Days in Tanzania

Days in Tanzania

Date:

Thu, 17 Aug 2006 01:47:10 -0500

Greetings from Rosie and Michael,
We are back at the Johansburg airport. Just a quicky as this keyboard
is not working well.  We fly to Dar es Salaam today. All is well. We
hope to find an internet cafe in Dar and will write more.

Love to all,
Rosie and Michael

_____________________________________

Fri, 18 Aug 2006 06:35:42 -0500

Greetings to all from Mtwara,

We made it from Johannesburg to Dar Se Lam yesterday; stayed at Bethania hostel, run by the sisters from Chipole and Imiliwaha. Wow, Dar was quite an experience; lots of traffic, lots of street vendors and lots of people walking between the cars trying to sell their wares. When we arrived at the Dar airport we went to purchase our tickets for Mtwara; we couldn’t purchase these from USA; then wanted to purchase them with my VISA and had to go to a ATM to get money cashed; the machine ate my VISA, so we had to contact the bank and get them to come and get card for me; what a hassle; then we got to Bethania and they couldn’t locate the key to my room, so I had to wait three hours until they finally gave me another room.

We were both tired after all that, so went to our rooms early, but it was very
noisy out. I did manage to go to sleep fairly early and woke up at four to the
roosters, and then the Muslims chanting at four thirty; the number keys don’t work in this keyboard and a few others stick. This was our first night sleeping under a mosquito net; malaria is not as great a concern in SA and Namibia. The poverty appears to be worse here and the roads less developed than in SA. It is very hot and muggy; we got to see the Indian Ocean here in Mtwara and had lunch with the sisters here. I gave them the music books which Patricia asked Susan to get for them; they are thrilled...Greetings to Patricia from Florentina, Judith, and Mama Siligiel, spelling??. Didn’t see any others there yet. They were thrilled to meet someone from Patriicia’s community and want to know how you are. Also greetings to Presentasia and Susanna from several sisters from Chipole: sisters Avila, Victoria, and I don’t remember the other names. Also S. Benedicta from Imiliwaha was there to meet us. Vicky did a great job of driving us through Dar; Avila told us she is your classmate, Presentasia. They were very kind and helpful to us; we will be back at Bethania next week before going to Chipole and Imiliwaha with M. Shukruni...

Our trip off the mountain at Twasana, SA was eventful. It rained and rained the night before, but our driver was able to come and get us; then he had to take the long way down the mountain and go very slowly; there were not any big drop off places so that made it much easier but just the concern that we might get stuck.

…still no lions, tigers, or elephants; only many cattle, goats, and sheep.
Even saw a herd of Jerseys and a grocery that sold Jersey milk.

We had baked bananas for lunch along with fish from the Indian Ocean. I didn’t care for the bananas that way. Did I tell you that caterpillars are delicacies in Namibia? They threatened to go out and find some for us, but thank heavens, they didn’t succeed. They don’t seem to eat them in SA or Tanzania, so far, so we may be safe.
….
Soon we will head for Ndanda for 6 days. I will not have access to either
internet nor my cell phone there, so will not be able to write again until next
Fri or Sat when we come back to either Mtwara or Dar.

Love to all; hope you are all well. I am feeling good and doing well; expecting it to be really warm this week, so I can leave my sweatshirt in my suitcase.
love,
Rosie

Sent: Friday, August 18, 2006 7:28:02 AM
Subject: IN TANZANIA

Dear All,
We arrived in Dar es Salaam yesterday. The change in climate was immediately evident -- HUMID!!!
The section outside the airport was very crowded, dirty and junky. | think it is part of the industrial section. (Foreign companies are very prevalent - Pepsi Bottling Plant, Michelin Tires, Toyota and Nissan cars to name a few. Soccer is of course very big here. Africa is hosting the next World Cup.) Street vendors all over selling food, clothing, electronics - anything you want. They even walk on the road between cars when there is a red light! I slept last night under a mosquitoes net. No bites - so far so good. \no alarm clock needed today as the rooster was cawing at 4 a.m., the birds started chirping at 4;30 a.m. and the Buddist Monks started chanting at 5! A cold shower this morning and then a good application of bug repellent. We flew over the INDIAN OCEAN into Mtwara and we will travel to NDANADA later this afternoon. The roads are terrible and again we bumped along. The house we arrived at today has coconut palms and banana trees. I had my first African banana. They cook with bananas and use a lot of coconut oil. Better sign off for now. Love to all.

Sr. Michael

Subject: Ndanda

Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2006 03:04:46 -0500

Hi

This computer at the Abbey in Ndanda is extremely slow and it’s at the

switchboard so I’m putting someone out to use his machine.  We go to

Mtwara to go to Dar and on to Songea and Chipole tomorrow; don’t

think we will have time to get to the internet cafe before our flight, so

a quick note now.

