Back in Dar (again)

Well her we are back in Dar after a very fast but very bumpy crossing of the channel between Tanzania and Zanzibar. The ferry only broke down twice but we made it in just under two hours nonetheless, and no-one actually puked, but several were sweaty and pale, groping their way toward the rear deck, where the foam and spray was remeniscent of the deck of a WW2 destroyer (what would I know about that?). The quayside at Dar was every bit as hassling as the last time, with people jostling to carry bags, offer a taxi ride or to sell nuts (!). We found a nice taxi and managed to get to the hotel just in time to bag the last room, our own rooms having been given away again by the management.

We had a super time on Zanzibar. All enjoyed the spice tour; others tried their hand at snorkelling and managed to get sunburnt even through t shirts. The reef has degraded significantly in the four years since we last visited; most of the branching and plate corals near the surface having disappeared. Coral s to be found washed up on beaches everywhere. There are Crown of thorns starfish on the reef and the whole thing is badly out of balance. Some preferred to lounge on the beach, thereby baking severely. Most were able to sample the retail opportunities of Stone town. We all enjoyed a public barbeque in Forodhani gardens last night, sampling octopus and chips, and banana and chocolate pancakes. The weather was hot for the whole visit, but the rooms were cool and beautiful. The hotel even had broadband internet (at a price).

The BBQ was a complete contrast to the meal we had on our first night, which was served on the beach to tables set around a bonfire and a music group playing local instruments.

It made a refreshing change just to be tourists in a place where nobody has any expectations of us and we can just relax!

Zanzibar has got busier since we were last there and the hotel has been expanded. The accomodation we stayed in last time os now used for staff accomodation and is waiting to be demolished! The biggest change has been noticable in Dar where people are flooding in from the villages to find work. It's dirtier, nosier, more polluted and when the electricity is off between 7am and 7pm, the noise of generators is deafening and the diesel pollution just adds to the general smog!

We're just off to find some dinner.

Thanks to those of you who managed to post a comment - it's been nice to hear from you! This time tomorrow, we'll be safely home. Please pray for our journey, given our past record of vehicle breakdowns. It's fair to say that one or two of us are slightly nervous about getting on a plane!

We hope you've enjoyed reading our blog and that it's given a flavour of our visit and that you've enjoyed journeying with us.

Love to all of you,

Julie, John, Trevor, Molly, Mandy, Jenny and Jack.

 

 

  

Back in Dar-es-Salaam

back in Dar-es-Salaam by the grace of God. The bus journey yesterday was
truly terrible, one of the worst I have ever encoumtered, even possibly in
Ghana. The bus was ancient, and by that I mean it could very well have been
taking me to school thirty years ago. No seatbelts, and an engine which,
about half an hour out of Dodoma, started spraying oil everywhere. We
stopped in a village, where someone by the side of the road was able to weld
some part together. The Tanzanian drivers certainly need to be resourceful,
but the fact that people stand by the road with cylinders and torches
certainly suggests that such events are far from rare. No welding masks or
helmets were in evidence, and the men working on the engine held lighted
cigarettes. Eventually we set off again, and the poor gutless engine dragged
us to Dar-es Salaam. The driver overtook numerous times on blind hills and
bends, but I suppose yesterday it was not God's will that we should die. As
we reached the outskirts of the city, the driver kept stpping to let people
off, although the luggage compartment is supposed to be opened only inside a
secure compound. People also joined the bus for the ride into the city,
presumably for cash payment. When we arrived, two hours late, none of the
traffic lights were operating, due to power rationing.
We managed to meet with Isaac Mtemi for dinner and settled into the
Econolodge after a brief altercation (our rooms had been given to other
people, and others had to be found). Today we are exploring Dar before
catching the ferry to Zanzibar this afternoon. We hope to find a French cafe
and the Christian bookshop.

John

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We are back in Dar after a very hairy journey from dodoma.

Our ferry for Zanzibar leaves at 4pm so we have time to look around the cathedral and I hope to buy an African Bible before we leave. Peter and Alison have told us about a french coffee shop, which John and I located last night, so we hope to treat ourselves this afternoon.

Mollie sends love to all and says that she is doing well. Her health is holding up well! So thanks for all your prayers.

