Bees in the Woods

Peter's Never Ending Birthday Party

We celebrated Peter's birthday this week…for three days! Picked up a new volunteer Andrew on Wednesday until late…BBQ on Thursday then in to Arusha on Friday. Needless to say, by Saturday we were all TIRED! But…HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Genetics in Swahili

But…no rest for the weary! Friday I found out I had to attend a biology seminar in Monduli which would be held at 8 AM on the campus of a high school. Peter and Lisa said "don't go…it will start late and be done in Swahili..." not really helpful. But, some other folks wanted me to go. So I did. Bad idea. Both predictions were right. Now, for some people, learning the topic of genetics may sound as if people are speaking to them in Swahili. Now I understand where they are coming from!

Bees in the Woods

This may be the best story I have yet! I am teaching a unit on keeping bees with my Form 3 students. They said there is a man keeping bees near here…you should get him to come here and be a guest speaker. I asked Peter to call some people…he did…the guy was supposed to come on Friday at noon. He arrived Thursday at 8 AM (not too surprising). So, I thought he could speak to the class as long as he was there. But NOOO. He had something better in mind. "Just a little way from the school" there was one of his hives and we could help gather honey from it. I say great – but can we make it there and return before the end of the hour. He says "Sure, no problem!" Hind sight and all that…. Anyway, we start walking….I don't have my cell phone and I certainly havn't told anyone my plans. We keep walking…and walking… Soon, we pass tracks of elephants. My students said they heard people had speared some of them last night because the elephants were trying to get to the water. Now the elephants were angry. Ah, this is really good news since I have 32 students tromping through prime elephant habitat! We keep walking… Finally we arrive. It is now time for the class to end, but we are 2 miles away!

Before I know it, one of my students is up the tree. 30 feet up the tree. He has to lower the bees down (of course). In the meantime another couple of students are lighting a fire to "smoke the bees." They also have some mushroom thing they are going to use to smoke (the bees of course…no students were smoking the mushrooms as far as I know). So, student up the tree….other students lighting fires….mushrooms are involved…recipe for one good time right? Well, it gets even better.

We got the hive down to the ground and ready to be opened. More smoke was blown in. More students crowding around. More grey hairs are added to my head. Then it came time to lift the lid. I'm picturing that scene on My Girl when the boy gets swarmed and then…well you know the rest. Anway, the bees don't swarm. They are just laying around. Must have been some mushroom! So, then it was time to cut the honey comb.

The honey comb was in sections and loaded with bees and honey. The students cut it using a machete. Then they went running into the woods with their booty! They were eating it comb and all! I even had some…not too bad. I was thinking this whole thing might not be so bad and I might not get fired from my volunteer position when, of course, someone got stung.

Now, these students know how to act when they are hurt! My students can withstand pain, hardship and difficulty. They do every day of their life. But, give them an audience and a sudden and intense situation (i.e. a bee stinging your honey smeared hand) and it's a recipe for d.r.a.m.a. One girl got stung and started flailing her hands about and screaming. Then another. I got them calmed down and was saying "OK…seriously now….I think it's time we are heading back." But, of course, the man needed help hanging the hive again! CRIPES!

While students were over helping hang the hive, some others were milling about (nursing their wounds). Some told me they get stings on their lips. The problem with the whole situation when you eat honeycomb is that there are still several bees inside!

Anyway, to make a long story even longer, we finally got to leave. We re-traced our steps through the bush and arrived at the school 5 minutes late for their third class (yes, I had taken the second period thank you very much.) Thankfully I have EXTREMELY flexible coworkers (one of whom is my wife) who just rolled with my disorganization.

Anyway, we got to see how honey is harvested, ate some local product, and no one died. I count that as a success!

What a Friend we have in Jesus

Today in church we sang that classic hymn. All of a sudden I was 9 years old in the Hulett First Baptist Church standing in front of Bruce. Bruce was a friend of my grandpa and lived just up the road from us. He stood about 6'2" and had just huge hands. He would clap you on the shoulder and say "How's Seth today" and other expressions like that I used to associate with real men like my grandpa and Bruce. There's a picture of Bruce and Dick and Grandpa all standing there with beards. None of them EVER wore facial hair, so I asked about the picture one time. Grandpa said they were going hunting in the mountains and thought it would be a good idea. Makes sense I guess. Bruce had a deep bass voice and would belt out those hymns such as What a Friend we have in Jesus. I know of lots of folks who have had just terrible experiences with their churches, especially when they are young. Or, they have never had good men as their role models. Today, for whatever reason, I was just remembering that I have had neither. I had the Hulett First Baptist Church (average membership of maybe 25 ish….average age of maybe 98 ish…) and men like Bruce. We had pot lucks and things like that. I suppose you could hear that song and it could make you remember bitter feelings…or the irony of singing about this supposed friend if you are feeling particularly lonely. But, thankfully today, I had none of that. I was just remembering Bruce.

