Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Lynda Kearns, Lucas Sirigwi
Lunch is usually rice and beans, sometimes fish, and tea. Photo of children and cook/caregiver.
Vijaliwa Vingi Home
10 children live here with the
caregivers and manager.
October 27, 2006- Letter from Lynda
Many greetings to my friends and family:
Well yet another month has sped by! One reason that time seems to slip away here is that as the heat increases (it was 37*C yesterday at 2:30pm in Dar) so does my down time! I still suffer from heat exhaustion, and if I'm not very careful - to put on my extra fan at the office, to drink 2 or more litres of water during the day, to pull out my Chinese folding fan in the daladala (the bus) - then I tend to collapse, and literally can't work. Worse yet, can't explain to my African friends my very strange behaviour. Folks shake their heads and wonder how I'm drunk, when I don't drink alcohol!
It's been a busy month. I'm kept occupied with weekly trips to the city, pursuing several important tasks, including preparations for a local fundraising event, the next proposal for our outreach programme, and chasing down our generator and pump for the water system that we are so close to getting…
Plus, we've had lots of public relations activities on-going. I hope you've all visited our website: www.canadares.ca http://www.canadares.ca/ and seen the photos and stories about Mwenge ya Uhuru and the Tanzanian Revenue Association (TRA) tenth anniversary celebration. Consequently, we've had several interested parties coming to visit both the office and the house.
One was the District Commissioner. He's basically the boss of our District, Kibaha. He was the guest of honour at the TRA day, and did come back to the house (unannounced) with his wife with their gift of 70kg of paddy rice! This has been a huge help to our food budget, and is frankly delicious! There are many different varieties of rice available here, and we generally buy a lower quality, being budget conscious. We particularly appreciate this generous gift.
Another thing that has come to light has been our affiliation with the Regional government - which has not been very active to date. We've been busy with the local and the district governments, and so it came as a welcome surprise to learn that we might expect some support from the Regional level. Not financial, mind you, but I'm learning that moral and political support are also critical for the smooth operation of the project.
And most recently, there was a big holiday here: Idd el Fitra which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadhani. (read about this on the website). It put quite a damper on my managerial activities, not unlike the work slow down at Christmas time. But, the kids had fun, and really enjoyed it. Stephen and I have started discussing how we will tackle Christmas this year - last year, we only had 3 kids, and this year there are 10!
One kind soul from Sechelt has asked me to write up a wish list for Christmas. This would be a list of things we might need or fantasize about for the project. I've promised to complete this list, so that she might choose from it actual gifts for which she and her husband will donate, and let their (oldish) kids know what they got for Christmas. I hope we can do better that that! I hope that I can take photos (of a goat, a length of water pipe, a bag of cement…) and post them to the website to go with the list, then send off acknowledgments via email to the families who donate.
I guess what I'd like to stress here is that I hope you are all visiting our site on a regular basis, as I can post updated stories and photos there, much easier than through this mailing. Plus I think this letter gets posted too, or at least parts of it do. And I'd like to ask that all of you pass it on to friends of yours who might be interested in viewing our project. We can use all the help we can get here!!!
And we do (especially but not exclusively me!) appreciate all of the support you've been over these past 5 years. We've accomplished much together, and I'm grateful for the trust you've put in me to play my part. Here on the ground, in the village, in the heat…!!!
Many blessings to all,
Lynda
October 11, 2006
Hi Dayna and all!
All is quite well. The Tanzania Revenue Authority day went very well, and we did receive 200,000/ Tsh in cash. But it did cost 50,000/ Tsh so there you go. Plus, we have had some repairs to the house that I hired someone to do - total cost just around another 50,000/Tsh - rain gutters (as we are expecting the short rains anytime now) and a floor for the kitchen, plus repairs to the roof and a cement sign for the road. I painted a really nice sign on a piece of 1 x 10 about 6 ft long. It looked great for the big day. However, I've been told that it will not last the week, as someone will surely come and steal it to build with.
I don't know what a blog is. but if you think we need to link up to one, go for it! I'm fearless!! I live in Africa!!!!!!
Fearless maybe (HA!!) but not invincible. Vincent has had to pack me into a taxi twice this week due to heat stroke. And it's not a good solution, as there's no fan at home, or even a fridge. He's now telling me we have to buy a used AC unit and I think he may be right. There's no hotel with AC in Mlandizi, and during the weekdays, there's no electricity in any hotel I can afford to flake out in Dar. due to power rationing.
I really think that I need a room in Mlandizi. With 10 kids, it's now not suitable for me to be sick in my bed.
