It's About Time

first off, to calm your fears and anxiety, i'm doing great! for the last 3 weeks i've not updated due to being in marangu and now in himo. let's start with marangu, then move onto himo.

marangu is incredibly beautiful! i absolutely loved it there. that's been the place where my heart has felt the most at home since i've arrived in tanzania. the place is green and lush - there are streams flowing from mt. kilimanjaro, offering clean water from drinking and washing. i like places that are green and lush! also, many of the people in marangu are educated, so they speaking some english which for me was incredible! i loved chatting with the locals about life and answering their many questions about why america is so richly blessed and weathy. i get asked the strangest questions.

since marangue is at the base of the mountain, it is very hilly. my legs were killing me the first couple of days, but after that i learned to really enjoy the hike. each day we would go and visit the locals, door to door, and they were so great. i could live there for 6 months a years - that's how much i love it. the local shop owner (AKA the bar tender) offered me a piece of land in which i could build a house. but he wants me to come and build a house, stay for 3 or 4 years, then leave the house for him to rent out to hikers. it's nearly tempting since building a house costs about $800 here. who would've ever guessed that i would be given land in the beautiful place flowing with resources! that truly blesses me so much. oh, and that little shop owner and became friends since i enjoy a coke nearly every day! (maybe i'm not supposed to admit that i escaped from the compound everyday, but it was a beautiful thing to take a break every day - by myself!)

on crazy story from marangu (since my time at this internet cafe is running out!) the last day we were there i decided to take a little walk before we left. as i was walking along the road two beautiful kids walked up behind me and grabbed my hands. the kids here love me - and i kinda like that, tho i don't know how to speak to them. so i continue to walk with the two kids to their house. their mom was there with some other kids. the next thing i know she was telling me 'thank you' and the kids were leading me out of the house. at this point i still i didn't know exactly what was happening but i assumed i was taking those kids, now 3, to school. as we climbed the mountain, the shop owner along the way kept calling out to me, 'teacher, where are you from?' i couldn't help but laugh, but i guess that when i was walking with the kids i became a teacher. as we were nearly the national park entrance, i began to wonder if the kids knew where they were going. but they continued thru the entrance, i explained to the guard that i was taking the kids to school then i would return. (it cost $20 for me, a white person, to enter inside the park, but God had made a way for me to enter without paying!) so we walked to school. i have a photo of the kids, along with some photos of the inside the park. God has a funny way of making me go places that i don't think i would ever get to go to.

now about himo. we've been here for 1 week. himo is the opposite of marangu, in that we have no water, except for the river which is about 1/2 mile away from where we are staying. each morning we make our trek to fetch water and to bathe. i'm the entertainment when i'm bathing since i need to keep most of my clothes on due to on-lookers. so friends laugh the entire time we are bathing, but i get mostly clean with the dirty water. the ground is very dusty and the plants don't grow very well here.

a story of himo. one day i was alone, sitting on a rock overlooking the river, when i looked up and saw the trees moving. as i looked closer i discovered that it was a family of black faced monkeys. that's was pretty amazing to see monkeys in the wild. for shottie and jackie, i'm sorry, but i was not able to catch them for you. i will try again later.

i'm not enjoying himo nearly as much as marangu, but we only have one week remaining there. after that we have one week off, so i'll have some time to update this blog in more detail. i'm sad that i don't have any comments from my last post - guess my faithful readers have all abandoned me. just kidding, i know you are all waiting for this post!

Reach Out

so that title is for my friend, Lacey. i can't thank her enough for getting that song in my head over and over again - especially during this phase of my life called 'outreach'.

so guess where i ate lunch yesterday? in a large crater - that's Ngorongoro crater. seriously - it was flippin' amazing! i've escaped from outreach for a few days in order to go on safari with some americans who are volunteering at the base. they aligned all the details then asked me if i would be interested in going to see the large animals and big hole. of course! i would interested in escaping from 'reaching out!' and going to see those things while speaking english! we had a great time! and we did get to see some animals. at first we saw hundreds of zebra and wilderbeast. then i grab the binoculars and guess what i saw? YES - you guessed it - the most amazing animal - a rhino! it was sweet. the critter was a long ways away, but it was for sure a rhino - a black one. that made the trip so worth the money! speaking of money - props to my friend kimberly for bailing me out of a jam. we also saw some crazy birds. oh here's a stort about one of those birds (and maybe i shouldn't write about it because it's not very pg rated, but it's still so funny that i'm cracking up laughing just sitting here thinking about it.

