Dar es Salaam
Arrived here on Monday afternoon and Reuben met me at the bus station to take me to his home. He lives on the edge of the city so has some space available for banana plants, some hens, some cows... lots happening here. But no water. Washing water comes from a well and drinking water comes bottled, just like at home. We visited some local families yesterday morning then in the evening had a function to celebrate the launch of the community project to encourage children to read, etc. The bishop and some local government reps. came so he has good local support. They hope to purchase a nearby plot of land and build a community centre, run by Christians but not directly under the church so that the non-Christians feel comfortable too.

Today we visited an old man, visited the local church for Reuben's area then came into the city to do the tour of the main Diocese church. Had a chat with the bishop; he's working to reach unreached groups in some areas of Tanzania, consciously bypassing the local Sukuma people as they are already attending other evangelical churches. Exciting to talk to local church leaders at the cutting edge of missionary work; they'll manage a more sensitive approach than the Jesuits did in South America!

This afternoon I've had a swim in the Indian Ocean. Life's not bad! Start the journey home tomorrow with apprehension; I left a lot of loose ends 3 weeks ago so will have a lot of catching up to do, as well as keeping up with all my contacts here. Visit's been worth it, though.

Inauguration of Children's
Project, Ikonga, Dar.

Nairobi
Enjoying staying with Brian and Patty Arensen + kids (AIM) for a couple of nights. Went to a new huge AIC church at Milamani this morning... ex-president Moi had a hand in funding it and wanted something big. Lots of government people come here; prayer was led by the politician who chaired the peace talks for Sudan.

Brian's interesting to talk with as he's involved in researching unreached people groups; there are 50 such groups in Tanzania alone, ranging from around 10,000 people to 40,000... still some work to do before the Lord returns! He's also involved in getting African missionaries working in other parts of Africa.

Nairobi's much the same, with more shopping malls, more people, more cars. Had a Mexican meal last night... too many beans :-( Also met my architect friend and we chatted in his office for a while. Plenty opportunity for developers here; loads of people needing better homes and better jobs.

Tonight it's the midnight bus for Dar-es-Salaam to visit Reuben; am looking forward to that. Bus has seat belts and they provide snacks en route... a lot of companies here really go for providing service for the emerging middle class.

Musoma
The trip to Musoma was l-o-n-g. Samuel talked me into an earlier bus that stopped every time it saw one and I arrived in Musoma 2 hours after the nice, luxury, express bus that I wanted to get. He'd got hold of the church's second car, which was nice (bishop has a car, his old one is used by everyone else) and took me to a hotel with a lake view. We then visited the head of the water department who is an AIC Christian. Was interesting to get his take on water and community development. After that it was off to the local secondary school. They have around 1000 students, 300 of them (nearly all boys) boarding. Half this number are members of the Christian Union. An impromptu meeting was called and I found myself greeting a classroom full of students. The kwaya did a couple of songs, we prayed and they were away again in half an hour. They have a web-site, findable from www.aictmud.org ... you can even listen to the music!
Next day sat beside the lake with Samuel and Barnabas the pastor/driver/head of cinema ministry. In Mwugumu, where we were once greeted as the first missionaries (OK there were dozens of denominations even then, but we were the first official AICT reps to visit the lonely pastor who'd been sent out to this remote area), there are now around 70 congregations.

AIC Milimani Nairobi

Mwanza /Bwiru
Back to my old home. Staying with Jeffers who were our neighbours in Bwiru 1987-91. Accommodating as ever; they even get my washing done.
Bob and Esther are just back from an evangelistic trip with the church, visiting the Datooga near the Ngorogoro Crater. Sounds really interesting. There was a TIMO team there a few years ago and there are now a few Christians; one ex-TIMO member stayed and married a local man. They were with a youth group from the church doing door to door evangelism to people with no doors... and also bigger meetings for 4 days.
On Tuesday visited our friends in Bwiru; not much has changed there. The Inland Press still uses computers with 5" disks. There just doesn't seem to be the administrative ability in the church to make things work; senior managers are paid a pittance and nothing happens. But they're building a new, bigger, church which is good to see; Mama Roberti is tapping me for my contribution. Our house is empty just now, but Yudeh, our ex-gardener, is paid to keep the place tidy. It's really good to see people again; quite humbling to be greeted so warmly after 14 years. In Tanzania you can visit people for 10 minutes and move on, so I'm in quite a few houses over the morning. One or two people unemployed or ill, some in bigger (though still very basic) houses, some looking quite different, some almost as they did. Samuel, always a bit if a daft lad, appears with a catapault in his hand... he must be in his late 20s by now! He farms these days and had been hunting birds.

Today Bob takes me to visit the children's home at Bujora just outside Mwanza; I built the first buildings shortly before we left so it was really good to see them in use.

Tomorrow it's the 9am Happy Land bus for Musoma so better get some sleep. Pray we don't get to the Happy Land before we reach Musoma!

Trip to Mwanza.
Monday morning up sharp and across the border. Brasius accompanies me as I'm emphatic that I need to reach Mwanza today. He negotiates a taxi and we only pay for 4 seats instead of 7... It's a small Nissan car but this is now Tanzania. We breakfast in the small town of Benaco then sit in a cramped mini bus waiting for more people to come. Brasius is telling the other passengers how it's not like this in Rwanda... I'm expecting him to get lynched, but there is general agreement the operators' only language is money. Eventually we hit Runzewe and I get a big coach heading to Mwanza and Brasius returns home. Coach (of course) is crowded but I get a seat on the engine cover behind the driver... great view and I am in awe of his skill as he floats the monster along un-mettled roads, misses cyclists, keeps up momentum and manages to change gear despite having to pump the clutch 9 times every time he needs it. We cross the Gulf of Mwanza by ferry and sail into the port. Much better than arriving by road!

Rwanda border
Rwanda is separated from Tanzania by a river that snakes through a valley between the hills. On one side Rwanda with groups of homes scattered over the hillside, on the other the vast forest of a Tanzanian game reserve. At the border crossing the muddy water makes a huge cloud and rainbow as it crashes over the falls.

We arrived in the dark and stayed in the best hotel (3pounds/night and clean; can't complain). My hosts were Emmanuel Rutayisire and Brasius Munyangeri, a couple of young Rwandan opportunists working to support 1000 orphans in a very poor part of Rwanda. A contradiction? Yes, but this is Africa! I was greeted in Kayonza and taken to a school where around 200 children were lined up to sing "welcome, visitor". Obviously I'm the main entertainment for these poor children with no television. They explain their vision to have schools for orphans as the orphans can't afford school fees. They've talked 8 teachers into working with the children for the past 18 months without being paid... these guys have drive! I do my best to remind them that my commitment to finding some money for some roof sheets has already been fulfilled... eventually it's off to the bus for the border. After half an hour we stop and I'm ushered onto the pillion of a (thankfully) very small motorbide taxi. Emmy and Brasius get on another (yes, 3 people on a 50cc bike) and we head off into the bush for a few miles to another school to greet the children there. Eventually it's back on the bus and off to the border.

Sunday morning we worship at their small church, Brasius' parting shot to me on Saturday night being, "oh, by the way, we decided you'd do the sermon". Last time this happened, years ago, I refused and next day the pastor explained to the congregation it would be a short service as the mzungu didn't want to speak to them (maybe not quite that blunt, but still embarrassing). So I agree and Emmy agrees to do some fill to make up the time... his fill is solid prosperity gospel... one minute you're poor, but with Jesus you can be rich the next minute. Am not comfortable!

In the afternoon we go to their other base a kilometre away and the local councillor attends. He praises their efforts to do things themselves without asking the government to help and encourages them to keep going. I like this guy! I end up promising to see what I can do to publicise their need for support. It boils down to some very poor communities having to care for a lot of children who are not their own; Emmy and Brasius, for whatever their motives (Emmy and his wife look after 4 orphans in their home; Brasius and his Mum another 2), are making a difference to their lives.

Rwanda
I'd imagined the genocide wasn't something people talked about in polite circles. It took 5 minutes for Rev. Dismas to get onto the subject when I arrived over the border. The country is still trying to come to terms with its past. Everyone has been affected. The church's vocational training school is mainly filled with youngsters whose school fees are paid by a survivors' fund. When we drove through Nyamata on Thursday all the shops were closed and there were groups of people standing under the trees attending Gacaca courts; these courts used to sit twice a week; now its down to once.

