December 1, 2013 My last day in Manow and WE HAVE POWER!!

I awoke to the beautiful sunshine and more importantly to the reassuring hum of the corn mill down at the bottom of the hill.  When the corn mill is running we all have power.  Life is good.  There will be toast and eggs for breakfast this morning.

I look over the valley and the mountains around Manow every morning from our beautiful spot but this is the last morning I can take a cup of tea out and enjoy the comings and goings of many who have become friends or at least "ugonili" acquaintances.

It has been such a blessing to me to be able to be here.  I will enjoy my day to the fullest. Church with wonderful choirs - we do miss the school choir since school is out until January - greeting friends and saying goodbyes.  Packing, relaxing, cleaning up and more packing.  Leftover chicken soup for dinner....and did I mention .... WE HAVE POWER!! 

Tomorrow we are off to Ruaha National Park via Tukuyu, Mbeya and Iringa.  We plan to spend most of our time there resting and relaxing.  We will  have a good journey with Tine and Martin joining us for at least part of the way.  We hope to see Jacob in Mbeya for a quick goodbye.  He was a great support to us during the completion of the new classrooms and is a great guy to boot. I am hoping to have access to power at Tandala so the next post should be all about elephants and birds!

November 30, 2013 – Happy Birthday Tine!

Here is the plan for today….We are cooking a birthday dinner for Tine and Martin and Ntulli [his roommate are coming]. 

We start the fire this AM.  Ngwitike delivered a chicken yesterday so we have to cook it today.  I start cooking the chicken to make chicken soup.  Tine browned some meat yesterday we have to finish it today….did I mention NO POWER STILL. 

While I am cooking the chicken and making sure the laundry – which was soaked yesterday in the downpour is moved around and gets dry including our shoes and backpacks and jackets, Tine and Sean go to the market for more candles…did I mention WE STILL HAVE NO POWER…..

Tine comes back and takes over cooking the beef as I take the chicken soup off the fire.  The beef cooks for another 2 hours…smelling delish…then Tine puts on the rice…..We get it all into the thermal serving dishes and poof….a dinner for 5 with beef and chicken and rice….but no cookies for the birthday girl because….STILL NO POWER….maybe tomorrow. 

The dinner was delicious….we have mastered the art of charcoal stove cooking in Tanzania! We had fun doing it as well.  I am sure it is not nearly so much fun for the Tanzanian mothers and wives who have to do it every day!  Keeping the fire going is a full time job.  Happy Birthday Tine…hope you get some cookies tomorrow.

I was able to get a batch of peanut butter cookies done before we left!

November 29th, 2013 – Hike to Mt. Kyejo….did I agree to this?

Well I am going anyway under protest of course.  The kids are very excited.  This hike is a tradition for the Pre Form 1 students at the end of class.  They have been asking about it since we started.   We left at 8AM – by the time everyone got there, got their mandahzi and chapati .  The hike is about 2 to 2 ½ hours to get there and the plan is to get off the mountain in time to miss the rain which usually comes in the afternoon.  We went thru some of the areas of Manow I had not seen which was very fun…also moving up each step gave us beautiful views….and then we cut thru a corn field and the going got a bit more challenging for Mama Jane.  I was escorted by 3 of the girls – Tuhobwike, Faraja and Neema….Modesta had already taken my back pack with the iPod and the speakers and ahead of us they were all hiking to Dire Straits.

Clearly they are starting to see that Mama Jane is going to need help.

You can see that Tine was much more in her element!  

We were joined by Kenny – always certain, seldom correct – and Jasiri a sweet and kind boy who took my safety as his special assignment and made me a walking stick.  The girls were adamant.  They were not leaving me. We  became separated from the group and at one point appeared very lost. Kenny of course claimed to know the right way but I was not impressed.   Jasiri went and asked a woman who was cutting trees in the forest if we were going the right way and she assured him we were so….off we continued up yet another enormous hill/mountain…..Pole Pole [slowly slowly] Mama Jane.  We came around one mountain and saw the rest of the group at the top of another enormous and steep mountain…..I was not planning another ascent that is for sure…

No way am I going up this hill which is really a mountain!

 however, two of the other students – Gifti and Anafi – were determined that Mama Jane was going to go to the top.  They came running down and virtually carried me up the hill.  Although I appreciated their effort and care for me it is yet another African experience I do not wish to repeat. 

