(Unfortunately both Andrew and I forgot our cameras for this trip.  This photo is of a pond in the area we visited but comes from http://thejimshelley.worldzonepro.com/tanzania3.html)

This past week I made a trip to the town of Tandahimba where Andrew Fraser and I met with the Head Water Engineer for the Tandahimba district named Peter.  Peter is a go-getter.  His energy to help people of Tandahimba refreshed us as his self-titled “all weather” work ethic kept us driving from village to village from 9 am to 6 pm. Peter and a few of his co-workers not only showed us various projects that have been planned or started he also took time to introduce us as guests to the head of every village we visited.  Though he knows English well we spoke almost exclusively in KiSwahili so that Andrew and I got practice.  It was a challenge but at the end of the day it felt good to see how much I could comprehend and communicate.

As we went from sight to sight he began to provide a framework for the water situation. The prognosis is not good.  ”Any way you can help will be very appreciated.” He said, “even if you help only twenty people those twenty will share so that you will really be helping a hundred.” With the daunting task of providing thousands with the bare necessity of water he is thinking big with schemes well over the $100,000 range. Future projects are being modeled after a project that has already been completed and has been showing great success since 2006. The basic design begins with capturing rain water on a large scale by creating earth dams in valleys with existing ponds or marshes. The next phase would be to drill a bore hole near the dammed lake 10o to 150 meters down to where there is known to be a good reliable source of water. This allows the dammed water and other aquifers to ‘recharge’ the well during the dry season. Water will then be pumped from the well to a large tank up above the village where a multiple-spigot distribution center will be built to allow villages access to the water.  Villagers will fill their buckets for around 50 Tzs (around 3 cents) with the money to be used for maintenance and eventual expansion of the system. Peter said the bore hole (drilling, piping, and other equipment) will cost around $50,000 alone.  This is not including pump, pump house, generator, piping to the tank, tank, and distribution center. Peter has his work cut out but also seems to be well cut out for the work.

When we communicated that we might be more interested in more small scale projects such as half-village sized water catchment systems he showed us a nearby system that had failed due to poor planning and engineering.  We were told that there are a few good larger catchment systems in operation but didn’t get to see them on this trip.  All of the conversations and just getting a feel for the situation was very exciting and somewhat daunting.

Driving back on the bumpy dirt road hundreds of designs, ideas, and schemes flashed through my mind most if not all dismissed as quick as they had come.  God-willing, I will be working on these kinds of projects in the future.  In the meantime. language is still the focus.  Walking down the valley to see a failed dam that had been built by villagers on their own I began a conversation with a Makonde farmer.  When he saw that I was interested in learning ChiMakonde he took my hand and patiently, helped me repeat “What is your name? My name is…” in ChiMakonde over and over laughing at my mistakes and cheering when I got it right.  My fumbling attempts were a huge hit with surrounding ChiMakonde speakers as they listened in as well.  They would try a phrase or two on me and laugh at my over-emphasized confusion and exasperation.   As they say in KiSwahili, “Kitu kizuri hakifanywe na haraka.” meaning “A good thing is not done quickly.”  I’m still working away at KiSwahili but it was nice to get a glimpse of possible future work in and among the Makonde.

Thank you God!

In other news: Do.Tell our family quarterly newsletter is available for download here on this blog post.  Just click the text below and enjoy!

Do.Tell 1:12

(screenshot of first page)

We celebrated our first Christmas with Aletheia in Tanzania and Belgum.

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January 2011

Celebrated Calebs 24^th in our last month of language school in Tanga Tanzania before moving to Mtwara.

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February 2011

We move into our first home in Mtwara and begin studying Swahili on our own. Also Meeks parents visit.

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March 2011

Due to heavy rain our sewage tank crumbles in.

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April 2011

Aletheia gets sick right before her 1^st birthday but gets well after a couple of weeks.

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May 2011

Making friends and learning language full time.

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June 2011

Attended funeral, continued language and culture learning.

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July 2011

Brazle parents visit us in Mtwara

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August 2011

Baby steps get us through the stress of a new place, language, and culture.

