More on P640

Just a reminder--P640 has their own blog where you can read about their experiences and adventures volunteering for PHF. Read and see more here but you may have to be a little patient--they are currently sunning Zanzibar for a couple more days!







In the meantime, you can see what they've accomplished, and it's a lot! The herb garden is HUGE and beautiful and the firepit will be greatly enjoyed by so many groups to come.

Of course, I would hate to give the impression that hard back-breaking work was all that this group did. One thing this group know how to do, in addition to raising money and working hard, is having FUN! IN addition to the usual fun of cooling off at the pool or a good meal iwth friends, there was also cultural entertainment. Our Masaai friends came from Eluai (the village I had visited and posted on previously) to do a little singing and dancing for us one evening. They were kind enough to let us all join in, too!

There are other kinds of Tanzanian music, too, that we sampled as well. Again, participating was not mandatory, but this group definitely knows how to have a good time!

There was more work, a trip to a couple other Tanzanian secondary schools to see how things work and what we may have to deal with or measure up to in our own future, and finally...

The end result! The final pics don't do justice to the amount of work that these 11 volunteers did. You'll just have to come and see for yourself. What the pictures can never show, though, are the friendships that are built and the change that takes place when someone comes on this adventure. No matter what their past experiences, each member of this group took a risk to come here in some way or another. To repeat what Isaya, our landscaper said, "You can never lose by helping an orphan." Eleven more people know exactly what he means after this week.

Happy Birthday to 2 out of 3!

Happy 5th birthday, Ava! I love birthdays here--they are, like so many other aspects of life, laid back and lowkey. The kids have adjusted, too--yes, they expect a "real" present (but notice that I didn't use the plural) and a party, but are content with so much less. It's great.

Ava loved her horses, stuffed animals, earrings, and lip gloss. Very girly, huh? Her grammy sent her a new corral for her ponies (some of which now sport prosthetic toothpick legs) and Noah couldn't wait for her to finish so they could start playing. That's Noah for you--he's as excited about everyone else's birthday as he is about his own. Even Cameron got into the act--helpfully test-driving the lip gloss to make sure it was safe!

Here's the birthday girl. With her less curly but still beautiful hair she does look much older!
They are all patiently waiting for me to find a spot in my schedule for their friend party. All of them want a pool party and Noah/Cameron will be having theirs at the same time, so that will (hopefully) make things easier for me!
And no, we didn't forget Noah's birthday last week. We just didn't get any good pics that turned out. This was the best of the bunch. The O'Neils, formerly of Golden Valley, now in Dar es Salaam, were passing back through from Nairobi and stopped to celebrate with cake, new lego sets, and candy! So HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY NOAH!

Evidence of Fun?

One kid.

One bath.

One heck of a lot of dirt.

Yuck.

Hey, CAMERON!

WHATCHA LOOKIN' AT?!

Oh. Wow!

Wanna Volunteer?

C'mon, of course you do! Look at these guys...don't they look like they're having fun? They are Project 640--mostly from Chicago with a few Minnesotans thrown in. They are huge supporters of PHF and this is their 2nd trip to Tanzania to give us a big hand.

Living here in Tanzania so many things have become routine. The frustrations of life which, let's face it, are present no matter where you live, our daily routines, etc. are all chronicled here in our blog. Even though we feel blessed every day to be living and working here, it's "life" for us much of the time. So when volunteers or visitors show up, they provide

a wonderfully positive shot of enthusiasm. We get to see the work in progress through their fresh eyes and get renewed by their energy and support. And I think anyone would be hard pressed to be more enthusiastic and positive than this group! When they arrived last February, Tanzania had missed its long rains and was in a drought. Everything was baked brown--the wind blew red dust everywhere. There was no grass, no trees, no buildings--just a bunch of people who believed enough to come over and do something. They built the banda, they planted trees--they made a difference.

This week they see buildings with roofs. They see the start of roads. They see grass and 26,000 new trees planted. They see their little seedlings standing 8-9 feet tall in just one year. They eat lunch and relax in the cool shade of the banda. They step out and pick up shovels and hoes and rakes and blocks and build a garden and a firepit that will bless our students and volunteers for years to come. In their spare time, they shop, eat, laugh, dance...you name it!