We are on the last leg of our journey now and Dar seems very noisy and busy compared to the peace (relative, if you count animal noises at night!) of Mvumi. We've learnt a lot about Tanzania and the daily way of life for Peter and Alison in their work at Mvumi, and I think we are all grateful for the experience, even though it's been tough at times!

 

see you all very soon!!!

 

 

hi everyone! today is saturday, and weve been to ibihwa to see a couple
called roger and judy lund who work for cms there, running a training school
for the surrounding villages. they go into the parishes and select 6 members
to come to their school and be taught community safety procedures, like how
to deal with malaria, and unwanted rubbish. then they are supposed to go
back to their neighbours and teach them what theyve learnt via role play so
that everybody knows how to keep themselves safe. after about a month a
nurse called mary visits the parish to make sure that the representatives
have passed on the information to their neighbours, and everyone is enjoying
a better quality of life. if the reps have succeeded, then they are paid
1,000tshs (50p) for each new practise they have taught.
yesterday we went back to msalato. its so different, and yet really familiar
- all the things we knew before are still there. after a tour, we were
allowed to sit in on some of the classes. jenny, jack and i went to
secretary school andwe found out the skills the perfect office worker should
possess. after lunch we went with emmanuel (one of the students from last
time) to see ilolo Church where geoff and jean were taken last time, and
then we quickly zipped over to the bishop stanway school to take some photos
before we went to changombe, fredericks parish. he showed us around his
office, and the Church, and the local compassion charity and the school. he
was really excited that wed come, and we stayed so long we almost couldnt
find our way home in the dark!
on monday we get the bus back to dar. hope it doesnt break down this time!
lots of love
mandy

Buigairi Blind School

We are beginnning to get even less organised in the mornings now, and for 7 people sharing one house, it seems impossible to get ourselves ready on time for anything!

Several of us got very little sleep last night - we left the back door unlocked and the guard kept rattling it to draw attention to the fact! Eventually, I felt brave enough to get out of bed and check what was making all the noise, but I didn't go into the kitchen where the door was! What with that and the noise from assorted cows, dogs and cockerels, it was a restless night. John, Trevor and I ended up getting up really early and drinking tea to while away the time before breakfast, and then got a bit carried away and ended up being late as usual!

The guard dog was living up to it's name where chickens are concerned and managed to bag itself a whole one, which it was munching on when we arrived home last night, a bit later than anticipated, since John, Trevor and I walked and got lost!!

This morning, we were off to the blind school and Mandy fell asleep while the head master was talking to us - fortunately for us, he is blind and Mandy managed not to snore! It is very hot in Dodoma, and we are all pretty tired to be fair to Mandy!

The school, like most projects here is underfunded, although they do some of their own fundraising. They just can't raise the sort of sums they need to do the work required. It is hugely expensive to have a book translated into braille. The head master has integrated children from the surrounding villages into the school and they teach in English where possible. The children and blind, partially sighted and fully sighted children from the village. There is a larger portion of Albino children at the school - John says that blindness often goes with albinoism. They were really badly sun-burnt, so John suggested hats and trousers rather than shorts.

One of the classes sang their school song for us and then launched into a brilliant rendition of 'Lord I Lift Your Name on High', which chocked me up a bit!

We visited the craft lesson, where all the kids learn weaving and were making mats. The headmaster informed us that once blind children have an education, they are able to go into all kinds of work, secretarial, office work and therefore are able to support themselves.

The school is very keen on music and is very proud of their choir, which the headmaster reckons is the best in the area! They always need instruments so John left them his violin, after he had instructed the headmaster how to look after it properly and given him a quick lesson in how to play! It was a touching moment - the violin has become part of the group having been wangled onto the plane as hand luggage, and sentences such as 'who's got the violin' and 'someone's left the violin under the bench' wre often to be heard on our travels. Small children would often sidle up and want to walk alongside us and carry the violin in it's case. John found it quite hard to part with it, but we think it went to the right place. It will be well used and appreciated and there is a man at the Cathedral in Dodoma who plays the violin at the English service, so he will be able to give lessons.

We've just had a massive lunch of rice and chicken (John had goat - there was no stopping him!) at a cafe run by a Muslim family and I think we're going to squeeze in some food shopping before we head home. I heard a rumour of a shop that sells nice biscuits and I think we need a treat at this stage in the trip. Everyone is tired and it's very hot.

Tomorrow we are off to Msalato Theological College, which will be interesting, seeing the building work that has been done since we were there four years ago.

