The Wisbeys

Catching up

2012-01-17T16:02:00.003Z

What a difference a few weeks make. Less than six weeks agowe were eagerly (very eagerly!) awaiting the arrival of our (late) littlechild! Five weeks ago we were in hospital, trying to get to grips with having a(very) strong and determined (not easily feeding) baby boy. Four weeks ago wewere at home, dazed by the reality that we were now parents and have to try to cope with looking after this boy ‘alone’. Three weeks ago we were in themidst of Christmas celebrations, enjoying family help and ‘encouraging’ our boyto do as we were and keep on eating! Two weeks ago we were back in Devon again,trying to get into more of a routine. And last week we all, most importantlybaby boy as well, started to relax a little more and things became a littleeasier!

We’d like to think that maybe we’re starting to get to gripswith things as they are but we know (as all our friends and family are ‘happy’to tell us) nothing stays the same when there’s a baby around! Tomorrow will bedifferent, next week more so, and in a month's time… maybe we’ll have a littleman on our hands!

Although, as ever, most things in our life are still veryunsettled, one thing that is sure is the fact that we will be moving to Thameat the end of the month! Whilst another move is daunting, we hate packing (youmay have thought we’d have got used to it by now but we haven’t!) and it’salways very tiring to have to ‘start again’ in a new place, we are lookingforward to having ‘our’ own place again and starting another chapter of ourlives.

A few months ago we wrote a short bit about what we might bedoing when we arrive in Thame. We’d love to be able to share more about that,however at the moment things are still very much ‘up in the air’. There arelots of practicalities that need to be sorted out and so we probably won’t havemore details to share until we’ve moved and Matt is ready to submit hisdissertation. One thing we do know is there is lots of work that needs doingand so we are confident we can find some way to be of use! On the topic ofMatt’s dissertation he is back at his desk working away, eagerly trying to putthe ‘finishing’ touches to his paper. While he may not finish it before wemove, he still aims to hand it in soon after our arrival in Thame.

In other news (as if there is any that isn't about Levi!), amongst our packing, we will celebrate Liz’sfirst birthday as a mum on Thursday! As ever we love hearing your news soplease do write when you can.

New beginnings

2011-12-26T13:16:00.001Z

So, as feared/expected/promised it has been some time sincewe last wrote a blog! Thankfully we have a pretty good ‘excuse’ for not beingas active online as usual. We hope that most/all of you will already know that justin time for Christmas we were blessed with the arrival of our first child, LeviJames Wisbey. We are still getting used to being parents (does that everstop?!) and so this Christmas period has been challenging and exciting in equalbut different ways!

We’ve managed to get a few pictures online (at last) so ifyou’d like to see our son just click here. We hope that we’ll be able tointroduce many of you to him in person over the coming weeks and months. Pleasecontinue to pray for us all as we all get used to our different roles and responsibilitiesat this time! We will endeavour to update some more in the New Year.

All three of us wish you a Merry Christmas and a very happystart to 2012.

Changing steps

2011-11-17T11:38:00.001Z

As we mentioned in our latest newsletter, we will bechanging direction next year with Matt probably taking up an assignmentfocusing on literacy work in Asia. We wanted to take a moment to explain alittle more how this might look and to introduce the group he will possibly beworking with.

As with any large organisation working in different parts ofthe world Wycliffe partners with other organisations (both local andinternational) that hold similar values. As we’ve mentioned before Wycliffe’sprimary partner is SIL International, with whom we worked in Mbeya as part ofthe Uganda-Tanzania Branch of SIL. We are currently pursuing the possibility ofMatt’s new assignment being with another regional unit of SIL, LEAD Asia (whichstands for Language, Education and Development). This team is working to helpminority language groups access development opportunities in all areas of theirlives. You can read more about LEAD here.

One large obstacle stopping minority language communities developin ways that they want to is the opportunity for them to access education in alanguage that they understand well. Mother tongue based multilingual education(MTB MLE, or just MLE for short!), of which literacy is a huge part, is centralto helping many communities around the world access development opportunities.If you’re interested in how and why, take a few minutes to check out this greatpresentation from UNESCO on why ‘Education Counts’.

Whilst this change in assignment may involve a change ingeographical focus, it will allow Matt a real opportunity while based in the UKto help support MLE work in a tangible and practical way. It should also allowhim to make use of many of our experiences in Tanzania and much of his Mastersstudies. Many of the organisations LEAD is partnering with, or would like to partnerwith, have offices in the UK and so relationships could be built here that couldstrengthen the work in Asia and elsewhere around the world. Equally raising theprofile of the work internationally and helping to develop appropriatematerials to support the work in Asia can all be done from the UK.

As details become clearer we will try to update the blogwith more information. For now, if you have any questions please don’t hesitateto send us an email (look left) or catch us on Skype (have you added us to yourcontact list yet? Click on the link to the right to do so).

Just 11 days till due date!

2011-11-16T17:33:00.001Z

We can’t believe it’s only just over 10 days until our babyis due! We feel pretty ready (well, as much as we can!) for the squirming bumpto become a squirming baby. We have finished our antenatal classes and(hopefully!) done all the shopping/organising we need to do in preparation. NowLiz is trying to get lots of rest whilst completing all those last-minute tasksthat are so much easier to do before baby Wisbey makes his/her appearance. Mattis working hard on his dissertation despite all the distractions (as soon therewill be many more distractions to cope with!).

We are aware sometimes friends and relatives buy presentsfor new babies when they are born. We do not expect anything from anyone.However, if you would like to buy something then we’ve jotted down a fewpointers here. J We have already been given/lent many newborn clothesand accessories by generous friends and so any older clothing (3+ months) wouldbe better. We also don’t yet have many toys or books to read the baby, so theywould also be good. For our own benefit more than anything (so we don’t forgetthings we’ve seen!), we have started a baby wishlist on Amazon. Feel free totake a look on there to get some ideas if you want.

Of course the most valuable thing for us is your continuedlove and support, which we know we already have! Thank you. We hope you enjoyedour recent newsletter (or will soon receive it if you haven’t already).Alternatively, if you lost it or it went to junk mail, it is available to readhere on the blog (look left). As always we love hearing your news when you gettime to write.

Challenging education

2011-10-31T20:49:00.004Z

Today during my daily scan through the news I came across a very interesting article about education. More specifically about the progress of education in a selection of different African countries, asking teachers what they see as the biggest challenges currently facing African teachers and students. As the article points out, education is central to the millennium development goals with goal #2 seeking "to ensure that all children complete a full course of primary education", with the goal being measured by "enrolment, the proportion who reach the last grade, and literacy rates for those aged 15-24."

Obviously the last part of that sentence, 'literacy rates', is what we're all about! As I read through the article (and it's well worth reading the whole thing), I could identify with many of the stories and situations laid out by the teachers. The situations they face are varied in their challenges but united in their complexity. Education is not a simple equation to 'solve', but a living organism that must be given life, nurtured, grown and sustained. One such challenge is that of language. Whilst teacher training, numbers of students in classrooms and money for books and other resources are important, if the language used to teach the children is one they are unfamiliar with any other improvements will ultimately be ineffective.

One of the teachers, Enoch Abukari from Ghana, identified language as a challenge for his school environment. His words speak for themselves:

"Exams, assessments, the curriculum and teaching are in English. But most students in my class are Dagomba and rarely speak English anywhere else but the classroom. Students receive the first few years of their primary education in Dagomba, but have to transition very quickly to English language instruction by grade 4. That is why I decided to change from teaching grade 6 to grade 3. I wanted to support these young students' transition." [Read the full article here.]

Language is important. Enoch recognises this and is willing to do something about it. What can we do to help ensure that children all over the world, no matter what language they understand best, can get access to an effective education?

Sometimes I just wish I could go to work (‘the grass always looks greener on the other side’)

2011-10-11T08:50:00.002Z

Sometimes I just wish I could go to work. Working from home, writing a dissertation, communicating with colleagues and supervisors via email, sometimes, just sucks.

The reality is that working from home, ‘being your own boss’, managing your own time has many advantages. It has inherent benefits that many people can only dream of. A lot of the time I feel very privileged and thankful for our current work situations. However it’s not a perfect life. Sometimes, just sometimes, I really (I mean REALLY) wish I could just go to work!

During my four weeks in Tanzania, whilst not ‘going to work’ in most people’s normal sense of the words, I was leaving my home (or guestroom) and going OUT to do my work. I had to leave on time, I travelled around, I met with people (people were even expecting me), I completed (or semi-completed!) tasks, and then at the end of the day I returned ‘home’. It was a change, it was nice, it felt normal.

Just as it’s easy for me, sometimes, to think that life in an office or on a bus or behind a bar might seem like the perfect job, the same is true of our work situation. I’m sure it is very easy for many people to think that what we do, our life, is far easier than theirs. Maybe in some ways it is, but to think that any other situation is perfect is ill informed.

Too many times have I seen someone’s life or heard their experiences and thought “Wow, aren’t they lucky”, only to later see or hear the full story – the private struggles and difficulties that make their life seem rather less appealing. We each face our own unique areas of sadness and joy in our daily lives. The real challenge is to engage with them and not just gaze at someone else’s life wishing it was ours.

So, in what areas of your life does the grass seem decidedly greener elsewhere?

Learning to love solitude

2011-10-02T11:19:00.000Z

Many of you will know that Matt has just returned from a month in Tanzania. If you’ve been following his twitter (catch up here!) you will have heard some news from him as to how it all went. He’s also put a few pictures online so if you’d like to get a visual flavour of what he was up to just click here. However that only tells half the story. With this blog I wanted to let you know a little of how it was from my side, ‘holding the fort’ here in the UK.