Kigali
The purpose of the Kigali visit is to talk with the church about CED involvement in a water programme in the south of the country. Bugosera has only been inhabited since the 1960s when people were resettled here. Instead of dying they cleared the tetse fly and forest to make a life for themselves. Food remains a problem, though, and in times of drought they have to move to find work. In 1990 around 300 people died of hunger. The episcopal church here has a strong vision for holistic ministry and is keen for Christians at local level to be involved in helping their neighbours. Together with CED they have negotiated a one year grant of around $50,000 from an American charity plus some money from an English church's harvest appeal. They have a good technician and have started building rainwater catchments on some church roofs and improving some sring protection measures. They're keen for us to improve our support to the technician and work with them to organise a programme for the next 3 years. If we could upgrade 50 springs and develop rainwater catchment it would make a difference to the lives of 250,000 people. They'd still need to go to springs to collect water, but it would not mean standing in ponds of dirty water to reach the spigot.

I've enjoyed my visit here. Wim, a Dutch agriculturalist responsible for the Diocese planning and development programme, has wheeled me about for 2 days; he and his wife leave next year and are keen for a smooth transition. The archbishop is very go-ahead and concerned for us Westerners. He has 70 congregations in USA as well as all his responsibilities here. Every week groups of Americans come and visit, building interesting links...

Uganda
Stayed 2 nights in Kabale right in the south of the country. The church there has an excellent programme of extending water supply in rural communities. CED has been supporting them to put rainwater tanks in some very out of the way places and also built a small reservoir (empty just now, just waiting for the rain). I also visited a gravity system where a couple of springs are tapped and feed water tanks and standpipes for a distance of around 2km.

Rainwater harvesting, Murambe, Uganda

Kalamwemvu Reservoir, Uganda

About the trip
Am doing this trip for several reasons.
It's 7 years since I've been in this part of Africa and I'm missing it.
I became publicity director for Christian Engineers in Development last year and with this closer involvement with the organisation I'm keen to get my head around just what we're doing. I worry that as Christians we do all sorts of things that are great fun for the doers but wonder whether they do much to bring the Kingdom of God closer.
Might God be more honoured if we all stayed home and badgered our politicians until they actually DO something? Was the "MakePovertyHistory" march simply a stunt to make Tony Blair look good? We marched, Bob Geldof said "job done" and we all started worrying about being blown up instead. Seems several of the G8 countries are already back-pedalling on the limited agreements reached. Now we have the obscenity of Niger on our tellies; people dying because they can't afford the available food in the market 10 minutes walk away. And Niger's been exporting food. So much for the free market.
I have believed for a long time that God has work for me to do with Africa... whether being here or just visiting from time to time.
This trip will take me through parts of Africa I'm familiar with as well as new countries. I'm looking forward to meeting old friends along the way.
The church has been involved with development work for a long time. I'm curious to see how "holistic" the ministry is... do people catch the vision, love their brothers and sisters more and grow in grace? What kind of spiritual dimension can we expect to grow from catching rainwater... George's pick-up proclaims "Jesus is the water of life". I'm aware of situations where western money has simply sent the church to sleep...

The Trip
Mobile phones have hit Africa! Everyone in the aid business has one. Between that and the internet, the possibilities of working in remote areas without leaving home comforts are remarkable. As long as I don't lose my dosh I'm fairly relaxed I can get around and find the people I want to see, even if things go wrong.

