Last night in tanzania

We finally have internet access and it is our last full day in Dar es Saalam. We saw four of the big five, on the safari, missing only rhinos.  It has been a blast but we are ready to head home. We leave tomorrow at midnight.

Last night in Dodoma

Hello everyone. Well, it is our last night in Dodoma and we are leaving for the Safari early tomorrow morning. We have been quite busy touring around since our windmill has been finished. For those of you who may be wondering what we have been doing, I will say that there has been almost too many adventures to name! We spent a day at Mother Teresa's Sister's of Charity compound where the sisters look after orphans, as well as physically and mentally disabled people. Many of these people have been abandoned. The sisters will actually go out and look for those who have been left, just like Mother Teresa did. We also went to a leper colony in Sukamahayla, and  the birth place of the CPPS Mission, which is a town called Manyoni. The CPPS brothers run a trade school to train young men in mechanics, autobody and carpentry.We traveled with the Kamloops group to a town called  Iyumbu. This group had built a windmill system in 2005, so they wanted to go back to see it. A few years after they had left, the village built a medical dispensary(clinic). You can see how the village is flourishing. Many of the houses have been replaced with brick houses and many people have gardens.  We were also able to go see a very intense soccer game just down the road from the compound the other day. Last night we had a special mass for BRO and a wonderful supper, celebrating his 65 years of service as a Brother. So, as you can see, the building of the windmill and providing water for a village was obviously the focus of our trip, but there has been many more opportunities to see other areas where people get help from the CPPS Mission (delivering rice, cornmeal, clothes, medicine to those who need it).
NOTE: The last pictures we posted were primarily from the windmill celebration we had when the Bishop came to see us. It was a wonderful celebration. The Bishop spoke and the village women danced for us. And as you can see, the girls all got a chance to try out the drums. Roxanne and Vanessa kept busy with the babies as you can tell. And the village presented us with a goat as a gift, which in this culture would be seen as very special!
So my fellow Canadians, hopefully we will have more time to blog in Dar es Salam.

Last day in Dodoma!

Well it's our last day in Dodoma. On Sunday we all went to mass at the local parish and were treated to African music and really cool liturgical dancing. Yesterday was Bro's 65 anniversary of being a brother with CPPS and we all laughed and shared stories. Tomorrow we head to mikumi national park to go on safari. Internet may very well be spotty but I'll make sure to post once in Dar. Pray for our safe travels. Mathew

Celebration of ~ people helping people help themselves ~ handing over the well to the village

Our windmill and water tanks ~ a life time of water for Chihoni

Bishop Albert enjoying a tour of the Compounds with Brother Anthony in his Bro Mobile

Exciting news

Well it's another beautiful day here in sunny Tanzania. The rest of the group to a trip to the great Rift Valley and the leper colony and will undoubtably blog about that when they get back. I stayed behind to write this blog. We had an earthquake at 2:15 yesterday and I kept with tradition by sleeping through it. Had a little ice cream as a treat, am waiting for the group to arrive back at the compound.

Today, I am the student

Hello everyone. I hope you are enjoying our blog. I have come to realize that since I have been in Africa, I believe the Tanzanians have given me more than I have given them. Yes, I have helped raise money and helped provide them with clean water for many years to come. But when I prepared for this trip, I did not realize how much they would teach me. These are my lessons today:

  I have realized that hugging,touching and holding hands is a wonderful way to show love and affection and respect.Tanzanians are extremely affectionate.  Do we hug our children enough? Do we hold hands with our mothers?Our fathers? Our grandparents? 

   The Tanzanian children have NOTHING, but they create games, they make toys out of nothing, they run, and laugh, and run and shout and run some more!  Do our children have imaginations to create fun from a few sticks and rocks? How often do our children get bored when there's no TV, video games or other such stimulation? 

    I have witnessed 3 and 4 year old children hauling huge rocks at our worksite. I have seen young girls carry 5 gallon pails of water on their heads for miles.  They are learning how to help and contribute to their family and village.  How often do our children want something in return for their work? How often do they complain when we ask them to do a few chores? 

   I have seen what some villagers eat. Our daily rations of beans and rice I realized, is actually a treat for them. These people eat to live, where we tend to live to eat!  How often do our families complain if they run out of milk for the day, or they don't get desert, or they have no more ketchup for their French fries! 

   I have listened to some young women talk about how they have worked hard and saved money to help their parents, or to help put their younger siblings through school. I have listened to them talk of what they have given up to care for others in their family. How often do we put ourselves first? How  often do we push our kids out after graduation because we have this crazy idea that they don't need us anymore? Or we put our elders in homes because we don't have time to care for them? 