Eid… the Tanzanian Snow Day

Well, once again, we have cause to celebrate. Somewhere between Monday and Wednesday we will have one to two days off of school because of Eid, a Muslim holiday which marks the end of their fast. The actual date of celebration is affected by whether the moon can be seen the night before. So, we are blessed with that element of unpredictability. Which, quite frankly, always makes it just a bit sweeter don't you think.

Dust and Selection in Monduli

New Student Selection

Last Friday we had over 400 students on our campus vying for a spot at the entrance exam to Orkeeswa Secondary School. After a long day of matching students with their actual home (we can only select students from three villages) we had narrowed the field to something like 268. So, last Saturday and Sunday, most of us were back at the school helping to proctor and grade entrance tests for these students. They took two different tests and we took the average score to help rank them. Needless to say, that was a tiring process! Then, yesterday and today Peter, Rapha, Thomas and Robert sat down one on one with about 70 students (the top 70 from the test) and interviewed them. Lisa and I ran screaming into the night…and wound up in Arusha…well away from the selection process for a while! Sorry for those guys who have now worked like 20 straight days. From here we will narrow the selection down to about 40 student who will get a "boma visit" to determine the relative wealth of the family as we only take the hardest cases. Then…it's time to make the selection of the 30-35 students who will be our next class! It's exciting. When I think about the personalities we will get….the skills….the stories… the future woodworkers (of course!)…

Hike to the Waterfalls

Since we were not helping with the interviews this weekend, Lisa and I ran away to Arusha. In fact, that's where I am right now! Yesterday, we hiked to a waterfall just outside of Arusha. The trip was organized by a local club called Tuende (meaning….Let's Go!) The waterfalls were beautiful…a far cry from the dust of the road it took to get there. There were lots of other volunteers and NGO workers on the walk…mostly female…representing Australia, Germany, Holland and the US. From my experience this is a fairly good representation of all volunteers around this area. The trip took about six hours and we lounged around afterwards!

New Volunteers

Starting today three new volunteers will trickle in to help English. Amy from Ireland arrived last night. Andrew from California will arrive next week and a third gal (name escapes me right now) from Canada will be coming the following week. Apparently they are all good cooks…which is really more exciting than their teaching abilities! They will all live together in the other volunteer house….no running water or electricity…oh wait, that sounds more like ours lately! Don't worry, we've already begun to consider ways to trick them into coming up and cooking for us in exchange for….well, we're still working out those details.

Track and Field Tryouts

This past week Lisa has been busy auditioning students for the track and field competition. We'll take most of our students to compete against the international schools around Arusha. We always do pretty well in the distance events (go figure) and javelin throwing (again, go figure) but struggle in the sprints and shot/discuss. We're hoping for big things this year though from our little guys! (ahhh…)

 

The Tarp in the Back of the Truck

I have to tell you about the epic tale of the blue tarp. We've all been riding to school in the four door pickup ever since school began this term. The favored ones would ride in the front, safe and sound, listing to music and drinking Champaign (kidding about that Champaign thing….) while the rest of us suffered the dust and cold temperatures in the back. I would end most days covered in a thick layer of dust from head to toe that would take a long time to get washed out….not to mention rob us of precious water. Well, that all changed the day I brought a big blue tarp to cover ourselves with. The first day I was the only one covering myself with it. Most of the other teachers looked at it with contempt. On the second day they were all under it with me….laughing and telling jokes. By the third day when I went to climb in the back, they told me there was no room and I would have to sit in the front! Perhaps I created a monster. The bed of the pickup, covered in a big blue tarp, had become way more, um, awesome, than the front. More jokes, stories and songs were shared back there in the past two weeks than in all the other weeks combined. Interesting phenomena. I'm still waiting for acceptance from the group to get back in…

Let me introduce you to…

Let me introduce you to our students…

My blogs miss the heart and soul of what we are doing here. Our students are the heart and soul of our experience here. I spend a lot of time complaining about the conditions and whining about my own shortcomings … both topics about which we could write novels! But, I realize you may not know our students. Let me introduce you to them…

 

Our students walk to school and arrive at 7:30 in the morning. They study on their own. They assemble at 8:00 and discipline each other on dressing properly, studying and whatever else happens to be on their mind that they need to be doing to be a good student. They do this on their own…the adults are just trying to just get everyone rounded up, collect the food for the day, and get out to the school! We teach, they learn until 2:40. Then they do after school activities. Some days they get to watch a movie. Some days they play basketball. Some days they work with me down in the garden. Then they walk home. And then they study some more. On their own. Then they come in on Saturday and study some more. We didn't have school last Friday. They came and studied at school. On their own.

