Tarangire National Park – Cue Up the Theme to “The Lion King”

*Warning - Photo-heavy post! 

After an incredibly rewarding week in Singida and a wonderful day in Katesh we arrived at Maramboi Tented Camp.  The place was everything that you think of when thinking “safari”.  We enjoyed dinner together and spent the time unwinding and decompressing from all that we had experienced.  We also had ventured back into the land of  wi-fi so I was able to Facetime with Dusty.  After about a week of not being able to communicate except for short texts I was very glad to see my family!

Thanks to the abundance of hot water and water pressure I had the best shower ever, collapsed into a very comfortable bed, and was asleep in no time.  The next thing I remember is waking up to the loud sound of something outside my tent.  Now these were permanent structures but they walls were still canvas.  I sat up in bed and listened.  The staff had assured us that everything was very safe, but I’m still thinking, “Great…I will be the first causality in the history of this place when this huge lion tears through my wall!”  Whatever was outside the tent kept moving around in the bushes and then it made a snorting sound like a pig.  A warthog had woke me up at 5 AM!  Now I was getting mildly annoyed.  I was awake and couldn’t go back to sleep because of Pumbaa.  I decided to just enjoy the experience.  How many of you can say that you’ve been woke up by a warthog?

Sunday morning dawned bright, warm, & beautiful.  We sat on the large deck overlooking the area.  Hundreds, possibly thousands of flamingos formed a pink line of the far side of the distant lake.  A warthog and her wartlets rummaged around our deck.  I told my new friends that I missed seeing my church family today, but what a treat to see God’s creation in this way!

We loaded up in our Land Rover’s and headed a short distance away to Tarangire National Park.  Immanuel, our driver, would help to make this day even more special.  He was so full of enthusiasm; as if he was seeing all of this for the first time also.  I mean you have to love a driver that will stop the vehicle and back it up just to show you a huge millipede on the road. 

 We entered Tarangire and for the next 4 hours I got to see wildlife that I had only seen in zoos.  It was incredible.  It may sound a bit cheesy, but the word I can think of to describe it was “glee”.  I was like a wide-eyed kid.  We saw more warthogs (or as Immanuel called them “lion sausage”) giraffes, baboons, zebras, lions, elephants, and so much more.  There were birds of all sizes and colors.  Immanuel was pointing out animals, looking up pictures for us in his guidebooks, and giving us all kinds of facts about what we were seeing.  All the time with that contagious level of joy and enthusiasm.

 We stopped for a picnic lunch and had even more fun.  If you travel to the beach you have to deal with pesky birds trying to steal your food.  Well on safari you have to watch the pesky monkeys trying to grab a snack.  Several of our group’s lunches fell victim to sneaky monkeys.

 The day was picture perfect.  The scenery was breathtaking.  Even though I tried my best there is no way to capture in a photo or on video the scope of the beautiful landscape.  Simply put it’s a day that I will remember for the rest of my life.

Just a few video clips from the day....including the naughty monkeys

Katesh - Eventually the Rhythm is Gonna Get Ya!

Saturday would be our last visit to a Compassion project.  We visited a center in Katesh.  The children in Tanzania attend school throughout the week so Saturday is a typical attendance day for the centers.  Where at previous visits there was a smaller group of children present, today would be a full attendance day.  We arrived at the center and were greeted by 175-200 children and staff. 

More wonderful singing by the choir.  It was interesting to see the difference at the centers in the dancing that the kids did.  Quite possibly that was connected to which tribes were prevalent in the area.  I remember at this center that it was especially spirited.  There were several boys in particular that really got down with it!

I had discovered that in the face of language barriers that smiles and laughter were a common bond.  There was also another common bond….music.

Our group would be leading VBS-type activities for the children.  We were divided into 4 teams:  recreation, crafts, worship, & bible story.  I was on the worship team.  We had several songs we planned to teach the children.  All the songs had motions to them, and since we had a language barrier,that’s what we were focusing on.  We taught the songs and of course being the person that I am, I made sure that I was doing the motions “over-the-top”.  I figured that they might not remember the song, but I’m sure they got a laugh about the silly white woman.  In fact, at one point, I was leading a conga line of 30 Tanzanian children through the church while waving rhythm shakers around singing “Hakuna Mungu Kama Wewe”!  There may or may not be a video of this.  I’m sure if it does exist it’s quite special.. HA!

We shared lunch, toured the center, and were presented with a DVD of the choir to take home.

