Musings on the Kili Summit Trail

So, after our time in Mwanza, I took a side trip to trek Mt. Kilimanjaro. I started training for the trip in January to get myself ready. It was an amazing six days on the mountain leading up to summit day. On summit day, we got into camp about noon and took the afternoon to rest and relax. Then, early dinner and a few hours of rest before hitting the trail at midnight.

With our headlamps on, we started out in a single file line (our guide, me, Joe (a Canadian who joined my trip) and an assistant guide. It was a grueling, seven hour trek straight up through scree fields, then snow and scree and then just snow, climbing from 15,000 ft elevation to 19,340. I was glad I couldn't see the trail, only the lights of climbers above and below. At times I wasn't sure if I could continue. We went polepole (sloooowly), our footsteps only about six inches long at a time. At one point, another climber was having difficulty, so through the darkness I could hear the sweet melody of a swahili prayer song or the whistling of an old Christian hymn as her guide encouraged her up the trail. Poignant and beautiful.

So needless to say, with seven hours I had a lot of time to think (muse...perhaps hallucinate). Of course, one of the first lyrics which came to mind was "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path..." The thing is, with a lamp (or in my case, a headlamp) you can really only see about three steps ahead of you. It got me thinking about the summits God asks us to climb, the vision He might lay out before us.

I think we usually just get a glimpse of that vision, that mountain He wants us to climb, but it may only be a glimpse. If we choose to follow the course He sets before us, we may only see a few steps ahead. Sometimes that is a good thing. Perhaps if we saw the entire road we would turn back, discouraged or afraid. Sometimes along the way we may run into difficulty, feel like we can't continue, and in those instances, we need people to pray for us and encourage us, and in turn, we need to do the same for others. At the same time, we need to be sure we have prepared, using the disciplines of prayer, scripture reading and meditation.

At sunrise we reached the summit, and it was overwhelming in its beauty, its vastness, just the magic of the place. I will never forget it. It is a part of me. At the same time, for me a little of the high altitude sickness started to set in, headache and nausea. Perhaps all mountaintop experiences are the same. We aren't meant to stay there. We will be changed by journeying to and being in that place, but then it's time to get down off the mountain, recover, and start the next journey.

So the question I leave Kili with is, what summit is God calling me to go after? After attending the Doing Justice conference, I know it has something to do with justice for children. I am excited to see what glimpse of the trail He might show me over the course of the next few months, what mountain He might ask me to climb. I guess I better start training now.

Blessings to you on whatever journey you find yourself on.

Prayer Guide - June 7

We thank You, God, for Your love for us, Your constant blessings and especially for the great gift of salvation through Jesus. Thank you, God, for caring so much about us.


Father be with Your children from this team who are still abroad, especially Adriene. Keep them safe as they travel and bring them home in joy and peace.

Prayer Guide - June 6

Thank You, Lord, for the opportunity You have given us to serve your children and for the amazing blessings that we have received in and from this work

Post Mwanza

It has been two days since most of us flew out of Kilimanjaro International Airport. My return home to Walnut Creek is delayed a few weeks as I stopped in Istanbul, Turkey to see how my project is going. Istanbul has many problems including very low salaries for the majority of its people. My project includes visiting public hospitals. From what I see I know I would not want to visit any of them if I were sick or injured. However, compared to the people of Tanzania, the Turkish people have a high standard of living and excellent healthcare.

The contribution that our team made in bringing the Patricia Ward nearly to completion and with providing most of the materials for the Birthing Center and constructing many major building components will assist the people in Mwanza with access to affordable health care.

Observing first hand how the 2nd world (Turkey) and the 3rd world (Tanzania) people live on so little while we have so much, reinforces the fact that those of us with the ability to share our talents and treasures must use them to assist those whose talents andtreasures are needed just to survive. Healthcare and education in Tanzania are greatly lacking. How can we continue to help these beautiful people?

God's Plan?

I've been thinking about our time in Mwanza this past week (I had a little time on my hands as I trekked Kilimanjaro). We talked a lot about God's plan versus our own (with the container delay), but somehow I feel we are missing something. I think we need to acknowledge that there is a force that was at work against our plan...call it evil, Satan, the devil. We aren't comfortable talking about it (I know I'm not), but I do know it exists. In a country where one third of the people still believe in animism, sorcery and witchcraft, its existence and workings are overt.