It was a time that I had been dreading a little; in my emotional pregnant state there were times when just to think about Matt going away for a month made me want to cry (I blame it on the hormones!). Due to us both working at home at the moment we were used to knowing each other’s every move and so it was strange to think of being apart for so long. It was also a rather stressful time leading up to his departure as I had a recurrence of iritis in my right eye and it was taking a while to heal. So it was with a few tears (from an already sore eye!) that I waved Matt goodbye.

I was encouraged, however, by the thought that many people were thinking of us as we were apart and many were praying too. I was happy to be staying in a place I love (even if I didn’t get to see the exciting sights that Matt would as he travelled) with the care and company of my parents. I was also looking forward to visits from other family and good friends to help pass the time… so all in all my lot was not a bad one! Plus, with the wonders of phones and skype (despite their unreliability at times in Africa) I knew I would be able to keep in good contact with Matt and how he was getting on.

Now, looking back, I am amazed at how fast the time went and how much of an enjoyable time it was for me. At first it seemed so quiet without Matt (!) but I felt like I rediscovered my introvert nature and learned to enjoy the solitude. I was aware that I should appreciate it, as when the baby comes (soon!), it will be hard to find peace and quiet or to get time on my own. On my solitary walks by the river I was able to contemplate the changing seasons, in nature and also in my life, and to feel encouraged, strengthened and excited for what is coming. I knew that just as I felt God’s presence then, with my husband thousands of miles away, so God would be with me in the new challenges and transitions that would come in my life.

I also think it was really positive for me to feel more like ‘a person in my own right’ rather than just half of a couple. It is easy for any couple, especially if you are together a lot, to forget what your own individual identities are a little. This was a time for me to be affirmed in who I am as a person, and to know that I am valued, treasured and remembered just for being me and my daily Bible readings seemed to emphasise this. I also really appreciated everyone who ‘remembered’ me with a text, email, prayer or phone call – thanks! I didn’t do anything extremely adventurous on my own during this time but it was a start and I will remember it as an encouragement and challenge for the future.

So… I had a great month! I missed Matt lots and was SO excited to see him again, but in some ways I was (almost) sad that my month of solitude was ending! We had a lovely reunion and now I can truly say that time apart enriches a relationship and I appreciate having my husband around even more than I did before!

Research Trip Update

2011-09-11T05:15:00.000Z

In two days time I will be halfway through my time here in Tanzania and so I thought it was a good opportunity to write a short update on my trip so far. Generally it has been very successful. I have had some very interesting interviews, collected some (hopefully) helpful data, had the privilege of catching up with a number of good friends (and making some new ones), and apart from a nasty cold (probably brought on by the huge amount of dust around), I have been generally healthy. These are no small things to be thankful for indeed!

Some highlights of the trip so far have been:
-being able to visit some good friends and their families in their homes.
-feeling encouraged that in some areas of work big developments have been made since we left.
-enjoying engaging with the culture again (as well as learning more about it!) and doing things at a different pace!
-helping a colleague take his pregnant wife to hospital and seeing their new born baby 10 minutes later!
-being fortunate with the electricity supply (although it is off currently and was off yesterday evening too!).

Of course there are many others but I need to get going and off to church (which may be another one of my highlights… we shall see) and my battery is almost gone! For now, here are a few pictures of my trip so far. I’ll make sure I get more online once I’m back in the UK.

I have been regularly updating our Twitter account during my trip. To continue to keep up-to-date with my movements (including some you may not want to know about!) just click here.

Returning to Tanzania

2011-08-22T10:58:00.001Z

As we’ve mentioned previously, I (Matt) am currently working on my masters’ dissertation. (Read more about what I’m doing, and why it’s important, here.) Although my title is still to be decided, the theme of the research is to explore what people doing literacy work think about working in a cluster project, i.e. working across multiple languages at one time. There are many potential positives and challenges for working with a number of different languages at one time. I am hoping that by documenting people’s experiences in the Mbeya-Iringa Cluster Project we will be able to make the most of these positives and minimize any potential challenges, both in this project and in future work around the world.

To enable me to write my paper I will be spending four weeks back in Tanzania speaking to people about their experiences. To try to get the most accurate picture of people’s different experiences I will be visiting as many people as possible in their home environments, hopefully allowing them the opportunity to show me, as well as just tell me about, their experiences! This will, of course, involve a fair amount of travelling, visiting the different language areas and offices across the cluster.

I thought it might be interesting for people to be able to see where my trip will take me and what I hope to be doing. To help visualize my trip I have created a map, with pictures and information showing my planned itinerary (expect changes to my actual activities!). I’ve also included a ‘Challenge(s) of the day’ for each day to give you an idea of something to remember during that day.

I hope it’s a helpful tool. If nothing else it’s hopefully a fun way for you to explore a part of the world without needing to leave your chair! To access it just click on the image below and then click through the list on the left-hand side of the page. As with any Google map you can change the view to show a map, terrain or satellite image, and zoom in and out to see more detail. Do leave a comment on this blog letting us know what you think, or any questions you have about what you see.

I will also try to keep our twitter account and this blog updated with my progress during the trip, although of course this will be internet and electricity permitting!

Finally, all this travelling will be expensive. We don’t receive a salary for the work we do with Wycliffe, instead our income is dependent on the gifts of family, friends and churches around the world. If you would like to support the work of Bible translation and literacy with a one-off gift toward the costs of this trip please contact us through the email address on the left. <----------

Living in print

2011-08-02T09:04:00.006Z

Life in the UK can be described in many ways: comfortable, western, rich, developed, peaceful, privileged. I’m sure you can think of your own label. One classification that may not spring to mind is ‘print-rich’. However when you stop to think about it, we live in a country (and a culture) where the medium of print is everywhere. It is central to our daily lives and we would be very lost without it. Even as studies continue to show that the amount of reading people do every day is dropping, we still rely on print in our everyday lives. Be it a road sign showing us where to go, or a billboard announcing the latest film release, or the electronic programme guide on our televisions… these small snippets of print, words on a page/screen/board/sign, surround us every waking moment.

Can you imagine what it would be like not to be surrounded by this?

How hard would it be to try to learn to read and write if you had…

no

words

to

read?

Pretty hard I’d imagine. As difficult as it is for us from a print-rich culture to believe, many people all over the world live in places where there aren’t written words around them all day. Whilst there may be some shop signs in the market, maybe for Coke or a mobile phone company, these are very limited and can be learnt by heart. The only real time people may see written words, the only chance they get to practice, is in class at school.

That’s why initiatives such as this in Uganda, where students are provided with a national newspaper every week, are so important. Giving people a chance to read, to practice what they’ve learnt and to share it with others around them, is so important for literacy. Only when people are excited about reading, when they have something new to read, does literacy work really start to explode! That’s why Liz’s work, proofreading new books, is so important. Continually providing new materials for people to read is a challenge, albeit a fun one for some people, and a part of literacy work that should never be underestimated!

Baby days

2011-07-28T14:29:00.006Z

We have been reflecting over the last few weeks on our lives at this time of change (again!). As we are entering into parenthood we have realised that whilst practically we have very little, our lives are still incredibly rich.

The vast majority of new parents, or parents-to-be, spend the last few months before the birth hastily preparing ‘the nursery’ in a house they own. Or, if not, at least they do the best they can with a spare room in a rented house that they have been in for some time in an area where they are settled, know well and are known. We, on the other hand, fit into neither of these categories.

We have chosen this strange lifestyle, trying to follow God in this way as best we can and to use our skills in the most appropriate ways possible. We in no way regret this decision and we have had an exciting (and challenging!) four years. Whilst we may have very little physically to show for the last four years, we are privileged in many other ways. For example we are incredibly fortunate to have parents who have space and who welcome us in to stay with them for a time. We also have lots of friends who share their experiences (and baby stuff!) with us.

That’s not to say it’s all plain sailing though. It can be very difficult at times, when our minds try to compare what we have to the things many of the people around us have. However, we know this is not the full picture. We know that we are all just trying to live our own lives in the best ways we can, and therefore not only is it fruitless to try to compare but it is meaningless too!

We know that we will do our very best to give our baby the best start in life possible, regardless of the material setting in which it will start out. And that, we hope, is the most important thing of all.

Matt’s work

2011-07-06T20:15:00.002Z

Having already taken a few minutes to explain what Liz’s role entails at the moment, we thought it would be good to do the same for Matt and his work.

As you will probably know, I (Matt) have been registered on the postgraduate programme ‘MA Literacy Programme Development’ since January and am now starting the final stage of that course, writing a dissertation. We are very fortunate that Wycliffe, as a Christian organisation with an emphasis on academic excellence, put a high value on further education. They see the long-term benefits of people gaining further training for literacy work and the language communities we serve. If we know more about the areas we work in, and have had more chance to consider proven responses to the difficulties we face, not only can we ourselves have greater impact but more importantly we can better pass those skills to those around us.

As such, Wycliffe very much view my masters programme as part of our work, and show this by allowing me time to study full-time. I have found this period of study particularly helpful as I have been able to apply our experiences in Tanzania to the theory in class, trying to find practical responses to many of the situations we found ourselves in whilst working there. The classes from January until June were very intense, often with small groups of students in each class, but very practical, providing much ‘food-for-thought’.

I am now embarking on writing my dissertation. The whole process will probably take about five months, with the aim being to submit by Christmas-time. Within this time I will spend four weeks in September visiting Tanzania, conducting interviews and gathering data. Whilst my final title is still to be finalised, I am currently planning on doing a case-study type research paper, looking specifically at how literacy work in the Mbeya-Iringa Cluster Project (where we used to work) operates and what some of the positives and difficulties have been.

The cluster approach (working with multiple languages from one regional office) is still relatively new and therefore little has yet been discussed with regards literacy work specifically. It is my hope therefore that my final paper will not only fulfil the requirements of my masters degree, but will also be of help for people who are considering adopting such a strategy in other situations around the world. It is certainly a privilege to be able to study, however I hope that it will ultimately have wider positive implications than just for me personally!

