Blog #7 Spreading the love across the world!

 

Thank you Helms family and friends for the beautiful cards! 

 

These are the Angel House nursery school kids and they loved them!

Post 6- Letting Go

All of Your Faith

I have realized over the past month that the United States needs to put more of an emphasis on teaching Celsius, kilometers, and kilograms in their school systems.  Because when you travel anywhere out of the US you have no idea how far you are going, how much anything weighs, or how hot it is. It takes me at a few minutes to sit there and do the “calculations” in my head from pounds to kilograms, miles to kilometers, and Fahrenheit to Celsius… and even after the calculations I am not sure if I have gotten the right number! This along with many things I am not use to in this culture, has taught me to have patience that I thought was never possible.

This experience is teaching me new things about life and about myself on a daily basis. I have learned I am in control of absolutely nothing here. I have learned to wake up every morning and turn over my entire being to God, putting all of my faith in him.  I have learned that without a doubt when you give everything you have to God daily a peace comes over you, you know you are being protected and that everything is going to be just fine. If you would have asked me 2 months ago if I would ever ride a motorcycle, let alone ride one without a helmet, I would have laughed out loud. But for over the past month, every day we hop on those pikis and take off putting complete faith in The Lord and our piki driver of course! If you would have asked me what I would do when one of the kids was sick with something contagious, I wouldn’t have told you I would pick them up, hugging and kissing them until they smile and are ready for me to put them down. It is amazing the things that God has planned for you once you let go of all the fears and things that truly don’t matter.

 

Alone time with sweet Neema after school!

Checking out "Bambi" our new baby goat!

 

Neema and Jackie! The youngest and toughest at Angel House!

Post 5 - FUTBOL!!

Before I left, thanks to the generosity of many members of the TFC family, I was able to collect a lot of donated soccer gear to bring for the kids!
I was out at Angel House a few days ago and when the kindergarten/nursery school got out, one of the little girls, Neema ran up to me to come with her to change out of her  uniform. I walked with her to her room and she starts rambling on in Swahili with the biggest smile on her face, before I know it she is decked out in a complete uniform and she couldn’t be happier! It made me so happy to see how happy she was!

 

 

Neema in her new uniform!

 

Then when we walked outside to play “futbol” all of the other little kids ran out decked out in all of their new gear, I could help but laugh and smile to see how happy they all were in there “new” soccer clothes, it was incredible heartwarming. They all kept running up to me saying thank you thank you, and I couldn’t help but think I hadn’t done anything except bring this stuff over that other people had donated.  The more time I spend with these precious Angels the more I am learning to truly appreciate the smaller things in life and recognize the blessings that I am surrounded by.
 

Marwa, Kikwete, and Wambura in their new uniforms!


SO Excited about their new Soccer Clothes!

 

Playing in their new uniforms!

Post 4 - The people of Tanzania...a work ethic like no other!

The work ethic in this culture is something I have never experienced. I have always seen certain individuals back home who work extremely hard, but never an entire community! Even the kids at Angel House are the hardest working, generous, kindest human beings, I have even been blessed to meet. They would give you the blanket off their bed if you were cold, even if it was their only one.

They all chip in and do chores around the house without complaining, and the older ones help take care of the younger ones without being asked. They help cook, do dishes, clean, wash laundry, fetch water, anything that is needed you can catch anyone of these angels doing with smiles on their faces. It is truly inspirational!

The older women in the community I have watched and come to the conclusion that they are the hardest workers of them all! Hauling what looks to be 50 pounds of various items on their head, many times with a child strapped to their back and walking far distances. It is an amazing site! I always try to take pictures incognito because I am afraid I will offend the village people. However today while walking through the Science building construction at Angel Secondary, I had my camera in my hand to take pictures of the progress, this Bibi (Grandma) who had a large bag of cement on her head started waving to me and pushing her finger down in the air, finally I caught on that she wanted me to take a picture and I was so excited! She struck a pose, all with this large bag of cement on her head; after I took the picture I showed her and she smiled and gave me a large hug! Right then and there I realized that I wasn’t going to be offending anyone if I took their picture, if anything I was making them feel special because they never get their picture taken!

