Dyness's Baptism

On March 1st, we gained a new sister. Dyness, one of our form one students, was baptized on Sunday afternoon. She's a sweet and capable girl; please pray that she can grow in her faith over the coming years here at Alpha Omega. 

Learning about King Solomon

Today in Bible class, we are learning about King Solomon. Last week, we learned about him becoming king and asking God for wisdom. This week, we are talking about the building of the temple in Jerusalem. Fortunately, I have a model of the temple that another missionary that was moving back to the US gave me. I keep it on the shelf in the library, and it finally came in handy. The kids enjoyed seeing it in 3D. 

After the lesson, we watched a cartoon of the life of Solomon (I've been sick all week, so I'm not really up for anything too physical; I save video watching for occasions like this) while colouring and doing a word search. Another fun day in Bible class!

Wazungu Get-together

On Saturday, February 29th, we had a get-together of all of us Americans (and Canadians) here in Monduli, Monduli Juu, and Kisongo.  I had been thinking of having it, and I organized it, but the Allisons offered to host since they have more seating for guests and I accepted, especially as I was pretty sick most of the week before so didn't have the energy to clean and prepare much beforehand; the day of the get-together was really the first day that I felt really well.  

We try to get together every now and then, especially for things like American holidays (Thanksgiving) that no one here cares about, and just to sing in our own language together for a while.  This time, I wanted to have a gathering so that Tammy and Deborah could see everyone while they were here without having to take up a lot of time visiting each family individually, and also because the Duncans (missionary family who work on the school of preaching farm in Kisongo) are moving back to the US in March, and so it was also a good chance for us all to see them one last time, and also for them not to have to take time to visit everyone individually as they're busy with a lot of goodbyes. 

Deborah was a huge help at my house preparing food to take.  The onions we chopped were so strong that we kept having to leave the room, despite the open window and blowing fan! We did a taco bar, which is what we usually do at these things (other than Thanksgiving).  We all miss good Mexican food, and it's such an easy thing to split up for different people to bring different items.  I brought some flour tortillas, shredded chicken, chopped onions, and sauteed peppers (I like my tacos as close to fajitas as possible), and others brought salsa, cheese, lettuce, more flour tortillas, corn tortillas, ground beef, a wonderful spicy corn dish, guacamole, cookies, etc.) 

I didn't get many pictures of the gathering itself, but here's one  I did take of all the kids playing as we sat around talking between dinner and singing time. 

"Wazungu", by the way, means 'foreigners' in Swahili, and it's what the locals call us.  

Hedgehog!

Tammy has a special talent that many of you probably don't know about. 

She is an amazing hedgehog-finder. I have lived here for a year and a half and I've never once seen a hedgehog outside.  Then again, I don't tend to be out after dark much.  But she finds them all the time.  She loves them and often tries to make a pet of them, but that has historically not worked out well because they either escape and run away or well, they had dogs. 

She found one on her way back to my house tonight; Deborah and I agreed she could keep it for an hour.  It was really cute, and it seemed more resigned to being photographed and adored than particularly scared. 

Three Baptisms!

This morning at church, Fielden announced that there would be a baptism in the afternoon. It turned out to be three: welcome David, Isack, and Luther to the family!

David and Isack are in form two, and Luther is in form one. I'm happy for all of them, and I pray that they grow to be leaders in our school and community. 

The baptisms and the singing and praying done alongside them were led by students. 4th year students Benedict and Norman organized and led the service. In the photo Benedict, assisted by Meleji, is baptizing David. I'm proud of our older students for showing leadership and serving their fellow students in this way. 

A couple of the boys' families were able to come to witness the baptisms. Above, Luther stands with his father and two sisters. 

Isack's mother and younger brother (his father passed away some time ago) came. 

Below, Benedict prays with the guys after the baptisms. It was am important day for the students of Alpha Omega!

Having Fun with Guests

Look who's back in Tanzania!  

The Short family moved away from Tanzania in December, and have been spending a few months visiting the church in Milan (which is where I first knew them; we worked together there from 2007-2009).  However, Tammy had a few things that needed to be finished up here in Tanzania, and they needed to make a trip out of the Schengen area (Europe) so as not to overstay the 90 days that Americans are allowed to stay without getting a visa.  Lewis had already come at the end of January and brought Rebecca with him, and Michela visited some family friends in Scotland for her trip out. So, that left Tammy and Deborah, the youngest daughter.  They arrived in Monduli on February 19th, and will be staying with me for the few weeks they are here. 