our driver is tanzanian, but speaks english quite well. we asked him what this particular bird was, and with his thick swahili accent he said 'colored bastard'. we all looked at each other with confusion (and a bit of laughter), then we asked again what the name was. again he repeated it. we had to look in the book to figure out that the bird is really called. it's the 'cory bustard', and that's just part of the adventure. (just for the record, i don't mean for any of that story to be racist, because we all knew that was not the name of the bird.)

today 4 of the americans and i took a little trip to arusha to attend the vineyard chruch, which is in english. then got a lift from michelle from the Arusha base to shoprite. during the lift the people in the vehicle were from germany, australia, phillipines, namibia, and all over the USA. (this is one thing i absolutely love about YWAM!) after that we ate lunch at this little shop called mcmoody's. sweet american food. and yes, i did eat a burger, but it just didn't compare to the ones in america. oh yeah, and i had a pineapple shake which wasn't too shabby either! after lunch we headed out toward the maasai market. tourist trap, but it was quite cool. i've discovered that i'm able to speak a bit of swahili. had a great conversation with mamafina, who has stolen my heart. i will return to visit her, if at all possible.

guess i should write about outreach... we are staying near the gate of the kilimanjaro national park - the place where all the hikers enter in order to climb the beautiful mountain. because of the influx of white people in this area, many of the people speak english. i'm loving that! the area has different problems than we experienced in mkata. Thank Jesus that we don't have the blaring islamic chants and drums all night long. we are staying on the floor of someone's house, and that's a bonus also. the area is more cold than where many of the students are used to, so there are many complaints about the weather. i love it! during the nights, the temps drop in 40's, and during the days it's in the 70's. the area is lush with banana trees and so much foliage - truly a blessed area. yet there is so much drunkenness and bad theology in that area. the chrurches war against each other, and there is some witch doctor practices. going door to door and talking with the people opens our understanding to many things, and some of the people are giving their lives to Christ. there are some emotional issues growing in our group also - many of us are getting a bit homesick. we miss the easiness of life at the base and our homes. i have 2 months left and i don't just want to endure thru the end - i want to have joy along the way. i can't say, 'thanks,' enough to those who are praying for me to experience joy. it's a deep need for me...

some joys that i've experienced lately:
the trip to see the crater
time with the english speakers
time with Gemma
lunch with amelia, stephanie and the americans
having a day in moshi by myself on friday
the conversation with mamafina this afternoon
chatting a bit with some friends from america via Skype
how God has been speaking clearly to my heart
my friend who bailed me out of financial woes
these few days at the base

so that's what's new with me. i leave again in about 14 hours. i'll have to update my photos later since now it's dinner time and then i don't want to be anti-social since i have english speakers here. i'm homesick for the food and good conversations with friends and families, but most everything else is good. i've gotten over the hump - i feel comfortable here overall. so thanks again for all your prayers and the email - i love reading about your adventures in the states and elsewhere when i return from outreach.

Playlist

for my fellow technology savy friends, this is my current playlist for my mp3 player. the song that has jumped out most this week is, 'He's always been faithful' by sara groves. here are the lyrics:

Morning by morning I wake up to find
the power and comfort of God's hand in mine.
Season by season I watch him amazed,
in awe of the mystery of his perfect ways

CHORUS:
All I have need of his hand will provide.
He's always been faithful to me

I can't remember a trial or a pain he did
not recycle to bring me gain. I can't
remember one single regret in serving
God only and trusting his hand

This is my anthem, this is my song,
the theme of the stories I've heard for so long.
God has been faithful, he will be again.
His loving compassion, it knows no end.

during outreach the 2 songs that i nearly wore out were, 'i will lift my eyes' and 'let me sing'.

my mp3 player has become one of my most treasured possessions. it was used to lull me to sleep over the top of the drumming and boisterous islamic chants. seldom do we sing any songs in english, so it's the source of fill for my longing to hear english being spoken. somedays it's my get-away from the reality of the difficulties of life. somedays it's my prayers. somedays it's my counselor. somedays it's my connections to my friends and family. somedays it's the nourishment for my soul. so i can't thank my parents enough for that great gift!

what songs are on your current playlist or what songs are running thru your heart?

