Pure Happiness

I would like to start off my apologizing for not posting in a long time! On Saturday I went into town to get on the internet and of course the power was out:) So here I am now. Time has flown by, and now I leave on Monday! So many wonderful things have happened since I have last updated, I hope I can write them all down. I think I will just start telling stories and maybe that will spark some other stories and I can recall everything.

Let's start with last week when I helped Sister Dorie, who is only 7 months older than me, milk the cows and collect the eggs from the chicken coop. We walked into the barn, and pulled out the bench and started milking those cows, in our skirts and everything. Lucky for Sister Dorie she had barn boots, me I had my flip flops:) So that was an adventure in itself. Now I know what my Dad felt like when he had to milk his cows by hand all those years. Not so fun! They milk the two cows twice a day so the precious babies have their milk to drink! Then we opened up the chicken coop to collect the eggs, we found four. And then the chickens started fighting,and I swore they were coming after me, so I ran out of there screaming...Yes it was quite the sight! Sister Dorie and I have become very close, and she leaves tomorrow to go home for her niece's birthday and won't be back until after I leave! She gave me the other half of her corn khanga, and I love it very much. I will explain to you what khangas are later, but essentially they are pieces of material with various patterns on them. That is all the women in the village wear, and they wrap them selves up with them for clothing.

This past weekend I went to a wedding reception and a graduation. They were both fun and I got some good pictures that you will get to see once I get home. I went to the wedding with two of my friends who are sisters, not SISTERS that I live with. I didn't have a dress to wear so Glory let me borrow one of hers. Yes I was the only white girl in attendance. But the venue was beautiful, and I got a handkerchief as a souvenir.

I am absolutely in love with my 2 year olds and my sisters at the orphanage. The children are so full of love and personality I have enjoyed so much watching them grown over the last 3 months. At 7pm we have church every night, the sisters kindly invite me:) and then we eat and watch random tv and it is the highlight of my day. I am going to miss their love and warm smiles! We have a wonderful time together everyday doing all of the various duties around the orphanage! It is great!

And so now I leave in one week and they want me to stay longer! haha. I said i miss my home and family i need to go. And Sister Aileen said, isn't this a home to you. Yes of course it is, but I do miss America:) Anyway...There is so much to tell and I would love to write for 5 hours about everything but I just don't have the time.

One week I will be home! Crazy. Thank you for the support love and prayers. It is in the high 80's everyday here and when I get home I am expecting there to be snow:) I think 6 months of summer is long enough! Have a great week! I will be enjoying my final few days with my African family:)

God Bless <3

Teacher Molly...

This past week I spent most of my time at the orphanage:) It was wonderful. I am finding that more and more I hate being anywhere else besides there with the children. Everymorning the children are so happy to see me. I have never been in such an invironment where day in and day out people are just so full of joy and glad that you are there serving along side of them. The sisters and I are growing closer and closer. We even have some inside jokes, which is great because of the language barrier. Speaking of that on Thursday night the power went out just as I was finishing my last bite of food. So Sister Niarou lit a candle and they all started giggling in their swahili manorisms. So they thought it was a perfect time for me to teach them some English words. Teacher Molly is now my new title. They pointed to varios things around the candle lit room and asked what they were in english. It was quite entertaining to say the least. They learned the word cupboard, chimney, table cover, and tea with milk. Then for some reason they started all giggling when they started refering to chai as ginger tea. And Sister Dorie promised that she would make some ginger tea last night, and when she forgot they all started laughing and she was saying sorry i forgot about the ginger tea. Which was hilarious because it was akward for her to speak english like that, and everyone got a good kick out of it. I guess maybe you had to be there:)

The 2 year olds are doing wonderful. Everyday this week I found by five pm i was covered in dirt, sweat, pee, and who knows what else. They all have runny noses, so i helped clean off Georgies boogers and he said "asante mama" which means thank you...i about died in laughter:) It was a very exhausting week, but very rewarding as well. I only have 3 more weeks with the children! Wow! This weekend I plan on enjoying some relaxing time with friends, venturing out to some hot springs, and going to church tomorrow. The time is just ticking away and I will be home in no time I feel!

Thank you for all of the love, support and prayers. I miss you all! Have a wonderful weekend!

L.O.V.E.

Mother Teresa once said "We can do no great things, just small things with great love. It is not how much you do, but how much love you put into doing it." Lately I feel like I haven't been doing big, great things. But then I am kindly reminded that loving matters just as much if not more, when you are taking part in anything.

