Meet the new "school owner!"

You may have to refer back to the post about Apa and her little school, but this is the text I got from her last night: "Now here the children have increased thus taking porrage which Juius has provided his own money. The government wants the school to be registered so please could you come and talk with them. They asked me who is the owner of the school. I told them that it belongs to you. There for could you mind checking your schedule and see how you can fix the matter. Am praying for you. Thanks." After one visit and less than $40 in food supplies, she wants me to be the school owner, or rather, says I aready am! NO! This involves endless money and red tape as you can only begin to imagine. I haven't even responded yet because I'm trying to come up with a gracious way to put this! But, my housemate Sarah said it would look good on my CV or resume'!

Eye exam, Part 2

I was going to title this, "Unfortunately, Color Does Make A Difference," but I decided I needed to explain it, instead. Sarah and I went to Moshi, about 2 hours away, early this morning to KCMC, a major hospital in the area. Took some investigating and navigating, but we found the hospital, parking, and the eye department. When we walked into the eye department, there must have been 100 people in the waiting room, all Tanzanians, but men, women, children, and babies. I had been given a doctor’s name and an actual appointment, which may have made some of the difference, but I’m pretty sure my skin color made the most difference, sadly for all those who were there before me. I found “my” doctor, a German lady, and we went into her office, sat down, and talked. For the next 2 hours, I was treated pretty much like royalty would be if doctors didn’t come to them! Either Dr. Mapoka or a nurse she assigned to me, showed me or took me to every line or room I needed to go to – and there were many! Though I never actually stood in a line, because they took me to the front of each one (which I felt very badly about). • Had to register at one place • Go pay at another place (cost in the last paragraph) • Go to another room for an eye exam (my second of the week) • Go for a consult in another room • Have another eye test somewhere else • Get my eyes dilated and wait 30 minutes • Go back and pay some more for the last procedure • And lastly, have an OCT. I don’t know what that stands for, but it’s very high tech, probably involves lasers, and a Dutch doctor I spoke with said there are something like 10 of these machines south of the Equator. This was the one that found the problem! I have a thickening of the membrane over my pupil (or cornea? Now I'm not sure which!), and it needs to be removed, or eventually I will lose my sight in that eye. However, the last of the doctors and Dr. Mapoka agreed that this can wait till I get home, thankfully. I don’t mind having this diagnosed in TZ, but I‘m perfectly happy to have it treated at home! Now for the amazing cost of this whole 2 day ordeal, counting Wednesday’s visit to 2 doctors, referral to Dr. Mapoka, and all of the above tests: 24,000 Tshillings! How much is that? About $17.00!! Seventeen dollars!! I spent twice that on the gas to and from Moshi! Can you imagine what this would have cost at home and how many days it would take to see that many people and have that many tests?! It’s almost too bad I can’t have the procedure here! So, overall, I am pleased to know what the problem is, that there is a solution, and that it can wait. Still disturbed that in their own country, in one of their own hospitals, I got special attention because I’m white. I got plenty of dirty looks and raised eyebrows along the way, and I kept wanting to say, “This is not my idea! This is not who I am.” Sigh.

Eye Doctor, Part 1

For a few weeks my vision has been blurry in my left eye, so I went to the optician first (if that's the who does glasses), and he checked my vision, then called to an opthamologist (if that's the other one) down the street and asked if she could see me (no pun intended!). Once I found the hospital and the eye department (wouldn't you think they'd make those signs more obvious?!), the sister there put drops in my eyes to check for pressure, which was fine, then she asked me if I'd driven myself. When I said yes, she grimaced, and so I asked her why. She told me she'd have to put drops in my left eye to dilate it, and it would take 6-8 hours to go back to normal! I asked if I could drive with one eye closed, and she said yes. (Most people probably do, anyway!) After that, she checked for catatacts but didn't find one. She said it looked like it might be my retina, but she couldn't be sure. KCMC is a very well recognized hospital in Moshi with an eye clinic that is considered one of the best, and she made me an appointment with a doctor there on Friday, saying to make sure someone drives me as they will dlate both eyes then.

More when I know it.

How I Spent My.....

Tuesday and Wednesday this week! I had so many errands to run in town that I was planning one whole day of errands, just not Tuesday. I have Home Group (church Bible Study) on Tuesday nights, and since I always make desserts, I needed to not have that riding around in my car all day, and Njiro Road is not the kind of road you want to drive up and down more than once every few days! But, Godfrey, our Karanse headmaster was coming to Arusha on Tuesday, and I needed to meet wth him, so I made part of the dessert in the morning before I left, with plans to finish it when I got home and before I turned around and went back out. I figured I could also run some of my errands then and just go back another day this week, which turned out to be today, also not my choice!

So, in 2 days, I did the following: bought a phone card and supplies for church refreshments; met with Godfrey (and spoke to everyone else at Imara, naturally!); realized my computer was on the blink, so dropped it off at the computer shop, went back and picked it up today; had a pair of sandals fixed (by a man on the street); had a pair of reading glasses fixed; made an app't wth an eye doctor (more on that in the next blog); went back today for the eye app't; went to the post office twice to mail packages; had lunch; did some grocery shopping (some of it from a man on the street, too!); picked up some printer paper for someone at Joshua who had forgotten it on his trip into town and saw me there; went to ATM for money for all of these transactions; and found numerous parkiing spots and paid about 25 cents for an hour in each one because, of course, these were not close to each other! The whole thing, at a Super Wal-mart would have taken about an hour and a half, and I could have gotten a pedicure, too, but where would the challenge be in that?!