I've come to believe that the container delay was not part of God's plan. I don't believe it was part of His plan to leave some of the most technical pieces of the project on the ground. Instead, I think of Romans 8:28, "And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose."

God certainly worked good out of the container delay. We were able to almost fully complete the isolation ward, making it fully usable as visiting surgical teams pass through. It changed our perspective from building a monument to being invested in the whole mission of the clinic. It changed the focus of our energy from accomplishing a task to building relationships with the local workers.

Certainly there are times when God's plan is far different from our own, and as Lindsay would say, we just need to get ourselves out of the way. But sometimes we need to acknowledge that not everything is part of God's plan. And in those cases, we need to trust and look for the ways He will work good. For one thing I do know from experience, God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good.

Blessings.

Prayer Guide - June 5

God of Mercy and Grace, continue to work and protect in all the places in this world where we humans have failed to bring justice, safety and security to others

Prayer Guide - June 4

Father be with Your children from this team who are still abroad. Keep them safe and give them a positive experience as they see other parts of Your amazing creation.


Lord, today Gwen is meeting her friend Liz whom she has not seen for 43 years. Bless this reunion and use it to Your Purpose and Glory.

Prayer Guide - June 3

Lord of Relationship and Community, we pray that You will help the team share the experiences and lessons they have learned with others in their families and congregations.


Father, today Adriene is reaching the summit of Kilimanjaro, one of your magnificent creations. Give her strength and stamina and endurance as well as a greater sense of Your awesome power and love.

Prayer Guide - June 2

God we pray that the next team coming to Nyakato will have a smooth trip and the Eye Care Center will be built safely and easily.

From Bob and Diane Fairbanks

Our final day in Nyakato is now complete and while we've all felt varying degrees of frustration, fatigue, and even illness, we all were blessed to have been part of such an amazing experience. Our "Just in Time" and "I want it now" attitudes took quite a beating as "our" plan was quickly replaced by one from God. The delays and setbacks could have been devastating, but they were quickly substituted with renewed focus on other areas of need at the Health Clinic or cimply spending that little extra time to get to know the men, women and children who call this area their home.
In a few short months, a new team will be arriving and as with us, they will continue the work in progress as they participate in "building God's way in Tanzania".

Sharing May Update sent by Paula Lofstrom prepared May 24th

Dear Friends of International Health Partners, US & Tz,

We cannot tell you how exciting it is when a building team is here and 'making things happen.' Now, this team had a vision of what they were to accomplish, but things didn't quite turn out the way they expected. Their containers were a week late in coming - they're unloading them as I type - but that doesn't mean they had nothing to do! They made big strides on the finishing of the Patricia Ward. Only half the ward, five rooms, had been plumbed and the electricity completed. Now both sides of the hallway are getting that done. Also,the sanding, sealing, and painting of the walls has been done. It looks wonderful.

The ward itself still needs the finishing coat of concrete 'plaster' on the two long outside walls which will then need to be painted, and we need to do the finishing cement work on the floors. We'd hoped for Terazo flooring, but it would be $10,000. There's no way we can afford that luxury.

As it is we need another 600 bags of cement to complete the Patricia Ward and do the slab for the eye center. The slab is done for the birthing center and the St. Matthew's team (check out their blog spot at saintmatthew.org/Tanzania) and they're starting to build the first walls even as the containers are being unloaded. Cement is available now, through the church, using the VAT exemption at $16.00per bag. We have 20 days to finalize the purchase. Both St Mathew's and Atonement Lutheran have given us money for cement for their projects, but it takes more than just cement. It takes sand to mix with the cement, and aggregate, and transport for the sand and cement. Then we have the cost of labor to turn bags, sand, water, and stones into a surface for a building.

To those other churches, groups, and individuals who have been giving us such wonderful help, we say a huge Thank You!

