip - many small villages, drop toilet, glimpse of lions, zebra, giraffes, elephants, roadside stalls.
Mbeya - rainy arrival, good meal and warm welcome from David and Chris, more than adequate accommodation.

A Dream Come True

A dream come true

This time next week Graham & I will be enjoying the seaside village of Jambiani in Tanzania! WOW! It will be humid and hot but we will be fulfilling part of our dream.
After a few days there and in Dar es Salaam we will head for our home for the next 8 weeks, Shukrani Business College at Mbeya, Southern Tanzania. We will be involving ourselves in ways that Major Chris Watson, the principal, believes will be helpful for them. This part of the dream isn't about enjoying a holiday but engaging with people of a different culture in their setting, serving them and learning from them. I hope I won't make too many culturally inappropriate blunders! (I'm probably quite capable of that even in my own culture.) We are grateful to them all for allowing us to be part of their lives for a short while. As for the next few days...... The list of 'to dos' is tooooo long and the excitement (and a degree of anxiety) is beginning to set in.
A few more days of goodbyes in Victor Harbour and Melbourne and we are on our way.
The more difficult realisation is that our daughter Cheryl will have left for another few years of learning and ministry in China by the time we get back. Regardless I thank God for her and her willingness to be responsive to God's direction for her life.

Two Peas in a Pod

Well not quite, but 2 people in a van sometimes seems as cosy – or uncomfortable as 2 peas in a pod. The advantage of the van is that we have a wonderful living room extending beyond our awning as far as we wish to imagine and new scenery on our walls as often as we move. Plus our neighbours change regularly keeping life interesting. We have not really had to face the cosiness of caravan living yet. Lynda, my sister-in-law and her husband have been within walking distance of our van. Their home has provided us with an ‘internet café (with a cappuccino machine), a Laundromat and air conditioned comfort ,(escape from extreme heat.) Not really a fair measure of life in a caravan for 2 for a month. However life will change in late May when we return from Africa. Me sleeping in/Graham getting up early; where will the golf clubs live?…; what about when Graham has his afternoon nap after his early golf game…; who’s turn is it for the computer..; windows open or closed; ….At the end of this year we will still love one another but will we still like each other?

The journey begins.

Here we are in Victor Harbour unwinding from the holiday we had packing, cleaning. sorting and fortunately spending time with family. The later kept us sane.
Due to inconsiderate inlaws we were unable to park the caravan at their house. (They have moved to a retirement village.... is this a way of keeping us a little further away? - not really, just the way things work sometimes) So we are enjoying a quiet, unpressured time in Adare caravan park in Victor. Walking distance to Graham's sisters and her cappucino machine and a short drive to his parents. The bicycle has had a test run in the park and still works after a 12 month non-use period. Yesterday was the first longish walk into Victor to window shop for a bike for Graham - fruitless exercise - no bicycle shops in the main shopping area. I may have to dink him! What a picture that would make. Leave you with that for now