Dear Family & Friends,
We're unpacked and sorting through our memories. We thank all of you for enthusiasticly following our trip and responding with such support that we felt loved all the way across the ocean! Here are our notes on the last week of our trip for those of you who are die hards and wish to "read to the end."
Tanzania: After almost eight hours of bone rattling, dusty rough roads which skirted the north, west & south sides of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Dr. Elaine Tan and us arrived in Moshi. The director of the Rafiki Moshi village, Deb, was there to greet us. We made a quick stop to get some groceries in a tiny market and pulled up to a "drive through" banana market. In 15 minutes,we were settling into a vacant ROS home. The Mamas and kids waited with huge smiles to eat some delicious plantain stew & visit with us. We watched the sunset over Mt. K, showered, slept well and were up the next day to watch the sunrise over Mt. K. It was Majestic. Rog headed out with Tim, ROS (long term missionaries), to do maintenance and repair jobs. Jane was quickly put to work in the library & cutting out felt board Bible story characters...sure wish Rog's mom was there...she'd love doing that! As soon as the kids arrived at school, Jane was back to teaching. This village is a bud about to blossom. It's buildings were just finished within the last year and now they are rounding up the Mamas & orphans to fill them. It is time consuming as first they must gain the trust of the locals, then verify the death of both parents, and do a complete physical on the child before they bring him/her home to the village. They now have 7 adorable cherubs and 3 more "hopefuls." All the staff are eager to open their arms and hearts to many more! Seventeen girls, ages 17-22, attend a day school there working toward their 8th grade certificate. They also spend an hour a day making cards & weaving both using banana tree leaves...an income earning skill. They were a delightful and curious bunch who hammered us with questions. The snail question came up again so we did an internet search & found out the French eat about 5 lbs.of boiled snails a year. The girls were shocked especially when we told them many northern Africans eat them, too! Twelve of the girls live together in a house close by and we could hear them singing hymns beautifully each night. Mabel, ROS, just recently took over the child care position which included medical care. She was thrilled to have Dr. E there as she has no medical background and very few meds. Dr. E went straight to work doing completephysicals on all the kids, mamas & day students. She emptied a suitcase full of meds she'd brought & made 2 trips to town to get more & check out the local hospital--which was the one Dr. Bob Jensen founded. Jane subbed for Mabel's four year old class so she could spend time learning from Dr.E. Jane also helped organize & label the meds...everything from asprin to HIV test. She saved the list because you never know when or where it'll be valuable info!! Rog & Tim worked on the water pump, lights, fans, moving furniture & measuring for future needs. One of the national teachers, Mr. Kwaker agreed to escort Jane to the neighboring government school. He had taught there years ago and proudly told me it was the first school around and was started by missionaries inthe 1890's.It had educated some of the first free government officials! The children were at recess when we arrived & some of the teachers were checking out the goods a local boy had for sale and other teachers were working their shamba--garden plot provided for their use. (They would take what they harvested home for dinner.) The head master warmly welcomed me and paraded me around his school saying, "Take pictures!" Then he took me into his office which was piled high with papers. We discussed assessments and retention...so similar to the states. Then he told me to stay there while he assembled the students. After just a few minutes, he came for me and introduced me to his 250+ k-8 students. Mr.Kwaker translated as I told them a bit about me & USA schools. Again I was encouraged to "Take pictures" of the students & then the staff. After the kids went back to class, we visited a first grade and another class where a nun was teaching religion. As the head master, Mr. K & I exited the school and walked down the lane the head master talked to me about bridging Africa to America. What a thrilling dream we both shared. The five days in Tanzania filled up quickly. We dined in town on Chinese food & the ROS fried hamburgers & fries & served choc. chip cookies for us so we felt at home. Dr. E spent the extra $ to fly back to Nairobi...but we rode the bus to fill our memory banks with views of Africa: Maasi villages & herds, small town markets, huge dust devils, termite mountains, acacia tress, stick & scrap metal homes, unfinished"retirement" home, busses (one advertising: Arrive Alive!), pick-ups loaded with people and hundreds of walkers who smiled and waved to us.
Kimanthi: It pains us to write about Kimanthi but he has been a big part of this trip. He is almost five and is one of Mama Rose's sons (Kenya RafikiVillage). He had his first seizure in Aug & was taken to the best hospital in Nairobi. Many tests showed nothing & drs said probably it was a reaction to some bacterial infection. About 4 months later, another seizure and more tests. 3rd one was about 1 month later around the firstof March. They became more frequent and lasted longer. Four times in one week, he was examined by a top neurosurgeon... twice with Dr. E with him. Finally they admitted him. He wasn't swallowing & was barely concious. His diagnosis was slow growing encephalitis. His prognosis is poor. Decisions will be very tough. Bring him back to the village or to a care facilty? How long? What will his future needs be and can the village meet them? We have several pictures of Kimanthi smiling and playing. We also carried his limp body to bed and tried to get liquids down him several times. My mind says why...my heart relies on faith.
Home to Kenya: We came "home" to the Wageni (Swahili for guest house). Funny how quickly you can claim a spot. Yeen again treated us to dinner after we'd showered the red dust off. We then went to mingle with the kids: Jane read aloud stories and Rog orienting kids using maps. At 7, we joined the ROS, Hegels & Dr. E for desserts. We were overwhelmed with the heartfelt thank you we heard from each person. We were humbled to say the least. We felt the thanks totally belonged to those who were thanking us. These Godly committed people who we were leaving behind to continue pouring their energies and love into raising the 80+ orgphans and 30+ day students and all the nationals who were employed there. It was an evening we will not forget. Sunday we caught the bus with Mama Naomi & sons to the Anglican Church of East Africa right down town Mwiki. The boys went to Sunday School in a metal shed that used to be the church. We went to the "new" church-entering as two entusiastic members were both shouting their own personal praises into microphones...simultaneously. Then the real singing began. Many songs were the same as DUMC...but with African soul and dance. Our feet were tapping the dirt floors as the next 30+ minutes we sang with our whole bodies. Mama Naomi's boys sang, then another children's choir performed. We were pleased to recognize Mrs. Minea, teacher for the 4 yr old Rafiki kids, as she took the podium. Her husband is the paster & since it was Mothering Union Sunday, she preached about the impact mothers have on their families. We left after 2 hours though church was still going. We packed up our suitcases & then went to spend the last few hours with the kids. As they gathered at their dining tables, we said good bye to each...and yes Jane was crying. We were leaving behind much, taking lots and so looking forward to our grandbabies. Emotions were swirling in our minds as a group gathered again to pray for us and ask for a safe journey.We have been so blessed.
Mission Diet: On the lighter side...literally. Many of you have heard Jane talk about advertising a new diet she describes as "The Mission Diet: just go to a third world country to help, you'll lose weight!" Now she can say, "It works!!" The scales verify that she lost 9 lbs. in 7 weeks! (Rog refuses to be a part of this experiment.) That's not bad for having had many choc. chip cookies & popcorn. She was also delighted to have Coke Light readily available!! She encourages all of you to save the money you'd spend on "diet food &/or programs" and try the "Mission Diet" instead!!