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September 2011

Container with our belongings arrives and there is much rejoicing.

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October 2011

Rains slowly begin again and Aletheia loves it!

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November 2011

We announce or pregnancy at the team Halloween party.

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December 2011

Porch popsicles keep the Christmas heat at bay.  Soon to come… Christmas in Tennessee!

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We will be taking a few weeks off of work and that means blogging too.  See you next year! We wish you all a merry Christmas and thank you for all of the comments and prayers.

Eyes on Jesus,

The Tanzania Meeks

Here we have us trying our first attempt at making ice cream. Aletheia just wanted to eat the salty ice!

For Halloween we dressed Aletheia up in ladybug outfit her Bibi and Babu sent us in the container.  (One of her nicknames is “Lethi-Bug”.)

Mom and dad creativly dressing up to announce their little-one-on-the-way to the team in a fun (an maybe strange) way. (P.S. Kristina is not really that pregnant… it is just a symbolic pillow.)

It is strange to celebrate the holidays in such a middle-of-the-summer like environment. But Aletheia doesn’t seem to mind!.. popsicles all around!

For Thanksgiving we had a feast with the team and our family made hand turkeys. Note the egg titled “Turkey on the way”.

With Christmas just around what feels like a very lo0000ng corner we decided to go ahead and make a tree.  We got creative by making a trunk/stand using some posts we bought in town and palm fronds from a tree in our yard.

Caleb cut the leafy part off of a total of five palm branches making several long rope-like lengths of flexible fronds.

Then we attached them, one by one, to the post.

And Wala!!!  A…. pine…. tree..?  Not yet. It still needs some work.

While Kristina trimmed the tree our neighbors came over to see what their crazy Wazungu neighbors were up to this time… we didn’t disappoint.

In the end we were pretty surprised with out much it looked like a christmas tree.

$20 for the poorest quality christmas lights China can produce, a santa hat, a blanket,  and we are in business!

Just this morning we celebrated Sinterklaas; a tradition Kristina’s family picked up while doing mission work in Belgium.  Belgian children put out their shoes on the night of the 5th with carrots for Sinterklaas’ horses.  He replaces them with candy and gifts.  Aletheia got some gummies, Kristina got some ice cream cones, and Caleb got candy bars.  Not a bad trade for carrots!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Happy holidays!

- The Meeks (all 4)

The next morning, 8 of us, including Aletheia, piled in the car to take this woman to a hospital that is known for being a little higher scale than the one in our hometown. We arrived roughly two hours later after watching this woman flinch at many of the unavoidable bumps along the road. We decided not all of us needed to go into the hospital to wait with her since there were already so many other patients waiting as well. So we, the Meeks, and one of our neighbors went just outside of the hospital gates to park and get a little bit of chai and chapatis for breakfast. For a long time we waited outside. Every once in a while one of the family members would come outside to either get their own breakfast, get something out of the car, or just to say hello. There was about a 10-minute stint where we all went inside when the patient was only waiting for results from the doctor, but Aletheia was pretty tired and antsy, so I pretty quickly moved back outside with her and one of our neighbors. The wait was not too long, just shy of a total of 4 hours, but we were able to talk a lot with our neighbors.

The real cultural experience occurred when the patient had finished talking with the doctor. Caleb came out to get the car and mentioned he had not yet been told the verdict, but that they were all laughing so it seemed positive. We piled back in the car where we waited patiently to find out why everyone was laughing so hard.

Let’s step back a second and give you a better look at the situation…..

This woman, the patient, was in an accident about a month ago where a strap was hanging off the back of a truck as she was walking down the side of a road. The strap came up behind her, wrapped around her neck and she was drug for a ways down the road. You can only imagine the damage that would do. She went to the hospital at that time, was treated, had a few complications, and was released. When we saw her Monday, she was extremely emaciated, wheezing, and was told that she had pneumonia, but the medications she was given had not worked…that is why we went to this other hospital.