I will give you all various stories about my week:
Monday morning I went to town and went to my first bakery in Africa, it smelled so delicious. When I returned to the orphanage, momma Beatrice left around 3pm, which left Sister Grace and I in charge of the two year old house. Complete chaos soon took over:) After bath time, sister grace was mopping and then she disappeared for a good 20 minutes, i thought she was preparing the children's dinner, but no such luck. So they began getting antsy on the potty, and i wasn't sure what to do. I finally found her, and by time dinner was ready they were very crabby, and pretty soon food was flying and they were peeing on me and themselves. I just had to laugh:) Needless to say I took my shower before I ate dinner that night.

Tuesday I spent all day with the children. In the morning I took off the 2 year olds sweaters because it was starting to warm up, and Hermini had bit of a temper tantrum. After I took his sweater off he preceded to take his pants and underwear off, took off screaming down the lawn and threw them over the side of the retaining wall. It was soo funny:) Then later he threw his shoes over the side of the retaining wall again, and I grabbed his little hand, walked him down to pick them up, and brought him back sat him down and put his shoes on. He looked down and said "Asante (thank you) Momma Molly" Precious. Then Sam was sucking on his toe while sitting on the "merry go round" toy, so I removed his little foot and a rock fell out of his pants, and dropped right on my foot. Yup, left a bruise. Ha, silly kids. I shared my chocolate bar with sister dorie and jennifer. They were preparing dinner and sister jennifer held up a cucumber and asked how to say it in english. I said cucumber and she said that is the same as a cup....which is actually cucumbe in swahili. ha.

Wednesday, while i was walking up to school, Brenda was waiting with her sister to catch a ride up the hill. I said i was walking to school, and asked if she wanted me to take her, she said yes, i am a complete stranger mind you. So five minutes after walking a car with a family headed up to school stopped and offered us a ride, i was meeting ariel, so i put little brenda in the car and off they went up to school...You don't see that happening in America either! Then up at school, the pre-one class was doing the B-I-B-L-E song, and when it came time for the child that was holding the L sign to say L....NONE OF THEM could do it. Ha teacher Hilda went through probably 8 students before one could finally say L. During lunch it down poured rain...so classes were canceled after lunch due to the rain and mud. Don't see that happen in America. Wednesday evening I asked pastor urio if we were expecting any new children. He said, "we hope to god no, but if they do come, we are ready with loving arms to welcome them." Well duh Molly, who wishes children to become orphans and move into and orphanage....Blonde moment for me:)

On Thursday the two year olds were carrying around their green wash tub and saying "carry carry, in swahili" they were using team work, it was so cute. They didn't like it when I set one of the kids in the bucket...then they couldn't pick it up:) I finished thursday out feeding the babies their poragde before they went to bed, and I immediately was covered in their food...as usual:)

Friday, I helped administer tests to standard three, so they can continue to receive curriculum from America. They needed to see how much they have learned this quarter. So they were tested over reading,math,science, and social studies. It was interesting.

Well I have one month left in Tanzania! I feel like I have become bilingual, and when I try and speak English at the orphanage, I just feel dumb:) It doesn't feel right...so now watch I come home and all i speak is swahili!

There is no safer place to be than in the hands of God. I remind myself of that daily:) Fourth quarter begins now, these last days are more important than the first days. I need to finish this trip out strong and make the most of every moment!

Thanks for the prayers and support! I will be home in one month:)

Five Weeks Left!

Sorry I haven't updates in over two weeks! I have been on my Safari and touring around with a group from Nebraska! My journey is half way over now! There are so many mixed emotions, and not sure that I actually process things that are happening over here. Everyday I have a routine and I don't think much about stuff anymore. Just waking up, seeing the sisters and loving on those babies! I have seen so many things since I have been here and even in the last two weeks that it is almost impossible to write everything down! As of today I have 37 days left in Africa...sometimes I feel that is a lot sometimes I wonder where the time has gone. I have enjoyed myself very much, and have enjoyed learning so much about this culture. I know for sure when I get back to Nebraska I am going to be hit hard with the pace of life again! Everything is so slow and laid back here. It is a nice retreat once in a while, but for the most part I enjoy staying busy!

