Tanzanian Experience - Hakuna Matata

The old saying:"If you never ever go, you will never ever know", still rings true today. Last Sunday we decided we would go to the early church service as we had been told it was in English. Surprise, surprise! The only English was one short Bible reading. However we loved the singing and learnt something which is their custom and of which we were unaware at previous services. After the service, the pastor stands at the door and the first person out shakes hands and then stands beside him. The next person shakes hands with those two and then stands next to them. This continues until everyone is standing in a circle and has shaken hands and greeted everyone else. True to form, guess who was last out and had to go right round the circle and shake about 250 hands and say some form of greeting. A great idea in principle. We have decided tomorrow we will revert to the 10 am. service and at least get an English precis of the sermon before the Swahili version. This doesn't ...

July 22nd. Have you ever had a let down feeling. Well this morning as we got out of bed, I jokingly said to Kevin ,"One morning you are likely to wake up on the floor."meaning the net had come untucked . We had decided to rearrange the bedroom furniture today as part of our housekeeping. In the process, we noticed some sawdust at the end of the bed and on investigation discovered the timber at the end of the bed had wood worm in it. This is a very serious problem in timber throughout Tanzania, so the bed had to be removed, dismantled and rebuilt. The carpenters only work until lunch time Saturday, so when someone turned up at 5.30pm for the bed, I convinced them to leave it until Monday morning. Hope fully we don't end up on the floor tonight. Never a dull moment. We were told they would have it for a couple of days (that could be a week or more). Hakuna Matata. When we went to Mutukula  to  sort out our visa, we passed through a small town  where there was a rui...

July 18th. Saturday morning was housekeeping and a spot of vigorous Tai Chi - washing.                       This was followed by a steep walk down to the stall at the bridge to the to try to find something to eat for the next day. We came back with a pineapple and some Masomi (small potato like roots native to the local area). We boiled these for breakfast Sunday morning but decided they would be tastier in vegetable soup. Sunday breakfast. Because of the hardship and poverty, people often bring produce to church as their offering. After the service, it is auctioned and the proceeds added to the offering. One of the staff bought a pineapple and promptly turned around and gave it to us as a welcome gift. it was a very lovely gesture. The lady in the above photo was at church on Sunday. She was so excited to see us that we both got a great big hug.                ...

July 13th. If you read our last blog, you may recall our airport experience at Mwanza. Well there is more to it than I could reveal last time. An item in my checkout bag was suspicious and so my port had to be searched. The security official tried to open the bag but the zipp jammed and wouldn't budge. After much tugging it finally opened and now I can reveal what the offending package was.  A surprise. Guess who turned 70 yesterday. Happy Birthday, Kevin! The offending parcel - a rectangular, dark heavy object - a birthday cake which I had successfully kept as a secret even when we repacked our bags the previous night. Ever tried trying to explain to an African guard what the container held. Fun, fun, fun. Tomorrow we head to Bukoba to front up to the Immigration Dept. as there is some concern on others part that we have the wrong type of visa. Hakuna matata. All will be revealed.

July 1st. As I survey the ever growing pile of supposed necessities on the bed, I ask the question, How do you fit an elephant into a suitcase?  I honestly don't know but the word prioritize comes to mind. 20kgs luggage each for five - a half months is a bit of a challenge. Priorities - mosquito repellent, mosquito nets, hat, books and oops I can't forget the chocolate.  Seriously though as I ponder this, I'm acutely aware that for many people worldwide if presented with this challenge it would be hakuna matata (no worries) as all their possessions would easily fit with  room to spare. So with this in mind, I say a grateful thank you for what I do have and begin the task of what fits where.  Sunday July 2nd. After a very late night  or should I say early morning finishing up the loose ends at home, here we are  all ready to travel to Brisbane and I even managed to squeeze most things in. The bags are a little overweight but we'll worry about that ...

Welcome to our Blogspot. We hope you enjoy our experience as together we face the unknown of Africa while volunteering at Katoke Lweru Secondary School. You may remember the song "Hakuna Matata" from the "Lion King". In Swahili,the language of Tanzania,hakuna matata means no worries. As we journey to Africa for the first time,this is our motto as we know that there is One who watches over us.