I will try and keep you updated on my progress as I get further through it. Any questions you may have from reading this do let me know!

Pregnancy update

2011-07-05T20:39:00.004Z

Liz is into her 19th week and we had our second scan on Monday. All is apparently healthy so that is good news. Here are a couple of pictures as proof!

Liz, the proofreader

2011-06-22T13:26:00.003Z

As Matt is working hard on his dissertation, I continue to work in my proofreading role for our branch in Tanzania and Uganda. I thought perhaps it was time for me to give you a few more details of what I do, and hopefully answer some of the questions you may have about how it all works!

So first off, what is my role exactly?
My role is to provide the last check before materials (usually books and booklets) are printed. I currently work on materials that are produced by Literacy and Scripture Use departments in the different projects throughout Tanzania, and recently I have also worked on some books produced by a few translation departments (so actual books of the Bible in the languages of Tanzania!). Some examples of the types of materials I’ve looked at recently include Literacy primers (a workbook to help students learn to read/write), alphabet books and story books, books about culture and development, calendars with Mother-Tongue proverbs, Bible Study guides and the books of Ruth and Jonah. I am currently checking books from most of the projects we have in Tanzania and this could expand in the future.

What does my role actually involve?
Well, to start, here’s what it doesn’t involve! Since I am the last stage of checking there have been lots of other checks that have already taken place. Firstly the books will already have had a Linguistics check, which means they will have been checked by someone who is familiar with the structure and features of that particular language (working alongside a Mother-Tongue speaker of that language). As a result most of the spelling and grammatical errors should have been picked up. Secondly the books will already have been checked by a Literacy/Scripture Use/Translation Consultant depending on what type of material it is. This person is an expert in what is necessary for that type of book and will be able to comment on its structure and layout and whether it is fulfilling its stated purpose.

Then comes me! I look at the document in detail to see that everything looks as it should do. I check formatting issues such as fonts and spacing, placement of pictures and order of pages. I check the front and back content, that the cover, title page and copyright page have the relevant information, paying particular attention that the correct people are credited for their work in the correct way. Copyright is a tricky business and there are strict guidelines, especially for Scripture portions. I then look at the content page by page, checking issues such as page numbers, page breaks and headings. I try to look at every character, be it a letter, bit of punctuation or a blank space! This requires lots of concentration, as every proofreader will know.

How can I check the text of a book if it is in a language I don’t know?!
Many people ask me that! Well, if there is text in Swahili (usually at the front of the book, or sometimes the book is diglot – two languages alongside each other, the Mother-Tongue and Swahili) I can check the spelling and grammar as I learnt Swahili to a reasonable level. (However, I never say something MUST be changed, always that it should just be double-checked.) Mostly the books are written in the local languages of Tanzania though and I don’t speak these at all! I can only check these words roughly, but remember that they have already been Linguistic checked. I can spot spelling errors if a word that looks the same is spelt in different ways in different places. Many of the languages have special characters that don’t appear in English so I must pay particular attention that these appear correctly. Also, as many of the languages come from the same language family as Swahili (they are almost all ‘Bantu’ languages) I am aware of some features of the languages and can spot if something looks unusual, such as many consonants grouped together (which is less likely to happen). Many features of punctuation, such as speech marks, full stops and capital letters, can still be checked without any knowledge of the language.

What happens after my role?
Once any possible issues have been checked and changes made I can give approval for these materials to be printed. It is a great feeling that I can help to get good quality literature into people’s hands faster, helping them to continue to learn how to read and write their language! I feel very privileged to be able to continue to be involved even from thousands of miles away!

So, that is the bulk of what I do in my role! I hope I didn’t bore you too much and it gives a better picture of how I spend some of my time! When I’m not doing this role I am studying on a proofreading distance learning course, helping learn how to do my job better! If you have any questions about any of this, do feel free to ask!

Packing up from the Wycliffe Centre

2011-06-14T06:53:00.001Z

Once again the suitcases are out and we are slowly filling them with our stuff. In less than two weeks we will be leaving our little flat near High Wycombe where we have lived since September. Our next base will be down in Devon staying with my (Liz’s) parents. As usual it is with mixed feelings that I take things off shelves and out of drawers and put them in suitcases. I’m sad to be leaving our flat, which has been perfect for our needs for the past ten months and which was so beautifully prepared for us by the previous owners, our friends Mark and Laura. It has been a great base for working, resting, entertaining friends and exploring the nearby countryside. Of course we have made some new friends whilst living here so we are sad to leave them (but many of them are also moving on at some point soon!). It is always hard to move from somewhere where you’ve been happy into the unknowns of the future.

However, I am also excited about moving and seeing what the next step will be like. Devon is somewhere that I love spending time and it will be great to be closer to my family. Avonwick should be an equally good place to work, rest and explore the outdoors. We will just have to trust for the friends nearby too! It also feels like one step closer to welcoming baby Wisbey…! We know we’re by no means alone in the experience of packing up and moving. How do you feel about it and what do you do to help make it easier?

Before we head down to the south-west we are planning to make a short trip to Sheffield, from the 27th June to the 3rd July. Do get in touch if you’d like to meet up during that time. After that we have our second scan (pictures will no doubt follow) and then on to get settled in Devon.

Best friends

2011-06-03T17:54:00.000Z

WARNING: if you suffer from worrying or have a natural disposition for feeling guilty, do not read on. :-)

Who can remember being a kid? Not necessarily a little kid, maybe a teenager at high school or even at college or university. Do you remember the process of making friends? Do you remember choosing your best friend or, perhaps even more importantly, being chosen by someone else as their best friend? Do you remember what it was like when others were best friends and you weren’t? They hung out more together, they knew more about each other’s lives, they helped each other out.

Can you imagine wanting a best friend so bad, waiting and wanting to be chosen by someone as their best friend, but it never happening? Not ‘cos of anything you did (or didn’t do), not because you didn’t want it enough, not because there weren’t enough people around, but because of the situation, the timing, the location. Maybe you’d feel rejected. Maybe you’d feel like you don’t belong. Maybe you’d feel like you’re always on the outside. Maybe you’d feel like you’re missing intimacy in your relationships. Maybe you do right now.

That, a lot of the time, is what it feels like to be a missionary.

We love knowing you, caring for you, loving you. We just wish we could know you, care for you, love you MORE. We wish we could be your best friend. We wish… you could be our best friend.

No matter how many people we know, or how long we’ve known them, the constant change in our lives (our location, others location, our roles, others roles…) means it’s extremely difficult to ever get to know (and keep on knowing!) anyone that much. To feel, really FEEL, like best friends.

Depth in relationships, truly knowing someone and being known by them, comes with joint experiences. Joint experiences come from time. There is no shortcut. We know the grass can look scarily attractively green ‘on the other side’, and that ‘just being’ with someone (or some people) does not automatically mean you will become best friends. There can be a whole lot of loneliness amongst a big old crowd! However time and joint experiences are A factor needed for deeper relationships and that just isn’t something we have a lot of at the moment.

This is the biggest challenge of our daily lives.

We don’t want you to feel guilty, or even pity for us. This is the life we have chosen and feel called to at the moment. We just want you to know how our life can feel. Maybe it’ll even help you understand why we act the way we do sometimes! It isn’t easy to write about these things, and we know it isn’t easy to read about them either. Thanks for reading and for caring.

What exactly is ‘Mother-tongue based multilingual education’ (MTB-MLE)?

2011-05-26T12:23:00.002Z

Ever pondered on that question? No? Ok, even if not you may be interested to get some idea of the kind of things I’ve been looking into over the last 4 weeks. The image (wordle) below was compiled from the words my coursemates came up with last week when thinking about multilingual education. Let us know if there are any words you don’t understand… or any that you are surprised to see here!

Do you know what you’ll be doing on the 27th November 2011?

2011-05-13T18:07:00.006Z

Apparently we do; giving birth, wishing we were giving birth, or recovering from just having given birth! Yes, Liz is pregnant and we are expecting our first baby towards the end of the year!

As with any new parents-to-be we are full of mixed emotions… excitement, fear, expectation, nervousness etc. Obviously, given Liz’s difficulties with ME over the last 18months, we were a little apprehensive on first hearing the news. However we feel confident that the timing is for a purpose and are now looking forward to the future as a family. In some ways Liz’s struggles with ME can be seen as a blessing in disguise at this time. She is already used to having to pace herself and not do too much, to eating little and often (to reduce feeling/being sick), and resting regularly.

It goes without saying that we’d really appreciate your prayers and support over the coming months. Liz has felt very nauseous and is vomiting regularly which makes her feel even more tired than usual. Thanks!

Here is the proof, of baby Wisbey…

We look forward to sharing this news with you in person over the coming weeks. If we haven’t communicated in a while, this is a perfect time to do so! Do write and let us know your recent news.

Easter

2011-04-30T16:56:00.006Z

Easter! What a wonderful time to spend with family and to celebrate the centre of the Christian faith, particularly while we’re back in the UK and it’s sunny! For us it started with a lovely weekend with Matt’s family in Faringdon. We spent our time enjoying family activities, eating outside, going to Easter services and a party, enjoying the sunshine and a chance to chill out with a book and in Matt’s case: playing lots of Wii with his sister and watching a football match with his dad!

After our roast lamb lunch on Sunday we headed down to Devon to be with our other parents. It was lovely to have a day with my brother and sister-in-law and then the rest of the week relaxing with mum and dad. This time was at a slightly slower pace (as is usually the case in the West country!). We enjoyed doing some short excursions in the mornings, such as pottering around the shops in Ashburton, exploring a nearby woodland, Iron-age fort and chilli farm and meeting a friend from Tanzania in Totnes. The afternoons were a great time to rest and enjoy the garden. Of course, our week concluded with watching (at least some of) the Royal Wedding before heading back to the Wycliffe Centre!

