Simplicity

It's sometimes the most simple and humble things in life which can bring an extra smile to my face in Dodoma! Take, for example, the story of my simple peg-bag.

Normally, the humble peg-bag would not be worthy of a blog post. But this is Dodoma and life is different. Things which I would never normally give a moment's thought to can become a reason to celebrate!

I had been aware for some time that my English peg-bag was slowly disintegrating before my eyes. Normally, this would not be of any concern- in the UK, I might just pick another one up during any shopping trip, either at a household store or in the Household Goods aisle of my local supermarket. However, I have never seen a peg-bag for sale in Dodoma! This fact is no surprise in a country where many people dry their clothes by draping them over bushes rather than hanging them out on washing lines. Just another cultural difference.

So, when a good friend in England asked me what I wanted for my birthday earlier this month, I requested a new peg-bag! A practical gift, easy to post and a good replacement for the bag which was starting to shred and fall apart after 4 years of hanging outdoors under the scorching African sun. The sun is so strong here, it doesn't just fade the fabric, it starts to destroy it over a long period. I know that my request was bizarre, but  I believe that practicality is the key to simple pleasures!  I was frustrated at the prospect of carting loose pegs outside with my laundry and the hassle of trying to peg up washing with constant bending to retrieve random pegs tangled up with wet clothes in the laundry basket! If I could get a new peg-bag, this frustration would cease to exist...

My Dodoma friends roared with laughter when I confessed my birthday wish! However, they soon changed their tune when I opened my birthday goodies and discovered not just any peg-bag, but a designer peg-bag!

As friends admired my smart new bag, complete with its trendy designer name of Cath Kidston from London, it transpired that several friends here use old margarine tubs to take their pegs out to their washing lines. You can't hang an old margarine tub on a washing line to conveniently locate your pegs! Now I was the one laughing, with the most practical, smartest and most trendy peg-bag in all Dodoma!! :-) All this banter gave me an idea....my much-admired bag could be an inspiration...I had some material in a drawer- it could be put to good use...

A few days later, I took my peg-bag to town and paid a visit to Philippa, a seamstress who works at her sewing machine on a pavement on one of Dodoma's main streets. She laughed when I explained to her what  wanted- it was a concept alien to her Tanzanian experience, but she was happy to oblige. And here is the result:

Now I have some gifts ready for upcoming birthdays of friends in Dodoma... no more margarine tubs for their pegs- we can all enjoy the simple gift of a practical, domestic tool- a peg-bag!! Who ever would have thought that it could bring so much joy..??!!

Loyalty

This is my highly-valued address book. It goes around the world with me in my suitcase when I travel and despite the digital age in which we live, it is still my favourite place for keeping up-to-date information on where my family and friends are living, their phone numbers and information on any new additions to their families! I am so attached to my address book. It is a special record of the special people in my life. It somehow seems much more friendly than a cold, hard computer screen or smart phone!

Although I keep this address book near to hand, some of my friends have a harder time keeping in touch with us. As we live overseas and often move house, friends have jokingly complained about the mess I make of their address books, as they frequently need to update their information on our whereabouts! Since I left home at 18 years old to attend university at Nottingham, my address has been constantly changing. In those years since my student days, I have had over 18 home addresses spanning across 5 different countries.

Our current home in Dodoma, Tanzania is the place where I have lived for the longest period of time in all these years. In November, we will have lived in our Dodoma house for 4 years- a record amount of time in one place for me! Prior to this, the second longest time in one home was for 2 and a half years in Port Alfred in South Africa. Now we are starting preparations to leave Dodoma and move on, in January, to pastures new in yet another house, in yet another country.

This prospect is both exciting and terrifying! As the preparations begin, so do the emotional highs and lows. The thought of what we will be leaving behind fills me with sadness. Sometimes sleep eludes me as I am filled with a sad sense of who and what we will have to say goodbye to. Tissues need to be kept close at hand when these unhappy thoughts crowd into my mind. On the other hand, the busyness of getting ready for something novel and different gives us something to anticipate and look forward to.

One of the comforting factors in all this change is knowing that we have friends, who despite our almost "gypsy" lifestyle, keep in touch and kindly update their address pages and email addresses so that we can stay in contact! The loyalty of friends across the world who keep in touch is a huge bonus for which I am very thankful in our life with MAF overseas!