Or maybe ask Elton (John) to build a manager's residence, with solar and AC!!!
I've taken the phone number of the director of the Mango Tree. They are close to where Lucas is studying - not close! But I'm going to phone him anyway. Sounds like we are doing similar things, and it makes sense to team up.
Anyway, maybe it's not bad to put my email online. Then if I get too much stuff, I can forward to you. Or let's say, I'll forward everything to you, and let you know what I've taken care of. I think we should give it a try. What do you think? It might encourage people here to contact me where they might not otherwise.
Anyway, I'm off now. Thank-you, everyone, for all your donations and prayers.
Blessings,
Lynda
October 4, 2006
Many Greetings, friends and family:
Well, things are still humming right along here!
We had an excellent day on the 23rd of September when the Mwenge wa Uhuru came. Thankfully, the committee in its wisdom, decided that everyone at the Vijaliwa Vingi house should come to them instead of everyone coming out to our place. So, we all converged on a public school in the center of town.
What an event! First the drums started to alert the community. Dancers performed for the gathering crowd. A brass band and loudspeaker system added to the cheerful chaos. Then the word spread: " They're coming!"
A convoy of 4x4s broke through the crowd, the last carrying the Torch. Official looking dudes in quasi army garb brought it down from the truck and set it into a wooden holder, then stood guard, while the MC, the District Commissioner, made brief introductions then called for our kids.
This whole time, I'm getting more and more nervous! But when the kids did such a great job of singing the song that Stephen and Vincent had written, (to welcome the Torch, about being orphaned, and how AIDS is still making more orphans, and how Vijaliwa Vingi is trying to help), how could I let them down? It was my turn. I read the report that Stephen and Vincent had prepared summarizing our work. It wasn't so bad! The thing I'd feared most was stumbling over a word, and not being able to say it properly. It only happened once, and the crowd corrected me, which was very ok. Then I lightened up, and finished with pizazz.
Then Mwenge committee had their turn - they spoke on community development, and particularly AIDS. It was good. Then we were invited for lunch - just our kids, Vincent, Stephen and the two caregivers and myself, along with the other invited local officials. The only problem was that I was segregated and stuck with all the big wigs, so found myself schmoozing in Swahili! To see the pictures to go with this little story, please go to the Special Events button.
Actually, this is a good time to mention our new website - our kind and generous webmaster Bob has been working so hard, and we are all very grateful for the time and hard work that he has donated to our site.
Update on the Home front: we have a second caregiver, Aziza, living with us, so have increased in number (now 14 around the table plus two guards outside). Aziza is one of our beneficiaries in the outreach programme - a single mother struggling to feed her kids. Well, we needed the help, and so did she, so now we have a tenth child, her son Alfun, aged 7. He and Masini became immediate best buddies, and they share a bunk in the boys' room. They are both in the first grade with Sophia. You can see them in the Mwenge photos - they're the short cute ones in white t-shirts.
Rajabu wrote his Standard 7 national exams 10 days ago, and is now off school pending results in January. He's kept busy helping at home, and resting up after the stressful time he's had.
One of the reasons we changed the date is because the Islamic holy month of Ramadhan has just begun, and will be just concluding at the end of October. In this month, most practicing Moslems fast during daylight hours, drinking only water from dawn to dusk, and attending the mosque many times a day. In town, so many of the shops and restaurants are closed for the month, including my favourite kiosk that normally makes fresh squeezed sugarcane and lime juice. At the conclusion of the holy month, there's a three-day feasting celebration. But that begins only when the religious leaders in Mecca have seen the moon in its proper perspective.
Tanzania, as I'm sure I've mentioned before, is one country with two official languages, around 120 tribes, each with their own local language, and two major religions: Christianity and Islam. With all of the conflict worldwide nowadays, particularly pertaining to these two seemingly opposing groups, it's really quite an honour to be living in a country that enjoys peace in the presence of so many differences. And that's quite reflective of the marriage that Lucas and I are enjoying! I've been given the honour of living God's promise delivered by Christ - that with Love and in Love, anything is possible, even world peace.
This is not quite, but almost a direct quote from our new Patron.
"New Patron?" you ask. Yes. ArchBishop Desmond Tutu has agreed to be the Patron for Vijaliwa Vingi.
I'm sure that there's a story about the miracle of our meeting somewhere on the website. And I had long wondered why that gift had been given to us. Now we know! God certainly has everything well in hand. Thank heavens!
OK, that's enough preaching for at least another month. Seriously though, and without a joke, it's by and through God's grace that we are here, doing what we can to make the world a little better. Thanks a million for your continued prayers and support.
Lynda
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