So now we’re back ‘home’ again for another bank holiday weekend before, on Tuesday, Matt gets started on the final taught module of his MA. We can’t believe it’s come around so quickly but he is very much looking forward to studying Multi-Lingual Education in some depth. After the end of taught classes, at the end of May, he will be settling down to dissertation planning, research and writing. This will require some time of field research in Tanzania and will keep him busy at least until Christmas. More on this another day I think.

In other news: I have got an appointment with an Occupational Therapist to advise me on managing my ME well. This is scheduled for the 18th May and we are very glad that this next ‘step’ is in the diary now. We look forward to this consultation and hope that there are positive repercussions from it for my life and energy levels.

Finally it’s been far too long since we last uploaded some pictures, sorry! A few from the last few weeks are below, but two new albums (‘Winter turns to spring’ and ‘Easter 2011’) are also now online. Just click here to take a look.

The perfect cup of tea

2011-04-18T20:54:00.003Z

The recent ‘uproar’ surrounding the book Three Cups of Tea has sparked a number of interesting blogs (and a number of rubbish ones too for that matter!) and raised a number of important points for anyone involved in charitable work. For those who have managed to avoid the scandal so far, in short a tv documentary in the US has accused the author of the book (who is also the founder of a charity working to improve access to education for young girls) of misusing funds and misleading people about various aspect of the work. If you want to read more about it take a look here (or just google the book title!).

One such blog caught my eye on the TIME magazine website. The author makes a couple of interesting comments on the whole saga and you can read the full article here. This bit in particular stuck out for me:

True or not, Greg Mortenson's books have done more to promote the cause of education in developing countries than any other organization I have come across. That said, his books, his speaking tours and his NGO, the Central Asia Institute, have overlooked the most essential part of education anywhere: good teachers.

For us articles like this are always so bittersweet! Whilst the author is completely right, good education cannot be delivered without good teachers, what the vast majority of people don’t think of when they consider what makes a good teacher is the most fundamental aspect of all: the language they use in the classroom! Just as it is possible to have the best school building without teachers, it is also possible to have the best teachers without pupils understanding.

Every day millions of children all around the world turn up at school, whether that be under a tree, in a tent, or in a newly built classroom, only to be faced by a teacher speaking a language they don’t understand. It is a tragic situation that makes a mockery of the best building projects, the best teacher training programmes, and the best curriculum development initiatives. Until the language of instruction is a language that the children can understand well, EVERYTHING ELSE is just a drop in the ocean.

That’s why we do what we do, just in case you were ever wondering…

What does your map say about you?

2011-03-29T11:07:00.002Z

Today I was fortunate to be able to spend an hour or so in the first session of a lecture series being delivered here at the centre by renowned missiologist, Dr Andrew Walls (see more info here). The session was entitled ‘Words and the Word of God’ and was focused, largely, on how we hear God’s Word. Since Wycliffe’s work is centred around working to make God’s Word available to people in a language they can understand, obviously much time and effort is spent considering how best to translate and prepare that word to GIVE to others. Dr Walls’ lecture this morning, however, was instead focused on the other participant in this ‘exchange’ of information; the receiver, the hearer.

In focusing on the hearer, Dr Walls set out that we all, as human beings, develop our own ‘operating mental map’ of the universe by which we navigate our way through life. This is made up of our past experiences, the lives we’ve lived, the family we are part of, our own observations, the customs we partake in and the accumulation of sources we think we can trust. We copy details from these experiences onto our own map. No one person copies all the information directly from one experience, instead some details we decide are crucial and so we copy those in detail. Others we perceive as being less important and so we just sketch lightly a vague outline. And yet others we see as unimportant, or perhaps just don’t understand the meaning of, and so we leave them off our map altogether. The end result is a true reflection of our operating system, the map through which we see and classify the world, and ultimately through which we decide how to act. This could be called our worldview.

It is into those maps that we introduce a God component. It is through these operating mental maps that we hear God’s word. As we work together with people from different parts of the world, from different backgrounds and with different operating mental maps, we need to remember that they will have copied different information onto their own personal map. Certain areas will have much more detail than others. Some areas will overlap with our own, others will not. As God’s word is introduced into people’s lives, be it here in the UK or elsewhere around the world, we need to remember that nobody hears those words the same way. Everybody has a map full of information, born out of experiences, through which they will interpret and understand it.

What does your operating mental map look like? Where do you think you have lots of detail? Where are there some gaps? How does that affect how you hear God’s Word?

The next thing…

2011-03-16T13:31:00.002Z

That is a little how life feels here with us at the moment, always onto ‘the next thing’! We’re already in March and we can scarcely believe how 2011 is disappearing! Last week saw the end of my (Matt’s) first module (hence the ‘end of class’ picture), and this week I am getting stuck into ‘Language Project Planning and Implementation’. This two week course is outlining the major project planning tool used within our work, ‘Results Based Management’ (RBM for short), and getting us to apply these principles to the situation we have recently been involved in. It is good to think about these kinds of issues, especially as they have strong implications for future project management situations – particularly in the areas of resource allocation, risk management and reporting mechanisms. After this short module we will have four weeks of sociolinguistics and anthropology before a short Easter break. When I understand what this module is about I will write to explain more!

Liz is continuing in her proofreading work and fitting her distance studying around that varying workload. She continues to have better and worse days, however we are especially thankful that recent times with friends and family have coincided with some of her particularly ‘good days’. Please continue to pray that these strong days will increase and the ‘wobbly, sore muscled, nauseous’ ones will decrease!

We are also thankful for a good week off between my course modules. We made it up to Cardiff for the first weekend and stayed with my sister and brother in law and also with friends who were in Mbeya before us. It was great to see family and friends and enjoy exploring the city a little more. The second weekend we had good friends from Sheffield come to visit us on the centre. We had a great chilled out time with them and it was a real blessing to ‘hang out’ together and catch up on news. This last week has reminded us to be thankful for all the relationships that we have and that are a blessing to us despite many miles and months apart. The days in between the weekends were mainly for Liz to take it easy and for me to prepare a talk that I gave at Moorlands Bible College on the Friday. This was part of the undergraduate first year student’s lecture series on ‘Mission Today’ and it seemed to go well with quite a few showing interest in the work of Wycliffe and our experiences overseas.

Apart from this life is carrying on as normal. We’ll write again when we have more news!

Liz's health

2011-02-08T14:49:00.002Z

A few months ago we wrote a ‘question and answer’ style blog about finances (if you missed it click here to read it now). People seemed to like the style and so we decided we’d do another one, this time about another current ‘hot topic’… Liz’s health!

So you’ve been ‘unwell’ for quite a while, Liz. When did it start?
I first felt ill in December 2009. I had had a series of various viruses so we assumed it was just a ‘tummy bug’ first of all but I didn’t recover as we’d hoped I would.

Have your symptoms stayed the same all that time?
No. First of all I was nauseous and vomiting frequently, then I also became very tired and weak with muscle aches (Dec-Apr). For a lot of this time I could do very little apart from lie down. From May(ish) 2010 until now I have had a lot less vomiting but the fatigue, intermittent nausea, muscle aches and inability to concentrate have continued.

What have you done to try to get a diagnosis?
When we were in Tanzania we visited four different doctors/clinics, two in Mbeya and two in Dar es Salaam. All tests came out clear but various doctors recommended drugs (antibiotics) for different things. Since returning to the UK I’ve been to the Centre for Clinical Vaccinology & Tropical Medicine in Oxford and two different GPs (as we’ve moved around the country). All tests have been clear, ruling out lots of different things but not diagnosing anything clearly. My most recent visits to the GP (the last one being this morning!) have resulted in him giving a diagnosis of Post-viral Fatigue Syndrome, otherwise known as ME or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

So what does that mean? What can you do to get better?!
There is no simple cure for ME (as yet). The most important thing is to rest a lot and not to do more than you have energy for. It is better to take frequent rests and pace yourself rather than keep going until you are exhausted.

How long might it be before you are ‘back to full health’?
That is not easy to say. Some people who suffer from ME recover within a few months, some take years and some never fully recover. It differs a lot from person to person. We are trusting that I will get better but it may take time.

What is there that you wish other people knew about how you feel?
ME has no obvious physical signs so most of the time you see me I’ll look totally normal. How I feel is very variable, some days I feel that I could do almost anything I want to, whilst other days I am exhausted by just having a shower and getting dressed. I can’t stand up for very long or walk a long way. I still very much enjoy being with people but I don’t always have the energy to ‘throw myself into’ socialising as I want to. So if I’m with you and I’m quiet don’t worry – I enjoy just ‘soaking up’ the company.

What can people do to help?
Firstly, pray! We believe I can be fully well again. Please join us in seeking full healing. Please also be understanding if plans change, or we meet up and I can’t do as much as we might normally. Also, please come and visit whenever you can! We can’t do as much travelling as we might normally want to at the moment but we still love to see people! Finally, Matt has had to take a lot of the strain practically and emotionally over the last 14 months. Please think of him, and support him as you can, as he continues to care for me.

What has God been teaching you?
God has used this time, hard though it has been, to teach me lots of things: that my worth comes not from what I can do but who I am and that I am loved by God, the importance of taking each day as it comes, being thankful for the blessings I have, the importance of prayer, that God sustains me and His love casts out all fear. God has also brought Matt and I closer together and helped us to really support each other through the ups and downs.

We hope this helps to explain clearly how Liz is on a day-to-day basis, whilst also giving some more background to the situation. As ever if you have any questions, or thoughts on what we’ve written, please do get in touch. We really appreciate your support at this time.

We’re still here!

2011-02-04T20:49:00.001Z

We are aware that it has been a few weeks since we last wrote a blog so we thought we should let you know that we are still alive and ‘keeping on keeping on’ with all that life brings! The main reason we haven’t written is that we’ve been rather busy with our studies.

