Monday at O’Hare
Ah, the blessing of having a laptop during travel. We’re able to give you a review of each leg of our journey back to Idigima Secondary School.
The past couple of weeks have been a blur of activities with the sale of our house, the removal of 19 years of accumulated home and business “stuff,” and assisting our boys with the same burden. Pray for the family, as the departure of our son and beautiful daughter-in-law to college in Florida and our departure to Africa two days later may be causing some emotional disturbances. Pray especially for Jerry and Natalie, who were left holding the bag and many, many, many storage tubs.
Dear friends and family saw us off on Monday around 12:45 with Frank Stephen, who drove us to Chicago, engaged us in a tremendous Italian beef and sausage combo at Jay’s (think Man vs Food), found our terminal at O’Hare Airport, and got us unloaded. We checked luggage (Yeah; the weight of the 6 containers was fine!) and cleared security smoothly.
We are settled in at our departure gate, writing “thank you's” and repacking our carry-on after having it “explored” by security. (Why do we spend so much time getting them packed just right when we know they will be torn apart? I need a schematic to get them back the way they were.)
We heard this morning that Emanueli will be waiting for us in Dar-es-Salaam with the second bus from Village Schools Tanzania. We hope you are on Steve Vinton’s email list to hear about what God did with the bus that was wrecked. The Lord was working ahead of us again in providing a new body from a bus whose engine died…at the very body shop that was chosen to do the body work on the crumpled VST bus, whose engine avoided damage in the wreck. Sign up for Steve’s letters at: www.villageschools.org
More later.
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Tuesday at 11:30 a.m.
Well, after a jolly flight from Chicago to London, sitting next to a Portuguese pilot who flies luxury private jets for top executives and celebrities (we discussed the social gulf between our lifestyles), we were so tired that we passed on the thought of touring London during our ten hour layover. Leaving at 8:10 pm and gaining six hours makes London’s late morning feel very much like very early morning. Joanne set a course for the nearest lounge where she commandeered three armless chairs to line up as a bed and was asleep within a couple of moments. I stand guard the first watch.
Later, after the flight gate was posted, we met for the first time some of the other teachers going in. They were easy to spot, as the women were dressed in longer skirts. They are coming in from TX, GA, ID, MD, and CA. As was true last year, the airline has us seated close together. Leaving late due to the French traffic controller strike and related air space arrangements, the flight was accompanied by an awesome light show as we flew between some thunder storms and experienced some turbulence. By morning we were over Mt. Kilimanjaro, but it was on the other side of the plane, so we didn’t get to view it this time.
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Wednesday
We landed on schedule, retrieved our luggage and went through customs and immigration without a hitch. VST’s personnel director Emanueli, Janerose, and her husband, Mtuli, were waiting for us with a bus, which in time was filled from floor to ceiling, under the seats, and down the center isle. Getting in and out of our seats should have won us a medal in gymnastics, and you can only imagine how cramped we were, not being able to move our feet once we were seated. On top of that, Joanne and I were in the seat behind the wheel well, which served as a shelf for the tool box. (This too shall pass.)
We left Dar-es-Salaam at 9:05 a.m., which should put us in at Mafinga in mid-afternoon. Before entering the national preserve, we stopped to get out and stretch. A group of five baboons became interested in us, came within 20 yards and then climbed nearby trees to watch us. Going through the preserve was good for the new people, as there were a lot of animals present today, with elephants, zebra, antelope, monkeys and giraffe very close to the road and a large group of cape buffalo about 100 yards out.
Leaving the park and entering the Royal Gorge slowed the trip substantially. When we came out in June, there was only one small part of the road being repaired, but today we found much of the road reduced to one lane, dips and bumps, and graveled sections. We slowed to a crawl, adding hours to the trip. At one point, the bus actually bottomed out in a rough spot and damaged the exhaust pipe, requiring two different stops for repair. At the second stop, children gathered at Joanne’s window for a lively chat. A couple of the kids were secondary students at a government school. Some of the new teachers sitting around us were straining to hear the interchange, which resulted in lively discussion for quite a few miles down the road. For most, it was their first exposure to the art of communicating with students of limited English vocabulary and their eagerness to “have an experience” with white people. We eventually reached Mafinga at 2:00 a.m. Steve Vinton met us at the door of the hotel, gave us our room assignments, and told us to go straight to bed. No complaints there.
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Thursday
We awoke and were at breakfast by 9:30, had a short meeting with Steve and Godfrey, the Director, and ate chapatti with hot milk or tea. Then we began the chore of unloading the bus to find our luggage. Originally, the plan was to drive straight through to Madisi and then see us off to Idigima from there, so our crates were loaded first, most of the other containers being soft shell. Be flexible. Joanne and I will stay here in Mafinga today to rest and make commercial bus arrangements for an early departure on Friday, to be dropped off at our middle-of-nowhere junction on its way to Tunduma. A truck will meet us there from Idigima, if all goes according to plan.
This is how God works with VSI/VST. During breakfast, a man entered the café and there was immediate and excited greetings shared between him and our leaders. Steve and Godfrey stepped outside to talk with him more after breakfast. Before the rest of us left, Steve came back in to explain that the man is a high government official of the area and a Christian. He had been instrumental in helping VST with Madisi in the beginning. In the course of their short conversation today, it came out that VST will have difficulty continuing the work on the college after the rains begin due to the condition of the road. The man assured Steve and Godfrey that he has authority over road work in the area and will have a new road built to the college.
News from Idigima, for those of you who keep up on things is that our former headmaster, Justin, who returned to the university last year to complete his degree, and our current headmistress, Upendo, were wed during our absence and living in the fourth house that was nearing completion when we left in June. Tanzy, our cat, is still present, and we now have over 30 guinea pigs…they stayed busy while we were gone. Most of all, the staff and students are excited about our return. Ditto on our part.
Oh, one more thing…we had our first cold bath from a bucket this morning. Welcome back to Africa!
Love and prayers as you glorify our Lord,
Gary and Joanne Grenell
P.S. A young man showed up on a motorcycle outside the hotel here with a package for me. Inside was a cell phone and charger. He told me we needed to go to a shop for a SIM card and minutes voucher, so I got on behind him and off we went. It was a nice ride through back streets, across a busy highway, and through more back streets filled with erosion dips. Instead of being kidnapped for my organs in some back room, we did actually go to a duka selling the cards, after which the man entered a number, dialed and handed me the phone. (Sounds like something from Mission Impossible, doesn't it?) On the other end was Godfrey, the Director of VST, who wanted to let me know more details about catching the bus in the morning and their desire to supply us with a phone...just in case we needed to be in touch.
Every day is an adventure with God; enjoy!
