Monday 29 March 2010

MAF Conference: from the children's perspective

A few pictures from the weekend's activities for the smaller children of MAF staff:






At lunch, all the children, young and older, joined us in the hangar for lunch:


But for some, all the excitement was just too much:

Sunday 28 March 2010

MAF Conference

This weekend was the National MAF Conference for Tanzanian staff and their families.
Here are a few glimpses of the events of the weekend, here in the Dododma MAF hangar-a mere stroll from our front door, so no excuses allowed for being late for any of the meetings!

This way to the hangar:


Lots of meetings and MAF reports...


...team building exercises...


...and time for singing, with help from the children too.

Sunday 21 March 2010

Update on Moshi

Our little cat is turing into a mischievious Moshi, with quite a wild streak, although she also likes a bit of relaxation:


Her stomach is thankfully much better since Andrew returned from South Africa with a bag full of "Whiskers" catfood from Johannesburg. She can't swallow this gourmet catfood fast enough, although it is starting to run out -but help is at hand, as Andrew's sister Claire is soon to join us for a few days and assures me she has purchased some more cat food in the UK to bring out to us! A de-worming tablet in her "Whiskers" also seems to have helped.
The ticks are still a bit of a probem, but once again, Claire will be able to assist us, as she may be able to bring some anti-tick and flea medicine. This will be a relief all round, as the ticks are most disgusting and swell up to giganitic proportions as they feed off the cat and make me feel quite ill! I am very grateful that Andrew is willing to remove them and they end their days flushed down the loo!

Moshi has also claimed her first prey and killed a poor little bird in our garden. Her hunting skills are already well honed, so we wait anxiously to see what she captures next... a blue-headed lizard? a rat? a snake??
Here she is, licking her lips in anticipation:

Sunday 14 March 2010

Shopping Locally

Earlier this weeek, as I munched my way through my breakfast of Weetabix and weevils (the weevils are a complementary addition to Dodoma's cereals), I was making a mental shopping list of the food we needed and planning when and where I could buy everything.
Although many goods need to be bought in town or in the city market, some products can be bought locally. It is always pleasant to stroll to the local "duka" (shops) to meet the sellers and practise our Swahili: so I thought I'd let you see some of the locals on our doorstep where we do some of our shopping.

This is the local duka, where my early attempts to buy "Blue Band" margarine in November caused such hilarity. I have a little more Swahili now, which definitely helps!


Ben helps out, as he passes our friendly shop-keeper the money for a bar of soap. This shop-keeper tells me that he is a Liverpool Football supporter (sorry about that for you, Ian + Stephen!!)


For bananas, carrots, onions, mangoes and tomatoes, I can nip down the road to Mama Patricia's duka, not far outside the MAF compound:


On Friday mornings, we have a visit at the MAF compound from Mama Kevin, who brings fruit and vegetables for us to purchase. She arrives with her basket sedately carried on her head and supplies me weekly with cucumbers, tomatoes, green beans and a variety of fruit or other vegetables, depending what is in season. For a few extra shillings, it is worth paying in order to have fresh supplies brought directly to our front door. One week, we even had rhubarb, which made a very nice crumble and really made us feel at home!

Sunday 7 March 2010

New Arrivals

This has been a week of Arrivals.
On Monday, a friend from St Michael's Church in London arrived on a MAF plane from Nairobi. Rosemary joined us for a couple of days, as part of a work-related trip in East Africa, and shared our everyday life: school runs, shopping, mums and toddlers Get-Together amongst the MAF mums on Tuesday, Ladies Bible Study group on Wednesday and also a meal with our Swedish MAF friends at Wednesday lunch.
Then on Tuesday, we heard the very exciting news of a New Arrival in the Benge family, as my nephew Samuel Andrew Benge had been born! Esther is now the oldest girl in a family with a younger brother and 2 boy-cousins for her to boss around! It is at times like this though that one can feel very far away from family in England, as they meet and greet the new baby far across the other side of the world.
Then, finally, the last arrival, eagerly anticipated in the Tanzanian Parker household, as Andrew arrived home after 2 weeks in Johannesburg. We went to pick him up from Dodoma's bustling, dusty bus station a couple of hours ago. He is now recovering his energy after a hot and speedy bus ride from Dar-es-Salaam!
This arrival also means a shipment of goodies from South Africa, including tick-medicine and constipation tablets, which we hope will help the youngest member of the Parker home with her various feline problems! Here's hoping Moshi will soon be tick-free and relieved of difficulties in her stomach!