Month: September 2023

Part of my preparations this month are reading the Tanzanian government environmental policies and master planning documents, with several major documents since 2007. Today, I was continuing with the Philip Isdor Mpango, ed., “National Environmental Master Plan for Strategic Interventions (2022 – 2032)” (United Republic of Tanzania Vice President’s Office, June 2022), 85, https://www.vpo.go.tz/uploads/files/MASTER%20PLAN-English_eBOOK_FINAL.pdf.

So, here are bits of non-trivial trivia related to waste management. Remember that Tanzania is a bit bigger than Texas with 61 million people, which grew 37% since 2012.

Solid waste management: “Only 10 out of the more than 100 urban centers in the country have sewerage [sic] systems…” yet these systems serve on average less than 20% of the local population (p. 115). In Arusha, it is only 7.5% of the population (p. 116). Then of the 10 sewer networks, only one was constructed after colonial times (1976 in Mikocheni), recalling that Tanzanian (then Tanganika) gained independence in 1961.

It is estimated that 1% of the Tanzanian GDP is lost due to inadequate sanitation, with factors including productivity losses while sick and money spent on healthcare (p. 120).

TUMA has some garbage cans posted around campus, where I deposit any plastics. I fervently try to avoid single use plastics, but things like sugar and salt come in plastic bags. I actually have a pile of these bags to try to reuse. I checked with my former ELCA colleague, Randy, and the non-plastic paper things will be burned in the back yard. Most of the neighbors burn plastics, which I can smell in the putrid smoke, and then I close my window.

So, here is your environmental lesson for the day. Burning plastics at low temperatures (not in industrial incinerators with scrubbers on the smokestacks) release toxic chemicals into the environment that are dangerous to humans.

“…burning of Poly Vinyl Chloride liberates hazardous halogens and pollutes air, the impact of which is climate change. The toxic substances thus released are posing a threat to vegetation, human and animal health and environment as a whole. Polystyrene is harmful to Central Nervous System. The hazardous brominated compounds act as carcinogens and mutagens. Dioxins settle on the crops and in our waterways where they eventually enter into our food and hence the body system. These Dioxins are the lethal persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and its worst component, 2,3,7,8 tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), commonly known as agentorange is a toxic compound which causes cancer and neurological damage, disrupts reproductive thyroid and respiratory systems. Thus, burning of plastic wastes increase the risk of heart disease, aggravates respiratory ailments such as asthma and emphysema and cause rashes, nausea or headaches, and damages the nervous system” (p.701).

Verma, Rinku, K. S. Vinoda, M. Papireddy, and A. N. S. Gowda. “Toxic Pollutants from Plastic Waste- A Review.” Procedia Environ. Sci. 35 Waste Management for Resource Utilisation (2016): 701–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proenv.2016.07.069.

I met with Randy yesterday, who is amazing with what he has accomplished here in around 12 years. He came as a 1-year volunteer to help get a music program off the ground (originally funded by the Church of Sweden). Now there is an amazing Cultural Art Center with a staff of 19 musicians, dancers, technicians, and administrators. When I bring student groups, we visit the Cultural Arts Center and have opportunities to drum and dance along at times. The Royal Academy of Music in Denmark will have students here in December and half of January with lessons in drumming and dancing at the CAC.

Glory and Randy

The Cultural Arts Center outside

The Cultural Arts Center inside

Back to Randy, who informed me that there actually is a plastic bottling program that pays for turning in bottles! So, why are there so many bottles littered around the campus and especially on the roads?

Mungu akubariki! (God bless you!)

My ELCA missionary colleague, Marvin Kananen, (who reads the blog, so hi Marvin), once said that the new Maasai warrior was an educated Maasai girl. This weekend, I had the joy of spending time on both Saturday and Sunday with Nai (not her full name) and her three children.

Reconnecting after almost 20 years!

Nai was my student in Form 3 (9^th grade equivalent) biology class, which I absolutely loved to teach! Most of these girls came from traditional Maasai family settlements with huts made out of sticks, mud, and cow dung—as Nai did. Somehow, her father arranged for Nai to test and interview for the Maasai Girls Lutheran Secondary School, and she was one of 3 out of 100 girls who tested to get in for these few available slots.