We have had a wonderful time here; very good group to work with, they

wanted to go over it again and again to be sure they understood the

process; lots of celbebrating..my nameday..end of class etc.  Lots of

fun with this group.  Now are touring some places, very, very poor

roads.  Lots of papaya and tangerines.

Hope to be able to write from Dar tomorrow.

Love to all, miss you much, very warm here and humid...much like

Atchison.

Rosie

Chipole

Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2006 06:11:42 -0500

Greetings to all,

Finally we are able to get to internet.  We arrived in Chipole last

night in the dark.  They now have internet here so that is wonderful,

but slow.  Last Fri we left Ndanda, will write about Ndanda later, and

flew to Dar.  Our flight was changed to a later time so we didn’t get

into Dar until late afternoon; our driver, S. Vicky, was there to meet us,

but we threw her off schedule so we weren’t able to get to the internet

cafe.  The next morning we rode with the bishop of Njombe, what was

to be an 8 hour trip, but was 11 hours.  So it was late when we got to

Njombe and we were met by the sisters of Imiliwaha who took us there,

another hour drive. Imiliwaha is up in the mountains again, very cool.

Their community is amazing they are a full self contained community...

meaning they seem to know how to do everything for lumbering to

milling on their own grains, their own electricity, etc, etc.  They also

have a large boarding secondary school, a kindergarten, an orphanage,

a dispensary/hospital, and on and on.. it was a very interesting and

enjoyable community to be with.  We were only there from Sat night

through most of Tues, so we had a tight schedule.  Met Sunday afternoon,

all day Monday and Tues morn.  In between we visited all these programs

they have.  We had 35 participants; very responsive and interested.

Their treasurer is further advanced with computer skills than any

of the others thus far, so that made our work easier.

The stars were magnificent from Imiliwaha.  Tues afternoon several

sisters drove us to Songea where we were met by 2 sisters from Chipole who

brought us here.  We are starting with our workshop already..in a half

hour..9:30, so today and tomorrow will be very busy. We saw lots of

animals in the Mikumi National park as we coming from Dar.  The

bishop stopped at Mikumi at an animal viewing site and had lunch there;

then they drove extra slow through the park...saw one elephant, zebras,

giraffes, antelopes, and lots of monkeys.  M. Clothide is in Dar for a

meeting; as is M. Asente and M. Shukrani,  so we have

not seen any of them..  The assistant prioress in Imiliwaha, S. Sylvia,

was wonderful.

Hopefully I will be able to get back to email this evening and write more

to tell you about Ndanda.

Hope all are well.   I am staying well.   Love to all,

Rosie

Sent: Wednesday, August 30, 2006 1:43:32 AM
Chipole

Dear All,

Sorry for the delay, but we were having e-mail problems. But now for the news. We are back to some hot weather after being in the mountains for a few days. And yes, we did drive through the game preserve and I SAW THE GIRAFFES! At first there were not many animals, but after stopping lunch as guests of the Bishop of Njombe, because it was later, we also saw zebra, wildebees (buffalo), antelopes and monkeys! There is a story about our trip from Ndanda to Imiliwaha - and that will be for later. The welcomes have been exuberant as well as wishes for a good safari (journey). We are getting ready to begin our seminar so I will sign off for now.

Love to all,

Sr. Michael

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 10:47:10 -0500

Thanks to all for your continued emails and prayers. Since I didn't get a chance to write about Ndanda I will try to remember back to there and tell you about it. Ndanda was the first community we visited in Tanzania. Tanzania is very obviously less developed than South Africa and Namibia. I couldn't believe the number of people we saw along the roadsides carrying buckets of water on their heads and carrying firewood on heads; children included. Saw some women washing clothes at the dirty creek bank and lots of outdoor fires in front of their homes where they do the cooking. All the shopping is on the streets, that's there "shopping center" as M. Invoilata said. We had 6 days in Ndanda, plane landed in Mtwara, very small airport. Visited the sisters there where their secondary school is, then on to Ndanda. We spent 3 days on the workshop as they really wanted to be sure they understood everything and had us go back over things often. Then a day of touring, a day with their treasurer assisting her, and day of travel back to Mtwara and flight to Dar. They have about 60 young sisters in the secondary school. Tanzania is very far behind on education. I heard that only 15% of the children in the primary school are able to go on to secondary school, simply because the schools don't exist. Tanzania is getting some assistance from the World Bank for education, but the money is all going to the government school (public) even though more than half of the schools are private. So there are some who are working to get the same assistance for the private schools. Unlike South Africa, they get nothing from the government. All 3 communities in Tanzania have boarding secondary schools with lots of students so they are doing their part to educate the young people. One day we took a 3 hour bumpy trip to a small village of Namombwe where the sisters are starting a dispensary and have a new convent building. Everything is ready for them to move in, but they don't have any money to buy medicine so they can't start it. There is a hope of donor Inviolata met in Virginia while in states. Friday morning the day we went to airport in Mtwara we left at 5, drove to Narunyu where they have their novitiate. We joined them for 6:30 mass followed by breakfast. Novices and postulants sang and danced for us during breakfast; what a fun group they were. They also took us out to a field of cashew trees on their property and we saw the cashew fruit which is used to cognac and the nut below it. Cashew picking is a very labor intensive job. There does not seem to be any large cashew business/factory in the area. But many many trees. The community in Ndanda is the poorest of the communities we have visited thus far. However, they are rich in members with 60 some scholastics and some novices/postulants (forgot number). They also have a second novitiate house in northern Tanzania which will probably one day become a separate house because of the distance. Their first 3 to make final profession from the northern house came to spend some time in Ndanda before vows in Feb. The time is going very quickly as we are quite busy either with our meetings with the sisters or with the sights they want to show us. One night in Dar I collapsed and slept a straight 10 hours and that was with a very noisy outside my window. Love to all, Rosie