For those of you who do not recognize great moments in teaching this is a demonstration of  the verb "to carry".

The rains came with a vengeance and I will spare you the details of the return trip but in summary it consisted of me picturing headlines like “ Grandmother dies in flash flood in Tanzania”.  “Grannie lost to her family while fording a stream through a cornfield” “Tragedy for recent retiree”.  So you get the picture?  I did make it home with my 3 girls Neema, Tuhobwike and Faraja beside me – all of us soaking wet from head to toe and they had another 45 minute walk to get home.  I made it to the top of Mt. Kyejo and I am glad they were with me.  I am lucky to have met them.  

View from the top with ominous black cloud looming for our return trip.

November 28th 2013 - Final is over – certificates awarded – scholarship winners announced….the smell is discovered and it’s disgusting!

We printed out fancy certificates for each student and gave them their performance percentages in a letter to their parents.  The Tanzania Teaching Foundation awards a scholarship to Manow Lutheran Junior Seminary for the boy and girl with the highest percentages so we were happy to announce those winners as well.  This is a big decision for kids and their families to make so we are waiting to hear if the 2 winners are able to accept the scholarships. Depending on where they live, the travel expense could be an issue as well as losing their place at the government school if they start at a private school.   The 2 winners are excellent students and we hope they are both able to accept and attend.  If they do not accept the scholarship is offered to the next highest student and so on.

Class ended early today after the presentations and we came home to find Martin committed to finding and resolving the smell….still no power of course.  So Tine, Martin and I set to work to discover the source.  Tine was convinced it was in the fridge and we had not been able to find the location of the drip tray so that was a good place to start.  I looked at the manufacturer’s booklet on the fridge and although it did say it was a good idea to clean it from time to time, it did not give the actual location of the drip pan….well we found it at  the back of the fridge attached with 2 Phillips-head screws….it was disgusting and smelled horrendous.  All the inconsistent power we guess had created a real mess.  We got it cleaned out – and set the tray in the sun to try and clear the odor.   So….we smell good – cause cold showers get you just as clean as a hot shower – and the house smells good….now we just need power.

Blessedly there are no photos to post of this experience!

November 26th, 2013 …. Submarine duty continues…..

 Power rationing now is apparently related to a dispute between Tukuyu area and the Mbeya area.  The power company is reported to be angry about the complaining from Mbeya and as a result have cut off power to our area completely….there are fewer to complain here I suppose.  We have water so that is good.  No resolution on the smell however.

 Tine and I are mastering the art of cooking on the charcoal stove.  Our first night of rationing we served a cold meal with a delish pasta salad, mangoes, avocados, and cookies.  Sounded good to us and figuring out the stove was not in the cards.  Sean started a fire for us the night before but it turned out it was not enough fire and we barely got some eggs scrambled.  There was a request for meat at the next meal from our Tanzanian friends. 

Sean figured out the fire pretty well and we were able to get water boiling for coffee and tea.  We also made some beans not my favorite but at least it was hot and filling.  We are attempting some meat tomorrow.  Keep a good thought!  Did I mention the rains have started?

Beans glorious beans!

November 24th, 2013 – The last week begins……and power rationing continues….oh wait no water too???....and what the heck is that smell???

On the positive side….we are all fully prepared for service on a submarine – no lights – no water and an increasingly unpleasant smell that we cannot quite place.

 On the negative side – we have had power rationing since the 16^th of the month….did we mention also the rates increased 68% at the same time?  We sometimes have power in the AM….sometimes the PM and sometimes the middle of the night. 

We have been without water for more than 2 days…this is a real problem for us…did I mention my toilet is also broken….flushing now requires 3 hands – and that doesn’t count the manual water from the bucket. 

There is an awful smell in the house and we have been looking for a week to try and locate the source.  Our friend Martin came over to see us and agreed the smell was awful.  He went into the crawl space in the ceiling as I was convinced it was a dead animal….nothing at all up there.  We had already cleaned the refrigerator….cleaned the cupboards, and investigated as much as I was able to – given the size of the bugs and spiders one is likely to encounter on the top shelf of the kitchen storage area.  Martin however is a fearless International Coordinator and went thru the entire area without finding anything. 