Julie Whitfield

Buigiri

Settling into Dodoma over last few days. The weather has been very much as it was in 2002: not overly hot but a clear blue sky and very clear, with a merciless sun from directly overhead anytime from about 10am until around 5pm. Hats are very definitely required. Today we booked our tickets back to Dodoma, which was a turning point in the trip. In some ways it feels as though we have reached our furthest point out from Billericay. The lady insisted on writing my passport number on each of the tickets, and taking my mobile telephone number (though it doesn't work). My name was written on each ticket, variously as COCKRORT, CORKROT, CORTCROT, but I dare say we shall get there. Each ticket needed to be written out by hand so I had plenty of time to admire her style. Peter says we have booked the cheap bus, but that there is little or no difference between the two prices anyway. Today we visited the blind school at Buigiri. As you would expect there is a high proportion of albino children there, most of whom were dreadfully sunburned. I suppose the fact that over half the staff, in cluding the headmaster, are blind, does not help them to manage this. Julie and I donated a small sum to allow the school to buy a uniform broad brimmed hat for those most at risk. We heard a very good small choir sing "Lord I lift your name on high" in English. They lack musical instruments, but still try to teach music. Musical and academic achievement are the two ways in which visually impaired people can achieve independence in Tanzania. I left my violin at the school, hoping that someone will be able to teach it, though I have not seen or heard any others whilst we have been here. Please pray that there will be a pupil willing to learn and someone capable of teaching. I had become quite attached to what is actually a nice instrument, and leaving it was harder than I would have imagined, even though the aim in bringing it was to leave it here. At least the rest of the group will not have to put up with my playing any more.
Tomorrow we are visiting Msalato, and hope to meet Emmanuel Petro,Theresia his wife, and Fredrick Lwambaga. We also hope to see the church at Ilolo. Margaret sends her fondest greetings to Geoff and Jean Miskin.

John

Hot water!! Can it get any better??

I have to admit that the words HOT WATER & SHOWER haven't actually featured much in the past week ,but since we moved to Dodoma, we've had the exciting experience of a hot shower! Well. I was very excited and let's face it, I'm easily pleased!

We are staying in the Bishop's house, with a guard to look after us at night and a guard dog who would just lick you to pieces! The journey from Mvumi to Dodoma, via Matambulu was far more bumpy than I remember and all 8 of us squashed into one vehicle with all our luggage was a bit uncomfortable! Matambulu is a Theological college, not far from Mvumi, but unlike Msalato, it trains those who have no English to be pastors and priests. The fees are cheaper, and I think it is easily the lovliest place we have visited. They have less than half the students they had last year, because the harvests have been so poor, students cannot afford to take the second year of their course. they may have to wait several years before that happens depending on when the next reasonable harvest is.

Today,  we have been to Mackay house, which is the Diocesan Head Office, and we've had a very thorough introduction to each department and what they are responsible for !! We've bumped into several people we met on our previous trip, and Margaret, Fredrick and Grace send their regards. Grace was married just two months ago!

Everyone is well (ish!) Mandy has recovered from her Ugali eating experience! John tried to sell her for the price of 6 cows this morning - not to worry, nobody will be able to afford the price! Jenny is missing Big Brother & we haven't had any recent updates! Trevor is always off exploring with John and Jack is doing well! Mollie is loving every minute and I would quite happily stay here! (until i got fed up of having no hair products and it rains!)

Please pray that we will all stay well - we've had a few tummy upsets but nothing serious.

Much love to everyone.....

 

 

 