Matt started his MA Literacy Programme Development four weeks ago. The course started rather intensely, with lectures 9am until 6pm, but has settled down a little bit since then. Matt has already completed several major projects such as a grammar report on Swahili that he has done this week. I’d like to give you some idea of some of the things he has been looking at in the ‘Linguistics for Literacy’ module so far.

Whilst focusing on phonology (the sounds of a language and how they affect each other) and grammar (how the parts of speech work together at the sentence level). One thing he’s been thinking about is how we write down English, in particular features like adding ‘s’ for plural and how this is written in one way throughout our language even though it is pronounced in several different ways. Think about the plural at the end of ‘cats’, and the plural at the end of ‘dogs’. Are they the same? No! At the end of ‘cats’ it is an ‘s’ sound, whilst at the end of ‘dogs’ it’s a ‘z’! Don’t believe me? Try saying them and think about the last sound! They’re different, even though we write them both with an ‘s’ in English! Want to know why? Ask Matt! Over the next few weeks he’ll be focussing more on orthographies (or writing systems) and how we come to the symbols that we use to represent our language. As part of that he would be very interested to know what people think about how we write the English language: what causes problems and why? Where do you struggle when reading or writing English? Please do post a comment on this blog and let us know!

I (Liz) have been enjoying starting my proofreading distance-learning course. So far I have been learning the correct symbols for marking errors in a document. I have found it interesting to learn how to do things ‘properly’ at last and this will hopefully be very useful for my work in the future. I have recently stopped working on book production for Mbeya (at least for a while) so that I can focus on my proofreading course. This is necessary as due to my illness I am not usually able to do much more than a few hours of work each day before I am exhausted. Studying as well as all the normal tasks of ‘keeping house’ are enough to keep me busy for the moment!

There should be more news on my health soon as I am due to return to the doctors on Tuesday and hopefully should be coming home with some kind of ‘diagnosis’. For the moment, while I am waiting for the blood test results I am continuing to learn how to manage my fluctuating energy levels. I am still progressing in my ability to pace myself and to listen to my body when I need to rest. It is also important to change my attitudes, to adapt my expectations, to not base my self-worth on how much I do and to be thankful for the blessings I am given each day.

One such blessing recently was a weekend in Devon with my parents. I was feeling really well at that time and it was lovely to be able to enjoy some short (and very cold!) walks, watching birds in the garden, exploring the woods next to my parents’ house and family meal times along with my brother and sister-in-law. We were also able to share about our work and our lives in Tanzania at Plymouth Vineyard, the church my parents are involved in. It was a very enjoyable time and it is lovely to have memories such as this for days when I am not feeling so bright.

Studying

2011-01-09T18:22:00.001Z

In our newsletter in November we promised we would explain a little more about our study plans for this year. Since they begin, formally for one of us, tomorrow we thought we better do this now before our time gets consumed by books and libraries!

Tomorrow I (Matt) will return to the classroom to begin/continue (I’ll explain about this later) studying for a Masters degree. Whilst I have very much enjoyed, and hopefully been of some use in, the work I have been doing in the Wycliffe UK office for the last few months, I am looking forward to this new challenge.

Ever since we agreed (over 12 months ago now!) to aim towards taking up new positions in Uganda, I have felt that I would like to get some further training to allow me to be better equipped when I take up this new role. The role in Uganda will have me building partnerships with other organisations, working together to try to help improve children’s access to education in the language they understand the best.

To do this work effectively I wanted to get a bit more background on the basics of linguistic analysis (to understand how orthographies/alphabets are arrived at and some of the challenges that surround creating a good writing system), some training in partnership building and programme planning, and some specific study of current/best practice multi-lingual education (MLE) methods (where more than one language is used in a child’s education environment/process).

Since we left the UK for Tanzania in January 2008 some of the training programmes here at the Wycliffe Centre have been assembled into accredited Masters degrees. The teaching is still delivered here at the centre, but the degree is accredited and awarded by Middlesex University. One of the Masters is entitled ‘MA Literacy Programme Development’ and, in a nutshell, covers all of the keys areas I had highlighted as training needs I wanted to cover!

Our training in 2007, before we left the UK, counts as credit towards this masters, and so this is why I am joining the programme in January and will be studying until the end of May when I will then need to start work on a dissertation. It seemed too good an opportunity to miss and so I have enrolled to start classes tomorrow! Just as our accommodation and living costs here in the UK still need to be covered by our support network, the training costs (which we all know are getting more and more expensive here in the UK) also need to be covered by our support. Liz’s health is still not good enough for us to return to East Africa currently and so we believe this is the right step for us to be taking at this time.

And finally, I am not the only one who will be studying again this year! Liz has also enrolled on a distance-learning course on ‘Proofreading and Editorial Skills’. This will help her improve her skills in this area as she is increasingly playing an important role in the production of printed materials in Tanzania. This mode of study suits her well as she will be able to be flexible with the work and study, fitting it around her continuing fluctuation of wellness!

We will try and find time to keep feeding-back our progress over the next few months! Watch this space…

2010 in pictures

2010-12-31T17:03:00.004Z

As 2011 is rapidly approaching we thought it might be nice, and useful for us (if nothing else!), to look back at the last year. In many ways 2010 has been a hard year. Liz's illness has overshadowed much of our activities and experiences, however in spite of this we know the last 12 months have been important for us, our relationship, and our future work together. We have learnt a lot about each other and we know this will be invaluable for the coming years.

Alongside these lessons and experiences, a lot of ground has been covered over the last year. To catch up on, or be reminded of, the photographic bits of the last 12 months take a look at the slideshow below. Thank you to everyone who has partnered with us to make the last year possible. If you would like to know how to join with us for 2011 click here.

(To pause the slideshow, go back or skip forwards, just move your mouse over the pictures and use the buttons that appear.)

What a difference a year makes!

2010-12-26T07:00:00.005Z

As we near the end of another year, I have been reflecting a little on the changes over the past 12 months! I guess the physical changes we have experienced this year, spending the first half of 2010 in Tanzania and the second half back here in the UK, just serve to reflect the multitude of other changes that we've experienced over the last year. Since there are too many other changes to mention I thought I'd just let pictures summarise the changes 2010 has brought for us.

The first picture was taken in the week before Christmas 2009. I was visiting our literacy colleagues and friends in the town of Kyela in the Nyakyusa language area. We had just entered into the hot and rainy season and so it was sunny, sticky and sweaty, and there were all kinds of green plants growing everywhere!

This second picture was taken the week before Christmas this year, 2010. It was taken out of our kitchen window here at the Wycliffe centre on one of the snowiest days we've seen for years! It was grey and cold, even inside with the heating on, and there was little sign of life anywhere!

What a difference a year can make!

Being thankful – ten

2010-12-24T07:00:00.000Z

This is part ten, and the final part, of our short series on some of the cultural/practical/emotional differences we’ve experienced between our two lives (in the UK and in Tanzania). We hope it has provided some interesting insights into the differences there are between our two lives and the richness, the joys and the challenges there are in moving between them. We also hope they have helped you to think of some of the things you can be thankful for, especially at this time of year. Tomorrow is a special day, something we should all be very thankful for.

Things we miss about Tanzania:
Our friends: sharing food, life and laughs. One thing that is especially difficult about moving from place to place is the fact that at some point you have to say goodbye to people you have grown to love. Of course, we all know there are people thousands of miles away living a life so completely different to ours. However, once you have been there, been a part of that life, loved those people, it is a very strange feeling to know they are still there while you are here. That life still goes on and it is still completely different to ours here and now. At the same time as that sadness, knowing you are not able to be there with them, this knowledge and experience provides such a rich element to life. We have experienced such joy with friends in Mbeya and grown close to them. We miss them lots but we know that friendship will continue in spite of time and distance.

Things we like about the UK:
Being close to family. Being back in the UK, although meaning we’re distant from some friends, means we can be close to family. It has been three years since we’ve had a Christmas with family and so we are especially looking forward to this one! It means a lot to us that our families visited us in Tanzania and therefore have both been able to experience many of the things we have written about in this short series. As a result as we look forward to this Christmas together, we can celebrate the great diversity this world has to offer, giving thanks for each other and the different experiences we can all share with each other. Happy Christmas!

Being thankful – nine

2010-12-22T07:00:00.000Z

This is part nine of our short series on some of the cultural/practical/emotional differences we’ve experienced between our two lives (in the UK and in Tanzania). Use the ‘Blog Archive’ list in the right-hand column to find the previous parts.

Things we miss about Tanzania:
Speaking another language (especially chatting with friends in the market!). My (Matt’s) only other experiences of speaking another language were French, where I really wasn’t very good, and American, which doesn’t really count (since I am half-American after all). Spending time learning Swahili and then having to use it to get by in all areas of life (including, most importantly, building relationships!), was a thoroughly rewarding experience for us both. We are by no means experts, however to be able to have everyday conversations fluently (pretty much) was a great experience. Being able to communicate with people through a language which is not your own, as they recognise the effort you have taken to engage in the society and culture, people open up to you as they never otherwise would.

Things we like about the UK:
Church in English. Not, of course, because it is in English. English is no better, and no worse, than any other language. However for us, English happens to be our heart language – the language we understand the best. It is the language we were brought up with at home, that we learnt to speak first and then eventually learnt to read and write. It is a part of us, it is in our head and it is in our heart. We don’t just understand the technical meaning of the words, we also have emotional reactions to those same words. They carry weight that impacts us on so many (often very subconscious) levels. It is such a privilege, one that we don’t recognise often enough, that we can go to church in our mother tongue – in English. Having lived away from the UK we appreciate so much more the importance of having God’s word in the language we know best. When in Mbeya we could understand most of the individual words (the technical meanings) used at church, however time and time again the ‘message’ was lost on us. For so many people around the world that is all they know. They have never experienced the wonder of hearing God’s word in their heart language.

