Helping Hands Everywhere!!

I am so sorry for the delay in getting to my blog. We have done SO much traveling the past week that I haven't had a real opportunity to sit down. I am in Arusha currently, viewing Mount Meru. It is simply beautiful. Our weekend in Zanzibar was wonderful. We had hired a personal escort to take us around while on Zanzibar and unfortunately, my friend Ellen got very ill. We ended up taking her to the Muslim hospital and she ended up receiving IV for 24 hours. She is doing better now but that was what we ended up doing our second day there. Barbara, Roland and I visited a Spice plantation that was so interesting. We got to touch and smell so many different spices. I can honestly say, I learned so much and will come home to cook some new dishes with the spices I purchased!!! Zanzibar is a beautiful place. The mix of culture Muslim and Christian is so heartwarming. We felt well loved by everyone on that island. We took a tour of where the African slaves were taken 100 yrs ago. It broke my heart to see how these people were treated. We actually walked in their feet, from the boat in chains to the underground cells which made me sick to my stomach. The tight quarters, the way they were treated, just didn't do my heart any good. What was interesting was the fact that now the christian church and the Muslim Mosque sit right next to each other on the street in perfect harmony. We met some Iranian friends on our ferry ride from Dar to Zanzibar. We had such an interesting conversation with them...they asked us many questions about what we think about them and what they thought about us. WE discovered one thing, its the media that plays us against each other. . They are families who only want to care for themselved and love everyone around them. There is no harm in either of our ways. IF we would all learn to listen to each other, I believe we would find true peace in our world. THIS was a great learning experience for me.

We met with a wonderful man (contact through Barbara) he works for Opportunity International. They teach poor people how to get loans a sort of micro banking individual. He was a brillliant man and is connected to so many internationally. We connected Roland and Peter (a friend of mine and Roland's) to Peter and he thinks he will be able to help them eventually as he will begin working closer to Roland's village. One never knows.

Today I am in Arusha. We traveled yesterday to meet Ellen's compassion child which her church youth group supports. It was a very nice experience to see the compassion sight and meet his single mother. They are muslim and live in a very small house made out of cow dung. We visited a wonderful NGO today in Arusha. This was a rehabilitation center for handicap children. This is sponsored by the Lutheran church. It is amazing how difficult it is here in this country to have a handicap. They have nothing that helps these folks and this place was a wonderful respite that was begun 20 yrs ago. They actually take and teach these children how to sew, woodwork, weld, secretarial services and make crafts to sell. It was God working in a wonderful way to help these people who would otherwise be forgotten. I will have photo's when I arrive home to share about this place.

We will be taking our taxi back to Mwika later today. Nothing is easy in means of getting around here. Yesterday I sat in the local dala dala (van) from Mwika to Moshi with 30 other people. These dala dala's should fit 10 max...so we are packed tight and everyone is very close. If you can imagine, I was right smack dab in the middle of everyone. I am getting to learn and understand Swahili which is very helpful.

My time is running out, I will try to catch up with you soon. Thank you EVERYONE for posting me comments that you are reading my blog. I have tears in my eyes everytime I see you wishing me well and sending your prayers to me. I am SO lucky and I know that God has me in the right place!!!

Until we meet again!!


Cheers!!