EDNY August Pilgrimage Group

It’s actually quite difficult to describe in words what the experiences of the last few weeks have been like. On Wednesday, August 13th a group of 16 people from the Episcopal Diocese of New York arrived in Dodoma to go to their linked parishes and visit their kids. Three of the four villages I went to during the visit were linked to parishes in New York and the fourth was a parish that is new to The Carpenter’s Kids program and we were able to participate in the first ever distribution in the village.

I think if I tried to describe everything that happened during the almost two weeks that the New York group was here, this blog posting might rival War and Peace in terms of length (it may do that anyway!). The one thing that has remained consistent throughout all of these experiences – and really my entire time here in Tanzania - has been the incredible warmth and generosity that has been extended to everyone in our group. It’s really quite amazing.

On Friday August 15th, I went to the parish of Ntyuka which is just outside of Dodoma – about a 20 minute drive or so. Ntyuka is one of the three parishes in the Diocese of Central Tanganyika that is supported by St. Luke’s Church in the Bronx. Pastor Noah and I were the staff members for the group and we went with Donald, Francilla and Corey (all from St. Luke’s) and Brian, Judy and Sue (all from St. Bart’s in Manhattan).We were met about half a mile outside of the village by a group of kids who proceeded to run behind the car as we drove into the village. We were a little concerned that some of them were getting too close to the car and tried to wave at them to not run so close, but really all that did was get them to run faster. We finally got close enough to the priest’s house to get out and walk, which we did and we were greeted by multiple handshakes and karibu’s (welcome) and habari’s (hi/how are you). The priest, Rev. Alfa, greeted us all in English and invited us into his home for breakfast. We had tea and mandaazi, which are kind of like donuts only much, much better.

After we finished breakfast, we went to the church to start the festivities. There were lots of people in the church - the choir, a mother’s group, children of all ages. The music was amazing. To start things off, Rev. Alfa made some remarks and introduced some members of the community who are involved in The Carpenter’s Kids program. Then it was our turn for introductions. Pastor Noah and Frank, one of the translators who was helping us while the New York group was here, ably translated everything into Swahili. After introductions and some parish reports, we all helped Donald, Francilla and Corey unpack the gifts they brought for their Kids and everyone who helps with the program. It was quite the party as things were handed out. Everyone in our group was given gifts as well – everything from bowls made out of sun-dried gourds to necklaces and woven bags. Donald was given the chief’s treatment though and was wrapped in a bright red piece of cloth and given sandals, a staff, a long machete-like knife, a belt and a carving of Joseph leading Mary holding baby Jesus on a donkey. When I can post pictures, I’ll be sure to put up my photo of Donald all decked out in his Ntyuka gear. When the distribution of gifts was over, we took a short stretching break and then went back into the church to have lunch. There was so much food I literally cannot remember everything. There was lots of rice and there were multiple meat options and vegetables- just lots of stuff. We were given our choice of soda – Coke, Sprite or orange Fanta (my personal favorite) and a bottle of water. After lunch we reluctantly said our goodbyes and headed back to Dodoma.

On Saturday August 16th, I went to Chali Isangha, which is the westernmost parish in the Diocese of Central Tanganyika. It took a good 2-2.5 hours to get there on some really bumpy dirt roads. Needless to say, we were all thrilled to get out of the Land Cruiser! Chali Isangha seemed more remote than any of the other parishes I’ve been to and I suppose given that it was the furthest I’ve traveled in Tanzania with the exception of the Dar-Dodoma trip that shouldn’t be too surprising. It just really felt like we were far away from anything familiar. Again, though, the welcome was as warm as we’ve come to expect. We arrived in the village a little after 10am and were greeted by Father Alexander and invited into his house for breakfast – tea, mandaazi, and sweet potatoes (white sweet potatoes, not yams).

After breakfast, we walked over to a small clearing sheltered by some trees that provided us with some shade and the festivities began again. Unlike Ntyuka or Mwitikira, Chali Isangha is a parish that is new to The Carpenter’s Kids program and this was the first distribution. You can really see a difference in the way the children who’ve been a part of the program for at least a year act when you see children who are new to the program. These children were very quiet, reluctant to wave or smile back at you. They did sing us a very nice song, though, with the words ‘karibuni wageni wetu, karibuni,’ which means ‘welcome our visitors, welcome.’ The day here was similar to other village visits, but it contained a short description of The Carpenter’s Kids program and a demonstration on how to use mosquito nets. After that, we got to help hand out uniforms, school supplies, mosquito nets and shoes to all of the kids. After each child received their items, they went to change into their new uniforms. We had to help some of the kids tie their shoes because they didn’t know what to do with the laces. Once all of the kids were in their uniforms and shoes, they reassembled for a group photo before we officially broke for the day. They looked wonderful.

Before we went back to Father Alexander’s house for lunch, he took us to their church for a tour. At first I thought that they were in the middle of construction because there are walls, but no roof. However, Father Alexander explained that they had used the wrong kind of soil in the mixture for the bricks and the rain had washed the roof and the upper part of the walls away. There was a small shelter made out of wood that was in the middle of the church, but that was the only thing that would protect anyone from the rain. We took some pictures of some of the Carpenter’s Kids in the church as they’d followed us into the building and were watching us listen to their priest. Then we headed back to Father Alexander’s house for lunch. I have never seem so much cooked rice in one place outside of a restaurant. After a quick bathroom break, we all piled back into the Land Cruiser and began the long journey back to Dodoma.

