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.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Have soap will travel
We set off for Zejele and Mbabala a bit later than we anticipated. To understand why, takes a bit of background information. Most parishes in the program have a group of 50 kids that are supported by their link parish in the US. So that means we take a large bag of 50 pairs of shoes, a bag of 50 uniforms and several boxes full of backpacks of school supplies that have been sorted by grade level. It’s not a small amount of stuff. When you consider that we usually have 2 parishes worth of uniforms, shoes and school supplies, things can get crowded quickly. That is especially the case when we also have a year’s worth of socks and soap to distribute in addition to the uniforms, shoes and school supplies.
The socks don’t really take up a lot of space, but the soap does because the ‘bars’ are about 1.5 – 2 feet long. A year’s worth of socks and soap is 5 pairs of socks and 5 bars of soap. So, for a parish of 50 kids we need 250 bars of soap which is an additional 25 boxes to add to our already packed Land Cruiser.
For our trip to Zejele and Mbabala, parishes that are both larger than the usual 50 kids, we had a total of 59 boxes of soap. It was so much soap that Willy and John Joseph decided that they didn’t want to go pick up the soap and carry it up to the Carpenter’s Kids office on the third floor of MacKay House only to have to carry it back downstairs on Saturday morning when they loaded the rest of the supplies into the Land Cruiser. Fair enough, Sarah and I don't even like having to drag ourselves up those stairs let alone carry other stuff with us...
So, on Friday afternoon Willy and John Joseph took the Cruiser to the shop where Willy had purchased the soap and loaded it into the back of the Cruiser. When they got back to MacKay House, John Joseph started to bind the boxes together in groups of 8 using some twine so it could be loaded onto the top of the Cruiser easier.
At about 4:15pm, after most of the soap had been loaded on the top of the Cruiser and the rest had been packed under the benches in the back of the Cruiser, Callum, Sarah and I hopped into the Cruiser to go pick up Scott at the bus station. As we headed to the bus station, we could hear a loud banging noise coming from the roof of the Cruiser. We figured it was the roof rack hitting the top of the vehicle. After we’d picked up Scott and then dropped him and Sarah off at their compound, Callum and I headed back to MacKay House to talk to John Joseph and Willy about the roof rack (which is made out of aluminum and was bending under the weight of about 35 boxes of soap).
At MacKay House, Callum explained the situation to John Joseph and Willy and then the three of them got in to take the Cruiser on a drive around the block so John Joseph and Willy could hear the sound that the roof rack was making. After they got back, they both shook their heads and said that it was not good. We decided that we could just take the soap that we were able to fit under the benches of the Cruiser (enough for 2 bars per child) and then, as both Zejele and Mbabala are on the same road as some of our other parishes, take the rest of the soap when we were in the area again. Willy and John Joseph said that Callum and I shouldn’t worry about the soap and that they’d deal with unloading it on Saturday morning when they were loading the shoes, uniforms and school supplies.
So our 8:00am departure time on Saturday came and went with no sign of the Cruiser or any of our fellow staff members also going to Zejele and Mbabala (John, John Joseph, Willy and Noel) at Callum and my housing compound. Finally at about 8:35, we heard the low rumbling of the Cruiser’s engine as it came through the gate of the compound. We headed out to get into the vehicle and saw that the soap was no longer on the roof and that the shoes and uniforms had taken its place. As we got to the back door to climb into the Cruiser, we found the soap: it was in the back of the Cruiser (all 59 boxes!) along with the boxes of school supplies for both parishes. Willy and John Joseph had figured out a way to pack it all into the Cruiser. It made for a slightly cramped trip to our first parish of the day, but it ended up being worth it.
After picking up Sarah, whose eyes got very big when she saw how much stuff was in the back of the Cruiser, we headed off to Zejele and arrived at just after 10:00am. As usual, everyone was very gracious and welcoming and we were invited to have tea and chapati in the home of the Carpenter’s Kids Committee Chairman. As we walked from the church to the house, we could see that the rainfall this year has left a great deal to be desired. The leaves on the corn had started to brown and the sunflowers were drooping from lack of water. John informed us that there is no water source in the parish of Zejele. People have to walk or bicycle to another village to get water. That water is a murky brown color and as I used it to wash my hands, I tried to imagine drinking it.
After we’d finished our tea and chapati, we headed back to the church to distribute the uniforms, shoes, school supplies, socks and soap. When John announced that each child would be receiving 5 pairs of socks and 5 bars of soap the applause from everyone in the church was thunderous. It made me very glad that Willy and John Joseph had decided to pack all of the soap even though the ride up to Zejele was less than comfortable.