Dodoma

Arrived in Dodoma last night after a hot and dusty journey around the back
of Msalato onto the Iringa road and back into Dodoma. The journey took us
across a vast flat area. In the rainy season the area is almost flooded and
intersected by muddy streams. The mud from which the houses are made is a
light grey, almost white, in contrast to the reddish mud around Mvumi, and
this contrasts with the black thorn bushes and very little vegetation,
giving a stark desert-like look to the whole area. Coming onto the Iringa
road, we passed right by Nkulabi, where Paul and I stayed with Isaac in
2002, and where they had been building a new church. Unfortunately we
couldn't stop, already having been made a little late by this time. In
Tanzania it is not possible just to "drop by", we would have been met,
offered tea and chapatis, had to wait for various people to be found and
probably witnessed ceremonies. We drove on to Mtambulu, where there is a
small bible college. This college is very new, and caters for those students
who want to be catechists (like a lay reader, but with responibilities like
a deacon or curate). The teaching is in Kiswahili. In the first year there
were about seventy students, but this has declined with the poor harvests.
Students cannot afford the 200,000 Tsh pa (about 100 pounds), and the women
in particular cannot be spared from their homes. There were no women in the
first year because of this, although the facilities were available.
We bumped into Dodoma along the rutted mud road which is the main
North-South highway in Tanzania. We are staying in the bishops house, which
is on the other side of the railway tracks from the main town. This area is
definitely the right side of the tracks, with large houses, mostly official
residences of one kind or another. The bishop's house is very grand, but
someone has painted all the sliding windows so they cannot be closed, which
makes it very cold at night. The plumbing, as sual, leaves something to be
desired, and only two showers out of three have hot water; but I have
already boasted that we are staying in the Bishop's Palace.
Today we saw the headquarters of the Diocese at McKay house, opposite the
cathedral. The principal explained the structure of the organisation in
paistaking detail, and we signed a great many vistors books (at least one,
and sometimes two, in each office we visited). After this we saw Grace,
Margaret and Frederick, three of the students from Msalato 2002. Grace is
working as a secretary in the DCT health department, Margaret is also
working at McKay house, and Fredrick has a church in chang'ombe, on the way
out to Msalato.
This afternoon we must buy the coach tickets for the journey home. Using the
internet has proved painful for Jack, who is used to faster computers. The
only way he can contact his friends is via a computer game called Runescape,
which takes twenty minutes to load and then freezes. I have suf\ggested he
resort to more conventional means of communication, but this is not helpful
of me.
Tomorrow we are visiting a Blind school, where I hope to play to them.
Friday we will visit Msalato, Ilolo and Chang'ombe, and perhaps Bishop
Stanway Primary.

Love to all. Missing you loads and loads Carol and Julia.

John

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mvumi

We have had a brilliant weekend at Mvumi. On Friday night there was a disco
at the secondary school, and although too old by about twenty-five years I
mosied on down there with the chicks from our group, and indulged in a heady
mix of hip-hop, garage and reggae for about an hour (see the blog). Julie
was the only wallfower and resolutely (and perhaps wisely) refused to strut
her stuff. A highlight of the evening was an exhibition dance by one of the
female high-school students, after which a cold shower was most definitely
required.
On Saturday we had a choice between cooking and brick making. I learnt how
to make Ugali ( a sort of thick porridge made from Maize flour), and Mlenda
(a thick gloopy green substance made from peanuts, dried aubergine and
spinach, which renders the Ugali edible in the absence of tomato ketchup).
The boy refused to eat mlenda despite third degree persuasion and had to be
let off. My attempts at brickmaking resulted in something not unlike a
cowpat. In the afternoon we visited Andrea Katikifu (St Andrews), where we
heard four beautiful choirs. It is my impression that more people here have
perfect pitch. That would be a very interesting subject for a research
project one day. Certainly it makes their choirs quite wonderful to listen
to. Their newest choir has apparently been called after me (eat your heart
out Howard Wallace!, I didn't even have to found this one)
Today I picked up Jack's trousers from the tailors: two trousers taken up
and one repaired all for less then a pound. After this we headed off to
church via the house of the catechist (lay reader), Amos. Amos fed us a very
sustaining breakfast, after which we attended harvest festival. During the
service we subjected the congregation to violins and singing, then back to
his house for an even more sustaining lunch. As in 2002, I suspect we may
leave Tanzania heavier than when we arrived.
Tomorrow we are off to the secondary school where we hope to speak to some
of the students and help them practicew their English.

John

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Update

Hi everyone,

Just a quite msg to let you know what we've been up to since we last wrote.

Friday - In the evening we were invited to a tanzanian disco, which we were
all intrigued about, was very much like discos at home, however they had
covered the lights in toilet paper,so as to set the mood.
John, mandy, jenny and trevor all had a go at some of the dancing, but over
all john was the star turn, getting very involved in a boys dance.

Saturday - In the morning the group split into two, with some of us learning
how to cook a traditional tanzanian meal, consisting of ugali and mlenda,
which we all sampled for lunch.
The other group had a go at brickmaking, which was a lot of fun, but hard
work at the same time.
Mid afternoon, we visited a church in mvumi, where four separate choirs sang
for us and where then shown the foundations of the new church they are
building, in which they hope to grow the church to four hundred people.
Mandy joined in dancing with the mothers union choir, while mollie became
their chief whistle blower, which they loved.

