Happy Days

My first two weeks in Tanzania have been very happy and I have surprised myself in how quickly I have fit in and made friends. It usually takes me a long time to get to know people, but I think we are in the unusual situation that we are all foreigners thrown together in a different country and so you make friends fast. I like that!

My second week in Tanzania (first full week I suppose) has been busy and filled with babies and lots of laughter. These have been days of mess and changing dozens of nappies and being spit up on and jokes and encouragement (I just about screamed in excitement when Beulah sat unsupported for the first time yesterday and I couldn't have been more proud when Bahati managed to go almost five hours without a bottle) and lots of hugs and slobbery baby kisses and most of all, a lot of love. You can stand at the gate to the toddler room and shout "I love you," and there will be a whole lot of little voices echoing back "I wuv oo!"

Aldelien and I had an interesting experience the other day when we were changing Baby Bahati's nappy. She was helping me as there was a new type of cream that we were meant to apply for his diaper rash (Shermaine posted a picture of him on Facebook saying that he was unhappy that day because he had "butt rashes"!!!). Just as we took the old nappy off him, we smelled a suspicious smell and said, "Uh oh, he's going to poop when there's no nappy there" and we started to panic about what to do. We put a cloth underneath but nothing happened so we massaged his tummy as Lita had showed us (Lita is a massage therapist). Two minutes later it all came out as we were holding him, to the sounds of much shrieking from Aldelien and I, and much laughter from the nannies. I was getting ready to clean him up again when Aldelien yelled, "It's coming again!"(it wasn't) and I screamed and the nannies laughed. That's the meanest trick you can play when you're holding a diaper-less baby!

Poor Bahati. Everyone is telling embarrassing stories about him! He really is the sweetest baby - always smiling at everyone. And as with all babies, he is especially gorgeous when he's asleep!

One of the highlights of this week was going for a walk with all the babies. Most days they take all the big babies and toddlers for a walk, but I don't go every day as I'm often working with the little babies who stay at home. On Thursday we went for a long walk - there were 20 babies and 8 adults. You might imagine in your mind a group of adults and babies going for a walk, but I guarantee what you are imagining is nothing like the reality. None of the roads are paved and the majority of them are full of ruts and potholes which makes pushing a pram interesting. Not to mention the fact that toddlers fall over a lot because of the uneven ground. Half of us adults had babies strapped on our backs in kangas (long strips of cloth) the traditional Tanzanian way and then most of the prams had at least two babies in them, sometimes three! It was a lot of fun and I will try and go more often from now on. 

Gorgeous Anna doesn't look nearly so happy to be in the kanga wrap as I am to be carrying her!

Two babies on backs and another two in the pram.

This road was the nicest one we walked down. No potholes here!

Little Elliot fell asleep despite the bumpy ride.

Rozina showing the toddlers what fresh corn, still in the husk, looks like. "Chakula!" (food!) said Joel and tried to eat it.

Another highlight this week was my first clear view of Mount Meru. Last week was so overcast you would never have believed that we are living at the foot of an active volcano. Apparently it erupts approximately every hundred years, and it has just been a hundred years now since it last erupted. Lucky us! Mount Meru is the fifth highest mountain in Africa. This photo was taken outside the volunteer house (that's our dirty fence you can see in the left hand corner). 

Other highlights were....

Watching beautiful blind Malikia respond to the massage treatment and all the extra one-on-one time.

Eating delicious pilau for lunch today.

Finding a whole shelf of Cadbury chocolate in a supermarket.

Experiencing the Masai market for the first time. (Behind Shermaine and I in the picture above are the most beautiful handmade beaded boxes and jewelry - they must take hours to make).

And lots of laughs with Shermaine, my roommate (for only a few more days sadly). "Heelllooo?" Flop flips. The bathroom door that you have to throw your whole weight on to make it close. And a whole lot of other "you had to be there" moments that have caused great hilarity and me crying with laughter on more than one occasion!

My motto while I am here in Tanzania is 1 Thessalonians 5:16,17. "Be joyful always; pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

Amen!

xoxo,

-Hannah

Things That Go Bump In The Night

At home in New Zealand, I always thought I was quite good at sleeping. I would sleep 9 hours most nights, often more, and most days that I wasn't working I would nap for at least an hour in the afternoon. What I never realised though was how quiet our neighbourhood is. Sure, cars would drive by and sometimes you could hear sounds from the highway on the other side of the river. Inside the house the TV might be on or Sam might be talking in his sleep and banging on the wall, but that was about it. On the whole, there wasn't a whole lot of noise.

Not so in Africa.

My first couple of nights here I found the noise overwhelming. There were babies crying, dogs barking and people talking at all hours of the day and night. Roosters crowed in the morning, there was a mosque nearby with regular chanting and the dala dala (a van used as public transportation) going backwards and forwards on the road out front.

After we moved to the new volunteer house, which is in a more affluent area (funny the difference a five minute walk around the corner can make!), we found there was not nearly so much "everyday living" kind of noise that you heard at the old place. The first night here though I was awakened in the middle of the night by what sounded like a pack of ravenous dogs barking right outside. They would run back and forth and growl and howl and make a terrible noise. I have since become used to it! Our night guard, Emanuel, also walks around on the gravel outside and opens and closes the gate (he goes back to Neema House to get coffee during the night). It was a bit alarming to wake and hear footsteps outside the window in the night until I realised it was just the guard!

Then the night before last, Shermaine and I had just gotten into bed and turned the lights off when there was a noise and then we could hear Lori calling out, "Heelllooo? Heelllooo?"I thought she must have opened the door and be talking to the guard or something and then we heard, "Did anyone enter? Helllooo? Hannah?"At that I was out of bed thinking that something was wrong! It turned out that when I shut the bedroom door a couple minutes earlier, I had slammed it and Lori and Lita thought that it was the front door opening and shutting and that a stranger might be in the house. Thankfully it was just me!

Later in the night I woke up to hear a clicking sound outside. It had awakened Shermaine too and it was so loud and persistent that we got up and walked around the house. We shone a torch out all the windows, but the noise seemed to be coming from all directions at once. It was too mechanical and regular to be an animal and when we talked to the others in the morning we found that it had woken all of us, but nobody seemed to know what it was. Yet another strange and unidentified noise!

We have also been awoken early in the morning by what Shermaine politely called "lively African music." Lively is one way to put it! We wondered where it was coming from until we realised that it was probably just Emanuel playing music from his radio.

As I write this, it's just after 9pm and I can hear crickets buzzing, the pack of dogs (they seem to make themselves scarce in the day as I've never seen more than one stray dog at a time), plus a party which is going on across the street. And yet in a few minutes time I will go to bed and sleep like a baby. By the time I get home I will probably find sleeping in near silence bewildering!

I'm sure there will be many more strange night noises to hear here. Just another part of experiencing Africa I suppose!

xoxo,
-Hannah

Swahili Baby Survival Guide

DISCLAIMER: I have been in Tanzania one week. Forgive me if I have got any of the below words or phrases wrong!

Before I came to Tanzania I tried to learn a little Swahili so that I would not feel completely lost here. It was my New Year's resolution to do an hour of practice every day. That lasted about two months before I gave up because it was just so hard not knowing how to pronounce things and not having anyone to try out my Swahili on. Of course by the time I actually left for Tanzania I had forgotten most of it.

When I got here I realised that I should have concentrated on words that you use with babies. So here for future reference (should anyone ever wish to go to a Swahili speaking orphanage) is the Swahili Baby Survival Guide.

Kulala - to sleep
Kula - to eat
Chakula - food
Maziwa - milk
Maji - water
Uji - porridge
Chafu - dirty
Acha - stop
Basi - enough
Asante - thank you
Unataka - you want
Nataka - I want

Then from these words you can make sentences. Unataka maziwa? (Do you want milk?)

Also, greetings are useful. If someone says "Mambo" to you, then you should reply with "Poa". If someone says "Habari?" (how are you?), you could reply with "Nzuri" (good) or "Nzuri sana" (very good). However, babies aren't exactly going to be saying these things so perhaps it's not necessary to include them right now.

Aside from those few words (plus a dozen or so random others), my Swahili is sadly lacking. Saffina (the Neema House cook) talked to me for a long time in Swahili today before she realised I had no idea what she was saying. I wasn't sure if it was the blank look on my face or that I was giving her inappropriate responses that alerted her to the fact!  I have only been here a week so far though, so hopefully it will improve with time. I will probably look back over this guide at the end of my time here and laugh at how simplistic it is!

Also, for the reference, names here are pronounced much differently to how we would at home. In Swahili the emphasis is put on the penultimate syllable. For example, the name Bryony is pronounced "Bree-OH-nee" here. I knew most of the babies names before I came here (just from looking at their pictures), but I have had to re-educate myself as to how to pronounce them!

Baby Bryony having kulala time

xoxo,

-Hannah

Moving Day

My first Sabbath in Tanzania was moving day. We left the old volunteer house...

And moved into the new volunteer house...

The old volunteer house was about a five minute walk from Neema House, down dusty roads. Picture in your mind what you think an African road would look like – ruts and pot holes, dust flying everywhere, people cooking right there on the edge of the road, smoke blowing in your face, people walking everywhere – then multiply that by a hundred. It sounds incredibly stupid and naïve, but I was not prepared for how very African everything is. Everything I ever imagined about Africa is true, only to a far greater extreme.

The new volunteer house however, is much closer to Neema House - you would almost be able to see it from the front door if there were not gates and walls in the way.  It is also much more Western – it has toilets that actually seem to flush most of the time! So far anyway. Perhaps I shouldn’t speak so soon! We also appear to have better showers here. I thought I knew how to shower, but showering in Africa is a whole different story. At the old volunteer house there was a tub and an extendable hose which you unhook and then hold in one hand to wet yourself while trying to wash with the other. If you have ever tried to wash long hair with just one hand you will understand what a mission this is! The first time I tried to shower just about the whole bathroom was soaked, including a new roll of toilet paper. I was just starting to get the hang of it when we moved to this new house!

Here we have showers (still of the hand held variety), but no shower curtains (which makes the whole bathroom a shower room!) and as we found out this evening… no hot water either. Hopefully that will be fixed soon, but if not, it’s not the end of the world. It’s nice to just have a shower, cold or no. You can see that I am slowly learning to be grateful for small things.

It was very fast to move all of our things into the new house, but we spent the whole rest of the day cleaning and sorting and finding everyone enough linen and mosquito nets and then doing some more cleaning. All the kitchen cupboards were covered in blue mould and the showers looked like a mud hole so there was much scrubbing and re-scrubbing to be done.

At lunch time we went to Neema to eat pilau (a rice dish), cucumbers and tomatoes, and also to have a cuddle of the little babies who are usually the only ones awake at that time of day. Shermaine (my lovely roommate) and I thought we would hurry home afterwards to continue unpacking, but I was giving Baby Joyce her bottle and it took her a full 40 minutes to drink it so there was no hurrying anywhere!

Shermaine and I spent the remainder of the afternoon sweeping and mopping our room and then making our beds. We had to go out and get new mosquito nets as there weren’t enough now that we have two more people in the volunteer house. There are seven of us altogether now, all of us staying for different lengths of time.

Putting the beds back together again

We were using so much bleach to clean the kitchen and bathrooms that some of the girls thought masks would be a good idea.

Dorris in serious cleaning mode!

Shermaine's and my lovely new room - we have brand new duvets and mosquito nets and everything.

Altogether it was a busy day and a very different Sabbath to any I’ve ever had. I was praising God in my heart all day though for all the wonderful experiences I’m having here and all the beautiful people I am getting to know. God is good.

xoxo,

-Hannah

First Days at Neema House

Tuesday was my first day at Neema House. I didn't have to go seeing as I only got in at 10 the night before, but I was awake at 6 so I thought I might as well. I was very grateful to be safe and sound in the morning though as there was an incident in the night where I locked myself in the bathroom and couldn't get out again. The door locked with a key, but when I tried to unlock it the key just went round and round. I was starting to panic and think I would have to bang on the door and shout (a terrifying idea for me when I'm with new people!) and it felt like hours that I was trying to get out. In reality it was probably only a few minutes. I was very glad to make it back to my bed!