After secondary school, Nai took a 1-month crash course in teaching to help fill a teacher shortage! Later, she was able to go back and eventually earn a bachelor’s degree. She now teaches English and Kiswahili in secondary school (O-level for those of you who know the British system) as well as being head of the department. She has 5 sections with 255 students, and then her administrative role. Her students cherish her teaching and care for them.

It is amazing to see the agency of a woman who grew up in a patriarchal culture (this is the technical term in anthropological analysis) where females are trained to be passive and facing painful consequences if they are not. Nai decided independently to learn to drive and move her family into the house still under construction. So, her husband calls her “Mama Surprise.”

Nai is married to a Maasai former colleague who is also a teacher. So, it is great joy to see these two thriving and being a blessing in their work, in their families, supporting their extended family members in schooling and health care. The new Maasai warrior is an educated woman.

On Saturday morning, I made my weekly hike to the next village for groceries. On the way back, I bought some bread that was so fresh it hadn’t been put on the shelf yet. So, I asked to take a picture.

The “seed” bread is wonderful!

This is part of a Lutheran church vocational program. They had a farmers market opening up an hour later, but I needed to get back and to my laundry to get it hung to maximize the sunshine. Nai and I will go another day, as I’ve offered to take her to lunch at their café.

Sunday was a costa bus rid to the Arusha Community Church. While standing, I heard “teecha” (teacher—as it is rare to have an mzungu on these busses/vans, and I get picked up at the gate of Tumaini University Makumira, and I was shown a chair. However, I mistakenly thought it was the flip down chair that fills the aisle in the back of the bus, but it really was the row behind, where I would share the flip down chair with another person and a bit of the seat next to it. Yes, 5 people in a row with 4 seats. After some got off, I ended up in the very back with only 4 across in the 4 seats.

It was the harvest festival Sunday at the Arusha Community Church. So, there was an auction afterwards to sell donated items. Low and behold, there was a rake! They sold both together. I don’t really need 2 rakes, but I can use them in different ways!

I did not buy the 3-month old male and female rabbits—offspring (a couple generations removed) from the rabbits from last year’s harvest festival.

The gift that keeps on giving!

At church, I met one of Anya’s playmates from our years in Tanzania. During our last year in Tanzania, Anya really wanted to go to school. There was a small pre-school program at the Arusha Community Church, and Maria was one of the teachers. Maria, originally from Germany, just oozes love and joy. Two days a week, Anya would ride to Arusha with Eric (we paid for kilometerage for the ELCA Land Cruiser that our missionary colleagues had). Eric was then volunteering for Heifer International, after dropping off Anya at the pre-school in the morning in Maria’s class. Maria, was willing to take Anya home with her until a couple hours later, when Eric would pick her up on the way home. At their home, Sophie Dorthy was about 3 years older than Anya, but still a lovely playmate. Maria found a picture of them from 2003 or early 2004.

Playmates in 2003 or so

And today!

Sophie Dorthy is now doing a PhD in Germany on the complexity of the environmental issues around palm oil. While palm oil is rather demonized in the EU for being non-ecological, non-sustainable, and one of the quintessential extractive (exploitative) industries, Sophie Dorthy’s research establishes that it is very complex and not a binary issue. Intrigued, I asked some questions about criteria and other environmental issues that can inform my project. One question for me is the role of humankind in the environmental criteria, which I have discovered in the InVEST model out of Standford University, but is beyond my capacity. So, I’m going to network with a dear friend’s daughter, who earned a masters in environmental statistics from MIT. This friend was also a playmate and soccer team member with Anya. So, my networking seems at times quite providential, even including Anya’s friends.

The power is going out several times a day, so this is being composed and sent over a couple days.

Mungu akubariki! (God bless you!)

On Tuesday, I went to Monduli (yes, there and back is about 4.5 hours crammed into dala dalas!) to meet with Pastor Nangole. While he is retired as District Pastor of the North Central Diocese, I believe he still has some advisory or board role at The MaaSae Girls Lutheran Secondary School (MGLSS), being one of the founding collaborators with the late ELCA missionary, David Simonson. While I was greeting him as a friend and seeking his wisdom as a Maasai elder at the beginning of my project, I was introduced to an evangelist from Soit Sambu, which is not too far from the northeast gate of the Serengeti National Park. He was in Monduli with his daughter, who was going to interview the next day for a position at MGLSS. “Evangelist” may be an uncomfortable concept for some Westerners, but here it is the role of a lay pastor who has gone through some theological education by extension (TEE) with some trainings at the center in Olonyo Sambu.

