The Evening Reception (...continued from previous blog below...)

[N.B. see blog entry below for the 1st installment before reading this!!]

The Evening Reception:

I was a little late for the evening celebrations, as Andrew was held up at work last Saturday when he flew back from the village with a young lad (about 8 years old) who had unfortunately been ravaged by a suspected rabid dog. The boy and his uncle flew with Andrew to Dodoma, the boy's face a real mess of blood -yet he was being so brave. Andrew drove them up to the Dodoma clinic and made sure all was settled before arriving home to "babysit" a little later than planned.

I missed some speeches but the evening was only just getting started at 8:15pm. I was there just in time to see Anna and Lukas cutting one of several of their brightly decorated wedding cakes, before presenting a cake in a basket to firstly the groom's family table- and then the bride's family table on opposite sides of the hall.

After cutting the main cake, they then carried out the Tanzanian tradition of feeding each other a piece of cake, to much applause and with loud appreciation from the guests! The best man and his wife, "the best woman", echo this and then the bride feeds the bridesmaids.
I can only describe the next celebration as like a huge, joyful "conga" dance, where the entire wedding party stands up and snakes around the hall, each person carrying a glass or bottle of soda. Starting with the members at the table of the groom's family, each guest knocks glasses/ bottles  with every one else in turn, in a giant "chinchin". I obediently followed suit but was very conscious of my inadequate dancing skills, as Tanzanian guests seemed to walk with an effortless sway in time to the music, leaving those of us from abroad looking far less at ease!

The buffet was delicious- chicken and chips (definitely a favourite dish here in Tanzania), savoury bananas, a piece of roasted meat, watermelon pieces and wedding cake...

 There was lots of amazing dancing to sit back and watch, right from the tiniest little guest doing some fantastic dance moves...

 ...to seeing the family tribe Lukas comes from carry out their traditional dancing in more of a cicle formation:

The bride and groom also carried out formal introductions to the assembled wedding guests of each member of their family sitting at their respective family tables. Since I was sitting on Anna's family table, with some American friends I knew- the only people I knew at the event- I found myself being asked to stand up and being introduced too! I felt like a bit of a fraud, not being family, but Anna was very gracious and introduced me as her neighbour!
It was a happy evening. Although I left early at about 10:15, I hear that the celebrations continued past midnight. There are definitely many more speeches and formalties followed here in Tanzania and more spectating than I have been used to as a guest at an English wedding. It was fascinating to be there and I really enjoyed myself.
Finally, as I reversed my car out of my parking space to head back home to bed, I couldn't resist a smile as I snapped this sign painted on the car park wall in front of me: 

Tanzanian Wedding

Last Saturday I was privileged to be the guest at a wedding here in Dodoma- my first Tanzanian wedding! I had so much fun- and enjoyed seeing how the Tanzanians celebrate a wedding. It was fascinating to see how different it is from a traditional English wedding- and to see some of the similarities borrowed from Western cultures.

The Bride:
Our new neighbour on the MAF compound, Anna, comes from Somerset in England and works out here with SIL translating Bible texts. She has been in Tanzania for some years and speaks fluent Swahili (helpful if you are a translator!! :-)). She met her husband, Lukas, at work and they married in August in England, with her family and friends present for the special day. However, they then had a second wedding here in Tanzania, with the groom's family and friends.

The Groom:
Lukas is Tanzanian and comes from a village near Kondoa, about 3 hours drive from Dodoma. He also works with SIL and also does some work with "Safina" (see blog entry in February- working with street kids in Dodoma).

The Invitation:
In Tanzania. the guests first receive a preliminary invitation, with the names of the groom and the bride and the date of the wedding- but no details about venue/ times. On the card, a price is suggested for each guest to pay: 40,000 shillings for a couple, 25,000 shillings for a single guest. This helps to cover the cost for your drinks and food at the wedding.
If you would like to attend the wedding, you pay your dues and a note is taken of your name. Once the family have received your payment, you receive the official invitation with all details and times of the church and the Reception.
Esther shows Invitation Cards One and Two:

 The Church:
The invitation stated that the wedding would start at 3pm - although it seems that in Tazania, starting times of events can often be "flexible", so we weren't sure if it would really be 3pm or perhaps later! However, we arrived for 3 and the Swahili service did start soon afterwards. There were a few of us from the MAF compound:

