OUR DAYS

So here we are at Havilah Village and we’ve committed ourselves to at least 5 months here, possibly longer if we extend our stay in Tanzania. I think I change my mind on weather or not I want to stay longer at least four times a day. There are times when the children are outside playing and are happy, the weather is nice, our chores are complete, and Emily & I can sit on the porch and enjoy the life we have here, sharing the blessing of parenting ten children. And other times we are pulling our hair out not able to keep a child from screaming her head off at night and not telling us what’s wrong. We try to have grace for the children at these moments, not knowing what backgrounds they have come from, but it can be very difficult. Our savior is Rhoda, the house mother. She is a good mother to the children; they love her and she them. And to our amazement, the children listen to her. We tell the children to go to bed and be quiet and they are running around like banshees. Rhoda tells them the same thing and they are as quiet as mice. It makes us question our fitness as parents and can be downright frustrating and demoralizing. In reality rearing children is very different in America than it is here, and our expectations of the children do not necessarily agree with how they have been taught thus far in life. It is a good learning experience for all of us.

And when we are not wrapped up in what the children are doing, it usually involves having to deal with the adults in Tanzania. As white folks, we attract a lot of attention, both good and bad. Most people want us to buy something from them or just give them money or gifts. At least a few times a week someone asks us to pay for school fees, either for their children or their own university classes. We know everyone has their own cause to support, but it is difficult for us to feel much sympathy for a 23 year old student who comes by saying “Woe is me, no one will pay for my school fees. Whatever shall I do?” How about working and saving money? Not to say that it is easy to find stable work here, but the attitude of sitting around waiting for someone to pay your way goes against the work ethic Emily & I were raised with. If a person is going to succeed, if this country is going to succeed, it is necessary for everyone to be more innovative and motivated. But of course there are many people here who are straightforward and good hearted. Unfortunately these are not always the people rushing up to us trying to become “friends.”

And finally, I never thought I would come to Tanzania and care for chickens, but recently Emily bought three chickens for the house. I’ve taken on the responsibility of fixing up the chicken coup ("house of chicken" as Baraka calls it), complete with doors and chicken wire windows, making beds with wood shavings, and buying good food (dried fish and ground maize) for them. So far we have gotten four eggs. Yum! My latest efforts are to try to train the chickens to lay their eggs inside the chicken coup rather than around the yard where we have to hunt for them and to get them to go into their house in the evening. Currently the later task involves me chasing (herding) them around for five or ten minutes. Like many things we do here, I’m going completely overboard fussing about the chickens while the locals sit back and laugh at me. Good times.

Ned