Seneyo's Sewing Machine

Seneyo's Sewing Machine ~



Seneyo is a very quiet and shy widow. In our group of 30 Maasai widows, she was the only one who couldn't think of a way to generate income for her and her children. She was eager, to be sure, but totally lacking in the confidence to try something new. Each month, as she participated in the trainings and fellowship with the other widows, she grew in her new faith. She began to share testimony that she was beginning to experience HOPE for the first time. Each month, she asked God to take her small faith and her small hope and transform her. Joseph and I prayed for an idea.

Then, a group of women in Indiana, contacted me. They are a group of sewing ladies, who wanted to bless a widow in some way. The idea was born! Seneyo lives in a village with no sewing machine. In fact, in the closest market village of Mairowa, there is only one sewing machine. Joseph and I knew that if Seneyo had a machine, she could have a profitable, small sewing business. In the villages, their shukas and school uniforms are in constant need of repair. So, the group of women in America gave the resources to purchase the machine, other supporters of the program donated thread, and we had a wife of one of our church planters donate sewing lessons.

So on September 8th, we presented Seneyo with her sewing machine. (By the way, it works by foot pedal, no electricity needed!) She was trying so hard not to cry....crying is not something Maasai do, certainly not in public. The other widows broke out in song and prayer.

Sweet Seneyo on the left in blue...allowing herself tears of thankfulness.

The rest of the celebration....

Rebeka's Plow ~

Rebeka Ngushai is one of the widows in the Tanzania Widow Project. Each of the thirty Maasai widows in the program worked with myself and Joseph Ng'ida, my ministry partner, to identify an income generating activity. Rebeka has a small plot of land called a shamba. Early on, she told us that she wanted to grow vegetables. As there are very few people growing vegetables in her village, we knew that Rebeka could not only feed her family, but make a profit selling the vegetables. Finally, this would allow her to send her children to school.

Rebeka completed the Farming God's Way course and is learning micro-enterprise concepts. Next step - receiving her plow! This plow, which is pulled by cattle, will allow her to plant her entire shamba.

On the day we presented Rebeka with her plow, she was completely surprised. When I made the announcement and Joseph pushed the plow out, she just grabbed onto the handle, I think to keep from falling down! She was literally speechless. What was amazing was the celebration. The other widows burst out in song, dance, laughter and praise. They were celebrating the blessing their dear friend received and thanking God for the transformation that is taking place amongst them. It is an honor to witness such love and genuine JOY.

Kereya ~ Before and After Books

Kereya is a 15 year old Maasai boy living in the village of Enkeua. He is an orphan. He is also very smart and has a talent for building things. He dreams of becoming an engineer. The next step for him to achieve his goal is to go to secondary school, which is the equivalent of US high school. However, to do so in Tanzania, you have to pass the Standard 7 exam. Very few Maasai kids are able to pass this exam. The main reason is because they don't have books. The books needed to prepare for the exam is a set of English, Science and Math books. Other reasons include lack of teachers in the bush and the fact that the exam is given in Swahili and English, when the language of these kids is Maasai.

The first picture you see of Kereya was taken at our orphan gathering in February. He was pouring out his feelings to my ministry partner, Joseph. Kereya was sharing his dreams of an education and his absolute lack of hope to pass the exam without the books. When Joseph shared with me what was going on with Kereya, I knew we had to get him those books. Although we can't meet every need of every orphan in the villages, I knew that I was supposed to meet this need. I've known Kereya for almost a year, and know him to be a hard-working boy who is always willing to serve the younger orphans.

So the next weekend, my husband helped me search Arusha for the books. You see, it isn't just the lack of money for kids like Kereya. The books simply aren't available in the villages. So in Arusha, we found the set of books. I should have been relieved at how easy it was for us to find them, and the fact that they were so inexpensive. However, I actually was just frustrated. Frustrated that a kid with such a desire to learn would fail because of lack of materials; frustrated that the books aren't available to kids in the bush; and frustrated that the amount of money is so small, probably the amount of money American kids spend on sodas each week.

The next week, I went out with Oleg and Heidi to the bush. I had arranged for Kereya to meet me in Mairowa. Mairowa is only a 2 hour drive for me, but a 5 hour one way walk for Kereya. And, despite the long walk, a few other boys from his village came with him to celebrate the occasion! You will notice that he is dressed differently in the second photo. When I asked why he wasn't dressed in his traditional shuka, he said that he borrowed these clothes, because he "wanted to look smart when receiving his new books."