 There was an initial introduction from the front by the presiding pastor and some singing and dancing for us all to join in, which was fun for Esther and Ben, before the groom's arrival was anounced. Rather than waiting at the front of the church for his bride to arrive by his side, the groom is escorted into church by a band of young people ( I suppose the equivlanet of our "page boys/ bridesmaids") all in matching outfits and made up of family members. They lead the way down the aisle with energetic singing and dancing, as the groom follows with his best man. Lukas is the one with the happy smile (!!) on the right hand side at the back:

 Once Lukas arrives at the front of the church, there are some more introductions and prayers while we wait for the bride to be escorted into the church. The all-singing/ all-dancing group of children exits the church in order to fetch and then accompany the bride. Anna arrives at the back door looking beautiful in her white dress- which has become a popular choice of wedding dress in Tanzania, borrowed fromWestern culture. However, she waits at the door while the pastor asks who gives her away to be married. There is a formal answer from family stating their agreement that they consent to give away the bride- and then the bride waits while her groom comes up to aisle to fetch her...

...but before he takes his bride and leads her down the aisle, he first lifts her veil at the back door and checks that he has the correct lady! He then states that this in the one he wishes to marry and only then do the bride and groom make their way to the front of the church for the wedding vows and service to continue.

During the service, there is a lot of singing and dancing from various groups or individulas for us to watch and enjoy:

We left after several musical presentations, as we had been in the church for over an hour and my children were getting very restless and a little noisy- all this before the talk or the vows! However, we had enjoyed the service to that point and then we slipped out the back and headed home- with Esther snapping this shot of Joel and of Mum in her new Tanzanian outfit made last week by a seamstress in town:

Later in the evening, I would attend the Evening Reception- but that is a whole new blog...!!

Magumbua

Magumbua is one of the more isolated villages which Andrew flies to on a monthly basis. At Magumbua, Andrew picks up a medical team and then takes them to a further village, Birise, for a day of health care and mother/baby clinics. This is the only local health care that the people in Birise have access to. Imagine having a medical team on hand only once a month- otherwise, you would need to set a day aside to walk in the heat to the nearest clinic, many miles away. Sadly, this is often the case in rural Tanzania.
In Magumbua, however, help is at hand in a local clinic, headed up by an Amercian doctor, Dr Jon Eager, working in Magumbua with AIM (Africa Inland Mission). Jon and his family live in the very small community out in the bush. They regularly come to Dodoma to fetch supplies and then stay over in the MAF Guesthouse. That's how I got to meet the family - wife Melissa and 3 children, Josh, Drew and Rachel. We have really enjoyed their company and since they enjoyed living and studying in Liverpool at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, we have had fun swopping stories about our Liverpool experiences. Melissa has often invited us out into the bush to come and visit them. It is a 3-4 hour drive, depending on the state of the dirt roads out in that direction- or a 35 minute MAF flight- a far easier option for a day's visit!
This month, we finally had the opportunity to take Melissa up on her kind offer of hospitality and go to visit our friends in rural Tanzania. Any trip out of Dodoma is exciting for us- but for extra excitement, we flew to Magumbua in the MAF plane- with Andrew as our pilot!!
We have never flown with Andrew as our pilot before, so it was a very excited Parker family that set off just before 8am on Tuesday to climb aboard the red and white MAF plane!

 Ear-plugs in and ready for take-off!

 Esther was thrilled with her vantage point on the way out, sitting next to Captain Dad and enjoying the views out of the window-

 Joel was less impressed, but found that travelling by air is a great chance for a nap!

 Dodoma fell away very quickly as we headed up into the skies of East Africa...

 ...and in only a couple of minutes, our views of the small city of Dodoma gave way to the vast expanses of arid plains which surround Tanzania's capital city:

Half an hour later and here we are descending towards rural Magumbua-if you can make out the white building, that is the clinic:

 

Coming down onto the dusty airstrip...

 ...and our Magumbua welcoming committee is waiting to meet us!

Once we had alighted from the plane, it was time to say "Goodbye" to Andrew, as his work now continued. He left us in Magumbua, while he got busy loading the medical team and their supplies onto the plane and then setting off for a hot day out in Birise, due to return late afternoon to fetch us.

Reminaing in Magumbua, Esther, Ben, Joel and I had a wonderful day with Melissa and the children - and also their home-school teacher from the USA, Meredith, who is living with them for a year. It was fun to spend the day in their home:

 There was also time to walk up to the clinic and see Jon at work and visit the premises. Here are a few pictures... The medical laboratory:

 The operating/ medical procedures room. Melissa told me that this room is often used for circumcision, which is considered very important in Tanzanian culture. Far better to have it carried out by a qualified doctor in the clinic than out in the village with unclean instruments.