My first impression of Neema House was that it was strange and amazing and both the same and different to what I was expecting at the same time. The babies are so much smaller than they look in the pictures. So much smaller and needier. The first day I was there for only a few hours and yet by the end of it I had already changed nappies and given bottles and comforted three crying babies at once. I'd also been peed on and slobbered on and licked. Yet I'd also been given sloppy baby kisses and dozens of cuddles and it was lovely. 

There are three groups of babies at Neema House - little babies, big babies and toddlers who are separated by age and development. So far I have spent most of my time with the little babies and toddlers. When you sit down in the toddler room half a dozen little people will come and climb all over you and demand cuddles. I thought that it would take a while for them to get used to new volunteers, but apparently not with the toddlers, and the little babies are too small to care who looks after them. They are used to being taken care of by a multitude of different people. Apparently a lot of children in orphanages have attachment issues and they will go to anyone, which is unlike a normal baby who will cry when a stranger takes them. However, some of the babies at Neema House have bonded with their nannies and will cry when taken away from them.

There have been a lot of firsts this week - first time trying African food, first time experiencing driving on African roads, first time being accosted by street vendors looking to make money from the mzungu (white person). The list goes on. However, I feel so glad and blessed to have been given an opportunity to come to a place like this, to be able to learn about the African ways and to take care of some of God's precious children who without places like Neema House would not have such a good start in life and who might be left to fend for themselves in the streets.

Beautiful Bryony - Neema's youngest baby

Please keep Neema House and the babies here in your prayers. They need all the help they can get!

xoxo,

-Hannah

Traveling Troubles

It took approximately 40 hours to get from Sydney to Arusha, Tanzania. It might have been more. The trip here was not the best and if I had of known what it would have been like, it might have put me off coming. It was just long and tiring and very stressful.

It was 14.5 hours from Sydney to Dubai and then I had a long stopover in Dubai. I thought the departure lounge was confusing at first, but after four or five walks around it, I had it sorted. I was unlucky enough at one point to sit down and have a man come over and vomit on the floor right next to me. Unfortunately I was in the splash zone and it was still hours before I could have a shower and clean clothes.

For the last few weeks I have been waiting for my visa to come through. Apparently it was completed, but hadn't arrived yet from the agent in Dar Es Salaam. This was unfortunate as it meant that I had to get a tourist visa at the Tanzanian border. The visa line was long and confusing - basically they take your passport and then everyone stands in a big crowd waiting for your name to be called out by the immigration officer. I almost missed him calling my name because it sounded nothing like I would have pronounced it. I thought I had a simple name but the way he said it sounded like "Ana Bootlahray." Interesting! Due to the long line (I use the term "line" very loosely) I missed my flight to Arusha. I had thought this might happen, but it was still pretty horrible when it did. I was wandering outside looking lost when a very kind airport officer came and found me. He booked me a new flight and rang Michael to let him know that I would be getting in late and he let me use his computer to tell my family that I was safe.

In the airport I prayed to not have to spend too long in line for a visa, for my bags to come out quickly, to not miss my flight and for everything to be okay. It's funny how God works. The visa line was long and the immigration officer was cross because Neema House does not have a specific address. I waited forever for my bag, only to find that some "kind" soul had taken it off the carousel and put it in the corner. Thank goodness for the bright green strap or I never would have spotted it. I missed my flight. But everything was okay. The kind airport man looked after me and I got a different flight and Michael and Dorris were there at the other end to pick me up.

It's about an hours drive from Kilimanjaro Airport to Arusha and it was interesting to say the least! The speed limit does not seem to be regulated here. Instead, they have speed bumps in the middle of the road. Not gentle bumps either. It's like driving over a log. We stopped at Neema House on the way even though all the babies were sleeping. They look so much tinier in real life. Then it was off to the volunteer house where I will be staying for the next few months.

Altogether it was a very long journey to get here, but I am quite positive that it will all turn out to be worth it in the end!

xoxo,
-Hannah

Oh Australia...