Public Holidays

If there's one thing that Tanzania has a wealth of, it is public holidays.

Here in Tanzania, office life, schools and the general workplace grind to a halt at least 17 days of the year, as the nation recognises 17 days of public holidays. This is in contrast to the 8 days of public- or "bank"-  holidays officially acknowledged in England.

Last week, Esther, Ben, Joel and I returned from a very special and very happy visit to our family in England. We arrived in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday evening, pleased to be met by Andrew after our 3 weeks away.

 On Wednesday, we set out for the day's drive to Dodoma. I was anxious to get the children home and ready to start school again, as the children's new academic year began last Monday on August 5th. They had already missed 3 days of the new term, so I wanted them to settle back in quickly to get used to their new classes and new teachers. I already knew that Thursday would be one of the 17 Tanzanian public holidays, but fully expected Esther and Ben to attend school on Friday, to ease them gently in to their new term.

 Arriving back in Dodoma on Wednesday evening, our friends greeted us even more cheerfully than normal. I sensed a festive feel in the air. They quickly informed us that not only was Thursday a day off school for Nane Nane Day (marking the 8th day of the 8th month), but Friday would "probably" also be a day off! So we all had a 4 day weekend to look forward to, with these 2 days off school inside the very first week of the new academic year! Friday was expected to be the day of Eid, a Muslim public holiday marking the end of Ramadan, if the moon was found to be in the correct place on Thursday evening.

We waited on Thursday to hear the announcement and sure enough, Friday was declared another public holiday. We found ourselves in the happy situation of having an extended opportunity to unpack and get ready for the new routine of a new term, following the long 5-week school break. The children were delighted, Joel was pleased to have Esther and Ben around at home a little bit longer and I had extra time to get the house in order, school bags organised and do some home-baking to fill up school lunch-boxes!

 Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday were happily chaotic, with welcome visits from many friends, neighbours and guests, popping by for a cuppa and natter as we caught up on each other's news. It can be lots of fun living on a compound! The children found plenty of friends and activities to busy themselves with as we settled back into our Dodoma home...

Now, a week later, we are adjusting to the rhythm of school and home life, getting into the swing of the 9-week term, which will finish in October- just in time for the next national public holiday! On October 14th, a day is set aside to celebrate the revered teacher and first president of independent Tanzania, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere. The following day will be another public holiday of Eid El Haji, giving us yet another 4-day weekend to look forward to. And it won't be long before the next public holiday creeps up on us- on Ben's birthday! As we celebrate Ben on December 9th, Tanzania will celebrate the anniversary of Independence and of becoming a Republic. By the time we finish celebrating Ben's birthday and organising a party for him, I may be in need of another holiday- so it's a good job the national holidays of Christmas and Boxing Day will be just around the corner!

Privilege

On Tuesday this week, we had the opportunity to fly with Andrew again on one of his MAF flights. He was flying out to a village called Birise to take a medical team, but he was flying empty from Dodoma and then picking up the medical staff at Magumbua, a village on the way to Birise. 

We have got to know the missionary family who live out at Magumbua. They run a clinic there and also organise a monthly medical visit to Birise, sending some of their own staff by MAF plane, to bring medical help to the more remote Birise. 

The American family based out at Magumbua have become our good friends. They often pass through Dodoma with their 3 children, where they stay in the MAF Guest House which is literally on our doorstep. We have a common link with Dr John and his wife Melissa, as they studied tropical medicine, many years ago, at Liverpool University! They loved their time in the city where I grew up. It is always good to meet people who understand something about where you come from when you are living in a foreign country.

On Tuesday, we Parkers all set off  in Andrew's plane, flying together to Magumbua, where Andrew would land, drop off his family, pick up the medical team and continue on to Birise for the day. 

Myself, Esther, Ben and Joel stayed at Magumbua for the day, hosted by Melissa and their children while Dr John was busy at work in the clinic, where crowds of patients were waiting to see him.

 It was wonderful to be able to fly with Andrew again and to see first hand what some of his work entails. It was wonderful to spend a day with friends in a different environment and see first hand the people who use MAF to bring medical care and help to isolated communities in Tanzania. It was wonderful to fly up over the landscape of Dodoma and see how quickly urban living gives way to the semi-arid bushland surrounding Tanzania's capital city. 