November 22, 2013 – The big game [s]

I have some fun photos to post when I get home of the kids playing....sorry I can't get them to you now!

 Traditionally the Pre-Form 1 kids play the Form 1 [freshman] kids in football before the end of the class.  This year the girls wanted to be involved so they challenged the Form 1 girls to a net ball game as well.   I have finally learned something about net ball – I have heard about it in Tanzania before but have never understood it – mainly because I keep looking for a net…there is no net.  There are 2 hoops – smaller than a basketball hoop and in fact they look a bit higher – at opposite ends of a narrow field of indeterminate size.  The object is to get the ball – we used a volleyball – into the hoop from under the hoop at a very difficult angle while a large girl with hands the size of dinner plates leans over you to attempt to get the ball away from you.  There is running, passing, only 1 bounce per person and I never did get out of bounds at all.  The girls love it!  They were at what turned out to be a grave disadvantage since they did not have a hoop of any kind on the practice field…they had no trouble getting to the hoop even though the Form 1 girls were much bigger and taller – but getting the ball into the hoop was a big challenge.  They put forth a great effort and were rewarded with cheers all around…they beamed.

Modesta  was our tallest and strongest player and she did great!

Again....here is an example of how I don't understand the in bounds and out of bounds....I think the girl with the scarf is actually playing???

As you can see, the hoop is a bit off kilter making it even more difficult to score!

The boys fared better losing by one goal.  They were clearly robbed as the ref was apparently listening to another game on his Iphone.  The other team had 1 goal that was so badly off sides even I noticed it and then 2 bogus penalties inside the box.  Our goalie was fearless but a direct kick inside the box is almost impossible to defend.  Obviously I was much to invested in the game to take many pictures!  I was able to wear my soccer mom hat when I corrected the goalie’s sentences for the week.  One was as follows “I love the game – I added “of football and I am a very good goalie”.  We all had a great time – not least our girls who formed a cheer squad for the boys when net ball ended - including cheers in English!

Step one  before any football [soccer] game is to clear the field of livestock - use a bike if you have one!

some of our reserve football team and permanent cheering section - from left Oscar, Jasiri, Anafi, Kenny, Elieza and Erick

The most remarkable part of the day for Sean and I was to see these kids – many of whom did not know each other on September 23^rd,  play so well together as teams.  We beamed like proud teachers! 

November 20, 2013 - Don’t know much about Biology...

Well that is not really true….I generally know how things work – human being – wise that is…but….this really was my first sex ed class.  We studied the curriculum and we think we got it right!  Martin came in on day 3 to answer questions and clear up any misunderstandings due to language…..I can tell you as the mother of 4 who survived my own puberty as well as the 4 ensuing puberty[ies?] I expected questions ad infinitum from our 12 – 16 year old Tanzanian kids and they did not disappoint.  “How does the baby get out?”  this from a wide-eyed girl of about 75 pounds aged 12 – I assured her the woman’s body prepared for the birth and there was nothing to worry about….my first lie of the day….and so it went.  “Why do babies get born with extra arms and legs?” this from our Martin destined to drive his secretary at the university crazy with his obsession with precise and complete answers – Sean assured him this was very rare and there was often no explanation – this of course did not satisfy….and so it went. 

Martin Mwakajae has a real heart for kids that is evident the first time you see him in front of a class.  He is authentically interested in them and they know it.  He respects them without letting them lose respect for him.  He patiently took each question and translated our answers – for more than 2 hours.  [I was not fooled when Sean was suddenly called away during the spate of penis and testicle questions – but then he took a nursing mother question so I guess we are even.]

 HIV/AIDS is a serious and important topic everywhere and certainly in Tanzania.  It is a difficult topic to discuss and there are many widespread myths here.  We did our best to credit the curriculum and be sure we presented the best facts in the most non-judgemental way possible.  Tough stuff to think about for them.

Salome Lena and Bwigane - Gwamaka in the back.