On Sunday we split up into several different groups to go to church services. I went with the group that went to the Cathedral here in Dodoma. Instead of going to the English service, though, we all got up early and went to the 7:00am Swahili service. It was great! It was actually much more like services at my home church than I thought it would be. It was in Swahili of course, but it still felt like home. We were asked to sit right up front with the choir and the priests and in about the middle of the service we had to introduce ourselves to the entire church – easily about 350-400 people. After the service we headed to Msalato Theological College to have a tour of the campus and have lunch with the staff. Everyone there was wonderful and very happy to have us there. The staff gave Miriam a lovely knitted shawl as a going away present to thank her for her friendship and her work here in Dodoma.

After we finished lunch, we headed to Jubilee High School where 4 groups of Carpenter’s Kids had gathered to participate in a Sports Day. I finally got to meet some of the kids from the Cathedral parish which is linked with my home parish, St. John the Divine in NYC. They were excited to see someone else from their linked parish and were thrilled when I told them that Canon Alan (ask he’s referred to here) and Matthew said to say ‘hello’ to them. Some of the kids were wearing their I (heart) NY t-shirts and New York caps and pointed them out to me several times just to make sure I saw them. We were treated to some great soccer games, netball games and several tug-of-war matches with Willie from The Carpenter’s Kids staff providing commentary over the loudspeaker. Noel and Daudi did a great job serving as referees during all of the matches. Readers from St. John the Divine will be happy to know that the Cathedral boys won a well-played soccer game and the Cathedral girls won the first netball game in the tournament! We headed back home around 5pm so everyone had time to rest before the parish visits started again on Monday morning.

On Monday August 18th, I headed to Mvumi Makulu with Pastor Noah and the St. Bartians, which is the great name for the 5 members of St. Bart’s in the pilgrimage group – Brian, Sue, Judy, Robin and Lucia. St. Bart’s is linked with Mvumi Makulu and supports a group of 100 children there. I got to be a videographer for the day, as I used Brian’s video camera to record the day’s happenings so Brian could be an active part of the day at his parish. After a quick lesson, I was ready (for the most part) to start. We drove the hour or so from Dodoma to Mvumi Makulu through some beautiful country and arrived at Mvumi to see a large group of people waiting for us singing. All 100 of the Carpenter’s Kids were there leading the singing of a song that translates to ‘welcome, welcome our visitors, welcome to Makulu parish.’ Some of the kids were wearing their I (heart) NY t-shirts they’d received from last year’s St. Bart’s group. We stayed outside to listen to the kids for a little while before going into the parish priest’s (Father Ashery) house for breakfast – tea and mandaazi.

After breakfast, we walked around the village to see some of the kids’ homes and meet their guardians. The St. Bartians even tried their hand at making flour for ugali! It was impressive. After we saw several of the kids’ homes – houses made of mud and wood – that were surprisingly cool given the heat of the day, we headed back to the church and started the now familiar pattern of village visits. There were introductions all around, followed by gifts from the parish to all of us, gifts from the St. Bart’s group – including some great gifts that Sue made by hand – and parish reports. The group also brought pencils for all of the non-Carpenter’s Kids children in the village so everyone got something which was really nice. One of my favorite gifts of the day was a beautiful stole for Father Ashery that a member of the St. Bart’s parish had made with an inscription commemorating the day and the partnership between St. Bart’s and Mvumi Makulu. There was lots of singing and dancing, with a group of Carpenter’s Kids giving several performances. As we were waiting for lunch, we got to spend some time with the kids. It was great to see all of the St. Bartians playing with their kids. There were fist bumps, high fives and peace signs all over the place – that goes over really well with kids here. Lucia was even teaching some of the kids a clapping game. It was fun.

We went in to the church to have lunch and were happy to see the Carpenter’s Kids sitting inside having lunch with us. I got a great picture of the St. Bartians with the little girl who led the singing and dancing as well. We were escorted to our car by almost all of the parish Carpenter’s Kids who all wanted to shake hands and say goodbye even if their hands were still covered with the remnants of their lunch. It took awhile, but we finally said goodbye to everyone – I think there were a few kids whose hands I shook at least 5 times, but they kept getting back in line to say goodbye. We headed back to Dodoma with hearts lighter than they were when we arrived.

That evening we had dinner as a group with Bishop Mhogolo and then after dinner those of us on staff here in Dodoma and in New York had a separate meeting with him to discuss the program.

Tuesday, August 19th, was our final day of parish visits with the New York group. I went with Patti Welch, who is the chaplain of the Cathedral School in New York to her linked parish, Ilindi. The parish is linked with the Cathedral School and the 50 Carpenter’s Kids in Ilindi are supported by children at the school in New York. I wasn’t initially scheduled to go to Ilindi, but I asked if I could switch groups because I wanted to be with Patti when she went to her linked parish. Patti is actually the first priest I met at St. John the Divine back in 2005 when I first visited the church before joining the congregation, so I thought it would be great to go with her when she visited Ilindi for the first time.