 

Our kids aren't angels. They have their own issues…just like any other kid. But read the above general introduction to our kids again. Then you begin to get some idea of the really incredible side of being here.

 

The Garden

The garden is really coming together! While we were gone visiting family in the States, students and volunteers re-built the fence. They also cleared the grounds of weeds, etc… and created new beds in many of the sections of the garden. We've built 15 benches for an outdoor classroom. We've also created a drip irrigation system in one section to experiment with. If it works we hope to expand to all of the garden. We also built a sand filter to use the grey water from the kitchen to irrigate the fruit trees in the garden. I realize that when I have to watch a sport for after school activities, I keep checking my watch wondering when it will be over. But, when I work in the garden with our kids time seems to fly. Maybe I am boring after all…

 

The Basketball Court

Over the five week break in June and July our students worked to create a basketball court. This isn't just any court! It's a full length concrete basketball court which, when finished, will have six hoops around the perimeter. In a word…it's cool! And, it sure beats the dirt courts we were playing in before. The project was done as part of a service learning project done by a high school in Boston called Groton. Groton brings about 15 students here to work and interact with our kids. This is the second year they have come.

 

Nanenane Agriculture Show

Yep, it's that time of year again. Prepare your eyes, your ears and your noses for the Nanenane (pronounced nah-nay nah-nay) Agriculture Show! We are taking the Form 3 agricultures students to the event tomorrow. Apparently there will be animals, crops, machines…and a whole boat load of Tanzanians! Should be a good time…so long as we don't lose any students….

 

Lisa stays overnight at a student's home, Seth celebrates MANduli…

Last night was monumental for two reasons. First, Lisa and Whitney (office manager from New York) went to a student's house to stay the night. They had to travel all the way out to Usa (pronounced u as in you – sah) River. So…it meant about d4 hours of travel one way. While she was gone, Peter and I celebrated being men in Monduli with the first ever MANduli. It involved, in short, cooking meat on a fire. I hope to repeat the event soon. But, since we had to use her fingernail polish remover to start the fire, I am not sure about Lisa's stance on the event just yet.

 

Tough News to Share

You know that news that you have to share but just don't want to. Like that you just peed your pants. We had some of that news to share with our families since we've been home. That is that we are staying in Tanzania for another year. We're excited...but I must say it's been challenging telling our families. I think they want us back in the U.S....for good! I have to say it's pretty tempting too. I missed them so much and being here has been so good. I drove 2 hours to pick up a baling part for Dad yesterday just to see the countryside. Plus, I've packed on a few pounds chowing down on the local cuisine. I like having access to my family. But...I don't think here is where our story resides right now. There's a big part of me that wishes it did...like when I'm fishing with my nephew in the river or shooting arrows with him. Like when I can just call up Lisa's dad Jeff and visit. Like when I just look over this country up here and it's just so pretty that you can't imagine being anywhere else. I don't know. But, it certainly does keep you longing for home even before you've left.

Home

I didn't know what home felt like until being gone for so long. Home feels awesome! Home feels like being able to drive to Bridgeport with Jeff to get used tires for his tractor. It feels like ruining Kim's internet power cord and having to wait all day for the repairman to show up. It feels like going to a t-ball game with Sara to watch my nephew knock one out of the park. It feels like surprising Leland and Irene over a Runza because they didn't even know we were back. Home feels pretty good.

We spent yesterday at Horizons Church. That was cool and a little surreal too. It was good to see so many familiar faces of friends. But, it was also a little too fast. My biggest shock, though, was seeing Brandon. He used to be a 4th grader I worked with in Discovery Zone. Now, he's 5'2" tall and has a deep voice. What the heck?

And who knew they brought yogurt shops to Lincoln? You can load your cup up as high as possible and then add toppings. Nice addition.

We were also able to get in a little shopping. Lisa is still not a fan!