For about two weeks we had a remarkable team of OB/Gyn specialists to look after women long neglected in this society. They did eleven surgeries and saved three lives we can be sure of. The team leader was Debbie Chong and her group will be returning in September. Their commitment is to come at least twice per year to Nyakato. While they were here the team worked with a local gynecologist to serve the needs of women here. Because Debbie's group included four female gynecologists,Deborah Chong, Kenya Numan, Lise __________ and Elaine Weatjean, ,along with anesthesiologist Steve Vanasco and O.R. tech, Mark Roberts,we were able to attract Muslim women who have cultural issues with seeing a male doctor for such intimate care. One of the doctors, Kenya Numan, did an outreach to the women of one of the mosques here that attracted even more attendees than they had envisioned. She explained basic anatomy, addressed menopausal issues, and answered questions for almost an hour. It was a very good beginning. For the last 3 days of their stay the doctors addressed family planning and infertility issues with the women who came. Mark started teaching Maria Shabani how to bean O.R. tech and Mary Ellen taught her how to set up the O.R., Pre-op,and Post-op. The woman took to it like a duck takes to water.

Imagine this. A woman in her early 40s came in because she was very tired and had been bleeding excessively. An ultrasound revealed a mass,suspected to possibly be a fibroid tumor. However, when the surgery was done, it was revealed that the tumor was a cancer of the endometrium (the lining of the uterus). It had not invaded the myometrium (muscle layer of the uterus) and the surgery (a hysterectomy) itself was probably curative. This woman realizes thathad it not been for the gift of these doctors from New York,California, and Florida, that she would not have lived to see her children grow up.

When we're struggling with money issues,toilets that don't flush in the hostel or at home, tools disappearing from the work-site, never enough sleep, etc., and people saying, 'Why do you do what you do?' that we remember that it does matter. It IS worth the frustrations, the endless layers of red tape, unnecessary paperwork, delays, and inefficiencies. It is doing the work we've been given the talent to do. God has the reasons. We just show up for work. And God sends us the help we need.

Our friend Esther Boone has been here for a couple of weeks. Boy, can that gal organize and work! Esther, Johannah Keil, Maria Shabani (Sele's wife) and I tore into Central Supply last week-end and took everything out, re-arranged, re-assigned, and created a dressing the staff and put back the things that needed to be in there. Somethings went into the container, some were pitched. The staff members were surprised and pleased. We were, too. What a way to spend the week-end! Denny and I met Esther when we worked over-winter in Antarctica 10 years ago. Several of our 'Ice friends' have come to help in Tanzania. In Antarctica you really do become a 'family.' Now we can add to that our 'Tanzanian family.'

Because of the delays this team suffered because of the containers being held up in Dar es Salaam (since April 19th), they weren't able to do the job they came out to do. However, the materials are here and the work still needs to be done. What we're going to need now is groups of 'finishers.' So, if you can think of a group who would like to put themselves together and use their skills to complete projects that have already been started, then we have the work for you to do. Churches? Individuals? Co-workers? This is your chance to Make A Difference!!

We also need Habitat People! We need to build houses for staff. Without housing we cannot hire the many professional staff people, clinical officers, nurses, and M.D.s who have contacted us and are wanting to go to work for Nyakato Health Center. We have the land. We need workers and materials. The design is not complicated or expensive to build.

Pictures are attached (hopefully) to bring the words to life. Nyakato Health Center is growing itself into a hospital and it is with your help. If you are one of our supporters, we're asking you to tell others that you support us, and why. And, we'd like you to suggest to them that they should, too. It is a way to make a real difference, to touch and improve lives, and to serve.

Blessings and gratitude,
Paula and Den

Closing pictures Friday May 30th

Top - picture from inside the building, showing the assembled trusses on the slab, the 1/4 of one truss raised into position (hard to see unless you know where to look, but it is in the center of the picture, adjacent to the Tower), and showing the A wall with all gables in place on the left side of the wall.

Middle - outside picture of wall A showing 5 of the 6 gables installed.

Bottom - showing the huge amount of lumber not yet consumed (10' 2x4, 14' 2x4, long 4x14 beams (connect the trusses and gables to form the roof), and varying length 2x6 to create joists and other things (talk to Craig for details). Not in the picture are countless other supplies stored in containers (ceiling tiles, lights, doors, windows, electrical wiring, sections of steal roofing material, ...)

Thursday/Friday May 29/May 30

Top, bags ready for the team (16 of them) to start a safari. After the safari, 15 (I think) head home Tuesday and Craig heads back to Turkey for work.

Four others (Adrienne - heading to Kilimanjaro to climb, Dick Brown, sister Susan and her grandson Paul - heading to Amsterdam and then France) prepare to leave a short while later.

