A Stolen Phone... and other Recent Events!

It hasn't been the easiest of weeks! But it is always so encouraging to look back when writing a blog, and find the little joys that make it all worthwhile! These mamas in Dar es Salaam are one of the joys! It was good to be with them last week and see all they had made since I was last there, and work together on more products. We continued our readings through Proverbs, which always brings wisdom into our lives and situations! And we were visited by the Director of UTSS who came to meet the women and talk about their activities and plans. These women are gaining confidence and starting to generate other ideas for further entrepreneurial activities. We have all learned a lot over the past year about things that work … and things that don't!

The Dar es Salaam mamas group

It was a very hot and busy week with hours of driving in traffic in a very hot car, traipsing and hunting around a huge and insanely crowded market, a full schedule with no lunch breaks and then a late chipsi mayai (egg and chips) or kuku na chipsi (chicken and chips) when I eventually got to my little guesthouse. But while in Dar es Salaam, I was able to make the most of the opportunity to visit suppliers of equipment and ingredients for the Mwanza Mamas bakery! The road towards the Bakery has been a long, and to be honest, fairly daunting journey recently, navigating through tax laws, legal registration processes and viability spreadsheets (none of which are remotely "my thing" and remain way out of my comfort zone and area of gifting) but we are seeing the light of progress glimmer!

The light of all progress dimmed however when my phone was stolen right out of my hands! The thief sped by on the back of a motorbike and was obviously well practiced in theft technique. Not a nice experience! And that made all activity in Dar es Salaam suddenly very complicated … the whole police and phone process was long and complicated and trying to arrange meetings and taxis was complicated with no phone or internet! But all is well now … I have bought a new phone here in Mwanza and was very thankful to get my own number back and keep all my contacts!

Suffice to say, it was good to be home again on Friday night! Just in time for a quick turnaround to get to the Mwanza Mamas workshop early on Saturday preparing for the School Family Fun Day in the afternoon! It was a great opportunity for the Mamas to again be selling in the community, and Amisadai was working with them to practice their English, but most of them got a little shy! It was good to share a table with the girls from Christ's Daughters again. Laura had been staying with them for four nights last week and had been making cookies with them to sell, while she practiced her Swahili! It was a fun community event and we were glad to share in it! Jeni was even brave enough to ride a horse ...the others couldn't contemplate the thought of getting on, certain they would fall off! And they all enjoyed their first taste of cotton candy!

Jeni has her first horse-ride!

Upendo wa Mama and Christ's Daughters table

And now, Tim and Amisadai are in Kenya while Louisa and I stay in Mwanza. As I write they are on the bus and have just crossed the border and should be in Nairobi by 5am! On Friday and Saturday they will be at the African Society of Evangelical Theology where Tim is presenting his paper  … more about this in the next blog! Then they have some time to enjoy coffee shops and buy hundreds of honey jars and meet various people from churches and projects there. We look forward to being all together again on Thursday … albeit briefly before I am off to the beekeepers and mamas in Malya and Ngudu with Bhatendi … but those are events for another week!