Shaw and I started the day by attending the English Language Holy Communion service at the Bible College, while Bill represented our little team at the Diocesan Morning Devotions. After breakfast we had our annual “official” meeting with the Bishop, where we got an brief update on the diocese and traded prayer needs.
A DWT driver brought us down to the Bible College where there was just a little work to be done today. There were a few things that Bill wanted to check out and he wanted to do some training with some of the College personnel here. He also planned to do a video tour of the Bible College to post on You-tube. Shaw is continuing to meet with teachers to orient them to the on-line training.
While Bill started his training, I had some shopping I wanted to do, so I tapped his wallet (mine is a little light from paying for the extra weight for the flight to Kigoma) and grabbed Shaw, who also wanted to do some shopping. I am not yet completely comfortable walking all around Kasulu Market by myself. Shops here are TINY. They are little 8’ x 10’ or so, little cubbies really, with doors that open across the width of the shop. Most often there is a counter across the entire front of the shop and you tell the shopkeeper what part of his our stock you are interested in.
Our first stop was a little Christian Book Shop that has opened up a little more than a block from the Bible College. I was interested in finding a book of children’s Bible Stories in Swahili. There is a class going on here for the third year students’ wives. One of the wives is illiterate and it has been arranged for her to have a private tutor to teach her how to read. I wanted her to have a book to aspire to read. She also has many children and I hope that she will read to her children from the book. While Shaw continued to browse around the shop, I went back to the Bible College where she was working with her tutor to give her the book. She has no English and her tutor has very little. It took a little while to get them to understand that the book was for her. The tutor kept saying “she doesn’t know how to read” and I kept saying “You are teaching her. She WILL be able to read. This is for when she can read.” It is very unusual for the average rural Tanzanian to have books in their homes. Maybe this will start to change this, in one home at least.
I went back to the Bible Store and Shaw and I started off to find my friend Olivia’s shop. She sells ketangas. Her husband, Daudi had driven us by there a few days ago, but I had never walked there. We turned the corner to go toward the Main Street and found…
KASULU TRAFFIC JAM – an entire herd of goats came down the middle of the street!
After the goats passed us by, we proceeded up the side street, across the main road and into the market area. It took us two tries to find the shop but we did eventually. Olivia gave us stools to sit on and we visited for a few minutes, which is the normal Tanzanian way to do business. Shaw wanted a ketanga to bring home to use as table clothes but didn’t know which he should chose, so he asked Olivia to show him which ketanga represented Kusulu culture most to her. It took a little while to get the idea across, but once she did she was quick so select a lovely and colorful ketanga for Shaw.
I wanted a ketanga that would coordinate with the ketangas I bought the other day for my family room. I asked to see three and picked one that I think will coordinate nicely with the other fabric. I plan to use this fabric to recover the front of my rocking chair cushions and use the other fabric for the backside of the cushions and window treatments.
As usual, my customs declaration from Tanzania will read “fabrics and arts and crafts”!
Sorry all that I did not get a post in for 4/30. It was a long day spent at the Bible College and after dinner I was just done for the day. Things went pretty smoothly, although I had one glitch in the setup. One of the PC’s I brought with me is having a problem at the operating system level that may required that I do a repair or possibly a full re-install of Windows 7. I left it for the evening and will get back to work on it this afternoon. It’a Thursday 5/1 at 11:45 AM now. At 1:00 we will go to the Bible College and I’ll get back to work on the PC. It’s one of the final things I have to do there aside from a little bit of training of the staff members.
This morning I spent time at the DWT office looking over their wireless network. They have been having some problems with the main wireless network. It did not take long to figure out what was going on so I made some adjustments to the equipment and everything appears to be working well now. And right now I working on Helen Sammon’s computer, scanning the hard drive to find any errors on it (which it has been reporting).
So that’s the technical side of things. How are things going spiritually? Really good! I know I have mentioned this before, but there is something about the environment here that is low stress for me. Even when there are challenges like the PC problem that came up yesterday, or when there is a misunderstanding (usually it’s culturally for me) I always feel that there is redemption that is abounding. So I know that the computer issue will get resolved once I sit down at it today. And when there is a misunderstanding, we generally work it out between us all and move on with forbearance. I guess the thing I like the most is the sense of community and “knowing” your neighbor here. 
I think I understand better what the scripture is saying, “….. and love your neighbor as yourself”. Here in Kasulu, your neighbor is right there in front of you. They are not separated by as many walls. They seem to have or make more time for each other. Inevitably the closeness can cause conflict, so it’s important to not let sun go down while you are angry. It’s much more peaceable that way. I can’t say that everyone here does that, but at least in the Christian community that I have gotten to know in the Diocese, it is generally true.
I’ll post this now and then get some pictures added later today, once I have had a chance to get to the Bible College. Until then. Bwana Asifiwe!