George is an ordained preacher and engineer. He heads up the water programme for the diocese south of Kampala in Uganda. Over the next few days he's planning to take me around several of their projects between here and the Rwanda border. We planned to start today but he's not feeling well; hope he feels better tomorrow. He' came to Kampala with his wife Chris and visited his son at boarding school as well as attending a wedding yesterday. He gets around! On Wednesday morning he'll get me to the Rwanda border where I meet up with James.
James is the head of Rwanda Health and Environment Project (RHEPI)... in fact he's the whole organisation at present. RHEPI, initiated by Rwandan refugees in UK concerned to support their own community, also instigated a programme in Rwanda for orphans. CED provided the design services for a classroom block (my input) and found a trust willing to support the project. In the middle of this their main person died suddenly and James is working to get things going again. He will take me to Kaborare to see the school, to another place where they hope to start a similar project and then take me to visit Pastor Emmanuel.
Pastor Emmanuel is also concerned for genocide / AIDS orphans. He is caring for children who wander about the place and anxious to get something permanent on the ground. He contacted me around 18 months ago and through 'Reachout' we have been able to pay for the roof of a classroom block. The local community has taken on all the rest of the work itself. I've seen pix sent over the internet and am keen to see the real thing.
James will drop me off in Kigali where I'll meet up with the Episcopal Church of Rwanda to look at their programme.
WIM is a Dutch worker sent out by ZOA to provide emergency assistance after the genocide. Ten years on and they want to withdraw from what has become a development programme and would be delighted if CED would take over their work. Sadly we don't have funds to send someone full time and at present one of our directors visits every 6 months or so. I'm doing his visit for this summer. I'm looking forward to this as I think it will have similarities to the work I did with ACROSS in Sudan where I was responsible for the construction programme.
I leave Rwanda by bus and travel (2 days?) on to Mwanza in Tanzania where I'll stay with the Jeffers.
Bob and Esther Jeffers are old friends from when we lived in Mwanza ourselves. We were neighbours. They still run missionary services for the church and I'll be staying in their guest house. It'll be good to catch up with all their news... if they're there... they may be out of town! On Thursday I get the "semi luxury" (no air conn; no loo) bus to Musoma and catch up with Samuel.
Samuel Mpanelehi is the son of the pastor at Mwanza Bwiru when we were there. We've followed him through theological training and he's now heading up the youth work in Musoma. They've a really good web-site. He's going to take me to a secondary school and also introduce me to a local engineer in Musoma. I'm hoping also to say hi to Peter Kitula, an old neighbour and now AICT Bishop of Musoma. I took him up the millennium tower in Glasgow a few years ago. On Friday its back on the bus to Nairobi to stay a couple of nights with Brian and Patty Arensen who were in Tanzania with us. That's time to chill.
On Monday I take the bus to Dar es Salaam and catch up with Reuben.
Reuben has been studying at ICC in Glasgow and is home for the summer to be with his family. He attends our church. I've been helping him put together a programme for a children's ministry for the area where he lives. I'm keen to see the place and understand better what the needs are. All over Africa there are people with vision to see things change and some things do. However, lack of money slows things down an awful lot... just like in Scotland. Difference is that a few thousand pounds can brind as dramatic a change here as would be made by the injection of millions at home.
I leave Dar on Thursday 4th September and arrive home on Friday 5th.
Thank you for your interest in this blog. If you've managed to read this far, please join in a discussion... would be nice to know there's someone out there!

Sunday afernoon, just had lunch of matoke (steamed banana), rice, peanut sauce, chicken etc. Nice!

Trip here was full of pleasant surprises; the plane left on time, they told me I could have another 8kg on the way home (stuffed gorilla?) and gave me a free hotel voucher seeing the stopover in Dubai was so long. Dubai was hot; lots of sand but I only saw the sea after we took off. Got to Entebbe and was surprised to see my suitcase for the first time since Glasgow... then through the exit and, praise the Lord, there was George waiting for me. We're now at Namirembe guest house http://namirembe-guesthouse.com/ with panoramic views through the trees over Kampala. the cathedral is here. I imagine 100 years ago it was a small village, though they have a picture of a huge grass roofed hall that held 4000 people... it blew down after 2 years.

English service was good... big cathedral with the smell of old buildings, and full of people... very few mzungus... I guess they worship at smaller, livelier places. Afterwards, Fred, George's driver, took me a quick tour around Kampala as we're leaving town first thing tomorrow and I won't get another chance.

Namirembe Cathedral, Kampala

Am leaving on my big adventure on Friday and getting quite excited...
Will I miss the plane, lose my ticket?
Will I get the work done that I've promised to do before I leave?
Passport arrived on Friday and I have (nearly) all the visas I need; last one I'll get on the road.
Really looking forward to meeting a lot of interesting people...