We arrived in Ilindi a little early, so we sat outside of the chuch and listened to the Mother’s Union and the Carpenter’s Kids sing for awhile before going into the church for a breakfast of tea, chapati (a tortilla-like flatbread) and some dried liver. I did try to liver because I didn’t want to be rude. I only ate one piece – enough to convince me that liver jerky was not really my thing – and gave the rest to Noel who was eating it like candy and happily took it off of my hands. After breakfast, we went to visit 3 of the Carpenter’s Kids’ homes and meet their guardians. Patti had a great time and really connected with the guardians. She had her picture taken with each family and was even given a handmade broom from one of the grandmothers of the kids. One of the most moving moments of the morning for me was meeting the grandfather of one of the kids. His left leg had been amputated above the knee because he’d developed cancer in the late 1960’s. He had to use 2 canes to get around, but he was in the group that met us at the church when we first arrived, he’d gone back home to see welcome us there and went back to the church for the rest of the day. It wasn’t a short walk between the two places either.

When we’d finished our tour, we went back to the church and went through introductions, parish reports and the giving and receiving of gifts. The kids all really liked their Carpenter’s Kids t-shirts, but the best gifts were the pictures the kids in New York had drawn for the kids in Ilindi. Each picture was mounted on a piece of construction paper and each of the 50 kids received one. After the gifts were given, the Carpenter’s Kids sang us several songs and presented Patti with copies of the lyrics that they’d written out. Patti also taught everyone the prayer that they say at the Cathedral School and with the help of Noel, translated it into Swahili so everyone could understand and say it along with her.

We had lunch in the church – again so much food! – and then went outside for some pictures. Patti and I were each given chickens earlier in the day. I held mine for about 4 seconds before they took it to put it in a plastic bag for me. Before we left, Patti and I left our chickens in the care of the priest before we left so he could take care of them until someone else from the Cathedral School visits Ilindi next summer. We arrived back in Dodoma in the late afternoon and had a short time to rest before heading to the farewell dinner during which everyone in the New York group was given a gift from the Carpenter’s Kids staff and each staff member was given a gift from the New York group. I was especially happy because Tyson and David, whom I met when we all went to Mikumi National Park during my first week in Tanzania, were at the dinner too. Their father, Peter, works as a driver for the Diocese and all of our drivers and their families were invited to come. The boys were easily the best dressed attendees and looked sharp in their suits.

On Wednesday, we had a roundtable discussion with the New York group and the priests from their linked parishes that was moderated by Bishop Mhogolo. This gave everyone a chance to share what the experience meant to them and to say goodbye or see you next year, as the case may be. After we had lunch with the priests, we piled into a bus and drove to Morogoro so the New York group could go to Mikumi National Park. Sarah and I were excited because our hotel rooms had large beds (we have twin beds in our apartments) and televisions. We were able to catch up on some news – Russia and Georgia had a war and no one told me! – and watch some South African soap operas on the one English channel available. It might not seem that exciting to anyone else, but we were thrilled.

We drove the New York group to the airport in Dar es Salaam on Friday, August 22nd so they could fly home. It was sad to see them go, as we all enjoyed having them here, but we know that they are going to go back to New York and spread the word about The Carpenter’s Kids program. We hope to see some of them back next summer!

Sunday in Dodoma and Mwitikira

“Bwana asifiwe. Ninaitwa Elizabeth. Nimetoka Mmarekani. Ninawaletea salaamu toka Kanisa Kuu la Mtakatifu Yona, katika New York. Nilifika siku ya Jumanne na nitafariya kazi na watoto wa Seremala kwa mwaka mmoja. Nimefurahi kuwepo hapa, na asanteni kwa kutukaribisha.” (approximate translation: Praise the Lord (typical greeting). My name is Elizabeth. I have come from America. I bring you greetings from the Cathedral of St. John in New York. I arrived on Tuesday to work for Carpenter’s Kids for a year. I am happy to be here. Thank you for welcoming me.)

That’s what I said today by way of introducing myself, over a loudspeaker, to almost the entire village of Mwitikira. Thanks to the Swahili skills of Miriam, Noel and Mmoti, I was able to say more than ‘Habari za mchana’ (good afternoon).

Today started out like any normal Sunday for me: I went to church in a cathedral. Of course, instead of the cathedral being in New York, it was here in Dodoma - which must be the dustiest place I have ever been. Sarah and I left our compound at about 8:45am and walked the two and a half blocks down to Miriam’s apartment so we could all walk together to chuch. On our way, we stopped at the New Dodoma Hotel where Eric, visiting from Berkeley, CA, was staying. Then the four of us headed off to the Cathedral of the Holy Spririt to attend the English-language service. As we crossed the railroad tracks, we saw a large crowd of people leaving the Cathedral indicating that the 7:00am service in Swahili had just ended. We entered the gates of the Cathedral and were warmly greeted by a few of the other expats we know. We took our seats and the service began. One of the congregation members spoke briefly and then Bishop Mhogolo gave a brief report about Lambeth. It was nice to hear that we still have an Anglican Communion! Then it was time for all of the visitors to stand up and introduce themselves, so Sarah and I got to introduce ourselves to the congregation.

The celebrant and preacher for the day was Father George Okoth from St. John’s College here in Dodoma. He gave a nice sermon about how we should all be imitators of God. He even had us turn to our neighbors and say ‘We should be imitators of God’ just to make sure that everyone got the message. The service music was provided by a keyboard and a guitar and the hymns were much more contemporary than what we sing at the Cathedral in New York.