Being thankful – eight

2010-12-20T07:00:00.002Z

This is part eight of our short series on some of the cultural/practical/emotional differences we’ve experienced between our two lives (in the UK and in Tanzania). Use the ‘Blog Archive’ list in the right-hand column to find the previous parts.

Things we miss about Tanzania:
Big thunderstorms (but not the power outages that came with them). One of the amazing things about living near the equator is the frequency of electric storms. There is nothing more impressive than seeing a massive storm cloud marching its way towards you, especially towards the end of the dry season when you could literally smell the freshness of the rain as it fell on dusty roads. There were many times when we could literally hear the rain coming – almost all roofs in Tanzania are made with corrugated metal and so make a lot of noise, both inside and out, when it is raining! Of course nine times out of ten the power would go out when a big storm rolled into town. Don’t ask us why – that doesn’t seem to happen when we have such storms in the UK – but I guess that’s the price you pay for seeing something so amazing!

Things we like about the UK:
Privacy of life and property. Although we loved the sociable, friendly nature of life in Tanzania, one thing we are really appreciating now we are back is the ease in which we can get our own space and privacy when we need it. Although this can certainly be a curse, cocooning ourselves in our own bubble and not thinking of others before ourselves, it is important from time to time that we get our own space. It was so tiring sometimes in Mbeya, knowing that at any time someone would come to the door needing to see us about one thing or another. Most of the time we would be happy to see people, however we all know there are times when we just want to be left alone. It is nice that we can enjoy that a bit while we are back.

Being thankful – seven

2010-12-18T07:00:00.001Z

This is part seven of our short series on some of the cultural/practical/emotional differences we’ve experienced between our two lives (in the UK and in Tanzania). Use the ‘Blog Archive’ list in the right-hand column to find the previous parts.

Things we miss about Tanzania:
Sitting on our porch enjoying the cooling evening air. Although the evenings in Tanzania were short (it would go from light to dark in a matter of minutes), for an hour or so before the sun set the air would begin to cool. When the day had been especially hot it was always so nice to get home after a hot walk back from the office (it took us about 40 minutes) to sit outside with a cold drink and feel the air cool. We miss that time of day, listening to the sounds of the evening (people returning home from work, chatting as they go) and watching the sky change colour. It was one of our favourite times of day that consistently provided us with a chance to stop and take a breath – something that doesn’t always seem possible back here in the UK.

Things we like about the UK:
ATMs that always work (and have money in them). The fact that you would never know if an ATM in Mbeya had money in or not is not only a result of forward planning not being a high value in Tanzania (although this surely is a factor!). The fact that the highest value note currently available is 10,000Tsh (about £4) means that you have to take a serious wad of cash out every time to actually get any real amount of money (i.e. to pay rent etc). Add to this the fact that EVERYTHING has to be paid in cash (there is no paying by card at the market!), and the instability of data connections and power, and you can see why machines so often were not working! It is nice to be guaranteed money out of cash machines here, but also that in almost every case you don’t even need it because you can pay on card!

Being thankful – six

2010-12-16T07:00:00.001Z

This is part six of our short series on some of the cultural/practical/emotional differences we’ve experienced between our two lives (in the UK and in Tanzania). Use the ‘Blog Archive’ list in the right-hand column to find the previous parts.

Things we miss about Tanzania:
Eating bananas from our garden and REALLY cheap mangos in season. Like we said previously we were fortunate enough to rent a house with a large(ish) garden when living in Mbeya. There were a variety of different fruit plants/trees in it but by far the most abundant were our banana trees! It grew small (about 1/3rd the size of the bananas we buy here in the UK) sweet bananas and it was always so nice to enjoy fresh ones carried only a couple of metres to our house… not one bruise on them! We also made the most of the, very short (Jan-Feb), mango season in the Mbeya region! Whilst mangos were almost unobtainable at any other time of the year, during these months you could get a large bucketful for less than a pound! What a treat!

Things we like about the UK:
Movie rental services and a variety of restaurants. Whilst we may miss fresh fruit, one of the things we didn’t have very much of in Mbeya was ‘evening entertainment’. We became very adept at scouring our colleagues DVDs collections and working our way through many books. We did go for some meals out, however it was always to the same places where you knew you could get good ‘chicken’ or a fresh naan! It has been so nice since being back in the UK to enjoy some of the many ‘leisure activities’ we become so used to. We know many people don’t use these very often (nor do we!), but it is nice to have the choice when the opportunity arises.

Being thankful – five

2010-12-14T07:00:00.001Z

This is part five of our short series on some of the cultural/practical/emotional differences we’ve experienced between our two lives (in the UK and in Tanzania). Use the ‘Blog Archive’ list in the right-hand column to find the previous parts.

Things we miss about Tanzania:
Seeing Tanzanian colleagues gaining in ability and confidence as we work together. Much of our work in Mbeya was centred around training Tanzanians to better serve their language communities. We come from the west, where we have been privileged to receive good education and training, to share some of those skills and training with people who already have the knowledge and experience of the culture and the languages. If these two realities can properly meet, and learn from each other, then that is a powerful thing. So we spent a lot of time working closely with our Tanzanian colleagues, showing them different ways to do things, giving them assignments to do, and working through the feedback once they had finished. It was so encouraging for us to see our colleagues (who were also our close friends) growing in their ability but also in their confidence. It was hard to leave earlier this year but one thing that made it a little bit easier was knowing that our colleagues were better equipped to carry on without us than when we had arrived.

Things we like about the UK:
Long, light summer evenings. It feels strange to write this one now we are in December, however we did arrive back in the UK at arguably the best time of year, May! We felt so lucky to be able to enjoy the lengthening summer evenings after having been used to the sun setting at 6:30pm every night for the last 2.5yrs! To people who are used to having to make sure they get home before the sun sets at that time (or otherwise risk walking in the dark – which is dangerous for many reasons), the idea of it still being light at 10:00pm is magnificent! The freedom light evenings give you to be outside later, visiting people, walking, eating outside, is so nice. Although it took us some time to get used to, especially the very early light mornings, we enjoyed making the most of those evenings.

Being thankful – four

2010-12-12T07:00:00.001Z

This is part four of our short series on some of the cultural/practical/emotional differences we’ve experienced between our two lives (in the UK and in Tanzania). Use the ‘Blog Archive’ list in the right-hand column to find the previous parts.

Things we miss about Tanzania:
Dramatic landscapes and beautiful places. Tanzania is big, a lot bigger than the UK. It also has dramatic altitude differences from place to place and as a result the weather (especially how much it rains) and the vegetation changes very quickly. Our jobs in Mbeya involved a lot of travelling, visiting the different language areas regularly, and so we were privileged to get to see more than our fair share of the country. We miss travelling around and seeing the majesty of creation in that place.

Things we like about the UK:
Washing up. It has been so nice, especially during the recent cold weather, to be able to turn on the hot tap and get hot water straight through! Washing up wherever you are is not many people’s number one activity, however in Tanzania it really wasn’t too much fun! To get hot water we had to fill the kettle, wait ages for it to boil (because the power was so low) and then try and make that water stretch to all the pans/plates etc! We haven’t yet squabbled over who will do the washing up but let’s just say there is still time…!

Being thankful – three

2010-12-10T07:00:00.001Z

This is part three of our short series on some of the cultural/practical/emotional differences we’ve experienced between our two lives (in the UK and in Tanzania). Use the ‘Blog Archive’ list in the right-hand column to find the previous parts.

Things we miss about Tanzania:
Knowing what the weather will be like. Where we lived in Mbeya there were only really three seasons: dry and cold (May-August), dry and hot (September-November), and wet (December-April)! As a result, unless you were in the middle of the changeover from one season to the next, you were almost guaranteed to know what the weather would be like. Although we did sometimes miss the variety of British weather it was nice to know that today, ‘come rain or shine’ (it would just be one or the other!), it would be sunny and hot.

Things we like about the UK:
The ease of travel. The UK, no matter which way you measure it, is small. There are not many areas of ‘nothingness’ and our transport network (no matter what you might feel about it) is generally excellent. Trains, buses and roads (tarmac ones no less!) go almost everywhere. It has been nice to be able to visit friends and family so easily while back. We just get in the car, or on the bus/train and go. No need to worry about what happens if we get stuck in the middle of nowhere, or whether it will really only take 12 hours to get to where we want to go, or if the driver is actually safe or not! We may have lots of traffic but we still have got it good!

Being thankful – two

2010-12-08T07:00:00.005Z

This is part two of our short series on some of the cultural/practical/emotional differences we’ve experienced between our two lives (in the UK and in Tanzania). Part one is available here.

Things we miss about Tanzania:
Greeting everyone (or almost everyone) on the way to work. “Habari za asabuhi?” (How are you this morning?) is the phrase you use most often on the walk to work. The second most frequently used is “Nzuri” (Good)... the reply! In such a relationship focused culture it is essential that you greet anyone you even vaguely come into contact with. We miss the smiling faces, and the cheery greetings, we passed every morning on our walk to work.

Things we like about the UK:
The variety of (cheap) food available. Although things, including food, are not very high on our priority list (they can’t be when you move ‘home’ as often as we do!), it has been nice to be back and to enjoy some of the breadth of food we have available in the UK. Things like dried cranberries, Dr Pepper, jarred sauces (cos they’re quick!), cookies, crackers, cheese! Some of these things were available in Tanzania for a price, but the choice was nowhere near the same.

Being thankful - one

2010-12-06T07:00:00.003Z

Having been back in the UK for over 6 months now, and in a spirit of thankfulness in the lead-up to Christmas, we felt it was a good time for some reflections we've had on life in Tanzania and life in the UK. We'll try to post a new (short) blog every couple of days up until Christmas on things we miss about Tanzania and things we like about the UK. Hopefully this will give a little insight into some of the cultural/practical/emotional differences there are between our two lives!