Tonight, Deborah and I cooked a big meal of fried chicken, gravy, fried potatoes, and corn, and then we played Phase 10.  It's fun having someone around who likes to play card games! 

Waiting at the Gate

Looking back at the school gate from the road.

I'm leaving work before dark! It doesn't happen often, as I usually stay at the school to keep the library open until the students go to dinner at 6:30, and it gets dark pretty quick after that.  Today, though, I really needed to run some errands in town, including buying fruit and vegetables at the market, which closes at dark, so I managed to escape a bit early.  It wasn't easy; anytime the students see me packing up they suddenly have ten more questions and three more urgent crises, which is why I usually leave while they're eating. I did it, though!  It was a beautiful evening, so I took a few pictures as I waited out by the road for my boda boda (motorcycle taxi).

Looking down the road towards town.

Looking up the road, up the mountain to Monduli Juu.

Becoming a King in Bible Class

We had another fun day in Bible class this morning! We have finally finished our study of the Parable of Jesus, and now we're starting a new study on the King of Israel.  Today, we talked about Saul being chosen as the first King of Israel.  We made crowns to imagine what it would be like to be chosen as a king or queen.  We had fun with glue, scissors, crayons and colored paper decorating our crowns.  

We had a big class today as we had visitors; Tammy's brother, David, is visiting along with his two oldest children.  

Everyone's busy!

Our class is held in the conference room in the administration building.

I wish I had thought to get a group picture of everyone in their crowns before the triplets left, but at least I got this crowd! 

Beth texted me later that evening and told me that Jackson refused to take off his crown until well after he got home, and that included while going out for lunch in town.  

I made a crown, too, when we had an extra, and I had it with me in the library after class.  A few of the students tried it on.  Here's Omega modelling it: 

Graduation 2019!

All of the graduates along with the TCS board members, the headmaster, the District Commissioner, and a few of the teachers. 

On October 26th, we had our very first graduation at Alpha Omega!  Four years ago, this group of students started out at a brand-new school.  It must have been a bit strange to be the only class on campus, but they stuck it out.  Each year since we've added a new form as they have progressed, so now we are graduating our first form 4 students.  

Graduations here in Tanzania are an event.  It turned out to be a combination graduation/science-fair/talent show/church service/dinner, and from what I've heard of other local graduations, ours was quite tame and sedate.  (There was a fashion show that was somehow part of another local high school's graduation last weekend; some of our students wanted to do something like that, but Lewis said ABSOLUTELY NOT.  Also, a couple of our students had signed up to salute the graduates with a break-dancing demonstration, but Tammy 'accidentally' edited the program to where it turned out to be a poetry reading).  Graduations are an all-day commitment, and since once people get food they tend to leave, 'lunch' is always the last thing.  It was scheduled for 3 pm, but I knew that we'd be lucky to see food until at least five.  (I was right.  I had a snack in my bag.) 

Graduation gowns and hats are more of a university graduation thing here in Tanzania, so all of the graduates dressed up in white shirts and black trousers or shimmery black skirts.  There was a lot of last-minute scrambling as some of the boys realized at the last minute that they didn't have any clean socks and some of the girls realized that white blouses tend to be rather see-through and need an undershirt.  I spent a while in the girls' dorm rushing people out so that we could start photos only an hour or so late. 

While the Form 4 students took got ready and took pictures, guests could walk around campus to see tables set up by the younger students showing various projects.  The once above was a demonstration of various settlement types and ways communities can be organized.  Quite a bit of my tape, staples, glue, etc. was 'borrowed' for this particular project. I did stop by to be a practice audience for Baraka's whole spiel.  Later, I got this picture of him going through the demonstration for Nancy Smelser, one of the founders of the school. 

There were other tables with physics, chemistry and biology demonstrations, as well.  I was supposed to go back and buy some homemade soap from the chemistry team, but I never made it back that way. 

   

Another major difference in just about any big even here in Tanzania from similar events in America is the dancing.  Graduates do not walk sedately in.  They dance up the aisle.  In unison.  They'd been practicing their routine all week.  Thankfully, it was fun and happy while still being in good taste. 

Once everyone was settled with the graduates in their seats at the front, the parents, guests, and teachers in their places, and the school board, administration, and speakers settled on stage, we got started with the ceremony.  My role for the day was as one of the photographers, so I was moving around quite a bit.  

