The Saga Continues

I didn’t finish Saturday last time I updated this because I did not have time so I’m just going to start from where I left off. 

Saturday (continued) 

Soon after Helga left, the group of people from Nebraska also left. Just before they did we were talking to one of the guys and said we hoped to return to climb Kilimanjaro in a few years. As I turned and pointed to where the mountain should be, IT WAS THERE! That may sound strange because we’re living on the bottom slopes of it, it should be visible. However, Kilimanjaro likes to hide behind a layer of clouds and does not often reveal herself so that was a very exciting moment.

We saw that the German couple was about to leave so we went to talk to them. We asked how they were involved with Johnson (the premature baby). Barbara (the woman from the couple) answered for them both. The boyfriend works at a nearby hospital. Barbara went to visit one day and asked to see all of the babies. Johnson was in the first crib closest to her. She learned that he was born prematurely and his mother abandoned him there. He had lived at the hospital for 2 months and was fed double what the other babies were fed to try to get him to gain weight. Barbara fell in love with this little baby and tried to find any relatives for him to go to. Every attempt failed. In Tanzania you cannot adopt a child unless you have lived in the country for two consecutive years first, so they could not adopt him although they wanted to. With nowhere else to go, they brought Johnson to this orphanage because they heard it was really great (which it is). They plan on supporting Johnson when he leaves the orphanage and making sure he gets a family and goes to a good school. Barbara was very upset to have to leave him. 

Johnson is in the perfect place. Children here are really taken care of. The children living here have a better childhood than a lot of other children in Tanzania have. Many children do not get the opportunity to “be a kid” because they have to work with their families. The kids at this orphanage get an actual childhood. They may not have biological families, but they do have a family. They are not only part of the physical “family” here at the orphanage, but they are taught that they are part of God’s family. 

After the German couple left, we began walking back to our rooms. We were stopped by a congregation of sisters. It was Sister Agnes, Sophia (Pastor Urio’s wife), Sister Elly, and Sister Melissa (who runs Uhuru Hotel). They were discussing the new dining hall. Sister Elly described the plans for us. They want to tile the floor, add cabinets for dishes, counters with sinks for washing hands and dishes, cabinets for spices in the kitchen, and a baking counter. They may even add small tables so that the older kids can come and eat in the dining hall. 

Sunday

I planned on taking a shower on Sunday morning, but there wasn’t enough water pressure for the water to actually reach the shower head. There’s a bath faucet a lot lower (I’m not sure why, there’s no bath) and I managed to get water out of that one, but it’s less than half of my height. It made for an interesting shower to say the least. 

As it was Sunday, it was church time. Church at the orphanage meets at 10am in an upstairs room of the college. One of the college teachers, Esther, led the service. There were only 4 sisters there and a handful of students because it’s still break for the students so many of them are at home. The service was all in Kiswahili, but Sister Paulina told us the numbers of the songs so we could sing along.

After church we went to town. We walked a little ways down the road and waited for the dala dala. In case you don’t know what that is, I’ll explain. A dala dala is a van that acts like a taxi, but with lots and lots of people. I suppose it’s more like a bus than a taxi, but it is not the size of a bus. They are usually 13 seater vans, but if you have any less than 30 people it’s not a full ride. When a dala dala runs out of seats, people pile on top of you. They stand in any available floor space and hang out the sliding door on the side. At least three people fit in the front seat with the driver. Once every inch of space inside is taken, people stand on the back bumper and hang onto the roof. It’s a very interesting mode of transportation because you’re in such close proximity to so many interesting people. The old lady sitting next to Natalie was trying to talk on her phone, but she was holding it in her fist about 5 inches from her mouth. A boy sitting a few rows in front of us had a huge scar on the back of his head and I’m going to pretend it was from a lion, but it probably wasn’t. A girl named Anna also sat next to us. We attempted a conversation, but she didn’t know much English and we knew even less Kiswahili. 

We got off the dala dala at the Kncu (pronounced kin su) stop. From there we walked a little ways to the Uhuru Hotel. We went to the Green Bamboo for lunch. The waiter came over and took my order and then left without saying a word to Natalie. We thought it was hysterical. He casually just didn’t take her order. She flagged him down a little later and gave him her order. It took over an hour for our food to come. African time. 

While we were there we saw the Massawe family (Stephen and Haikael). They are such a treat all the time. They came to say hello for a few minutes. I also managed to connect to wifi for a little bit, that’s when I put up my last blog post. However, as we were about to leave, my iPad broke. It just stopped working. We tried restoring it from Natalie’s computer when we got back to the orphanage, but it didn’t do anything. I’ll have to wait until I get home, I guess. It’s a good thing that it’s still under warranty!