After the service, we stood outside talking with members of the congregation. We saw Elisabeth and Pierre, two of our travel companions from the trip to Mikumi and Morogoro, and met more of the teachers from the international school and several of Pierre’s colleagues from MAF. After we’d chatted for about 20 minutes or so, Eric, Sarah, Miriam and I said our goodbyes and headed back to Miriam’s compound so we could meet up with our fellow Carpenter’s Kids staff members to head out to Mwitikira for a distribution.

A distribution is what the official presentation of school uniforms, supplies and shoes to the 50+ Carpenter’s Kids in each linked parish is called. They are big events and are well attended, even by children and families whose children are not officially Carpenter’s Kids. Mwitikira is a village located about an hour and a half’s drive outside of Dodoma. Mwitikira is linked with a church in Virginia, and is one of a small number of parishes in the diocese that is not linked with a church in New York. I believe there are about five such parishes, but I could be mistaken.


Today’s distribution was extra special. A woman named Suzanne (I don’t recall her last name) from Mwitikira’s linked parish has been living out at Mwitikira for the past 6 weeks. Today was her last day in the parish and so the distribution was a sort of big goodbye party in a way.

When we arrived in Mwitikira, there was already a large crowd gathered around the area that had been roped off for the distribution. There was a group of about 15 women singing and playing drums. We got out of the cars and were immediately greeted by some of the village’s children. Shy faces extended shy hands and whispered “Habari” or occassionally “Hello.” We made our way over to the house Suzanne had been living in for the past six months and were introduced to the parish priest, Father Erasto, and his wife, Rebecca, and several others, including the head of the village primary school. We sat on chairs and couches in the living room and chatted for awhile as we signed the village guest book. Then warm water was brought around and poured over our hands so we could wash the dust off before we had lunch. We had a hearty lunch of rice, beans and chicken and when Miriam, Sarah and I finished our food (we had been served first) more food was brought over so we could finish it. Considering that Suzanne said she’d been eating mostly vegetarian fare for the last six weeks, we were certainly honored to have chicken.

After we’d finished, Pastor Noah said it was time to begin the distribution. One of the Carpenter’s Kids land rovers drove through the village playing music and announcing that it was time to begin. In the 30 minutes or so we’d been inside an even bigger crowd had gathered. We made our way over to where a table and row of chairs had been set up inside the roped off area. The villages 136 Carpenter’s Kids were assembled in front of the table, some sitting on benches and others sitting on the ground. There were people all around the roped off area, standing, sitting on short benches, sitting on the ground and even in a large tree. The women were still singing and drumming, so Miriam suggested that we (Miriam, Sarah and I) go over and join them. So, we did. We joined the circle and the women showed us the hand movements and dance steps and we danced along with them.

About 10 minutes later, everything was set up and it was time to go back to our seats for introductions. Pastor Noah opened with a prayer and then we each introduced ourselves. I stumbled through my Swahili, but I think people were able to get the gist of it. After everyone introduced themselves, Pastor Noah made some remarks about each of us. I have no idea what he said about me, but people clapped so I would assume it was good. Once we’d all introduced ourselves, Suzanne made a short speech in Swahili. She’d been studying Swahili at home since January, so she was able to say a great deal. Then, the fun began!

Suzanne’s church started out sponsoring 50 children, but this year they added an additional 86 children to bring the total number of children from Mwitikira that they sponsor up to 136. So, on Sunday 86 children received their very first school uniform, shoes and school supplies as well as 2 family sized mosquito nets. The original 50 children also received new school uniforms, shoes and supplies. They’d already received their mosquito nets during their first year in the program. All of the Carpenter’s Kids received a bright blue sweater, a sturdy backpack, a compass set and rulers. The children’s guardians received a large bottle of lotion and about 5 bars of soap. The big excitment came when each of the 136 Carpenter’s Kids were given their very own mattress to sleep on. Suzanne also purchased enough pencils so all of the children in the village could have one, not just the Carpenter’s Kids.

The distribution took longer than I imagined it would, but I got to help as well. After all of the uniforms, backpacks and supplies had been handed out and the children had changed into their new uniforms, it was time to distribute the shoes. We helped to unpack them and then we got to call out names and hand the shoes to the kids. They immediately pulled out the pair of socks that was stuffed into one shoe and put them on and then tried on their new shoes. Miriam and I helped some of the kids tie their shoes, which was fun. Once that was done, there were 136 children in new uniforms and shoes sitting proudly in front of us. A few people made some closing remarks, including Miriam as this is the last visit she’ll make to Mwitikira on staff with Carpenter’s Kids, and then Pastor Noah closed with a prayer.

It was amazing how quickly the crowd dispersed, taking new clothes and school supplies and mattresses with them. Many people wanted to shake hands and say thank you. Some of the elder village women even kissed my hand after they shook it. I couldn’t even begin to tell you the number of people’s hands I shook.

I am extremely grateful that I get to be a part of something that obviously makes a difference. It was a shock to go from the relative affluence of Dodoma to the complete need of Mwitikira. I was struck by how little people had in terms of material wealth-the way in which we in the so-called developed world tend to measure things-and yet there was a richness in Mwitikira that I have never experienced before. The women who were singing before the distribution began were singing songs of thankfulness and praise to God for their many blessings. After spending a few hours in Mwitikira and being welcomed by everyone, I really understood why they were so sincere in their singing.