Sunday - Today we went to Msamaria mwema (good samaritain) church, where
peter and alison worship. Again like the church we visited yesterday, three
different choirs sang, one being a childrens choir. We were also asked to
introduce ourselves and sing a couple of our songs to the church, those
being ' we are marching ' and ' i'm gonna zoom', great songs with actions,
that most people joined in with.
Before and after church we were invited to the pastor's house for breakfast
and lunch, where we were treated to two amazing meals all homemade.

We move to dodoma on tuesday, so will hopefully email and update you again
soon.

For more information about the central diocese www.dct-tz.com

we attached the following pictures - they might not be in the right order!
mandy looking forward with eager anticipation to traditional tanzanian lunch
of ugali and mlenda, cooked by john and mollie.
the school children with their finger puppets
mvumi hospital
visiting Raheli

Fw: Arrival n Dar es Salaam

----- Original Message -----
From: "John Cockcroft" <jhjcockcroft@hotmail.com>
To: <ccockcroft@skyflame.co.uk>
Cc: <jmacockcroft@hotmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, August 08, 2006 3:02 PM
Subject: Arrival n Dar es Salaam

> We arrived at the exact scheduled time this morning at 7am. The hotel we
> are staying at is the Econolodge, where we stayed before in 2002. We were
> offered breakfast gratis even though we had not stayed the previous night.
> After sitting down with a cup of tea and toast Trevor Jones and I set off
> for a exploration of the city. We were accosted almost immediately by a
> young man called Daniel who was very persistent in showing us around. As
> it appeared impossible to be rid of him I decided to buy some oranges and
> offer him the price of his breakfast. In fact he was so pleased to be
> offered that that he then took us on a tour of the port and market area.
> This had the added advantage of avoiding any other hustlers, and we saw
> around the fish market, which was fascinating. Not only did they sell fish
> of all kinds, but people were not only buying, but also preparing fish,
> cooking and selling it. We also saw a market stall selling beautiful sea
> shells. After that Daniel took us around the area known as the Botanical
> Gardens. This has become the centre for all the embassies, and is where
> the British Council is to be found. Another advantage was that Daniel
> could advise us where not to take photographs (not only embassies and
> government buildings, but also anywhere around an airport, strangely.) We
> finished up quite liking our guide. Finally we visited the Anglican
> Catherdral before heading back to the Econolodge for a rest. I did some
> violin practice and then slept for about two hours before heading out
> again to book tickets for the Zanzibar ferry at the end of the trip. We
> are just about to go looking for a cheap restaurant to have tea. Tomorrow
> we will catch the bus up to Dodoma.
>
> John
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today it's FREE!
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>
>

Fw: bus to Dodoma

----- Original Message -----
From: "John Cockcroft" <jhjcockcroft@hotmail.com>
To: <ccockcroft@skyflame.co.uk>
Sent: Wednesday, August 09, 2006 6:52 AM
Subject: bus to Dodoma

> spent a very hot and sweaty night in Dar last night. Woken by the many
> calls to prayer from different mosques across the city at 5.30 am, an hour
> before daybreak. Slight drama this morning when JULIE APPEARED AT OUR DOOR
> PALE AND SWEATING AND PROMPTLY COLLAPSED, but she recovered after a few
> minutes and seems fine now. I think she may have just overdone things in
> the heat and perhaps not drunk enough. Jack has been marvellous.
> Unfortunately didn't pack any towels and Jack's trousers too long for him.
> About to catch the bus now
>
> John
>
> _________________________________________________________________
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>

Fw: Mvumi

----- Original Message -----
From: "John Cockcroft" <jhjcockcroft@hotmail.com>
To: <cacockcroft@hotmail.com>
Cc: <ccockcroft@skyflame.co.uk>
Sent: Friday, August 11, 2006 1:28 PM
Subject: Mvumi

