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