Dodgeball on the Tanzanian Highway

 Driving in Tanzania certainly leaves a lot to be desired and it’s a national lottery when you travel on these roads, bus drivers drives as if they own the road with no amount of care really for other road users and yesterday I saw another example of that as we were on our way to a pray meeting, and since I have been here I have heard of quiet a few fatalities on the road and with no ambulance service to take people to hospital that is not surprising. Every time you go out on the road you not only have to watch out for reckless drivers but also for people who walk on both sides of the road and off course stray dogs and cows who cross the road as if they own it. Fortunately for me I have only 2 more road trips to take, 1 into Mwanza on Monday and another 1 on either Sunday or Monday next week on my way to Nairobi.

Yesterday we had a Aim Prayer meeting which took place in the town of Kitonki which is about 1hr drive away from Bulima, it was a good get together and it was great to catch up with other Aim missionaries in Tanzania, unfortunately my fellow South African missionary could not make it to the meeting as she was waiting for another missionary to return from one of the islands.

My work at the library is just about finished and all I now have to do is to ensure that the student librarians are up to speed and can take over my responsibilities without the fear of making a mistake and a changed attitude as running a library take dedication. Since the 22 January over 7500 book were imported on to the system, another 150 – 200 new books and about 500 duplicate books are still in storage and it will be up to the student librarians to import these books on to the system. On Wednesday I will lead the praise and worship service and this will also be my goodbye to the school as from Thursday and Friday students will be writing exams so there will be no classes. I am hoping to use this week to reinforce the responsibilities that each student librarian has in ensuring that the library are run as effectively as possible, I will basically only have 3 days to do this as I won’t be at the college on Monday leaving only Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday to train the students.

This week we heard that 1 of the teachers sons who are studying in Nairobi got hurt in a fall where he was staying and he was hospitalised, staff members each made a personal contribution to the staff member and this enabled him to travel to Nairobi to be with his son, fortunately the news we got was that he did not require surgery and this was an answer to prayer after all the miscommunication we received from Nairobi, AIM Nairobi office also made some funds available to pay his cost which could amount to about $1500 ( I am not sure if this was from the College account or from the AIM account itself)

On Friday we will be having a staff get together to say goodbye to me and another USA volunteer and on Saturday I will be having supper with my neighbours whose sons are returning home for the school holidays. I have been offered a ride into Nairobi on Friday but this will mean that my travelling cost will be more and also staying in Nairobi will work out more, just for spending 2 days in Nairobi I have to pay almost R400 to stay at Mayfield guesthouse, the cost of the ticket to get to Nairobi is another R150 give or take. As I run down my time here in Bulima please remember me in your prayers and also the students who are writing exams on the 25 and 26 March

Library System

 

I now finally have the library system in place and have started to download books from the internet, the quickest and easiest way to do it is to go via the Internet, I started yesterday, and the goal is to download 150 books a day, the plan is to teach the student assistants how to download the books which will free me up to work on other aspects of the library in the next 3 months. The Internet is working much quicker now. I saw the maintenance guy on the roof working on it and when I came online the Internet was going so much quicker.

Unfortunately, the power went out as I was downloading books from the Internet, fortunately this did not affect the books that was already downloaded so no work was lost, just time. Next week I am going into Mwanza to have my work permit sorted out as it expires on the 09/02. I am hoping to continue working late hours in order for me to finish the project. I would the library to be on the system by the end of February and then to teach staff and student how to operate the system. Physically I am ok just my ribs were a bit sore the last 2 days probably from moving books around the shelves.

The week has gone quickly, and I am still enjoying myself although the heat is something else, although I should be used to it. I made the decision that I will wear long pants to work but at home I will wear my short. I even played Volleyball in my running shorts this week as the college gets ready to take on another college in a few sporting events. I have given away my Springbok rugby jersey earlier tonight to a lecturer son who was helping me to short out a problem on someone's computer. He said he was a rugby fan, so I just gave it to him, no sweat.

Rest Day

Today it is very hot here in Bulima and I am suffering a little bit after a long walk up to the cellphone towers and along some farms in town, I even did a 30m run up the hill without to much trouble from my knees which is a good sign for me meaning that my knees are at last beginning to recover. I am hoping to start downloading the library data base soon, I am just awaiting final confirmation from the AIM leader who is currently on home assignment in the US. I have spoken to 1 or 2 off the lecturers and they are quite happy with it, the Internet is showing signs of recovery and that will play an important role in the job that lies ahead as it will be much easier for me to download the books information on to the system.

There are not many students around in the library as the college only has about 40+ students. Most if not all of them also work for the college either in the library the farms or at some off the teachers homes, they all also have to play in role in keeping the college grounds clean and everyone has an assigned role to play, most off the students live on the grounds, some are married with kids and they live off campus. Tuesdays and Fridays are Bank days when the students get paid for the work they did during that time, this can take anything from 2 Hours to 4 hours to finish the bank, my host came home at about 20h45 on Tuesday as he is in charge whiles the team leader is away.

Today the library was cleaned and I am quite happy about that as I have set out certain goals for the library Assistants that needs to be met whiles' I am here. I believe that this will take more than 3 months to finish and I would like to see the job through to completion even if I have to come back later in the year to finish the assignment, please commit this to pray as I go about my job, if you want to get involved in this either financially or with pray please feel free to contact me houties@live.com or on +255682060971, my work permit expires on the 09/02 and I still need to have it renewed, hopefully for free.

