Re-entry

By -
Our travelers have all been home for about a month now.  Since the exuberant hugs at the airport --




-- we have all gradually returned to our regular lives.  One young traveler put it this way: "It's so hard to believe it's been a week already! For me, so much has happened since then. Life seems to just pick right back up where it left off- busy as ever. I know I need to take some time to just sit and think about our trip and what I'm going to do now that I've gone and come back. "

Another traveler, in the week after arriving home, said, "The pictures online bring me back to our Tanzania family/friends in a welcoming, good way but with a sense that we are separated by such distance and culture."  The travelers set up a Shutterfly site where we are sharing photos and videos.  We are noticing that many of us took similar shots, each from different angles and perspectives. Some of the group gathered in person to share photos and watch videos together.

Adjusting to the time difference was the first challenge, each of us taking about a week to adjust to the 8 hour difference.  Some managed by catching naps, others by marathon sleep sessions, and others by adjusting day by day, trying not to mind waking at 3 AM for a few days.

The sleep issues gave us a few funny stories to tell....forgetfulness, like leaving the car running in the restaurant parking lot for 90 minutes...

A month after our return, we are still sharing photos on Facebook and Shutterfly, and we're still commenting on our favorite moments.

Some of the travelers have commented on how grateful they are for opportunities to show their photos  and share their stories with other friends and family.  In doing so, we often recognize how little we Americans know about life in Tanzania.  (This year most of us have been asked whether we were concerned about the Ebola outbreak -- which is on the opposite side of the continent, about as far from Tanzania as New York is from Anchorage.  Don't get us wrong -- we appreciate the expressions of concern for our welfare.)

Many of us are looking at our daily lives and our surroundings with fresh eyes and perspectives.  Some talk of tears when we walk into Target or our grocery stores and see the abundance (over-abundance?) of things in our lives. We try to come to terms with having so much that we don't even need, while our friends still need so many essentials. That leads many of us to identify things in our own lives we don't really need, and make a commitment to share resources more freely with our friends.

We long for news of our new friends....How is Frankie doing at the clinic?  Did P. get his college application in on time?  I wonder whether M. will be able to get a job now that his course is finished...

And finally, while we realize we have left a part of our hearts in Tanzania, we know we have work to do here at Shepherd of the Valley.  Our travelers go as ambassadors of the congregation, and come home as evangelists for the partnership and its work.  We've got stories to share, and we've got projects to support, so there will be funds to raise in the coming year.

Want to hear our stories?

  • Monday, September 22 is a preview meeting for those interested in traveling to Tanzania in July 2015; meeting starts at 7:30 PM; applications are due October 1
  • Sunday, October 12 and 26, our groups will be sharing stories and photos at the Adult Forum at 9:45 AM
  • Saturday, November 1, we'll offer a hands on exploration during the Saturday Sampler at 5 PM
  • November 8 is SOTV's Christmas Boutique and we'll be selling Tanzanian handcrafts
  • November 15/16/19 we'll be sharing experiences in all Godzone hours


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Idodi Secondary School

By -
Image
July 10, 2017 On Monday we headed out to Tungamalenga and Makifu parishes, ready to be offline for the next eight days.  Our first stop was at Idodi Secondary School.  Idodi is the first village we come to in the parish, and we have about 75 students attending the secondary school. Headmaster Christopher Mwasomola welcomed us to his office for an introduction and update. He said that Idodi is known as a community school -- the infrastructure is built by the community (in this case, heavily supported by a group known as Friends of Ruaha) and teachers are provided by the government.  Fun fact: the Friends of Ruaha at one point received a donation from Roy Disney, whose name is included on the dedication plaque for the school's library. The school was registered in 1999 and has 889 students, 437 girls and 452 boys. There are 41 teachers. The government supports salaries, books, lab equipment, desks, and other basic supplies. There are 11 non teaching staff, with only tw
Read more

Safari 2013: the journey of a lifetime

By -
Image
Safari in Swahili means journey. We'd like you to consider taking the journey of a lifetime with other Shepherd of the Valley members next summer.  For two weeks in August, you could be ambassadors from our congregation living among and getting to know our partners from Tungamalenga Parish. What's a journey like this look like? We'll fly from Minneapolis to Amsterdam, then Amsterdam to Dar es Salaam with a short stopover at Kilimanjaro (alas, it will be dark and we don't get off the plane at Kili). That's about 24 hours from start to finish, with a four hour layover in Amsterdam. Arriving at the Landmark Hotel just before midnight, we get a good night's sleep in Dar before the eight to ten hour cross country bus ride to Iringa. notice the US and Tanzanian flags on the dashboard of the bus?   Highlights of that cross country ride include driving about 100 kilimeters of the way through Mikumi National Park -- and if we're lucky, we'l
Read more

Karibuni sana

By -
Image
Pastor Naftal & Anjelina Ng'amillo In just a couple short weeks, we will be hosting guests from Tanzania. Pastor Naftal and Anjelina Ng'amillo from Tungamalenga Parish, along with Dr Mufwimi and Dora Saga from the Ilula Lutheran Hospital, will arrive in Minnesota October 21 for a stay of just over two weeks. What better way to welcome them than to learn a few words in their language? Karibu sana or, if you are addressing more than one person, Karibuni sana , means "we warmly welcome you." It's pronounced like this: KAH ree boo SAH nah or KAH ree boo nee SAH nah. Jambo means "hello." Another greeting is Habari, which is more like "how are you," to which a Tanzanian might respond Nzuri [good], Salama [peace], or Njema [fine, well, good] and then they might add, Habari yako [and how are you?]. When Tanzanians are in a gathering, like at church or at a meeting, and they rise to speak to the assembly, they almost always start by say
Read more