Finding my passion

There’s something truly awesome about finding your place in the world and the role that truly satisfies, finding your passion… I realise more and more that for me that place is found in teaching. I cannot think of anything I’d rather do than work with kids.

Whether it be working in a preschool in NZ, leading a cabin at Riversdale, children’s camp, or teaching in Africa, I simply love it. We can learn so much from children. They are genuine; what you see is what you get. They love and trust without fear, they don’t hide away what they are feeling and they show affection freely. Whenever I go down to school the children in the class where I spend most of my time come running over to me, to hug me, greet me, hold my hands, carry my bag etc.
 If I’ve been away in Magugu they get so excited to see me as if  iv'e been gone for about a year! The other day a little girl said to me “Teacher Rachel, I love you.”
Imagine if we as adults greeted each other like that when we arrive in an office, at a law firm, in a shop, or at the hospital, it just wouldn’t happen! And to be fair it would be a bit weird if an adult greeted us that way! 

That does not mean that at times children are not frustrating, disobedient or exhausting. But the beauty of children is that even when you growl them or give consequences they still love you and are quick to forgive. It also doesn’t mean that I am not excited for the upcoming holidays.

A few weekends ago we made a trip out to Falco’s Children’s home in Karatu, about two hours away from here! It was honestly one of my favorite weekends to date. Hanging out with the kids, playing volleyball, soccer, playing on their playground, having cuddles with so many gorgeous kiddies, watching their very amusing talent show that they put on. And talking to Tammy and hearing all her amazing stories about how they ended up where they are, doing what they are doing and how God provided and also some of the heart-breaking stories about how some of the kids ended up there including the story of miracle Moses. It’s amazing that Moses survived as he was placed in a plastic bag and buried in a shallow grave as a new born baby, and then was found about 12 hours later by a shepherd who just happened to be walking in the area. Tammy and Her husband then felt to adopt Moses and now he has a hope and a future!

Nothing breaks my heart more than the thought of children without parents, but it warmed my heart to hang out in a place like Falco’s children’s home, where the kids are loved, they are confident and they are happy. The children’s home is down a long dusty track in a village with one of the highest orphan population in Tanzanian which is largely linked to a high rate of prostitution.

A few years ago I read the story “Kisses from Katie” about a young American girl who went to Uganda on a short term trip and then through a series of events and over several years, ended up adopting 14 orphaned girls. She has since started up a ministry that helps feed, and educate thousands of children (Amazimia ministries). This book was very inspiring but it’s easy to think that I could never do anything like that and to put Katie up on a pedestal. But then to go to a place like Falco’s Children’s home and see first-hand the way that Tammy and Jerry have allowed God to use them to bring hope to many children’s lives, and to see the result of their love and commitment and hear the story of how they were literally given 70 acres of land, by the locals! It just makes my own desire and dream to work with and help orphaned children even greater. It makes it seem possible, achievable and real.  We will definitely be visiting their again!

I love that plans change! If I had stuck to my plan I would already be back in NZ recovering from jet lag, but instead I am sitting in my lounge in Tanzania writing this blog about what I love, following an awesome weekend of hanging out with the friends I have made, feeling totally content and grateful to God for this opportunity. It’s now been 3 months since I arrived and I can honestly say It’s the people you meet and the connections you make that make a place truly feel like home.

I am excited for what this year has instore, right now I am mostly working with the children who are struggling with reading, which I am loving :D 

If you want to know more about Falco’s children’s village check out their website: http://www.falcoschildrenvillage.com/

#TIA This is Africa!

Ever since I decided to stay the whole year I keep having these “wow I actually live in Africa!” moments. A lot of the time it feels so normal especially because I live with Emma a kiwi and

Rebecca another kiwi who stays with us often and soon an Australian too (lets be honest aussies and kiwis are not all that different) and my neighbors are kiwis (Jan and Rod, Lynda and Allen, Joanna). But then we leave the gates of our compound and suddenly it becomes very real that I live in a culture completely different to my own!

For starters we can’t go anywhere without people staring and saying “wazungu” (white people). We can never just blend in with the crowds here! It’s also strange to live in a place where my first language is the locals second language and where many people don’t speak my language at all! It’s good motivation to learn Swahili and I am having weekly lessons with Mama Louis.