  One more: The women here respect themselves by covering up, and not showing off their bodies in inappropriate ways. Since women breast feed their children for about two years, you will often see them feeding their babies any time, any where. It is so comforting to know that women here can be free to do what God has created them to do; feed their young.  Isn't is ironic how we at home, do not always dress respectfully, and we sometimes show off our bodies more than we should, but when it comes to feeding our babies, we are embarrassed, we are ridiculed, and we are taught to hide ourselves in public?

OK, so I could go on, but I 'll close by saying that we need to be careful that we do not make assumptions about what we could do to help and teach others. We may very well become the students, with many things to learn. And today, I am grateful to be the student. Take care everyone and God bless, Roxanne (sorry it's so long but lots of emotions and thoughts go through my head here!!!!)

Life as it is

We have all seen the World Vision commercials on T.V. showing the poorest of the poor and images of crying children in despair. In my time in Africa so far I have not witnessed the stereotypical children that they have portrayed to audiences. A few days ago a part time worker at the compound named Veronica allowed us to see into her family's life. She was left by her husband with four children ages 16, 13, 10 and 1 &1/2 whom she lives with in her mud brick house. Within this house there is a single bed in which they all share, there food is kept in the same room so that it does not get stolen. Each day Veronica walks one hour to work and back and than she picks up her bucket from home and walks half an hour to fetch murky water from a hole in the ground. Some days she makes this trip twice, each time asking for aid to lift the bucket onto her head as one of her hands doesn't work properly. Although she is struggling and is on a list to receive a monthly ten pound bag of corn flour and doesn't have two fully functional hands, she raises her four children and she is happy. She is happy for what she does have, even if to use it seems like little to nothing. I see our daily waste, like a lid bringing joy to a small child he uses it as a toy he can run around with, the plastic bags we use everyday that you throw out constantly being used as a soccer ball bringing hours of fun to the many children living here. Even though they doo not have games systems or fancy toys they are happy because they have each other and value even the simplest things life has to offer us.

A visit to the brothers of charity

Yesterday we went to the compound of the brothers of charity. We brought them some clothing and five 100pound sacks of rice. The Brothers of Charity care for mentally and physically disabled men and boys. These people have been abandoned due to their disabilities. The brothers care for them as best as is possible. I was reminded of Faith and Light back home. When we arrived our group was a little shy but one man, his name is Joseph grabbed and held my hand as we toured the compound. When we arrived at their dormitories we saw many disabled people. After handing out some candy we were treated to many songs including Frere Jaques. It was incredibly sad to see so many suffering, and knowing that there are others without the comfort of the brothers of charity.

Today we returned to the village to paint the cisterns. After we finished Jamie and I played soccer with the kids. I suspect that a few of the children were playing hooky. I taught a group to play hop-scotch and to count to ten in English. Playing with the kids is one of the most rewarding parts of the trip. Found a scorpion today. And I carried a hedgehog, he was much friendlier and gregarious than Hobbes. Bishop arrives in Dar tomorrow and will arrive at the compound Saturday. We pray for his safe travels.

I am starting to hear the odd longing for ice cream from the group; but the food I miss the most is hot wings. Call me crazy!

Roxanne's thoughts

Our daily drive out to the village of Chihoni, Nala has been one of my highlights. We sit in the back of what looks like an army truck, so we have a clear view of our surroundings. The African life is SO different than ours in many many ways. In the capital city of Dodoma, people set up small spaces where they sell anything they can; bananas, nuts, sandals, sweet potatoes, clothes, sugar cane, lentils, etc. We also see several motorcycle repair shops. (I have never seen so many bikes in my life!)
Sometimes we feel like we are in a parade, as many people wave at us, especially the crowds of small children.
It is truly amazing how the children will find anything to use as a toy; a plastic bottle, a tire tube, a cap from a spray can, etc. When you see this, you realize how spoiled and materialistic many of us have become at home. When I look in their eyes though, I see something I do not often see at home. These kids spend the majority of their time together, and they are really happy. They play together, and create games together, and I wonder sometimes whose children really have it better!??!!
As we leave the city and head out to the country, I notice things are a bit different. The busyness decreases. I see some families who can afford it, with concrete brick houses and metal roof tops. Most in our village have traditional mud houses. From what I can see, most of their time is spent hauling water, laundry, cooking, tending to children, and the few cows or goats they may have.
It is insanely dry here, so there is a cloud of dust wherever you go. Tanzania gets 4 months of rain and 8 months where it is completely dry. Not much grows here right now, but the rains will come in December.
When we get to the village, many of the women are very willing to help us mix and carry cement. Father Tim says when they work alongside us they take much more ownership of the well project, and take pride in it. So we have been encouraged to let them work as much as they want so it is seen as more their  project than ours. Today we finished up the holding tanks and cleaned up the worksite for the Bishop's visit on Sunday. More about this later! Until next time, Roxanne

