Africa is so much more than Disney portrays it to be......

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory or defeat." Teddy Roosevelt

Staff Training
There is just something special about starting your morning standing in a field of dew listening to the sound of a drum beat and voices rising in KiSwahili. Good morning. The whirlwind of staff training has come to a finish and I find myself looking back on a very busy past two days.
The counselors arrived Thursday evening and we began training by singing, of course, and dividing everyone into their groups. The counselors spent the weekend as campers and we the teachers as their counselors. Most of the counselors have never been to camp and so the objective of us as the teachers being their counselors for the weekend was to teach them how to be a hands-on leader with the kids. We had a blast. My group was the green group (kijani) and was made up of myself, my translator Emmi, Resitisia, Samuel, Charles, and Sopa.
Our days started at 8:30 standing in a circle singing what are called Pombios (we usually sing three or four). Next is the first Bible lesson (we had to go through all of them so that the counselors would be able to guide their campers through them). Between every activity a Pombio would be sung. After the first Bible lesson we would have two teaching sessions (i.e. sewing, filter making ect). After the teaching is tea time (11 am). Chai with a big fried piece of bread (this is Tanzanian breakfast). The tea is pretty good but has enough sugar to make your eye twitch. After tea time we played a game which is the most fun of all because you get to watch the Tanzanians come alive. I was a little worried at first when meeting the people because they were so solemn and serious, even when singing and dancing. But the minute you start playing a game you will see some of the greatest smiles and hear some of the best laughter EVER. We play simpler games because the Tanzanians aren’t big on rules so it was mainly tag based and chasing based games. After game time there was of course more singing, and then two more teaching sessions. Lunch comes at about 1400 and after that everyone is dead so we rest for about ½ an hour (resting consists of laying in the grass as you wait for the ugali to digest which it doesn’t, it just sticks to your ribs…). The afternoon meal has so far been the best cultural experience yet. After we wash our hands we cram into a small class room, about six to a table, and sit on stools around this massive pile of ugali. There is also a bowl of greens and a bowl of beans on each table. Eat or be eaten! Hands on meal let me tell you. This was so cool to participate in. We all had our own side of ugali and rolled it in our hands and then dipped it in either the greens or the beans. Now, if you think too much about it you won’t eat it (six different people all using their hands in the same food, they go to the bathroom out of doors, you don’t really know where their hands have been, etc), so you just have to mind over matter yourself and enjoy the experience! Now, I haven’t gotten the whole “roll the ugali in your hands and don’t get it all over the place” down yet which provides ample laughter from the guys because they have these perfectly clean hands as they roll their ugali and I get it stuck everywhere! And what’s worse is that if it’s hot, it sticks to you like paste and then just burns straight into your skin. Truly enjoyable experience. The guys have faith in me though and continue to ask me if I’m going to make it for my family when I get home. Watch out Sifers, I’m making ugali and you all will eat it or I’ll be highly offended : ). After rest time, teachers then led group devotions which each of their groups and then we finished the day with a final teaching and informational meeting.
On our final day (Saturday) we had all the counselors, translators, and cooks over to the house for a big dinner. This was hilarious. We packed them all into the living room and dining room around tables and had a feast of rice and noodles and a meat sauce. I have never ever seen people eat that much. The men here eat more in one serving than we eat in the entirety of the day. They filled an entire large dinner plate with rice (piled about 4 inches high, no joke) and then added meat, noodles and three different kinds of sauce. Their one plate full could feed my whole family with leftovers. I’m not even kidding. And they would eat two plate fulls! After the feeding frenzy, we showed them a slideshow of all the photos we had been taking over the weekend and they loved it. It was funny to think that the slide show was, for some, the first time they had seen themselves in a picture. So cool.
So, successful staff training. It is so good to be able to recognize people and to know even a little bit about them, and to be able to call out their names. This has been a great start to the camp process, our team is assembled and ready to go!

Today we are enjoying a much needed rest day before the storm (camp) begins tomorrow. We sang in a church today and it was so much fun! We sang “I’ll Fly Away” and as we were singing the women of the church stood up and started dancing all around us, waving their congas around in the air, and making this noise they make with their tongue. I’m trying to master this tongue thing because it’s so cool. They yell/scream and as they are making this noise they flick their tongues from side to side inside their mouths. It’s the coolest sound and I can’t do it! Don’t worry, I will master it before I get home.

I don’t know if I’ll ever get tired of hearing the singing here. We sang a hymn today in church that was just beautiful. It’s becoming easier and easier to sing in Swahili. The most fun thing for me is that there are so many harmony parts that you just pick one and sing, or, as I do, make up your own! Nat, Keithon, Ry, I hear you all singing the harmonies with me every time we sing. The most powerful singing experience yet (I’m sure there will be so many more!) was during the staff dinner at the house. We closed the evening by singing a slow peaceful hymn and it was the first time since arriving that I said to myself, “wow, God is in this place.” The hymn was so beautiful that I couldn’t even sing…. I just stood and listened. So moving.

That’s all for now rafiki, got to get back to packing all the gear for the week. We’re down to the wire with just a few things left to do. This will be my last post till Saturday evening. We head to our first village tomorrow. Please remember to pray for protection and safety and tons of fun as we head out for our first week of camp!

All my love from Tanzania