Live & Learn 

Man alive, my first five weeks at Neema have been very busy! Not only am I learning a new business, but it’s a business in a developing country which doesn’t always have a paper trail making it extra hard to keep track of things. On top of that, everything is in Swahili!! It has been a lot for me to take in, however, I am giving it my best effort!! Every day, I am trying to not only do the work which has been asked of me but I am also looking around to see what else I can do here at Neema Village. As one would expect, the devil has tried his best to bring me down.

The first week I was here, we thought I broke my foot. Per normal Emily, I fell down some stairs. If you know me at all, you know this happens far too often, but most of the time I don’t hear a “crack” like I did this time. It freaked me out! All I could think of was, “what if I need foot surgery and I have to fly 36 hours back to the States with a broken foot?!” After a trip to the local hospital to see the doctor and have an X-Ray, we found out it wasn’t broken (praise hands). It still hurts if I walk a lot in one day, but I believe it is healing well.

About a week after that, I felt this weird bump on my back. When I first looked at it, I thought it was a bug bite which would go away. After asking some nursing students who are here as volunteers (thanks Alex and Haley) to look at it, they could tell it was something more than a bug bite but they weren’t exactly sure what it was. We kept a close eye on it for three days. On the third evening when I looked at it in the mirror, I saw something sticking out of it! I very quickly showed my mom who told me, “DO NOT MOVE.” She proceeded to PULL A WORM FROM OUT OF MY BACK. I couldn’t handle myself. I felt so dirty and gross and I totally freaked out. This worm (“Maggie” for short) which been living off my skin on my back for three days. I am a very clean person as in a shower daily kind of person and I couldn’t believe this was happening to me! Alex and Haley had to cut and pull more “stuff” (still not really sure what they were digging out) from my back for a couple more days. I don’t have a very high pain tolerance so I just yelled into my pillow as they basically performed surgery on my back. Three weeks later, we are still keeping an eye on it twice daily. Thankfully, all that is being done now is cleaning it and making sure it continues to heal. Cleaning “Maggie” has become one of my fav parts of the day because it feels SO nice to have someone rub my back – HA! I know the devil is pushing me to see how much I can take and I just keep saying “bring it” even though I am getting a little tired of weird, totally not normal things happening to me.

I have been driving here in Tanzania, but the first week didn’t start off so hot. Actually, the driving part is fine, it’s the getting gas which is a problem. It turns out when you go to get gas, you have to tell the guys filling up the car which kind of fuel you need in the car. They put diesel in the car I was driving which is supposed to have petro. I stood at the gas station with five volunteers for two hours as we waited for the car’s tank to be drained and refilled. Ema, the Neema driver and guy in charge of all the vehicles here, makes sure my car is always filled for me now! It is helpful to the staff here at Neema that I am able to drive the volunteers into town to get money exchanged, go to the market, take them out to dinner, and take them to other favorite spots where volunteers like to go while here in Arusha.

In TZ, the cops don’t have cars. There are policemen who stand on the side of the road who wave you over. Most of the time they don’t really have a good reason to “pull” you over, they just do. The first time I was waved down the policeman just wanted to check the vehicle’s tags and see my driver’s license.   As most of you who are reading this will know, in the US our date is written as month/day/year. Some of you may not know that in TZ (and most of the rest of the world), the date is written in the format of day/month/year. So, I am always questioned about my driver’s license because the date order is different. I’m getting pretty good at just smiling and explaining it the best I can.

I have always wanted to try living somewhere else to see if I could live outside of Billings, MT and learn how to get around a different city. On top of that, I always thought it would be cool to live in a big city. Driving home from Fifi’s the other day, it dawned on me that I am doing those things. I’ve been here only five weeks and already I have my favorite grocery store, gas station, and coffee shop. Listed above, Fifi’s is the closest thing to Starbucks in Arusha. They have an espresso milkshake, spelled “eXpresso” which tastes like a Jamocha milkshake from Arby’s. I can also get to lots of restaurants, a couple money exchange locations, the clothing market and the Maasai souvenir market. I would never have guessed I would ever know how to navigate a city of two million people in TZ, Africa. I pray, I will always continue to follow the leadership of Jesus in my life and I am excited to see where He takes me.

Live and learn is my motto these days. I’ve learned to make sure to say “gas” when filling the car up. I’ve learned waiting two hours for food at a restaurant makes for a great photo shoot with friends. I’ve learned that lighting a gas oven with a match isn’t as terrifying as I’ve always thought it was. I’ve learned how to quickly divide any number higher than 5,000 by 2230. I’ve learned that having poop and spit-up on my shirt isn’t a reason to not head to town. I’ve learned that people LOVE my NIKE baseball cap and I could make a killing selling them in TZ. I’ve learned how to fall asleep with the sounds of dogs fighting and “calls to prayer” echoing throughout the valley. I’ve learned that the love between my family and I can reach 12,000 miles without a problem. I’ve learned that a work week is a work week no matter what country you are in. I’ve learned that Jesus shows up all over the world and that He is so faithful to me as I wait on His plans and timing over every aspect of my life.

Waiting on the Lord isn’t passive. I hope as you pray over things you want to have happen in your life you will pray and actively wait. I knew long ago that I would do mission work in Africa at some point. I didn’t know where, for how long, or when, but I just knew I would. I prayed often for the time to come and I actively waited by learning leadership within my church, going on short-term mission trips, and preparing financially. I hate how fast time flies by, yet I am very thankful to see prayers I’ve prayed years ago happening RIGHT NOW!

I want to thank everyone who has prayed for me and helped me get to this point. My family is my rock and there is no way I could be here doing this work without their love and support. My friends listen to my many stories and I can hear the excitement in their voices as I tell them of the work I am doing here in TZ. Last night as I FaceTimed with my co-workers back home, I was reminded what a great group of loving ladies I have at P1. They have helped me grow SO much in the professional setting which has come in very handy while running an office in TZ. My boss asks me good questions which really get me thinking about my time here and what I want in the long run. I am very thankful he remains an active part of my life even when I am gone. I’m sure there are a ton of people praying and supporting me who I may never even know about and I thank you for being part of my life as well. Last but not least, I am thankful for all of the pastors at my home church, Faith Chapel, – Evan and Larissa, Glen, and Scott regularly check in with me to see how they can support me, pray for me and love me. I also want to thank the Worden Open Bible Church for their great love and support. Both of these churches have been a great source of encouragement and blessing to me!

I miss everyone every day!!

Sending all my love from TZ, Em