Besides having been in Soit Sambu a couple times with Pastor Nangole, this Tuesday’s visit seemed Providential for a connection with the Eric Hanson Memorial Scholarship. So, let me give some background about this scholarship.

My late husband, Eric, and I had/have a deep appreciation for the work of the evangelists in Maasailand. They are paid a pittance, but they are the ones who are on the front lines of ministry. They live among the people they serve and are very trusted. (The pastors come around once every one or two months to preside over communion, and with a bachelor’s degree, they are paid better and hold a higher status in this hierarchical society.) Eric had one special evangelist friend, and so we’ve always appreciated our connections with the evangelists.

When Eric passed from brain cancer in 2010, I knew that flowers, etc. would not be what Eric wanted. So, I set up a scholarship in Eric’s name at OBA for the children of evangelists, then a few evangelist parents could be released from the burden of trying to pay for secondary school fees. It could encourage them in their calling as evangelists—encourage evangelists and support education for the Maasai—as well as being a meaningful memorial to Eric! Perfect! Now for Christmas and birthdays in the Hanson family, we mainly give gifts to Eric’s scholarship, with a few small things under the tree.

Remembering Eric Hanson

The original scholarship was in partnership with Moringe Sokoine Secondary School, also a Lutheran school in Monduli, because there was no way at that time for me to get students into MGLSS. I knew and trusted the leadership at Moringe, and they were prudently separate from the scholarship committee but provided good transparency and accountability. Ultimately, I knew I could get evangelist’s children into Moringe. The scholarship was to be communicated to the North Central Diocese through Pastor Nangole. 

I met the first 2 scholarship recipients at Moringe during one of my visits. However, the head of school informed me that these students came from really weak primary schools, and they were not advancing in their studies. I agreed that they could not keep on and limit the accessibility of another student from having a seat at the school. So, sadly, the evangelists kids were removed from Moringe but not removed from my prayer list.

Thus, my hopes for the scholarship were dashed. I talked with an ELCA missionary about perhaps shifting the program to vocational training, but I didn’t have a good network to make this happen when living in the USA.

Later, with the changes at MGLSS and opportunities to support Maasai girls from rural Maasailand, the scholarship was opened to fund students at MGLSS. (Yes, one is graduating this spring, and I will be there.) While all girls’ education is important, I was a bit discouraged with missing the opportunity to support evangelists’ children. Yet, of course, I was glad to be able to support girls at MGLSS.

This is the background to what seems Providential in meeting the evangelist from Soit Sambu, whose daughter has advanced academically enough to be called for an opportunity to interview. Thus, I have told Pastor Nangole that if she was accepted to MGLSS, I would like to get her sponsored through Eric’s scholarship. I have not met her, and my desire for funding is not a specific person but for funding an evangelist’s child—and other similar candidates. So, with the coordination of Pastor Nangole at MGLSS and Jason, Director of Operation Bootstrap Africa, the 501(c)3 organization that administers the scholarship, there is now one more student at MGLSS. She arrived today at school, the day of this writing.

Please pray for Sara as she gets settled in a new and very different environment, a boarding school very far away from home.

Did you ever play sardines in your youth group—if you were connected to the church when growing up? It is a game like hide and seek, but all but the seekers cram into one small space and wait to be found. Well, today I was crammed into one van from Tumaini University to Arusha, then crammed even more into another van from Arusha to Meserani. I was standing, but I couldn’t stand full height, and the guy to my right had his arm around me the whole way (perhaps 40 minutes!?!), holding onto the grab bar over my left shoulder. It wasn’t creepy but just a bit uncomfortable standing scrunched over. Then, I got a seat for the 14 km to Monduli, though my knees were between the knees of the two men I was sitting across from. There is really a different sense of personal space here!

This was my first trip to Monduli since arriving, the village where I lived for 3 years. So many wonderful memories filled my mind. I first stopped to see beloved Rebecca. She was the cook and day guard for my missionary colleagues, Jean and Marvin.

