Life in Old Moshi - June 27

Mama James (Flora) helping to prepare a meal.

A view of the backyard. Flora's mother's house is on the right, and the house where we are staying in is on the left.

The dishes are washed outside to the right.

The back door to the house where we are staying.

Bananas ready for cooking. If they are yellow they are unsuitable.

James at the pigpen. The mama pig is sticking her snout out on the right.

Our water. Thursday was a good day - water was available (see second picture).

James loves this paticular chicken with the name of Kashingo. He wants to bring it back to the UZS. For Kashingo's part, she runs everytime she sees James.

Life in Old Moshi - June 24

Here is a picture of James outside on one of the rare days it has not rained.

Ida Kauki came to visit us this past weekend. She is teaching secondary school in a government school on Arusha. Ida was a major help when Flora and I were getting married almost eleven years ago.

On Sunday we had pilau, a spicy rice-meat dish. Pilau is a delicacy in the same way steak is for Texans.

A picture of some of Flora's family enjoying the treat of pilau:

This week more of Flora's family will be coming to Old Moshi. Please pray for their safe travels.

Lutheran Church at Kikarara

This is the Lutheran Church in the village of Kikarara where we worshipped last Sunday. In Tanzania the church is named for the congregation it serves. In this case the church is called the Ushirika wa Kikarara (Congregation of Kikarara) as part of the Jimbo la Kilimanjaro Kati (Central Kilimanjaro Region). The congregation is under the authority of the Dayosisi ya Kaskazini (Northern Diocese) of the Kanisa la Kiinjili ya Kilutheri ya Tanzania (KKKT), or Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania.

The church was built in 1984. The latter part of the inscription shown below is translated as follows: "The foundation stone was laid by Bishop Dr. E. N. Kweka, May 13, 1984."

The church offices (first picture) and the pastor's house (second picture) are located behind the church.

Behind the church is the Sunday School area. During the week it is used as a kindergarten. The kindergarten is run by the church, and is open to both church and non-church members. In Tanzania there are very few kindergartens, so the church is serving an important need.

These are bathrooms being built for the kindergarten (right behind the Sunday School/kindergarten building). At the present time the children be taken about 30 yards to the church bathrooms (this is quite challenging during the rainy season from March to June).

The church is also working to improve the church grounds. There are plans to add gates at the front of the church (first picture) and the back of the church grounds (second picture). This will help with security - in Tanzania police protection is pretty much unknown, especially in rural areas. The brick-paved area will also be extended to the main road (first picture) and to a secondary road (second picture), which will help during the rainy season.

Many thanks to Jackson Kaangwa, who is shown in several of the pictures. Mr. Kaangwa is an evangelist (a kind of assistant pastor) who serves the congregation. The staff of the church consists of the pastor, the evangelist, and a parish worker.

Life in Old Moshi - June 20

James eating some mahindi choma (baked corn). The corn in Tanzania is white, larger that US sweet corn, and not sweet at all. It is used to make a variety of Tanzanian foods

Flora using a fagio (broom) to clean the grounds behind the house of her mother.

Flora and her sister Grace.

Return to Kolila

Just up the mountain where we are staying is Kolila Secondary School. There is where Flora was teaching Bookkeeping and Commerce to Forms I-IV when I first came in 1999. James and I hiked up to pay a brief visit, since the school is closed until July and few teachers are there right now.

This is the main building.

This is one of the building that was under construction when we left Tanzania in 2005:

This is the school posta (post office). The back of this building was used for Form I classes while Flora and I were there.

This is looking down the hill at the student dorms and cafeteria. because the school was closed James and I did not go down any further. We plan to return at a later date.

Pizza Party in Moshi Town!

Old Moshi is the area on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro where Flora grew up and where we are staying now. Moshi is the town at the foot of Kilimanjaro. In Moshi there are a number of places to use the internet. Below are pictures of James playing Roblox (which requires an internet connection):

Last week we found a place for James to get some pizza (these are pictures of Flora, Grace, and James):

Life in Old Moshi - June 17

Here is James getting ready to feed the chickens:

James and Naomi (Grace's daughter and James' cousin) playing with some smaller mchwa (termites) who are eating the bark on a tree. The mchwa have built mud paths that give them some protection. You can hear them rattling when you walk near the tree.

James' grandmother brings out the goat for a brief visit. James is disappointed that the goat now lives with Bwana Edward (the younger brother of Zakaria Onesmo Kisaka, Flora's deceased father). I found out that if you lean down, the goat thinks you want to butt heads!

The Lutheran church in Kikarara. The service was over 2 hours long, but James did surprisingly well.

Life in Old Moshi - June 13

Below is a picture of Mama Ruth weaving the hair of Mama Myrene (Baraka's wife - Baraka is one of the younger brothers of Flora):

This is James feeding his chickens:

Makande (pictured below) is the food from the Pare tribe that lives in northern Tanzania. The Pare are just east of Kilimanjaro:

This is Naomi, one of Grace's children. Grace is one of Flora's sisters. Naomi is in Standard 4 (equivalent to 4th grade).

Naomi and James trying to rescue a ball from a tree:

A group of children chasing the ball:

This is (from left to right) Bryce, Rosalyn, and Present.

James does some digging:

James studies most every day: