Not Used To...

... RAIN!!

Dodoma's climate is described as "semi-arid" (according to climate information on the "wikipedia" website) and for 8 months of the year we are highly unlikely to see so much as tiny droplet of rain. Therefore, the "rainy season" between December and March is of vital importance for local Tanzanians, providing the opportunity to plant and grow their crops, which can then be harvested and stored, or sold to provide income for the family. In a country where subsistence farming is still the norm, even as a top-up to wages earned in town, crops are a lifeline.

However, many locals have been concerned at the lack of rain over the past month. My houselady Jane told me that her maize crop was not growing as it should. MAF employees who work in the hangar here in Dodoma told Andrew last week that if we did not have rain in the next few days, their crops would fail- taking with them the hope of income from selling food, plus food they had been counting on for the family, not to mention the waste of all their hard work since November in preparing the soil, planting and tending their crops.
People here depend on the rains: if they do not come, crisis ensues. Last Sunday, the wife of the bishop of Dodoma stood up in the church service to plead with us all to pray for rain, as the crisis point was looming. Another week without rain would mean crop failure for many in our region. A serious matter.

Therefore, imagine the suspense here in Dodoma when the skies clouded over on Wednesday afternoon, thunder rumbled and lightening began to flash across the sky... we almost held our breath as we waited to see if this storm would pass over, or whether life-giving rain would fall... I heard the first drops of rain about one o'oclock in the morning and gentle dripping of the first raindrops soon gave way to the welcome sound of heavy rain beating against our tin roof. I went back to sleep again very grateful for this blessing of rain!

On Thursday morning, the rain was still falling as the children set off for school. As I took the 3 of them to the school bus-stop, Joel seemed most surprised at being bundled into a pram with a rain-cover; a new experience for him! Esther and Ben were thrilled with the novelty of wearing raincoats and wellies to school! I just had to take a photo to mark this unusual sight of my children crowding under an umbrella on a  wet and muddy Dodoma morning:

 Jane came to work with a big smile on Thursday, pleased with this gift of rain and the prospect of healthy crops. The rains eased off by lunchtime, but a dramatic and exciting thunderstorm on Friday evening preceeded another welcome rainfall. The children were greatly excited by the wild wind, the loud crashes of thunder, the bursts of lightening which lit up the whole night sky...and by the excitment of our leaking house, which is also not used to rain! Heavy rainfall seeps through our lounge wall, dripping through cracks and pouring over 2 electric sockets (which we avoid using!!)- 3 towels and some cloths helped to soak up some of the water...

 On Saturday morning, I went to my Ladies Keep Fit Class, which is held at the swimming pool for an hour of "Aqua Fit". Out of about 16 ladies who come along to the class, only 5 of us turned up on this damp, cooler morning, as the rain had lasted well into the night- and we 5 were the ones from colder climates- 3 Brits, a Dutch lady and our German teacher- all of us a bit more experienced with grey skies, able to handle a bit of rain and cooler air!! Funnily enough, there was no sign of any of the African ladies, the New Zealanders or others used to warmer weather!!
However, despite the depletion in number of ladies, we were all repulsed by the increase in the number of water scorpions, who seemed to have been enjoying an overnight gathering in the pool to celebrate the rain! Nasty weird-looking creatures, who we removed from the pool and squashed- at least 15 were lying dead on the side of the pool when I arrived:

 A couple more surfaced while we were exercising and 2 cheeky fellas climbed up the arm of the Dutch lady and another crept up my leg, creating much screaming and hilarity from us ladies! They look like giant cockroaches and do NOT make pleasant swimming companions:

 The rains had also brought a few frogs to the pool, but unfortunately for them, the pool must have been too deep, as it was the bloated corpses of frogs who floated up amongst us and had to be thrown out of the pool by the braver ladies (not me!!).

It is funny how unused we can become to the rain, despite coming from a rainy country myself. It is amazing how much more I now appreciate rain- despite the bizarre creatures that reveal themselves with each wet season! It has been a wonderful few days of RAIN!!!

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!

Cultural Differences

There are some cultural differences which are hard for me to understand. Living in Tanzania means living amongst a people with a very different mindset; at times this can cause a clash in our ideas and attitudes. This fact has been highlighted in a tiring way this week.

On Sunday morning this week, we were woken at 5:30 by the technical sound of a microphone system being tweaked and tested, with a highpitched squeak being broadcast across the darkness of Dodoma and straight into our bedroom. Then suddenly, a man's voice burst into life down the airwaves of the microphone system. It took a little while for our sleepy brains to realise what was going on, but it soon became apparent that a local preacher appears to have a new mission: to preach a sermon into the pre-dawn darkness of Dodoma, with the help of a very loud speaker to reach as many people as possible.
I was feeling very annoyed at being woken so early and it was impossible to go back to sleep, as the local dogs and cockerels began to compete with the preaching, which finished off with a flourish at 6:15- by which time we were thoroughly awake and I was rather cross and grumpy at missing out on the final hour of sleep on a weekend morning.

On Monday, my day started at 5am. A thirsty Joel woke me first and the sounds of the local mosques with their daily prayer call mingled with Joel's demands for attention. I was just settling back down for a bit of sleep again, conscious that my alarm would be going off for school preparations at 6:25. However, sleep was to elude me, as the voice of the local preacher forced its way into our home again at 5:30! This time, the preaching was louder than ever, but it was hard to follow all of the Swahili so early in the morning, making it a frustrating disturbance. At 6am, Andrew left for work, so the day had started and it seemd more sensible to just get up as well , as any hope of rest or sleep had completely escaped me.

On Tuesday, I was ready for the onslaught of noise! Andrew was away overnight, so I had access to an extra pillow- it is brilliant how effective a pillow on your head can be to cover unwelcome noise! The enthusiastic preaching has continued every day this week, but amazingly, it did not wake us on Friday morning, so I was delighted to see my bedside clock displaying 6:30 when I first opened my eyes. What a lovely lie-in!
This morning, Joel woke at 5:30, his early morning muttering shortly followed by the electronic sounds of Mr. Preacher's microphone being switched on and then the inevitable preaching. However, after feeding Joel, I finally had a revelation- ear-plugs! I reached into my drawer and unearthed my new friends- 2 little ear-plugs- what a wonder of modern technology! I actually managed to get a little bit of extra sleep before getting up with Joel and Ben about 6:45!

It has been a tiring week. It is hard to catch up on that missed hour of sleep every day. Many of us from overseas are feeling disgruntled and fed up with this early wake-up call. We are all hoping that this is a short term thing, but it could become an everyday addition to the daily noise we have learnt to put up with from all the local mosques, howling dogs and enthusiastic cockerels. Interestingly though, many of the Tanzanians we ask about this early preaching seem to be in favour, as they start to get up around 5:30. The Christian population seems to welcome the preacher's message as a good opportunity to give equal voice to the Christians in a community used to daily prayer calls and preaching from the mosques, which are broadcast across Dodoma on loud speakers from 5am. The Christians have also been saying that it is good to hear this preacher pronouncing blessings over Dodoma and praying for the country of Tanzania.

Personally, I feel tired and frustrated with having all this noise imposed upon us. Whilst I may not be against the actual message of this anonymous Preacher Man (it's hard to tell, as I can't understand it all!) I would prefer it to be broadcast within daylight hours! Our American neighbour pointed out the following proverb this week (Proverbs 27:14) - it definitely expresses a sentiment that we can relate to:

"If a man loudly blesses his neighbour early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse." !!!

I'd Rather Be...

...relaxing with my feet up, in the shade, on a hot Saturday afternoon, when our indoor house thermometer shows 30'C. Outside, it feels far hotter. The heat makes us all want to don our swim suits and head for the cool waters of the pool on the MAF compound.
However, at 3pm on Saturday afternoon, my meat arrived in a sun-warmed bucket, swilling with fresh blood. Kind Tanzanian lady Elizabeti had been at the local Meat Market and purchased my meat order for me. I'm so grateful that I had Elizabeti's help to go to the market in my place, but there was still work to do at home once the meat arrived.
To try get the job done quicker, the whole family joined in- except for Andrew, who seems quite pleased that he was away from the action at home, busy instead in the MAF hangar monitoring the flight-following radio for another airbourne MAF pilot.

I cut the meat up into suitable sizes... Ben helped to wash the meat in Milton and get the bags ready for me to pop the meat in the freezer... Esther helped to spoon the washed meat into bags... Joel monitored my washing of the unpleasantly dirty meat bucket outdoors... Moshi cheered us all on with her "singing" at the back door- hoping all the while for left-overs!

