Photos and More

i love hibiscus flowers. anywhere there is hibiscus flowers is a good place - that's what i've always said (never not said that!). so this photo of me and this beautiful plant in marangu is one of my favs. and you can see from the photo how beautifully green and lush marangu is.

these are the kids i walked to school - you'll have to read the previous post about marangu to get the whole story, but aren't they so cute? how could i resist walking with them (even if i didn't know where they were taking me)? just call me 'teacher tanya'.

this is the type of path which we walked every day in marangu. this type of path is used for walking and for vehicles. what you can't tell from the photo is how steep the hill is. the photo makes it look mostly flat, but in reality it was quite steep. another thing, if it hadn't been cloudy this day, mt. kilimanjaro lies directly ahead.

what a fun day!this photo was taken from the top of the landcruiser - our beloved safari vehicle. you can click the picture to see more photo of my beautiful adventure.

ok, so what's going on with me and how am i doing? these seem to be the questions resting on people's minds. so i'll start with the latter question. overall i'm doing really well. this has been a beautiful adventure so far, and there are only 5 more weeks to go. i keep meeting people along the way which cause me to love tanzania. in mkata, there is Eunice - the pastor's wife who has the faith of a giant redwood. in marangu there was this older woman whom we all called 'bibi' - grandma. each night during our meetings we have a time of praise and worship - and each night she would get her praise on. she'd start dancing like crazy, jumping and praising the Lord. one couldn't help but be moved by her passion to celebrate Jesus Christ and the way He has set her free. and in Himo, there's a little lady named mary. she's a cook at this little restaraunt. i knew from the moment that i met her that she was the one - and i met her on the first day in himo. she has this gentle smile which melts away the hurt and hardship of life. i so wish that i knew more swahili so i could sit and talk with her. instead, i tried visit her each day, even tho we never said many words - she spoke to my heart. she offered me so much encouragement by just being present. there's something powerful about. and she makes some killer chapatis! May the good Lord bless these women with grace and kindness, just how they've shown those qualities to me.

there is also a young girl named Helena who is 13. one day i was sitting on a hill overlooking the river, enjoying some snacks when i saw her swimming in the river. she was with many other kids. they all started calling to me, 'mzungu', and i still can't help by smile and wave... the next thing i knew she and some of the other kids had climbed the hill and were talking to me. i'm not exactly sure what all they said to me, but they kept talking and talking and talking. eventually it was time for me to go, but i told them all where i was staying and that they were welcome anytime. so, of course, the next day a group of the kids came to visit me. and the following day helena came by herself to see me. she was on her way to the mill to have the maize ground. (the maize is ground at the mill in order to cook ughali and macande.) so i offered to go with her to the mill. as we waited for the maize to be finished, another young lady, vivian stopped to talk with me. i had met her as her house during our door to door ministry. she's 17 and wants to be a lawyer. as vivian walked away, she was skipping. it's funny how a white person who cares about a teenage can have such an impact. anyway, so back to helena. after the maize had been ground, we were walking back to the house where i was staying and we came across some other kids. i don't know what those kids said to helena, but she got the biggest smile and walked a little more proudly. guess she was told something about walking with the white person. if i had a way to sponsor that girl - i'd do it. her eyes sparkle like to brightness of a full moon. her gentle spirit radiates to the others. she has a very caring heart - looking out for the other kids and treating them very kindly. and her smile is one of those glorious smiles which causes others to react in the same way. i love that kid!

i was just talking with my friend, susie, and she said that she was missing himo. she met some great friends there. and as i'm typing this message, i have to admit that i also have met some people who have touched my life. and i may miss that place a bit also, even tho it's mostly a love/hate relationship. i'm not fond of places which don't have access to clean water in close proximity of the house where i'm staying. i also don't really enjoy places where there is much dust. these are two things i've learned from himo. but i've also learned that in the darkness night, God's love will light the way.

oh, i forgotten to mention some other people from Himo. david livingstone, one of the great missionary to this area had a porter named samsom. samsom became one of the great evangelistic in the himo area. we had the privilige of meeting with samson's grandson. we got to see a picture of this old man of faith, whose prayers have impacted his grandson's life. that's a testimony.