We took a taxi to town and tried to go to the currency exchange and buy more minutes, but both stores were closed because it was Sunday. So we went straight to the dala dala stand. I managed to fall asleep in the first few minutes of the ride. How? I have no idea. It’s so bumpy and you’re packed so tightly that it should be impossible to fall asleep. This ride was even crazier than the first! There were so many people. Just when I thought no one else could get on, 4 more managed to climb in. Surely no one else can fit now. Nope. Here come 2 more. The driver also didn’t always stop. He’d just kind of slow down and people would run and jump on. Don’t worry, I had a seat and the van came to a complete stop when I got on!

We sat in our common room when we got back and I began making rafiki (friend) bracelets for all of the older kids. I decided to go with blue and brown because those are the two colors I have the most of and the kids won’t be able to fight over who gets what color.

Monday

Monday was exciting because we spent the morning in the baby house. We sang them a bunch of songs. They loved the songs “open, shut them” and “10 little fingers” because of the hand motions. Ema (pronounced “Ee ma,” short for Emanuel) fell asleep in Natalie’s arms which was adorable. 

Aimee (the girl from Nebraska that we went swimming with) picked us up at 3. We went with her back to her house. On the way she gave us some grilled corn. It isn’t like sweet corn and it tasted like popcorn. We picked up four Cornell students who are working in the area from her house. We also tried passion fruit for the first time in her kitchen. They look gross, but taste delicious. After Aimee’s house, we drove to a school. At the school we tried to pick up one of the teachers, but she said we’d be getting back too late and wouldn’t come. We took 3 students (Samuel, Joshua, and Msisi) instead. We were headed to a hot springs!

We drove for well over an hour to get there and approximately 45 minutes of that was not on a paved road. Natalie and I were in the bed of a pick-up truck with the four Cornell students. We kept coming up on these huge patches of dirt and saying “Hey, look! It’s the hot springs! I guess no one told Aimee it’s dry season!” Eventually, we did get there. These springs are in the middle of nowhere. They’re a “hidden gem” as Aimee says. You had to drive into a little patch of trees that look like nothing and suddenly, there you are! It was a lot of fun.

When we arrived we realized that Natalie was absolutely covered in dirt from the truck ride. She looked hilarious because half of her body was 10 shades darker than the other half. There was no bathroom at the hot springs so we had to rough it in the trees behind a tarp that was hung up. We used a tarzan swing to get into the water. It’s called a “hot spring,” but the water wasn’t hot. It was definitely warm though. I would say around 75F. One of the Cornell students tried to dive off of a log that was in the water and ended up diving head first into another submerged log. He may or may not have broken his nose. I also kicked that same log and bruised my foot. Despite the numerous injuries, it was definitely worth the trip.

On the ride home, I sat in the cab of the truck (because I was one of the few who remembered a change of clothes) with two of the Cornell students and one of the local students. Aimee bought us all some sugar cane from a boy on the side of the road on the way home. How many of you can say you have eaten raw sugar cane? It was exciting. Except, you’re basically chewing on a tree and then spitting it out. The way you eat sugar cane is you peel off the outside layer and the inside is really really sweet. But you don’t actually eat the branch, you just suck out the juices. How they make sugar cane into sugar, I have absolutely no idea.

We went to the Green Bamboo at the Uhuru Hotel for dinner and Natalie and I both got eaten alive. When we got back to the orphanage it was 11pm and we were locked out. The gatekeeper had already left for the night. Natalie called Sister Elly and woke her up. Luckily, Robinson (the gatekeeper) lives across the street and noticed us struggling to get in. He showed up even though he wasn’t working and he came to open the gate as the man on guard arrived from the inside. It makes me feel very safe to know that it’s that difficult to get into the orphanage.

Tuesday

We woke up exhausted from our late night at the hot springs. Natalie and I are usually in bed, asleep by 10. So it was weird to get back at 11 and not sleep until later than that. I tried to shower again and we ran out of water again (we always run out because we share water reserves with the guys that are mixing concrete to finish the building we’re living in). I was exhausted already and all I had wanted was a nice (and warm) shower. I was fed up at that point with being in Tanzania. All I wanted to do was go home, take a nice shower, and sleep in my bed. I wanted to not be covered in a layer of dust at all times. I probably sound like a spoiled brat. But when you’ve been in a country like this for a month and are constantly dirty, despite “showering” (if you can call it that), it is easy to get upset about running out of water.