   

The ceremony involved four speakers (one of the parents, Mr. Songoyo; Tammy's brother David, Dr. Smelser, the school founder, and the District Commissioner).  The speeches were interspersed with a few rather cheesy songs sung by some Form 2 students to the form 4 students, and from some Form 4 girls to the parents.  They had taken some songs and personalized them; my name even ended up in one of the Form 2 songs.  It was a song about how various groups of people were saying goodbye to the Form 4 students and wishing them well, including a rather long section with this teacher says goodbye and that teacher says goodbye.  There was also a really hilarious play somewhere in the middle, acted by a combination of Form 4 and Form 3 students.  

David Reese giving an encouraging speech to the graduates.

Dr. Smelser and Mr. Bernard Kulanga honored Lewis and Tammy for their five years of service, which was certainly deserved as they've dedicated so much time to these students over the last few years.  The students had all signed a big picture of an elephant for them. 

Finally, we go to the part in which the graduates walked across the stage to receive their School Leaving Certificates (Tanzanians tend to like extremely literal names for things...). I joined a small crowd of photographers on stage to capture the moment for each student.  After everyone received their certificate, they were then called up individually for awards for various accomplishments (school government positions, etc.) and academic awards for the top student in each subject.  The top two students, Regarn and Pamela, won all of those; we all rather got the giggles when Pamela ended up having to go in circles as she won award after award.  They don't really use the term 'valedictorian' here, but the top three were clearly recognized:  Pamela Innocent, Regard Richard, and Moureen Simon.  

The ceremony finally ended, and the celebrations began.  Food was served; it was the typical Tanzanian party menu of pilau (spiced rice), chicken, cabbage, kachumbari, and watermelon. I spent most of the rest of the evening taking photos of groups of students.  I've now made a google photos account for the school and I'm going to show the students how to access so they can download photos on their phone after leaving school if they want.  

Two of the boys, Aloyce and Joseph, their father Narda, and Lewis and Tammy

I didn't get in many pictures myself, but I did get this one with one of my students, Aloyce.  We all had new dresses made for the occasion.  I bought the fabric in Iringa back in August and I've been looking forward to having it sewn.  There are such great fabrics here that it's a constant temptation to buy way too much.  

Overall, the day was long but went very well.  It was a great celebration of the hard work the form 4 students have put in over the last four years and a nice event for the community.  The students aren't leaving quite yet, though; they still have their big national exams in a couple of weeks before they're completely done, but the tradition here is to have the graduation when they finish classes, so preparing for it is not a distraction from their exams.  

It's going to be strange for the school once these students leave; we've never had students not come back before.  I am wishing all of them the best as they go on to further their education or find jobs. 

Frog Hopping to Assembly

Teacher Ilampa is teacher on duty this week, and he had a novel and funny way to deal with students who were late to assembly.  Those that weren't yet to the assembly area had to stop where they were and frog hop the rest of the way.  I heard to commotion outside from where I was working in the library, and came out to take a few pictures and laugh with the hopping students. 

Dust Storm!

I was teaching form three this afternoon when the wind started blowing.  Now usually, a bit of wind wouldn’t disturb us; it’s often a bit windy here at our campus on the hillside.  But the wind was rattling the windows and bending the trees, enough that the students started to glance over their shoulders at the windows behind them a bit nervously.  A strong gust blew right in the open windows, and the students scrambled to gather papers that were blown off their desks and shut the windows. 

Within a few minutes, the wind blew in heavy clouds, darkening the day considerably.  But these clouds were an odd color, with a sickly yellowish tinge, and low.  They cast an odd enough light that my class was rather derailed for a few minutes as everyone commented on the odd clouds and fidgeted nervously.  Finally, after nothing further happened for a few minutes, I told them that if we died, they would die having learned a bit more grammar, so sit down and be quiet. 

The odd clouds grew an even deeper yellow-brown color as the wind continued to gust, but by the time class was out twenty or so minutes later, the worst seemed to have passed and the clouds were lightening to closer to their normal gray.  I caught a picture of the last of the dirty clouds as I walked back to the library. 

We later heard that it had been a huge sandstorm, and we had only caught the very edge of it.  Friends in Kisongo (thirty-minute drive away) and out near Kilimanjaro sent pictures; at the Arusha airport, the clouds were so thick and full of dirt that you could hardly see the planes!  I’ve never seen anything quite like it and judging by my students’ reactions, it’s not too common a thing here in Monduli, either. 

Here are a few photos from other people: 

The clouds coming up from the valley towards the school campus; I couldn't see this angle from the classroom, but another teacher took this photo. 

The storm passes over the Arusha airport.

This photo was all over the news--someone took a photo from a plane of the storm passing Mt. Kilimanjaro.