Here I am with some of our students who came over for chai.  The two girls on the end were raised Muslim.  The girl in the middle is the daughter of a Lutheran pastor.









The Maasai always look beautiful in the beaded jewelry that they make by hand.












This choir competed in the traditional choir group.  They are wearing what their ancestorrs wore years ago--grass skirts and material for their top.

Daily life in Tanzania

   After going several days without internet connection, we are realizing how much we've come to depend on it for all off our communication. We often are without electricity since it is hydro-electricity and we are having an extended dry season.  The rains were suppose to come during all of October, but we have not yet had any.  So this dry country is now even dryer!  And as a result, the electricity is rationed.  The University has a generator that is used certain hours, but we are not able to connect with the internet when we have generated electricity--only when it's the "real" electricity.  I don't understand this, but there is alot that I don't understand!
  For example, I didn't understand that if you hang your clothes outside to dry, the mango flies lay their eggs in the moist clothes, and then when you wear them, the eggs hatch and the larvae burrow into your warm skin. FORTUNATELY, we've been hanging our clothes in the upstairs attic because it isn't as dusty as the outside---otherwise, I'm sure we would be harboring some happy little mango babies because I only recently found that out. Apparently, you can iron your clothes (if they've hung outside) and that kills the eggs!
   On another exciting note--we've started putting our lives at risk and are now using the infamous "dala dalas" for much of our transportation.  These are the "packed" (that is definitely an understatement) vans that transport bodies!  In America, we would consider 12 people to be a very full van, but on our first trip, Tim counted 27 people in the van.  Yesterday the one we rode into Arusha for church had 23 people in it!  Poor Tim. He is especially contorted and then whenever they go over a speed bump, he hits his head on the ceiling!  Not a pleasant experience, but it is the only available transportation we have if no one with a car is going in our direction. It's amazing though how they can cram so many bodies into a space that doesn't expand! (I don't advise you try this.)
   A few weeks ago, we attended the regional church choir competition.  This is a very big thing for the Lutheran churches here.  Twenty-eight churches participated in 4 categories:  women's choirs, mixed choirs, traditional choirs (this included Maasai choirs and also choirs from villages that sang and reinacted times from their early history), and the last category was choirs with electricity---this means that the choirs were accompanied by keyboards and electric guitars.  Of course, when the choirs with electricity performed, the electricity went out---so instantly, as if on cue, everyone (but us) turned on the flashlight on their cell phones to help out the band players read their music.  The choir never missed a beat.  Tim and I were still trying to figure out how to find the flashlight on our cell phones!  Actually, it's amazing that it seems that everyone here has cell phones  Apparently they sell them very cheaply to the Tanzanians and then sells minutes for just a few pennies.
   We have started having students over for chai (tea) and snacks (bananas, ginger cookies, and peanuts--I was told this is an appropriate Tanzanian snack).  They signed up to come 3 at a time. This way we get to know the students personally and it's really enjoyable.  Last week, 2 of the 3 girls who came were raised Muslim and at the age of 11 became Christian  They now are studying to be pastors and have a heart for the Muslims.  One girl's parents both died when she was 11 and she went to live with her older sister's in-laws who were Christian.  The other Muslim girl's father was not in the home anymore and one day her mother just announced that the whole family was going to be baptized and become Christian. She said she didn't want to change because all of her friends were Muslim.  It was very difficult for her then, but now she understands Christianity and loves Christ very much. She wants her Muslim friends to also understand some day, but says changing religions is very difficult and comes with great consequences.
   One last thing, our classes are going well. Last week in my class the topic was Erikson's Developmental Stages.  We were discussing them and how the stages apply to teaching people and working with members of the church when one male student asked, "Why do some women who are at one stage dress and act like they are at a younger stage?"  I guess that happens all over the world--I thought it was just in the USA!
  Hope all is going well for all of you.  We just found out today (Monday) that Ohio State won again!
Yipee!  Go Bucks!  Hope you enjoy the followig pictures---Tim & Diane

Pictures from Tanzania

Here we are at the top of Kilima Moto--an extinct volcano.  This was a Sunday activity sponsored by a group from the Arusha Community Church.
  









This is a Maasai farmstead. Tim and I have 3 Maasai in our classes.













Here I am teaching an Introduction to Psychology Course.  I have 33 students. Recently, when we were discussing "culture,' one of the students asked if I thought it was right for a more powerful culture to force a weaker culture to change?  I asked if he was referring to the United States and Tanzania (because there's been great pressure from the US to stop female genital mutilization and other harmful, traditional practices.) This led to quite an interactive discussion between the students.



A great picture of 2 of our students.  Witness is the name of the female student. She is very passionate about female rights.  Behind her is Huruma. We have been impressed with the students' attentiveness,
respectfulness, and sense of humor!








One of the monkies that frequents our yard. There is a familly of monkies that enjoy playing in the trees and on the roof of our house!.  They scatter when we approach, but are fun to watch.

Life in Tz. is all about change!