I think this will be an experience that I’ll need to continue to think about and reflect on to really ‘get’ everything. The things that will stay with me the most are the looks on the faces of the children who received their school uniforms and supplies and the looks on the faces of the children who are not part of Carpenter’s Kids who watched from the sidelines. Big smiles of joy on the one hand and looks of longing on the other. Shaking small, rough hands and looking into the eyes of the village elders who look far older than they actually are truly brings the importance of the work that programs like Carpenter’s Kids do home. I can definitely understand why Suzanne said that the 137th child, the one who didn’t make the final list to become a Carpenter’s Kid, haunts her.

There is a great deal of need in Mwitikira. There is a great deal of need in all of the villages of the Diocese of Central Tanganyika. But it is not a need for pity. It is a need for action. For togetherness. We can do that. We can do that very easily and we are doing it. Through programs like the Carpenter’s Kids we are, with our partners and friends here in Tanzania, making very real difference in the lives of some wonderful children. This morning Father George said “We are called to be immitators of God.” I saw that happen today in Mwitikira and it was amazing.

Mikumi and Morogoro

Friday morning started at 4:20am - definitely not my preferred wake up time. It was definitely worth it, though despite spending the entire day in a bus. On Tuesday, Sandy and Martin McCann, who are both Episcopal missionaries from the Diocese of Atlanta, invited Sarah, Magi and I to go with them to Mikumi National Park. Mikumi is located between the Uluguru mountains to the north and the Lumango mountains to the southeast and is about 3,000 square kilometers in size. To get there from Dodoma, you drive to Morogoro on the Dar Es Salaam road and then head south for about an hour. Needless to say, there was a reason we left at 4:20am. We didn’t arrive at Mikumi until about 10:30am.

I wasn’t expecting to have so many people along for the trip, but it was wonderful to get to meet some new people. Then again, most everyone we meet is new to us, but what can you do? Aside from Magi, Sarah, Sandy, Martin and myself, there were 13 other people on the trip. Four of them were visiting Sandy and Martin at Msalato Theological College, where Sandy works. The others were: Peter Sudayi, who is the brother of Mmoti from the Carpenter’s Kids staff, and his wife and their two adorable little boys Tyson and David; Elisabeth, the chemist (pharmacist) for the diocesan pharmacy; Pierre from MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship); Alan and Joanna who were visiting at MAF to explore possible future employment opportunities; and Musa our driver.

When we left Dodoma it was completely dark. The stars were out, and as soon as we got outside of town that was the only light other than the bus’s headlights. I slept for about an hour and a half, and then was awake for the rest of the trip. It was nice, actually, because I saw some things I hadn’t seen on the way in to Dodoma on Tuesday because I had fallen asleep. We stopped briefly in Morogoro for a tea/coffee, breakfast and bathroom break. I had my first chapati, which is a flat bread that kind of looks like a thick crepe. I also used my first ‘long drop’ toilet as Magi calls them. I’ll leave it to your imaginations as to why they’re called ‘long drops.’ I am greatly indebted to Kyle and Dianne for teaching me the secret to successful use of squat toilets.

We left Morogoro and headed to Mikumi, arriving at the main gate at 10:30am. After paying 24,000 TSH apiece and after picking up a guide we set off into the park. The guide explained that many of the animals had moved south because things were very dry in the park. We did see many different kinds of animals though: baboons, buffaloes, sable antelope, crocodiles, hippos, zebras, elephants, giraffes and many different types of trees and plants. We also saw the infamous tsetse fly. Several of them joined us in our bus, but I don’t think anyone was bitten. We left Mikumi in the late afternoon and headed back to Morogoro to have dinner and check into our lodging for the evening.

We stayed at the KKKT Lutheran Junior Seminary on the outskirts of Morogoro. Elisabeth and Sandy knew people at the school which is why we stayed in dorm rooms instead of staying in a hotel in town. Sarah and I shared a room that consisted of a small sitting room, a bedroom with two twin beds and a private bathroom. The single rooms all had shared bathrooms, so we were happy to have our own. We were both so exhausted that we were in bed with the lights out by about 9:20pm.

Saturday morning we had breakfast in the dining hall and then we went for a walk on the school grounds. The walk was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. The area around Morogoro is very lush and green and the mountains are gorgeous. We had a great time walking around, in part because Tyson and David, who are 9 and 5 years old respectively, came along. The two of them were not really all that excited about seeing cows or looking at banana and coconut trees, but they were good sports. Once they figured out that they could see pictures on the screen of my digital camera they wanted to see every picture I took.

At about 9:30am we paid for our rooms and for breakfast- 9,000 TSH for the room and 3,000 for breakfast. That’s about $10.50 total. Then we got back on the bus and headed to a market that was set up in celebration for national farmers’ day which falls on August 8^th each year. The holiday and the market are called ‘nane nane,’ which means ‘eight eight’ in reference to the eighth day of the eighth month. There wasn’t a lot going on at the market because it was the day after the official celebration, but we spent about 2 hours walking around and looking at things. Magi bought Tyson and David inflatable giraffes which were a big hit. I took pictures of the boys and their giraffes which entertained them greatly. I also took a few videos of the boys goofing around – we watched those repeatedly and apparently they were funnier with each viewing. We got back on the bus and drove for a few hours and then stopped at a roadside village market where several people on the bus got off and purchased some vegetables.