Nancy and I have 1 more day left to see what we can get done.

Bottom - we have built the first center gable (a.k.a. A3). All of the planning about how to raise it into place was conducted in Swahili, so I didn't follow any of it, but Sele (foreman/group leader) speaks good English and he and I could communicate perfectly well). I shared my concerns about losing balance (very top heavy, hard to grab near the top) and they came up with an outstanding plan. Tear apart the chop saw tables and use them as a platform to first raise the gable, and then to stand on to raise the gable into place. Easy!!!!

Second picture - gable A3 is now in place and Amon is pounding in the last brace.

Third picture - This is the last piece of progress before we left. Gable B1 is installed, with B5 and B6 already in place on the right side of the picture. B2 was built but left on the slab to assist with the construction of the remaining center gables (A4, B3, B4).

Wednesday May 28

Start of day, we take a team picture (all 22) with our 'Building God's Way in Tanzania' t-shirts (written on the back in Swahili).

Final construction day ends (left) with 4 of the 6 gables raised on wall A and 1/4 of the first truss (out of view on the left) raised into place and braced, awaiting further raising. All exterior walls are complete. The next tasks will be to assemble/raise the gables and raise the trusses. All three trusses are assembled on the slab.

Middle picture - Denny and Paula join us in the gazebo on the last night to go around the circle and share highlights of the trip. What an incredible uplifting experience to have everyone share memorable moments from the mission trip. There were SO many, I will clearly fail to capture them all, but others can add their posts when they return.
1 - Building God's Way - we all realized our plans are not His plans and we were so thankful (due to the late arrival of the containers) to be able to progress the Patricia Ward MUCH closer to being ready for functional use. In addition, since Nancy and I arrived the night before the containers arrived, it was a joy to be there Saturday morning when the containers did arrive (and a joy that Linda Cole could also join us Saturday morning (making all 22 present) after ensuring that daughter Emily is doing well).
2 - The smiling children - everyday, on our walk to the building site, we would travel a path that was also heavily used for children walking to school. Unfailingly, every small child had a HUGE grin for us, wanted to shake our hands, give us a high five, it was incredible.
3 - The church service - I mentioned some of that in another post.
4 - The progress that we did make, modest though it is, will be something that God will bless in years to come.

Tuesday May 27

Start of day (left) the Tower is moved to make room for more truss constuction.

End of day, second truss is built (on the slab) and the A, C and D walls are all raised (with much of B wall laying on the slab, nearly ready to raise). One day to go!

Monday May 26

Picture was actually taken first thing Tuesday morning, but shows the progress after the first full day of work. Wall 'A' (80' long, right side as you approach the construction) was complete; wall 'C' (back wall as you approach the construction) was partially raised; and assembly of the first truss was well underway in the foreground of the slab.

Sunday - May 25

Sunday was a day of worship and a day of rest. The worship service was incredibly powerful, meaningful and memorable for all of us, even though it was entirely in Swahili. I hardly know where to begin, but I'll capture some of the highlights. At the end of the week, Denny and Paula joined us in the gazebo (our nightly gathering place) and asked each of us to share highlights of the week. Although building the Birthing Center was our mission (and we did get a lot done), church service on Sunday morning was certainly one of the highlights for many of us. The service began at 7:15 a.m. (they have two services, but no parking problems, since zero drive to church, all walk). Besides us (22 of us), the sanctuary had no more than 8-10 people at 7:15. Nevertheless the service began on time by singing (all a capella, the singing was wonderful) with a young man in the front row just singing song after song of praise and everyone joining in. He remained seated, facing forward, so not really leading the singing except by the strength of his marvelous voice. While the songs were being sung, the sanctuary filled, so that 120-140 were there by 7:45. The preaching was powerful (but interrupted periodically by English translations, but I couldn't hear much of that). The offerings (6) were unique. They passed the plate for a traditional offering for the general running of the church. Then they had a frame with three baskets up front, each with a specific purpose including the building program for the pastor's house and everyone went down front to place money in 1, 2 or all 3. Then they had the frame with only one basket and only 4-6 people placed money in that one. Then, when the service was over (everyone filing out, by rows, and gathering in the church courtyard), the final 'offering' was an auction of items donated previously by those whose donation arrived in plastic bags (they didn't have money, so they brought whatever they could give - a papaya, a watermelon, a cucumber). 8-10 items were auctioned off, and everyone there had much fun with the farmers market type of produce being sold, but the highlight was George Garcia, on the last item (6-8 eggs) shouting out 'FIVE DOLLARS!!!!' The auctioneer and everyone there was stunned and had a great laugh. Maybe you had to be there, but trust me, it was fun. The bottom picture shows a group gathered around watching the auction.

