It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s…a Carpenter’s Kids distribution

Anyone who’s been on a Carpenter’s Kids distribution knows that they’re generally all-day affairs (with a good portion of the day spent in a Land Cruiser). When we leave at 8:00am we generally don’t get back home until 4:00pm-ish…emphasis on the –ish. So, that’s why Sarah and I would randomly look at each other on Saturday, March 14th (when we had not one but two distributions) and laugh and shake our heads in amazement. We left Dodoma at 8:05am and got back at 1:35pm. While it’s true that the two parishes we visited, Iringa Mvumi and Mvumi Makulu, are closer to Dodoma than most, 40-50 kilometers away, we were finished so quickly that I still can’t quite believe it.

As with so many situations here, some background information would undoubtedly be helpful. First of all, the promised Land Cruiser roof rack update: we did end up getting a new roof rack and this one’s not made out of aluminum! We didn’t actually use it this week, though. The wife of Bishop Madinda, the bishop of the Diocese of Central Tanganyika before Bishop Mhogolo, passed away this week. She lived in Morogoro, about 300+ kilometers from Dodoma. Her funeral was to be held in Dodoma and she was to be buried in the Cathedral grounds, also in Dodoma. As the funeral was being planned, the diocesan administration asked Pastor Noah if they could use the Land Cruiser to bring Mama Madinda’s body home from Morogoro as it was the only vehicle that was large enough to hold the coffin. Pastor Noah asked all of us if we thought that it was ok to use the Cruiser for this purpose and we all agreed that it was fine, so John Joseph got to drive to Morogoro on Thursday afternoon. Willy ended up going with John so he didn’t have to drive by himself.

Pastor Noah told us that John Joseph and the Cruiser would be back on Friday evening, so we didn’t really think anything more about it. At about 6:45am on Saturday morning, I heard an engine start and a vehicle drive off. I figured it was John Joseph and Willy taking the Cruiser to MacKay House to load for the distributions. At 8:00am, I heard a car engine again and looked out the window. Instead of seeing our Land Cruiser loaded with everything we were taking with us, I saw our Prado loaded instead. The Prado is smaller than the Cruiser, but it’s actually much more comfortable to ride in as all of the seats face forward and not sideways. However, considering the amount of stuff we were taking with us, I was a bit surprised that we were taking a smaller vehicle. It turned out that the Cruiser was still needed for the funeral, so that’s why we were taking the Prado. It was more than capable to holding everything that we needed to bring with us; however, it was a good thing that there were only four of us going on the distributions: Pastor Noah, Willy, Sarah and me.

Pastor Noah, Willy and I got into the Prado and set off for Sarah’s compound to pick her up and then headed out of town on the Mvumi road. Before I go any further, it’s important for you to know that it was raining. Pouring, actually. On any other day I’ve been thrilled as the rain makes things much cooler, but it really doesn’t make driving on dirt roads much fun. It’s also not the best weather for driving in when you have boxes and bags of supplies loaded on the roof covered by a thin tarp…

As we drove out to Mvumi, I looked out the window and marveled at the difference rain makes. The landscape that I remembered being dry and brown was incredibly green as we made our way to Mvumi Makulu. When we do more than one distribution in a day we always go to the parish that is the farthest away first. Today was no different, we were planning to start in Iringa Mvumi and then go back to Mvumi Makulu. However, since the Prado was so full, we stopped at Mvumi Makulu and unloaded their supplies first. Unloading 50 boxes of soap and 100 kids’ worth of uniforms, shoes, school supplies and socks eased the strain on the Prado considerably. Because it was still raining and the roads were full of puddles, we took the long way to Iringa Mvumi. I’ve never taken the ‘short route’ to Iringa Mvumi, but I would hope that it’s faster. We definitely got a scenic tour of the Mvumi region!

We arrived in Iringa Mvumi and were greeted by an enthusiastic crowd of Carpenter’s Kids and guardians. Everyone assisted with the unloading of the Prado - everyone that is except Sarah and me. As soon as I tried to unload something from the vehicle, it was taken from my hands by a member of Iringa Mvumi parish. I tried about three times and then gave up and watched. Pastor Noah just laughed and ushered me into the church. The parish priest greeted everyone and then introduced Pastor Noah. As he spoke, I could get bits and pieces of what he was saying. He told everyone that Mama Madinda had passed away and that we’d have to do the distribution quickly so he could get back to Dodoma for the funeral. Then Sarah, Willy and I introduced ourselves and then we got the distribution started. I kid you not; we were done in an hour. Now, part of the reason we were finished so quickly was that the children didn’t go change into their uniforms after they’d received them. Apparently, there is not a place near the church that the kids can use to change. Or maybe there is and they just didn’t want to get wet. I’m not sure. Anyway, once all the kids had their uniforms, school supplies, socks and soap, we distributed the shoes and took our leave. I was able to tell everyone that two members of their link parish in New York would be visiting them in August, so I didn’t feel as bad that we weren’t staying long.

As we got into the Prado to head back to Mvumi Makulu for their distribution, the parish committee came up to the driver’s window and handed us some chapati and a bowl of meat of some kind. They’d prepared tea for us as well, but we couldn’t take it with us. This only served to make Sarah and I feel a bit guilty that we had to leave right after the distribution, but everyone seemed to understand. Sarah and I decided that we’d probably just experienced the only Tanzanian version of a ‘drive through’ that we know of.

The rain hadn’t let up at all, so we took the long way back to Mvumi Makulu. Pastor Noah said that we had to do this or we’d just end up getting stuck somewhere. At one point, as we approached a large puddle (seriously it looked like a small lake), Pastor Noah glanced back at Sarah and I and said ‘Be prepared.’ We looked at each other and laughed as Pastor Noah put the Prado into gear and powered through the puddle. This prompted Sarah to break out into song. Which song, you ask? Fans of The Lion King will recognize it: ‘Be prepared.’ Appropriate.

We made it back to Mvumi Makulu with no trouble and walked into the church to find that the distribution was already in progress. When we’d unloaded the supplies for Mvumi Makulu earlier I’d heard Pastor Noah explaining that the kids got 5 pairs of socks and 5 bars of soap in addition to the uniforms, shoes and school supplies. I’d obviously missed the part where he’d suggested that they start the distribution as soon as all of the kids arrived. Sarah went about taking pictures of the photo gallery for St. Bart’s in Manhattan, Mvumi Makulu’s link parish, and Willy and I helped distribute everything as best we could. Once all of the kids had their uniforms, shoes, supplies and soap, Pastor Noah explained that the reason the distribution was a bit unorthodox was that we had to get back to Dodoma for a funeral. Of course we still had to introduce ourselves – some things never change! I was able to share some messages from a few members of St. Bart’s who’d been to Mvumi Makulu last August which made everyone very happy. They were even happier to hear that there are going to be two groups of visitors from St. Bart’s coming in July and August.

As soon as I finished reading the messages from St. Bart’s we said our goodbyes and headed back to Dodoma. We pulled into Sarah’s compound at 1:35pm, about 2-3 hours earlier than expected. The funeral had started at 12:00pm so Pastor Noah was a bit late, but we found out later that he was still able to be there for the majority of the service. It didn’t end until after 5:00pm.