                                                                                                  October 11, 2012

   We have been here one week now....and what a week it has been.
We found out the day after we arrived that we wouldn't be team teaching the course that I had spent months preparing.  Instead, we would each be teaching---different courses. Tim teaches an Introduction to Worship course, a 3 hour class on Tuesdays.  I am teaching an Introduction to Psychology class on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 2-4 (2 preparations).  We both have the same 31 students--all of the second year seminary class. The change in assignment was quite a surprise but classes started this week and went well.
   My class is held in a small room that was completely full with only 21 students.  Ten more students are to show up next week and there will be no room for them. (Other arrangements are being looked into but no news yet.)  Not everyone has a desk. The students sit at old wooden desks from the 1950's. I have a blackboard and chalk.
  The students are very polite and attentive. They have a good sense of humor and are very tolerant of our American English.
   The students all live on campus in dorms. They only have cold water to bathe in, wash their clothes by hand in plastic tubs and often go without a meal to save money.
   We also live on campus in a house.   We now have a gardener, Santos, to cut our yard (with a hand sickle), and keep the snakes in check.  He will also be planting a vegetable garden for us since crops grow all year long.  There are 3 kinds of poisonous snakes on campus--Black Mamas, Cobras, and one other one--I pray we never see any--so far so good.
  We also have a housekeeper who started today. Because we are at the end of the dry season, it is extremely dusty. Lydia, the housekeeper,wet mops our concrete floors and wipes off the furniture daily. She will also be doing laundry by hand in 2 large plastic tubs.  All the curtains and covers on the furniture also need to be washed and hung to dry. She will also prepare chai and lunch for the 4 of us (Lydia, Santos, Tim and me). These people work very hard and they are both earning 820 Tz.s  (Tanzanian shillings)/ hour.  This amounts to 55 cents/hr.  And they are the highest paid in the area.
   We have some lizards we see ocassionally on our walls. They are our friends since they eat the mosquitoes that might carry malaria.
 There is a family of monkies that often play in our yard and at night like to run across the corrugated roof---waking us to what sounds like our roof crashing in!
  And talking of wild life---we had our first sighting of the infamous Army Ants--also known as Soldier Ants or Driver Ants. The rains are starting to come, so the ants are coming down out of the mountains. They come in long lines sometimes quite wide. They will eat whatever is in front of them. Along the outside of the line are ants standing up on their back legs opening and closing their front pinchers. If you step by them, the outside ants will crawl up your leg to your groin area--you don't even know it's there until it pinches you--which really hurts.  By that time, lots of other ants have followed the soldier ant's lead and you've got them all over pinching you. .... We're paying attention to where we walk---for lots of reasons!
  On a nicer note, it is really beautiful here--so many flowers and trees blooming, and we are at the base of Mt. Meru--the "sister" mountain to Mt. Kilimanjaro.
   Even though we've only been at Makumira a short time, I have felt many emotions---one of them is "humbled."  Since the house we are living in was vacant for 3 years, it was furnished but not really "stocked" with any daily necessities---so people have been buying used items at the market for us when they go in town 10 miles away. Plastic storage containers for food, cooking & baking utensils, towels--all of it used--just like the stuff I donate when I'm in the states to a thrift store---not in the best shape---not always really even cleaned very well---but "good enough," I'd tell myself .  Well, now I'm on the receiving end and "good enough" looks a bit different.   The small stains on the skirts (a new dress code just went into effect stating no slacks for women so I needed some skirts), or the little bit of scorching in the pan, or the lime residue inside the coffee pot, or the "hardly noticeable" crud under the lip of the plastic food container lid seem more like a "big deal" to me now,
   I am "humbled" to thing that in the States I was one of these insensitive donors whose "generous" donation ended up making more work for that very person who actually has as little spare time as me.  I'm used to "new," and "clean." Now I see what it's like to be on the receiving end.
   We've only been in Tz. one week, but one thing is for sure. When I'm back in the States, I'm going to think about the receiver the next time I donate one of my used items.  I'm going to be sure it's more than "good enough."  I'm going to have it in the condition I'd want it to be in if it were going to someone special---like my daughter or my daughters-in-law.  Then I know it really will be good enough!
   God's blessing to each of you and GO BUCKS!
         Tim & Diane
    

We Have Arrived

Dear Friends-                                                                           October 5, 2012

   We have arrived---and it feels like total immersion----yet, in reality, we are still sheltered from much of the hardships most Tanzanians experience. 

We shower with COLD water--yet we are fortunate and have an indoor bathroom.

 We have to boil our water before drinking or brushing our teeth---yet we have immediate access to water in our house and don't have to walk miles to retrieve it.

We have to scrub everything in ourk house because it was vacant for 3 years---yet we have a sturdy shelter to live in with locks on the doors and rod iron over the windows for security.

We must walk everywhere for everything---yet we know people who have cars and are a safety net for emergencies and getting necessities.

The rice has grit in it, the meat is tough, the drinks are warm temperature---but we have access to food on a daily basis.

It is hard to sleep at night because of the 7 hour jet lag---yet we can enjoy a nocturnal concert of native birds, roosters, and even our local monies.

We have so much---it just looks different.

But one thing that is 100% the same is that God is with us---exactly like He was in the States.

May we all grow in awareness of our bounntiful blessings and then be spurred on to share more generously what we have with others.

Hoping to hear from you via email at timson@embarqmail.com or tdsonnenberg@gmail.com
   With love,
       Tim & Diane