In fact, I was overwhelmed. What an amazing privilege to be flying in a plane with our 3 children, with Andrew in the pilot's seat; to be involved in MAF's work: to be living in this dry, but strikingly vast and beautiful landscape that makes up part of Tanzania. I might have needed a tissue or two as the reality of this privilege hit home for me on this particular Tuesday...

Here's a bit of a record of our day...

Off to the plane, 8am on a bright winter's morning in Dodoma:

All aboard...

Ben helps his dad at the controls:

The passengers settle down with their on-board entertainment:

Off we go...

Leaving Dodoma, with clear views of Lion Rock:

30 minutes and 120 km later, we arrive at the bush-strip- Andrew lines up for landing on the Magumbua "runway":

A chance for an updated family shot with the plane!

The medical team arrive. Andrew consults with Dr John, working out the weight allowance for the day to see who can and can't join today's flight, taking into account the weight of the medical equipment that will also be loaded onto the plane:

Andrew flew with the medical team on to Birise, whilst we had a lovely day with our friends in their peaceful rural setting. Back at the house, the children and I were interested to see honey being harvested from honeycombs from local hives and took a few pictures of the process...

Time flew past...and soon the bush pilot returned...

Just enough time for a cuppa with Melissa and John:

Then off to the airstrip for the farewells: 

On the way home, Esther had her turn to sit up front with her dad- he even let her try the controls- oooerr, it was a little bumpy!!

Here is a final shot of the view from on high...I would have taken more photos, but the bumpiness on that hot afternoon in the plane took its toll. Instead, I found myself rushing to stow the camera away in safe place after poor little Joel had been sick all over my arm-and his seat- and his lap...!!!

Domestic disaster week!

I recently had a bit of a bad run with matters in the domestic arena.

On Tuesday morning, I got locked in a friend's bathroom when the key snapped in the lock! My shouting through their bathroom window soon got the attention of my host and she came to the rescue with her husband. He had to remove the entire handle section from the bathroom door to enable my escape! Fortunately, Joel was busy playing in their garden and had not noticed my rather delayed visit indoors to the bathroom.

On Wednesday morning, Joel hit on the bright idea (according to him) of decorating the kitchen floor with banana that he had squished between his fingers. He made sure the stodgy mess was well rubbed into the floor before I noticed what he was up to! By then, I was running late for an appointment. Frustrated, I grabbed the mop and began to clean the floor as fast as I could. I must have had one too many Weetabix for breakfast that day, as the wooden mop handle literally snapped in half in my hands as I vigorously mopped away! Another task was added to my list: go to town to buy a new mop!

On Friday afternoon, Trouble was waiting for me in my lounge. Since the water from the bathroom tap flooded our  home a few weeks ago, our floors have been left with an unsightly, milky-looking residue from the hard water and limescale that Dodoma's water is renowned for. Someone suggested vinegar to try and shift the marks off the floor- but that did not work. Then I hit on the idea of mopping the floors using a solution made of water and a dissolved packet of crystals purchased at the market called "unga wa ndimu", which literally means "lime powder" but looks more like the small white crystals of sodium bicarbonate. We use these crystals to de-scale our kettle, so I reasoned that they could also be used to get the limescale marks off our concrete floors.

However, it has to be said that I am no chemist. In all honesty, I have no idea what "unga wa ndimu" really is! All I know is that it works wonders in taking the limescale marks out of my kettle when it gets all fuzzed up from Dodoma's water.

On that fateful Friday I duly poured 2 packets of "unga wa ndimu" into my mop bucket along with a couple of litres of warm water.  I energetically mopped the lounge- with my brand new mop- and whizzed the mop around Jane's feet in the kitchen. It wasn't long before we realised that I had made a big mistake. The floor was a little less white, but it had become unbearably sticky! In fact, we had to peel our feet off the floor every time we wanted to take a step! In a place where we all walk barefoot inside, it was rather painful trying to lift the skin of our feet off the sticky floor! I fetched shoes for Jane and myself and sent the children outside, but it was obviously not a good result to my enthusiastic clean-up plan.