I forgot to take a picture today, so here is one from my last visit, Feb. 2020 .

Rebecca is a wonderful cook and owns a bakery. I had hoped to buy bread today, but she said that the electricity has been so unstable—going out during the baking process—that they had to throw away so much unbaked/under-baked bread that it was too costly to bake! It is the end of the long dry season before the short rains (usually November and December). So, my guess is that there is too little water to sustain the hydro electric plants, and there is no system for scheduled “brown outs” so that people can plan accordingly.

A couple nights ago, I felt so fortunate that I hit the “publish” button on my blog just before the power went out! Just a short time later, the power came on again, and I had just boiled water to do my dishes before the power went out again. As I have an on-demand hot water heater, it is better to just boil water to mix with the tap water for washing in warm water, which is also used for rinsing the dishes in boiled water, because the tap water is not potable.

I made plans with Rebecca for a visit to stay a few days after my Kiswahili course for immersion Kiswahili. After a nice visit with Rebecca, I walked up to the Monduli church where Pastor Nangole was going to pick me up.

I saw the Monduli Lutheran Guesthouse, where the Wartburg Theological Seminary Group will stay in January.

Here’s the guesthouse!

Then, Pastor Nangole drove me up the base of the Monduli mountains where he lives. We had a lovely lunch, and I presented the Marie Curie fellowship project framework to him. I told him that the project was designed to be shaped and developed in a participatory/collaborative way with Maasai stakeholders, who will determine the core values and learning outcomes that integrate a biblical-ecotheology (with a Maasai hermeneutic/interpretive approach), traditional Maasai knowledge of caring for the creation, and best practices of climate change adaptation and mitigation that are culturally specific for the more traditional areas of Maasailand.

Pastor Nangole has known me since 2002. And he knows my history working with the Maasai, because collaborated with him. He nicknamed me “kono kono” (snail), because it took me a while to return with my church and the support to bless Maasai and Sonjo churches in the area where he was District Pastor, yet everywhere I go, I leave a trail of blessing. My church in Bellevue, WA, made 3 trips with 6 groups in partnership with Pastor Nangole and under his leadership. These were amazing experiences with some amazing stories to tell. Here’s one:

One of the places we visited with Pastor Nangole was Esoit Sambu, way up in the north and not too far from the Serengeti National Park’s northeast gate. We had greeted each other and were inside the stick, mud, and cow dung church. There were some gaps in the walls with sunlight peeking through, and there were children peeking through the windows. One of the evangelists (lay pastors, for whom I have such great respect) was praying for us in Kimaasai, which was translated into English for us. It was profound—even in translation—and filled with words that knit us together as siblings in Christ. As he prayed, a light yet short rain began with raindrops pattering upon the corrugated tin roof. “God has come!” This is what the Maasai say when it rains. Rain, especially in this area of the savannah, is a blessing, because it is what nurtures the grass that feeds the cattle that sustain the lives of pastoralist Maasai. And it rained just when the evangelist was praying. One may think, what a coincidence. Yet, this was the dry season when it doesn’t rain for months!

Pastor and Mama Nangole and an evangelist from Esoit Sambu (a different one than in the story)

This was an important visit, because Pastor Nangole knows me as one who brings blessings (as we traveled with him for those 6 church visits and also connecting with him for the 2 university/college groups I facilitated). Many scholars have come to Tanzania to do their research in order to get a PhD or whatever. Few find ways to continue the relationships and give back—a sort of extractive researcher. Perhaps, because my relationships and partnership started before my PhD, it was natural to continue the relationships after the PhD. This is also one of the values that my doctor father, Knut Holter, holds and models.

My local collaborator, Prof. Parsalaw, knows of me. And he is a very important Tanzanian supervisor as a Maasai elder, scholar, and Vice Chancellor of Tumaini University Makumira. This is one of the critical (Providential!) resources needed for this project to even work. However, Pastor Nangole knows me as a friend and trusts me. So, Pastor Nangole can introduce me more meaningfully to Prof. Parsalaw. In addition, when the new bishop is elected, he will take me to the new Bishop of the North Central Diocese of the Lutheran Church in Tanzania for another very important introduction. I will ask for the blessing of the bishop before I approach any of the ELCT churches or schools to ask them to be a research site. So, this was an important day to discuss the project with Pastor Nangole and right away ask for his input to shape the project.

