Life is simple or can be

 The lutherans run an orphanage for single dad's or throw away babies. They stay there until they are 2 years old. Then they go back to the single father.

 This is christopher and me with my banana leaf hat. He is the sweetest boy

 I took the boys for one last bike ride. I will miss them terribly.

Ashram wearing a Colorado T-shirt.

There is a sense of Freedom I feel here. Life is really hakuna mata - no worries. I feel I don’t have to think or worry about anything. I am present to the people and the children and I can be me. I pick kids up and throw them in the air. I joke around with the kids and adults. I act goofy, I help kids go pee, I feed them I put them to bed and life is good. I took a group of boys who are ten to 12 for a bike ride to lake Victoria and I said they can go swimming so they took off all there clothes and jumped in having the time of there life and I didn’t feel I have to worry about anything. It is just life. I love it. They cry they get into fights they have problems but we deal with it and life goes on. 

The kids are always calling me, hanging on me, wanting me to pick them up. They fill some sort of void in me. Religious life is not difficult for me at all out here. I don’t even think about it.

In America I felt I wasn’t free. I was walking on egg shells. I felt at the seminary I was under a microscope being watched by faculty and especially other seminarians. I feel the public watches you if they know you’re a religious. One can’t live in fear but one has to be able to be themselves  and not worry about it. Why couldn’t I feel that as a religious in America?

People here are very social. Everyone talks to everyone. As a 7 in the enneagram this is a very 7 society and I fit in very well. Tanzanians or east africans must really struggle in America. I think individualism and privacy is very important as oppose to here. How do you talk to someone if there door is closed or even having the transportation to get somewhere. One can walk every where around here. People are out an about every where. I think the national past time is just sitting around hanging out. But in America that is laziness. One must be doing something.

I am proud to be Catholic over here. People take pride in being Catholic and are very active in the community.I do believe the churches that is all denominational churches are doing more for people than the NGO’s. But that is my opinion. being connected to religion I think offers something more to people that NGO’s cannot do. It is something deeper. I think it gives people hope.

Fr. PolyCarp has an interesting thought for me today. “God is Just because the people here in East Africa are poor but it is green here and plans are growing. None of these people could survive in Milwaukee. Truly I tell you they would all die in the cold. God is Just giving us good weather .”

There are plenty of things that I do miss. For example cheese and good beer but I can tell my body doesn’t miss it. I stepped on a scale the other day and I think it read 79Kg which I believe is about 174 pounds. So I have lost almost 20 pounds since I have arrived here. My underwear does feel looser but I feel I don’t look skinnier or any different. I walk more here but I feel I am a lot more active in America doing sports and other physical activities.

I do miss having easy access to internet and TV more for sports purposes though. Unfortunately out here I don’t really know what is going on in the world. Newspaper, internet,  and TV help with that. A crisis is going on in the world and one has no idea it is happening.

Leaving for Kampala

 Overview of St nicholas children's center

 We had an over night or they called it camping in the outpatient clinic because it was not in there rooms.

 Myself, Nazalius and Joseph went for a steep bike ride

 This is Daniel who has autism. I founded it funny he had a twins shirt. The peace sign in mere luck

They make sandals out of old tires

My time at St. Nicholas house really went fast. I love the kids here and they are very entertaining. There is never a dull moment. But there are times where you need silence and have to escape the noise and chaos. It will be hard leaving. It has only been a month but I love these children. Spending every day getting them out of bed. Dressing them, helping feed the ones that need help. Singing songs with them, going on walks and bike rides. playing, reading with them. Praying with them every night has been a treat. The children here are very happy and get a lot of attention. They are getting the medicine and physical help they need to grow in strength mentally and physically. I have a feeling a few will be able to walk on there own in the future and with out St. Nicholas they wouldn’t have been able to. I know quit a few of these children are alive because of St. Nicholas house. I am thankful for my experience here.

They had a going away celebration for me on Sunday. It was very touching. The older boys couldn’t speak because they are so sad to see me leave. I am the only adult male here. I know they really look up to me as a role model. I didn’t realize how much of an impact I had on them this month. I plan to come back some day. I am going to miss the children here. It has been a wonderful experience. 

I will be heading to Kampala Uganda to visit a friend for a few days and then I fly to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. I thought the plan ticket was cheap until I saw the taxes but oh well. The plane ticket was $73 USD which is s 3 hour flight or a 24 hour bus ride from where I am to Dar and the bus ride was $35 USd so I thought why not fly it is hardly more. Well the taxes and everything else is also about $100USD which I was very surprised but it will save me time. The container that I helped sent with medical supplies just landed in Dar Es Salaam. That is the main reason I am heading out there sooner rather than later. I hope we will be able to receive the container but I know clearing it is a challenge. 

Poor Education

Wow Tanzania has a poor education system. Classes are in English because it is the business language. I was told that Public school teachers send there children to private schools because of the poor education. I was not impressed by the private school I attended. The theme of the school is “Fear God and gain wisdom”. It is a Pentecostal school. The school motto just doesn’t sit right with me. Any ways the books that they are using has misspelled english words in it. Most of the questions sound funny. There are even incomplete sentences in the text books. The last sentence on a page was Cashew nuts are grown in the coastal re- . The sentence was not even finished. One question was something like if the economy is good it is easy for someone to get a job? I was looking for the answer in the text book and it was definitely no where to be found. This was a question for a 4th grader.  I don’t think there is a simple answer to that question. One of the kids had a question how fast is the speed of sound? The answer was not in the text book. We can’t google it because we don’t have internet here. Maybe I am being to critical. 

