Hi everyone, Sorry This Blog is No Longer Working

Mobbed by school kids!

Don't panic....it was a friendly mobbing. We needed to go on a 'Target' run today (or at least the equivalent) for some personal supplies. As we waited for our driver outside the client's office, there were a few kids in school uniforms talking to the guys. I walked up and decided to offer them a sucker. First it was 2 or 3 kids, then 3 or 4 more, then one of the boys yelled something in Swahili and the next thing I know HOLY COW the whole school was surrounding me with their hands out for a sucker. Communication is alive and well on the dirt roads of Mwanza.

It was chaos because I couldn't get them out fast enough. I finally had to say no more and instead offered them high fives. Most seemed to be happy with that, thank goodness.

We ran our errands and visited the local market area. Emmanuel finally admitted his suitcase was too small and broke down to buy a duffle bag. I think he finallygot tired of paying to get laundry done and then rolling his nicely folded shirts into the size of a deck of cards.

Tomorrow we are visiting one of the ag partners and then wrapping up our work in Mwanza. Thursday we fly to Kilomanjaro for our safari. YIPPPPEEEE!!!!! I can't wait.

Sante san (thanks a bunch) for prayers. I'm feeling a little better each day.

Love,

Jen

Mwanza

Friday was a travel day from Dar to Mwanza. We are still in Tanzania, but now on the southern coast of Lake Victoria instead of on the eastern shore of Africa. Tanzania is a large country supported by safari tourism and mining. We flew the local carrier, Precision Air. Wasn't quite as bad as Big Sky (scare), but right in the same category. We had one stop on our way and landed on a dirt strip in Masumo. We had quite an audience lined up along the fence line to see the aircraft come & go. With my eyes closed, it reminded me of flying out of John Wayne in Newport Beach. Evidentally the dirt strip is a little on the short side so the pilot powered up the engine before releasing the break. I'm quite sure we used every inch of that strip before we lifted off.

This weekend we stayed at a fairly nice hotel right on the lake. Jon, our UK guy, recruited us to watch his team in the Rugby world cup finals against South Africa. Unfortunately the UK lost. I thought hockey was brutal until watching rugby. WOW.

Yesterday we took a 2 hour cruise on the hotel boat. It was awesome to get out on the lake and see Mwanza. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck visited our client last month and did the same exact cruise. I don't think we generated quite as much interest. Nobody was waiting for us when we returned.

A few of us walked into the town center yesterday. We saw many interesting people....women cooking muffins by campfire right on the street, many fresh (?) fish stands, little kids playing soccer, Masai people, and young boys who ask for money when we take their picture. I'm still armed with DumDum suckers, so they seem to be pleased with candy. It's so hard to describe what we've seen. These people work so hard just to survive.

Today we learned all about the agriculture programs our client has in this area. AIDS Relief is huge here in the lake region as well. They said between 10 -15 % of the population is affected. So many needs in various forms of support. Kids raising younger siblings, rejection, stigma, nutrition issues, distance issues for medical care, income generation. Makes you stop and think about the stresses we think we have. I have a huge respect for our client and the life time commitment people have made to helping others.

We are experiencing first hand the connectivity issues faced by our client. I'll update you all when I can.

Thanks for the weekend scores. I'm glad Boston made it to the series. My two favorite teams will be battling it out....hopefully not in snow. I have to go with the underdogs.

GO ROCKIES!!

Love,

Jen

Medical Care - Tanzania style

I finally decided I might need some medication since my cold wasn't improving after 3+ weeks. The people at our client's office scheduled an appointment for me at 'the clinic'. These are ex-pats (US people living abroad), not locals, so I felt comfortable with whomever they selected. I must say it was the best ‘dr’ experience I’ve had.

I didn’t have to fill out 16 forms or find my insurance card so they could make a copy. There were no HIPAA forms to sign. I simply gave them my name, DOB, gender, and allergies. Two minutes later the gal called me back for blood pressure. 5 minutes later the doctor greeted me in the waiting area and called me to come back. He was French and had a med student shadowing him that looked like she was Nate’s age. After listening to my lungs, Dr. Pierre said it was bronchitis and would need an anti-biotic. Glad I went instead of trying to ride it out any longer. He wrote out 3 RXs, sent me next door to the Chemist and I was out of there in a record 22 minutes. The price was right as well!! Unbelievable. I think we make some things too complicated in the US and could learn some lessons from the Tanzanians in simplicity.

My team went to an Ethiopian restaurant on Wednesday night. We played menu roulette; 3 of the 4 dishes we ordered were good. The food was served on one big round tray that fit on our small round wicker basket/table. You don't use utensils to eat with, but instead use Ethiopian injera bread to sop up the food. Sounds difficult, but it worked and was quite tasty. It was a little messy, but a good experience. Atli, the woman who went to Indonsia with us, is Ethiopian and she recommended we try this place.

I'm glad we didn't eat at the hotel that night. Ryan became our first stomach bug casualty on Thursday. He is just now coming back to life after a rough 2 days.

I need to get some rest. We're moving on to Mwanza.

Love,

Jen

Jambo?

That is.... 'what's up' in Swahili. My Swahili skills have not progressed past the 10 month old level, so I don't think I'll be doing any major negotiations. Most people speak English, but speak their native tongue when not in our presence.

We are getting ready to go have lunch and then having a work day from the hotel where our connectivity is much better than at the office. Again, Americans are so accustomed to having everything at a split second or at our fingertips. Here (like the last 2 places we've been) you work when you have connectivity and you do something else when you don't. However, nobody seems to get too worked up or stressed over the situation...that's just the way it is.

We've been driving by the US Embassy on the way to work everyday. Can't tell you how nice it is to see an American flag in the distance. Seems to add a touch of security for some reason. The weather has been very comfortable. Since we are on the coast, we get a nice breeze. The locals have told us it is just approaching the hot season which is December - February.

We hope to venture out a little bit tonight to get a local feel. I think a city bus ride is in my future which will be interesting. The ones I've seen appear to be over capacity and personal space doesn't appear to exist.

Thanks for your messages and prayer support!

Love,

Jen

GO ROCKIES!

Hi Jen,
WOW The Rockies swept the Diamondbacks last night in Denver and they are going to the World Series. It has been a wild ride watching them win!! Great for Denver! This morning they had the tech center lit up in purple and white and they have declared it purple day today.
I'm sure it is going to be a crazy week here as Denver gets ready to host the World Series.
Hope you are feeling better.

ROCKTOBER ..............GO ROCKIES!

Take Care,
Cheryl

Hello stranger

Jen,

Gosh, this is amazing. What a neat way to post your world travels. I love it. I hope you are feeling better. You're on my mind.

Got to go see Emily on thursday. We had lunch and shopped a little. She is doing great. I miss her, but I'm glad she's so well adjusted there. God is good.

I will continue to pray for you. Be careful, ok? Take care of you! I'm here if you need me.

Jeannette A