koinonia

well HUJAMBO! (you say SIJAMBO- all is well, basically). so today we have the generator on- hence me feeling maybe i should put an update on here. I generally feel that i have so much to say that i just don't say anything. I am also much more of an emailer, hence taking so long to post an entry on here...hmmm another learning experience for lindsay: just put more on here and email less= less time needing power. the power here does not come on during the day at all, just at night- which is good, because then i can turn on the fan and make supper with electric light!
I hope this finds everyone well. Another week has gone by, hence a big hole in the supposed continuity of this blog. well what happened this week?
-i went to the hospital to be tested for malaria ( a prick of the finger but for those of you who know me i tend to be able to make myself faint for even the smallest things, so that was an adventure to "be strong lindsay - seriously DO NOT FAINT. i didn't). Test- negetive- what the heck- i feel so sore and tired- apparently you test negative if you've been on anitmalarial pills- so i requested treatment anyways- then decided against it and to hold out. i stopped my mal. medication and started a new kind yesterday.
-the hospital is run by hindu's- another cultural experience. they are very helpful AND talk english!
-I had my last 2 swahili classes this week- learning about how to connect more nouns with verbs. oy. overwhelming. one word at a time, and maybe i will just end up sounding like many ppl here who attempt to talk english- hmm, not so bad.
-drove around town a bit- if the car from streetwise is going down i like to hop along- its better than walking in 35 degree sun baking weather- so various outings with flaget, the woman working here at streetwise and the treehouse- she is new so i (being new myself) have gone with her to attempt to help anyway i can.
-everything takes TIME! days FLY by! difficult to plan a day because i don't know what will happen in terms of power etc.
-i started working on the data entry! yay. that is one of the main reasons i am here so that was great to start. of course i am not as computer savvy as some really smart people (yes, i am o so smart- HA! right.), but i am enjoying learning the ins and outs of this, and realize that this is really the only reason i would succumb to learning this practice of data entry. and i'm sure it will be usefull for the future.
-we met with Mr. Pamba! (pamba means cotton). This man is much more amazazing than cotton i assure you. Through Steve and Jan (crwrc) and I, we laid out our intended plan to go to the Village Buhumbi (near where he lives, and is a community with which he works through CRWRC, and The Lutheran Church as a "development officer"). He is very very integral to this project as he is so knowledgable about the community and its history. He understood the interview processes we wanted to do with women from Buhumbi (I'm SO excited- we will draw various charts in the dirt (soil i should say in respect for Au Sable) to allow the women to rank thing over typical years such as harvests of crops or what types of sicknesses there are in the children. For example, by using a certain number of beans they can rank each month of the year by placing a number in each square) I intend to take lots of pictures.
-I also went down into town to work with streetwise- this is the organization I support by living at the treehouse- everyday they work with 10-20 street kids by reading, doing math, generally showing the kids are cared about. so i went and sat down with one boy about 12 named Carlos (yes sounds spanish, i assure you he was Tanzanian) and he and i went through a story book about a boy in the serengeti. i tried reading the kiswahili and then we proceeded to inform eachother the names of each animal in eachother's respective languages. nothing so amazing, but something that leaves you with an amazing feeling! It is sad to see the kids though, but encouraging that there are organizations that are working with them. These kids will steal from you- anything to sell to make money on the street- either for food or drugs. I can't say much more because I am not in the situation enough to know more. But this organization works with the kids to encourage them and also attempt to reunite them with family- close or far- if it is suitable. Sometimes a streetlife is much better than home life.
-Last night we had a fellowship night with many missionary families. It was great to meet people, to talk, eat, sing and read scripture. Hence the title KOINONIA- community, a fellowship, God provides us with people to encourage us and share in hardships and joy. How wonderful to know that he provides. We read from Philippians- i love Philippians.
-Now it is saturday and I am going to try and get some more work done- as every day this week some form of -can I use this term- Koinonia (?)/ help for me, me helping others came up and hence took from the work I otherwise would've got done!

Keep in touch! I will try to update about the coming week's activities assuming they happen.
Thanks for reading.