Deanna's message

The water coming out of the ground last week, establishing that the windmill worked was cool. The villagers rushed with their buckets to collect it and stayed up all night, not wasting a drop. This was not the true miracle or pinnacle, that occurred before we got here.
  Another village was designated to us who were desperate for water. They had three dry holes drilled. The mission was forced to pass by them and try at Nala. The first three holes drilled in Nala were also dry. It was this hole, the fourth that finally struck water. I would have loved to be there at that moment. The rest now is just work and we are just finishing up painting the holding tanks and filling in a trench. I cannot help but feel remorse for the village that had to be passed over.

The Village Of Hope - Morning visit

This morning we visited The Village Of Hope, this place is incredible! It started as a place for children with aids to die in loving arms and now its been blessed with the medicine that treats aids and runs as an orphanage, school both primary and secondary and a place were babies can be born without aids.

Quiet weekend

It's been a quiet weekend. We head back out to the well to finish it up tomorrow. On Saturday we went to the market in Dodoma and some of the girls bought kangas. The Kamloops group arrived and Bro arrived from Dar yesterday. Today was an admin day for fr Tim so we didn't go to the well but delivered some cornmeal to those in need; seniors without a family. Oh yeah, Vanessa, Danica and Katelynne made a cake... And it was excellent! It's late here. Blog more soon.

Bringing water to Chihoni, Nala! - written by the Team

The day began with finishing our first trench, digging the second, which led to the making and molding of the second holding tank. We had our usual lunch of rice and beans. We waited in anticipation as the pipes were connected and placed into the well. When the last pipe was connected, we all ran to the well to experience the moment. As the water was pumped to the surface, we all were impacted in our way;

  - As Fr. Tim let the water flow out of the pipe, and the windmill blades were turning in the wind, the villagers immediately started filling their buckets with the well water. A smile spread across Danica's face because she saw  the joy in the people's faces and she knew that she was making a difference in their lives.

  - Katelyne was filled with emotions. As she watched the villagers witness the water come out she was overwhelmed. Their excitement and joy was heartwarming. As tears streamed down people's faces she knew it was worth it.

  - Kayla was happy we got water today. She has enjoyed working with the villagers. It was  nice to see them getting this water. She feels grateful to be a part of this.

  - Nina missed the first burst of water, but she ran along side the villagers to see the second one. As it was coming out she watched the people's happy faces and was filled with an indescribable feeling of joy. 

  - Celine's experience was also a little different as she did not see the first water release. The moment which captured her heart was sharing the pure joy of accomplishment with one of the villagers. She stood watching joy spread across the crowds, as most have not seen this much water in many months.

 - Vanessa couldn't stop smiling because the water was finally coming. When she heard the water was coming she ran and was front and center to see what we worked for. As the first pump of water came out  her eyes started to fill with tears of joy. She found herself jumping around and spraying the people with water. Vanessa knew that this moment wasn't going to be her last, because she repeatly told us how much she loved Tanzania and CPPS water projects.

  - Roxanne stepped back to look at the fins of the windmill, as it spun around. When she looked up, she honestly felt something she never felt before. The setting sun was right behind the windmill. It was so beautiful. She took a step back to capture the experience in its entirety. As tears came to her eyes, she looked over her shoulder and saw Vanessa. They celebrated with a hug and a little happy dance. She knew she was experiencing something very special. 

 - Matthew felt that he witnessed a miracle; water in the desert. He felt like the group partially fulfilled the gospel, by giving water to those who have none. Watching the villagers fill their buckets with the well water gave him that sense of fulfillment. 

 -  For Deanna, the water coming out of the ground establishing that the windmill worked was cool. She did not realize at that moment that the villagers had every intention of staying throughout the night to collect every drop of water they could. 

 -  For Jamie, it felt like something had been accomplished. At the first meeting in PA, the culmination of our efforts seemed so small and insignificant, distant even. Here though, our small sacrifices and near endless preparation had come to a conceivable end. To her though, it didn't feel like the denouement, only a rising action to a climax yet to come. 