While we were waiting for people to finish shopping, Tyson, David and I amused ourselves with my camera and my Anglican prayer beads. I didn’t realize that they could be a great source of entertainment, but the boys showed me otherwise and posed for numerous pictures with the beads on their heads. David’s inflatable giraffe even got in on the fun and sported an Anglican prayer bead necklace for one photo. I suppose some might consider that sacrilegious, but to a 5 year old and a 9 year old it was a good way to pass the time.

We finally arrived back in Dodoma in the early evening and we bid our new friends goodbye. We’ll see several people again soon, as the EDNY pilgrimage group tours Msalato Theological College when it’s here and we’ll see several others at church. It’s hard to believe that I haven’t even been in Dodoma for a week yet because it feels like I’ve been here longer than I actually have. Tomorrow we’re attending the English-language service at the Cathedral so we’ll see some of our neighbors and get to meet the larger expatriate community in Dodoma.

Day 2: Dodoma

I probably won't be updating this everyday, but since I had some time this morning I wrote another entry. I'm using Miriam's computer to upload this and will probably write something else once my own internet is installed. I'm not entirely sure when that will be though...

It’s 7:45 on Wednesday morning and I’m sitting at my kitchen table boiling some water so I can have a cup of tea. I’m also listening to the sounds outside and trying to place them. I just heard a turkey gobble. I heard a rooster earlier and there are a few dogs nearby as well. At night the sound of crickets chirping dominates the area. It’s a nice change from the sounds of the city, though I would expect that I’ll probably come to miss those at some point.

I woke up at about 6:45 this morning and found a note under my front door from a woman named Catherine who lives in apartment 8 of the little compound here. She dropped off a bottle of water. I’ll have to meet her soon to say hi and thank you. I’m not entirely sure how many apartments there are in this compound, but I now know there are at least 8. The compound is surrounded by a tall fence and there is a gate at the entrance. There is always a guard at the gate, but I’ve only met one of the guards so far.

My apartment itself is comprised of 4 rooms- the living room/sitting room, the kitchen/dining room, a bedroom and a bathroom. It’s actually quite a large place. The living room has a couch, three chairs, a small table and a long cabinet that resembles the short china hutch in my Aunt Linda’s dining room. There are large windows along one wall that have white and yellow floral curtains on them. The windows themselves don’t have glass in them. There are sturdy screens, thin, white crisscrossed metal bars and larger white bars that cover the windows. I’m sure this will help keep things cool, but it certainly allows lots of noise to get in. My overactive imagination and I will have to get used to that.

The kitchen has a refrigerator/freezer, cabinets, a sink, a toaster and a small cooking stove with two burners and an oven. There’s also a spare counter-top set of two burners just in case. Apparently you can either use one burner and the oven at the same time or both burners at the same time. Using both burners and the oven at the same time is a no-no. I don’t remember what would happen if you did that, but I don’t think I’ll try to find out. The other half of the room has a desk and a table with four chairs in it. The table in chairs were originally in the living room, but I moved them into this room because it seemed like a better place for them. There is a ceiling fan which helps to circulate the air.

My bedroom has a tall armoire, a small table, a chair and a twin-sized bed in it. There is a canopy-like frame on the bed with a rectangular-shaped mosquito net on it. I tucked the net under the mattress leaving a small whole to crawl into bed and then tucked that in as well. It was interesting to sleep under a mosquito net. I felt like I was in a large, transparent box. I brought a net with me, but since there was already a net in place I just left mine in its bag.

The bathroom has a toilet, a sink, a wall-mounted water heater and a shower in it. There’s a switch in the kitchen that I have to flip about 20-25 minutes before I want to use the hot water. You turn the switch off before you get into the shower.

The apartment floor is made of concrete and the walls are painted white. All of the windows except the ones in the living room have glass on them, but it’s not a solid pane of glass. They’re short panes of class mounted on metal that move to adjust the airflow allowed into the apartment. The kitchen window looks to have 10 of these small panes in it.

Miriam is coming by today at about 11:30 to show Sarah and me around town. We’re going to go to a bank so we can exchange money, see our new office, go to the market and just try to get a sense of where everything is. I’m not entirely sure what we’ll be doing tomorrow, but Friday is a national holiday here so nothing much will be going on. However, we are going to go on a safari. Sandy McCann, an Episcopal missionary from the Diocese of Atlanta, sent Magi a text message while we were on the bus yesterday and suggested going to Moro Goro which is between Dar Es Salaam and Dodoma. Sandy teaches at a theological college here in Dodoma and she and her husband Martin, who is a doctor I believe and runs a medical lab (I think pathology) in the city, have been here for three years. I’ve heard about Sandy and Martin, so it will be great to meet them.

Day 1: Arrival in Tanzania

This is really long...you have been warned.

Well, I survived the trip. Two nine-hour flights and one eight-hour bus ride later (it felt like much longer), and here I am sitting in my new apartment in Dodoma.

