Pests, a Permit and a new Upendo wa Mama

The rains have started! After the drought which preceded the recent dry season, this is cause for rejoicing! Farmers are now putting their conservation agriculture "classroom" training into practice as they plant. We are now working with farmers in 7 communities with around 130 farmers. So as you can imagine, Peter, our CA project manager is very busy! And there is always a new challenge ... and right now, the challenge is this ...

Pests!

These pests are proving to be a real problem in one village. The whole village has been plagued by these bugs which burrow deep into the root of the maize plant. By the time the plant breaks through the soil, the damage is already done. For these farmers who can only afford to plant once, to see a whole crop destroyed before it even comes out of the soil is devastating. We are praying for more consistent rain which we think will strengthen future plants against the pest.

There is so much going on at the moment, it is getting rather difficult to keep up on the blog! But here are a few highlights!

Dar es Salaam

We were in Dar es Salaam all together the other weekend with Victory Christian Church. Staying by the Indian Ocean was beautiful! Tim was teaching at the Bible School on the Saturday and then preaching for the church services on the Sunday.

Sunday morning service at VCC

A Work and Residence Permit

Tim and the girls returned home to Mwanza on the Sunday night and I stayed on with Pastor Huruma and the family to begin working with a lovely group of women with albinism. I am thrilled to say that finally after a long and complicated procedure, with the generous help of Under the Same Sun, I now finally have a visa! It arrived just in the perfect nick of time this week, as I was about to fly out to Malawi! In the midst of a very busy and rather crazy week, Tim helped by taking my passport into Immigration and getting it stamped with my residence permit the day before I left! While still serving with the TAG church, this visa will enable me to volunteer alongside UTSS to help with their work with women with albinism. What a privilege!

It is wonderful to be working alongside the great team at UTSS. Rahab, who helps particularly with the women's group, travelled to Canada a year or so ago and as well as attending King's Community Church in Langley, also shared a meal at my parents!

New Upendo wa Mama

I was so delighted to finally meet these ten women in Dar es Salaam after waiting so long! All of them either have albinism or have children with albinism and are wanting to establish their group for support and income-generating. Their stories as similar to those of the mamas in Mwanza. They have chosen to also be called Upendo wa Mama (Mother's Love). In our days together, as we made the beads out of strips of old paper, we started reading Genesis about how God brings light and order into the darkness and chaos. We read about being created beautifully in the image of God for a purpose. It is a life-changing message. And my prayer is that as these women work together and grow, they would be a living demonstration to others of this truth.

Making beads together