By: The 2014 Tanzania Mission Team!

                            Thank you to all those who helped make this possible! 

                              The first bucket to be filled with the water!

The villagers smiling faces.

             

                                   

                                             The amazing CPPS windmill team!

The fins of our windmill, painted with love!

Roxanne's Message

Hi everyone. I'm still using other people's blog account until I can get mine going. So we have been working hard at the village this week. I am so grateful that I have a chance to see with my own eyes what happens with these windmill projects. Kayla and I were asked by many people at home, if the Tanzania people had any input into the project. They wanted to know if we provided all the money, material and labour for the well. I hope my explanation will help people understand what it's really like here. Our group of ten raised the money and paid for the cost of the well and the windmill. BUT the main focus of this organization, I'm happy to say is education of the people, and giving them the opportunity to control their own destiny. All the workers here are local: the cooks, laundry, housecleaning, drivers, carpenters, welders, painters, cement workers, labourers, administration,etc. Some are Catholic, some Muslim. At the worksite many of the villagers, both men and women come to help mix and haul concrete. They want to help because they want to take ownership of this project. A woman named Elizabeth has been working here for about 3 years or so. She does a lot of things with the village people, helping them understand their responsibilities with the well after we are gone. Her and the villagers plan (more or less) is this: The village people appointed an agent who will be responsible for keeping track of how many pails of water he sells. It has been agreed that he will sell each pail for 100 shillings, which is about 7 cents. Please remember, this is fair, and what most people can afford. The agent must keep records of his sales as well as bank receipts. They plan to meet every month to discuss the financials and to see how it's going. The money they make will be used for any maintenance and repairs that may need to be done to the windmill or holding tanks. Any old or disabled people can get some water free. I also want to say that there is a small crew of very strong, hard working young Tanzanian men who work hard every day with us. They have been crawling up to the top of the windmill at very dangerous heights, bolting everything together. Most have been working here for a very long time, so they definitely are the professionals in the group! So it has been amazing to work side by side with these people. They have the will and the brains, they just

need the help to get the water out of the ground. Our well is 324 feet deep. Only a very expensive machine can do this. And if people could see what we see here every day it would not take much to realize that water IS desperately needed here.So our adventure continues. Bye for now, until next time, Roxanne Richards

Building the tower

The foundations have been set and we have just finished the tower. It's at least three stories tall. We placed the steel beams in the concrete foundations and then built layer upon layer. It is easily the tallest structure in the village. We used a winch to haul up the motor and some of the heavier pieces yesterday. And today we used a pulley and brought up the blades one by one. I'll have pictures tomorrow. We have also built one of two water tanks. We began by covering a mould made of burlap sacks with a clay made of... Then once the clay dried we covered it with two layers of refined concrete. We will build the second tank tomorrow. We brought some of Deanna's One World Futbols to the village today and played a friendly game of football (soccer). I made a dive for the ball and came up in a bramble of the worst burrs ever. I have a really bad farmers tan.

STOP AND BE THANKFUL

At the end of the day yesterday we gave our remaining water that we used to make cement to the villagers in Nala, where we are building the well system. This water is not drinkable but these people will be boiling it and using it for cooking, drinking and bathing. These people came from all over the village with their buckets hoping to get some cleaner water but in the end very few left with water in their hands. They are fighting for this water.. They were lining up, waiting for hours to get their hands on this water. In canada we line up and fight for the new gadgets, cellphones and video games... We take clean water for granted so much. We need to stop and be thankful for what we have.

-Katelyne :)

Why Mission Projects are important

 

Until you go see the world, see how little others have, see how happy others are with just each other, how kids can be happy with sticks and sand, see how strong they are and how much they have to endure just to get water,
Water.
When I speak water though it is not the clean drinking water that falls from your faucets, its not the water that you use to water your plants. No it is dirty water and its the only water they have ever known. Some people have to walk over distant mountain to get it because some people just can't afford to buy water off of a water truck for 300 Tanzanian shillings. It is 2014, I am 19 years old and I am making a difference in the village of Nala along with my 9 other mission teammates. In the picture below are some of the villagers who are smiling because some of them have not bathed in weeks and they are getting the water we did not need for building purposed today on the work site.

 

Sunday, a day of rest.