Things we miss about Tanzania:
Waking up to exotic bird calls. Being close to the equator means warmer weather (generally) and as a result different vegetation and wildlife! Our garden in Mbeya had palm plants, sunflowers, bottle-brush trees and banana trees growing in it. These were all popular with the birds and so most mornings we would be woken by the cries of some very brightly coloured examples! We know Uganda, in particular near the lake, is famous for its bird life so we are expecting more of the same…!

Things we like about the UK:
The lights in the house do not dim when we switch on the kettle! It is lovely to have stable reliable electricity here in the UK. Not only does it mean you know it won't disappear when you're about to put something in the oven, but you also know it is stable (the voltage does not fluctuate depending on how many appliances you have plugged in or what your neighbours are doing next door!) and so your equipment will not get damaged. We can speak from experience that fridges, especially the compressors, do not like low voltage. Even with voltage-guard protectors keeping electrical equipment in such conditions can be a very expensive business!

Provision

2010-12-04T08:09:00.004Z

I wanted to share with you an excellent blog I've just read from some of our colleagues in Tanzania (they are based in the north in another cluster project). I think we can fully empathise with them about one of the most difficult things about living in Tanzania being 'the mixture of friendship and money'. This certainly was one of the biggest 'stress' points during our time in Mbeya.

This paragraph sums up the issue very nicely:

I have no problem refusing a total stranger who asks me for money; that's easy. But when it's a translator I supervise and consider a friend, our neighbors, or a Christian stranger who is clearly in dire need, it's much more difficult to know what to do. What do you say when someone whom you know well asks you for a loan/gift to pay for their child's school fees? If I say "no", there is a good chance that child will not go to school. But if I say "yes", I'm continuing this pattern of living beyond one's means and putting them in debt.

To read the whole blog, and it certainly is well worth a read, just click here.

Snow and all things Christmassy

2010-12-02T17:31:00.004Z

Well, after much anticipation the snow finally came! This is the first time in three years that Matt and I have experienced the white stuff so it is a memorable occasion for us. I had forgotten how magical it makes everything look and how pristine. It is nice to be reminded about the bright white light that it sends in the windows and the funny sensation of hearing the ground crunch under your feet and the way it cushions the sound outside so that you feel you are wrapped in cotton wool.

It feels strange writing this as everyone in this country is very familiar with these sensations and experiences and has probably had enough of them by now! I know we have it easy at the moment as we just have a comparatively small amount and we don’t need to try to get anywhere (my commute being from the bedroom to the kitchen table currently and Matt’s being the grand distance of about 100 metres!). I am able to enjoy the snow, taking gentle walks just to appreciate the scenery and take photos, and am not trying to hike around Sheffield’s steep roads or drive the car on an icy and gridlocked motorway. It is interesting to me, however, how the snow provokes such contrasting emotions and reactions in people. Yesterday I read on Facebook of someone who ‘loves watching the snowflakes dance around and is stunned by the beauty of the snow’, whilst also seeing someone who ‘has had quite enough of the snow, thank you very much’ (to paraphrase quite a lot!)! I wonder why this is. Does is correlate to the amount of ‘inner child’ we still have left in us or does it relate more practically to how many miles we have to travel and how much we have to get done?! Or simply where we live in the country?!

Those musings aside, whichever way you look at it snow does add another dimension to our experience of life (good or bad!). I guess I would really like this reflection to be read by our colleagues in Tanzania who, having lived all their lives on the equator, have never experienced the unique thing that is snow!

This is just another element that shows the huge contrast between our lives as they were in Tanzania and our lives in the UK. It makes me think about how completely different our experience of Christmas will be this year to what it was for the last two years. I feel like this is a time where reverse culture shock, that has been lying somewhat dormant for the last few months, could rear its head again! It is a shock to me how Christmas is such big business in the west, such a marketing opportunity. In Mbeya last year you would hardly have known it was happening (as I’m sure we described at the time), with no Christmas music in the shops or decorations. This was a struggle when we first went to Africa but now (probably with those rose-tinted glasses on!) it seems like a blessing. I want to revolt somehow now I’m back and have Christmas without all the trappings but that seems like hard work to go against the flow. I’m kind of ashamed to say this (and even now am awaiting cries of ‘Bah Humbug’ and ‘Scrooge’!) but I’m not really that fussed about all that comes with Christmas here in the West. What is most important to me is spending time with my family and friends (cos that’s what I missed last year) and I could almost do without the fancy food and tons of presents and decorations (I said almost!). Or maybe it’s just that my expectation of Christmas isn’t that high as I was feeling so ill last year!

I know also that I do want to connect with the real meaning of Christmas for me, that the Son of God come to earth in baby-form to save us. In some ways here, with all the peripheral stuff, it will be easier to connect whilst in other ways it will be harder. I know it will take extra effort to engage with the real Christmas story and I have to be careful that when I’m trying to keep Christmas simple I don’t miss the message in it. I pray that I can learn something new this year and that I will enjoy Christmas for what it is, not throwing the (Christ) baby out with the bathwater!

p.s. the picture is the view from our kitchen.

Spare time: how do you spend yours?

2010-11-06T09:16:00.001Z

Having spent many hours travelling up and down UK motorways over the last few months, we have experienced a lot of traffic! Many of our journeys have (unfortunately) been on Friday and Sunday evenings and you will all know what the roads can be like at that time! As I’ve thought about it, the very concept of motorway queues, especially on Friday and Sundays, is an excellent indicator of affluence.

I’ve been reflecting since being back in the UK on how amazing (or ridiculous) the idea of ‘free time’ would seem to most of our Tanzanian colleagues and friends. Sure they do things which they might class as ‘fun’ activities, visiting family or going to church, however our observation is that most of these activities are often borne out of a sense of duty. They may feel pressured by the community to attend church every week, or at least to attend every choir practice during the week (there can be up to 5 a week!). They may love seeing their family, but maybe there are expectations on them when they do (to bring money, or food) or maybe their relatives are in hospital and need a meal cooked for them (there is no catering provided for patients). People’s families are large and so these commitments are wide ranging, plus travel is difficult (they can’t just get into a car and drive there) so it may take hours just to get a short distance.

The idea of having an ‘evening off’, of putting their feet up and reading a book, of having a nice meal in, or for going to the cinema with ‘friends’ (the idea of ‘friends’ is a whole other blog…!) is a completely alien concept. If they do happen to have some spare time, they will often be in their ‘shamba’ (field or little farm) tending their crops to make sure they have something to eat or sell when harvest time comes. Sure, many Tanzanians will watch some TV and almost all will listen to the radio, however these times are snatched at the beginning or end of the day or while eating food. The concept of free time, I would suggest, is just not one they would recognise.

And so, as I sit in a traffic jam again on Friday evening, with thousands of other people getting frustrated that their weekend (their relaxing ‘free time’) is being eaten away, it suddenly strikes me what a perfect picture this is of what it means to be affluent! I think we can get so caught up, particularly in this current economic climate, in thinking that wealth and affluence is all about money. It’s not! It’s about the way we are able, allowed even, to live our lives. It’s about the privileges we have that we just don’t even realise! Now I understand that the world is different, and I sure don’t want Tanzania to experience traffic jams like we do just so they can say they have ‘free time’. However I do want to appreciate the immense privileges I have, all just because I was born where I was.

Of course we do have to do some ‘jobs’ on our weekends, it’s not all ‘free time’! Plus there are a few wealthier Tanzanians who would not fit into the description I’ve laid out here. However for the most part there certainly is a very large difference between our lives and the time we have allocated to ‘us’!

Maybe next time we all find ourselves in a traffic jam, instead of shouting at the drivers around us, why don’t we try and be thankful for the privileges we do have and remember those who are less well off.

Wycliffe and You!

2010-11-05T13:37:00.002Z

Something that Matt has been working hard on recently is the ‘Wycliffe and Me’ event that is coming up on the 27th November. It is an event for all who are interested in finding out more about Wycliffe’s work and what it involves (it’s more diverse than you may immediately think!). Matt will be coordinating the day and we both will be presenting on our contributions to the work of Wycliffe. We are greatly looking forward to it for many reasons but not least because we have had the privilege of being able to invite various coursemates from our training here in 2007 to present as well. It will be really interesting and encouraging to hear about all that they’ve been involved in since we parted ways three years ago.

So, apart from this being interesting news (we hope!), we thought it would be a good chance to raise awareness about this one day event. The event is open to anyone, you don’t have to be looking to join Wycliffe (though it would be invaluable for that type of person as well!). Anyone who is already a supporter of a Wycliffe member or project in any way (financial, prayer and other), or anyone who would like to be, is very welcome to come along and hear what we do and how they can be a part too.

The day starts at 10:30am and finishes at 4.30pm, with lunch and refreshments included. So, if you’re able to get to Horsleys Green (near High Wycombe, Bucks) on Saturday 27th we’d love to see you! Please do tell anyone you know who may also be interested! More information, including a way to sign up online, is available here.

Food for thought

2010-10-13T08:36:00.005Z

One great thing about being at the Wycliffe UK headquarters for a while is that we are able to share in a weekly meeting of staff, hearing about work around the centre and the world. It is great to be encouraged, and to encourage others with our stories, each week. Yesterday our Director shared two videos which I think warrant a mention here!

Firstly, Biblefresh. Have you heard of it? Do you have a Bible verse that spoke so strongly into your situation that you'll never forget it? Watch the video here below to find out more.

Secondly, Wycliffe and Vision 2025. Do these words mean anything to you? Do you know there are over 300million people around the world who still cannot have such an important verse? They don't have God's word available to them. Watch this video to find out what needs to be done.

I think what I love about both these videos, above all else, is the fact that they challenge us to implement change right here right now. They speak about the way that small changes in our actions, in our mindsets, can have huge implications for our lives and for the world around us.

Are you up for a change?