However, I remembered something my brother said to me when I was planning on coming. I was originally going to come to Tanzania for a month and spend only two weeks at the orphanage. He said that I should stay at the orphanage for a month because then if I hated it, or wanted to come home, I’d have to put on my big girl pants and live the life. Staying here for a month, I do have to actually live the life. I have to suffer through it. Sometimes I won’t have enough water to shower. That’s fine. I’ll just have to be a little dirty and go about my day. After I realized all of this I felt a lot better and I love it again. It was only about half an hour that I was upset, but it felt like longer. And living the life isn’t bad at all. I love it!

We went to play with babies after breakfast and that also made me feel a lot better. Almost as soon as we got there, Mosses (Moses) got a hold of my key. He, Elisha, and Baraka all took turns trying to unlock random doors with them. Angela fell asleep on my for a while as well. That was super cute. By the time we left, I had been holding her for over 2 hours straight.

While we were in the baby house, some doctors came. Apparently, they come on the first Tuesday of every month which is really comforting because it means the kids get checked up on often. They especially wanted to check up on Johnson because he was not here yet last time they were here. One of the doctors asked what Elisha’s story was. His mother died during a c-section. It’s really sad because if she had lived somewhere else like the US, she probably wouldn’t have died. 

Later in the day, after lunch and a nap, we went to go back to the baby house, but the other kids were outside and we got distracted and never made it. We played with the older kids for a little bit and then went into their house to help dress them after their baths. Only Sister Jackie was in the house (whereas there’s usually 2 sisters) so Natalie and I had to select their clothes for them. We did our best, but when we were done Sister Jackie redressed a few of them. We attempted to start a round of “Twinkle twinkle little star” with the kids, but only Judica sang along. Ema (Emanuel) hummed the tune though. Soon it was time for their dinner. Before they can eat, they must all bow their heads, close their eyes, fold their hands, and say a prayer. It was so cute. We sat with them for a little bit, but pretty soon Sister Jackie came back and said: “Because you are here, the children no eat. Be free!” Basically, we got kicked out.

After dinner, Natalie and I decided to go to the sisters’ evening prayer which happens every night at 7. Sister Grace led us in singing a song, reading a passage from James, and singing another song. 

When we returned to our rooms, I counted the bug bites on my legs from our dinner at the Green Bamboo. The grand total was 44, but I found more the next day.

Wednesday

We went to the middle house on Wednesday. Calvin (pronounced Kelvin) peed on the chair he was standing on and created a puddle. Ester was being completely adorable. WHen we arrived, she had only just been moved to this house and wasn’t talking. On Wednesday, she was saying “dada” whenever she interacted with me (which means sister) and was saying “tena” a lot (which means again).

We found out a little bit about Mary, the special needs girl in the middle house. They think that she is about 10 and 1/2, but are not completely sure. She was abandoned about 5 years ago at a nearby hospital by her father when she was about 5 years old. Luckily, Mary has a great place like this orphanage to take care of her, but I don’t know what will happen for her in the future because she cannot stay here forever. The sisters would never kick a child out if they had no place to go. 

At lunch we ate with Pastor Urio (who happened to be visiting from town) and Sister Anna. We talked a lot about how Obama and Bush were in the country. They all love Obama and are excited for the money and aid he has promised to Tanzania. 

Later in the day, Ema and I played with some dirt. He had me sit on the ramp while he put dirt into a little bottle. He would pour a little dirt into his hand and then transfer it to my hand. He would then lead me as we counted the bushes in Kiswahili and he told me which bushes needed dirt. After I while, I let him pour a little dirt on my skirt and then he would brush it off. Ester did not like that at all and she yelled at him.

Some of the babies were on a mat outside the back of their house and some kids from the middle house came to sit with them. When it was time for the middle house to go inside, the staff brought Elisha over and he identified the kids from his house for them. He was very pleased with himself for the great job he did. 

Thursday

Happy Independence Day! It’s weird because we did absolutely nothing to celebrate it.

After breakfast, Natalie and I went to the baby house. They like when we sing, so Natalie and I had a little High School Musical singing session. Ema fell asleep while I was rocking him and Fadhili. Elisha fell asleep facedown on the floor for over an hour. He only woke up once when Mosses scratched his face. When he woke up, he looked up, scooted away from Mosses, and went back to sleep. Shangwe also fell asleep on Natalie’s leg. With all the sleeping you’d think it was a really quiet morning. It wasn’t. Before they all fell asleep they were just screaming bloody murder. 

