Heidinafrica’s Blog

The 4 students I gave you bios of:

Judith (or Judy)

Ombeni

Mauyo (or Frank)

And Sophia

I have told several people recently that now that I am back at home, I find it difficult to write on the blog. It isn’t just about finding the time to sit and write (which is already an issue) but I also find it difficult to be creative when I sit to write to you, my faithful traveling companions. So, as you already know, I haven’t posted anything in a long time – and nothing much in written form since arriving in Kennewick.

I’m sure there are several reasons behind the block of creative juices. First, you all know the life here – what’s to write about?!? Second, time has become such an expensive commodity, even when I am working hard (successfully in several cases) to change my patterns. And probably most importantly, I think my muse was in Tanzania! But, here I am this morning!

When I drove past the front of my own church yesterday afternoon, something I don’t do very often as I arrive from the back, the sign board surprised me: “Welcome Back from Africa, Heidi!” I chuckled but also, of course, found it completely unnecessary and was very humbled by the sign. Our reader board sits on one of the busiest streets in the TriCities. And there was my warm welcome home for everyone to see. Dan told me to just let the people shower me with love – which is true and I should have learned about that over my 3 months in Tanzania. But it does feel different here – especially in such a very public spot.

My welcome home has been every bit as warm as my welcome to my new home in Tanzania was. In some ways, even a bit nicer since the people here know me so well and know some of the things that really touch my heart. I have received so many hugs and smiles from so many people, young and old. What a great gift! A huge sign from the high schoolers and a basket of all the things I was missing in TZ greeted me in my home the moment I walked in the door – a basket put together with such love by people who know what I like and what I have missed! The little children have been especially loving – big smiling hellos and tight hugs. Everyone loves my shorter hair, loved the blog, was thrilled I spent time in TZ and wants to hear more about the school, the country, the people, and my time there, And I haven’t even talked about Pastor Dan, who is thrilled to have his ministry companion back and finally drop some of the multitude of responsibilities he has had over these 3 months, back on the desk of the person who had left him hanging! The general theme this week, my first week back in the office, has been “Heidi’s home!” I have felt loved, cared for, and have shed some more tears! What a great way to come back.

And I am taking it slow in getting back to a routine – a routine I intend to be a new one, not a return to the old ways of doing life. I want to have a bit more breathing room – room for self, for God, for relationships that matter. I want to waste less time on TV. I want to be better to my body. I want to read more. So, I’m working on that. I’ll pick up new responsibilities at church and let some of the previous ones stay with others. Pray for me!

Thanks to all those in my own congregation who have welcomed me home so very lovingly. You are such a gift!!

What do the TLS students do each day?  Well, they learn …

They work (hard) 

They play (this is a netball game)

They enjoy conversation (often while working… this is winnowing)

 And they eat. 

 Course they also worship, study study and study, and sleep a little too! 

But, you get the “picture”!!

Here are some of the people I spoke about regularly in the blog this past 3 months.  I will keep adding photos and do let me know if I put too many in any single post.

This is Irene.  She is standing in one of the corridors at the school.  Notice she does NOT have on a uniform, like all the students must wear, and that she has long hair (extension, which are VERY common).  She was pretty excited to not have to be like the students anymore!  In fact – PANTS – wow!  But jeans were never  what I would have wanted to wear – far too hot!

This is Philorian and his family in their home in Ifakara at the Diocese compound.  His wife Rachel is a last year nursing student and he has one son, Leslie.  Just gotta add – doesn’t it look like Philorian is about to answer his cell phone?!  The cell (or sim they call it) is one of his favorite pieces of equipment and he uses it ALOT!

This is Aida in our kitchen preparing mboga, vegetables.  As one of my daughers said, she looks like a beautiful Africa woman – and she is!

This is Freda, our cook during the week.  She is sitting on a little stool that has a rounded metal scraper attached used to shred the coconut out of its shell.  She made great meals!  She is sitting in the more-oft used kitchen, the little outdoor area just outside the kitchen door.  In the background, in front of her “car” (that’s a bicycle in most of TZ!) is the little charcoall burning stove used to cook almost all of our meals.

And this is Charlie, the gardner/technician, doing what he frequently was doing, thrashing the grass, this time in the courtyard of the house (only this photo was poised, not caught while he was actually doing it or you would see grass flying!).  There aren’t any lawn mowers.  He tried a push mower that the school has, but it didn’t work very well on the grass around the house. 

Those are some of the amazing people I was surrounded by during my Tanzanian stay!  More again soon!