 Saturday morning had been a little cooler, so we all headed into town before the heat of the day, to try out a new cafe which has opened and to sample their fruit milkshakes and juice. It was nice to have a bit of shade around town, as we are enjoying the greener trees and plants around Dodoma following the recent rainy season. All 5 of us jumped into the car and headed out, over the potholes...

 ... around the diversion on Dodoma's main road where lots of digging is going on...

 ...and into the streets of the town, where lots more digging seems to be going on:

 The new cafe was great and the fruit juice was delicious. We then took a walk around the corner to the ice-cream shop, where they sell some sweets, so that Esther could spend her pocket-money ( 500 Tanzanian shillings- about 20 pence). A pleasant little Saturday morning outing, despite the later tasks which required our attention in the afternoon!

A Week in Dodoma

The older children are back at school and settling down for their long 10 week term. Andrew has been out and about flying medical teams and church workers to the more remote villages in the environs of Dodoma. Joel has been busy playing at home and growing 5 new teeth all at once (!!) and I have been busy with school runs, house-work and settling back into the routine of our MAF meetings and mum's/baby group.

Over the past week though, there have been a couple of events to liven up the everyday tasks.
We have had another MAF farewell, this time saying Goodbye to short-termers Margaret and Andy, who have been with us in Dodoma for 9 months and have made such a positive impact on our life here with their dedication and hard work. I think all of us ladies will especially miss physiotherapist Margaret's Keep Fit classes and her excellent help with all things domestic, from getting me to actually grow basil in the garden ( I am usually a disaster when it comes to gardening- I am not one of those people gifted with green fingers!), childcare and health advice and even cutting our hair! Andrew will miss Andy's expertise and hard work in the MAF hangar with the Flight Operations Team.
We had a Farewell over the weekend at MAF Compound B:

 There was also the excitement of Andrew's birthday this week. No impressive cake for Andrew though! Just a little round chocolate cake from the rather busy kitchen of Liz. Still, it was enjoyed by all...

  ...especially Joel, who was even allowed a little taste- and he certainly made the most of it!

 There was a also great excitement when we received a parcel of delicious treats from friends in far-off Liverpool! There was double excitement for me- not only do I get gorgeous chocolate and super-tasty UK brand tea, but I even get a new tupperware container in the form of a Very Useful ice-cream tub! You can NEVER have enough tupperware in Dodoma to store goodies away from uninvited guests of the 6-legged variety, so a pacel packaged in an ice-cream tub is an extra advantage for me, as it adds to my collection of kitchen tupperware!

 This past week has also provided some perplexing brain-teasers to keep us on our toes... My feet normally look like this:

 ..but since yesterday evening, my left foot looks like this:

 My toe next to the Big Toe seems to have been bitten by some unseen East African creature, who has certainly left his mark. We are puzzled about what strange insect or being may have sunk little teeth into me, but I am hoping that the swelling and tingling will stop soon, with the help of anti-histimine from our medicine cupboard!
Meanwhile, there is another puzzle in the fridge, as we wonder what kind of hen produced these VERY white eggs which I bought in town last week?? Apparently, so the egg-seller tells me, they are definitely hen's eggs, but I have never seen such white eggs before! Most bizarre...

The 7:20 MAF Bus

Today, Esther and Ben returned to school after a long 6 week school holiday.

Going back to school for Ben this term means a few changes. I received an email from the school last week stating that Benjamin would be expected to attend his Nursery class from the earlier starting time of 07:45 instead of 9am. This seems a little too early for me when he has only just turned 4, but since Ben enjoys his Nursery class so much, we have decided to let him try out the earlier time. His Nursery sessions now run from 07:45 until midday. The biggest change for Ben is that he will no longer be going to school with Mum in the car, or with his friend Aleah's mum. Instead, Ben will join all the older school children on the early school mini-bus, including big sister Esther, with different MAF parents taking turns to drive the bus each day according to our "Driver's Rota".

Since today was the first time that Ben joined the early bus, I decided to drive the 07:20 bus run myself. Joel had to come along too, of course, as he cannot stay home alone! So we all set off bright and early on the 7:20 MAF Bus: a few photos follow, to prove how early our school days start here in Africa!!