Of course, there are those people behind the scenes that make these adventures happen. Paula, perpetually upbeat and positive tour guide/cheerleader/motivator gives 110% to planning and organizing--it's just not possible to be cranky or down around her! Bodil and Isaya designed the herb garden and did all the work of planning, budgeting, requisitioning, and

organizing the materials and additional workers for the week. As a result we will have a beautiful garden full of delicious herbs to cook with and one that adds so much to the beauty of the site. The firepit sits just down the hill from the volunteer housing, so secluded feeling that you'll believe you're relaxing out in the bush when you kick back and watch the sunset. The end result is that everyone is enriched by their efforts--the students, the staff, the volunteers. As Isaya said, "No one loses when they help a child."

P640 does have their own blog here. Between the fun they are having and the internet issues we often face here, they are working to post their pics and their experience in their own words. Check in with them--they know what it's like to come and volunteer--I guarantee you'll be moved!

Note: As of today, P640 has not posted new pics to their blog. The pics you can see, however, are from their trip here last year at this same time. The long rains had been short, the short rains nonexistent, and this place was BAKED! What a difference this year!

Ni Endelea

...meaning "it continues." You can say it if you haven't gotten over a cold (which I haven't) and someone asks you how you are, or how your work is going, etc. Basically, things are going on as before. I haven't posted pics of construstion for awhile because it doesn't seem like much is happening--actually it is, but since all the walls are up and roofs on for the most part, the changes aren't as dramatic. But I got busy this week so here's your first 2007 look at PHA!

The classroom administration building is progressing. You can see it's in various stages! There are parts where they've begun to do some finishing work on the cement on the outside, and yet you can also see that there is A LOT of structural work still going on. I find the process often very random--wouldn't you get the building built and then begin doing that smoothing and finishing? But I guess not.

I would have thought that the big construction would be the most time-consuming part (digging and moving dirt, building walls) but word here is that the finishing takes just as long. Apparently the finesse and eye for detail and quality is hard to find here so lots of time work has to be taken down and redone, something that we do quite often here as well. It's frustrating, but then we're reassured by those who have done this that it's common when building here.


What it does mean is that someone (Mark/Max) have to constantly evaluate the work being done and check for consistency, integrity, and quality. Even the head guys that are supposed to check for these things are used to just "putting something up" and either don't recognize or pay attention to things like bulging ceilings or crooked doorways. The harder things to spot or keep up on include knowing if the concrete is being mixed correctly so that bricks (and the buildings) will last or if the rebar has been installed properly! Those require reports that sometimes don't come in on time--but the building goes on!

I know it's the classrooms that are where so much of the learning takes place, but I think the star building on site will always be the dining hall. The roofline and shape makes is stand out on campus--in fact, many visitors think it's a chapel. It will be that, too--and an auditorium, and a movie theatre, and dance hall, and whatever we need to do as a community. It's still a shell, raw on the inside, but the exterior is taking shape very nicely.

Some of you may remember we were going to be moving into our house onsite in February. Somehow I doubt it--there seems to be a few details left to finish! One of the most difficult things we've encountered in living and working (mostly working) here is the culture of deference to your superiors and saving face. When mistakes are made, people often avoid you (they don't show up, they "run out of minutes" or have phone "problems" that prevent them from being contacted) or they put their heads down and don't offer any explanations or reasons. If it's a supervisor, he will often call in someone else and berate them rudely and put the blame on that person, whether or not they are the cause. When a superior demands something, they agree to do it, even if they know they won't do it. In the face of deadlines, if something else comes up, even something that can be predicted, they deal with that thing first. It's hard to explain how many times we've been "burned" because we took what someone said as something that would actually happen, and then realize they never had any intention of doing it. I'm sure you can imagine how this comes across to our American eyes and ears, we who are used to receiving and delivering much more direct messages--that people are dishonest, or lazy, or liars. What we are learning is that it is often none of that--it is simply the way things are done here. It is the aspect of life that will burn you out so quickly if you decide to buck this system. We've tried rewarding people with extra money to do something on time or well (personally, not on the worksite) or deducting pay when someone is not performing, but neither works. People either will or they won't. It's that simple--simple, but not at all easy! And while we are getting much better personally at managing ourselves and our reactions and attitudes, it's very difficult to manage our American work deadlines and expectations with the reality of how people do work here. We often feel like we have to "make" something happen. We want to get down to the business of working with kids and teachers again, but we also want the school be built well and ready on time so we open well, too!
Project 640 arrived in Tanzania last night and will start 6 days of work at the site on Monday. Last year they were invaluable in getting our tree planting started (to date, we've planted over 26,000-that's right--acacia and other trees and almost 3,000 fruit trees!) and working on our beautiful banda. This year they will be tremendously helpful in continuing to process our library books donated by Books for Africa and working on a large herb garden. The herbs will be used to teach our students and cooks how to add different flavors to their food (I'm not saying Tanzanian food is bad, but it does tend to run to the very bland). It would also provide materials for potential future small entrepreneurial projects such as soap or candlemaking, or learning to use herbs for medicinal purposes. Plus it will look beautiful on our campus! P640 will also be visiting a program for adolescent street boys that teaches basic skills and literacy as well as two other Tanzanian secondary schools to get an idea of what education looks like here and how people are working to make a difference in the lives of children. Check back in the next week or so to see the fruits of their labors!