Thu, 31 Aug 2006 04:33:22 -0500

Hello again,

Our second day of classes today; they are all excited about learning;

makes teaching lots of fun.

Thanks for your letters.  In answer to your questions, Jan, Yes, all

the sisters in these communities are African.  There are other

communities here that are international but these communities have

other financial resources so do not have the same need as these 6

communities.  They really do live extremely simple lives.

In South Africa and Namibia we had hot water; only cold water in

Tanzania. That’s ok until you go to a cold place like Imiliwaha in the

mountains.  But the sisters brig us a bucket or thermostat of hot water

to use; that helps much. Also we sleep under mosquito nets in

Tanzania as malaria is a real problem.  We also are taking daily

anti-malaria pills to be sure we don’t get it.

The money in SAfrica and Namibia is Rand;  value is about 7

rand to one dollar. In Tanz they use schillings which is about 1000

schillings to one dollar because of the poor economy.

More later because two volunteers here are waiting to use the internet.

love,

Rosie

Fri, 1 Sep 2006 01:50:31 -0500

Greetings,

Yesterday we finished our work with the group.  Since they do not have

anything on computer and have no printer, we were not able to do any

extra work with the treasurer/bursar.  They are also in the middle of

changing various positions since they have a new prioress, so there is

no bursar at the moment. We met M. Asante, the prioress, the other

evening when she returned from Dar. This morning we met with her a

bit in her office to report on the workshop and make a few recommendations.

One of which is that they need a person assigned and need computer/printer

for her.  As it turns out they have several people here from Switzerland

who are in the process of installing several computers for them: one for

prioress, one for secretary, and 2-3 for general use.  Then there will be

one printer that they all share, so progress is in process.   The people from

Switzerland came over with some members of the Fuchs family.  Mr. Fuchs

was the man who helped them build the dam that was completed last

July. This July he died and had requested to be buried in the sisters’

cemetery here in Chipole, but the state department would not allow that to

happen.  They did bring a few of his ashes and he is buried here.  The family

members have returned to Switzerland but some computer guys still remain.

The sisters are also in the process of doing some major renovations to

one wing of the convent.  They are taking down some walls and making a very

large meeting room that will hold all/most of them.  There are about 400

sisters here.  I took a number of pictures of the renovation in process as I

thought Srs. Presentasia and Susanna will want to see them. ..

Yesterday I had my first homemade peanut butter.  They grow peanuts

here.  Also had pumpkin leaves with peanuts ground up last eve for supper,

pretty tasty. They are in need of rain here, though the rainy season usually

does not begin until Nov.  I found out yesterday that the reason we do not

have hot water is that there is a large tank on top of the building that collects

rain water and it is connected to a solar panel which heats the water.  But

the tank is empty, so no hot water until it rains again. Last year the rains did

not come until January, so the people of the area were sure they would die

as they cannot survive without rain for their plants to grow and to get water

to drink.  Makes us think twice about the effect of global warming for people.

Today we are going to be touring some of the works the sisters do here

in Chipole.  We will also be going to the dam.  Hopefully, there will be a

chance to write again later in the day to tell you about it.  We leave VERY

early tomorrow to get to Songea (1.5 hrs away) for a 6:15 bus to Dar es

Salaam. Tomorrow will be a very long tiring day. and then Sunday we fly to

Johannesburg and on to Pietersburg, our last community to visit.  I do not

expect to have computer access there so will not be able to email again until

we are back at the airport and ready to return home, Sept 8-9.

I forgot to say when I was writing about Ndanda that everyone sends

greetings to you, Patricia.  They ask how you are and are surprised I haven’t seen

you since you didn’t get home before we left.  The sisters say “give Patricia our

greetings”, “tell Patricia she needs to come back next summer”, and “tell

Patricia the beans are still waiting in the basket for her. It is quite obvious

that they loved having you here.

Time to stop and start our touring, after tea break of course.

Love to all, miss you.

Asante sana  (that’s thank you very much) for your prayers,

Rosie