The day before leaving Malinyi, Dan and I went to Lugala Hospital, luckily not for medical need but to give them my extra medical supplies – vitamins, antiseptics, antibiotics and other kinds of things I needed “just in case”. Thankfully, I hadn’t used almost all of these things. They were very appreciative and our host’s eyes really lit up when I pulled out the large bottle of Iodine Antiseptic Solution (thanks Pastor Dan!)

While we were there, the matron of the hospital gave us a tour. Dan had not yet seen the hospital and it was great to get a tour from a different person’s perspective. She first showed us the offices, medical library and solar system with it’s large bank of solar batteries. These are used in order to have power in the middle of the night but only if there is need for use of the operating theater. The EWAID synod helped some in the purchase of the solar equipment. Then we went to what I find to be the more interesting parts – the children’s ward and the OB ward.

Lugala is trying hard to keep a separate children’s ward. It helps in the spread of disease, since children and adults are often carriers of different diseases. It isn’t always easy to do because they may run out of space. The day we were there, it was possible and there were about 6 children in the 3 rooms. Each room has about 6 beds. Each bed has a mosquito net, but that is about it. The children ranged from toddlers to one of the Tumaini Secondary Students. Each of the children that day had a family member present. Family must offer the food and other care – the hospital only offers the medical care, not meals or bathing or other things that we have become accustomed to getting during our hospital stays.

It seemed to me that while we were there none of these children were in severe medical trauma (read: potentially going to die.) Family members were quite calm and the children were mostly alert and resting. Of course, it is a very different culture and my perspective is from a western point-of-view and could be completely off. But, everyone was pretty matter-of-fact about it all.

Next we visited the OB ward. We stopped first at the delivery room. No one was currently in labor but there was a staff standing by just in case. They do not have actual delivery beds – just regular hospital beds – which aren’t very great for labor and delivery – but it is what they have. In this room, 3 women can be near delivery at the same time.

The best place we visited was where the new mommies and their infants stay. There were 2 sets of twins – teeny-tiny little things but very healthy looking. We were treated like visiting doctors and everyone showed us their new little ones. I congratulated everyone and most of the mommies looked pretty good. One had given birth via c-section and she looked a little more tired – but the rest were doing great. I suppose that is to be expected – those that aren’t strong enough probably don’t make it that far. There were about 7 new moms in the 2 big rooms provided for them.

An interesting side note. To deliver a baby at the hospital costs 9,000 TZ shillings – about $8 US! Of course many moms can’t afford that. If they come in to Lugala for prenatal care they can get a voucher which will pay for half of the fee, a program sponsored by the government. But, coming in is difficult due to transportation issues and being away from the farm and family responsibilities. Many women do not come in unless they are relatively near by or the pregnancy or labor is not going well. Additionally, with prenatal care they are eligible for a big discount on a mosquito net, which the WHO and TZ health agencies really encourage for use with infants and toddlers. Malaria is still at the top of the list as the cause of deaths among this age group.

A very large ward of the hospital, with somewhere between 35 and 50 beds in 4 large rooms, is the maternity ward for women awaiting labor. Woman who have at-risk pregnancies or are near term will come and stay at the hospital during the night. There were just a few in the ward when we were there but you may recall my blog about the arrival of these women late in the evening. During the day they go into town or a neighboring house set up for them. The hospital has expanded this ward over the years and taken over an office so that they can accommodate the need. Going into labor far from the hospital with no means for transportation other than walking or bike causes the death of many newborns and mothers.

The hospital is slow at this time of year – crops take precedence. Most people wait out infections or “less serious” issues during the growing season and harvest. In other words, if the limb isn’t hanging or there isn’t a great deal of blood, or you aren’t near death, you “tough it out”. To loose 2 people in the farming process (the sick person plus the person accompanying them) is too much of a hardship. It gets much busier later in the year. Unfortunately, by that time some infections have done great damage, or wounds have bad infections that have set it, or similar bad things that we all know about when you wait too long to seek needed medical attention.

In the lab they are very proud of the 3 very modern and highly-technical pieces of equipment they have. One is for some kind of blood components test but the other 2 were given by a couple of NGO’s for AIDS/HIV testing. The hospital has an established AIDS/HIV clinic including testing, counseling and treatment. Again, during the busy farming season, there are fewer clients, but it is an important part of the work of Lugala.

Our last stop was the Office for Teeth. In this small room a doctor trained in dental needs can do some care. Mostly that means pulling badly decaying or infected teeth. The tooth extractor implement that they were given many years ago is now getting very old and they hope to receive a new one. Anything specialized must be referred to Ifakara. But it helps to have some care in Malinyi.

