Two till Four

School Debate : 2-4pm on a Saturday afternoon at Kahunda Secondary School. (it’s in English)

The motion: To fail education does not mean to fail life.

I did get involved which was fun, I was asked by a student to explain business and something about Europe which I didn’t get. Naturally this is where my knowledge from studying business studies for four years should come in. But I found it amazing how quickly you can forget things you’ve learnt. I couldn’t think of the definition off the top of my head so I blabbered on about being self employed and the private / public sectors until there was the sound of a wooden spoon hitting a desk = time is over (for whoever is talking). Then there is a chance for someone to ask a question or to raise another point. It Ended with the proposers 20 points to 15.

Following debate I did my Bible study in a baking hot classroom, we looked at sin. I was so grateful to our student friend Regan, who interpreted for the couple of form 1 students who came because they can’t yet speak English.

2 + 1 = 7 … Try again

Well I've been through 5 months of 10 already and they say time flies; it must be in a rocket.

The secondary students loved it when I came and ate with them (they had a good chuckle at the muzungu eating ugali); they have 'stiff porridge' called ugali, with 1 cup of beans for lunch and again for dinner. The ugali comes in blocks - looks just like a white brick, literally. You break a bit off and mould / ply it in your hands and then scoop up a couple of beans. It's not awful but twice a day every day bar one or two meals when they have rice (instead of ugali) it's very… well repetitious.

Have I already mentioned that we now have a working freezer in our house! It takes a fair amount of time to freeze and runs on Kerosene, but it's really nice to be able to have a cold drink, really nice. Also I have learnt how to cook fish Tanzanian style as well as beans; they're both staples in this area. You have to cook the beans for about 3 hours not 'fast food' you should appreciate that can of baked beans a little more next time you have beans on toast.

So I have taught a couple of maths lessons to the LVCA (Lake Victoria Christian Academy) 1st graders, the new teacher has been ill and not very consistent so I've taken a couple of their maths lessons after the PE. You know the deal 2 + 1 = and 3 + 1 = . I'm glad God gave me fingers it certainly makes demonstrating the sums easy, even across a language barrier.

I have been meeting regularly with my language helper. Catch and throw have been useful phrases to learn for PE, as well as 'remind me of your name' especially for the couple of hundred secondary school students.

Oh I forgot to tell you on Christmas day we killed a 6 ft black mamba.

‘Typical’

If there is such a thing as a typical day this is how it goes...

Wake up from the monkeys running across the shade roof, put the kettle on the stove and if it's my day on the laptop put the battery on charge over at next door. Have a mug or two of coffee, pasteurize the milk again (or get out of the freezer) the milk. Weetabix, porridge, toast, fruit or leftovers are normally on the breakfast menu. Sometimes I write up yesterday's day in my dairy, if I hadn't done it the night before.

May get to go on the laptop before I head up to LVCA (Lake Victoria Christian Academy) at about quarter to 9. When I arrive I set up the activity that the first class will be doing and then Arne and I teach the PE one class after the other (there are 3 classes) 20 min each from 9-10. Sometimes we will stay and have a cup of ugi (maize flour porridge) with the last class (1^st grade, the eldest). Or help with one of the classes.

Back home between 1110 and 1130. Usually I will head into the centre and do some 'shopping' tomatoes, onions, bananas, pineapple, cucumber, rice etc. I will spend some time talking to the people I regularly see and talk to and practice some of my Swahili, to their great amusement. Everybody you walk past you greet with a Shikamo if they are older than you or a Marahaba in response to a Shikamo. Other times I will spend some time on the laptop which is daily rotated between Arne and I. Later on I'll think about cooking lunch, then actually cook it. We make most of our own bread too so that's fairly often.

I have my quiet time either in the early afternoon or in the evening. At 1500 I usually meet with my language helper for an hour. Friday lunchtime I will be at the secondary school for their youth church meeting type of thing. From 1600-1800 is sport time at the secondary school, weekdays. On Thursdays there is a church 'youth meeting' at around 1500/1600 so I'll catch most of that and go later to the sport time. Now we have just started free English classes on Wed and Fri at 1500 – 1600 so language learning on those days is after PE at LVCA, now I'll catch Chai time (tea break) in the staff room at the secondary school. Saturdays I'll go and spend time playing cards or talking to the students, I have just done my first Bible study with them on a sat afternoon. Sunday Church is at 8-11ish or a trip to an island getting back as late as 2ish.

Most evenings I will take an empty milk container back to Mama Dominos house (where we get out milk from) and spend some time there trying to talk with them or learn something in swahili. Thurs, Fri and Sun evenings we meet at the Andersens house and whoever else is around, Thursday is Bible study night, Friday is Pizza night (with a game or film) and Sunday evenings we usually listen to a sermon in English.

There are jobs that come up throughout the week that I am responsible for: pumping the water for our house, topping up the freezer with kerosene (inc. buying the kerosene) and ensuring our water filters have water in.

Turns out this is more like what my week looks like! Rereading through this it doesn't sound like an exciting blog but hopefully you get an idea of what a 'typical day' looks like.

Overnight

Arne and I only had 11 days in Kahunda between coming back from the TZ Men's retreat, and heading up to Mombasa for Christmas (the short term retreat). We arrived back in Kahunda to no cat, our house help had been feeding our cat and another we were looking after. But this cat ate our cat's food and so our cat left, maybe it's time for a dog!

I was at the AIM Short Term Retreat over Christmas, nice location 5 minutes from a white sandy beach, just south of Mombasa on the Kenyan coast. Of course it was the people I got to spend it with that made it enjoyable and different to a 'normal' Christmas. We had various fresh seafood for Christmas dinner. But as we talked, I said how it didn't feel like Christmas. We came up with a few reasons: because it's so different from what I'm used to, there isn't the usual full on commercial build up to Christmas like there is in the west, not spending it with any of my blood relations, the climate being hot instead of cold, being so far from what's happening at home and finding it hard to imagine or relate to what is actually happening at home.

Losing my passport/leaving it on a bus on the way up to Nairobi wasn't the smartest idea! It was going to be 6 weeks wait in Nairobi for the new passport. But instead I have received a temporary passport which will get me back into Tanzania.

I have had the privilege of being able to stay with the Short term coordinators and their family, which has been great fun and helpful. Today 5^th Jan I am heading back down to Mwanza on an overnight bus. Probably around a 13/14 hour ride.