Information coming soon about how to sponsor an orphan like Kereya!

Widow & Orphan Days...

The 1st Saturday of each month is Widow & Orphan Day. On those days, on our project land in the village of Mairowa, 30 widows and 130 orphans gather. Together with my ministry partner, Joseph Ng'ida, we feed, encourage, teach and sing praises with these precious women and children. We also bless them with maize, beans and ugi to take home. Ugi is a nutritionally rich flour especially designed for those with malnutrition.

Please enjoy these photos of the children enjoying their meal. This month we were able to serve their favorite ~ goat meat!

Widow Program

The CMF church plants and our CHE (Community Health Evangelism) groups in the rural Matale and Ngare Naibor regions expressed their concern to CMF of the many widows in the villages in dire need of aid. These new churches are too young to financially support the widows, but yet mature enough to know they have a duty to care for these women. A survey was conducted last year and 30 women were chosen as the most destitute. The criteria they used for a destitute widow was loss of husband, and owning 'no cow or even a goat.'

So for the past six months, I have been working to build relationships with these 30 women. Together with CMF's Maasai CHE leader, Joseph Ngida, we decided that the best way to help these women, would be a combination of food assistance, training, spiritual guidance and encouragement from their village church, and a savings program.

So how does the program work? Once a month, the widows will gather on our project land in the village area of Mairowa, where they will receive food, nutritional supplements and other supplies. They will receive Biblical teaching and also a time of fellowship with one another. I still have a lot to learn about Maasai culture, however, I know enough now to tell you how difficult life is as a widow for the Maasai woman. More than the obvious financial difficulties, she is left voiceless in the community. She is also left without protection against various other cultural problems. This time of fellowship is really helpful for the widows to share sorrows and encourage one another.

More than that, this program is a sponsorship. We are praying that each widow will be chosen by a sponsor who is willing to 'adopt' her for a period of one year. The total sponsorship per widow is $300. One third will be used to feed the widow and her children for the year. One third will be used for training. The final third, or $100, will be used by the widow at the completion of her year of training, to begin a self-supporting activity. What types of training and activities? Sewing, beading, farming, and raising goats are just a few of the micro-enterprise types of income generating to be taught.

The women are so excited and HOPEFUL to be in this program. Please join me in praying for the women! Please contact me through email if you know of a family, Sunday School class, or other group of people desiring to sponsor a widow and change her life and her children's lives in 2012!

tzheather@gmail.com

Meet Selei

Let me introduce you to one of the widows in our program. Her name is Selei. She was the 4th wife of her husband. When her husband died, as the youngest wife, she was left with nothing. She now has no husband, no cow or goat, and no land to farm. She has no way to generate income to feed her four precious young children.

However, she has two things now that she didn't have before she became a widow. Thanks to the outreach of the Oloserian church plant, she now has FAITH in Christ. And now, chosen to be one of the first widows in our new Widow Program, she has HOPE. I have slowly been building a relationship with Selei and have gained her TRUST.

We were recently able to help her with medicine for her youngest child, and she was so very grateful. I look forward to the day when I can tell Selei that someone has chosen to sponsor her!

*Please see Widow Program post for details of widow sponsorship!

God is Coming!

The other day I was out interviewing children for the orphan sponsorship program. I was writing down information for their bios as Sarah, a CMF apprentice, took their photos. We were sitting on some large stones on the project land when it began to rain. The way Sarah and I responded was so typical of a Westerner. We scrambled to gather our things and get into the LandCruiser. We ran with our heads down, trying to stay dry. My papers were getting wet and Sarah was concerned for her camera. We were so American, so worried about our stuff. They did not worry about their stuff. They have no stuff. How did these sweet Maasai children respond to the sudden downpour? With delight! They lifted their faces toward the sky, letting the fat raindrops hit their heads. They did end up gathering under a tree, but did so with smiles, happy for the much needed rain that would bring water to them and their animals. What I viewed as an inconvenience, they viewed as a blessing. As they gathered under the tree, I heard them shouting a phrase. My understanding of the Maa language is limited, so I could only make out the word for God. I asked my friend Joseph what they were saying. With a huge smile on his face he said, "God is Coming!"