To ease the stickiness off the floor, I next decided to mop the floor with hot water and our usual floor cleaning liquid, called "Lit". For the second time, I mopped the lounge and kitchen. This time I was not whizzing around- it is tiring work! Nothing much changed, so Jane thought perhaps I should try again with bleach. It sounded like a good possibility. I fetched the bleach, emptied the mop bucket, filled it again with water and bleach and for the third time, I mopped the lounge and kitchen floor- this time, moving more slowly than the previous 2 times...The outcome was NOT good. This is what appeared before my unbelieving eyes:
The lounge:

 The kitchen:

 A messy white floor where once shiny, red concrete gleamed after a mopping! DISASTER!!

The floor was no longer sticky, but neither was it smooth to the feel. And it was even more unsightly than when I started my "Operation Clean-up" an hour earlier!
I consulted with Jane again, who was dutifully washing up despite all the chaos around her. We agreed that maybe plain hot water was best for the floor.... Out came the mop bucket again- and by now I think you know the rest of the routine....
This time, I was exhausted, not just with the physical activity but by the sense of defeat that suddenly overwhelmed me! Ben and Joel faithfully stepped in at this point and helped their mum to do the fourth and final mop of the afternoon, with the hot water...

Ben and Joel proved to be great little helpers, but as you can see, as fast as we mopped, the white marks returned to mar the surface as soon as the water dried up. They are still here as I write this, 2 weeks later, although they are gradually fading as we continue the hot water mopping several times a week.

After the fourth floor wash, I gave up and phoned Andrew to pre-warn him of what to expect when he got home. His comment? "Why didn't you just try your solution on a small area of floor before going ahead with the whole space?"
Why indeed? I wish I'd thought of that! Next time I have a domestic disaster, I'll remember that very sound advice and hopefully not create such a spectacular mess in my home!!

Curiosity

When we were surrounded by spectators on last Saturday's outing, Andrew smiled knowingly and commented, "Welcome to my world."

For Andrew, being an object of curiosity is commonplace. His arrival out of the blue African skies onto remote village airstrips in a shiny MAF plane can create alot of interest. In some cases, Andrew has a long wait in the villages while the doctors, medical teams and evangelists complete their work. Sometimes, Andrew heads to the plane to pass part of the long, hot day reading or to grab a snack. In some rural areas where foreigners are rarely seen and where aeroplanes are a complete novelty, Andrew's every move is  monitored by crowds of curious onlookers. People are keen to get a glimpse of this visitor from another world, a foreign white man who drops in from the air in a noisy plane! In Tanzania, there is no embarrassment in staring and Andrew becomes like a character on a TV show as he is closely watched by shifting crowds of locals...

To give you some idea of what it can feel like to be the object of curiosity, here are some of Andrew's photos from a more isloated village, from his pilot's perspective inside the plane:

Being watched at the windows...

 

Being watched at the doors!

 

 

Peace and Quiet...???

We had such a good time at our self-named "Flamingo Lake" a couple of weekends ago that we decided to spread the word and share the joy of a visit out to a "peaceful" place in the countryside! So we sent round an open invitation inviting friends to join us for a morning trip with a bring-your-own picnic lunch. 

On Saturday, several friends joined us on this second outing to the lake. We had promised great views of the flamingoes and a peaceful picnic spot. Here are the gang who came along with Andrew, Esther, Ben, Joel and I:

As we headed off-track and across the rural landscape, our 6 large vehicles surprised several pedestrians out walking on the dusty tracks near the lake. They looked up in amazement as one after another 4x4 vehicle bumped past on the rocky, sandy ground. We were not as inconspicuous as we had been a couple of weekends ago when just 2 vehicles appeared out of nowhere for the afternoon! Our 6 cars were very obvious, gathered on the dusty expanse of the shore with a tarpaulin shade cover rigged up between the roof-racks:

Once the shade cover was up, several of our group set out to walk to the edge of the lake and view the flamingoes, who were still very much in evidence on the lake:

By the time the explorers had returned from the lakeside to our picnic spot under the tarpaulin, "The News" had spread!! Local people literally flocked to the site where we were parked, to view these strangers from another place who had unexpectedly driven past them earlier and who had arrived in their locality bringing lots of strange equipment in their very large cars!
 I have lived in Tanzania long enough now to know that, wherever you go, no matter how remote it seems, you will never be as alone as you may imagine. People are always near. People are always watching. This will apply especially if you arrive in an obvious way, with a group of people and with cars full of energetic children eager to get out and about and to explore! We attracted a LOT of attention on Saturday!