Equipment in the entire hospital is rudimentary. Think “old school medicine”. But they do have two X-Ray machines, one given by our synod which has been broken due to a battery issue for quite awhile. The new battery has arrived from the US and is now in Arusha, making its way to the hospital. The government understands the need for the hospital in this remote area where the closest service is at least 150 kilometers away – depending on where you are coming from.. The government is helping with staff and doctors, both very needed as it is often difficult to attract well trained staff to such a small village.

Lugala Hospital is owned by the UK Diocese of the ELCT. Our companionship with our friends in Ulanga Kilombero makes a huge difference in many peoples lives.

Several times the students had asked if I would eat a meal with them. It had never really worked out, mostly because I didn’t really put the effort into making it work but partly because every time I thought about doing it there was something else going on. So, on one of our last nights at Tumaini, Dan and I made arrangements and ate dinner with the secondary students.

The students each bring their own plates or bowls – so we did too. Difference is that we brought spoons too – all (or at least most) of the students eat with their fingers – a more traditional way to eat. And we brought our own bottled water along – which wasn’t too conspicuous since many students now drink out of the same bottles – empties we have been sharing over the months. I had let the school kitchen know we were coming and we joined in one of the groups. The students were fairly surprised to see us there – teachers usually eat their meals together in the office building – never with the students! Several of the staff members, the Director of the Seminary and the Head Master were also pretty surprised to see us waiting – bowls in hand – for dinner!

The meal was a little late – it was ready but something else had interfered with the start time. So I teasingly started banging my plate and spoon together chanting “chakula” (which means food) and that brought laughter from everyone. Dan thinks I am pretty crazy with the students! Director Kyelula said it reminded him of the early days at the school when it was a camp. See, kids are kids all over the world!

The menu was ugali na maharage. Ugali is a traditional dish, well loved by most. It is corn flour (or it can be cassava flour and I’ve even heard of it being made from millet flour) cooked into a thick thick porridge. Dan compares it to grits. Only it is thick enough to pick up with your fingers and form into a ball, like play dough consistency. I’m not a huge fan – but its OK. Maharage is beans. The menu is always either Ugali and beans, or rice and beans. Twice a day, every day, every week! Ugali is very filling, very fast and I can’t believe how much some of the student eat. But then they say, the next meal isn’t for 17 hours – so you gotta eat when you can (meals provided are served at 3 pm and 6 pm) The beans aren’t quite as plentiful – but they were absolutely delicious! Great beans! Course the cooks have the menu down by now – twice a day, every day, for years and years!

Some students also buy mboga – cooked vegetables (think spinach or cooked greens). The Bible School kitchen prepares that as well for those who buy it. If this were my every day food , I would need to add that luxury. It isn’t very expensive to make or purchase – but it is very time consuming and would be impossible to do every day for 300 students.

The students served us first – taking great care in making sure they used our bowls and my spoon to serve. I think they realize more about sensitive American stomachs that we do about their own conditions and plight. About a dozen students ate with us on the concrete platform outside the kitchen. Several pictures were taken. Dan ate with his fingers though he says he didn’t quite master the art of rolling the ugali into a ball. And 15 minutes later – it was all over – including Simyton washing our dishes in the kitchen sink (not the usual place out of the big water barrel that runs out into the dirt trough). And they were off for evening announcements.

But first, I had brought dessert! A package of cola flavored gummi bears! And they were shared by those sharing this meal – all the others had gone off to classrooms and hallways and dorms to eat. And they were greatly appreciated – just as they would be anywhere else teens gather!

The next morning, the head master came by the house. I figured he had info on the farewell party but he was just checking in on us – concerned about our tummies being OK. They know the food is safe – we’ve seen it boiling away in the big pots as it is prepared. But again, our tummies are not accustomed to the bugs and bacteria – and he didn’t want us to be sick. We weren’t – and all was well with the world. And we had another story to share with you!

We are in Washington state although not yet home, having arrived on Thursday mid-day with barely a glitch in all the arrangements. We have spent wonderful time with many of my family members and our daughters (Adrianne on Thursday, Danielle on Saturday). We are becoming well-rested after all the travel (which sure takes a lot out of you – and dries you all out after all the moist air in TZ!) There are still a few blogs about my time at Tumaini I want to write – the farewell party, a little more info on Lugala Hospital, an evening meal with the students eating their food, and a little bit of an update about the dining hall – all blogs to be written this next week, as time permits in the resettling and unpacking process. I have pictures to share with you all – near and far.

I hope to keep the blog going for months to come, not writing everyday but at least weekly to update you on the events I know about at the school, the building project, and how my own life is resettling and the longer-term affects this trip has had on me and those around me.

