Hijambo Friends, Family and All-Around Support People-
Greetings from Tanzania. For those of you in the USA, happy 4th of July. We a re now in Arusha where we will be doing some day visits and resting up for more adventures. Before I recap the last 24 hours, I have a few more things to say concerning our experiences at the Massae Girl's Lutheran Secondary School:
1) The Work We Did - Brad led a heroic effort to repair some ancient PC's in both the computer lab and the administration building. We transported 20 hard drives, tons of memory boards, 20 power supplies and many other computer parts in our suitcases and Brad replaced things like crazy, with the help of Steve, Kris and Katie. However, we have all learned, each in our own way, that this is Africa (TIA) and things happen at their own pace here. Brad discovered that doing some simple computer repairs can take weeks. And they are PC's. Perhaps we can ask Steve Jobs to donate 35 Macs and that would solve all of MGLSS's computer problems right there!
Lynne led a heroic effort to clean up the library where there was no discernible order, at least to American eyes. After 3 days she and her team of "shelf-readers" had some of the books in order. It may take months to get the library in tip-top shape, but at least now some books can be easily found.
Everybody else rotated through different projects including repairing bulletin boards, hanging out with the Form 1, 2 & 3 girls who were not yet in class but still on campus and teaching classes in the afternoon like exercise and soccer.
However, the most important work we did was building relationships - with the girls, with the faculty and with the random but crucially important missionaries like Jean and Marv. Everybody left with at least one girl who we had bonded with (mine is named Witness and she wrote out 2 pages of Swahili phrases for me to learn by the time I return). The work being done at MGLSS is "against the odds" and does nothing more than give the girls at chance at a better future. Most girls in pastoral tribes will be married off by their fathers by the age of 18, sometimes as the 3rd or 4th (or more) wife of one man. Those that make it into secondary school must complete national exams at several points along the way and these exams slot them into future career possibilities. Only 5% of students in Tanzania make it to university level work. MGLSS is attempting to push that number up. However, as Jean said often, the school change the lives of individual girls but what is really needed is a system change, and that is very slow in coming.
2) Sponsorships - the response to the story of the 8-year old girl that Pastor Neema has rescued from an arranged marriage has struck a nerve. Many people have written back with offers of financial support at various level. First off, thank you. More than anything this helps our team recognize that our work here is a group effort and that all of you back home support us and the needs we see all around us. I am in the process of putting together a system to help the 8-year old girl previously mentioned - I'll be contacting some of you directly. However, there are many girls in the same situation and MGLSS deal with them continuously. For anyone else,who wants to help in a ground-level, meet -the-need kind of way, the best thing to do is give gifts to Operation Bootstrap Africa's scholarship fund to help girls who have finished secondary school and are looking to achieve another level of schooling. OBA is headquartered in Minnesota and is the primary mover and shaker behind sponsorships at MGLSS. It's the best of both worlds - an American non-profit with a solid reputation and the money lands here. Most likely you will even receive letters from the girl you sponsor. Or you can make an undesignated gift for the next girl who shows up on the radar.
Thursday, July 3rd - Back to Arusha
Right before we left MGLSS, we took a walk through the fields to see a project that is generating income for the school. They have contract with Tanzania Breweries, LTD to grow barley for making beer. Evidently it's quite a money maker. Somehow I just love this. The fields of barley are beautiful. Saying goodbye is always difficult when the experience has been brilliant, but in Tanzania formalities must not be overlooked. So the small group of faculty gathered with us for morning tea and the speeches began. And went on. And on. I've never been thanked that much in my life. And for so long. 45 minutes later, we were on the bus and on the road.
Remember I mentioned that we brought 150 soccer balls with us? The girls at MGLSS were not that interest in soccer (it's a boys sport here), so needles to say we had a few extras to give away. So I opened the one of the windows of the bus and when we came upon a group of boys playing soccer I threw them a ball. Sometimes our soccer balls replaced rolls of duct tape. Our bus was quite popular until we ran out of soccer balls. This is definitely an experience I hope to repeat in the coming days.
When we arrived back in Arusha we had just a few hours to chill out. I used this time to get a bite to eat and then marched right down to the cell phone store and picked up a nice new Tanzania cell phone. Everybody here has one - even people living in squalor. It's the best and sometimes only way to communicate. I feel like a real Tanzanian now!
At 3:00pm we were whisked away to the headquarters of the New Life Band, our faithful friends who have spent time with us in the USA during their biannual concert tours. We were met by James (the elder) who had told us that the band was performing from 5-6pm. That's all the details he gave us. James has a large mini-van that fit all 11 of us somewhat creatively. He took us about 10km outside of Arusha and turned off onto a very nice gravel road leading to a government-run hospital. He told us that this road was new because this is the road President Bush had used during his visit earlier this year to give a speech on his malaria initiative at the hospital. If nothing else, Mr. Bush contributed to our comfort by making our ride easier for about 2km.
When James stopped the van there were approximately 1,000 people gathered in a field next to a Pentecostal church where the New Life Band had set up a stage and sound equipment. The rest of the band was already on stage so James ran up to join them. It quickly dawned on us, the only white people there, that this was a Pentecostal revival. Old-school - outside with dancing and raised hands and lots of alleluias. One of the members of the New Life Band was wearing a blue, long-sleeved T-shirt with "The Removed" stenciled on the front, a gift from his last visit to Bethel. Somebody make sure Tom Hoegel knows about this bit of cultural coolness.
The band whipped the crowd into a frenzy. People were dancing and singing and more kept coming until there were like 2,000 packing the surrounding areas. The Spirit was alive in that field, my brothers and sisters. Can I get an alleluia! Then the preaching began. All in Swahili. Perhaps that was a good thing. The crowd would laugh or say alleluia but we didn't know why. The first preacher sounded exactly like Chris Rock, only if Chris Rock were 5'2" and carried a bible. Some nearby Tanzanians told us he was talking about how great his wife was and how we all need support from our families. Pretty cool. The second preacher sounded like Al Sharpton on HGH - his voice could be heard for miles, literally. He used some dramatic body motions and an especially good finger waggle. He would be gasping for breath after each 5-minute long run-on sentence. It was an awesome spectacle to behold. And people think I'm loud! A small warning - I have learned some new preaching techniques you will be seeing unveiled soon.
The New Life Band played again and then James emerged from the crowd and whisked us back the the hotel. The second preacher was giving an altar call and James thought we didn't need to stay for that. I was disappointed but the rest of the group was relieved. Sharon even took the earplugs out of her ears once safely back in the van. Remember how I said that the second preachers voice could be heard for miles. When we reached the main road (about 2k away) I could still hear him. Now that's amplification!
We hastily arranged for a buffet banquet that night for our team, the band members and their wives - a total of 26 people. The hotel chef put it all together and we were eating by 8pm. Tremendous. When it came time to say goodbye, it was once again speech time. Ondo got up and said he had a few words. 10 minutes later, the band began to chide him to finish ("These are Americans") and he wrapped up. When It was my turn I simple said thanks to the wives and families who support their men who travel all over the word sharing Christ and raising money for education in Tanzania. It was a great night. If you want to learn more about the New Life Band (Ministry to Youth and Students), google their website.
Today we are off doing all kinds of things. More later.
Kwa Heri-
Pastor Rick, for the entire team
P.S. I think my friend Bill Hanson is secretly a Tanzanian with unusually light pigmentation. When he says he is giving a short speech, he is using Tanzanian time as his oratory model.