The distribution itself went very quickly as we all knew exactly what to do and had our own little assembly line going. After the distribution and the group photos of the kids, their parents/guardians and the parish committee, we were again invited to the Committee Chair’s home, for lunch this time.
After eating far more food than we should have - this is after we all put about 1/3 of the rice we were originally given back into a large bowl – we set off for Mbabala to do the second distribution of the day. It was significantly less crowded in the Cruiser on the way to Mbabala which made the ride more pleasant. We arrived in Mbabala to find everyone already assembled for the distribution and waiting for us. Once again I was struck by how excited everyone was when John told the kids that they’d be getting 5 pairs of socks and 5 bars of soap. John was very happy with our work today as we got the actual distribution of uniforms, supplies, socks, soap and shoes done in a very organized and efficient manner.
As Sarah and Willy got all of the kids to pose for group photos, Noel and Callum went about some important business: buying some chickens. Callum and Scott have their own mini ‘shamba’ (farm) up at the CAMS upper housing compound where Sarah and Scott live and where Scott and Callum keep some chickens and a rooster. So, Callum and Scott have decided that they want to try to stock their shamba by purchasing a chicken every weekend from one of the CK parishes. We’ll see how long they decide to keep this up...
As Noel went to see a man about a chicken, the rest of us were shown to the priest’s house for, you guessed it, lunch. Tanzanian hospitality is amazing for lack of a better word and so despite the fact that the crops didn’t appear to be doing well in Mbabala either, we were invited to a generous lunch with the parish priest. Noel made it back in plenty of time to join us and we all ate a second lunch of rice, greens and meat. After we’d finished, we went outside climb back into the Land Cruiser and met our newest traveling companions: two roosters and a hen. The two roosters made the trip home interesting as they attempted to fight with one another in the confines of the cardboard box they were in for most of the way home. It would be quiet for a few minutes and then there’d be a squawk a small cloud of dust/dirt would fly into the air, and the box would move. Good times.
We arrived back in Dodoma and inspected the damage to the roof rack. It’s seen better days. The aluminum version is obviously more of a decoration than anything else. We’ll need to get a new one as soon as possible as one of the parishes we’re visiting next week has 100 Carpenter’s Kids and we’ll need 50 boxes of soap for that parish alone. Stay tuned!
The Carpenter's Kids of Zejele
The Carpenter's Kids of Mbabala
The socks don’t really take up a lot of space, but the soap does because the ‘bars’ are about 1.5 – 2 feet long. A year’s worth of socks and soap is 5 pairs of socks and 5 bars of soap. So, for a parish of 50 kids we need 250 bars of soap which is an additional 25 boxes to add to our already packed Land Cruiser.
For our trip to Zejele and Mbabala, parishes that are both larger than the usual 50 kids, we had a total of 59 boxes of soap. It was so much soap that Willy and John Joseph decided that they didn’t want to go pick up the soap and carry it up to the Carpenter’s Kids office on the third floor of MacKay House only to have to carry it back downstairs on Saturday morning when they loaded the rest of the supplies into the Land Cruiser. Fair enough, Sarah and I don't even like having to drag ourselves up those stairs let alone carry other stuff with us...
So, on Friday afternoon Willy and John Joseph took the Cruiser to the shop where Willy had purchased the soap and loaded it into the back of the Cruiser. When they got back to MacKay House, John Joseph started to bind the boxes together in groups of 8 using some twine so it could be loaded onto the top of the Cruiser easier.
At about 4:15pm, after most of the soap had been loaded on the top of the Cruiser and the rest had been packed under the benches in the back of the Cruiser, Callum, Sarah and I hopped into the Cruiser to go pick up Scott at the bus station. As we headed to the bus station, we could hear a loud banging noise coming from the roof of the Cruiser. We figured it was the roof rack hitting the top of the vehicle. After we’d picked up Scott and then dropped him and Sarah off at their compound, Callum and I headed back to MacKay House to talk to John Joseph and Willy about the roof rack (which is made out of aluminum and was bending under the weight of about 35 boxes of soap).