And I survived 5 dala dala rides! (There are no seat belts!)

Mungu akubariki! (God bless you!)

Going to church on Sunday is a bit of an effort. It means taking a dala dala/”costa” bus to Arusha for about an hour. This morning, after getting on and standing for a bit, I was able to take a vacated chair rather soon, one single seat on the left side of the aisle. I’m thinking that it is good for me to be getting on the bus before the village Tengeru; lots of people get on there. Soon, we had double wide people standing in the aisle, so people from the back getting out had to somehow squeeze between people, pressing everyone to the windows. One of the young women standing next to me in the aisle, asked me in lovely English, “Can you help me?” holding her purse and bag out. Of course, I’m willing. So, this time, I was the stranger holding the purse of a stranger (see post for 2023.09.10). On the bus was an audio system and screen that played Swahili gospel music. So, with all the people dressed up for church, there is music to get people in the mood. (Though, I’ve always wondered about worship music being background music!)

It took over an hour with all the stops, so I arrived just as The Arusha Community
Church was getting started. The Korean couple did a lovely job leading the worship, an American presided over the worship, and a Tanzanian woman preached. The majority are Africans, yet there are clearly others from global contexts, Asians, South Asians, and European descent folk.

I wasn’t quite sure where I would catch the coaster bus back, but I had a general sense of what might work. It does mean walking across some busy roads. One tip is to be downside of the traffic stream from a Tanzanian crossing the street! On the way back, I found the crosswalks, but there is no obligation to stop for pedestrians. Fortunately, one stopped, but then there is no guarantee that the driver coming the other direction will stop, so I could be in the middle of the road waiting to cross the other half of the road (a skill I learned in Pakistan). The last crosswalk actually had a stoplight and crosswalk signal. Though, the Tanzanians did not wait for the signal to cross. I found the area where the “conductors” are doing their hustle to get riders onto their van/bus, and I got on a nice coaster bus, sitting next to a mama with two small and very well behaved children on her lap.

When I got off the bus, I met an elder woman walking up to the gate with a heavy shopping bag in hand. I offered to help her carry the bag, and she asked if I was sure, because the bag was heavy. I was game. So, I walked with her up to her home on campus, and we chatted. I met, Mama Pray, the nurse director on campus. She is also a widow with one adult daughter.

What was lovely was the connection! I’m looking forward to tea times with her, practicing my Kiswahili. However, the other thing that is encouraging for me is that I’m in malaria land, and I’m in a part of this country where I didn’t know the local medical resources are. Now, I can check in with Mama Pray! What a providential meeting at the gate!

Finally, for those who “met” Joseph in post 2023.09.08 and 2023.08.31 (who got my WIFI set up), the wonderful news is that he has a job interview next week for a government job. Please join us in praying for a “fair” interview, one where there is not a nepotistic-shoe-in candidate, where he doesn’t even have a chance to shine. So, pray that Joseph can have a fair chance to be evaluated with his training, skills, experience, hardworking temperament, and wonderful spirit. Lord, have mercy.

Mungu akubariki? (God bless you!)

Saturdays are filled with the 30-minute-one-way grocery shopping walk, then laundry by hand facilitated by my sieve bucket system (see post on 2023.09.02), and more cleaning. Here are a couple pictures from my walk to the grocery store.

A serious army of ants on the march!

A flower growing garden on the side of the road and the kiosk for the best bakery in the area in the background

When I walk to the store, there is a demoralizing aspect of seeing a lot of plastic trash on the side of the road. I hope that Tanzania—which has banned plastic shopping bags in the entire country—would soon introduce a deposit requirement and recycling incentive on plastic bottles, which is the majority of the litter. On the walk back, I actually saw a ditch clean-up crew. I thanked them profusely!

Toward the end of the day, I received a text from Thomas, who teaches Hebrew and Old Testament at TUMA. He did his master’s degree at VID Specialized University, my PhD alma mater, and studied under my doctor father/research supervisor, Knut Holter, and Knut introduced us via email. Thomas and his son were in the area checking their corn fields in the area, and he said that he could stop by to greet me. So, I prepared some tea and brought out my shortbread cookies I bought for such visitors. I had a lovely visit and was able to meet his firstborn son, Alpha. Yes, the Alpha male, who loved the shortbread cookies.

