tertiary roads, shaking hands, goat meat, white skin, new friends...

Whew~well, here goes nothin…

Friday January 18, 2008

I did the morning devotion for the teachers and students on relying on God, our one and only constant whom we CAN rely on to never change as things, people, experiences change all around us and if we try and hold on to or reach out to these at some point we will fall. I talked about Exodus 17:1-3 and trusting that God will continually provide and he already has, and I ended with Hebrews 13:8 Yesu Kristu niyeye ule jana, leo, na milele (Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever).
About 8:30am LeAnn and I went to find Pastor Hafermann and Luka. I am SO grateful for Rev. LeAnn from Virginia. She is only here a week, but perfect timing because for my first weekend out with them I would have been THE only female, 2nd Muzungu (white person) next to Pastor H. She was wonderful company! :)
We drive a good 30-40 minutes on Primary Road(this is Nice, smooth, beautifully paved tar road which feels like a luxary to be driving on now)! Then for another 30 minutes we drove on what Pastor H. calls Secondary Road (dirt/gravel roads, mostly smooth, sometimes have to drive on the wrong side of the road and on our side to avoid dips, but it isn’t that big of deal as these roads are less trafficked). Then for the next 30-40 minutes we turned off onto Tertiary Road (just some tire tracks in the dirt to mark a “road” and pretty windy through other maasai villages and many trees as well…much bumpier than Secondary road and practically impassable during the rainy season when the road is then mud). Note: I asked Pastor H. if there was a 4th level of road and he chuckled as he said: Impossible. While on this Tertiary road...we took a wrong turn once and ended up going through trees with thistles on them...imagine the sound of trees sweeping car windows as we drive by...NOT FUN many nails on a chalkboard... I still shudder thinking about it!!
We finally arrive at a tiny village far out in the middle of the “bush” so Luka can inspect the church’s lost wall. A German Evangelist greeted us and there was about 15 or so Maasai men hangin out in the church. (These churches I talk about that Luka builds are pretty “big” and made of cement blocks with a triangle tin roof). This was an interesting group as when we first drove up (mind you, on tertiary roads there literally is NO traffic Ever) they all walk forward to greet us and about 2-3 men has nice big cameras-digital I believe. Talk about an oxymoron- a traditional tribal, Maasai warrior with a big camera around his neck snapping photos of the Muzungus! (Some also have cell phones hanging around their neck...I did not expect that I would have to get used to that)! Everyone shakes our hands and greets us of course! Note: there are like 20 different ways to say “hello” in kiiswahili!! We only stay for a short while but LeeAnn and I talk to the Evangelist who showed us the small sheet they hung up where they show movies on the life of Jesus, a Christian Maasai man documentary, on AIDS, etc. He brought a generator out to use as electricity. Note: Evangelists typically live with the people in their village, or have a house next to the church. So we leave after maybe 20 minutes and bring with us an Evangelist for the next village we’re going to and a Maasai man whom we preceeded to drop off about 20 minutes later in a village where there is a Secondary School. We stopped for 5 minutes to look at it, and LeeAnn and I were invited to sign the guestbook. We finally got back onto the Secondary Road and the village that is right next to the road has some electricity and a water pump! It turns out, the World Bank does to some good, contrary to popular belief! About 5 % of this water project that has changed the life of this village came from the district council (like a county court) and 5 % from a single person, and then 90% from the World Bank!
Anyway, we continue on Secondary Road for about another half an hour-40 minutes passing through a town on our way out to the village. Again…not many vehicles pass through these towns/villages so we get lots of stares of course! Pastor Hafermann knows everybody everywhere practically…but as I found out yesterday, I guess that’s what happens when he works with 13,000 people. Unbelievable! That may count people in villages, so not completely one-to-one basis, but pretty darn close! He has also baptized over 10,000 people in Tanzania- “regular” Tanzanians and Maasai in the villages. An incredible man! A man at his youth group years ago talked about how no one was going to villages with the Good News and asked the youth group who would like to do that and PastorH said, “I raised my hand and said I’ll go.” He went straight to (Wartburg) Seminary after undergrad school and then straight to Tanzania where he has been working for 45 years!!!! :)
Back to the village…we arrive and are greeted and shake more hands- about 15 men are around, and this time like 6 little boys running around. If one doesn’t know much about the Maasai they might not understand that these people are all about simplicity, including clothing….for the youngins anyway! These boys have sticks (instead of spears as they are not yet warriors) they carry with them for helping herd the cattle and they wear really a dark red “robe.” I forget what this is called, but it’s slung around one shoulder. We walk over to this cement like trough where there is a generator pumping water into it. The cattle use this water and it’s also for the village. Well, Pastor H. suggests we go look @ the cattle herd- maybe 30 or so standing under a big shady tree. Looking @ cattle is very important, as it is the sign of wealth for the Maasai so they are very proud when we do. Of course, I’m not so impressed as I am from the land of cows, but the cattle here are different…they have a large hump on their back and are more solid colors as compared to the typical black and whites back home. Well, we are standing around, as the little boys are running here and there (uncircumcised might I add, as again, they are not yet men, warriors), and a few of the men come over and talk with Luka and PastorH. LeeAnn and I got used to standing around listening to everyone talk Swahili around us. Turns out, the men were already conspiring how many cattle they would give for a hand in marriage. I could have gone for 16 cows, however PastorH. explains to them that we are “spoken for,” is the word. HaHa. It’s not even noon yet!!! :)