I left Seattle at 8:55pm on Sunday, August 3^rd and flew to Heathrow Airport in London. I had a five-hour layover at Heathrow which wasn’t too bad because I took some great advice from my friend Chris Johnson and found an in-airport mini-hotel room to spend the time in – and more importantly take a shower. Then I boarded the second flight leg of my trip in London at 7:20pm local time on Monday, August 4^th. I actually ended up having a row to myself because the girl who was originally going to sit with me was able to switch to the club traveler section to sit with her parents. The flight itself was uneventful - which is the way I prefer to have my flights. There was a really adorable little boy in the row in front of me and we played peek-a-boo as the flight was making its final descent.

My flight arrived in Dar Es Salaam at just before 7:00am local time on Tuesday, August 5^th. As we were flying over Tanzania, the first officer said that we could see Mt. Kilimanjaro if we looked out the windows on the right side of the plane. I looked – no such luck. I did, however, see the most amazing sunrise that I’ve seen in a long time. I would definitely prefer to be sleeping at sunrise but my inability to sleep for more than 15-20 minutes at a time on a plane paid off this time. The sun was sort of a pinky-orange color and then turned a shade of bright pink that reminded me of a ripe pink grapefruit.

Upon arrival in Dar Es Salaam, I got in the line to get a tourist visa. About 20 minutes, a completed application form and $100 later I had a visa and was able to pick up my bags and head outside. As I exited the airport into a mildly humid day of about 83 degrees, I saw Magi Griffin, who works for the Diocese of Central Tanganyika. It was great to finally meet her in person. She introduced me to Frank, who was our driver for the morning. We stopped at a shop just outside the airport so I could get some bottled water and then we headed to the hotel that Magi and Sarah, who is from the Diocese of Atlanta and will also be working for Carpenter’s Kids, were staying in. Magi suggested that I take advantage of hot running water and take a shower. The water came out with about ¼ of the water pressure back home, but it was great nonetheless.

Then I met Magi and Sarah in the hotel’s lounge which was a nice outdoor area with wicker chairs and a great view of the Indian Ocean. Sarah even saw some monkeys in a nearby tree. Frank picked the three of us up at the hotel at 10:00am to take us to the bus station. We decided to stop in one of the grocery stores in Dar Es Salaam before we got on the bus to Dodoma so we could get some snacks for the road and because sometimes certain goods are less expensive in Dar Es Salaam than they are in Dodoma. It was interesting to see the variety items available and amazing to see how expensive certain things are here. For example, Sarah’s box of Special K cereal cost almost $7 USD. I settled for a box of hibiscus tea-not really practical for the bus, but it’s a taste of home anyway. Magi bought us little meat pies to take on the bus for lunch. Then we went to the bus station to get started on the journey to Dodoma.

My first impression of Dar Es Salaam, which came from the aerial view I got as we were preparing to land, was that it was beautiful. There are lots of trees-palm trees, monkey trees and lots of other kinds. I also thought that there was some kind of fog enveloping the city, but after driving and walking around town I realized that it was actually dust. Lots and lots of dust. I didn’t have a chance to see the city center area or any of the more touristy areas today, but what I noticed about Dar Es Salaam more than anything is how incredibly busy the city is. The car traffic reminded me of rush hour traffic in Manhattan, but less organized. The pedestrian traffic reminded me of the streets in Soho just before Christmas time. So essentially, lots of cars and lots of people. And the people didn’t stay on the sidewalks either, they walked between cars and lanes of traffic-all with a sort of nonchalance that had me cringing from the backseat of Frank’s car. Traffic in Dar Es Salaam can move at a snail’s pace to what felt like to me breakneck speeds. It was the latter that made me a little nervous for some of the more adventurous pedestrians.

As we boarded our bus to Dodoma-interestingly enough the bus line is called Scandinavia Express. I’m not entirely sure why, but I guess it just is what it is. The bus itself was your standard touring bus with about 45 seats on it and looked to be at least 20 years old. We ended up getting a rather scenic tour of Dar Es Salaam as our driver went from the first city stop to a garage to the final stop in Dar before heading to Dodoma. One thing that struck me was how much stuff is simply moved by people-power here. I saw men carrying huge bags of shoes on their backs or pushing hand carts full of paint cans. There were women in brightly-colored skirts and dresses carrying baskets of fruit on their heads. I don’t know how long I’d last doing that. There are also a plethora of goods you can get on the street-everthing from clothing to cell phones to hand-crafted furniture and coffins. I wasn’t really expecting to see coffins being sold on the street, but you’ve got to sell them somewhere.

As we made our way through the streets of Dar Es Salaam, I noticed how big of a role religion seems to play here. I saw numerous churches from all denominations and several mosques. Some of the churches in Dar run hotels that provide a less expensive, but still quite clean and nice alternative to the larger, more expensive hotels. I suppose, in the grand scheme of things, this isn’t really news worthy but it was the open expression of religious expression that caught my attention. My Swahili is quite limited at best, but two of the phrases I do know and heard on a regular basis during my short stay in Dar were ‘Bwana asifiwe!’ and ‘Mungu akubariki.’ These translate to ‘Praise the Lord’ and ‘God bless you’, respectively. These are said with complete sincerity in an expression of the speaker’s beliefs. Both were said to me by Frank, our driver in Dar, in the context of thanksgiving for my safe arrival in Tanzania and in expressing best wishes for my time here. I guess it was just interesting to have phrases that I’m more used to hearing in church or from a priest or a family member said to me by someone I’d just met.