In the evening, the power went out, so I jury rigged a rake with stuff I’ve found. It works fine for leaves, so it will suffice until I can find a better one to buy—as I haven’t seen one yet.

The broken broom and repurposed broom handle

A snail shell found with the test of the rake (with the lip balm for scale)

Mungu akubariki? (God bless you!)

On Friday, working from home, I spent a good part of the day responding to SIKT, The Norwegian Agency for Shared Services in Education and Research, which is the vetting authority to review research projects to make sure they align with the ethical standards in Norway. I had submitted my project for review when I was in Norway and received a prompt response with how to revise my submission criteria but also a requirement that I submit the questions for the anonymous paper surveys I will use.

If you are a researcher, you may wonder: “Why do I need to get approval for the collection of anonymous data?” First, I will use informed consent forms with names and signatures, which needs SIKT’s approval of the form. There is a lot of information on the form that needs to be clarified with research participants, and reading the form may take longer than actually completing the draft survey! Second, some academic publishers need to have their litigious butts covered, and they need to know that all information from research participants was collected with informed consent. However, the consent forms need to be anonymous by Norwegian research standards. So, on a previous project, I actually presented copies of the consent forms with blackened out names to the publisher! However, I demonstrated to the publisher that I’ve met the ethical requirements, so they won’t be sued by any research participant. So, for the sake of publishing, I’m being very thorough on the front end, because it will be impossible to fix at the end.

The main problem for me is that SIKT wanted the survey questions. I originally submitted a statement that I can’t submit the questions now, because they are dependent upon the lessons that will be collaboratively developed with Maasai pedagogy partners according to core values and learning outcomes developed by Maasai stakeholders. It can’t be a participatory project if I do all this development by myself (which would be much easier, but I’m not Maasai)! Yes, they want the cart before the horse.

So, I developed a DRAFT survey that demonstrated sample content of what the survey could be like, based heavily upon a UNESCO developed document for secondary schools in East Africa, “Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation: Simple Guide to Schools in Africa” (2019). The draft survey of 20 total questions also includes some biblical content from Genesis 1 and 2 (multiple choice) and a Likert Scale section to get responses about current “affective” (feelings) on related content. Part of the lessons will include the issue of climate anxiety (“I am very worried about the future because of the problems resulting from climate change.”) and the hope we have as people of faith in Christ “that I can made a difference, empowered by the Holy Spirit to participate in God’s renewal and re-creation of the world.”

So, we’ll see if I satisfy the Norwegians/SIKT. Yet, you may wonder, why don’t I just want for approval from SIKT until the survey is collaboratively developed?

The hope is that I can secure approval from SIKT, because I also have to get authorization from the Tanzanian research authorities, COSTECH, which also is in process. It would be helpful to say that the ethical review has been endorsed by both the European Commission (through the ethics section of the grant proposal review) and the Norwegian research authorities.

So, if you are wondering what I’m doing these days, this research approval journey is part of it.

At the end of the workday, I typically take a walk around campus before the sun goes down. Here’s a lovely view of a bottlebrush tree on campus in full bloom!

Mungu akubariki? (God bless you!)

I was able to eat dinner and do dishes without being interrupted by the power going out tonight!

Yesterday and today were on opposite ends of the spectrum of people interactions for me.

Yesterday morning, I took a “costa” bus to Arusha. The trips seem to start off with the new people—including me—coming on board standing until people get off. The narrow aisle in a crowded bus means people squeezing by to get off. Then, we get to take an open seat. I sat down next to a young mama and her 4-ish-year-old adorable boy on her lap. We shared a few words in Kiswahili, but it didn’t go on beyond my language limitations. Yes, the boy called me, “mzungu,” white person, which is not uncommon, and not just by children. So, I told him my name was “Mama Anya.”

I made it to the office of TAA Finance to visit my former student, Liz, who is co-founder of this civil society organization.

Liz and me at the TAA Finance office

As they are just getting off the ground, Liz is willing to be my research assistant on a part-time, hourly and mostly project basis, for some additional income. Thus, she isn’t dependent upon the organization when they haven’t built up their revenue stream to a sustainable level yet.