These past few days have been a little like on the Matrix when Neo wakes up and finds himself in a whole new world. We hadn't planned on coming home. Then when it was a reality there were so many other things going on we couldn't think about being home. Now we are here and...well it's just strange.

Thank you friends and family (and of course Taco Johns) for being "home".

7 Stitches in Sub-Saharan Africa

Return of the Peter

Peter, the director of IEFT, returned from the US on Tuesday. He had been there raising money to run Orkeeswa and buying me two bags of sunflower seeds. I'm not sure of the order of importance of those two things. It's good to have him back! He brings a load of energy when he arrives.

Ben Dies A Slow, Painful Death (Or, why 32 does not feel like 22)

Our poor dear friend Ben died yesterday of a nasty rugby overdose. In case you don't know rugby is a sport similar to football but you don't play with any pads. Ben is recovering from his death by eating sushi and swallowing pain killers. He has mentioned many times to us that a 32 year old body does not move the same way it used to. I think Ben needs to find better friends who do not compel him to play rugby. Or, he should avoid it for a long time. We are hoping for a speedy recovery of our friend.

Testing, Testing

We are busy transferring all of our stress of writing tests on to our students who are busy taking them! We will finish our end of term testing on Wednesday. Bummer that I made a 10 pager for form 3. I had visions of frightening them with it and making them have undying fear and respect for me after they took it. Unfortunately, all I got for my efforts was one student saying "Well, that was a little difficult." Cripes! What does it take to get through to these guys!

Goodbye Everyone

It is time to say goodbye to Ben and Quinn. They have been our friends, teaching companions and house mates for many months. They are returning to Australia and America respectively next week. I must say they will really be missed.

Hello Home!

LISA AND I GET TO COME HOME! We are very excited to be heading home for a month to visit family next Sunday. Bring on the Taco Johns baby!

P.S. - no one received stitches as of the making of this blog. Just wanted to catch your attention!

Do Dik Dik's Mate for Life?

This has been an ongoing topic of conversation around here for many months now. Now, many of you are asking...what is a Dik Dik. Glad you asked! It's a tiny little deer like creature...maybe 16 inches tall. There have been many rumors that they mate for life. So...when you eat one (which is really more like an appetizer!), one could argue that you are robbing the other of it's life partner. I don't make that argument, mind you. Well, yesterday morning, I had a sighting of two little Dik Dik's standing side by side. For me that just confirmed it. They are in fact mated for life. My assumptions were further verified later on wikipedia.com. Ahh, the more you know.

End of School Exams

You'll be happy to know we are nearing the end of our term. We will begin giving final exams on Thursday and finish on Wednesday of next week. Then next Friday is a big celebration and we are outta here. I think the kids are handling the stress pretty well. They are really focused on doing well on their exams. Picture your achievers in any class...that's what most of these kids in each form are like!

Orkeeswa Idol

We have been working on the second annual Orkeeswa Idol! We are set to have it this Wednesday. As of now we have two skits, one singing group and many dancing groups. Should be interesting. My personal favorite as of now is the group of two form one boys who are going to dance off to "The Hips Don't Lie" by Shakira. Yes, come one, come all! It's bound to be one entertaining show!

More Water Issues

There has been little to no water in Monduli for over a week. How can people live without water? Why aren't they sending any more? Don't know! Some corn around here looks OK, but apparently the rains came at the wrong time so many of the crops either failed or under produced. Consequently there is widespread speculation that prices are going to go really high on people's staple food.

Microfinance

One of the fun things we have been working with is developing a microfinance project here. Already there are nine groups working on filling out loan applications. We would potentially lend each group a loan to begin a small project. Projects range from cutting hair to buying and selling chickens and eggs. These guys have some good ideas, but as usual, there must be some degree of experience here. So, we're hoping to work with them on developing good businesses. I really enjoy the beekeeping idea that is buzzing around!

I hate sickness!

We had a kid get really sick from some water he drank. At least that's my professional opinion in the matter. We took him in to the hospital and he had a fever and was in pretty bad shape. What killed me is he had dressed in his nicest clothes to go. Here he feels so terrible and just looks terrible and was considerate enough to put on his slacks and dress shoes...underscores why I really like this kid. Anyway, mercifully he was immediately sent to a bed and treated rather than having to wait in the waiting room. Again, it was one of those "sucking chest wound" things with this guy where you felt so sad that he was so sick. I am thankful that when I saw him yesterday he was eating. It just reminded me how much I hate sickness. This was a strong young man who was just taken down by these things that persist here!