Ben and his little friend Aleah are excited to choose their seats on the bus near Esther, as we prepare to leave the carpark at MAF Compound A- getting ready to go and collect the other children from MAF Compound B and three Tanzanian children who join us en-route:

 Second pick-up point at MAF Compound B- and I am happily smiling, despite the early hour! Driving a mini-bus so early must be good for me...

 ...and the children are all in good spirits too after their wonderful 6 week holidays!

 Time to drop Esther and the older children off at the "big school":

 Then we drive next door to the Early Years unit where the 2 Reception children, plus Nursery children Ben and Aleah seem quite happy to be getting off the bus to go into their playground:

 Within a few minutes, Ben and his buddy Aleah are busy at the sandpit...

 ...while Joel and I head home. Joel is still able to smile, despite having been dragged out the front door at 07:15 in his pyjamas, with a dirty nappy and no breakfast!!

We drove back through town and arrived at the end of the airfield around 8am, just in time to see Andrew lining up for take-off on his MAF flight to Iringa this morning. Daily life in Dodoma starts early- now I just need to make sure we all get to bed in good time each evening- there is a saying here that 9pm is "missionary midnight" -and since 6:30am is considered a bit late to be getting up, we definitely understand where that saying came from!

The Rhetorical Question

I am happily recovered now from a recent illness which made me feel utterly exhausted and struggling with an intermittent fever which would come and go, but was mostly present every evening and through the night.
For 2 weeks, I felt unwell, so I am grateful now that I feel back to full health and that my energy has returned.
Over the course of the 2 weeks, I tested for malaria, as it seems to be the most likely cause of fever and exhaustion, but all 4 tests were negative. I also went to the clinic in Dodoma, where the staff took my blood pressure (normal), weighed me (a little underweight at the moment, but I'm working on that- bring on the chocolate!!) and sent me to the laboratory for a malaria test, blood tests for all kinds of illnesses or any sign of a bacterial infection and the standard Dodoma-clinic sample tests (details withheld for the sake of any sensitive blog readers out there!). All tests came back saying that there was no sign of any infection, any nasty parasites or worms (thankfully!!) nor any malaria or illness that they could identify. Whatever it was that was making me feel unwell remains to this day a complete mystery.
This can often be the case in Dodoma. We get sick, we put off going to the clinic until we have to and then when we do go, we still may not know what is wrong. So when people ask, "What's wrong?" the question is more of a rhetorical question!
Finally, I spoke to Interhealth in London, who were most helpful. They sugested that I should try taking a course of tablets to treat malaria, just in case, to see if it made me any better. Andrew leapt into action, taking down the antimalarials pills which are an essential component of our Dodoma medicine cupboard and he sorted out my correct doses and tucked me into bed with my initial dose of  4 pills and a glass of milk.
Four days later, I began to feel much better and am now fully recovered. The malaria treatment seemed to work- but whether I actually had malaria or whether the pills just killed off another type of infection, we will never know! So if you ask me what was wrong with me, I couldn't tell you- it's the rhetorical question!

Hidden Talent

If Andrew finds that he would like to set up a side-line business alongside his work as a MAF pilot, we have now discovered that he has great hidden talent -as a Cake Decorator!
Two weeks ago, Esther celebrated her 6th birthday. To mark the occasion, she had asked me to make her a "flower birthday cake". Not being a talented cake maker, I was a little alarmed at the prospect of trying to produce a suitable cake- but the internet is a wonderful resource! I looked online for "flower cakes" and found a fairly easy-to-make sunflower cake with clear, simple instructions on decorating and a photo that I could print out to guide me.
The day before Esther's birthday, I made the cake- but was a little nervous about chopping it up into the correct shape and decorating it appropriately. That's where Andrew stepped in. Knowing that he is far more precise and careful than I am when it comes to fine detail, I asked for assistance- but we were both surprised when Andrew revealed his brilliant talent for cutting out and decorating cakes! He took over the operation and here he is, hard at work, the night before the birthday:

 In the morning, our special Birthday Girl approved the cake design and was thrilled with her Dad's excellent work! Ben and Joel also seemed impressed, even if the cake was a bit too flowery for Ben's more boyish taste...