The rest of the day flies by as about 12-12:15 we are invited into the church. A small hut that you have to duck your head to get through the doorway(it’s just shorter than me), but then you are able to stand inside. It is made of traditional mud, sticks, and dung with a bamboo like triangle roof. There are many benches inside and Pastor H, Luka, LeeAnn and myself, along with the Evangelist that we brought with us from the previous village are invited to sit and they chat with some of the young men in the village who will be attending Bible School up in Kilimanjaro (northern Tanzania). Some women and children are sitting on the side, and we are brought mugs of hot chai tea. It is made with milk, water, and ground up ginger…it is a special chai that this village makes and it is the BEST I have ever tasted!!! It beats Starbucks and Caribou by far!! NOTE: I looked at my watch about noon, then not again until 3:40pm, then after that not until maybe 5:30-6pm so I will be giving rough estimates of time!
After tea, we sit around chatting…taking a few pictures. (well, LeeAnn took pictures as she is more of a tourist this weekend, and I was planning on using my USB cord to get her pictures off her camera, also I decided I would be going to plenty more villages, but I still took a couple). People started showing up and Pastor H. is always wanted and busy talking and then eventually they started getting the few things ready for the service-which includes some padded kneelers and a basket with communion wafers and wine? or grape juice maybe). Eventually the place fills up with about 50 people…many children as well. The girls choir- about 10 girls sat up on the front benches, and the children all were squirming behind in the back on the dirt ground. The service had to have lasted about 2 hrs, but even though I really didn’t understand a thing, besides a few random words here and there, it went by fast as there is so much singing…in the hymn book or listening to the girls choir, and the rest of the people sing. Swahili, as I’ve mentioned is very phonetic, so one can sing and read along!! Luka has to translate a lot to me as his English is pretty good…and it’s his job!! There was one baptism, as a 17-year old girl talked to PastorH before the service and she signs a little card certificate. There is a sermon, and an offering, communion, another offering for the 2 young men going to Bible School. Singing is of course throughout the whole service-and clapping…just very joyful and very alive!
I checked my watch, and it happened to be about 3:40pm but now it was time for the food! Most everyone cleared out as we were the guests so we eat first of course. Everyone else gets leftovers… anyway some women come around with a bucket and bowl of water- they pour water over our hands before we eat. Then the largest plate of rice I have EVER seen is placed on a bench in front of us. 5 people ate about half! Theres also goat meat chunks with the rice, and a separate bowl of more goat meat… I had a piece, but mostly goat meat has fat on it..not a very good texture sliding down my throat! But when there’s not much fat, it tastes just fine! Oh- we also don’t use silverware…you have to take some rice in your hand (ONLY RIGHT HAND, as left is for wiping…) and so I made “snowballs” (as LeeAnn called them) of rice!! Well, Luka and Paster H. were on LeeAnn and I to eat our 1-2 meat chunks, but we were kinda putting it off…here’s the deal: one, it’s not expected that we would leave any meat left over for the rest of the people, and we shouldn’t… two, women typically aren’t allowed to even eat meat in front of men… well, it became kind of a joke with me as I told Luka (pretty much an animal- and will eat anything) that my meat would simply taste better because I was waiting and saving it for last…so I kept eating rice, and He and Pastor H every once in a while would mention the fact that I still have some meat left…Haha. :) I just smiled and said the famous “Haraka Haraka Haina Baraka” (hurrying hurrying is no blessing)! Well, then I had no other choice…so I attacked the meat- and LeeAnn took a picture of me looking like a carnivore…it also looks like I had eaten all of the rice on the tray myself! Pretty funny stuff! Hopefully I can get her pictures somehow!!!
Oh- we also were given bottles of water And…. COKE bottles!!!! Now, I stopped drinking pop a couple years ago (except for every once and a while) but I hadn’t had any here so far and it tasted SO good…something sweet that wasn’t fruit for once! Soda is like a delicacy!!
Finally, I was finished, and we got to wash our hand as mine was covered in rice…haha (It is definitely a good thing I had practice eating with my right hand last March at a study abroad meeting @ wartburg)!!!
We eventually left…maybe 4:40pm ish?!? And everyone followed us to our car to send us off!! A bunch of young people- mostly girls around 10-13? And younger ones crowded around me by the car as I was saying good-bye to them and they all just watched me. Some touched my hair and they touched my skin…just layed their hands on my forearms, even stroking my skin to see if it would “come off” maybe…but just in awe- with giggles, smiles and sparkling eyes… then it was time to go! Besides the 4 of us we had 4 more guys in the car (the same Evangelist we brought with us earlier, who happens to be super tall) and 3 others! The two young men who are going to Bible School and one other one. We drove back into the town near the village and dropped off the one man, and the other two grabbed their luggage (just a couple small bags) and we were off again. I knew we were bringing them to the bus stop…but Pastor H never mentioned where….so I eventually figured out they were riding the 1.5 hr trip with us back to Morogoro. It was a good trip though as the first hour the tall Evangelist was sitting in the middle seat between LeeAnn and myself and he was teaching me Swahili the whole time!! I had my big binder out and am on Lesson 13 of 30 in the book….but we proceeded to flip through all the remaining pages and wherever there were pictures with vocab words he would say the word and I would repeat it! I’m sure the rest of the car was sick of hearing us go: Fisi, fisi (hyena), moyo, moyo (heart), daraka daraka (bridge), seremala seremala (carpenter) the whole time!! However, there was a time when I had to say cattle: ng’ombe…I can spell it, but saying it is a whole different ball game!! It’s like an “ny” sound…like making the “n” sound followed by the “y” sound, like at the beginning of the word “yuck.” Oh goodness, I tried 15 times with the Evangelist, Luka, Pastor H. and the other 2 guys in the back all saying it before I got right a total of about one time!!! It proved for quite the laugh!! :)
Well, we get back to the main round-a-bout in Morogoro (where I live) and just drop the Evangelist off on the road- literally! Don’t know where he was going…but that’s what I’ve realized lately….we just give rides sometimes, and I don’t ask anymore!! We dropped the other two guys off at a guest house for the night because the 8 hour bus ride didn’t leave until the morning.
Then, we had one more stop to make. Pastor H. got a call on his cell out in the village (Yes, there is definitely service out there!) from a young woman recently diagnosed HIV positive. So, although it was dark by this time we went to see her at a non-profit small care center in town. We just went through a gate and stayed outside as Luka and Pastor H. talked with her and she just wanted to talk and tell about how the ARV (anti-retroviral) medication was doing…making her legs swell, etc. LeeAnn and I chatted about her seminary experience @ Luther in St.Paul, and about some other countries she’s been to. 20 minutes later we were off back to the Seminary for the night…it was about 8pm and I was WIPED OUT!!!