Very quickly, local children gathered on rocks to watch us all:

A group of young lads came hurrying over from the nearby village and they spotted the football one MAF family had brought- so an inpromptu game of football was soon underway:

Meanwhile, another group of young people came simply to stare at us all, as we sat eating sandwiches and drinking tea under our shade cover. There is no shame in staring in Tanzanian culture; as we sat on our picnic blankets and camp chairs, carrying on with our planned picnic, our every move was scrutinised by these young men:

We must have looked incredibly odd to them, with our funny foreign food, our flasks of tea, with our camping furniture and all huddled together under the tarpaulin in a shade-hungry group, so determined to be in the shade that we sat there putting up with the clouds of dust which billowed across the dry shore on this windy Saturday! We provided quite a novelty for them all to stare at, with our foreign language and pale skins, appearing all of a sudden out of the blue in their rural community where 4x4 cars and foreigners are simply not common sights!

It wasn't long before the village elders had heard the news and walked out across the shore to come and talk to us- to find out who we are, what we are doing, how long we were staying and whether we would pay them an allowance for the privilege of visiting their area. When we refused to pay money, as we were not actually on village land, they asked for a gift of fruit juice instead. Since we didn't have any juice, only water, one elder laughed and decided to take his leave, soon followed by his friends.

The children were not so easily drawn away. They were extremely excited when Andrew offered them some free children's Christian booklets in Swahili. In fact, Andrew all but disappeared in the enthusiastic crowd!

Some of our kids encountered the curiosity of the local kids at close quarters as they clambered and played on nearby rocks, literally surrounded by eager faces gazing at them in surprise and amazement

This time round, our trip to the lake of flamingoes had a very different flavour. It was more "interesting" than restful! We had organised the outing with promises of flamingo views and a peaceful picnic spot. Our friends who joined us did get to see the flamingoes, but they did not exactly get the peace and quiet they may have hoped for out in the countryside!

Wild Flamingoes

As a pilot, Andrew sees incredible sights in this beautiful country of Tanzania. Sights that the rest of us can only dream of. Flying over the vast landscape, Andrew is often in the privileged position of seeing wildlife in their natural habitat, albeit from a bird's eye view!

Each month, whilst transporting a team of evangelists and medical workers to remote villages to carry out their vital work, Andrew flies over several salt lakes on the outer rim of the Dodoma region:

At certain times of  the year, Andrew notices that crowds of flamingoes flock to these lakes. He tells me that sometimes, the birds rise up in groups,one after the other like a concertina effect, creating waves of pink that dip and dive several thousand feet below his aircraft. It must be an amazing sight!

Last weekend, Andrew decided that it was time to go and find this lake by land transport, so that we could also enjoy the view of  his wild flamingoes, but from the ground! His overhead view had shown him that getting there by car would be a challenge, as part of the journey would be fully off-road. Only the very sturdiest of 4x4 vehicles would make it! It would also be tricky to know exactly where to drive, as flying over a landscape is completely different from travelling there in a car! With this in mind, Andrew made a sensible plan to travel there with just one other family, who were prepared for a bit of adventure and knew the potential we had for getting lost!

However, we had a very successful trip last Sunday to the lake of wild flamingoes out in the bush, just 45 minutes drive from Dodoma. The Beckwith family who came with us were great travel companions, fully prepared for the unknowns of some off-road driving! Here are some photos of our afternoon outing as our 2 families headed off on our adventure after attending church:

On the way....

You can't see Andrew for dust...full speed ahead over a dried-up lake en-route: he's looking forward to his barbequed meat on the shores of the next lake!

Seriously off-road:

We've arrived! Now, where shall we set up a shade-cover and the BBQ??

The older girls go off to explore...

Looking out flamingo-direction...It was incredible to see so may birds there, just carrying on with their life in the wild! It was amazing to be able to get fairly close up and then to eat our lunch watching over this beautiful, natural and unspoiled lake:

The BBQ site:

The mud in the salt-lake shores is tricky to walk through! Esther's feet got stuck...

 It proved to be much easier to walk without shoes back to our lunch site!

 Apart from wild flamingoes, Andrew discovered this fresh paw-print- it looks rather ominous! Hopefully the big cat that this paw print must belong to only likes fresh animal meat as opposed to marinaded, barbequed meat! Thankfully, we didn't see any other signs of him whilst we were there!

Checking all is well on our home-made BBQ:

Then just enough time to relax...

 ...before heading home again...