After church we had brunch, took a bus to the ferry, took the ferry to an island on Lake Victoria (largest surface area fresh water lake in the world) and hiked around. After returning on the ferry, we went to a hotel near the ferry landing and had a beer enjoying the view and then took the bus to another hotel on the beach of Lake Victoria for a Masai show and buffet dinner. The picture on the top is Denny/Paula on the beach at Sunday night dinner.

Friday/Saturday - May 23-24 pictures

Much work was done on the Patricia Ward (Isolation Ward begun by St. John's Luthern Church from Ft. Wayne, IN) prior to the arrival of the containers (and prior to our arrival late Friday, May 23), but some useful work was also done on the Birthing Center.

May 24, early Sat morning - The top picture shows the slab for the birthing center and some of the work that was done on the Birthing Center prior to arrival of the containers (and the 20' container is in the background ready to unload). Local lumber (expensive and horrible) was necessary to build the chop saw tables as well as the 'Tower of Tanzania' (a.k.a. Tower of Power; a.k.a. Tower of Terror). The Tower was built to provide a base to lift the heavy trusses that would be constructed later in the trip. Other work accomplished included posts driven into the ground to provide later bracing as walls were built as well as chalk marks on the slab to locate the placement of walls.

May 24 - The second photo shows 11 of 18 of Denny/Paula's permanent crew, awaiting positioning of the container so the unloading can begin. Unless you saw it, there is no way to describe or imagine the hard work this crew put in to rapidly unload the container. Once the doors were open, the 20' container was unloaded in 1 hour. But, we still didn't have everything needed to begin construction, the 40' container had numerous necessary items too (some saws, some lumber). Construction work on the Birthing Center could begin shortly after lunch, leaving
3.5 days of construction for the team.

May 24 - Third photo shows progress at end of day, first (half day) of construction. One small wall section raised, with some other wall sections partially assembled but still on the slab.

May 24 - Bottom photo shows an example of the picture I wish I had gotten. This shows a box (neon lights?) being unloaded by a single woman (no shoes or else very thin flip flops). Later, extremely heavy beams (Craig will know the weight) were carried by 5 women, on their heads, while swinging their hips, singing and dancing. It was a sight no one will ever forget!!!

Finally home, finally pictures

Nancy and I returned home safely (and mostly on time) Saturday evening. With the 10 hour time difference, I was ready for bed (8:30), but now am up early and loading pictures. We had an incredible time in Nyakato working with the SMLC mission team (22 of us), North Carolina med students (eventually 6 arrived, but Matt, Steve and Susan helped considerably with our building) and Denny/Paula's crew (18 of them, although only 5 worked closely with us after the container was unloaded).

Since internet access was challenging at Nyakato, prior posts were largely done by Angela and Adrienne (thanks ladies, great job!!!). I am going to create a series of posts with 2 pictures in each, trying to capture the progress that was made. Everyone took many pictures and had so many wonderful experiences that soon the blog will probably be an inadequate way to communicate, but being the first one home, I wanted to get some pictures posted and capture some of what happened. The 'full story' will be at a later gathering (currently scheduled for Sunday evening, June 29th).

Regarding the blogging that was done up until today - I can't tell you how much we appreciated the prayers and words of encouragement from those who posted replies to the blog. Thanks!

Regarding the naming of our mission - Building Gods Way in Tanzania, there is no way you can imagine how literally that came to define what we did. 'Our' way (as we might have planned or envisioned in April) could never have dreamed what God had in store for us in May. As Denny Watkins said repeatedly, 'we plan, God laughs' because he has better plans.

Because of the way pictures are loaded into the blog, I will end this post and start some new posts with pictures.

Prayer Guide - June 1

Lord of all, we pray that all the flights, transfer and other travel arrangements continue to flow safely and smoothly as the team goes through multiple time zones and cultures returning home.