November 17, 2013 - Chicken Pilau at Mwakeima’s

Mama Heri’s chicken pilau is legendary….I made an attempt at chicken pilau last month and it was not great but at least edible.  When Mr. Mwakeima heard I had tried to make it he immediately invited us for Mama Heri’s pilau.  We had a lovely time as always.  The chicken pilau was delish and nothing like what I had prepared – although Mama Heri said the spices I got at the market were the right ones so it must be my technique or lack of same I conclude.  Anyway it was very tasty and as a bonus, their first born daughter Heri was home after graduation from university.  She is a very accomplished and lovely young woman.  Her degree is in Public Administration.  Jobs are not easy to find in Tanzania but she has hopes of a job in Tukuyu.  She would like to live in Dar es Salaam where she went to school but there are not many jobs there either.  So it goes everywhere it seems for recent college graduates.  Mr. Mwakeima says that teaching degrees are very much in demand so those graduates will usually find a place quickly.  Then the challenge here is to get paid as agreed.  Some of the schools run short and don’t pay teachers….can’t imagine but we have a friend who is teaching here in a private university who has not been paid in more than 6 months….He manages somehow I am thinking that since this is not uncommon there is some kind of extension for expenses but wow….not easy. 

The Mwakeima family is so very warm and welcoming to all the teachers in the program.  Sean and Mr. Mwakeima enjoy talking history together – Mr. Mwakeima is called “the professor” by many folks in Manow.  He has lots of knowledge about Tanzania and the Manow area – he and his brothers grew up not far from the school.  We are well cared for by all the folks in Manow.

November 16, 2013 - A new room mate!

Friday evening Martin came over to let us know there was a volunteer arriving from Germany on Saturday and would we mind sharing the house….the house has a third bedroom and is provided for all volunteers by the diocese so we had no problem and looked forward to meeting the volunteer described as a young man in his 20’s.  By Saturday AM, the volunteer was a woman in her late 30’s or early 40’s - well really it turns out no one knew how old she was but she was definitely a woman and would be here sometime in the early evening….again no problem but I am thinking this is slightly different from a young man in his 20’s.  My own experience with young men in their 20’s is they are not very particular about anything including personal hygiene and certainly not sleeping accommodations so….we got the room ready and aired out along with the bedding for our evolving roommate!

 Tina arrived and it seems like she has always been here.  She has been a great addition and a wonderful collaborator in our class.  She is on a 1 year sabbatical from teaching [what a boon to us!] and was invited by the bishop of the local diocese to come here as a volunteer.  They are not sure what assignment she will have but while that and her visa are being worked out, we get the advantage of her expertise and the pleasure of her company.   The kids are thrilled with a new face and a new voice.  Tina has some very useful insights as a person who is not only an experienced teacher but an English learner as well.  Blessings continue for us and for our students.

November 15th, 2013 – our last two weeks in Manow

We finished week 8 of the curriculum today.  Plans are made for an open house to thank the community on November 24^th.  I will be learning to make Sambosa’s on the 23^rd from Jane, the cook extraordinaire in Manow.  Jane works for the school as the stores manager.  When I mentioned wanting to learn to make Sambosa’s Martin immediately said, “You have to go to Jane, she is the best.”.  He also mentioned that she makes delicious cakes and when she described them to me, I was on board.  My family knows I love cakes but am a consistently unsuccessful cake baker.  Jane will be making the sambosa’s which are pretty involved – first you have to make chapati – basically flour and water fried like a thick [rubbery I would say] pancake.  Then you cut the chapati in 4 pieces and fill with the cooked meat filling mixed with – onion, carrot, garlic, salt – then deep fry the individual sambosa’s.  I will do the grunt work for Jane on the 23^rd and am really looking forward to it.

We have dinner with the Mwakeima’s on Sunday – Mama Harri’s famous chicken pilau and then Martin and Neema by butter and vanilla benefactor are coming next week.  We look forward to both of these fun times. 

 We have reached the time when we don’t have enough time to do everything we need to do or more importantly what we want to do before we leave on December 2^nd.   An embarrassment of riches to be sure.  The choir is practicing in the distance, the cows are at home  - evening in Manow.

November 11, 2013 Am I in North Dakota?

I am in my dining room after a hard day of teaching and trying to get my email to open….yikes you would think I was in a 3^rd world country or something!  As I sit here I am serenaded by our resident bovine – the plumber – bellowing outside the dining room window.  I wish I could say “lowing” cause it sounds so peaceful and bucolic but no….this is genuine bellowing.  I am thinking she does not like what is on offer in the part of the yard she is staked in and is yearning to get back behind the bathroom pipes where we keep the good stuff. 