As always, we have deeply needed and appreciated your support of us personally and of the work PHF is doing. Deadlines may come and go, but we have relied on your prayers, words of encouragement, visits, and financial support more than you can know. Some of you have been supporters of PHF since its beginning and we know you are as anxious as we are to see the school welcome its first class. That day is coming! We know our efforts here will change the lives of the students that will attend and the teachers that will work with us and that gives us the light at the end of the tunnel of the difficult days!

A (kinda) New Face at PHA

Max Goodgame is not exactly new, since he's been working for us for a couple months. He and his wife arrived in Tanzania about the same time we did. Max was born in Kampala, Uganda in 1981 where his parents were Southern Baptist Medical Missionaries. Max is a third generation missionary in East Africa. He spent his first eight years there before moving to Friendswood, Texas. Max attended the University of Texas at Austin where he received his BS in Civil Engineering. While in Austin he met his wife Gina. Gina and Max were married on March 25, 2006 and moved to Arusha Tanzania on April 3, 2006. Gina is working with Young Life International. Young Life is a non-denominational ministry for high school aged teens. In Arusha Gina is working with the three international schools and Max volunteers on a regular basis.

Max is responsible for taking on a large share of working with the construction project and coordinating with Mark all the work that needs to be done. He will also be responsible for developing and overseeing maintenance schedules for the physical operations of the school. It is a job that was originally advertised for a Tanzanian and we interviewed 2 for the position, but neither possessed qualifications nor the level of commitment we felt was needed for this job. It was definitely not our initial intent to hire an expatriate for the job, but Max is truly a blessing from God. He has jumped in and taken control of things that required someone's time and expertise, works indepdently, shares our vision, and is not afraid to speak his mine when things aren't going well. Our plan is that eventually we will identify a Tanzanian who he will train to take his place when he is done.

Another great perk that comes with Max is his connection with Young Life. We now have so many more opportunities open to the students on our campus to meet and learn from dynamic young role models, both Tanzanian and foreign, as well as the opportunity to spread our own mission among groups that may not have heard of Peace House Foundation as well.

Am I Being Ironic--or Hypocritical?

A couple of posts down, I revealed my problems with Tanzania line budging (I'm thinking my peeve must be a holdover from my teaching days when budging in lines is such a big deal for the people I spent my days with!) but today I have to confess an ironic--or maybe not ironic so much as hypocritical--stance on budging.

I paid my electric bill on January 2. It had been awhile so I was surprised to see the bill was a normal amount. There is a space for previous balance, a space for the current month, and the total amount due. Here the meter readers don't come on a specific day, they just come whenever. Sometimes if they miss, it doesn't get recorded. Sometimes they make it up that month. We receive bills in our mailbox addressed to the former box owners of bills over 5,000,000 shillings with 200,000 added each month (for comparison, my housekeeper's bill is about 10,000 ($8) per month). So Tanesco really does a crummy job of keeping track of anything. The point being that I try to go around the same time each month to pay my bill, but often I can't because the meter hasn't been read, or the information hasn't been entered to print the bill. So I try to remember to come back later.