Liz was one of my former Form 3 (9^th grade equivalent) biology students at the MaaSae Girls Lutheran Secondary School. We’ve kept in touch, and I last saw her in February 2020, before Covid hit hard. I would consider that she was one of the top 3 or so students in biology, but she also had a sense of agency that isn’t common for Maasai girls who have grown up in the rural areas where patriarchy is strong. I also taught her basic computer skills. Now, she has professional capacity for all her business and financial accounting programs!

We had lunch with the guy from Canada, Jerome, who is trying to set up a small scale, appropriate technology machinery company to make hay bales. The machine not only makes bales that retains food value of the hay, but it can also be income generating as an itinerant baler and make bales that can be sold. I’m sold on the business model. And Jerome is sold on Liz’s business skills that can help him navigate the bureaucracy that hinders entrepreneurship Tanzania—especially by expatriates. Here’s his baler at work in Kenya.

I did get to overview my project with Liz and discuss the description of how I saw her role in this project. What is so Providential is that she has the skills to manage the hiring, taxes, and government regulations for the four future co-curriculum developers/lesson plan writers. Being trilingual in Kiswahili, Kimaasai, and English, she is a great asset to this project. She also drives, and she is willing to have a few trips where I would reimburse her per kilometer at the rate that covers fuel and cost of ownership. I know she drives well, as I arranged for her to help me stop by the largest supermarket in town to get some things that I couldn’t find locally and take me back to the university. Then, I wouldn’t have to navigate the costa bus back home with a big, heavy bag. So, she is huge blessing to this project.

Today, I worked from home. The only words I spoke were greetings to the few people that I passed after work when I took a walk at the end of the workday and before the sun went down. Working from home means that I am close to my teapot and a bathroom that I know has toilet paper, and I get to wear shorts! Skirts are required on campus, so it is nice to be at home. It seems that Covid prepared me to be comfortable with solitary days.

Mungu akubariki! (God bless you!)

Today, I took my first solo dala dala ride from the bus stand across the road from Tumaini University Makumira (TUMa). I started chatting in my basic Kiswahili with two young men in their 20s who had their Bible’s with them. Yes, we were all going to church. I wanted to get into a larger “costa” (from the Toyota Coaster bus model, with about 30 seats, but more passengers can stand in the aisle), but when a dala dala (van) came, they welcomed me in.

Over the next 40 minutes and many stops, people got on and off this informal quasi “public” transportation. There is no municipal bus service that I know of. Everything is privately owned. The “conductor” whistles to get attention–or the driver honks the horn–for any potential passengers. The goal is to get as many people in the van. The highest number this morning was 27, though 3 were children on laps. Fortunately, I was usually by a window, so there was some fresh air.

Dala dalas aren’t my favorite way to travel, as besides the discomfort of being squished in to a small seat, they aren’t very safe. Seat belts are unheard of as they weave in and out of traffic. However, they are interesting for observing the stuff of life. One time, a dad passed a 2-ish-year-old child to the mother, but before grabbing the child, the mother plops her purse on the lap of the stranger next to her, a young man in his 20’s, without asking! He just held her purse until they were getting off, when he handed it back. Where in the world would you have a stranger next to you hold your purse?

My 40-minute van ride cost me 700 Tanzanian shillings or 28 cents.

I arrived early at the Arusha Community Church, as I wanted to make sure I had enough time. I was told that it could take longer on the dala dala than it actually did, probably because this was a slower Sunday morning. So, I sat and read a Bible that was on the chair. Soon, a woman introduced herself. She is on the ministry team. There is no professional staff at this church, so it is all volunteer led. She heard that I am a good preacher, and asked if I’d be willing to preach. There are a few people who have actually heard me preach, but 20 years ago! I must have made an impression, or perhaps they are desperate. Yet, thanks to my time this past year at Wartburg Theological Seminary, I believe I am better equipped to preach the gospel, thanks to great preaching modeled by my Wartburg colleagues and some really insightful information from the new preaching professor. She really is inspiring. I now check my sermon preparations with her primary evaluation criteria, “Did Jesus have to die for this sermon?”