Well we are excited for another day of working at the well but yesterday we had a day of rest. In the afternoon we returned to the Village of Joy Orphanage. We played some football (soccer) and catch. We played cops and robbers, African style, we danced la bambs to homemade maracca's. We gave out piggy backs and put on a finger puppet show. A really cool thing was Danica letting the kids play with her IPhone, and they found out how to take pictures in less than ten seconds. Talk about easy accessibility.
Had one of my favourite gospel readings yesterday. With the seed scattered and grown among the rocks and the path and the thorns and the good soil. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

Building the foundations!

The windmill project continues! The original estimate of approximately 200 feet was way off. We had to use the water drilling unit to go down to 106m. Well over 300 feet! We continued mixing cement, for the foundations of the water storage tank. I wish I could post the appropriate pictures but I haven't taken my phone to the construction site. Try and imagine there are four 1m square foundations surrounding the well. Then we dug a trench 80cm deep and 25 cm wide. Lots of work with pick axes. The ground is hard because it is so dry. And the vegetation just clings barely to life. The difference between the compound with it's well and drip irrigation and the dry, dead foliage of the village. Finally there is the foundation for the water tank that is about 2m by 4m. The villagers are working with us and the work gets done fast. I find the food that we have for lunch simple and delicious. The Africans only have one meal a day and so they take a very large serving, the servers tried to give the same anount to us (who are eating three meals a day) and were surprised when we asked for half the amount. Hard work builds character! We are currently preparing music for mass tomorrow. 

Mathew

Things I have learnt this week (Roxanne)

1. The children of Tanzania always wave eagerly when we drive by. They must know who we are and are very happy to see us!
2. MOST Tanzanians are very friendly and always wave as we go by.
3. It is not surprising why everyone needs to walk several miles for water. It is a quasi desert here - very dry. I have not seen a drop of water yet!
4. I have learned how paranoid I am of mosquitoes - 5 cans of OFF is 4 too many!
5. I learned to never complain about Saskatchewan roads.
6. I learned Tanzanians drink A LOT of pop.
7. I learned that if you are at a restaurant and they bring you warm tortilla bread with a bowl of red stuff, taste it first before shovelling it in - it may just burn your face off (just ask Katelyne!)
8. I learned that black coffee is actually quite good! It is grown, roasted and ground right here.
9. I learned that waving with your left hand is disrespectful.
10. I learned that eating eggs that have been sitting on a shelf won't actually kill you!
11. I learned that Tanzanians have NO rules: no seat belts, machetes are little kid toys, very small children play on the streets, scaffolding is made of sticks, everyone rides a bike, but very few have helmets. And the more people you can fit on a bike the better!
12. I learned that no matter how difficult their lives are here, they love to smile and seem very happy!
Until next time, take care and we will try to continue to blog when we can. Internet is very weak here. All in all, we are working hard and having a great time and learning a lot.

by Roxanne Richards

Windmill construction time!

Sorry for the delay in posting to the blog, the internet has been out of whack the last couple of days. We finally began the construction of our windmill. the village that we are at is called Nala. There are perhaps 500 children and 300 adults in the village. The children chased after our truck as we approached the well site. We began by digging four foundation holes, about one meter deep. Then we carried 50kg bags of cement and mixed it with a little sand and water we then filled the foundation holes with cement and rocks. We left for the night to give the cement a chance to set a bit.
We have decorated the fins for the windmill, with Canadian flags and wheat sheafs to represent Saskatchewan. If I may say so the maple leaves turned out especially well.
We are all alive and generally healthy, speaking for myself I tried a local hot sauce and it cleaned me out. We've had the odd scrape, bump, cut, or bruise.

People here are nuts about soccer and the One World Futbols are really popular.  The food is great. I particularly enjoy it, although I did travel with some picky eaters.

We've delivered several sacks of cornmeal and rice to orphanages and schools. These have been gratefully received. And the hospitality from the locals is inspiring. Christ is a central part of their lives.