Another Flat Tire

On the way to the bush a few weeks ago, we had another flat tire. Tanzania roads and tires don't get along. The funny thing this time was that the flat tire happened when we were on the 'good' tarmac road. As Bill got out and started to change the tire, he discovered that our jack was not working properly. Well only a few moments went by and two lorries (what we call big trucks here) stopped. They had a high-lift jack and Bill basically just had to watch while these six African good samaritans changed the tire. We were able to be on our way and were only thirty minutes late arriving in the village....and in Africa, that is still considered on time!

A Day in the Bush

Many people have asked what it means when we say we went to the bush. Yesterday, I went 'to the bush' so I will attempt to share with you what that means.

First of all, to get to even the nearest village where we work, Mairowa, you must leave at sunrise. We don't travel in the dark here as the roads are terrible, too many animals, no streetlights, and other interesting hazards. So off you go, bouncing down the road in the LandCruiser. The road is so bumpy and full of holes big enough to swallow small cars, that the driver has to keep both hands on the wheel and passengers have to hold on to something to not go flying across the seat! We joke that we like to travel with the vehicle full so we don't fly around very much.

Usually our first stop is at Joseph's house. He is a Maasai man with an incredible heart for people. He works for our CMF team as the CHE project leader/church planter support in the region known as Engarenaibor. When we arrive, his wife is ready to serve you a steaming hot cup of chai. The tin cup is so hot to hold, but you must down the drink as to not offend their hospitality. That is so important in their culture. The tea is very light as it is mixed with goat's milk. As I don't love the stuff, I politely drink about half the cup, then quietly hand it off to Joseph's 5 year old daughter, Nempris, who loves chai!

After chai and enough 'greetings' (another must in the culture) you can go off to begin your tasks of the day. Everytime is different, sometimes continuing on another hour or two to another village or staying in the area. Yesterday, all of our work was within 8 kilometers of Joseph's house. While many times I travel to the bush alone, this time our team consisted of myself, Ron and Wendy (CMF missionaries) and Amy and Sarah (CMF interns). We proceeded to the Oliserian church to drop off Wendy and Amy. This church has a preschool that meets daily and Wendy had research to do as she is attempting to train teachers in the area. We got out for a bit to see their new cookhouse, which is basically sticks tied together. The cookhouse provides a place for a daily meal to be cooked for the children, thanks to IDES. We say our goodbyes to Wendy and Amy and are off to our next stop...

The CHE Project Land is where the new Widow & Orphan Project is centered. Ron needed to check on the progress of the construction and also deliver and set up the new water tank! It is wonderful to now have water on site, thanks to a donor Wendy secured while in the States.

While Ron was busy setting brick, etc. (with the ever present Maasai audience) Sarah and I found a spot to interview more children for the Orphan Sponosorship Program. We found a pile of stones to sit on, checking for snakes first. The minister of the Ngoswak church and two village elders sat with me as I spoke with the children, through Joseph's translation. At this point, as our formal language learning has been Swahili, I only know common greetings and phrases in the Maa language. *I'll have a separate post describing the orphan interviews.

As it was almost two in the afternoon, we remembered that we were supposed to go back and get Wendy and Amy! But, of course, before we could leave, another cup of chai. As we headed back up to Oliserian, we saw Wendy and Amy walking down the dirt road toward us in the much needed rain!

Back at Joseph's house, we were served lunch before starting our journey back to Arusha. As always, you start the trip no later than 4:00 to get back before nightfall. Our lunch consisted of a plate of steaming hot rice and mystery meat. As always, you dig in with your fingers!

After saying goodbyes, the long ride home begins. Other than calling out animal sightings, everyone is always pretty quiet on the way home as we are so tired, dirty and sunburnt. Also, because you have a lot to process, news of a child's death from measles, seeing many needs, but most of all, seeing all the ways that God is at work.

Thanks for joining me for a day in the bush!

Indy to Arusha

So we left the PCC mission house at 8:00 am January 22nd and arrived the next day, Sunday, January 23rd, in Arusha, Tanzania. By the time we made it with our team to the training center, we had been traveling over 32 hours, including layovers. That's with 4 kids, 12 checked bags and 12 carry-ons, 3 flights and 2 layovers. We were exhausted, hungry, and wanting showers, but we were filled with excitement as we walked down the stairs of the plane and into the steamy African night air. Our team met us after we cleared customs. It was great seeing them all again.

The kids did great on the trip...Oleg watched movies on every flight...Wyatt slept...Heidi was good :)...and Morgan didn't even complain about the plane food!