(fyi, the whole collection pictures is on facebook. There's about 80 of them, so I didn't feel like posting them all here. Haha!!)
After the park, we went to a village (I'm afraid I can't remember the name and no one else can either) where Mama Nema (a member of our church) has a project. The village (which is VERY tiny) is about 10KM down a poor dirt road from the main road. It has no clean water supply and the women have to walk about 12KM round trip to retrieve water. The houses are composed of mud bricks or branches held together by mud with thatch roofs. There was pretty much nothing except for the homes and the crops that they grow. The village is also about 18KM (about 12 miles) from the nearest school and no one has a car or transportation to bring the children. Mama Nema has helped make it possible to build a school building for the students, but it is a temporary building for now. The village is very grateful because their children are able to get education.
From what I gathered, this village is mostly an agricultural village and we were given the grand tour of all the different crops as well as the nearby water sources which are used strictly for agriculture. (I'm glad they don't use those for drinking because it's pretty bad as you will see.) The crops that they grow include: watermelons, maize, tomatoes, cabbage, pumpkins, beans, etc. I think the goal is that soon they will be building a water well, so that the women will not have to walk so far for one bucket of water. I'm sure that by doing this, the quality of life for the women will be greatly improved as they will have more time to maintain their homes, work to help bring in extra income, and take care of their children.
Here are pictures of all of the different crops that the village was growing. While we were there, we walked many KM throughout all of the crops. The area in incredibly extensive!! (we also passed some elephant presents, so apparently they get some wild visitors at the village!!)
Well, in short, visiting this village gave me a great appreciation for what I have. I remember when I first arrived and I was struck by how little was here. But, now that 2.5 months have passed I'm finding myself appreciating more and more what I do have. In fact, I think I am more content with what little is here than what I had in the US. It's like, when you have less, you have more time to appreciate everything. The more stuff you have, the less time you have to appreciate it because you are spending so much time maintaining it, or working to get more.
I would like to close my entry today with some wonderful words from my devotional (which is written as though God is speaking to you):
"Let thankfulness temper all your thoughts. A thankful mind-set keeps you in touch with Me. I hate it when My children grumble, casually despising my sovereignty. Thankfulness is a safeguard against this deadly sin. Furthermore, a grateful attitude becomes a grid through which you perceive life. Gratitude enables you to see the Light of My Presence shining in all of your circumstances. Cultivate a thankful heart, for this glorifies Me and fill you with Joy." ~ Sarah Young, Jesus Calling
Continuously, this devotional speaks directly to me and the issues that I face. I can't begin to explain how many times I have experienced a specific issue during the day and then read about that particular issue in my devotional that night. I could not be more blessed that God is in my life and that He is changing me through this experience. As we were arriving to the village, I was listening to my IPod and the song "Beautiful Things" by Gungor came on. The lyrics are "You make beautiful things; you make beautiful things out of the dust. You make beautiful things; you make beautiful things out of us." As I was listening to that song, I realized that God is making something beautiful out of me just as He is making something beautiful in Tanzania. Through this experience I am constantly being changed and transformed into the master work that God has called me to be.
May the Lord Bless You and Keep You,
~Christine
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