I wish I knew Swahili better, you can pick up a bit from the tone and intention but it would be really nice to know more. Pray for us.
Mathew

Roxanne's message

Hello everyone! I can't seem to get on my blog,so I'm just using Vanessa's.  We have been here nearly a week and it's amazing how much we have done already. The compound where we are staying is wonderful. I have realized how resourceful Bro is. He does not waste a thing! Everything people donate to him, he will find a use for it, I learned that he has helped build over 700 wells/windmills in this area. In 2008 Bro decided to buy the factory to build the windmills himself, rather than sending everything to Italy. Since 2010 he has built 25 windmills from this compound.He provides water for 1.5 million people every day. This morning we sorted more clothes which will be given to orphanages and schools in need. Every day is an adventure. Katelyne, Kayla and Celine have found babies at the orphanage they want to adopt and I found a 14year old boy named Francisco, an amazing athlete who Dale Regel would love to meet!So I'll close by saying this is the most extraordinary experience I ever imagined. I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to do this. It is bigger than anything I ever imagined.God bless and thanks for all your prayers, Roxanne Richards

Jambo! A mini update from the African PA Tribe

Jambo! Yesterday we enjoyed a tour of the compound and took turns in the Bro mobile (which is Brother Anthony's Golf Cart). We seem to be mingling with the folks here just fine. Vanessa and Roxanne helped do a bit of shovelling, tossing cement into buckets with the Cement workers cheering on. The buckets once half filled were then placed on the women's heads to be carried away... which is amazing as that would snap a canadian born and bred neck. The food here has been good! Deanna at the beach a few days ago enjoyed a delicious Chicken Tikka pizza and we all loved the some sort of lentil or chick pea masala dish that we enjoyed at Dar Es Salam compound. On the way back from the orphanage as I carried little two and a half year old Pando, the Sister that was escorting us attempted to teach me various words in Swahili but all I caught was Drizz (Banana), Karibou sana (welcome very much), Quahari(bye), I am certain that I did not spell any of those words right but it is what they sound like when you pronounce them or attempt to like me :) Starting a new day today had french toast with Nutella, no one is starving here although some of us have a hard time drinking the water as it has an acquired taste.

Mario

This little boy made my day. He lives at the Ursaline Sister Orphanage. His name is Mario. He is amoung the 50 children living there with Aids. They live here year round except for the two weeks out of the year where they are sent back to their families to restore their connection. I was overwhelmed with the amount of joy this child has. Every time the flash of a camera went off he would turn towards the light with a huge grin on his face. I am so thankful to have been able to contribute to this amazing place. I cannot wait to return and see my little boy again ❤️ 

Katelyne Bohman

The Compound and the Village of Joy

The CPPS compound we are staying at is quite large compared to the one in Dar es Saalam. Approximately 25 acres.  This includes Bro's and Fr. Tim's house, the guesthouse, two windmill wells, a garage, an office building, a workers building, the windmill factory where most of the parts to the windmill are made; two schools, one elementary, one a high school; a soccer field, a barn and a field for cows, a kennel, and a large garden. There is a chapel inside the guesthouse where mass is said at 6:30.
Yesterday we went to the Ursaline Sister Orphanage, The Village of Joy. We brought eight sacks of rice from the compound. Celine brought ball caps, Nina brought some Beenie Babies, Deanna and Jamie brought their One World Futbols, and I brought Saltwater Taffy. The Beenie Babies were handed out to the young ones who dragged them around for the rest of the day. The older kids immeadeatly began playing with the Futbols and we had a football match going in moments. A language barrier exists but soccer is the true universal language. After the game, and my goodness these kids had some moves, we had the opportunity to listen to the children make music. There was one boy, Francesco with a recorder, and the other childern played on drums. The drums looked as if they had been made out of old oil drums, but it didn't hurt the music. Then they sang songs the sisters had taught them in English including one of my personal favourites; If you're Happy and you Know It. Afterwards they busted a few moves to the rhythm of a drum and then we shared a snack. I had a chance to talk to some of the children who were learning English and I answered there questions about Canada and snow. Lots to see, lots to do.

Our day at the Village of Joy Ursaline Sisters Orphange

I hope you enjoyed your trip to Tanzania and everything is going well.  I am sure Brother Anthony was very welcoming.  I will be keeping in touch. See you at the end of the month!

+ Bishop Albert Thévenot, M. Afr.

Dodoma

We arrived yesterday at the compound in Dodoma. Let me first describe the trip. As we left Dar Ed Saalam, were the driving skill level has not improved, I was struck at just how many people there were. They are everywhere, cooking, cleaning, walking, visiting, waving at the truck of Canadians going through there part of town. And the different types of clothing was neat to see. There were people in casual western jeans and t-shirts, both men and women; traditional African wear; Islamic clothing; men in business suits and the odd person going around naked. The trip was amazing as well.   We went from the husstle and bustle of a huge city to a country road in the blink of an eye. It is a tropical jungle near the Indian Ocean and the foliage was thick and dense with a wide variety of trees and shrubs. Then we climbed into the mountains and the terrain became like a  savanna. Then as we climbed higher it became a desert. Dodoma is in the middle of the country but there is little surface water. The wadi's are very interesting too.