Another interesting site in Dar that caught my attention were the city buses. The first thing I noticed was that they were packed – completely full, people standing in the aisles, almost coming out of the windows it seemed. There are several different sizes of buses, the most common being the Daladala, which is a mini-bus that appears to hold 25 people. Rather, it appears to have seats for about 25 people. I have no idea how many people you could actually fit into the bus. What was really the most interesting about the buses were the ways in which they were decorated. Some of them were brightly colored with words like safari or chimpanzee painted on them. The buses that caught my attention were the ones with phrases like ‘God loves you’ or ‘Jesus loves you’ or ‘Allah Akbar’ painted in big letters on the front and rear windows and sometimes the sides of the buses. I guess I point this out, because it’s quite different from what I was used to seeing in New York or Seattle. Seeing ‘Jesus loves you’ or ‘Allah Akbar’ deliberately painted anywhere on a city bus seems less than probable.

Our bus ride to Dodoma was supposed to be 7 hours long. It actually ended up being 8 hours long, but it felt like each hour took at least three of four hours. I think part of the problem was that it took us so long to just get out of Dar Es Salaam. It was also hot and dusty-surprise, surprise. I actually fell asleep for about an hour or so as we were getting closer to Dodoma. I spent most of the trip looking out the window at the people, villages, trees and shrubs. The vegetation between Dar and Dodoma was quite green in many places. There were lots of plants that looked vaguely familiar, but I don’t know what they’re called. The houses were a mixture of different styles of construction. There were the traditional mud houses with thatched roofs that I’d seen pictures of from when Alan and Matthew were here last year. There were also houses made of stone and wood. I even saw a dilapidated stone house with an enormous satellite dish on it.

As we slowly but surely made our way to Dodoma, we stopped several times in a couple towns. At each stop, people would run up to the bus carrying everything from bottled water and soda to cookies to bags of fresh okra and other vegetables. They’d come up and pound on the side of the bus to get our attention. Passengers would then exchange money for goods through the windows of the bus. This is pretty much how the trip passed. As we approached Moro Goro (considered to be the half-way point between Dar and Dodoma), we started to climb upward. Dodoma is at a higher elevation than Dar Es Salaam-I think it’s on a plateau-so we had a ways to climb. We also had a bus full of people and luggage so the driver had to work for it.

We stopped in Moro Goro and everyone got off the bus to walk around, use the bathroom or buy something to drink or eat from the ever-present vendors. I didn’t need to use the bathroom, but I did go in and check it out. Let’s just say it will take some time to get used to squat toilets. I don’t really remember the ride between Moro Goro and Dodoma because I slept during most of it. I woke up when we were about 30 minutes outside of Dodoma. There are large church-run schools and a conference center that was paid for by the Italian government on the outskirts of the town. I didn’t see a great deal of Dodoma because it was getting dark by the time we arrived – 7:00pm. I did notice, however, that there is more than one paved road. We pulled into the Scandinavia bus station and were all relieved to get off of the cramped and crowded bus. I think I’ll need a couple days to get over than ride...

Miriam met us at the bus station. She’s been in Tanzania working for Carpenter’s Kids for the past two years and is getting ready to head back home to New Zealand next month. It was great to finally meet her in person after talking to her on the phone and via e-mail for the past few months. Miriam was very happy to see us, but also slightly embarrassed because she had accidentally locked the keys to the Land Rover in the cab of the car. She called Father Noah to see if he could come and help because no one was sure if there was a spare key to the car. Her house key was also in the car, so it was really important that she be able to get in.

Father Noah arrived with his son and another man whose name I don’t know because we were never introduced. They tried to figure out a way to get into the car, but didn’t have any luck. Miriam then called someone else who thought he knew where there was a spare key. As we were waiting for him to arrive, he called to say that the spare key was in a money box in the office but someone else had the key. So, he was going to go pick up the guy with the key, they were going to head to the office and then come to the bus station. Since this process was going to take about 30 minutes, Miriam and Father Noah decided that it would be best for her to bring Sarah and me to our apartments in Father Noah’s car and then Miriam could go back to the bus station after she’d dropped us off. So we piled all of our luggage and ourselves into Father Noah’s car and away we went. We arrived at the compound a short while later and Miriam picked up our keys for us.

The apartments belong to CAMS which stands for the Canon Andrea Mwaka School, which is an international school run by the Diocese of Central Tanganyika. Sarah lives in apartment 1 and I live in apartment 6 in the compound. As we were driving here, Miriam and Magi were explaining that we live in one of the more established, ‘nicer’ areas of town. Bishop Mhogolo and his family live in the same neighborhood, though not in the same housing compound, as do Father Noah (my boss) and his family and Miriam. There are some government officials who also live in the same neighborhood. This actually works out well for us because we’re all on the same electric grid and the power company tries to ensure that the government officials’ power is disrupted as little as possible. We’ll see how that goes.

With the help of the guard on the night shift, I believe his name is Hosea, and Father Noah’s son, we unloaded our bags from the car and got them into our apartments. Miriam needed to get back to the bus station to get her house keys and to get the groceries she’d picked up for Sarah and me out of the car. We told her not to worry and to just come back with them when she could. She ended up coming back about an hour later with some food that she'd foraged from her neighbors. All in all, it was a busy but rewarding day.

More later,

Liz