I had made plans to talk with Erwin and Angelika after church over lunch. Both of them have been in Tanzania for around 40 years or so. Erwin is director of the Tanzanian branch of ECHOcommunity.org, an environmental agricultural NGO (and prior to that Heifer International), and Angelika has lived with the Maasai as nurse, midwife, public health educator, and started an elementary school deep in Maasai land and orphanage in Arusha, and she knows the culture and Maasai spirituality so well. We were able to discuss this project, and they shared from their wisdom, experience, and networks. I am an informed “outsider” with limited experience compared to these 40-year veterans, and often conversations start trying to figure out how much I know about the Maasai. I am always learning, but I usually am able to bring the conversation into a meaningful depth rather quickly, and then get to the stuff that is strategic as I frame this project at the beginning.

One of the others at lunch was a Canadian that knows Erwin. He offered to drive me to the other side of town to catch a dala dala that would go directly east (instead of going into the Arusha bus stand, and then coming out to the same road on a different bus that drives east from Arusha). He ended up offering to drive me to TUMa, which is about 15 km/9 miles farther, as our conversation was interesting. Then, I may have done a bit of networking, as he needs an accountant and my very part-time research assistant is a CPA! Amazingly, they both live in the same village outside Arusha. So tentatively, we will all meet on Tuesday.

The little victory of the day is having an OK dala dala ride. I was a bit unsettled before hand. But it went OK. I still have to learn where the dala dalas for Usa River (east of Arusha) are located in the Arusha bus stand, as it is known to be congested and chaotic. It is a bit ironic that I just was in Norway for 3.5 weeks with one of the best public transportation bus systems I’ve ever experienced and that had the most informative apps to now be in a context where the information is learned by word of mouth. Yet, here, a random young man will even hold a stranger’s purse!

Mungu akubariki? (God bless you!)

Last night, I was able to Skype with my sister, Elenn’, and a bit with my brother-in-law, Steve. When Steve walked into the room with Skyping in progress, he asked, “Where are you now?” It has been a bit of a whirlwind, packing up and leaving Dubuque, Iowa (after a wonderful year at Wartburg Theological Seminary), then abut 6 weeks in Sweden with Anya (and other family guests), then 3.5 weeks in Norway, getting oriented to this research project, and just 2 nights back in Sweden for the final packing until departure to Tanzania.

Saturday mornings seem to be a good time to walk to the grocery store and bakery on the way back. It is the cooler part of the day. It is about 30-minutes of walking on the side of the Arusha-Moshi road, so it is filled with diesel exhaust and dust. This is the worst air I breathe. I thought about wearing an N-95 respirator mask, but culturally it would be a faux pas. There is so much interaction with people along the road, such as the motorcycle (piki piki) taxi guys along the way hoping that I will hire their services, or the mama with a few kids, or the grandma walking the other direction. I greet the people with my basic Kiswahili. It is important to give smiles and lovely to see smiles. Yes, a smile goes a long way! So, I expect that this limited bad air exposure won’t kill me. Fortunately, I have no respiratory issues, like asthma.

I am strategizing my shopping to slowly build up my pantry. I am walking back, carrying everything in my backpack and an extra tote bag or two. So, I actually lifted my rolling shopping cart (the smaller plastic one–which limits the volume of stuff) to see how heavy it is getting. Should I get the small Nutella jar or the one that is bigger and better value. For Nutella, I got the bigger one! And guess what I found this time! A fly swatter!

The authentic swatter next to my jury rigged swatter.

On the way back, there is a wonderful bakery. I stopped and bought more “seed” bread, a loaf of sourdough, and a treat for Swedish fika when I got home.

A chocolate croissant!

Saturday is laundry day. My laundry sieve bucket and plunger agitation (see the 2023.09.02 post) system works rather well. I have more laundry with a bed sheet, so I need to expand my clothesline.

Saturday is also getting things cleaned up. I scraped paint drips and the evidence that painter’s tape is not used here, then I scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed the tub. It isn’t still what I’d like, but it is tolerable now.

As I was thinking about dinner, the power went out. So, Nutella and Marie Biscuits were enough to tide me over. I’m becoming a fan of a USB goose-necked desk lamp that Anya passed onto me. I can plug it into a power bank and read with some descent light!

I’d better get this posted before the power goes out again!

Mungu akubariki! (God bless you!)