 I was interested by this enormous fridge to store medicines, which is powered by gas- hence the large canisters. A great idea in a country with frequent electricity cuts!

 This is the maternity ward, so Melissa felt it fitting that Joel and I should pose here! It is great to have these facilities available out in the bush, although it is a bit different from Ormskirk hospital where Joel was born.

 Here, a couple of patients wait to see the doctor in the cool shade of the clinic. On the other side of the quadrangle, there were many more patients sitting on benches, but it felt rude to photograph them. These two patients gave their consent to be photographed- it was fascinating to see the young lady's beautiful jewellery:

 There was plenty of time to play in the garden and Joel liked the swing:

We had a delicious lunch at home with all of the family. Joel trialled their family high chair and is now borrowing it until we can find one to buy for him- not so easy to find such goods in Dodoma. However, this chair travelled back with us in the plane and is much appreciated!

 All too soon, it was time to return to the dusty, sandy airstrip and head home. Andrew arrived just in time to have a cup of tea, then we had to say our farewells and climb into our seats.

 Melissa, Rachel and Drew and a few villagers came to wave us off:

 On the way home, Ben was delighted to have his turn in the front co-pilot's seat:

 But half way into the flight it seemed that the excitement was just too much for some!

Sports Day

Attached are a few pictures from Esther and Ben's Sports Day yesterday, marking the end of Term 1 and heralding the start of a 2-week school holiday for all the children. Andrew and I were both able to attend the morning's events (far too hot here for any physical activity in the afternoons!). It was fun to watch the children enjoying themselves- and also for us to participate in the Parent's Race- but photographic evidence of that has yet to be released from Claire's camera! (watch this space...).

From races and events with the Secondary pupils, right down to Nursery, there was an air of great excitement at CAMS school yesterday!

 No prizes for guessing which colour team Auntie Claire, Esther and Ben belong to!

 

There was time to chat with friends inbetween events...



...but the pressure was on when it was time for Esther to run on the school "field" track!

 Ben also tried his very best, racing across the hot, dusty surface in his bright yellow top as the Nursery race got underway, cheered on by the older school pupils on the sidelines:

 Joel preferred to cheer his brother and sister on quietly from the shade, giving Dad the opportunity for a bit of rest from the blazing sun and feverish excitement of the CAMS students!

They Come...and They Go

MAF Tanzania has had more farewells recently, as our fully recovered Programme Manager, Ian (who had that nasty fall here in Dodoma, followed by a hip replacement operation in Nairobi) has left for pastures new. We have subsequently welcomed our new MAF Tanzania Programme Manager, Bengt, all the way from Finland.
Although Bengt will be residing in Dar es Salaam, he has visited us here in Dodoma, despite several injuries sustained in Dar es Salaam when thieves in a moving van tried to snatch Bengt's rucksack from his back while he stood at the side of the road. He was pulled over backwards and dragged along the side of the road, with some nasty bruising and injuries resulting. He did manage to keep his bag, but it was hardly the warmest of welcomes to his new country of residence and new job! So when Bengt visited us here in Dodoma, it was good to be able to reassure him that such events are not the norm in Tanzania, which is usually a fairly peaceful and welcoming place.

We had an afternoon at a local cafe with all of the MAF Dodoma staff from our hangar, with speeches to wish Ian well -and  speeches to welcome Bengt, expressing our support for him as he settles into Tanzania with his family- and of course, lots of bottles of "soda"- coke, fanta etc, which seems to be a typical part of any Tanzanian get-together (much to Esther and Ben's delight, who are normally not allowed such sugary, fizzy drinks!!).
Speeches in Swahili... translated into English:

 Speeches in English... translated into Swahili:

 A Tanzanian-style Thank You gift for our outgoing manager:

 And words of welcome to our incoming manager:

 Joel was also delighted to join in the fun, wearing his African T-shirt  ("Thank you Granny and Grandpa!") for the special occasion:

 And just to round off the weekend before Ian left, the ever-shrinking MAF International Staff Team here in Dodoma got together last Sunday afternoon for pizzas and then afternoon tea/coffee and cake in our very own Parker garden- with some fabulous cake creations from our German, Swiss and Swedish neighbours! If photos tell a story, then Ian seemed to enjoy himself (!) and we wish him well on his future ventures!