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Our return trip to Bethany
We've just read the article we wrote after visiting Bethany for the first time last summer and we can picture everything in our heads as clearly as if it were yesterday. It was as if we were spectators last year and so much just went over our heads, however 2004 was so different. As some of the children and the Tanzanian team had visited England a few months earlier we had really got to know them all a lot better. This time we were visiting on our own without Graham Pountain, also our remit was completely different. As new members of the UK team we have a lot to learn and most probably we frustrated both the UK and Tanzanian teams as we asked questions and discussed issues which they had previously worked through during the many years they have been involved with the project. We had a number of discussions with the Tanzanian team as we all shared our feelings, concerns hopes and dreams about Bethany and the importance of us all working together for the good of the children, of whom there are now 64 and are the reason for the existence of Bethany. The first week we settled into life at Bethany and tuned into how things worked. We spent time with the little ones who were not at school, after having had breakfast with the older children which usually consists of very sweet black tea and scones (white bread teacakes). It is surprising how quickly the day goes even though it begins at 6 am.
Mr Ahmedi arrived on our first day for his second interview for the position of teacher at Bethany. The idea behind this post would be for the teacher to give extra tuition to the children to supplement what already took place at school. He is enthusiastic, full of ideas and began teaching the week after when a timetable had been discussed and arranged with him. Esther Fimbo began employment as a temporary care worker during our second week she remembers Heather and Eddie Jeffery’s with fondness have worked with them in the early days of Bethany. Esther's English would be a great asset should she work long-term at Bethany. Daniel and Eliada rearranged the meal tables so that the children sit on the same table each day and the adults eat with the children. This had made a great improvement to the meal time atmosphere and supervision of the younger children. Eliada also made use of the Bible story books that we took to use in the pumzika for the older children to read to the younger ones. She also re-established the morning prayers and has written out a list of prayer topics. Paul with assistance from a local man was soon busy repairing the mobile water pump with parts we had just brought from the UK. The water supply was eventually resorted although Onesmo indicated that the receding water levels of Lake Victoria are a cause for concern and the inlet pipe is having to be regularly extended in order to maintain the Bethany water supply. Please pray that the forthcoming rainy season will restore the lake levels and hopefully the low rain fall of late is not due to some longer-term climate change.
It was good to see the enthusiasm that Onesmo has for the education of the children and for his sterling work with the secondary children, especially Emmakulata, Rehema and Angelina. He also helped Peterson and Harrison as they prepared for their year 7 mock examinations that determine if they can proceed to secondary school. It was brilliant to be able to visit a bookshop in Mwanza with Onesmo and Paul to buy sets of books to assist the children with homework, revision and for use by Mr Ahmedi, the teacher employed by Bethany. The library and resource room has been set up in the room opposite the office and will be supervised by Daniel and Onesmo. We visited the Lion of Judah Primary School and Nassa Theological College with Daniel and Eliada, this is the college that Eliada has just graduated from.
We set about collecting information on each of the children with the help of Daniel and Paul. This gave us quite a challenge as we learned of the different naming arrangements from Daniel. What we call surnames don't exist in Tanzania. They have family names which vary. Usually their Grandfather's first name or sometimes their father's name was taken and used in the way we would use a surname and children of the same family sometimes take different ones !
Before the trip we applied for International Driving Permits so that we could drive the Land Rover if needed. We initially drove the Land Rover with either Daniel or Paul present, (the two approved drivers) but of necessity we also drove the Land Rover when neither Paul nor Daniel were available. One of the trips we made was to visit Mr Maarugu, the District Commissioner who is based in Magu. One of the reasons for visiting his office was to present him with the photographs taken during the time he spent with the Bethany party during their UK visit this Easter. We also received an invitation to his house for dinner which he confirmed when he visited Bethany on the Sunday with his grandson and son who had been visiting relatives at Bunda. When we actually visited the District Commissioner Graham had started to become ill with what we were later to find out was malaria. The children had intended writing letters for us to bring back to the UK but as we left a day early due to Graham's illness we were unable to collect them. Graham was able to experience at first hand the benefits of the Bethany clinic in that he had a blood test that confirmed the malaria that the temporary doctor standing in for Lazarus had suspected. As a comparison between the UK and Tanzania we were told that Graham's blood test in the UK to check if he was parasite free would take between 7-10 days, unlike the Bethany result which was available in 30 minutes.
We would like to thank the Tanzanian team for making us welcome and working with us, their help was particularly appreciated when Graham became ill. Overall we feel this was a useful trip as we started to work with the local team at bringing about helpful changes in the day to day operation of Bethany. That said it was a demanding trip but then trips to Bethany should be given that the whole point of going is to work with the local team to improve the lives of the children who live there. A verse that we found particularly helpful on this trip was 2 Thessalonians 1 : 11 - With this is mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfil every good purpose of yours and every act promoted by your faith.
Elaine and Graham Earnshaw
14/8/04
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