extremes

After over a year without any measurable precipitation causing the worst drought some say since 1965, we are getting RAIN!

The water fills the ditches that that have been empty since we arrived along the drive through the training center.

It is interesting to see how dry and dusty and brown it can be and then in a matter of days how green and wet and flooded this land can get.

At times we get so much rain so fast that our roads become like rivers with the sounds of rushing muddy water outside our back door.

Here are some of the staff, trying to stay dry during one of the many down pours we have seen. And they are decked out in new rain gear-thank you Jim.

We don't pray for it to stop, but it could slow down a bit.

what's new

Kids are busy running around the center- playing and learning and having fun. Each day they are off to the preschool where they learn numbers and letters in English, play games and sing songs, and work with new things like play dough and bubbles. All this preparing them for government schools at age 7.

Rain has started, how wonderful is the smell and sound of it. And what beautiful things come with it, like my favorite flower the lily.

Mama's are helping prepare the food on a Saturday, peeling banana's they boil like potatoes and use in a stew. You need a lot of prep when you are cooking for 14 students, 17 kids, 10 center staff, and 4 or more school staff each day. Can you imagine doing that over an open fire?

And this week we are moving into our first Rondovel. It is the first of several housing facilities planned for guests and teams and interns and single missionaries. Ron is excited to see his first project going from start to finish done and used by his mother-in-law in about 10 days.

Much to be thankful for as we head into Thanksgiving but here school carries on.

cement floors

Our Tanzanian home has a cement floor. Yes, that grey mottled looking cement. Throw down a few rugs and I don't even notice it. The 4 steps out our back door on the way to the outside bathroom are also that smooth cement. It is easy to sweep and you don't really notice the dirt and dust so much. So basicly I like them.

But when it gets wet, look out. This morning Ron had his first scare. After a misty day break he was on his way out and down he went. I am talking about hard cement steps. At first you don't know what happened, and then you begin to survey the damage for broken bones, and finally you realize how sore you will be the next day. Thankfully no major injuries. I have had 2 accidents so far, also without any trips to the hospital.

And the inside of the house is the same way. African women are amazing in how they are able to work so hard, including mop floors with a rag in their hands while bending at the waist. They don't like mops and no squatting down or kneeling for them. But I have seen them go down on the wet floors too. Yikes!

I like them, but they are scary. It sure causes me to slow down, which is making me very African!

power

I am trying to get this post written before our power goes out. Today is an off day. So was last night, and Wednesday night and all day Friday. We are on what they call a 'load shedding schedule' with our electricity. I also need to get busy and make coffee for Ron. Tanesco, our electric company doesn't always stick to the plan. But it has been amazingly close for the last week. Following a plan is usually not the African way. We have a generator we can get going which is loud, takes gas (at $1 a liter or $4 a gallon) and does not have enough power to run everything. But it helps. Something I never did in the US, plan for when we have electricity. No laundry today, no hot water today, and no Internet in about an hour unless we crank up the generator for a bit.

Lots of people here don't even have electricity, so no problems for them.

Just another thing for me to think about as I start my day.