Back to the car full of laughing people. They told us the woman had received an x-ray and when they went in to go see the doctor he said the x-ray was all clear so he did not feel that that was the problem. He told the patient that he felt it would be best for her to have a test for HIV/AIDS. Immediately, this woman who has been practically whispering, apparently shouted to the doctor she did not want it, that she would give him his x-ray back, all she wanted was meds and then she would be on her way. The response was so abrupt that it seemed to have been hilarious for the rest of the family to witness for this was the reason they were to the point of tears from laughing. They knew she was too scared to be tested for HIV and thought it was hysterical the way she told the doctor she wanted to leave. But that was it. They received a list of medication, without of there being a diagnosis, and they got in the car and there we were on our way.

I was sitting in the very back of our car listening to the story and feeling like I did not quite understand so I asked for a little clarification from the girl sitting next to me. Sure enough, I had understood it. The woman was so scared to be tested or so against it, that she did not want to hear any more that the doctor had to say, she just wanted out. We have been told that there is a pretty bad stigma that comes when people find out they have HIV/AIDS. I asked the girl next to me, “But how is the doctor able to prescribed medications if he doesn’t know what is wrong.” She simply shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. We don’t know the full extent of the situation or even what was going through the woman’s head at the time. I could be that she would rather not know if she has AIDS and possibly be in more pain because she has incorrect medication rather than deal with the stigma. Or maybe she does not have HIV at all and she will heal fine with the medication that the doctor gave her. At the time we weren’t even positive how we should take the family laughing at the whole situation. Maybe that is their form of coping so that they don’t have to think about the possibility. We don’t know. We know that many times there are deep cultural reasons for actions that can baffle us. And we also know every person can think, feel, and act differently in a given situation. We are trying to look at this as an opportunity for a cultural learning experience where we can see a little more insight into what people here think and feel. We hope that this will help us to understand and sympathize more and love better. While knowing that even our reaction is cultural we still allow ourselves to hope that maybe in the future, we can look back on this and help a Christian facing this same issue and help them to see the importance in being tested and getting help despite what others may say.

Who knows. By the end of the day, we were processing a lot together. Struggling between feeling sad for this woman who still does not know what is wrong and trying not to feel upset that we had driven all that way to go to a good doctor, but the woman did not want to listen to him. While feeling frustrated and somewhat powerless to help we are still praying that God will give us insight from this experience and that he will be able to use this to his glory in the future.

We hit our one year mark at the end of September and it wasn’t too long after that that we could tell we were in a funk again. We cannot pinpoint what exactly, maybe a combination of different events and frustrations, but we are in it. I’m saying this, not to make anyone feel sorry for us or start giving money towards tickets home, it’s more so that people can know what real life is like. Yes, we came here knowing that culture shock would happen and we’d get through it and then get on to the good stuff, but it’s difficult to think quite that positively when you’re in the midst of it. So often we have people tell us how proud they are, or thankful they are for people like us doing what we are doing. There are even those that want to be in the same shoes as us and envy our job position. Don’t get me wrong, we are so thankful for all of the encouragement that is sent our way and we know we have a very unique job that we are blessed to have, but right now, it just does not feel quite as glamorous as it is made out to be.

There are many mornings that we wake up, prepare breakfast, and talk about the day. Sometimes we are motivated, sometimes, not-so-much. But we push on through. It truly is amazing how God has created marriages so that when one of us wakes up completely down and unmotivated, the other one of us automatically seems to have energy enough for both of us. This seems to swap almost daily, but I’m so glad we have it. I don’t think we could do this without each other. And then there are days that God knows we would not make it unless He just gives us the smallest little happiness: whether it’s a conversation with a neighbor, a video of a niece or nephew, good news, or a day when only a couple people come to our door. He knows that we need and what it is we need to push through.

We are also very blessed to have family that understands what we are going through. They have been through a similar experience in their lives and we can at least vent and they can identify with us (as long as the internet is working). Caleb’s dad encouraged us a couple weeks ago by saying sorry that we have to go through what we are going through, but if it is any consolation, he went through similar situations and days, but he really doesn’t remember those bad days anymore. ‘You feel like you will never forget them, but someday you will.’ That helped. It might be years down the road, but it helped.