Things I've Learned

today i've learned some things. first, some of the other americans are struggling with the exact same things i was struggling with when i first arrived. people praying in tongues without ever praying on behalf of others, and people using the phrase, 'in Jesus's Name' every other phrase during their prayers. the un-ambitions of people are driving the guys nuts. the girls are struggling to teach the teachers how to teach the students english effectively. and we all are a bit leary of the goat meat. it's been great to discuss some of those struggles...

second, i learned that when i leave to go for our next outreach, that we'll travel from one place to another without returning to the base. so that means i'll be out in the bush for 4 plus weeks. (but i'm going to do what i can to bust out and return to the base for internet.) the place we are going is not too far from where Flora lives. would be sweet to make another visit to see her, but we'll see. i think the name of the next place we are going is called mirangu, but i may be wrong. also i'm praying that we have some power so that i can charge my phone and batteries.

while in mkata i saw a very strange site: bright PINK chicks. i had to ask to owner why the chicks were pink. she mentioned that they color the chicks so the birds will not bother them. these were the only pink chicks we saw, but they were hot pink chicks.

Yunis, my friend
click photo to see more pictures of mkata

Answers to Some Questions

so some of you have asked me some questions which haven't been answered during those last few posts. so i'll see if i can answers some of the questions, since right now i'm out of stories (except for when i preached 'pentecostal-style' on sunday, but that's for another day.)

did any of us get sick during our time in mkata? people periodically had stomach troubles, but they didn't seem to last longer than a day or two. i had a rash for the first week and a half, and i was sick (the type where it's coming out both ends) for one morning. i was sitting in the meeting for our 6 o'clock prayer gathering and began getting really feverish. so i asked for prayer - and while people were praying for me i had to walk outside and vomit. mostly embarrassing, but it was better than barfing in front of the group. i think it was something i had eaten the night before, but who knows. that afternoon i was feeling better. another guy had a fever for 2 days. personally i think the stomach issues were caused by the water, since it was rain water collected in a cistern which had no lid. there were frogs and other critters living in the water. that was the water we were to use for bathing and washing our clothes, tho some people drank it. the water we bought for drinking was supposedly more clean, but people were complaining of not feeling well - having diarrhea and stomach issue. (but this is the deal, people don't really say specifically what's wrong with them. they comment that they are not feeling well and would like for someone to pray for them. so one never really knows what the issues are - they simply might be tired which is one form of being not well.) and maggie, the girl i visited in the hospital last night, contracted thyphoid and malaria while in mkata. she should be released from the hospital tomorrow, by the way. so overall we were really healthy and very few injuries.

did i see any demons? i heard them saying, 'i want to marry that mzungu (white person)'. oh wait, that wasn't probably a demon, that was simply a drunk man stumbling from the bar. that comment just made me laugh hysterically. so back to the question, i didn't see any demons, nor did i participate with any crazy, spiritual deliverance services. some people from my group did, and the demonized people whom my friends were praying for have been set free from the curses placed on them from their families. during our door to door visits, many people asked us to pray for a variety of different things like a husband who was being falsely accused of carrying an illegal weapon, a child who suffers from epilepsy, a man who has a serious bacterial infection on his leg which has caused it to swell twice the normal size. (the sight of the leg turned my stomach when i saw bugs inside of the wound. in america the leg would quite certainly be amputated.)

what has been my favorite part of the traveling to mkata? besides witnessing people giving their lives to Christ, meeting Yunis was a definite hightlight. even now as i think of her beautiful smile, my heart is flowing with gratefulness. meeting karin and having some nights at the guest house was a definite bonus. japheth and i had some pretty deep discussions. the hospital visit to see Prosper in a coma, then see him taken home the next day was pretty phenomenal. meeting some of the korean was cool. and seeing the indian ocean was a definite bonus.