In the distance I can also hear one of the wonderful Manow Lutheran Church choirs practicing in the church yard.  This is an almost daily event….both the cow and the choirs.  I wonder??? Is this what it’s like to be a real Lutheran and live in North Dakota where, legend says, cows and choirs are everywhere…if it is, its nice.

November 10, 2013 Beautiful Vistas Abound

Sean and I were invited to Sunday lunch at Owden Andalwisye’s house outside Manow in the village of Ndembo.  He is one of the 10 siblings of Mr. Mwakeima - another is a choir director at the church.  
Owden took us the “back way” which was quite a hike upwards and then of course downwards but also filled with beautiful prospects and vistas of the mountains around Manow and the valleys down below.  We both enjoyed it very much.  Owden is trained as a forester and is very knowledgeable about sustainable forestry and farming practices in Tanzania.  We shared some of what we discussed with the kids about sustainable farming and our frustration waiting for the rain to complete our demonstration of erosion!

 After lunch we went through the village and toured the new community center.  Owden has built the center mostly himself, with the collaboration of the other village parents and adults.  The construction is excellent so far and they have plans for a community kitchen and common areas as well as a classroom where they are hoping to have another class of Pre-Form One English located.

This year they had a couple of students from the village who did not make it into our class and Owden decided to take advantage of a university graduate who had come home to await a posting after graduation.  They asked if he would be willing to teach English and he was so they offered a class to help with English for those entering Form One – they started with 2 and ended up with 7 students.  They are meeting at the community center and working with this local man improving their English skills for Secondary school.  We are looking forward to meeting the teacher and hearing about what he has done.  What a great grass roots start for the program!

November 9, 2013 Tukuyu shopping trip – Coffee! Butter! Napkins! Life is good!

Saturday was a trip to Tukuyu with Martin, our minder, helper, Swahili interpreter, friend and all around go to guy, and Neverson, one of the English teachers at the school and Goshen, a young boy of about 9 or 10 who had never been to Tukuyu.  The road is not paved so some of it was slow going but we made good time and got to Tukuyu before 10 – after banking and mailing some letters we went shopping and wonder of wonders I found real coffee and napkins…..things were on the upswing for sure.

 Martin has a favorite place to eat where they make fried fish and plantains…turns out it is everyone’s favorite place in Tukuyu.  It’s called Baba Love and it is a real fish shack with an open air kitchen and the cut pieces of fish out on a table waiting to be chosen by the customers – I did not take a photo of the actual fish table but the kitchen is below with one of the friendly and efficient cooks along with Neverson, Martin and Goshen.  Fried fish and plantains are surely job security for cardiologists but it was delish!

 Next the search for a good quality football [soccer].  We had gotten 2 in Lwangwa but neither one lasted and I wanted to see if we could find one of higher quality that would last this year and maybe even next year….the boys have a match scheduled on the 22^nd with the Form One boys – the girls will play netball – and they wanted to be practicing.  We did find one, but the best part of that stop was that my new best friend and financial officer at the Manow Lutheran Secondary School, Neema, caught up with us and gave me a package of butter she found in Mbeya!  ….toast and butter, real coffee and a napkin…..be still my heart!

On the way home, we stopped at a beautiful lake - name unknown but it was lovely as you see....

November 8, 2013 – Mama Jane learns to clean the Tanzanian way!

Our students clean the classroom each Friday….there is a lot of dust when you have unpaved roads and when children are walking long distances to school – more on that later.  We have been sweeping each week and cleaning up around the church and the school building but…..some of our girls were quite appalled that we [meaning me really] had not washed the floor.  Modesta put her hands on her hips and announced on Thursday “Mama Jane, this floor is dirty.  You need water to wash it.”

At this point, they don't even pretend to let me help....it is too time consuming.