There are so many things in New Zealand that I take for granted. Like drinking out of the tap! We have to filter all our water in a bucket filter, or buy bottled water.
 Also being able to get in my car and go anywhere at any time (well not quite anytime! Restricted licence curfew! haha). Here I hardly go anywhere by myself! This is partly to do with the communication barrier. The few dala dala trips I have taken have been interesting! I’ve had to write down how to say where I want to stop before I leave. But also for safety reasons. And even if I could afford to have a car, I have no desire to drive here. Road rules are more of a suggestion, round abouts and intersection rules are basically the pushiest car goes first, and passing gaps seem to be incredibly small! If that’s not bad enough sometimes you get fined simply because a police officer wants “soda money” apparently you can get fines for your car being too dirty even!

We can’t go anywhere without being confronted with the reality of poverty whether it be beggars, street kids, village kids, or recently a guy came up to me and begged me for my water. There are so many things here that literally break your heart.

I have to always be aware of what I am wearing. It’s disrespectful to show your knees here and tight pants are a no go. So my wardrobe now consists of long skirts and harem pants. Most of the time I don’t mind but sometimes I just want to where whatever I want to! You definitely cannot afford to be fussy here. I have used squat toilets I would never dream of using in New Zealand and eaten more rice than you could imagine as well as other things I probably wouldn’t eat back home.

And don’t even get me started on shopping here. If you think New Zealand retailers are pushy try shopping in a town where you literally get bombarded with people trying to sell you things, or begging you to look in their shop. It has its upsides though, when shopping in the second hand market we had three guys digging through all the clothes to find me skirts and dresses that I liked. There were MANY that I didn’t like but they didn’t stop looking for me.  When we eventually found a few I liked they brought me a mirror to look in and told me that it made me look like Kim K (I can definitely see the resemblance) hahaha. Fruit and vege shopping is the same deal you constantly hear “sister, tomatoes, sister zucchinis, sister mangoes” I actually love shopping here though it’s always amusing!

You also cannot go anywhere without greeting people and it always more than just a hi. Which is actually really nice but if you’re in a hurry, busting to go toilet or in a bad mood sometimes it’s hard to do the whole greeting back and forward deal haha.

Despite all of these quirky and challenging things I love it here. I love that no one really cares what you wear and about having the latest fashion! I love going to the crazy busy markets with Emma to buy our food. I love the amusing shopping experiences and feel such a sense of accomplishment any time I communicate anything in Swahili. I love being greeted everywhere I go and chatting with and making connections with the locals. I love the slower pace of life and that it’s not all about squeezing more into your day. I love being swarmed by village kids in Magugu and teaching the kids in class one where I teaching and mentoring. I love the landscape and travelling places and all the interesting and quirky things you see out the bus or car windows; like the lady with a whole pile of socks on her head, the lady bathing fully clothed in the river, people sleeping in strange places, kids in the middle of nowhere walking to school, Maassai men with their cattle and even better seeing Zebras and Giraffes on the side of the road!

 But most of all I love living in a community of people who are passionate about God, where God is the priority he’s everything! If anyone ever doubts Gods existence come to Africa and go out on outreach with Rod, Jan, Emma and Simon and see how God heals people. People cannot fake being healed especially when they don’t even believe God can heal them until He does! The spiritual realm is very real here people literally are held captive and God literally sets them free. My faith grows every day that I live here.

Then there is the practical outworking of God’s love here through providing children with quality education. Yesterday I was talking to Wendy and Archbold about the education system. They explained that if people don’t pass form 4 they cannot repeat that year they then are very limited to what career they can choose and people are placed in universities based on their results. So there is a lot of pressure for people to be educated and to pass exams! It could be the difference between living in poverty or not. But the sad thing is there are many places here that offer education but it’s not quality. I am realising more and more the importance of education and my passion for teaching is growing. I love being a part of something bigger than myself!

 

It’s hard to imagine all these things until you have been here and experienced them, but I definitely recommend visiting a third world country at some point in your life.