did i eat anything different or abnormal? yes. first, i had a roasted grasshoppers. it was pretty good, much better than the goat meat which we had every now and then. the 'hopper mostly tasted like ash since it was was dropped in the ash to cook. the texture wasn't bad either. secondly, the last night in mkata we had a feast of an entire goat. we roasted the meat instead of combining it with the rice or stew. so the meat was stabbed with skewers, and then the other end of the skewers were planted into the ground. we had two fires with large pieces of meat set around the fires. it was a neat evening. and africans don't waste any of the goat. they eat the intestine, heart, liver, stomach, head, etc. so i ate some of the heart, stomach and liver. the heart was really the worst part. the texture of the heart was terrible. my dad should be proud of me for eating those part. another thing i ate was this fruit called 'finess' which is delightful. (i looked on the internet and this fruit is called 'jackfruit'.) there were also other fruit trees on the property where we were staying so we devoured the oranges, lemons, papaya and coconut. that was a highlight to the trip also - all the fresh fruit available to us. it was also a sweet to see one of the guys take off his shoes and skimmy up the palm tree so he could retrieve some coconuts. real coconut cooked in rice is awesome!

did i get to see the ocean? we all traveled together to see the ocean. we stopped at the port, so i didn't really get to see the ocean in it's large and dangerous form, but the swimming was really fun. we had a great time, and more women than i thought decided to swim. it was a great escape for a day. there's something amazing about the ocean, especially the one which is the farthest away from the united states.

what were some of my challenges? trying to sleep with the islamic chants and drumming rituals of the witchcraft. the invasion of ants - the big carpenter ones which bite and refuse to release from your skin. the first night in mkata i learn swiftly that i don't enjoy those ants, and that i should do everything in my power to stay clear of them. when you walk thru their space, they attach themselves to you in places where ants should never go - like up your pants and shirt. having the rash from the water was irritating, but not too serious. often it felt like there was a huge amount of un-organization, and that played on me for awhile. preaching during the rainstorm was a challenge. the language difference is always a factor - not being able to express myself when i'm frustrated.

during our last morning in mkata, my mind and heart couldn't wait to leave. but something happened when we got about 25 minutes outside of mkata - my heart changed and i began to see some of the good things which happened during out stay. and i began to feel a gratitude for having experienced the challenges of mkata. it almost felt like a black cloud had been lifted from my heart.

Living the Good Life

oh the joy of american candies! i'm living high on life right now - i'm the only one in the dorm which means i can eat my candies, dried fruit and doritos all to myself. i can't say 'thanks' enough to my friends and family who have hooked me up with some goodies. and i'm rejoicing and thanking God for this moment of peace and quietness around the dorm - not sure that it's ever happened that i've been the only one in the dorm for several hours. the other girls have gone to be with their families or friends. it's a blessing for the Lord Himself!

i really should walk to boma and see maggie, since she's still in the hostipal. perhaps i could take her a little goodie bag... (or maybe i could stay here in the dorm all afternoon and eat these treats until i'm ready to burst!) both ideas are pretty tempting right now.

i'm afraid the rest of this post it going to be full of randomness. japheth, my fearless traveling companion, is on his way home for a few days of r & r. i'm hoping that he has time to relax and refresh his soul before our next outreach experience. japheth has been my sounding board during my time in mkata. when i had a gripe or complaint, japheth is the one to whom i went. i'm really grateful for his listening ear, and the way he speaks so highly of his girlfriend. it's great to know a guy who is committed and passionate about the girl he loves.

a bird crapped on my foot during lunch today.

there are 5 other americans here at the base right now. 2 girls who are volunteering at the pre-school and 3 guys who are working on some type of water irrigation system for the gardent. they are all college students - the girls from washington state and the guys attend wheaton university in chicago. it's great to have some time to relax with them and hangout. another provision of God's goodness. i needed some english speakers for refreshment.

i miss my youth group. i miss going to sunday nights with the young people, hearing of their lives and their beautiful adventures. i miss the volunteers who pour their lives into the students. i miss lock-ins and sleep-overs. those are things i'm missing from america today. (i'm not missing the food cuz i'm so stuffed on candies and goodies that i don't think i could eat one more!)