Just figured out your supposed title....so this is my title

Hey everyone! I am the third member of this awesome mission team to be taught/figure out how to post on this blog. Soon this wonderful knowledge that I have gained will be shared to everyone so that all our interesting missionary stories will be share to you all! Today we went to the beach to recover from our wonderful journey. it was very enjoyable and Jamie and I chased a sand crab and almost caught. for some odd reason Tanzanian Crows love Roxanne, she did not return there affection and they left a gift on her towel for her. We have been inside this computer room for less than 20 min and it went from bright afternoon sunshine to sunset darkness, so I leave you all to wondering what are they doing in Africa. :)

Amsterdam Airport

We're across the Atlantic. Happy Canada Day! There are wooden shoes and tulips aplenty. The excitement is slowing turning into jetlag. We met some people on the plane who are also flying on our next flight. They are youth volunteering as math teachers in Tanzania. Pray for us. The most painful flight is coming up. Eleven hours! We're on our way Vanessa.

Dar es Saalam

Hello, sorry for the delay, since my last post. Would you believe you have to pay for wifi in the Amsterdam airport. Anyhoo our trans-atlantic flight went well, and the flight from Amsterdam to Dar was long, but I slept most of the way. Danica says I was crossing on to her seat in my sleep but she doesn't have any photographic evidence so who knows for sure! The airport into Dar es Saalam was what I expected, there was that yellow tinge from years of cigarette smoke on the ceiling. and when we got into the main customs room the first thing I noticed was the smell. It was a dirty smell; dried urine, tobacco and body odour. Another thing I noticed was in France the airport was patrolled by soldiers with automatic weapons, the soldiers here carried long black batons. after we went through customs, we met Brother Anthony who led us to an army truck (i'll try to load pictures in the next couple days) and Paulo (our driver) and I loaded the luggage. Let me say this now, everyone (but yours truly of course) overpacked! I'm surprised the planes made it of the ground. oh yeah, i'll also mention this, no one lost any luggage. In fact the service on KLM was great. I particularly enjoyed a complimentary glass (in actual glasses) of red wine... for nerves of course.
Any way travelling in the truck to the compound was an adventure. Many of you have no doubt heard me complain of saskatchewan drivers, well... I now have a new low standard. the motorcyclists outnumber the cars three to one and zip through traffic like nobody's business. There are trenches on either side of the  highway to collect rainwater. and past the trenches are people gathered around little fires though the temperature is in the 20's, they are actually using it for cooking. Driving down the highway the smells hit you again sewage, pork, eggs, fish and people are out and talking and jaywalking like its going out of style. the compound we are temporarily staying at has a gate and the first time we go through it four or five german shepard mutts are barking at us and the girls are saying "Oooo Puppies!" we had a little bread and then went to sleep. I crashed under my mosquito net, which brings to mind the the curtains that draped a royal bed. I slept for eight hours, the jetlag not too bad. but in the girls cabin nobody went to sleep until Katelyne had killed every jumping spider in the room. This morning we had breakfast, toast and a juice made from hyacinth flowers, the tea is fresh and really great! Today is a lazy day as we recover from our jetlag. We went to the Indian ocean and some of us swam a bit. I sampled a local beer and it was very tasty. For those who are curious the legal drinking age here is 18.
Tomorrow we drive to Dodoma, I am excited and filled with a eagerness to get to work. We are Christ's workers and we are ready to work for his glory here. Pray for us.
 Wifi is sketchy here so bear with me if my next post isn't for a couple of days.
Mathew

Minneapolis Airport

We are one step closer to Tanzania! We've crossed into the US and are waiting are flight to Amsterdam. Celine and the Richards' got some shut eye on the airplane but I was too excited. There was a little excitement getting on board in Saskatoon. Jamie and Roxanne were asked to partake in a random search. Pray for us! The group is excited and nervous and tired and forming run on sentences.  

1 day 6 hours 36 minutes until...

