Mid-week in Mbeya

Wednesday morning and time to try to send another Blog! It is wonderful to be connected with friends and family from so very far away via computers but the system is not without glitches. Patience is a key attribute in this part of the world and certainly when dealing with anything that requires power.
It seems that the neighborhood that we are in is more prone to power outages or "brown outs" than other areas of the city. Last night there was an outage for a few hours just after dark which allowed us to appreciate a spectacular "light show" off in the distance. Huge bursts of lightening (we use to call it "dry" or "heat lightning" in Philadelphia) lit up the towering cumulus clouds a few kilometers from here. No thunder to be heard at all. Sitting on the age of my bed, a lit candle on the bed stand, trying to write a few words in my journal had me recalling my days in the cabin in Mayo, YT. . . such darkness with only a candle to light the words.
Yesterday we drove into the inner city area of Mbeya over roads that made the pothole-filled roads of Moncton look pretty tame. The main roads are paved but w/0 shoulders. Sharmala not only deftly dodged hefleump-sized holes but had to send horn-blasts round blind corners to warn the numerous pedestrians. . . .many of these being school children in their various school uniforms (bright red or green sweaters with dark shorts or skirts). We made several stops before reaching the inner city program for children. First was an open-air market with vendors selling an assortment of veggies (potatoes, onions, leeks, lettuce, tomatoes, beets, carrots, squash and more) and others preparing and selling "fast food" lunches of fried potatoes and other interesting looking things (not sure what). We did notice that there were far more vendors than shoppers even though it was nearly noon. We made brief stops at a stationary shop, DVD shop (yes, there are lots of fairly current CDs and DVDs available for sale), and a small grocery store where we bought some frozen chicken.
I was wondering how I could describe the city of Mbeya which sprawls like a large quilt over such so much of the area. There are small homes and shops, most with metal roofs, many others with tile and very few are more than two stories high. I'd say that most of the mid-sized homes and larger ones are surrounded by stone or brick walls. It's much more like a small town that goes on and on. If you want a really good idea of what it looks like, my sister in NB found that you can see Mbeya on Google Earth . . . even the footpaths across the airfield which is right next to our place . . . so give that a try! (thanks, JEM, for that bit of info)
At the inner city program for children we arrived in time to see the children receive their breakfast --- today it was a mug of chai (tea) and a large chunk of whole wheat bread. Later in the day, two women would cook up a lunch of roasted potatoes for them. These must be some of the neediest children of the city and so these meals might be all they get to eat. Words are hard to find to describe the children -- they are at once needy and yet still have a sparkle about them (not all, of course). They were so pleased to welcome us each coming up to shake our hands and to greet us in the traditional Tanzanian manner.
Once they had eaten, the children came into a room furnished with one table, two benches, and a large cupboard. A collection of games (mainly wooden puzzles) and toys were brought out and bamboo mats set out for all to sit on. The treat yesterday were the coloured pencils and copies of pictures from coloring books for them to colour themselves. Such excitement, pushing and shoving to make sure they got a pencil and paper. One of the young men who help out at the centre, patiently wrote the names of each child on a page before handing them out which was a real benefit to me because now I could see their names. . . Vestor, Richard, Olivine, Frank, Beatrice . . . probably 50 kids altogether. The youngest were about 2.5 - 3 with wide - wide dark eyes . . . . easily able to break hearts with their beauty. They were so pleased to show what they could do or draw or build and wanted/needed our acknowledgment. As we were ready to go, some of the smaller ones were reluctant to let us go. Sharmala has been providing this simple sparse haven for these children for about 7 years now. The building that she rents is extremely rustic -- a dusty yard (with a resident pig and chicken), a meagre kitchen for clean-up and the main room about 14 x 20 feet (I'm not that great at estimating). There is no ceiling over this room, just a corrugated roof that leaks on rainy days. And the wall have huge chunks of plaster falling off giving a sense that you've been transported to some dark neighborhood of 1700 London. These images will never leave me, of that I am sure.
Sharmala has been off doing errands while I write, and Jan has been busily creating an eggplant dish (Iman fainting) that is sure to satisfy our mid-day hunger (large meals eaten early afternoon here with a smaller meal eaten in the early ever d7 - 9ish).
I could write so much more but must make myself useful!!