Now, truth-be-told, the hard work really begins! How to share the story – how to take the good parts I have learned and embraced and make them a part of my everyday life at home – how to really help find the next person to go to Tumaini and make their experience even better – and how to adjust once again to a “new culture”. There are many books written on the latter subject – readjusting to being home, having returned a different person with eyes opened to new things. These books talk about a second culture shock. The first is when you arrive in your area of service, the second is when you return home. And even when you are a “short-term missionary” there are still adjustments to be made. I think my issues might be about not getting caught up in the hurry-up pace of life in order to have time to relax a bit, read more, spend time really talking to people and sharing our stories, and keeping the important relationships around me flourishing. That in itself has become pretty counter-cultural! We’ll see how it goes.

There is joy in being home again. Certainly in spending time with my family but also in silly little things we take for granted. It is nice to look at the lit computer screen in the dark room and not see myriads of little bugs crawling across the screen like moving letters in your writings. Flushing the toilet with a push of the lever is always nice. A hot shower with good water pressure is pure delight. Foods you really know with no concern for where it came from or how it was cooked. No mosquito net to wrestle with when you get up in the middle of the night. And brushing your teeth from the spigot water instead of a bottle is heavenly!

But as I soaked in the bathtub in the hotel in Amsterdam on our last night out of the country, really scrubbing the last of the dirt off my body, there was also great sadness and a few tears as well. I was washing off the last of a place that has become very much a part of me. How will I ever connect again to those people, that life, and that place? After Dan arrived, I (and I think it is safe to say, WE) could have stayed another month or two. After all the rocky beginnings, I had found my nitch, my rhythm. And I was sitting in the tub and sending it all down the drain. Is there any way to re-capture any of my experience within my everyday life in Kennewick WA? This is the hard work. Can I stay in contact with those who I now hold in my heart? This is the hard work.

On Easter Sunday I return to my congregation. I hope it can be a festive Easter Sunday – careful that it is not a “Heidi is Back” Sunday for it is the Lord’s Day – it is Christ who has risen! I have a week at home to settle in, do chores, do taxes (not a joy there!) spend time with the dogs, learn to cook again and do so for my hubby who must return to work on Monday, and think! And think! And pray that God points me in the right way to do the Hard Work ahead!

As always, thanks for journeying with me. Feel free to debark the plane now. Or, take a short trip now and again to read about a wonderful place in a country on the east coast of Africa called Tumaini Lutheran Seminary.

Finally!  Pictures!

We are in Amsterdam for our final night before heading back to “America”.  Dan celebrated his birthday in a beautiful square in Bremen Germany over lunch with Anna and her  boyfriend Soren.  It was a warm sunny day and we were surrounded by churches from the 11th century and the city hall from about the same time – nearly breathtaking although a very different  landscape than TZ.  It was great!

We enjoyed lots of public transportation, the wonderful produce markets and bakeries and flower shops in Germany.  What a nice visit, although short.

But now, we are tired and ready to be home in America for a few days of visiting family and resting.

We arrive in Seattle at about noon on KLM flight #6033/Northwest Airline.  Adrianne will pick us up  at the airport and we will stay on the westside for a few days before making the final “descent” into home and the task of figuring out how to convey 3 months of life-changing experiences into anything that will make any sense to others!

Thanks for continued prayers.

Greetings all! We’ve switched cultures!! We’ve spent a bit of time in Amsterdam and now a day in Hamburg. It is so great to see so much culture and history – and it is so different than where I have been! But we are safe and happy. Altho my computer modem isn’t working so I can’t write to you – you still journey with me.

On Thursday we fly to Seattle – where I can write to you again. I have much to tell you about my farewell, etc.

Thanks for continued prayers for our safety

Sorry – this must be quick.

We’ve had a chance to say “so-long until we meet again” (NOT good-bye) to the students and then participate in a lovely program with the teachers and staff and student representatives. Many overly kind words were said and it appears I have them all fooled!

In all honesty, it has been so fun to be free to laugh and be silly as I was with the students, to smile alot, and even share my burdens. It is because of you – the people on the other end of my writing that I have felt so supported and able to share of myself so completely. Thank you!

And I got to see the drum dances again – and this time to even join in and dance. And I did all that on an especially humid day with more layers on than I have worn since arriving! (more on the why so many layers later).

We leave here at saa moja ya asabuhi! (that all means 7 am – see, I’m even learning Kiswahili time!) I’m barely holding the tears in because the headmaster requested that I not make his students cry!

And Dan is feeling much better and of course wishes I had posted anything in the “blog-osphere” about his tummy. But I am convinced about the power of prayer!

Hopefully I’ll have a bit of time tomorrow in Ifakara to write a little more!