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2 Gifts (a Chicken and a Duck) – and Arrival of a Friend!

Friday, May 23rd, 2008

Thursday we worked at the home in the morning and left for lunch. Before we left the work site, two women who had been working with us at the house presented us as a group with a gift …. A chicken and a duck! At first we thought that the gifts were for the family that would be living in the house … but then we realized that the gift was for us to eat! That was definitely a first for all of us!

Although this was a bit out of our comfort zone, we realized that this was a great gift on their part … they literally have nothing to give … and these birds cost money for them! They were honoring us in a way that we could not fathom. We were overwhelmed! And so, I climbed into the back of the vehicle, holding onto a chicken, and Danica holding onto the duck …. and we drove away. They were cute … we named them appropriately “Mzungu” meaning a white person (the duck was white) and “Rafiki” for the black chicken, meaning friend …. Thankfully, we did not dine on them before we left, but we left them with the centre where we were staying!!!

Bill Shaw arrived Thursday afternoon and joined us for the celebrations. He will be travleing with us for the safari and then staying on for another 2 weeks to meet with officials for planning future construction sites and plans for Save Africa Now. We were excited to have him join our group! In the afternoon we welcomed Juma, Haruna, Sabina and the other orphans to see thier new home for the first time. Even though they
will not be able to move into their home for another couple of months, this was the first time that they have seen the house. They were overwhelmed … and so full of gratitude and thanks! One of the smallest rooms in the new home is larger than the tiny place they are packed into right now! This will feel like a mansion to them! We celebrated with sodas, many photographs, small gifts and much laughter … what a wonderful experience! When we sang a blessing to the group that will reside in the home, Sabina (the grandmother and
caregiver) broke down and cried … overwhelmed by the changes that will happen for them … New hope … new life … literally being saved from the despair they are currently living in! It was a wonderful afternoon …. but so hard to say goodbye! For them, there is much hope for the future, and yet … it is hard to see us leave
them! It was an emotional day for all of us!

Posted in Bill Shaw, Juma and Haruna, Save Africa Now, Tabora | 4 Comments »

Refugee Camp

Tuesday, May 20th, 2008

Today was another emotional day. Today we went to the refugee camp that you see in Africa: Sing Me Your Song. We were welcomed and signed a guest book. Then we thought we would meet a few of the
orphans from the camp / settlement and hear their stories … instead we entered their church to face a group of over 1000 orphans and caregivers sitting quietly, waiting for us! It was amazing! They sang a song for us and welcomed us. We also sang to them and Daniel said a few words and Elias explained why we were there. Part of our intent was to begin to help in establishing a system of gathering information to catelog or organize for orphans to be able to be sponsored through Save Africa Now. This is a laborious job that
could be a full-time position for someone since there are almost 1000 orphans just there alone! We worked with Elias as a translator and were able to hear the stories of only 15 children, while Jeremiah
(another member of the church) did the same thing at another station.

It was heart-breaking … they lined up by the 100s, hoping to be able to find support for the children. Widows lined up and had to be turned away, since their children were not truly “orphans”. Some
children had lost their parents only 2 months ago. Others had lost their parents soon after birth. Many have died from disease, but most from HIV /AIDS. The children look into your hearts with sad eyes … they are beautiful! It was so hard to know that so few (at this time) could be helped …. There are so many more that need to be placed into the system and sponsored!

The people fed us a beautiful lunch meal and we felt like royalty! Totally spoiled! Then the good news was that after we left the church, we went and saw Esther (from the movie) … she looks healthy and well, and Richard … he is chubby and adorable, and the rest of their family. It was uplifting to see them and to know that Esther is still doing well.

We are emotionally exhausted tonight. But we are so blessed to be here. These people are so wonderful … and so grateful that we are here. And although we know we are doing such a little bit right now,
we are hoping and praying that this is only the beginning for being able to bring help and relief to these people!

We love and miss you all, and so wish that you could see and experience what we are seeing and taking in! – It is beautiful here … and has been life-changing for us!
Mungu Atubariki – God Bless You

(Nathan and Geannette)

Posted in AIDS orphans, Africa Sing Me Your Song, Save Africa Now, Save Africa Now Task Force Team, Tabora, Widows | 1 Comment »

A bus, a home, a lost-and-found wallet, Tabora

Wednesday, May 14th, 2008

we are happy to be here after a treacherous, long, bumpy, smelly, wet bus ride from dar es salaam to tabora. it started at 330 am when we rose to load our bags in two vehicles to take to the bus depot. the actual bus trip then left at 6 am. our first hurdle was trying to have our guide Joshua convince the voice-damaged bus employee to load our luggage, which there was much of. they finally opened the storage compartment and there seemed to be almost no room. they wanted 100,000 shillings (100 usd) to do it. mzungus, foreigners, are magnets for swindling here, and though Dan was hesitant we only gave them 10,000 shillings or almost 10 dollars. the seats were so close together you couldnt even have your legs facing straight ahead. and every bump was bone on metal. it felt it would never end. but it did. and we were pumped to see Elias at the Tabora bus depot. we had a late meal before a good rest in the FPCT center and then rising for breakfast. this morning we went to the site of the home for Juma and Haruna and their ‘family’. it will be a beautiful house. 5 bedrooms. Dining room. Sitting room. Bathroom. Running water. we then visited the largest hospital in Tabora region and had an excellent conversation with the head doctor. He is the only doctor, though the setting requires 6 more. he does all forms of surgery, night calls, etc etc and yet was very hospitable and willing to share with us and thank us for our participation in his country.

after a group internet session we are heading to the location where Juma and Haruna are currently staying. 11 of the 12 of our team will be meeting these amazing children for the first time. As for Dan, it will be a sweet reunion. Then we go to their old home (the broken glass, half wall home from Africa Sing Me Your Song) to remind ourselves of where it all began. it is an exciting transformation that is taking place. Tomorrow we begin actual construction. As we saw today at the site, a healthy portion of work is already done by the locals, and the engineer and his team are excited for what progress we can all make together.

oh by the way, about half way through our very long bus journey, right about the time we needed encouragement in order to carry on, Nathan looked and lo and behold there was Andrew’s lost wallet! it was a blessing to our whole team. we almost had the whole bus cheering with us even though they had no clue what just happened.

love you all, and more soon!

Daniel, on behalf of the entire team in Tanzania!

Tags: FPCT
Posted in Red Deer, Red Deer Advocate, Save Africa Now, Save Africa Now Task Force Team, Tabora | No Comments »