Reluctantly I agreed – I do try to avoid this kind of task whenever possible but I had to agree it was getting pretty bad so on Friday I brought the bucket and some rags for the job.  Let me tell you, Modesta took one look at the rags I brought, rolled her eyes, and walked away disgusted having discovered I was completely useless.  She went over to the trash bucket and retrieved a discarded man’s polo shirt we had picked up in the church yard and put it to immediate use on the floor.   She looked over her should as if to say “this, Mama Jane, is a rag”.  She then went to work bent over at the waist, sloshing water on the floor and wiping in big circles, organizing the other girls to refresh the water and so on.   I put one of my small puny rags on the end of our broom and began cleaning along with them to at least try to save some face…..they thought it was hilarious that I was pushing a rag around with a broom….clearly they had never seen anything so stupid and ineffective….although they were too kind to say so and thanks to me, their English is limited.

So....part of the process of course is to move the muddy water to the door....as you see it is a 2 girl job.

They did agree to let me finish the last step on the entrance to the classroom, but I could see they had little confidence that I would do much of a job with my rag and broom.  I fully expect them to inspect on Monday and call me to task….oh well, there are worse things to be bad at I suppose.

 

Grace clearly sees we could all do better!

November 6, 2013 – My daily 11:30 AM pick-me-up

 Each day at about 11:30 AM the preschoolers leaving their class at church and primary school students returning from class walk by our class room.  They have been very afraid, especially of the wuzungu mwalimas, but also of our kids who are bigger of course and they are not all from Manow so the kids don’t know them.  Little by little they are getting braver.  Some will now say ‘good morning’ or uganili [the Nyakusa greeting] depending.  Some of them now try to fool me and sneak by and are full of giggles when they are “caught”.  Today they all had big smiles and waves and some of our students came to see what I was doing at the door, so everyone got a wave and a smile….I snapped the photo below but that was too much for them and they scampered off….maybe next time I can get all their faces.  It really is the little things don’t you think?

November 6, 2013 - Visiting in Lwangwa

Wednesday we had a trip to the market as well as a visit with Mr. Mwakatobe and his wife who live in Lwangwa.  I made peanut butter cookies to bring along on our visit.  It felt nice to do such a comfortable homey thing just as I would bring them at home.  We had a lovely visit with them...tea with Sambosa's [I have always heard them called Samosa's here but....the hostess worked hard to get me to say it correctly] that were delicious...little pockets of fried dough a bit like an empanada [sp?] with meat or a potato inside.  We also had papaya and bananas and roasted peanuts. 

Mr. Mwakatobe is the former manager of the tea plantation in Manow.  He is very gracious and answered all our questions about growing tea...who knew the plants can last forever as long as they are picked and trimmed consistently.  They have a lovely home and gardens in Lwangwa.  His wife is a teacher of English among other subjects at Manow Primary school.  She gave me a great connection for someone to show me how to make sambosa's - the mother of one of our students as it happens who is also a teacher at the primary school.  I am hoping she is not too busy to give me a lesson.  Update on the outcome of that very soon!

Week 6 already????

We finished our first week of teaching in the new and luxurious classrooms...the kids are so happy to be in the larger space and it is much more comfortable.  We are having to get used to having the kids at tables rather than desks but the tables give them much more room for all their stuff and they cannot be tipped over....not so with the desks.  Mama Jane's punishment for tipping over your desk was a hit on the head with my shoe....very effective! 
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We actually  got a trash bucket for our new classroom...our new motto is "In Pre-Form One English, we put trash in the trash bucket".  A new concept for these kids.  They are used to throwing trash on the floor, on the road, or out the window.  This is the common practice for everyone.  They are good to humor me on this point.

We began our unit on sustainable farming practices and were able to do some good illustrations of erosion right in front of our building.  I discovered a field of maize planted on a hillside [on the way to buy beer :)] so we took a short field trip....with 40 students it was a challenge ....the kids looked around and got some info on the field and the crop - Sean took a photo and we will take photos of the field over the next several weeks as the rains begin to see the impact of the rains on the hillside.  Of course we also  encountered goat poop which was truly the highlight of the trip.  13 and 14 year olds are really the same the world over - poop never disappoints!

It is hard to believe our time here is already half over.  It feels at once as if I have been here forever [when I am missing my family and a nice bag of cheetos] and then again as if I have just arrived.   It feels like we have accomplished so little and then again when I read some of the letters the students wrote today, it reminds me how far they have come.  The next few weeks will be challenging for themand for us as we try to tie together many of the concepts they have been learning to make a useful pattern for them to use.