 The cake was a big hit at Esther's party- it's just a shame it couldn't have been kept for longer, but the petals were soon consumed by hungry children, whilst the leaves and centre disappeared before our eyes as adult guests helped us to polish it all off!

 Esther celebrated turning 6 with a swimming party at the pool located on the MAF compound. She invited 9 young friends to come and swim, before inviting them back to our house for lunch, party games and, of course, the birthday cake! Great fun was had by all...

 Andrew acted as life-guard in the pool and a couple of helpful mums also stayed at the poolside to help keep an eye on the swimmers for safety's sake. However, even the non-swimmers got adventurous and enjoyed the water...

 Ben had a great time at his big sister's party, clambering in and out the pool, with best buddy Aleah (from Nursery school and MAF) always at his side...

 Back at the house, it seems that traditional party games are always the best, with Pass the Parcel being as popular as ever- and even Joel could join in this one by thrashing around with the discarded wrapping paper!

When the guests had left and the house was restored to some kind of order, Esther spent the rest of her birthday playing with her new birthday toy- keeping with the theme of her swimming party as she enjoys a Playmobil swimming pool. However, I am not sure whether it was Esther who had the most fun playing with her toys, or whether it was Andrew in working out how to assemble the Playmobil model- another talent that Andrew has unearthed since becoming a dad!

Brackenhurst

It was fantastic to visit Kenya. It was well worth the long road trip either way, even though our visit was so brief!
On our first day in Niarobi, Jenny and I were very excited to visit a large shopping centre, where we stocked up on general goodies that we can't get in Dodoma. I filled the car with bags of toiletries, baby foods for Joel and cheaper nappies... etc etc!
We also enjoyed the delights of western-style coffee shops/ cafes- a real treat for us Dodoma-ites!! There was great excitement as we ordered western treats such as milk-shakes, a mug of tea and fancy food on shiny plates (although Joel looks as if he can't imagine what all the fuss is about!!)

Then it was back in the car, to drive the hour and a half to Brackenhurst-such a tiny, short journey compared to the road trip to get to Nairobi itself from Dodoma!!

Brackenhurst is an annual conference for people working in East Africa with Christian mission organisations/ schools/ agencies. This was our first visit, although many families and individuals attend year after year. We had such a good time, we could definitely see why people return again and again!
This year, there were over 200 people attending the 4 day conference. About a quarter of the conference this time round seemed to be MAF families- so here is the photo of the MAFers at Brackenhurst 2011-12!

11 MAF families of 6 different nationalities, working with MAF across Tanzania, Uganda and South Sudan but all part of the same new year conference in Kenya. It was fun to catch up with old MAF friends, including several neighbours who have left Dodoma over the past 2 years. Esther and Ben were delighted to catch up with their old play-buddies who used to live next door to us. We also met new friends and I got to meet the Swiss MAF family who used to live in our Dodoma house!

Each day, there were workshops, teaching sessions and sport or family activities to choose from. The teaching sessions were excellent and led by an Australian church minister who worked with a church mission group for 10 years in Indonesia.
The accommodation in small cottage-style rooms was lovely- with the HUGE bonus of NOT having mosquito nets! Brackenhurst is too high for the malaria mosquito- for me, it was such a huge relief to be in a place where I did not need to worry about my children catching malaria. Joel approved the accommodation...

 ...and we all loved the food. Esther and Ben loved being able to have meals again with their little friend Esther Cousley who is now living in Kampala:

 The setting for the meals was very grand and the food was always fantastic:

 We also enjoyed the regular outdoor breaks for tea, coffee, cakes and biscuits:

 The grounds of the conference centre were beautiful. We loved the greenery and the cooler environment, which made it far more pleasant to be outdoors compared with the burning sun on hot Dodoma days.

On New Year's Eve, there were lots of fun events for the children: short horse riding treks...

 ...bouncy castle adventure, although Joel is not too sure about all the noise and bouncing!

 And we all had fun spotting the wild animals hanging out near the bouncy castle- some more scary than others:

 In the evening, there was a short children's party, with a treasure hunt for chocolate coins...

 ...and glow sticks to wave in the dark:

 As night fell, apparently there was a watchnight service, then a midnight bonfire and fireworks- but some of us were just too worn out to attend, especially with a long drive ahead of us the next day... We had a fantastic break at Brackenhurst and are grateful for the opportunity we had to attend as we welcomed 2012.