Well Dan hit me good today. He is a 6yr old with Autism and you never know when he lashes out. He is always hitting things and children. If you ever put anything on a table infront of him he has to knock it off. He can never let anything just sit there. I took my eye off him for one second and he slapped me on the forehead. He is one strong kid. Unfortunately his parents as a really small child thought he was possessed and took him to a witch doctor. The family didn’t know what to do. He is at St. Nicholas and has been here for  4 years now. Danny loves plastic bottles. He loves throwing them and he loves hitting people with them. He also loves being spun around. Danny the tornado. You never know when he will strike. The hardest part for Danny is it seems he can’t talk. So it is hard for him to tell you what he wants. He is a very entertaining child to be around. 

Anthony asks me everyday if we can go for a bike ride. He probably asks me 100 times everyday. He is very persistent, My answer every single time is Maybe (Labda) That is probably the word I use the most here. I feel sorry for Anthony. His parents left him with his hands tied up as a baby. Some one found the child and brought him to the hospital. Anthony definitely has some sort of mental disability but I am not sure what. He means well but he doesn’t always act well around others. Every child here is unique and fun to be around.

 This is witness. She is a bundle of energy. I love her dearly. She always comes to me to be held. However she has pulled on my beard at least 3 times and it hurts. It is time to cut it off.

 This is anthony. He is wearing his boyscout uniform. He loves riding bicycles

 This is Mwesiga. He has some sort of mental disorder but I am not sure what. I took him for a walk and he got ecstatic.

 This is Irene and she just got baptized.

This is the night guard and he is wearing a badgers coat.

Boys washing the Bikes

I took the 11 year old boys for a bike ride and we got to the lake and I told them to wash the mud off there bikes. So what do they do. They get naked and take there bikes into the lake. It was completely normal for them and there are plenty of people around. They play in the water and have a good time. I’m thinking this would obviously never happen in America. I don’t know what it is about this place but there seems to be completely care free. Hakuna Mata. They had a blast playing in the water. People are walking by and watching because it is normal for around here. Every day now the boys ask me to go for a bike ride. They all love the camera as well. They all want to take pictures. Life is simple here and I like it. 

 WE try to walk the dogs every day. The boys love it too

 This fruit is called mshasha. It is very sour

 This is Sr. Carmen and she does a lot of the cooking and this is the containers they put the food in to keep it warm

Just a view of Kemondo Town.

Scouts

Things are going well for me. Everyday I help get the kids up and to the breakfast table. Then i go to church for daily mass in swahili. Then after mass I like spending time in prayer and silence. Then I spend the morning singing songs with the kids and playing with them. I love the children. They always make me laugh by the silly things they do and it is all intentional it is just the way they are. I feel life here is just about living. I enjoying going for Bike rides with the boys. They center has four guard dogs that are not trained at all so I am trying to help with that. One dog is good and listens but the other 3 I am not having good luck. I like going bike riding with the older boys. I had a great meal in Bukoba which was pork and french fries. I miss cheese and I am ready to eat some. On saturdays we have an outpatient clinic where people from different villages will come with there child to receive exercise help. I do miss playing soccer. In Kayanga I was able to play soccer there but here it is just children playing since it is such a small town. There is a lot of mud here. That makes it very hard on the Bicycles. The bicycles are always breaking down here. Plus most of the bicycles are not very good. Mainly shifting gears are the main problem. But today I tried cleaning the bicycles in the rain. Tomorrow a few of the kids are going to get Baptized which will be an exciting event here.Thursday night we had a scout night where the older kids got to sleep in an outpatient clinic so it was still indoors. But we put the mattresss on the floor. I didn’t get much sleep that night with the ten children. We also watched a movie called the horse whisperer. It was very good. 

 The boys and girls had scout uniforms made for them

This is a local boat that is used for fishing on Lake Victoria. 

Tanzania ten list

Top ten list for Tanzania.

What to always have on you in Tanzania

1. Rain Coat
2. Book- plenty of wait time
3. Sun screen
4. Bug Spray
5. Toilet Paper
6. Ciprofaxin- the runs happens and this could save you
7. Camera- there is always something that will surprise you.
8. Water Bottle
9. Flash light
10. Some money

When traveling 

1. Always inspect the vehicle before you choose to enter it. Especially tires
2. Choose a driver who is older. They are more cautious and everyone here thinks they are nascar drivers
3. Never get on a motorcycle after it has rained. The roads are mud.
4. When riding on a motorcycle make sure the driver has an extra helmet for you
5. Remember the vehicle is never too full. We had 9 people in a toyota corrola. There is always a way to get more people in a vehicle. Traveling is not suppose to be comfortable.
6. The Bigger vehicle ALWAYS has the right of away because they will win. 
7. When getting on a bus always try to get the front passagner seat. It has the most leg room.
8. The bus only leaves when it is completely packed with people so be patient. There is no time schedule on a local bus. 
9. Never expect to arrive anywhere at a certain time. You never know how many stops there will be.
10. I think it is good to always say a prayer before the bus takes off. 

 This is a small store in the local market. Not sure how he can find anything but he knows where everything is in his store.

 This is Michael and Witi who is a ball of energy. She loves being picked up and thrown in the air

 Went for a hike and this is Kemondo in the background along with lake victoria

 This is walking through the local market in Kemondo.

 I took the boys for a hike to see the view of Kemondo

This is St. Nicholas house which is where I am currently volunteering