Noisy Dodoma!

I am so thankful for power cuts! For the last 3 mornings, I have been able to wake up when I choose, rather than being forced awake at 05:30 by the booming of loud speakers from the Anonymous Preacher! Recent rain and thunder have knocked out the electricity, so peace has reigned over the pre-dawn darkness of Dodoma, as there has been no power for the loud speakers to blast noise into our homes :-)

Over the past 2 weeks, the early morning noise has been continuing. We have been informed that the 05:30 noise is not actually the local preacher speaking his own words and preaching specifically for this area, but rather it is a church about a kilometre away playing tapes of other people preaching! So this is the noise we hear every morning. It is incredibly loud. On Friday last week, the tape ran from 5:30 until 6:25. Fortunately, Joel had woken me up around 4am in the night and I was able to pop in my ear-plugs after looking after him and settling him again. I went back to sleep and only woke up again in time to hear the final 15 minutes of the sermon. (I only put in ear-plugs in the wee early hours, as I don't like to wear them all night in case I can't hear the children if they need me).

Whilst many of you reading this may not be against the principle of Christian preaching being publically broadcast, for us here in Dodoma it is extremely tiring that it is so very early in the morning. The timing could be far better! After 2 weeks, many of us from overseas feel weary. There are bags under our eyes and there have been tears as we try to cope with the lack of rest. It is not just being woken up early and having the sound of shouting in our homes, but also then adjusting our evenings so that we can try to get to bed in time to get enough sleep before 05:30! This can mean that the tasks we normally accomplish in the evening when the children are asleep have to be done another time, or pile up and don't get done, making us stressed!

On Thursday last week, I used my session with my language helper to write a letter to the pastor of the church where the noise comes from. Language helper Mama Kambenga was extremely helpful- she also finds the noise disturbing and feels tired. With her assistance, a culturally-appropriate letter was composed in Swahili to respectfully greet the pastor, but to politely request that he either reduces the volume or changes the time of the daily broadcasts. 13 of my neighbours willingly signed the letter and Mama Kambenga's husband, a local Anglican minister and government councillor, delivered the letter for me.

Now we wait to see if anything changes. In the meantime, I continue to enjoy the power cuts and remain thankful for the 3 peaceful dawns enjoyed over the weekend and this morning!