Bibi hauling cement!

The new Angel Secondary Science Building!

Post 3 - Misconceptions about Africa

Common Misconceptions about Africa:

That there is not a lot of food

That the food is not tasty

That it is always super hot

That there is no plumbing or running water

 

Angel House Missionary Home

The mission house, aka home for the next 3 months, is super nice and way too big for just the two of us living here! It has 3 bedrooms down stairs with bunk beds in them, and then 3 bed rooms upstairs with one bed in each room. Esther and I each have our own bathrooms attached to our rooms, she has a “Western” style bathroom and I have a very African bathroom with a choo, but I love it! Coming into this I thought I was going to be taking bucket showers so I was so excited when I saw my little bathroom with running water! The shower water here is freezing, and I’ll be the first to admit I love taking very warm showers, but after sweating all day, being covered in dirt and having mysterious gunk on you from the kids it is the most refreshing shower! I did learn the hard way you do not want to shower in the morning; after the water has been sitting all night in the cold… it is like jumping into an outdoor pool in the middle of winter… it took my breath way and nearly made me wipe out when I tried to jump out of it!

Shower in my room.

The food here is tasty for the most part! A lot of the time I have no clue what I am eating unless we are at home… I did get tricked the other day and ate liver of some animal… can honestly say that is not my favorite. There is this dish named ugali that is a very traditional African dish basically made out of flour and water, and all the kids think that Esther and I are so weird because we like it! It reminds me of a very clumpy cream of wheat.  Every time we have been invited over for a meal to someone’s house there has been more food, delicious food, than I could ever dream of.

When I first learned that I was not supposed to wear shorts in Tanzania because it is against the culture to show the back of your knee, I was convinced I was going to have a heat stroke every day! While there have been some days that have been ridiculously hot, for the most part the weather has been wonderful! At night you definitely need a jacket and same with first thing in the morning!

If anyone has ever seen me play soccer, they know that my face turns really red whether it is 100 degrees outside or 30! The first time I played for a while with the kids, my face turned so red, and they did not know what to make of it. Some kept asking if I needed to sit down, some wanted to touch my cheeks, and some just laughed at me! I couldn’t help but laugh with them! For me it was something that has happened my entire life and is normal, but to them they had never seen it happen to anyone! It was a great reminder to me that when I come across things that seem very weird to me, to just embrace those things because it is something that they probably do not even think about, just like I don’t think about my cheeks turning red!

 

 

 

Post 2 - Karibu!

Once we arrived in Tarime, we went straight to the “Mission House” which is now Home for the next 4 months. I was greeted with 10 bright smiling faces; some of the other volunteers had a sleepover with the Angel House girls that are in Secondary School, what a great way to be welcomed into your new home! First Holly took me on a tour of the grounds showing me around, while the kids were in a house meeting. Then we made our way towards the house, once we made it to the front porch I was swarmed by smiling faces giving me hugs, what a heartwarming feeling it was to see all these beautiful smiling faces. The next thing I knew I was playing soccer with the boys and fitting right in, they cannot believe that a “white girl” is actually good at Futbol (one of the boys actually told me that).

Tanzania is the most beautiful place I have ever been in my entire life. Everyone here is incredibly hardworking and generous with what little they do have. Although I have only been here a few short days, I can already tell that it has changed me. Everyone relies so little on materialistic things and they focus on pouring everything they have into relationships and worshiping The Lord Almighty! Church here has got to be the single most exciting and best part of the week, the service is lead completely by the children/ youth, can you imagine?? The choir begins (mostly made up of Angel kids) they are singing and dancing with their arms up as high as they can go, not singing for anyone except God, it was truly amazing! The young man who preached is 17 years old and is a student at the secondary school. He spoke about what are you doing for God, are you praying for the orphans and widows, are you going out of your comfort area to serve our Father? It was incredible that this 17 year old boy had an understanding and knowledge that many adults struggle with. After the sermon, we began singing more, and the next thing I know the boys start coming down the aisle in pairs of two dancing and singing, then the grandmas are up dancing with them and singing, then all the children joined in, it was the most wonderful thing to witness, the Holy Spirit was all around!