At MacKay House, Callum explained the situation to John Joseph and Willy and then the three of them got in to take the Cruiser on a drive around the block so John Joseph and Willy could hear the sound that the roof rack was making. After they got back, they both shook their heads and said that it was not good. We decided that we could just take the soap that we were able to fit under the benches of the Cruiser (enough for 2 bars per child) and then, as both Zejele and Mbabala are on the same road as some of our other parishes, take the rest of the soap when we were in the area again. Willy and John Joseph said that Callum and I shouldn’t worry about the soap and that they’d deal with unloading it on Saturday morning when they were loading the shoes, uniforms and school supplies.
So our 8:00am departure time on Saturday came and went with no sign of the Cruiser or any of our fellow staff members also going to Zejele and Mbabala (John, John Joseph, Willy and Noel) at Callum and my housing compound. Finally at about 8:35, we heard the low rumbling of the Cruiser’s engine as it came through the gate of the compound. We headed out to get into the vehicle and saw that the soap was no longer on the roof and that the shoes and uniforms had taken its place. As we got to the back door to climb into the Cruiser, we found the soap: it was in the back of the Cruiser (all 59 boxes!) along with the boxes of school supplies for both parishes. Willy and John Joseph had figured out a way to pack it all into the Cruiser. It made for a slightly cramped trip to our first parish of the day, but it ended up being worth it.
After picking up Sarah, whose eyes got very big when she saw how much stuff was in the back of the Cruiser, we headed off to Zejele and arrived at just after 10:00am. As usual, everyone was very gracious and welcoming and we were invited to have tea and chapati in the home of the Carpenter’s Kids Committee Chairman. As we walked from the church to the house, we could see that the rainfall this year has left a great deal to be desired. The leaves on the corn had started to brown and the sunflowers were drooping from lack of water. John informed us that there is no water source in the parish of Zejele. People have to walk or bicycle to another village to get water. That water is a murky brown color and as I used it to wash my hands, I tried to imagine drinking it.
After we’d finished our tea and chapati, we headed back to the church to distribute the uniforms, shoes, school supplies, socks and soap. When John announced that each child would be receiving 5 pairs of socks and 5 bars of soap the applause from everyone in the church was thunderous. It made me very glad that Willy and John Joseph had decided to pack all of the soap even though the ride up to Zejele was less than comfortable.
The distribution itself went very quickly as we all knew exactly what to do and had our own little assembly line going. After the distribution and the group photos of the kids, their parents/guardians and the parish committee, we were again invited to the Committee Chair’s home, for lunch this time.
After eating far more food than we should have - this is after we all put about 1/3 of the rice we were originally given back into a large bowl – we set off for Mbabala to do the second distribution of the day. It was significantly less crowded in the Cruiser on the way to Mbabala which made the ride more pleasant. We arrived in Mbabala to find everyone already assembled for the distribution and waiting for us. Once again I was struck by how excited everyone was when John told the kids that they’d be getting 5 pairs of socks and 5 bars of soap. John was very happy with our work today as we got the actual distribution of uniforms, supplies, socks, soap and shoes done in a very organized and efficient manner.
As Sarah and Willy got all of the kids to pose for group photos, Noel and Callum went about some important business: buying some chickens. Callum and Scott have their own mini ‘shamba’ (farm) up at the CAMS upper housing compound where Sarah and Scott live and where Scott and Callum keep some chickens and a rooster. So, Callum and Scott have decided that they want to try to stock their shamba by purchasing a chicken every weekend from one of the CK parishes. We’ll see how long they decide to keep this up...
As Noel went to see a man about a chicken, the rest of us were shown to the priest’s house for, you guessed it, lunch. Tanzanian hospitality is amazing for lack of a better word and so despite the fact that the crops didn’t appear to be doing well in Mbabala either, we were invited to a generous lunch with the parish priest. Noel made it back in plenty of time to join us and we all ate a second lunch of rice, greens and meat. After we’d finished, we went outside climb back into the Land Cruiser and met our newest traveling companions: two roosters and a hen. The two roosters made the trip home interesting as they attempted to fight with one another in the confines of the cardboard box they were in for most of the way home. It would be quiet for a few minutes and then there’d be a squawk a small cloud of dust/dirt would fly into the air, and the box would move. Good times.
We arrived back in Dodoma and inspected the damage to the roof rack. It’s seen better days. The aluminum version is obviously more of a decoration than anything else. We’ll need to get a new one as soon as possible as one of the parishes we’re visiting next week has 100 Carpenter’s Kids and we’ll need 50 boxes of soap for that parish alone. Stay tuned!
The Carpenter's Kids of Zejele
The Carpenter's Kids of Mbabala
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