When I was gone on my Safari, 3 of the oldest babies moved up to the two year old house! They are adjusting well, and I am glad to see them being able to be outside more and start to become potty trained! Yesterday I was feeding Elizabetty and once she was finished I told her to go sit on the potty. Well little did I know that when I looked down she already had, and she peed all over my feet:) Haha, it made me smile. She is so darn cute. There has been a lizard in my bathroom and bedroom the last few days, he hasn't gotten the point that we aren't real friends and that he should live outside with his family. The toucans and monkeys continue to frequent the area outside my window, and the 3 year olds continue to wake up at 5:45am everyday:)

My momma Africa, sister Julie is at her home for 4 weeks to spend time with her father! So I will miss her greatly. Once she returns I will only have 10 days left at the orphanage. The sisters get one leave a year, and they can go home for 1 month.

I try to keep busy during the week splitting my time between the orphanage and the primary school. I am trying to enjoy every single day, and see what God has in store for me, I don't want to miss any thing. On the other hand I miss home greatly, and can't wait to see everyone!

Thanks for the prayers and support! Please pray for endurance and strength, and that I stay safe and healthy this last stretch:) Can't wait to share pictures and more stories with everyone when I get home! Have a great Saturday.

<3>

Updates from Africa

Hello my faithful blog followers! It has been quite the week. Pastor Martin Russell has been in Tanzania visiting, he is the man that helped me set my trip up! He has invited me to random places this week, and i have seen a lot more of Tanzania because of it:) On Monday we went to a Maasi congregation church. The choir was so wonderful, and we were treated with great gifts when we left. On Tuesday we went and visited a school, and it is located on a very beautiful part of the mountain! On Thursday we went and saw a water well that was built by the Northern Diocese in a village that needed it so very badly. It was very hot and dry out there in Checkereni! I got some sunshine that day. On the way back to Moshi we stopped and saw some caves. Workers used to work there for $1 a day carrying bricks out of the caved on their head up very steep inclines. I got some pictures that you all can see when I get home!

Monday I leave for my Safari to Ngorogoro Crater and the Serengeti. I am sure that I will have lots to report when I return! I am looking forward to seeing all of the wonderful animals and that part of this country!

Now an update from the Orphanage! Things are going so wonderfully. The 2 year old house has finally learned my name, and they chant it throughout the day whether I am around or not. They are absolutely precious! My favorite time of the day is when I get to help with bath time and then help feed them dinner! I am learning to laugh a lot more and to just got with the flow of two years olds. Everynight before I go eat my dinner, I have been going in and saying goodnight to them. Last night they were all sitting on their potties eating suckers and just loving life. It was such a wonderful moment:) The 13 of them truly love each other like brother and sisters. If one is sad someone is right there to rub their back. If one of them is falling behind the others sure enough someone will go and grab their hand and help them along. Of course they fight like all 2 year olds do, but they are just so darn cute! They are showing me such a great example of love and kindness.

The sisters are wonderful and take very very good care of me:) They are always so full of joy and laughter that it is contagious! So whenever I am home sick or not feeling that well, it is easy to get cheered back up if you hang around these ladies for a little while!

And lastly I will leave you with this, on the dala dala into town this morning, i was sitting in the back and they opened the trunk to put in a bag and a chicken flies out and goes between my feet and rides under the seat ahead of me for the rest of the trip...priceless.

Only in Africa! Thank you so much for the support and prayers. I will update again when I am back from Safari! God Bless.

Love Molly

Hadzabe Tribe

I just returned from a visit to the Hadzabe tribe in Karatu, TZ. It is about a 5 to 6 hour drive from Moshi. I went with Martin Russell who helped me set up my Africa trip. He is out for a visit until the 10th of October. We left Moshi on Thursday, drove to Karatu, got to the Crater Rim View Hotel and ate dinner and went to sleep. We left Friday morning at 6:30 am to travel to this tribe. They are a bushmen tribe that travel to knew "homes" about every month. They completely live off of the land. You all can see pictures when I get back! When we got there we greeted each other with handshakes and smiles. They were such welcoming people. The men were sitting around a circle smoking basically marijuana while the woman were in their spot making jewelery out out of various materials found on the land. The children were playing with each other just like normal children do. The kids were so dusty, but absolutely beautiful! So about 10 minutes after we got there, Martin says we are going hunting with two of the men. So off we went, trecking through the land, following these two Hadzabe hunters. It was Martin, our guide, our driver Yusuph and myself. Totally wore the wrong thing, I had on flip flops and capri's, I could have used boots and jeans. I got tripped by some thorns and various plants, everything was so prickely!