College life

 

I arrived in Tanzania last night after a 10 hour drive from Nairobi, the drive itself was uneventful and it went off without a hitch, at the Tanzanian border though I discovered I had to pay an entry visa which was not on the schedule off payment, we arrived in the town of Bulima and I spend my first night in Bulima and not in Mwanza as I had thought, I arrived at the college and spend my first day getting to know the area a bit and also the college library. Getting to know the staff names etc is going to take a little while though, the day was basically spend researching which library system will be best for the college, it does not look as if the library will keep me to busy and I will also help out at the college where I can.

The library has a few students who act as monitors and this Saturday I will be meeting with them to discuss the way forward for the library and how I will get them to work in terms of hours as the students are paid to work in the library, 1 of the first task that will need to be done is to have the library cleaned and I am thinking off getting the students to come in on Sunday and clean the place up. Where I will end staying is still up for discussion as I have an option of 3 places to stay, 1 being living on my own for the next 3 months this will however mean I have to cook for myself, it does however offer me privacy in terms off Cumming and going during the day and evenings when I might be working. My first full day in Tanzania has gone well and I already feel part of the community here. If you want to get in touch with me please email me at houties@live.com, my contact number is +255765542885.

College and Town life

 

Life in Bulima is very laid back as it is a rural town with not much going on, on Tuesday I went on an awesome walk up the mountain and for the first time in long time I felt like running again, the natural beauty is something else from the top off the hill. Live at the college has been a stop start affair purely because off the constant electricity cuts which can drive any normal person insane, this has not stopped me from planning my work and the power cuts gives me the opportunity to plan ahead for the library. I had my work permit stamped into my passport on Monday and are therefore now legal to work in Bulima, the only problem is that it expires on the 09/02(It was date stamped on Monday is valid for 3 months but is expires on the 09/02, all because it was 1st issued on the 29/11/09) which means I have to take a day off work and go into town which is a long journey there and back and is something I am not looking forward to.

This also means I have to pay another $120 which is not budgeted for, this is now the 2nd time where I will have to pay for something not on the budget, this is the norm in any country though, I have also met some German volunteers who volunteer at the local private school down the road from us, so it is nice to have fellow foreigners with me here in town, I am still hoping that I will be able to get hold off a camera to take some pics and put in on the site for people what life here in Bulima is all about. If I thought that work in the library was going to be a walk in the park, how mistaken I am, you will need someone here full time for 2 years to pull the library straight, please pray that the Lord will lay it on someone heart to volunteer here for at least 1 year. All in all I am enjoying my time here and I hope to make a real difference not only in the library but also in the lives of the people here.

I am hoping to install a new library system this weekend, this will mean that I will spend long hours in the library from now on, I just need to get permission from the college staff and get the students input then the hard work will begin, it will be easy to download all the books information from the internet and I am praying that we will have constant internet connection which will allow things to go smoothly, the library assistants I have here with me still need to learn about hard work and I am slowly working on them to get them to do things my way. Later today I will be printing some date stamps and get the Librarians to put it into the books a real sign for me then that we will be moving forward full steam. I have changed my phone number as the Vodacom network here is all most nonexistent, my new number is +2550682060971. Where I live is no tv which means by the time I leave Bulima I would have finished 4 books (3Bible Study reading and 1 Christian counseling book) which is a record for me. I try to make contact with people back home 1 a week so if there is a foreign number on your phone, it might just have been me trying to get hold off some friends...

Arriving in Kenya

 

I arrived in Kenya earlier this evening after leaving home at 05h10 am this morning with my 2 nieces and their 2 friends, the flight up to Joburg was uneventful and went off without any problems, Joburg was a bit of touch and go as in between phoning the bank and chatting to family and friends I had failed to notice that my flight was boarding earlier, and I had to make a mad dash for the plane which was then delayed in any case as 2 passengers pitched up late. Sitting in business class was a good thing for my knees which held up quite nice during my mad dash for the plane. I am a bit annoyed with a friend of mine who never brought my camera to my house before I left which means I do not have a camera here.

I brought 3 reading books (which I haven't paid for yet, sorry DW will make right when I am back home) and 2 Bibles with me which I hope will be enough reading material for me. On landing in Kenya, I discover there was another ex-South African missionary on the flight with me and we will be traveling to Tanzania together, she will stay in another part of town and I am sure we see a bit of it's other in Tanzania, the staff at the AIM guest house is nice people and I have already met quite a few other missionaries, even 2 from Zimbabwe. I don't know how I will sleep tonight I was tired earlier and had a shower and changed into a shorts and sweater and now I am wide awake. I must just remember to take my anti malaria tablets before I go to bed tonight, and as I write this my eyes are beginning to feel heavy, I guess I will be off to bed sometime tonight and hopefully have a good, nice rest. I am up early tomorrow I might go for a short walk into town, but on the other hand I do tend to get lost easily, I will decide tomorrow.

Day 2 and last day in Kenya for a while

Today was day 2 in Kenya and it was another full day off orientation for us, this time we were joined by Ruth E from Northern Ireland who will be working in Korr, Kenya for 6 months, tomorrow morning at 05h30 we will be leaving for Tanzania with the Anderson's which will take about 12 hours by car. Apart from going into town with the ladies to do shopping not much happened today as the orientation lasted until 06h50 after a short break off 3 hours, a long day of traveling lies ahead tomorrow, please pray for a safety on the road for us, as the traffic here is something else to say the least.