A nice day for a party

It is always sad when friends move on, and this week a family who have worked in Iringa for over 13 years said good-bye as they move back to High Wycombe. As regular members of the English church here they were first formally sent on their way at the Sunday Service. This seemed particularly difficult for the children who have lived their whole lives in Tanzania, and going to England is like going to a foreign country.

  

Then we were all invited to a farewell party at a lodge site some miles outside Iringa. The site usually caters for American students visiting Tanzania on field and research trips. Irene took the opportunity to explore the surrounding countryside with Gaia, who is completing research in Iringa for her PhD. (About the impact on families hosting visitors from the developed world).

Lunch was a Bring and Share event with piles of food brought by the Guests. Irene soon settled down to a fine meal. Unusual for us to be able to eat in the open in January!!!!

Back at work we are considering  introducing cash-less payments. When we were last in Tanzania 10 years ago, using phones to transfer money to other people was already commonplace and many people, even if they did not have a bank account, used this method to pay for goods and fees etc. This was in advance of the UK. At Neema Crafts this week we met with representatives of Vodacom, a major mobile phone service provider, to consider enabling customers to pay for goods and meals from their phone’s mobile money account.  

Emergency Services

Last week we mentioned that a new café counter had been made, but with a bend to the left rather than the right. The good news is that very quickly Mateso was able to prevent the emergency becoming a crisis, as he adjusted the frame and flipped the worktop so that no-one would ever know there had been a problem (that is, if Malcolm hadn’t put it in our blog!!!) 

It is always helpful to have someone available in such as Emergency. Opposite the Neema Crafts building is the Iringa Fire Service office, which often has a fire engine stationed outside. This week we had a typical African rain shower which quickly turned the roads into rivers. The good news is that for a while there was no problem with fires!

The workshop is a factory and there are daily risks of someone being injured and requiring medical treatment. Although the government hospital is only a few hundred yards away there is no reliable equivalent to the ‘999’ service, which means it is harder to call an ambulance in an emergency, which puts increased reliance on First Aid staff. This week 6 staff from Neema Crafts were trained in basic First Aid by Dr Marcus, and they all received their certificates.

 

There are also incidents of personal emergencies. This week one happened to Irene as it was time to review her hair style. Fortunately Savannah was on hand to ensure that Irene continues to be well presented. The best place for the 'service' was in the local church, where the job could be done in peace and quiet.

Left or right? - Taking the ‘Pretty’ Route

Normally when we walk to work we turn right outside our house. For a change Malcolm decided to explore where turning left would lead.

It was not a short cut to work!

Iringa is built on a hill. It was a strong defensive position for the local tribe and then for the German’s when they colonised Tanzania. Unfortunately for Malcolm turning left took him the wrong side of the hill, down a narrow track, to the outskirts of Iringa, all the way to the bottom. This meant he had to walk all the way up the steep road and concrete footpath to reach the town.

But there were good views of the country.

 

The steep steps he climbed to return to the town led to one of the street markets. Unfortunately the nearby stream was choked with plastic bags discarded at the market.

 

At Neema Crafts work is progressing with a new counter for the café. The basic frame is welded and a top is being prepared by Mateso. Unfortunately some modification will be required as the end of the counter should bend to the right, not the left. Just another minor diversion.

So remember. Although the other way may seem at first pretty, always take the right way!

New Year Celebrations - Crawford style

It’s midnight, New Year’s Eve! You are in the centre of the exotic city, Dar Es Salaam.! The world is excitedly celebrating the start of 2018! So what do you do?

 Malcolm and Stephen slept.

Ok!. They had had a hectic week on Safari, had just travelled 10 hours on an African bus to get here, and Stephen had a 4am flight back to England, but come on!

 

In the meantime Irene had  her own way of celebrating the New Year, reflecting on the exciting safari we had been on, when she came across some wild-life of her own in her bath.

 

But at least it had been a safe Safari.

 

Irene only had one request for our driver, Sam. She wanted to see a leopard. She knew there were meant to be some in Ruaha National Park but they were very difficult to find, being asleep during the day (a bit like the Crawfords).

 

We did come across another hunter – a cheeky monkey who raided our early morning breakfast. Fortunately Malcolm is quick on the draw, took a shot and caught the thief on camera.

 

Stephen took the evidence and interviewed the other monkeys to try and get the stolen property returned – he failed.

 

Stephen’s holiday homework set by his school class was to get a photo of Ellie, the class mascot, with a range of animals including elephant, giraffe, monkey, a kangaroo and a tiger – difficult, as the last 2 are not found in Africa.

But we saw lots of animals – we hope the following will give you a taste for African wild-life.