Again there were a couple of girls that stayed with me most of the day.  One of them was Ana.  I had a few bracelets with me that our pastor’s daughter, Lauren, had made on her Rainbow loom and sent with me.  At the end of the day I thanked her for being my friend for the day and slipped one of the bracelets on her arm.  I managed to quietly hand out a few more of the bracelets without causing a riot. 

We said our goodbyes and made our way to Maramboi Tented camp, where we would spend the night before the much anticipated safari.  We arrived to a wonderful resort that almost seemed like Eden….but not before we dealt with this!

Singida - Rock Climbing and a universal language

The 5th center that we visited was a very short drive from the hotel and would be our last center in the Singida region.  We hopped off our bus at TZ-123 Jerusalem Student Center to be greeted with all the warmth and enthusiasm that we had experienced all week.  What I remember about this day was that is was fun and relaxed.  There was no “over the top” emotional moment, but it was just a day filled with laughter. 

 We listened to their wonderful choir and heard a testimony from one of the older girls.  I do remember that after she was done I would have liked to looked her in the eye and told her that even though I wasn’t her sponsor, I know that if her sponsor had been there they would be so proud of her.  In a way, I hope that is something all of the children took away from our visit.  We may not have been their particular sponsor, but we were proud of them, we loved them, and we wanted the very best for them. 

 Singida had some very unique rock formations.  There were huge rocks and boulders that covered the landscape.  It was quite odd since there were no mountains nearby.  Just random rocks.  After the formal presentations we went outside to spend time with the children.  They led us behind the buildings to climb up some of these rocks.  Now those of you who know me know that I have a reputation for being able to fall and mess up my feet and ankles quite easily.  I’ve tripped over sidewalks, rolled my ankles, and on one occasion slipped out of my own sandals and fell off the stage at church.  (Fortunately it was during practice before church and only the band witnessed my spectacular tuck & roll maneuver.)  I just knew I was going to slip and roll to my demise!  I slowly made my way and was rewarded with a view overlooking the lake in Singida.  In all reality we weren't that high up, but remember I’ve injured myself over a 1/2 inch difference in a sidewalk.

 Photos were popular.  Especially photos with Barbara.  Everyone wanted their photo with “bibi” which means Grandma.  I know Bibi was enjoying it.  

We played games and laughed.  You know, we didn’t share a common language, but a smile and laughter are universal.  It was amazing how much could be communicated with just those things. 

 We shared lunch, photos, smiles, and fun.  We said our goodbyes and returned to the hotel.  We had spend 5 days in Singida and would start our return to Arusha the next day.  It had been such a full and rewarding trip to this point, and it was only going to continue.

Tanzania - Lightness & Loveness

Today would be a special day for us.  Our entire group was off to a center in Singida that featured a Child Survival Project.  The CSP focuses on mothers who are pregnant or have babies and toddlers.  Mothers enrolled in the program receive health care, education, and nutritional assistance.   The mother’s choir performed beautifully for us.  The project report was given and I’ll have to admit it was a little hard to focus with little faces like this one.  There was so much cuteness! 

We toured the project and learned about programs that were designed to help the mothers become economically self sufficient.  They were being taught sewing, weaving, and batik making.  Batik is a dyeing process that resulted in beautiful clothes like these.

  We found out that we were able to purchase them directly from the project.  I bought two to take home.  I was looking to bring some cloth home from Africa just like this, and I was glad to know that I was helping to directly support these wonderful women.  By the time our entire group had made it’s way through this part of the center we had completely bought them out. 

After touring the facility we divided up into our groups for home visits.  I had a special item tucked into my backpack just for this day.  My mother makes cloth dolls that she packs into her shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.  She sends some with me every year to place into the boxes that I pack.  Last year, after the boxes had been packed and shipped off I found one of these dolls.  It had managed to get left behind.  I decided to pack the doll in my suitcase.  I didn’t have a specific plan for it, but I just figured that I would know when to give it away.  I thought that this would be the perfect day because we would be visiting with younger children. 

I hoped that we would visit a home of a little girl.  As we walked the short distance to the home I realized that there might be a problem with that plan.  We were headed to the home of not one, but two little girls.  We followed these sweet little twin girls and their mother to their simple home.  

I turned to my friend Tawnya with a worried look.  “I only have one doll….what do I do now.”  I then said that maybe I was letting the American way of thinking get in the way.  You know, where everything has to be equal and fair.  I decided to play it by ear. 