i stayed up late last night - nearly 3 in the morning - chatting and skyping with friends. that's so refreshing for me. this morning i woke up encouraged and ready for a new day. it's so special when i get some moments to connect w/ friends and family. i would love to hear from you, and you are welcome to call me whenever. this is my cell phone number, including the country code: 011 255 784 808933. i'm asking for you to get a phone card and call me. i'd love to hear from you. during outreach i was on the brink of sadness and a bit of depression, but then some friends called me. the timing was amazing! even if the calls were short - it still meant so much to me to hear a familiar voice. i'm a chatty person, and only having japheth to talk to is quite difficult. (this is why japheth gets an ear full when i'm bothered by things!)

i think it may be time for a short nap. then perhaps i should go to boma...

God's Provision

so the first week in mkata we helped to finish the school and the landscape around the school for the grand opening which was held one week after our arrival. the latrine had been dug, and all the dirt had been piled around the building. our responsibility was to move the pile and make it flat. our tools consisted of small shovels and many jembe (which is a hoe type of tool). together we 23 people moved this mountain of dirt. it was quite a feat. i still have some blisters on my hands to proved that i did some work. working in my green office in america doesn't offer much training for moving dirt in an african village, but i learned and participated. in america we would've rented a small bobcat and had the pile moved in one day. here it took all week. we all worked together and accomplished the task. and at the end of our days, sleeping on the concrete floor wasn't quite as difficult due to our tiredness. yet the drums and the islamic chants still proved more of a challenge for me.

the day before our celebration of the grand opening a group of we students were told to go to the anglican church to get some tables. we were told which road to take, about how far to walk and the church should be on our left. african directions are so confusing for me. so we started walking and found the church and the tables. they are the same types of tables we use as desks at the base in boma. they are about 2.5' x 5' x 3' and weigh about 40 pounds. guess how we carried them? you guessed it - on our heads. we simply slung the tables above our heads and started walking back to the base. it wasn't too far, maybe 3/4 mile. those are the times when i need the camera and didn't have it. but just imagine me walking three quarter mile with a table balancing on my head. my discoveries that day: my head is not flat, nor is it very useful for carrying heavy tables.

finally the day of celebration arrived. early in the morning people were awake preparing food and decorating for the festivities. a group from korea who had helped financially support the building of the school had arrived and were helping with the preparations. members from different churches were arriving with their 'pews' for seating. then about 10 am some of the surrounding church began to arrive. they all came singing and dancing to the event - in step and in tune. again, i don't have photos of this, but the way they arrived was so incredibly joyful. their songs were sung with a lightness, and a gratefulness for building the school and for bringing hope to this little african town. the air was filled with expectation and anticipation. about 11, the service began which i have some photos. about 12.30 it was time for food. feeding 200 plus people takes some time and a huge amount of food. it's still amazing to me the amount of work africans have to accomplish in order to create a meal. cooking meat and rice over an open fire is time comsuming. we all ate and were satisfied. the celebration went on all day. different services were provided, including medicines being given out to those in need, eyeglasses for those having eye troubles, and the kids were entertained with different activities. one of the korea guys, hung, gave a cool demonstration of karate. then many of the little kids came and circled around me. when i say 'many', i mean about 60 kids. since i can't speak to them in swahili, i had one of the other students tell the kids to imitate what i did. so we stood on one foot, raised our hands to the air, acted like airplanes, spun in circles, balanced on one foot while our hands in front of us, different positions like that. this lasted about 20 minutes. then i told them my name and they told me their names also. (i don't remember one of their names, but they all remember my name - i learned this the following day when i was walking in the market and some of the kids said, 'tanya, shikamoo.' ['shikamoo' is the greetings people say to someone older than them.] the reality that i was walking thru an african village and hearing my name was so strange, yet amazingly reassuring, and each time i heard my name being called by a little kid - i couldn't help but smile. they remembered my name throughout my entire stay in mkata also. i don't think i had one trip to the market without my name being called out by some little kid desiring for me to recognize him.) as i sit here on this bed, my eyes are filling with tears for those little kids who made my day special by simply saying my name. these kids are living in such povery and oppression, yet they make me smile - that'll preach!