Some days are up and some days are down. We know that we have had a slump before and things are slow and discouraging, but God saw us through the last one and He’ll see us through this one. We just need to ‘Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.’ (Psalm 27:14)

-Kristina

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Sometimes we take a walk to eat chapatti and chai for breakfast.

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I like to dip things in my chai like mama does.

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After breakfast I like to play! I play with blocks.

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I like to play with Reed.

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I like to play in daddy’s shoes.

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I especially like to play with books.

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After my naptime I usually eat some lunch.

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Then I play some more.  I might play with my friend Lucy.

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I might play in the furniture.

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I might play on the swing.

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I might play in the pool.

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I might even play in the rain.

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On days that I am feeling sick or especially sad daddy will watch a video with me.

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Instead of playing, some days we take a trip!

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Some times we walk.

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Some times we ride.

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We always make new friends and learn new words.

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Sometimes people greet me loudly and I am scared.  But I am learning to greet back.

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I learn lots of things all the time.  Recently I have been learning to go potty like a big girl!

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Learning how to help daddy work

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And learning how to let mama play the guitar.

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After suppertime I take a bath and go to bed.

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There is so much to learn and so much to play with.  I hope you liked my pictures. I am always trying new things.  So, when I do, I will put up new pictures again.

“Bye bye, wayi waw wau (I love you).”

Every month we try to get at lest one item of furniture for our house.  Who knew dressers could double as a jungle gym!

Best friends!

This one is a little difficult to write. I want to give you insight into our world. Not for pity or praise, but just so you can experience a little bit of what we encounter weekly. I’m not always the best at wording or telling stories, so bear with me. – K

About two weeks ago we had a boy approach our front door. He was short for eleven years with a broad smile and shy eyes.  He wore the clothes nicer than most kids who visit our yard. We have many people come by our house wanting aid, or many times kids wanting fruit from our trees, so I assumed this was the case. I had recognized him from a time I had seen him before when I had been with the girls on the team. He proceeded to tell us that his father had died two years ago, his mother had left him as a child, and his grandmother, whom he had been living with, just passed away. So currently he was living with another family. They, however, had gone for the day and he just wanted some company. So he was wondering if he could hang out at our house for the day. So he did. We were sad for his situation, gave him some food, someone to talk to, and let him hang out. We didn’t think much of it.

He came back two days later. Same story, but the family he was staying with had gone to a different location. So again we gave him company, said we had some work to do, but he was free to rest on the porch, gave him some food, etc.

Again, he came back two days later. This time, saying the family he had been staying with left the day before and said they were not coming back. Apparently they had told him he could stay with them until they left. We asked him many questions….about family, about his grandmother’s home, he seemed to have an answer for everything and yet at the same time, did not have a whole lot of answers. This 11-year-old boy was homeless, hadn’t been in school for two years and needed some help. So we called our language helper for some advice and she said to go to the district commissioner’s office. Of course by this time it was late in the afternoon, there was one man there that did not have a whole lot to say for help and we were on our way home. The thoughts going through our head were: do we just take him in for the night? Is this what we should do as a part of the Church? We really don’t know anything about this kid, is he lying to us? Where are all of his belongings? He seems pretty adamant to get back to our house, maybe this is a part of a big scheme? But at the same time he seems legitimate.

So, we asked him about his things….he took a long second to respond. We decided we wanted to try to find out if this was all real. He said he had left his clothes at a friend’s house. We asked him to take us there. The friend was not home and no one in that area really seemed to recognize him. We decided we did not think it wise for us to have him in our home at this point. We asked him where he wanted to stay for the night. I think he was surprised by our question, but after a few moments pause, he told us a location, we dropped him off with a little money for food and said he could come back in the morning and we will try to figure something out.

That night Caleb went and talked with our neighbors and the chairperson of our neighborhood. Both said, ‘Do not let him in your house!’. Right away they seem pretty sure we should be very wary about trusting this kid. The chairperson also said that the boy needs to go to the chairperson of where he had been living with his grandmother; that person is in charge of this sort of situation.