Through our conversation we learned that the twins were only 2 of the 8 children in the family.  A relative also lived there as well which equaled 9 kids to 3 beds.  After visiting with the family and presenting them with the food gifts I quietly told our translator Joseph that I had a doll to give, but I only had one.  I asked him if it would still be appropriate.  Joseph assured me that the family would be grateful and I should go ahead.  I pulled the doll out of my bag and explained, through our translator, that my mother had made this doll and that it was given in love.  I handed it to one of the girls.  Her name was Loveness.  She intently looked it over.  Then the doll was handed to the other girl.  Her name was Lightness.  She stared at that little doll and even pulled it up to her face to feel it on her cheek.  Her mother explained that Lightness really loves babies, more so than Loveness.  Sweet little Lightness latched onto that doll. 

 I began to tear up.  This was affecting me in a way that I didn’t expect.  I knew that my Mom would be so happy to see this precious little girl with the doll.  I also was struck with the fact that I got personally hand this gift over.  I’ve packed many boxes for Operation Christmas Child.  I pack them up and send them off with prayer.  I often wonder what the reaction was when it was opened up.  Was the child excited?  Did they smile?  Did they laugh and squeal with glee?  It was no small thing to be able to kneel down and hand this gift directly to its recipient.

I asked Tawnya to take a photo after I pulled myself together. It was just another highlight moment of many!

Itigi Day 2 – Compassion in Action

As part of our visit in Itigi we had a morning tea break.  The chai tea was wonderful!  We spent a lot of our morning playing with the kids.  There were a lot of kids that had come that were not enrolled at the center with Compassion.  They were from the village and I’m sure they were curious to see what the bus load of white people were all about. 

 Before lunch we walked a short distance to the home of one of the Compassion children.  We had just had a downpour and the ground was soaked.  While we stepped carefully to avoid slipping in the mud, we were led by this woman.

Not only was she balancing this heavy box of food, she was doing it sidestepping puddles while wearing dress shoes with a bit of a heel to them.  I had on hiking sandals and was moving with FAR less grace.

We were welcomed by this girl and her grandmother. I think not smiling in photos is partially a cultural thing because this grandmother was quite warm and friendly. The girl's parents had moved elsewhere and left her with the grandmother.  We visited for a while.  I asked her about her sponsor and if she received any letters.  Immediately the grandmother went to the other room and returned with a stack of letters, all in pristine condition.  They were a treasured possession. 

It was soon lunchtime.  I took my plate and sat down at a table on the porch to eat.  I absentmindedly waved at a little girl who was playing nearby.  She was not enrolled at the project.  She walked right over to where I sat and stood at my chair and stared at my plate.  I just about couldn’t handle it.  I would have given her the entire plate, but I knew that would have caused problems since there were A LOT of village kids there.  I looked at Tonya and told her that I simply could not eat in front of this child…I would not.  Tonya had some stickers and led the girl over to another area with some other children and passed out stickers as a distraction.  It was such a sad feeling to know how much need there was among these kids.  What happened next though left me full of hope and gladness.  After we had been served and after the Compassion kids had their plates, the staff lined up every village kid that was around the building, had them wash their hands and gave them each a plate full of food. 

 In fact, several of the center’s kids had tried to go back for seconds, but they were gently turned away until EVERYONE had a plate of food.  I was so glad to see this act of compassion and love in action. 

Even if resources and funds were many, there will always be more need.  However it was great to see this example of many of how the staff use their resources to the best of their ability to meet as many needs as possible.  I’m so proud to be just a very small part of such a wonderful organization.

Our day in Itigi left me a little emotionally drained but full of hope.

 **I’d like to make a little departure from my day to day account to share this.  When I returned from Tanzania I had two sponsorship packets waiting for me.  One boy and one girl from Tanzania needing sponsors.  One of them, Veronika, has a birthday tomorrow.  On April 2nd she will turn 7 years old.  I can think of no better birthday gift than to connect her with a caring sponsor. 

 Perhaps you’ve been thinking that sponsoring a child with Compassion might be a good thing for you and your family.  I can answer that…Yes, it would!   Perhaps you wonder if you can truly make a difference in a child’s life.  Again I have the answer….an unequivocal YES!  You can help change the world.  Sponsorship through Compassion costs $38 a month.  If you would like more information about sponsoring Veronika or have any questions about Compassion please contact me at hhackney@visithope.org  I made that decision over 6 years ago and I’ve never regretted.  In fact, now I know it was one of the best decisions of my life.