After lunch, I was drawing pictures in the dirt with some of the older kids. They kept asking me to draw specific things, but I couldn’t understand them. I really wish I could speak Kiswahili. I just kept drawing mtoto (child) and kipepeo (butterfly). I also drew a few cats because there are a few cats that live at the orphanage, but I’m not entirely sure they knew what it was. 

Frankie and Elisha from the middle house both peed on the playground. When Elisha did it, it was at the top of the slide and then he slid down leaving a huge wet streak behind him. The other children all slid down after him. Neema was also just being completely adorable outside as she played. Natalie and I helped give baths to the older kids when they went inside.

When we left their house, we saw the mountain was out so we decided to take a walk up to the hospital so we could see it better. On our way out of Kalali (the village the orphanage is in) we met a guy named Rick and his friend Joseph. They walked all the way with us. They told us that they were guides, but we’re not sure if we believe them. Either way they were really nice. We walked really far and it was all uphill. They gave us our contact information on a really old Kilimanjaro National Park brochure and told us to let them know if we ever wanted to climb Kilimanjaro with them. The mountain is truly beautiful. It was incredible to see it clearly. On the way back, we stopped at the hospital for a sprite.

Friday

After breakfast we went to the middle house. It was a tad strange because the male students are back from break so they were working today. There have only been females working until today. They’re really nice and take excellent care of the kids though. Neema was being adorable as per usual. Megan and Elisha both put the front wheel of the bike into a toy school bus and then rode around like that which was cute. 

The kids went outside really early. So early in fact that the staff forgot to give them their milk. We had to round them all up and give them their milk on the porch. Almost as soon as we got outside, Stefano (from the older house) took my hand and gave me a tour of behind the middle house. We saw the cooks, the kitchen, Robinson (the gatekeeper), and the clothes lines. When we returned back in front of the house, we walked down past the baby house. The babies were outside again, but lying on a mattress this time. A few of the older kids were already down there playing with the toddlers. 

Judica went up to each of the infants lying on the mattress and gave them a kiss on the forehead. Josef saw me tickling one of the infants and tried to copy me. Ester held Fadhili in her lap for a while to give a staff member a break. These children are just the cutest things. 

I tried to teach Happiness some colors in English, and I think she understood. I pointed at a leaf and at her sweater and said “Green. Semma green” (Semma means say) and she would repeat after me. After a while she started pointing at different things and having me tell her the colors. She also dragged me around to all of the flowers to tell her what colors they were. 

Some time after lunch, we went with the other volunteers to the Camp David Bar (which is a 2 minute walk from the orphanage) to meet Peter (one of our safari drivers). He was taking us on a hike. We walked up the road a little and turned left onto someone’s property. We went behind a barn and then down a really steep hill. We went along an irrigation track for quite some time. We were walking on a rock wall that made up one side of the track. It was less than the width of two balance beams. This irrigation track was built into the side of a cliff. So we were basically walking on a balance beam over a cliff. After a while, we descended the cliff. We then crossed the river (at which point I lost the walking stick Peter’s friend had given me). We went up through the jungle on the other side of the river. Peter’s friend found me a new walking stick at that point. We soon went back down to the river and walked through it until we got to a waterfall. It was incredible. Peter said it was probably 80 to 90 feet high. Somehow, through the whole trip, Peter and his friend managed to keep their feet dry. Whereas I gave up and just walked in the river.

We took the exact same route on the way back, but it seemed a lot harder. The hardest part was the really steep hill we first walked down. We had to climb all the way back up it. We stopped at the bar for a little while after the hike to talk to Peter, but we made our way back to the orphanage to clean up and eat dinner. The hike gave us a huge appetite. Natalie and I also tried to go to evening prayer at 7, but no sisters showed up. 

I really can’t believe I only have a little over two weeks left. I miss home and want to see everyone, but I also don’t want to come home. I will miss the children and all the other people so much when I have to leave. It’s weird to describe how nice everyone is here. How can everyone be so nice? In the US or other countries that I have experienced, people always have other people that they dislike. Or will get mad at each other or fight. People in Tanzania don’t do that. Everyone is friends with everyone. No one would ever do something that would make someone else mad. It’s incredible how kind and heartfelt everyone is.

School starts for the older house on Monday and I’m very excited about it. Friday evening we asked Sister Loema (who teaches their class) if we could go to class and she said yes. I can’t wait!

Until next time...