WE HAVE A LIMITED WIFI CONNECTION. PHOTOS WILL BE ADDED LATER.
We were treated to Swedish pancakes (like crepes) for breakfast, and then loaded up our bags. We are traveling a bit heavy, but I separated the beach and travel clothes from the stuff that we could leave behind. But where would we leave it behind? While we are going to stay with Nashesha’s family, it is not in the center of town. I hope to have a simple collection of it at the end of our beach trip. Fortunately, when we went to pick up our bus tickets for tomorrow, the Serengeti Select office was willing to stash our bag for the few days, as providentially, their office is open on Saturday morning, and we’ll be staying in the neighborhood and meeting friends for lunch next door to the office. Some of these logistics are working so well, I know that these are due to the kindness of friends and the prayers of my dad and others.
Bethany is an amazing woman. She has raised twin boys and a girl in the middle of the bush, off the grid, and sometimes without water in the pipes. I love talking with her, as we have similar hearts to help constructively. However, she faces never-ending request for help. Each request requires understanding of the culture and great wisdom. Each request is a discernment process to prioritize needs and figure out who to help, when to help, how to help, and sometimes when not to help. The resources are always limited, and the Friberg’s philosophy is generally not to give 100% handouts. For church projects, the community has to come up with 50% of the resources and partner with the mission teams for building. This creates ownership and relationships.
On the road trip to Arusha, we talked about the beading mama project, Napok, that she coordinates for 57 women. These Maasai women have just secured land from the community. This is HUGE! Maasai women are not allowed to own land or cows. The incremental steps toward empowerment is so exciting for me. Bethany relayed that some of her women now have little huts on market day and sell tea and a little food. This they have done on their own initiative after learning that they can make some money through their own efforts. These are small steps financially, but in terms of self-agency, they are dramatic!
We also talked about the children we have helped to get into school and sponsor. Bethany has some great connections with vocational programs, and I think that this may be a better option for some of the evangelist’s children. However, the management of the school fees and progress reports is still too complicated right now.
We had Mama Laiser and her grandson with us. She is a manager in the bead project and has been critical for its continued growth through faithful bookkeeping with Bethany. Even when the drought hit so badly in 2009, there was income from the beads that help sustain families.
We stopped at her daughter’s house in Longido to drop of the grandson with her mother, Elisipha. I helped Elisipha get into Catholic University of East Africa in Nairobi area to earn her bachelor’s degree. She continued on and earned a master’s degree in Uganda, but now is looking for work. We also met her 10-month-old son while we had chai in her home. It is wonderful to see these young women develop. Life still isn’t easy, such as limited employment, but they are managing to thrive.
Bethany suggested that we call the sister-in-law, Maria, who was the Head of School at MGLSS when we were there. She is now also a widow and living in Ketumbeini. If I didn’t bring a greeting to Maria, then it would not be good for Bethany who didn’t make it happen when we were in the area. It was good to greet her and give her a blessing.
After dropping off Mama Laiser, we continued to our host family. Nashesha is a friend of Anya’s. She spent one year close to us with a cousin’s family when she was 13 years old! We did several things together, which was great fun for both of them. She is a fine young woman, who is eager to start the International Baccalaureate at the International School this fall.
After some lunch, Bethany took me to town to get my bus tickets (and drop my big duffel bag). I road along as she did her errands, which is always easier to do with two people in Arusha. I watched the left side of the car for left hand turns. Crazy motorcycle drivers are hard to see as they try to pass on the left. Having me in the car keeps things safer while Bethany ran into offices and did various tasks. Doing errands in Arusha is always exhausting, and it is nice to have company. I’m glad I could help, as Bethany has been so helpful for us during our stay.
We did some creative things with embroidery thread with Nashesha and her neighbor friend. We also saw her dad’s rammed earth walls that he’s making. Her dad, Erik, owns an Internet Service Provider, whose largest client is the UN in Arusha, but he is an innovative builder. During our last visit, we saw a house he was building from bricks made on his property that had a vaulted ceiling. The engineering was fascinating and the aesthetic was beautiful.
Erik is also a bicycler (and Nashesha is too, as she bikes to and from school). So, his family also hosts traveling bicyclists through the “Warm Showers” network. During our stay, Peter from London, was being hosted. Peter also has hosted Warm Showers travelers when he was in Mwanza for 3 years on a British development project in education. They told stories about the people they hosted. Erik’s family has hosted 22 families from all over the world, including a family (French?) with a 10-year-old daughter who biked up from South Africa!
We sat around listening and telling stories and talking the whole night. This was aided by the fact that the Internet router was down, so we couldn’t send emails or post on the blog. What a pleasant evening with new friends.