> We spent yesterday morning looking around the hospital at Mvumi. I was a
> bit surprised at how useless this made me feel. I am not good at visiting
> hospitals without the ability to engage with patients. Not only is my
> Swahili limited to a few words, but I have no tropical medicine and no
> registration here, so I was merely a bloated western visitor looking at
> poor sick people that I couldn't help. The clothes here are wonderfully
> colourful and this contrasts very picturesquely with the drab blues, greys
> and browns of the hospital architecture. People walk and ride many miles
> to come here, often in preference to their own government hospitals. The
> hospital is in the middle of a major rebuilding programme, with many older
> wards being knocked down and rebuilt. There is a beautiful new dining hall
> with a lovely wooden ceiling, which is spacious and airy, and serves as a
> hall for public ceremonies (awarding certificates to graduates of the
> courses run by the hospital, including Peter's own department)
> After lunch we visited the village. The village is dusty, but has a
> thriving market selling tomatoes, onions, charcoal and cast-iron stoves.
> Other stalls sell second hand clothing and discounted new garments. Jack
> bought a new hat for 85p (TSh 2000). On the way back, Molly felt faint,
> perhaps to do with the Malarone and the heat, and we stopped for a drink
> at the local soda bar. Jack admired a large grasshopper/cricket/locust
> which was walking about. We returned to the house then visited a lovely
> lady called Rahele who gave us tea and doughnuts, after which I did some
> violin practice, then had dinner cooked by Simon Walton's cook Nyemo
> (chapatis and beans)
> This morning we visited a local nursery school where we did some craft
> with the children and taught them some songs and played the violin. I
> learned something of the crops that they grow here, (maize and three types
> of millet), and about the government of the country. Jack is quite well
> and seems to be getting the most from the visit. He has read a fantastic
> amount during our quiet moments.
>
> John
>
> _________________________________________________________________
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>
>

today we were invited out for breakfast, which was a real treat. we each had two meat samosas, a rice cake and a mandaze. just a light snack! once we'd managed to polish that lot off, we headed to the local primary school.

following a tour of the new building works, including the toilets with their 6 foot pits(!), we were introduced to the children. there were about 70 children in the class, and we had been asked to do craft activities with about 40 of them. we made finger puppets out of card and although the children were all quite shy to start with, by the end there was no stopping them! many puppets had more glitter than card visible! we had a really good system going with john, jack, trevor and julie cutting out card, and mandy and jenny in charge of glitter and sticking!
john played his violin which fascinated the kids, and we all sang 'i will click, click, click', and zoomed all around the room with the kids.

tomorrow we get to do traditional cooking and brick making and will try and report back.

much love
all of us xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Julie Whitfield

Mvumi

We spent yesterday morning looking around the hospital at Mvumi. I was a bit
surprised at how useless this made me feel. I am not good at visiting
hospitals without the ability to engage with patients. Not only is my
Swahili limited to a few words, but I have no tropical medicine and no
registration here, so I was merely a bloated western visitor looking at poor
sick people that I couldn't help. The clothes here are wonderfully colourful
and this contrasts very picturesquely with the drab blues, greys and browns
of the hospital architecture. People walk and ride many miles to come here,
often in preference to their own government hospitals. The hospital is in
the middle of a major rebuilding programme, with many older wards being
knocked down and rebuilt. There is a beautiful new dining hall with a lovely
wooden ceiling, which is spacious and airy, and serves as a hall for public
ceremonies (awarding certificates to graduates of the courses run by the
hospital, including Peter's own department)
After lunch we visited the village. The village is dusty, but has a thriving
market selling tomatoes, onions, charcoal and cast-iron stoves. Other stalls
sell second hand clothing and discounted new garments. Jack bought a new hat
for 85p (TSh 2000). On the way back, Molly felt faint, perhaps to do with
the Malarone and the heat, and we stopped for a drink at the local soda bar.
Jack admired a large grasshopper/cricket/locust which was walking about. We
returned to the house then visited a lovely lady called Rahele who gave us
tea and doughnuts, after which I did some violin practice, then had dinner
cooked by Simon Walton's cook Nyemo (chapatis and beans)
This morning we visited a local nursery school where we did some craft with
the children and taught them some songs and played the violin. I learned
something of the crops that they grow here, (maize and three types of
millet), and about the government of the country. Jack is quite well and
seems to be getting the most from the visit. He has read a fantastic amount
during our quiet moments.

John

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p.s. ...............

out of the members of this goup, who would you most expect to 'accidentally' steal a blanket from British Airways?
any answers are welcome,
next time we log in we'll give you the answer!

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we've arrived!

