Slowly we are learning snippets of Tanzanian culture. Apparently here, if an unmarried woman wants to find a husband she says she is looking for a ‘thick blanket’. The reason is fairly obvious, except you might wonder why Tanzanians are so affectionate towards their blankets in a country which is so hot. Well at this time of year in winter, even though it is probably as hot as in most of an English summer, there is a cool wind in the evening, which the locals, and some of the ‘Mzungus’, find very cold.
Malcolm must be becoming more Tanzanian in his DIY as well. For almost a year Dr Corrie has had very little water. The Hospital plumbers have been trying to sort out the problem but it may be because too many people are linked to the water supply. This week however, she has moved from famine to glut with too much water as her water tank was overflowing. Because the plumbers were not available Malcolm did a temporary repair wedging the loose ball-cock in position with a stick – later he found out the plumber had done a permanent repair - replacing the stick with a stone! When he returns to England perhaps we should suggest to B&Q they sell stones from their plumbing section
It has been a tiring week at work. Irene has done a mixture of tidying up the filing store and helping Julia at the Secondary school in sorting out some of the financial records. Malcolm has been showing the new accountant ‘some of the ropes’ at the Hospital. It was a shorter week than usual as Tuesday was a public holiday to celebrate Tanzania’s independence (‘Saba saba’ or ‘seventh of the seventh’).
We had a quiet day with Malcolm completing a new video ‘Using you Heads’ which can be found on Youtube (search for ‘thecrawfordclan’ or ‘Mvumi’ or use the URL http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cThEt5KmdV4. There is a brief intro below ). Rather than carrying bags the tradition here is that women (mainly) carry items on their heads and the short video features this. Because Mama Asante is in the video (singing as well as appearing) she was shown it. We were at first surprised why she found it amusing – perhaps it was she thought it strange that someone would find the subject so interesting. Wouldn’t we think it funny / strange for someone to bother making a video of people carrying handbags?
Last Sunday was a special service at St Andrews. Two former members, from Cornwall but now teachers in Morogoro, Dave and Janet, returned. A month or so ago they came to collect 500 serving spoons bought by church members at about 15p each – a lot of money for the people here. They had taken these on a holiday back to their English church and were selling them there for at least £1 each or more. They returned with about £500 from the sale of half the spoons which they gave to the church to be used to complete the building – it will pay for a proper, smooth floor and plaster for the walls. They likened it to the bible story of the loaves and fishes – someone with a little giving what they had to be blessed by much more being received. (Their only disappointment was that they had expected the Mvumi church members to buy simple but decorative wooden spoons – but because these were thought to be not good enough the locals had bought ‘posher’ low quality aluminium spoons – however everyone seems happy, so who cares!!!!)
We don’t expect anything special next week. Malcolm will be going to Dodoma with the new accountant to collect the payroll, visit NSSF and other places and Irene will get on with her work.
Oh yes – an update on the hens. At last they seem to be getting down to business as there has been a bit of a glut of eggs – perhaps they have heard the alternative to laying eggs becomes a bit final!!!! There have been 24 more eggs this week giving a total of 62 for £43 – only 70 pence each. Some of them have been larger ‘double yolk’ eggs. We’ve started to live on omelettes!!! Fortunately our daughter posted us some empty Tesco egg boxes (a luxury here) so we have something to keep the eggs in.
What is the difference between Malcolm and a thick blanket? A blanket doesn’t fidget!
Malcolm must be becoming more Tanzanian in his DIY as well. For almost a year Dr Corrie has had very little water. The Hospital plumbers have been trying to sort out the problem but it may be because too many people are linked to the water supply. This week however, she has moved from famine to glut with too much water as her water tank was overflowing. Because the plumbers were not available Malcolm did a temporary repair wedging the loose ball-cock in position with a stick – later he found out the plumber had done a permanent repair - replacing the stick with a stone! When he returns to England perhaps we should suggest to B&Q they sell stones from their plumbing section
It has been a tiring week at work. Irene has done a mixture of tidying up the filing store and helping Julia at the Secondary school in sorting out some of the financial records. Malcolm has been showing the new accountant ‘some of the ropes’ at the Hospital. It was a shorter week than usual as Tuesday was a public holiday to celebrate Tanzania’s independence (‘Saba saba’ or ‘seventh of the seventh’).
We had a quiet day with Malcolm completing a new video ‘Using you Heads’ which can be found on Youtube (search for ‘thecrawfordclan’ or ‘Mvumi’ or use the URL http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cThEt5KmdV4. There is a brief intro below ). Rather than carrying bags the tradition here is that women (mainly) carry items on their heads and the short video features this. Because Mama Asante is in the video (singing as well as appearing) she was shown it. We were at first surprised why she found it amusing – perhaps it was she thought it strange that someone would find the subject so interesting. Wouldn’t we think it funny / strange for someone to bother making a video of people carrying handbags?
Last Sunday was a special service at St Andrews. Two former members, from Cornwall but now teachers in Morogoro, Dave and Janet, returned. A month or so ago they came to collect 500 serving spoons bought by church members at about 15p each – a lot of money for the people here. They had taken these on a holiday back to their English church and were selling them there for at least £1 each or more. They returned with about £500 from the sale of half the spoons which they gave to the church to be used to complete the building – it will pay for a proper, smooth floor and plaster for the walls. They likened it to the bible story of the loaves and fishes – someone with a little giving what they had to be blessed by much more being received. (Their only disappointment was that they had expected the Mvumi church members to buy simple but decorative wooden spoons – but because these were thought to be not good enough the locals had bought ‘posher’ low quality aluminium spoons – however everyone seems happy, so who cares!!!!)
We don’t expect anything special next week. Malcolm will be going to Dodoma with the new accountant to collect the payroll, visit NSSF and other places and Irene will get on with her work.
Oh yes – an update on the hens. At last they seem to be getting down to business as there has been a bit of a glut of eggs – perhaps they have heard the alternative to laying eggs becomes a bit final!!!! There have been 24 more eggs this week giving a total of 62 for £43 – only 70 pence each. Some of them have been larger ‘double yolk’ eggs. We’ve started to live on omelettes!!! Fortunately our daughter posted us some empty Tesco egg boxes (a luxury here) so we have something to keep the eggs in.
What is the difference between Malcolm and a thick blanket? A blanket doesn’t fidget!
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