So the boy arrived in the morning, we told him what he needed to do. We said if you don’t know who your chairperson is you can ask around (I mean, he was able to find our house specifically, we are pretty sure that was not a coincidence). We told him, if he gets direction from them, then great, but if he needs some more help, then we can try to help. That afternoon he came back saying the chairperson was filling out some sort of paper for him and then they would give him instructions of what to do or where to go next. We told him again it would be best to do on his own because he would be more likely to get aid or some sort of help if people did not see western people (Wazungu) helping him).

Next day…He returned with the instructions that he needs to return to the village where he had gone to school originally to get a note from the school teacher and from the chairperson of that village. This place is located about 2.5-3 hrs away. At this point we were really hoping this kid was for real. Our language helper had said that sometimes people send kids to scout out homes to see what is inside, so they can know if it is worth stealing. We decided not to let him inside our house but still try to help him with his papers. We set a date to go and asked our gardener to come early and stay until we got back just to help keep an eye on the house. Just in case.

The day came, we all loaded in the car, including a Tanzanian friend who knows that area really well and could help us with some clarifications for the situation. There was a strange feeling in the air the whole day. At times this kid seemed sick, super uncomfortable, and never really seemed to fond of returning to this place. We had great interactions with the people there, spent the whole day out, Aletheia got extremely dirty, but we were hoping all of this would help this kid get his feet back on track.  After nine hours of travel and  dropped him off where he was staying, he got out without a word, and we went on home.

The next day he was back. He said he had gone to his chairperson’s place and they sent him to the district commissioner’s office. They wanted to talk to us. We were confused why he needed us, it just did not make any sense, but finally we were able to get a hold of him by phone.  He explained that the notes we had received in the village were addressed to ‘whom it may concern’, and because it was not to anyone in particular, no one would take responsibility. Also, this kid had not passed his exams the last time he was in school, so it was very unlikely we would be accepted into a public school using aid. His suggestion was to send the boy on a bus back to his village to get the notes and then he could try and be helped somewhere into a school, but it did not seem likely, unless it was a private school(which of course he did not have the money for).

What to do….this just seemed never ending. The boy did not want to go on a bus back to the village because he did not think it would do him any good at all. Caleb told him that we would talk and he could come back the next day. That night we had a lot of conversation together talking about how it is the job of the church not the state to help the broken, maybe we need to pay for him to go to school. He had expressed quite an interest in starting school again and we could tell he was smart. We also had conversation with our neighbors about how, according to them, every day there are kids who sleep at the bus station, selling water and snacks and creating these sob stories so people will feel bad and give them money. “We have seen that boy as the bus stand!… If you keep helping him, then more kids will come.” They said.  They were convinced this kid was conning us. We were so torn and our heads just throbbing.

So the next morning, after prayer and some conversation, Caleb sat down with the boy and told him we could not help him financially right now. We have invited to come once a week to just visit and have someone who will listen to him and we can practice some Swahili. However, we feel that that is the best we can do right now. He was not very happy, but he finally accepted our answer and left.

We are not positive this is right. In fact, tomorrow we might even change our minds. He have heard stories about kids beging helped by foreigners and returning to the streets.  At the same time we keep wondering if a small had up from us could be a turing point in his story.  We feel that more than he needs a benefactor to whom he can not accountable he needs someone to slowly listen, build trust, and maybe one day know better how to help.  We want to love him, but we are not sure we can trust him and this is what we feel is best for now. Daily we are asking God for wisdom in situations like these. Obviously this drastic of a story doesn’t happen every day, but we are surrounded by it. We don’t’ feel big enough or adequate enough to answer these questions. All we can do is ask God for wisdom. Sometimes we wonder if our actions even make sense to those around us. I mean if we had given him money, maybe our consciences would feel better and maybe he would leave us alone for a little bit….but that’s not what we are supposed to do here. But we are not so sure that makes sense.

God is slowly working on us. Maybe after 10 years we will have a better idea of what Jesus would do in this situation. For now we can simply ask for wisdom and trust God will guide us.