Hi Everyone,
We have arrived safely in Mvumi!
It was a 10 hour flight from Heathrow (good job we left when we did - thanks for the update Warner!), followed by a 6 hour bus ride from Dar es Salam to Dodoma and then an hour in a landrover to Mvumi.
The bus broke down half way to Dodoma, but Trevor and John got stuck into the general discussion over what was wrong with the engine - something blew up and disturbed our rather broken sleep! Think it turned out to be something serious with the clutch and it was resolved by trying a piece of string around a metal thing, and we were on our way within an hour and a half. John very wisely didn't tell me about the string until we arrived!

Mollie and Julie are staying with Peter & Alison and Mandy, Jenny, Trevor, John and Jack are next door, with 2 dogs and a cow! and a cockerel that crows very loudly at 4 am.

peter took us on a guided tour of mvumi hospital this morning, the hospital has an HIV/aids clinic and we learnt that although antiretroviral drugs are available for treatment, they have to be taken with food and this means because of the shortage of food situation, some people are unable to take their drugs. although the hospital and enough money to afford proper incubators for the maternity ward, they found that they were too complicated for the mothers to ba able to get to their babies, and they were too difficult to maintain, and so they babies are now left in washing baskets with towels over them, in a heated room. it works just as well!

this afternoon we went briefly into town and looked around mvumi market, before going to tea at Raheli's house. Raheli is a neighbour of peter and alison's, and she wanted to play host to all of us, and so made mandazes and chai. while we were there, she asked us to pray for her and her family as the harvest hadnt had a lot of rain, and she passes on her blessings to all of you. she also gave us a gift for the Church that we can all make use of!
Raheli is a christian. she is a 'first-wife'. this menas that she is married but because she couldnt have children, her husband took a second wife.

tomorrow we are going into a school to make finger puppets with 50 children. thank you Angela for cutting up all the card!

please pray that everybody stays well and drinks enough water.

thank you heather for your big brother update!

greetings to mission prayer group and Valerie's home group, love Mollie

lots of love from
Julie, John, Jenny, Jack, Mollie, Trevor and Mandy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Tanzania Newsletter

Tanzania is a powerful but poor country and life for some can be a struggle. There is high unemployment, much subsistence agriculture in the rural areas and many people lack decent housing, access to clean water, sanitation and electricity.

Debt is a major problem for Tanzania as the country has borrowed over the years to finance infrastructure development. Tanzania is one of the first countries to benefit from the debt relief program, but there is still a long way to go. In addition terms of trade are weighted against countries such as Tanzania, and primary agricultural products are at the whim of market prices.

Please join with us in praying for the people of Tanzania as we journey with the Diocese of Central Tanganyika, visiting the projects that the Anglican Church in Tanzania is pioneering.

• Monday 7^th - Depart UK 7:20pm
• Tuesday 8^th - Arrive Dar-Es-Salam 7am
• Wednesday 9^th - Arrive Dodoma after 6 hour bus journey!

Please pray for safety in all our travelling, for good health and for the conversations we will have with our companions on the journeys.

• Thursday 10^th - Visit Mvumi Hospital
• Friday 11^th - Mvumi – schools work
• Saturday 12^th - Mvumi – teach English lessons

Give thanks for all the staff at the hospital and schools in Mvumi, many of whom work for very little pay. Pray that God will provide the resources they need to work effectively.

• Sunday 13^{th -} Church
• Monday 14^{th -} Learning to make clay bricks and traditional cooking
• Tuesday 15^th - Visit to Matambulu Bible College
• Wednesday 16^th - Visit to Hombolo Leprosy Hospital
• Thursday 17^th - Visit to Buigiri Blind School and lessons in Primary School in Dodoma

Please pray for the team, for energy and good relationships. Pray that we will be open to learning from the experiences around us. Pray that God will help us to show his love to all those we will have contact with.

• Friday 18^th - Msalato Bible College
• Saturday 19^th - HIV Orphans
• Sunday 20^th - Dodoma Cathedral

Please pray for courage, peace and acceptance for those who have HIV ad for those who care for them. Pray for support for children left alone when parents die.

• Monday 21^st - Bus back to Dar-Es-Salam
• Tuesday 22^nd – Thursday 24^th - Zanzibar – time for reflection
• Friday 25^th - Arrive Heathrow

Abundance does not spread; famine does (Zulu proverb)