Today Tanesco showed up and started to disconnect our power. It's a big deal, not just because I personally love electricity, but because we are running all of PHF business from our workshop and with no electricity it is very hard for anyone to get any work done without computers (we don't have a generator). Also, we'd have to pay a disconnect and reconnect fee to get things started again, which would take time. I made the mistake of flying off the handle right away, loudly proclaiming that I can't have an overdue payment because the bill I just paid didn't show it, that he didn't knock on my door to tell me what he was doing, that he better get off that chair and get in the car so we could go to the office and straighten things out and pay what was needed. That response, that venting or railing aloud, whether directly at a person or just aloud, is very typical--we do it when stores won't take a refund, when you don't like your meal, when the price is too high, etc. Here, it just doesn't get you anywhere. Maybe if I could do it in Swahili...the fact is, it's no good here.

He was very insistent about cutting the power and would not go with me back to the office. He told me that if I stopped him from cutting the power at the house, he'd just go outside the gate and disconnect it at the pole. Luckily our accountant consultant was out at the office. I asked him to come and help--he is well-educated and would be respected. He came out and spent 3-4 minutes greeting him, asking about work, his family, etc. etc. All the things that you are supposed to do. Not because he was trying to placate the man, but because that's how things are done. Apparently I did miss a month by just missing a date when they read the meter. Then, they've already read the meter for this month so now I'm late with January's payment. And apparently when Tanesco's in a money bind, they send people out (randomly because I seriously doubt I'm their biggest delinquent) to cut power to force payment. You know, they should rethink that a bit, since my normal bill, which has been paid very regularly, is often 15 times greater than a Tanzanian's, so by cutting me they actually get less money. Anyway. They spoke a bit and then he said the man would come back tomorrow and check to see if the bill was paid--not that he would check in the office, but I'd have to provide the receipt to prove it--as if he's really gonna come back. But he might.

All this is background to the fact that I was going to have to pick up Ava, go to the bank, get the money, go to pay the bill and get to a meeting in 90 minutes. It wasn't gonna happen because I'd have to stand in line at Tanesco. Julius offers to go for me (the consultant). Mark says no, I need to go and it won't take that long--this man has never been to the Tanesco office. Julius says no, if we have the money here, he'll go and won't take very long because--get this--he's Tanzanian and he won't have to stand in line--he'll just cut to the front.

Did I let him do that, knowing that if I were in that line, I'd be pulling NFL-type moves to keep him out? Sadly, yes, I did. I allowed him to pay my bill for me by budging in front of the line so I could get the other stuff done. I hang my head in shame. I marked the date of March 12 on my calendar so I can hoof it down there to pay on time. I know I'm going to be told on that day that the meter hasn't been read yet. And the saga will continue.

Heehee—the funny thing is that the power went off at around 10:00 that night while I was writing this. My first thought was that the guy came back under cover of darkness and got me. But it was just a normal outage.

Very Important Visitors

We've had several illustrious visitors to our school
site--two prime ministers and a former president--but none as important the ones that came today. You can imagine that on a building project of our size (100 acres, 19 buildings) that ensuring quality work is important, but also difficult. It's expected that there are times when quality just isn't up to speed and often the workers themselves aren't the best judges of quality. Mark and Max have done their level best to keep things looking good, but we finally decided to bring some experts.

They've been studying building and architecture. They've met with a real architect. They've made their own blueprints and designed their own houses. They are preparing a rehabilitation of a playhouse at their school. They are definitely ready to apply their expert eyes to our work and give a professional opinion as to the progess of Peace House Secondary School.

After a briefing and armed with clipboards, checklists, and pencils, the experts set off for a tour of the site. Areas of particular interest included big holes and water pits. They checked the sand that is being used in concrete to make sure it was sifted well (trying it themselves) and checked out the brick-making machine to make sure it was in proper working order. Along the way they determined that yes, we do in fact have blocks, hammers, saws, spanners (wrenches), boards, nails, and workers on the site.

Attention to detail is very important (as is a proper sun hat--no need to sacrifice good looks and fashion in the face of hard work). This team is appraising the workers on site, no doubt looking for safety violations or improper working conditions. Or, they are trying to decide which one is a carpenter and which one is a mason. We appreciated the critical eye they applied to every aspect of the job!

After one last picture, the group was off to evaluate a house under construction nearby. The group unanimously proclaimed the project, "Neat!" Other comments included, "I've got a sticker in my socks", "It's too hot out here", "Can you carry me?" and "Can we have seconds on cake?" We are very grateful for their expertise and support!

Does this count as recanting?

Because after my generous comments below about living here--and I do stand by them--I have just been to pay my electric bill and renew my post office box, both of which require me to "queue up." And I'm not sure I'm ever going to get over what goes on in lines around here. But still...