When I am at home in New Zealand I have this idea in my head that I hate Australia. It's too hot and too many bugs and there are snakes and droughts and bush fires. And yet when I'm here, I find that is not the case.

This week I found myself remembering that I like Australia. I love your birds and your beautiful anthem and your oceans. It made me glad that I'd chosen to stop here on my way and get rid of all the "I hate Australia" thoughts that were in my head. Five days isn't long, but it was enough to catch up with Christa and Amy and Mac.

Chris and I took the train from Morisset to Newcastle on Friday afternoon and Amy came and picked us up. On Sabbath afternoon we went down to the ocean, which was wild and stormy. The sea baths were completely flooded over. We walked out along the sea wall to the lighthouse and the waves were so big they were crashing over the wall. We continued on even though there was a sign saying that no responsibility would be taken for accidental injury or death as a result of the waves!

The wild sea by the Bogey Hole

Christa tries to make her escape

The sea baths covered by the high tide

Our good friends Amy and Mac

This afternoon Christa and I take the train back to Sydney - she to go home to NZ and me to continue on to Dubai tonight. Altogether it should be a 37 hour trip to Arusha, not including any delays that might happen! It's been lovely to see Chris and to catch up with Amy and Mac while I've been here. Old friends are always the best!

xoxo,
-Hannah

Thank You. Thank You. Thank You.

Over the past few months I have been fundraising for Neema House and generally raising awareness about the plight of orphaned and abandoned children in Tanzania. I have been absolutely amazed at people’s generosity. For the most part I didn’t even need to fundraise – I went to churches and told them what I was doing and people came forward to contribute.

This past Sunday Mum and I hosted a fundraising baby shower for Neema House. We invited ladies from the churches in our area, as well as others who we thought would be interested in supporting the cause. $2500 was raised in just one afternoon!

Lots of yummy food!

The lovely Nora and myself

The ladies placed donations in envelopes pasted onto the back of paper baby shirts and hung them on the washing line.

People have been so generous contributing to Neema House – from 11-year-old Sam who put his chore money every week into the donation box, to people who baked cookies and sold them to workmates.

Thank you so much to the following groups and individuals:

• Hamilton Seventh-day Adventist primary school – your fundraising mufti day raised $300
• Hamilton Central Kids Church – last year you raised $1000 as part of a “kids helping kids” program. The Neema House babies are grateful to be the recipients!
•  The Community Whanau Church in Hamilton
• Cinnie and Hopi who cooked pies and baked cookies to raise money
•  Cambridge church
• Eastside church
• The ladies who came to the Neema House Baby Shower
• And to all the individuals who came forward and gave generously – from grandparents to old friends to children to family members

Altogether over the past few months have we raised over $5000 with more money still coming in.

A mere thank you to all of you will never be enough. Your contributions will help save lives.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

xoxo,

-Hannah

The Journey Begins

In an hour's time my plane leaves for the first leg of the long trip to Arusha, Tanzania. For the next eight months I will be living and working at Neema House, a home for orphaned and abandoned babies. After that I will be spending a month travelling in the Philippines, Singapore and Australia visiting friends and relatives.

Tonight my journey only goes as far as Sydney, Australia where I will be visiting Christa and catching up with some friends. I leave New Zealand sad about leaving my family and home and church and friends, but excited to be starting a whole trip full of new experiences and adventures. I know it's cliche, but I really think it will be the trip of a lifetime and I don't expect to come back to New Zealand the same person. I know it's not all going to be smooth sailing - I will be homesick and probably have culture shock and there will be times that all I want to do is come home and sleep in my own bed and be with my own family in a place that I'm comfortable with.

I've never much been a person who does things out of their comfort zone. I'm shy and I find meeting new people hard. However, a wise man named Frank Fournier once said, "The further you go out on a limb, the more stories you will have to tell." And deep down, I want that. I want to make a difference and help people and come home with stories and a heart even more burdened for mission than it is already. I believe God has lead me this far and that He will be there for the next few months and always.

So... as much as I hate change and I hate leaving home, here's to the next few months. Here's to a life of adventure and trusting God to provide.

Goodbye beautiful New Zealand. I will miss you.

xoxo
-Hannah