It has been a long time since I posted anything here. It has been extremely busy for me here. Along with the normal work "stuff" we had a new couple from the US join us at Majitech. They are from Colorado and he has been in the drilling business all of his life. Debbie and I hit it off right away with Ray an Lori. We spent a lot of time helping them find a house and getting it furnished.
This past week Ray and I and a Tanzanian worker went about 100 Kilometers out into the bush to install a windmill for a community called Lobosoit. It is a community of about 4000 people and it is a very dry area even without the drought we have been going through. We had visited the community about 3 weeks ago and Elias one of the community leaders showed the one well in the middle of the town center that supplies the whole community. He told us that you got into line to get water and it takes 3 days to get through the line. When you get to the water pipe you can get 2 20 liter pails of water per person and that has to last that family at least the 3 days to get back through the line again. The three of us along with 4 locals dug the foundation and erected the windmill tower. The tower is 40 feet tall and the top 7 foot we had to put on in one piece stand almost 40 feet in the air with about 200 lbs of steel over our heads and the wind blowing at about 25 MPH. The 10 minutes of so that it took us to get it bolted in place seemed to be forever. On several occasions it seemed like we were about drop the tower part or one of us fall. But God is good and with a lot of prayer we managed to get the top installed. We packed up our tools and made the nearly 4 hour trip back to town to spend a day with our wives and time in church. We will return this week to assemble the actual wind mill atop the tower and start laying pipe to supply the community, a clinic, a church and the doctor and nurses homes with fresh water.
The whole area is a red clay but with the lack of rain not much is growing there it allows the near constant wind to blow the topsoil away. I know that having that constant wind will be good for the windmill but, there was so much dirt in the blowing wind we felt like we had been sandblasted by the end of the 3 days.

Don

That is just the way things are done here

That's just the way it's done around here. I have heard this statement several times since being in Africa. It usually has to do with paying bribes to get things done. It had been suggested to me to help fix a difficult situation. I didn't buy it, I have a God who can handle any situation, no mater how difficult. I can't go into details about this problem because it involves a number of other people, but we should know in about a month how God will handle things.
We did get another example of "that is just the way things are done around here". Debbie and I celebrated our 34th anniversary on the 14th. We decided to drive about 7 hours to Pangani and stay at a beach resort called Emayani, for the weekend. We left Arusha around 7:00 AM on Friday, needing to be in Pangani by 6:00 PM, at the latest to catch the ferry across the river to Emayani. I didn't push to hard as we had time and we wanted to site see as we drove through the countryside. The weather was great as we drove along and some of the contry side was spectacular. Large Sisal plantations interspersed with scrub brush and desert. We saw a few monkeys running across the road as well as dozens of cows, goats & sheep along the road. As we got nearer to the coast it got greener and we saw large amounts of citrus trees and palm trees. At every small town along the way there are speed bumps with speed zones and pedestrian crossings. As we were cruising along a nice straight stretch of highway I noticed several cars and trucks stopped along the roadway. As I slowed down a police officer stepped out and waved for me to stop. When I did, he came over to the car with a radar gun and said that I had been going 63 KPH in a 50 KPH zone. To be honest I am not sure how fast I was going I don't think I was traveling that fast, but I'm not sure. Anyway the officer showed me his book that showed the fine was 20,000 Tanzania shillings. He said I could pay the fine or if I wanted to give him a little "something" it could just go away. I told him that if I had indeed broken the law that I would pay the fine. He said to park the car and come over to his bench alongside the road,which I did. When I got there he had not even started filling out the paper work and receipt for the fine. He asked me about the Majitech sign on the door, because it has a cross worked into the logo. I explained to him about the company, what we did and that we were a Christian company and tried to live and do business by Biblical principles. He asked if I was a pastor, to which I replied no, but that we did have a pastor on staff. I then apologized that, if I had been speeding, that I was sorry because I did try to obey the law. He was shocked that I would apologize and then told me to go and be careful. Deb and I had a great weekend, and on Sunday we drove back to Arusha. Along a nice straight stretch (and I was watching my speed very closely this time) in the same spot as before there were several cars and trucks pulled over. this time however I drove slowly through and saw the driver of a bus handing the officer something and then keep going. So I guess that's the way things are done around here.

Don

oops

Well another day in Africa??? Yesterday around 11:00 AM two guys walked into the office at Majitech said hello and went over to talk to Humphrey. (Majitech's sales manager) I didn't think to much of it until Humphrey asked me how long we had been in Tanzania. I told him and went back to work on the computer. Two more guys joined the first two and they continued to talk with Humphrey. In a few minutes he came over to my desk and said quietly can we go to the other office and talk. We moved to the next office and he informed that the guys were from immigration and they came in looking for me. Some where along the line the ball got dropped and they didn't get my temporary work permit. Humphrey made some calls and said he was going into town with the immigration people to get it straightened out. In about an hour he called and asked me to bring him my passport. I did that and then went home to work from there, so as not to cause any further problems. I didn't hear from anyone the rest of the day.
Today when I arrived at work Humphrey wasn't there he had gone to Dar with the general manager Jacques. I was wondering what was going on especially since my passport had not been returned. Jacques called around 8:45 apologising for the problems and said I should have a temporary work permit and my passport back in 2 or 3 days. Hopefully he is correct, since Debbie and I and Jacques are supposed to fly to Nairobi, Kenya on Saturday if my passport is not back we're not going to be able to go. Thanks for your prayers
Don

Settling in ????

I'm sitting in the house after a half day of work. The first day I have been at work since Tuesday. I have had a sinus infection that gave me very bad headaches. I ended up going to the doctor Wednesday evening. He gave me some antibiotics and finally on the 3rd day I have been headache free.
After work Deb and I did some grocery shopping and bought some produce at the roadside market and came home and fixed lunch. Just a toasted cheese sandwich each. Deb decided to go for a walk around the PPF housing complex nearby and I decided to sit in the house and read. One of my favorite pastimes, the joys of a good book.


Don

Hi to all from Arusha, Tanzania. It was a very long trip, that many hours on an airplane and crossing 7 time zones, eating our airplane meals at 2:00AM our time. After three days we sort of felt normal. While we are living in a very nice hotel hopefully we will find a house soon.
The first day here we were taken on a tour of Majitech's office in Usa River and the workshop. The second day we looked at 4 houses that were for rent. A couple of them are serious prospects. The third day we were back to the airport getting the rest of our luggage out of customs. Since we had packed toiltries for the whole year we were to be here they seemed to think we must be selling them! They wanted to charge us duty. After I explained that they were just for our own use since we would be here for a year, they let us go without duty. Internet at the hotel has been difficult
but we will try to post every few days. Don & Debbie

Tanzania or Bust

Well today is the day we fly out of Erie at 3:22 and end up 28.5 hours later in Kilimanjaro Tanzania. We have been waiting a long time for this day. But dreading that much time sitting in an airplane. Next post will be from Tanzania


Don

Moving Along

We are finally seeing things move forward in our plans to move to Tanzania! Airline tickets have been purchased and a contract has been signed. We still have around two and a half weeks before we take off on April 14. We are eager to get going and at the same time feeling emotionally torn about leaving family and friends. Conflicted, I guess would be the word. All the waiting has been an emotional strain, but we trust that God has good reasons for all the delays, even though we don't know what they are. This "adventure" will be a big test for both Don and me as we don't know what all we will be facing and dealing with, but we know that God is with us and will guide us each step of the way as we keep our eyes fixed on Him. Your prayers in our behalf are much appreciated.
Blessings, Deb