After church and all day Monday I was playing soccer with the boys, and a couple of the brave girls! I fell once Sunday, why trying to show off, I think I learned my lesson! Then yesterday I was playing with Moses who graduated from secondary school this past year and all of the younger boys, well it ended up being Moses and I going head to head, and after megging him, I was laughing and ended up tripping and falling over a hole; needless to say I am sitting out of soccer for the next couple days!

Thank you again for all of your prayers and support!!

   Crossing the Kenya Tanzania border!

 

 

Some of the Angel Kids dancing at Church!

 

 

My soccer boys Wambura, Baraka, and Marwa teaching me how to dance!

 

 

 

  Sweet Melissa!

Post 1 - Landed in Africa!

I am so sorry about the delay; Internet access is few and far between here in Tarime! I just want to thank everyone who made it possible for me to come on this mission and serve The Lord!

Touched down in Tarime, Tanzania! What in incredible journey it was traveling to arrive here; I left North Carolina at 4:30 PM on Wednesday and arrived in Tanzania Saturday morning at 8 AM. I was so blessed to meet some truly amazing people on my flights. My flight from Amsterdam to Nairobi was delayed, so I sat down on the only empty seat I could find while waiting to for the plane, I naturally started a conversation with the woman next to me asking why she was flying to Nairobi (I guess you could say that’s the Paul in me coming out). Her name was Catherine and of course I told her that was my middle name; after talking for a while she looked at me and said “I believe that everything happens for a reason, and God placed you next to me for a specific purpose, I usually do not speak to the person next to me.” Let me tell you, she was the biggest blessing God could have put in front of me. Once in Nairobi (we landed at 10 PM) she waited for me off the plane, helped me get my visa, waited for me to get my luggage, helped me through customs, and then waited with me outside while we looked for Holly. I would have been completely overwhelmed and lost if it were not for her, my Saint Catherine!

My experience in Nairobi was awesome for the most part! The people, the food, the culture, it was wonderful! I was fortunate enough to spend one day there and it was jammed packed with exciting adventures! I was able to spend the day with Holly, Carolyn, and Lyle aka Skip around Angel House, and this was a great treat because Carolyn, Lyle and I all completed mission training in Kansas together! It was great seeing them and being able to pick their brain a little, as they were just finishing their two week stay at Angel House! They are such wonderful people! Holly found a lot of great things for us to do that day in Nairobi.  We began our day at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trusts’ Orphans’ project, this is where they take in and raise baby elephants and rhinos! This was much different than any zoo I have ever been to before; we were within arm’s length of these adorable baby elephants as they were being bottle fed!

The next thing we were lucky enough to experience was going and feeding the giraffes! I absolutely loved this!! They were the sweetest animals ever, so gentle and kind! Holly and I were the only brave ones to feed them out of our mouth, so we got giraffe kisses! One of the coolest parts about this was it was field trip day, so there were kids running all around, and I couldn’t help but pick them up so they could feed the giraffes!

The last thing we did before Carolyn and Lyle had to catch their flight and Holly and I had to get on the bus to Tanzania was go to the Amania house! This is a woman’s project and this had to be without a doubt the most heartwarming, inspirational thing to witness. These women started this project with just 3 of them in a garage, and now they have a huge building, their own shop and over 90 women in the project! It is just amazing, in their building they have a chapel, where they begin and end every single day thanking The Lord. These women, many of whom are refuges from all over Africa, are taught a variety of skills, and as a result of those skills they are able to be completely self-sufficient. These women were so incredible and welcoming! When we were being introduced to them, they broke out in a song, it was awesome, then they all went around telling us where they were from, it was truly an amazing experience I will never forget!