There are no lines, really. Some people (myself included) do stand in lines. I'm not sure why, though. Take the electric line, for example. I stand in line and bring in last month's bill and they use the code to print the new one, then I get in another line to pay the bill. Really, it's not a big deal. Except that anyone who decides not to stand in line, well, just doesn't. They just go up and stuff their paper or whatever through the slot. And the worker, does s/he do anything? Nope. Except to help the person that's budged up in front of the line.

Really, I glance around to try to gauge the reactions of those around me. If the person at the head of the line that gets budged on is a woman I figure that maybe she can't tell someone (usually, but not always, a man) to back off. I'm a pretty patient line stander and I refuse to descend to the level of those I'm irritated at (at least this particular instance). I don't speak Swahili very well, still (another frustration I forgot to mention in the last post) and I understand less. I've even given considered the fact that an act is not rude if there's not a rule about it. But still...

At the electric line it was just one person in each line. So I take a deep breath, and announce, "Samehane, tume subiri. Tupo kwanza. Lazima unasubiri pale." Translated, I hope, it's "Excuse me, we have been waiting. We are here first. You must wait over there." I get ignored, in which case I repeat myself. Or, they reply, I don't understand, so I repeat myself. The trouble is, if I'm at the front of the line, I can bodily stop the budge. If I'm back a ways, I'm shot, because I'm getting no support from those around me.

At the post office, it was worse, because it wasn't one budger at a time--it was 4-5. There is a small chance that some of the budgers have a small need (like buying 1 stamp) while some of us have longer requests, but still...given the pace at which anyone works here means that whatever is going to get done slowly. Now, it's not just a one-on-one thing. I'm going to go head-to-head with a group and employ the same techniques they're using to budge in to foil their attempt. It was mildly successful--or unsuccessful if you're the type of person who sees the glass as half-empty.

And I want to affirm that I have changed! I have adapted! I no longer assume that a task will take a couple minutes. The length of a line has no bearing on how long it will take. No matter what people tell me I am probably not going to send "someone" (whoever that may be) to do these things for me. I know it'll probably take more time than I think it will (or should) and I plan accordingly. I even bring a book. But still...

I'm not getting over it.

Happy Anniversary

One year ago, we woke up sweating and a bit disoriented...because we had arrived in Tanzania and it was hot. Everything seemed so surreal at that point. The last week before we left was a blur of some of the most overwhelming days I hope I never experience again. I remember not even being able to think about what was coming in our lives, because I was sure we'd never get out of Minnesota with all that had to be done. I can't remember what we said to our kids, what we ate, or even really what we did. I do remember the absolute lowest point--Karen and I had weighed all of our bags that day and they all were fine. We were supposed to spend the night together swimming and playing at a hotel. Rosey was diligently touching up paint on our baseboards so the house would be ready for prospective renters, when Mark reweighed all the bags and found them to be 5-7 pounds overweight. I completely fell apart. The prospect of repacking 11 bags so they weighed exactly 50 pounds each (and what was I going to do with the extra stuff? If it was in those bags I really felt it was necessary!) Somehow I came out of some hysterical crying fit laying on a lounge at poolside while Rosey (and maybe Karen? or Mark?) repacked. It's terrible that I really can't remember what happened that last night in Minnesota, except to profess my undying gratitude for whoever took part in helping us get on our way.

One year later I'm wondering if I've experienced anything so dramatic or stressful, and I think I'd have to say no (of course, I can't answer for Mark, who might say "heck, yeah!" as he shoulders much more of the tremendous workload). What we've come to realize is that we're home now. Oh, every day brings something to laugh or sigh or grit your teeth about, but for the most part, life here feels much less exotic and much more typical for our family. We understand that things that can be annoying or frustrating (especially when you're trying to do business) are also those things we've really come to appreciate (a slower pace of life, less rushing around madly on the weekends). If your meal doesn't come for an hour at a restaurant, then that's just more time to have another drink and keep talking. We've stopped talking about how things were "back home" because it makes no difference--we're here and living here means actually living here, not being here and then running aspects of life down because it somehow doesn't measure up. Best of all, while we definitely would not turn down a home visit, all of us continue to love to call Arusha "home" for now.

So...happy anniversary to us as we look forward to the challenges and blessings of our next year in Tanzania.