Kazi ni nzuri kwa roho (Work is good for the soul)

The past several days have mostly been service/work days, so I figured it was easy enough to group them together. May 18, we painted churches, May 19 was a Baribi village visit, and today we helped built parts of a church.

Tuesday- We arrived in front of a well-constructed church, located in one of the many villages in the Bush, and split into groups. I stayed with the group that was going to paint the church we had arrived at, but another group headed down the road to paint another village church. We started with tea, then got to work. The walls were white, the doors a teal/blue, and the trim around the doors was brown. After 3 coats of paint, the place looked pretty darn good, considering our time and help constraints. That's a lot of work for a few girls to do in only about 5 hours. We did have some help from Luka and some of the village men, but a lot of it was all us. We even had extended paint rollers constructed by sticking the rollers on the ends of big branches. Quite ingenious if I do say so myself. I of course got rained on, so my shirt (turned inside out of course) is quite speckled with water-soluble white paint (hopefully some will come out). Lunch that day was goat, rice, spinach, and bananas, with water and soda to drink. At the end of the day, we had accomplished a lot, and it looked really good. Maybe I can show pictures sometime of the altar we painted with a cross. =)

Wed 19- We visited a village on Wednesday, expecting a church service, but that's not quite what we got. Instead of visiting Masaai people, this time we visited a Baribi village. The people are known to be the kind that move a lot, so the fact that their church has not been used is not entirely surprising. Since the church was deserted, we drove to the school and found lots of children and some other adults. After sitting for several hours (and napping, reading, etc), it was determined that there would be no actual service. They did feed us, however, and then we got to see a traditional jumping event take place between some of the men and women of the village. Lunch was chicken (kuku) and duck (bata) with rice (wali), beans and water (maji). This was much different from our normal goat meat, but it was very good and we were not complaining. The jumping was kind of cool, because usually the women don't jump with men in the Masaai villages, but there men and women jumped together. I think it's some sort of hook-up/mating time jumping ritual, but I"m not quite sure. The kids in this village were a little more skittish of our group at fist, and for some reason were freaked out by the bubbles. However, several of our girls gained their trust and then played London Bridge, Ring Around the Rosie, and Moja Moja Mbili (Duck, Duck, Goose) with the kids. It was lots of fun to watch. I have to say I like the Masaai villages better, because they are more welcoming, but we are still trying to build trust and relationships with lots of villages, so it takes time.

Today 20- Instead of painting, we arrived in front of a standing chruch (minus a roof) to help put up and build parts of the church itself. After carrying long boards and 2x4's, we split into two groups and either helped build benches or rafters for the roof. I was in the bench group, so I did a lot of hammering. My arms are a little tired, but it was fun. I even got told that I would make a good carpenter by one of the village guys. That was nice of him. Apparently I was decent. =) Lunch was AMAZING. It was pretty much a buffet with chicken, veggies/sauce, rice, collard greens, beans, watermelon, cucumber and bananas. There was lots and lots of food, really good food. After lunch we took a little break before heading back to work. This time I went inside and helped to nail some of the rafters together. I really need to work on my arm muscles, but I guess I don't hammer much, so it happens. After the long day in the sun, most of us are a little sunburned but content. IT was a good experience and most of us feel like we contributed at least somewhat. Reflection tonight was kind of cool. We had to sit by someone we didn't know before the trip ( most of us didn't know many people) and say one thing we admired/would like to be true about ourselves about that person. Kelley did me and she said she admired how I was very quite, but when I do speak, I say what I have to say and it's usually relevant and good to say. Then we all went around and said our favorite parts of the trip. I really like learning the language, seeing monkeys on the roads, waving to EVERYONE and just the natural/community atmosphere of Tanzania. It's one big community.

Next on the Agenda:
Friday: painting the secondary school dining hall located on the seminary grounds, orphanage
Saturday: Mountain hike all day =)
Sunday: Last village church visit
Monday: Leave for Zanzibar
Tuesday/Wed: Zanzibar/home

I can't believe how fast this trip has gone! It's been so amazing, though ,and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I hope to come back someday and either volunteer or visit people again. It's such a great place, and even with the poverty, AIDS, other problems it has, it just needs love and hope and people that care to make a difference. I think we as a group have, and for that I am very happy! =) Usiku mwema (Goodnight) Jen