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