the second week was pretty hard for me but God had a special friend come into my life to make the way a bit easier. a young lady from sweden was visiting with firimina and her family. karin speaks english and was staying alone at the guest house for several days. i was asked if i could stay with her so that she wouldn't be alone. (i would've been a fool to say 'no' since she had a fan and a bed, instead of the wet tent with a thin foam pad!) but apart from those benefits, her company really made my week. she is working with some pentecostal churches in tanzania to connect sports and ministries. she's training coaches and older students to use soccer as a form of drawing others to church. it's a wonderful concept and her bubbly personality is being used in magnificent ways. we shared some really great conversation during our 3 nights together. we stayed in an african guest house, which translates to a terrible, single bed motel, like the 'el rancho' motel in sioux falls, sd. but for a buck eighty-five for a night, what do you expect? that buck eighty-five covered the cost for both karin and me. so it was about 92.5 cents a night. pretty sweet deal for a fan and a bed with great company!

one of our projects for the second week was to help put a roof on a small church in the middle of a corn field which located about 4 miles from our base. mostly that consisted of the guys pounding nails thru small tree trunks used as the tressing. plastic bags sewn together were used as the roofing material. pastor mapunga and his wife, yunis, made a tremendous impact on my life. they were serving in a church in Dar Es Salaam when they both felt like they were being called to mkata to open a new church. that's courage, bravery and humility all mixed together. pastor has a heart to know people and to see them come to know Jesus. and Yunis's heart is so gentle, yet she possesses one of the strongest faiths which i've ever seen. she's been diagnosed with breast cancer and travels to dar es salaam ever other week for injections. they don't have a cell phone, live in a 2 room house with a tin roof, don't have a post office box or address, and are people of purpose. they are trusting God to give them members for their little church and healing for the wife's cancer. and i believe they will see the effects of these two prayer requests.

Yunis took me in and from the moment she met me, she tried to get me to speak swahili and express myself. she was patient with me when i stumbled thru my broken swahili, and she continued to speak slowly so i could attempt to understand her questions. she's the first person i've found so far who tried to speak slowly so i could understand. one can recognize that she's an amazing person by one look into her eyes; she just has a way about her that radiates light and kindness. i had opportunities to spend quite a bit of time with this couple the second and third weeks in mkata, and i've come to love them thru that time. yet i may never contact them again, since they have not means of being contacted, except personal visits.

i know you want to see pictures, but i didn't take many pictures due to the rains, but i promise after i write about some more stories, i will post the pictures of our adventures in mkata.

Mkata Experience: Drums and Doctors Visits

Oh the bazillions of stories i have to tell! stories of sleeping on concrete floors, hospital visits for a child in a coma due to malaria, the generosity and hospitality of the people who have so little, witchcraft and islamic chants all night long, un-organization and the ocean, etc.

this is my warning should you choose to continue to read this post: it's going to be brutally honest and includes my perspective of the adventure to Mkata. it may be a tainted perspective due to my experiences, so please don't take this as absolute truth. i'm going to write is general for this post. i want to get my frustrations and joys down on paper.

from the first day i was there it became evident it was going to be a challenge. we got off the bus, exchanged greetings and conversed for quite some time, then unpacked the entire bus into a huge heap of belongings. after we had finished unpacking the heavens opened their floodgates! it was one of those rains that simply drenches everything; nothing was hidden from it's moisture! the mad scramble to get everything back on the bus or in the storage room took about 3 minutes. it's amazing how swiftly people can move when they are getting wet. because the rains soaked the ground, we were allowed to sleep in the newly built school. as we settled into the school i began to hear the rhythym of drums in the distance. we were told about the drums before we arrived so i was expecting them. the drums are played by people practicing witchcraft. the drums continue all thru the night, every night. i never realized how much of a light sleeper i am until this beautiful adventure. from people getting late night phone calls to the drums - the noises bothered me each night. for 3 weeks i never really had 1 good night of sleep. (so last night, our first night back at the base, was so amazing, even though the dogs woke me up 2 times.)