In 1 day 6 hours and 36 minutes I will be with the Mission Team in Tanzania. For the past 16 days I have been in Nairobi, Kenya visiting my family. I have had such an amazing time with them and enjoyed every moment spent with them. It has been 3 years since I was last here and not many things have changed apart my little cousins, there are not so little anymore. My first days here where spent sleeping due to the jet lag and time difference, but once that was over I started to really enjoy everything. Africa is a place like no other, it is very unpredictable. Walking or driving down the streets you see cows chickens and goats roaming around. The other day as I was walking up the hill to go home with my aunty 2 cows were following us. I thought is was so cool at first until they started to got closer to us, but eventually they turned around down the hill. Also the food is so fresh which makes you want to eat lots. My favourite are the mini bananas they are so sweet and delicious, I can eat so many in one sitting oh and the meat is just scrumptious. My favourite places in Kenya are, my uncle home and the market. Being with my family brings me so much joy and only meeting them 2 times in my life we have so much to learn about each other and in the market they're so much things to see and buy and here you can bargain almost anything in the streets, but I notice for us foreigners everything is almost doubled. I have had a great time here with my family and I will miss them dearly but it is time to bring water to Tanzania. Preparing for this mission trip was kinda difficult even though I was born in Africa, my way of thinking, living and my body is all Canadian. I had a lot of guidance from my family and friends. The most difficult part for me was packing. I wanted to bring everything but I was constantly reminded that I could buy things there, once that was done I was Ready for a journey of a life time. My greatest hopes for this Mission trip are to be able to share and grow in my faith, help provide clean drinking water, bring hope to Tanzania and lastly my greatest hope is that  God opens my eyes to new avenues of services for him. 

Saskatoon Airport

Well, we're here. At the airport. A little groggy, a lot tired. Nina is sprawled out on the airport floor. We're saying goodbye to our loved ones and I'm on my phone blogging. It's exciting! It's delicious (our last timmies for six plus weeks) and we are ready to go. I love you mom. Minneapolis here we come!

Things I'll miss

Well the plane leaves tomorrow and I am so excited I can hardly form complete sentences. With that in mind bear with me as I list the top ten things I will miss in Canada.
1) My Mom
2) Everyone Else
3) Going up to Bosco
4) Canoeing
5) Fresh Pickerel (walleye)
6) Dad's Cookies
7) Mass at Sacred Heart Cathedral
8) My library of books
9) Apple/Rhubarb Crisp
10) Playing Catan or Axis and Allies

I'll make sure that I post something early tomorrow. It is frantic in the house as we scramble to get ready.

New Adventures...

I know I'm excited. Today is my last day at the COOP. Then its full time packing and preparing for university. As many of you know my folks have sold there home so I need to pack, not just for Africa but for school afterwards too. Life is full of adventures, and this Mission Trip is one of my coolest for sure.
In Africa I'll continue my vocational discernment. Serving the Lord among the poor, the thirsty, and the hungry. This is an awesome opportunity for me to do my duty to God. There is a need and our team can help fill it. This is about living Christianity, loving our neighbours as ourselves. Sharing the suffering of others. Through the sweat of hard work we will make the lives of others better and I'm sure our lives will be made better in return.

Mathew

One Week until Departure

Well the Prince Albert Diocese Mission Team has one week till departure and I for one, am incredibly excited. We leave Saskatoon Airport early on the 30th and that is the part I am least looking forward too. The flying. I know that it is supposedly safer than driving... but I don't like the take-off, or the landing, or the part when the landing gear enters and exits the plane. Anyway who wants to read about a fear of flying. The team is getting ready. Last Friday we gathered at the renovated Sacred Heart Cathedral for the 100th anniversary and received a blessing from His Excellency, Bishop Thevenot. And now we're packing. I know that in my house there have been debates on what to bring. My father, for example, thinks I should pack several pairs of wool socks. Though I acknowledge that they repel water and are static resistant, they are also much warmer than cotton socks, and that is a pretty big consideration since it is Tanzania and not Tibet. I'll probably pack a pair or two, but there is no way I am stuffing my suitcase with wool socks. Besides socks, I'm also packing One World Futbols courtesy of the Johnsons, whose suitcases I hear are bursting at the brim with socks.

So my writing style goes from fear of flying to socks...

Since this is the first post maybe a bit of background information would be a good idea. Two years ago our group through the suggestion and guidance of the Diocese of Prince Albert began meeting and raising funds for a well project with the Missionaries of the Precious Blood. We had a variety of events that were well attended including a gala dinner a starvathon and a St Patrick's Day dance. Though there was some stress at the raising of the funds and a bit of worry as the size of our group dropped from twenty to twelve and again to ten, we persevered. Many thanks are due to Warren Dungen and Kayleigh Skomorowski for the leadership they provided though sadly both were unable to join us for our trip. We pulled through. And now fortified with the Bishop's blessing we prepare to fulfill our mission.

Please pray for us as we prepare.

Mathew Derworiz