Tanzania Adventure in Missions: VBS, Mountain Climb, and the Not so Mysterious Case of the Stolen Camera

On Monday of this week, the mission team began Vacation Bible School for the kids of the church and any other kids who wanted to come. I was in charge of planning the music for the students, and we decided on the songs "Rise and Shine", "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands", and "Deep and Wide". We didn't have to much trouble with "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" or "Deep and Wide", but "Rise and Shine" has a lot of verses and I think the kids were having a hard time with that. But, I think we managed well enough. Afterwards I taught Class VII English since they are still meeting even though it is a government break. Then I returned to the house where I taught a piano lesson and did some catching up with my laundry. Right after lunch, two of the missionaries and I made our way to town where we met up one of my local missionary friends and his gard, Costa. Costa guided us along the mountain trails to the Bahati Camp and we made our way back to town. Althogether it was only about a 2 hour hike. It was really nice and clear outside and although it was quite warm. I was able to carry on a decent conversation with Costa and I have to say that I rather impressed myself with my Swahili abilities (of course there is ALWAYS room for improvement). When we returned to Boma road, where we had met with Costa, he turned off to go home and we decided to save some money and walk the rest of the way back to town. We stopped in Emmanuel Church where I had attended a service once before and kept walking.

When we were just on the outskirts of town, a most terrible and alarming thing happened. We were walking on the left side of the road, in the dirt, as in completely off the road. (it is also important to note that people here drive on the left side of the road). Well, I had my camera out because I had just been taking pictures of the Emmanuel Church and I hadn't wanted to put it back in the missionary's backpack in case I wanted to take some pictures in town. (as I've mentioned before I've been trying to take more pictures of the area so you can get a broader mental image of the area). Well, a pikipiki (motorcycle) going in the opposite direction that we were, swerved across the road and passed me in the dirt on my left side. I was carrying my camera in my left hand (the hand furthest from the road) and I was holding it by the hook on the camera case. Well, the passenger of the pikipiki swooped in, grabbed onto the hook and pulled. I was a bit surprised and pulled back, but then I let go. I quickly turned around, shouted "HEY!" and ran with everything in me after the pikipiki. The only problem was, another pikipiki passed me at about the same time and I couldn't figure out which one had my camera and my phone (the phone was in the camera case). I had a 50-50 chance of getting it right so I followed the one that turned off the main road first. I went straight up to the house and demanded my camera back and even managed to pull out some Swahili phrases in the midst of the chaos. They denied having the camera and the pikipiki driver started to leave, but I pretty much yelled at him "YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!!" We developed a bit of a crowd with my ravings, and I found someone who spoke English and Swahili to help me. However, it was all to no avail. (by this point the missionaries who had been on the hike with me had already caught up with me and had been trying to help). It was pretty tough trying to keep it together after the incident, but I had enough sense to realize I needed to get a new phone right away (which I did in town before we headed back). At home, I told pastor immediately what had happened and we contacted Baba Sesi who is a police officer here in Morogoro. Pastor and I went to the police station to make a report, but I don't have too much hope that we'll find it. Today, I went to the police station and they took the lady I had interrogated on Monday back to the station for further questioning (seeing as it's the only lead we have). Personally, I don't think that was the pikipiki that had it. Someone who had just stolen something probably would've gone down the road further before turning off. But, at that point in time it was my best bet.

Honestly, in the end, I'm just glad that the other missionaries and I are OK. Since the incident I've heard of many women with hand bags that pikipiki drivers just pull off their shoulders. The same is true for backpacks or another other kind of carrying case. Honestly, I'm not sure that there is a completely fool-proof way of protecting my possessions here, or anywhere in the world for that matter. I'm just thankful that I did let go and that I didn't get dragged around by a pikipiki, as has happened in other instances. And, as much as it completely sucks to have my camera stolen from me, I know that it's just a thing and all things can be replaced. In the end, my faith is my most important possession and I know that that can never be taken away from me. I know that God knew what would happen before it did, and I trust Him to take care of me through it all. Honestly, the worst part is that my personal space and possessions were invaded. But, one thing that makes me feel a bit better about the situation (though this is terrible) is that my camera requires a very specific charger, so the thieves won't get much use out of it anyways (it's like my own secret revenge). Also, because of my "slightly" intimidating approach to the situation, there were a lot of jokes with the missionaries about "Don't mess with Christine" afterwards.

Tuesday, I did the music for the VBS again and, much to their dismay, I went to Class VII to give them English work to do. I'm trying to get them the rest of the way through the curriculum book before their tests in September. There's no way we're going to make it unless they continue to do work during this census break. In the afternoon, I had quite a bit of free time, so I finished the laundry and I got to hang out around the room. In the evening, I went to run and played volleyball. For dinner, Baba and Mama Sesi invited the missionaries and the rest of us over to their house for a feast. It was a great time of fellowship as believers.

I think that I shall end here for now, but soon to come: taking the missionaries to the Agape Childrens' Village, my trip to NaneNane, and also the start of language school. As you have probably noticed, I've been quite the busy bee over here! But, for me, this is good. I'd rather be busy than be sitting around with nothing to do!! I'll leave you with the rest of my pictures of town that I got to upload to my computer before my camera got stolen. I lost all of my pictures of the hike and I wasn't able to get any of the VBS, or anything else, unfortunately. I'm not sure when I'll get a new camera, but I hope I can manage to get one soon!!

May the Lord Bless You and Keep You,

~Christine