after 5 nights in the school we were kicked out and began our adventure of living in tents. our first night in the tents had another challenge. about 3.30 in the morning the dog began to bark and run around our tents. then i heard him yelp, as if he had been struck, but i wasn't about to go outside the tent and check it out, since i really didn't want to see what he was barking at. if it was a wild bore or people practicing witchcraft, i didn't want to come face to face with whatever 'it' was. guess i was scared and fearful. but i also figured that our fearless leaders would check out the situation. the barking lasted about 10 minutes then the dog ran off and didn't bark any more.

in the morning we all woke to discover that a thief had come in the night and stole all our shoes and belongings which were outside the tents. my washcloth and flip flops were taken - my comfy, repaired flip flops. (i just had them repaired at the shoe repair shop for nine cents - the toe strap broke. it's african style to fix flip flops instead of buy new ones, so i was doing what the locals do!) so people had all their shoes taken, some had their dress shoes, some their flip flops. i only had my flip flops stole, since the other 2 pairs of my shoes were still packed. so after that we called the land 'holy ground' since God didn't want us to wear our shoes around the base. it turned out that only 1 or 2 other people heard the dog barking and neither of them thought anything of it. - so much for the fearless leaders coming to our rescue! africans can sleep thru anything. it's an amazing ability they have. they sleep thru all the drums, islamic chants being screamed over the loudspeakers, goats mating in their pens 50 yards from our tents, birds chirping before sunrise, etc. i, on the other hand, didn't have that ability and had the special pleasure of listening to those sounds all night long. makes for some great times to pray, since there are no lights and the batteries in the mp3 player or flashlight only last so long.

changing subjects, i just got back from the hospital from visiting a fellow student who has been diagnosed with thyphoid and malaria. she's been sick for 2 days now, and today she just couldn't take it any more. her parasite count is very, very high. it's quite amazing that she's still able to communicate. most people with a parasite count as high as hers would be in a coma. like the little boy whom i visited in mkata.

prosper, the son of one of my fellow students who happens to live in mkata, became ill about a week after we arrived in mkata. i had met him 2 days before became ill when he was a bouncing and playful 3 year old. then firimina, his mom and my fellow classmate, told me that he had become ill, and they were planning on taking him to the hospital. so the next day i walked with a group of students to visit little Prosper in the hospital. on the way to the hospital we had to cross thru this small stream of slowly moving water. i told one of the other students, 'this is where malaria thrives, in puddles like this.' and my only thought was, 'no wonder every one who goes to the hospital has malaria - they acquire it on the way there.' as we took off our shoes to cross the stream, i prayed that we'd be spared of the illness. upon arrival to the hospital room, little Prosper was in a coma. he was unresponsive to everything. he was on a iv drip of pure glucose, along with taking one dose of a certain pill each day. he was wrapped in 2 blankets and all his clothes. when i looked at him, i could tell that he was burning up. i touched his head and it was soaked with sweat, along with his entire body. i would guess his temp had been over 105. it seems to be an african thing to cover your children in many layers, no matter the outside temperture. we all prayed for Prosper and some of the other sick people in that room which housed 7 beds, then left. but before i left, i recommended to the father that he remove the blankets and fan the little boy so that his temperature could be lowered. it hurt me so much to see that little body laying on the bed with an iv of sugar water, nearly lifeless except for a faint breath, and no nurse or doctor there to do anything for him. that instance i wanted to go back to school to get some training in order to work in an african hospital, where babies in comas are being brought with malaria everyday.

the next day we went back to the hospital to check on Prosper and family, to discover that his fever had broken in the night, and he had requested to drink some water. he was still very week, and not able to sit on his own, but firimina insisted that prosper was better and it was time to take him home. (in an american hospital there would be no way that kid would've been released, but this is africa!) so firimina picked up prosper, gathered the few belongings which she had brought, strapped the kid on her back and walked out. there wasn't any paperwork or need to tell any one that she was taking prosper home. so much different than what i am used to. again, crossing the stream in order to take the little kid home to rest.

that's just a brief view of what it was like. that's all i'm gonna write about now - just wanted to get something updated. i've run out of time today to get more updates and stories, but i hope this piques your interests.

i'm not called to mkata, tanzania

so i'm back to civilization, exhausted, in need of a shower and drop-dead tired. so i'll update more tomorrow. thanks for all the prayers - i would never had made it thru the last 3 weeks without them.