We probably covered two miles in 1hour 15 minutes. The hunters were so swift navigating through the shrubs haha. I was stumbling behind. They hunt with bow and arrows and they have their knifes. About 40 minutes into this adventure the one caught a squirrel and climbed up the tree to retrieve it. We went to a place where there was more shade and they started making a fire by rubbing sticks together and using dry wood. Sure enough there was a fire in a few minutes and they plopped that little squirrel right down on it and started cooking him. (don't worry I got it all on video!) The squirrel was on it's back and then after some point they ripped off the legs, pulled out the guts, split it in half and started cooking it some more. They ate alllll of it. The head, the bones, everything, besides the intestines! It was crazy! And then they put the fire out and off we went back to their base camp, where the rest of the men were still smoking...They have a hard life, but they make it easier by smoking haha. When we got back the men and the boys started target practicing with theirs bows. Got that on tape too! The women and children were so beautiful! It was quite the site.

Then we headed out, stopped at a "park" for out boxed lunch, which consisted of, bread and butter, fried chicken, a crepe, hard boiled egg, chocolate, and apple juice. We stopped and saw another tribe on the way back, who live in huts and then men make things out of metal. On the way home we stopped at a Tented Hotel. A luxury tent hotel, with an in ground pool and all. The tent have bathrooms off of them and a huge restaurant at the hotel. While we were sitting at the pool having a coke, monkeys were running by, no big deal! Then we headed back to our hotel for the night, and left for Moshi this morning, and returned around 1:00pm. It was a great trip!

I will be going on my Safari to the Serengeti on October 11th! I am looking forward to seeing more of Tanzania! But for now I am back up to the orphanage seeing my babies! They are so sweet, and I have missed them in the last two days.

Thanks for the support and prayers. Hope you all have a great Saturday, and talk to you soon!

No Hurry, No Worries...

No hurry and no worries describes Tanzania to a T. Last night I was thinking, I have only been here a month, have I learned anything yet, or are there somethings that I want to take home and apply to my every day life in Nebraska. Well the answer is yes. At home it seems like I am ALWAYS in a hurry, running back and forth between places, always having something to do. I like to add un needed stress to my life, Quenton can attest to that. It seems like I am constantly worried about something back home, or trying to plan and micro manage everything. WELL since being here, I have come to find out that that way of life is not entirely necessary.

I know that there is a huge difference between living in Africa and America, but some of the basic principles still apply. People over here have amazing faith and thank God for everything. Even though some of them barely have a roof over their head, they still enjoy life and are happy and content. They thank God for blessing them and helping them to survive another day. Going into town you see many people walking hand in hand, or taking a nap on the side of the road, soaking up the sunshine. People are always happy over here and never in a hurry. They don't worry about day to day hardships, they just work hard and trust that everything will fall into place:)

The people of Tanzania have been a big inspiration for me so far...( well not the ones that constantly shout "mzungu"-white person- or the ones that make kissy noises or ask me to give them their money, those people just frustrate me:) ) But the people who barely have anything to their name but are so full of joy and love and hospitality, they are teaching me a lot. For instance, when I get home I am going to make a true effort to sloooow down. There is no need for me to be running my self ragged day in and day out, and trying to plan things, and micro manage things. I need to give all of my worries, trials, and concerns to God, and trust that he will help me through it all. In America we have so much, yet so many of us are unhappy. And that is truly because we are spoiled. I feel that it is necessary to humble yourselves and live among the least of these, to truly experience what joy is about. My first month has been full or emotions of joy, sadness, and just plain being overwhelmed:) But I can tell that God is working in me and helping me to become the women that I am supposed to be. He is helping me become more relient on him, and helping me to focus on the joys of the day instead of the sorrows.

I have two months left, and I can't wait to see what else is in store and to see how God will use me:) And now I will leave you with a funny story....

A few days ago I was outside with the two year olds and Hermici was hugging Sister Nirou around the legs. All of a sudden he starts to pee (they are potty training and don't wear diapers) and I grabbed Sister Nirou's arm and said "Look out, he is peeing!" And she sighed, with a big smile on her face and said "Nimeshiba, hakuna matata!" Which means, he is satisfied, no worries. I about died laughing. It was one of the top ten moments here so far. Next in line to eating homemade pizza for dinner with the sisters and watching a comedy show in Swahili on TV with them:) Priceless.

Thank you for the prayers and the wonderful messages! Have a great Tuesday.

Love Molly