* I want to mention some more about my first village experience…

I feel as if anything I say now will not do justice…I know that I have been descriptive with my blogs before, and I will continue to do my best…hopefully pictures will help a little if I ever get at least some up now…but even words or pictures probably can’t describe such an experience…

Because, literally 3 weeks ago (from Fri the 18th) I was standing in the middle of Times Square in New York City and now I was sitting on a bench in the same hut I described earlier in the middle of the rural countryside in the middle of Tanzania. Surreal is the best word to describe it. One gets used to the stares, and the “scantily clad” culturally dressed people...especially the 5 or so women breastfeeding out in the open during the service. One also gets used to the flies…as these people do. We see so many pictures on television of starving children that have noses dripping and flies swarming around them and on them, but as LeeAnn and I discussed…they are used to it- they don’t notice it. Sometimes it’s not about having the best of everything, it’s about a different way of life… not better or worse…just different.
Since I obviously don’t know much Swahili…though I did have to stand up and introduce myself at the service with the little bit I do know…it was nice to just sit (or stand) and simply WATCH. To take it all in and think… these people, their way of life before Evangelists came were typically Muslims I believe…or they practiced traditional African religion, or perhaps nothing at all. But, because people like Pastor H have taken time, and were willing to drive all the way out to villages and physically meet with people thousands of Maasai have changed their way of life (and yet, still keep it at the same time). Pastor H. did a seminar in December and talked about why it is important to only have one wife, and less children…why education is so important…why protection is so important against AIDS, malaria, etc…and why it’s important to be baptized.
Pastor H. tells us also after the service that he got a couple calls…one from whom he found out someone he knew died of Malaria and another man’s house got burned down by thieves so Pastor was going to send some money…he also said that before the service a woman had walked 6-8 miles JUST to ask Pastor H a question…she knew he was coming and needed to ask him about a hospital, something to do with health care… and she couldn’t stay for the service because she had to walk all the way back before dark. Another young child at the service had come down with a bad fever and is left mentally disabled and was making some noises during the service…Pastor H said he had to tell the mother there was nothing more he could do…
All in a days work I guess. Sometimes I don’t know how he does it…

**The last thing about today is that after the service, the Pastor goes out first, then everyone follows, but they line up in a big circle, and as you leave you go around and shake everyone’s hand until you get to become part of the circle, then the rest behind you shake your hand until everyone is out of the church!! I really like this tradition!!! :)


I’m sure that I am forgetting so much as I was pretty overwhelmed with feelings and emotions after returning from such an eventful day (and first experience which intensifies it all)!!

I hope that you still get somewhat of a picture!! Try doing a Google Search or something on the Maasai people… they are a smaller number, but one of the most famous tribes of Northern Tanzania, Southern Kenya! It may help you understand some of what I’ve talked about as there is so much that I don’t even know/understand yet!

This covered Friday for you…now I’ve got today’s events to cover!!!