I did make it home yesterday in plenty of time to finish the dessert and go back into town for Home Group, too.

Back from the UK - great trip!

Really wonderful time in England with my friend Megan. Unseasonably cold, especially complared to TZ, but "refreshing" most of the time! Lots of walking, eating, visiting, sight-seeing, more eating, going to see "Wicked" in London, Blenheim and Kensington Palaces, Oxford and Cambridge, afternoon teas with lots of clotted cream and jam (oh, that's technically more eating!), meeting her Home Group and church friends and mom and sister, shopping - all in very civilized surroundings:clean, paved, with electricity, etc.! My camera (story of my life) is presently not letting me download pictures, but here's one Megan took at the Hummingbird Bakery in London of me just finishing off Red Velvet Cake (that eating thing, again!).

Money=Food

A couple of months ago, I started getting texts from Apa, Teacher Julius’ wife from Karanse. I didn’t remember ever meeting her, much less gotten texts from her, so that, in itself, was surprising. However, the content of her messages was even more surprising. God had told her to start a school in a nearby village for mostly Maasai children who were not attending school. She said God told her this over several nights in dreams, and she finally did. And she wanted me to come visit her school. I had been to Karanse once in February, but did not go visit her, as I didn’t really know what I could do for her, and I suspected she wanted money, which I certainly didn’t have. (That’s not meant to sound cynical; it’s just the way it is.)

I got an additional text or two over the next month from her telling me the children were hungry and asking me, again, to come and visit. However, I didn’t have another trip to Karanse till this week.

In the meantime, my parents’ tax man, who graciously did my taxes last year and this year, gave Mama some money for me to spend on food for hungry children. I brought it with me to Karanse this week, planning to give it to Pastor or Godfrey, as I know and trust their judgment on issues like this. Yesterday I was talking with Julius about Apa and her school, and he said, “It would be good if you could go.” Because I‘m here on my own this week I really had no excuse to not go, so Moses suggested I take Julius with me and we go together.

This morning I was praying on my way to school about how to handle the visit to Apa’s school, what I should do about money, etc., when I remembered Robert’s money! I may be slow to catch on to some things, but she had hungry children, I had money to spend for hungry children – no brainer! I did, however, pray that God would give me wisdom in dealing with this if I would be setting up expectations, building dependency, etc., and told Him He had till later this morning to change my mind! At lunch I talked with Julius about it, and he was all for it. He finished up teaching shortly after lunch, and off we went. We went back to Sanya Juu, near where I stay at Angaza, and shopped for food to take: 10 kilos of rice and 5 liters of cooking oil, with money left over to give her for beans to come from the market, where they would be cheaper. (She sent me a text later saying she was able to get 10 kilos of beans, 1 kilo of salt, and onions. All of that for around $35; not bad!) Apa has 20 children at her school, and I know this is only a drop in the bucket, but I was trying to be wise in my use of the money and not completely overwhelm her at the same time.

Another 20 or so minutes on not-the-worst road I’ve ever driven on (!), and we were there. Julius had not told her I was coming, and I hadn’t thought to tell her, so it was quite a surprise! Unfortunately, because she didn’t know we were coming, she had already dismissed the children, but that’s probably OK, especially for the first time. She was so excited to see me and cried over the food. Even meeting her, I still don’t feel like I ever met her before, unless it was at church or some school function or something, but she acted like we were long-lost sisters, so I went along with it. I took pictures of the classroom and their family, and then I asked her to tell me the story of the school in person. She told me about God’s voice in the dream, but this time she told me there was a face, too, which she couldn’t see, except to see it was white. She had the same dream a couple of times, and finally the mists cleared from the face, and it was me! That was why she started texting me, because she knew, somehow, I was supposed to be a part of this. She said she kept asking God, “But, how will I get Miriam?” and that’s when the texts started. I told her the story about Robert and the money and about how God was answering her prayers by speaking to someone over in the US, then using me to deliver the money/food. I wanted her to tell her children, who have been praying and asking for food, that God had not abandoned them, but that He heard their prayers.

I also have some school supplies I was given before I came here to use however I thought best, so I told Apa next time I come I will bring those. She asked me to keep praying for their little school because they have dreams to expand! I will say for these people of vision – they don’t let a little thing like having no money stop them! I ended my visit with a prayer for them and a tour of the “property” and the expanded version of all they hope to accomplish there, and then I headed back to Angaza. Pretty amazing afternoon. Thanks, Robert, for your incredible part in this!

She texted me today to tell me the childrenw were eating and praising God for miracles!

And, once again, as soon as I can download pictures of Apa and her school, I'll post them!

What do I miss most?

What do I miss most?

I get asked that periodically by many different people, and after the given of family and friends, the answer varies on the circumstances of the latest week. This week, it’s Choices!

At dinner all this week, for instance, there has been NO choice – we ate whatever the girls running the little café had prepared. This morning, when we were leaving there after breakfast, they asked us what we wanted for dinner. Isack said, “Not there are many choices.” The choices actually are: rice with meat and/or beans, chapatti with meat and/or beans, or ugali with meat or beans. That may sound like 6 choices, but it’s not like choosing between chicken, spaghetti, pizza, steak, salmon, shrimp, crab cakes, or salad! In Arusha there definitely are more choices: Italian, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, steak, salads, sandwiches, burgers; but in the villages, it’s quite a different story! More like: dinner or no dinner!