Newsy one

2010-10-11T18:05:00.000Z

Well, we’ve been at the Wycliffe Centre for over a month so it’s time to update you on what we’ve been up to…

We’ve settled in well and are really enjoying having our little flat that’s in such a lovely location on the edge of the woods. It’s been a great base for me to do my work from. I’m having fun working with colleagues in Tanzania from a distance, doing what I can to help them. It’s also nice that Matt can come home from his recruitment work in the office to have lunch with me!

We’ve joined a church in High Wycombe, North Thames Vineyard ,and despite only having made it for a few Sundays so far we’re enjoying getting to know some people (there’s young couples like us – yay!). We’ve also attended a small group and started to feel at home already.

We’ve been going swimming once a week in a local pool. Though this isn’t quite as lovely as any of the locations we swam in in Tz (Lake Nyasa surrounded by mountains, or overlooking the Indian Ocean or the Rift Valley wall) it is good to be able to go regularly and to get some proper exercise. I (Liz) have been able to do this as well and I’m getting stronger as a result!

I’ve also joined a ladies group on the centre and that has been a very encouraging time of fellowship, prayer and discussing a Christian book. It’s a great way to get to know a few of the ladies around here.

Matt has been appreciating the ability to play volleyball and golf with friends and just chilling out at a local pub with other guys. It’s great how furlough is allowing us to do many things that we couldn’t do whilst in Tanzania. We’re definitely making the most of it! Some of these activities may sound mundane to you but the old saying ‘you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone’ is very true for us in these things!

Our weekends have been a bit busy but we have also had some chilled ones at the centre and love to go for walks in the woods. We’ve been to London with Matt’s family, taken his sister to uni in Bristol and spoken at Faringdon Baptist Church on another weekend, and most recently we’ve also been down to Devon to speak at the Tanzania prayer meeting in Exeter and to celebrate my Mum’s birthday. Speaking of travelling, we’ll be up in Sheffield again next weekend so hope to see some familiar faces then! Thanks also to people who’ve popped in to see our new home – we’ve loved entertaining you! All the rest of you are warmly welcome anytime!

Austerity

2010-10-09T09:45:00.003Z

Terrill and Amber are colleagues of ours in Uganda. We arrived in East Africa at the same time and so got to know them during our 'orientation' before we went our separate ways, us to Mbeya and them to northern Uganda. When we start our new assignments in Uganda next year we hope to see more of them. They have a good blog and recently wrote some interesting thoughts about begging, being 'rich', and about praying. They started their post by saying...

Being rich among the very poor puts one in the odd position of being like God, in this way: as God has MORE than all of us, we have MORE than the very poor. Those who have LESS go to those who have MORE, so that they can get MORE of whatever is it they want or need. I wouldn't want to presume to know what God 'feels' like when billions of people ask him for 'goods' or 'services' each day. But, to the degree that I am godlike (made in God's image), a person blessed with abundant resources, is it possible I know a little what God feels like when dozens of people ask me for goods and services each day?

To read the rest of their post (and more like it) click here. As I read it this morning it got me thinking. At this time of apparent 'austerity' in the UK (and many other places around the world), it is important that we recognise how relatively rich we all are. Without exception there are people who are worse off than we are. How we let this impact us is up to us. Do we ignore it and feel sorry for ourselves? Do we feel guilty and try and get rid of our wealth? Do we try and help by giving money and/or time? Do we let it remind us of our relationship with God and the grace with which he treats us?

Real progress

2010-09-26T08:38:00.002Z

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are much in the news currently. As politicians discuss progress towards them, and ways they could improve their delivery, it is reports like this that really sadden me.

So often Tanzania, and other countries in East Africa, are held up as shining examples of success. As it says in the article:

Across Africa, the last decade has seen a major effort to increase school enrolments. Tanzania in particular has made great steps. In 1999 there were 3.1 million Tanzanian children who did not go to school. This year the figure is down to 100,000.

The article picks out the importance of free primary education for helping this attendance improvement. It also goes on to say that, of course, school attendance is not enough on its own and that Tanzania has also been making good efforts at improving teacher training.

As I read these kind of articles I find it hard to celebrate. Of course ALL of these things are good! More children at school, better trained teachers, free access to school are all important factors. However all of these things are equally undermined if we ignore the factor of the language of delivery in the classroom.

I think about the UK, and the education I received here. We have a high attendance record for primary school. Teachers are well trained, and primary school attendance is free (at the point of delivery). However, had I attended primary school and found the teacher, no matter how well trained, teaching in a language that I didn’t understand none of those factors would have mattered! I would have struggled to learn and I would have felt excluded. As I read these articles my heart breaks, time and time again, for the millions of children around the world who cannot engage in the education system. They are cast aside like second citizens whilst governments pat themselves on the back.

Striving to improve the education system of a nation whilst consistently ignoring the issue of the language within the classroom, is like building the best hospital, filling it with all the latest technology but then not providing any doctors! People can attend, see all the potential available, but in the end leave just as sick as when they arrived.

Will you join us in remembering, campaigning, and supporting work to raise awareness of this huge need?

Matt at work

2010-09-16T17:43:00.003Z

Today, on my ninth day in my new role, I wrote a blog post for the Wycliffe UK blog. Recruitment Coordinator is my new title and a (if not THE) major part of my role is to get people interested in joining us in this work! There are still more than 300 million people around the world who don't have any of God's word in a language that they can understand, and many many millions more who do not have even a basic level of reading and writing.

To read my 'work' blog just click here.

A new chapter, a new start

2010-09-14T06:39:00.004Z

As we moved into our flat at the Wycliffe Centre on the 1st September I felt that this was a new chapter in our lives and our furlough, and a new start for us. This time of year often symbolises new beginnings after many years of starting a new school year or new school in September and this year has a similar feel. We were here for training 3 years ago at this time of year so there is a certain sense of ‘déjà vu’ in seeing the seasons turn in this part of rural Buckinghamshire. At the same time however, there is also a feeling of newness and I am excited about that.

For a start I feel like a different person to who I was when I was here in 2007. I have had the huge experience of moving to another country (another continent even) and settling there, adjusting to a new culture, learning a new language, meeting new people and doing the work I was trained to do, with all the accompanying joys and challenges. Whichever way you look at it that experience has to change and, hopefully, mature you! We have moved on, we are not the people we were 3 years ago (and I’m sure in many ways that is a positive thing!).

As well as a huge change in experience and worldview, many practicalities of living on the Centre have changed too. We are now living in a flat rather than just a room. We are extremely grateful for this! This means that we are able to cook for ourselves, when and what we want to. We can set our own routine! It also means we have more space, a place to chill out together. We now have privacy but also the option to invite people round.

This time, of course, means a new job for Matt as this was the main reason we have moved here. So he is adjusting to a new office, new colleagues and new responsibilities. Also, he is adjusting to working 8:30-5 (ish) again. The commute is not bad though (an optional 10 minute walk through the outskirts of the woods!)! My job has not yet changed, however, and it is rather strange communicating with people in Mbeya (often through Swahili) whilst looking out on squirrels in the nearby trees.

The people on Centre have also changed. This is a place of much coming and going so there are, as always, many new faces. There are new students, new interns, new staff... so we are getting to know some new names and faces. It is fun being here at the time of year that the students are here, though of course very different not being part of their ‘ready made community’ as we were a few years ago. It is great for Matt to have the opportunity to play volleyball and Wii and I have enjoyed watching films and chatting about our experiences in Tanzania. Of course, there are a few familiar faces from our last time here so it is great to be able to catch up with them and get to know them more.

This time also means a new church for us. We never got settled in a church when we were last here so now we want to get stuck into one as soon as we can. We won’t be around every Sunday due to commitments at supporting churches so we would love to start going to a church that has a small group we could feel a part of quickly. This is a very exciting part of our time here for me and we know that although the ‘perfect church’ is not out there the right one is!

This move feels so different after many months of travelling around, visiting people and staying with our families. Though that was a FANTASTIC time and we are so grateful to everyone who hosted us and blessed by all we were able to spend time with, we are so pleased to be where we are now. To me, a ‘settler’, it feels like a relief to be able to unpack at least some of our things and settle somewhere for a while. For me it is important to put down roots and it is great to be able to do that after 4 months of being ‘in transit’. I feel like this time is going to be good for me and for us!

Malila Moving Forward

2010-09-01T07:10:00.010Z

We have some great news from Mbeya! On Friday 27th August the book of Mark and Paul’s letters to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon (which have just recently been finished being translated into Malila) were dedicated! Just like last year in the Vwanji area (we wrote about that here), there was a big celebration to mark this important occasion. It took place in Ilembo, a central village in the Malila area, on the market day so lots of Malila speakers would be around to hear the good news.

Colleagues from the Mbeya project have reported that lots of books and tapes were sold. So now many people have in their hands the first books of the Bible in their mother tongue, or ‘heart language’. Many others also bought books that will enable them to learn to read and write in their mother tongue or to develop this ability so that they can begin to benefit from reading God’s word in the language they already understand the best.

Malila is a small language area with relatively low levels of education and high levels of poverty, but the Malila people are passionate about their language so it is really exciting that this translation project is moving forward. This day marks an exciting stage in the project and this progress is likely to make a huge difference to the community.

Msafiri (one of our literacy colleagues who is himself a Malila speaker, reader and writer) helping the Scriptures be read aloud in Malila!

We will try our best to keep you up-to-date with other news from Mbeya as and when we hear it.

UPDATE: to read more about the day, from a firsthand source (one of our colleagues who was there), just click here.

Literacy, a life-saver

2010-08-31T12:50:00.003Z

One of our colleagues recently wrote a blog about an article in the current Wycliffe Bible Translators Magazine; Words for Life. An extract from the article reads:

Anée wept bitterly as she held her baby close to her chest. She was filled with a confusion of anger, grief and guilt. She was supposed to have taken the medicine herself and the baby would have benefitted through her milk. But she didn’t understand the doctor’s instructions, and she can’t read, so she gave the medicine directly to her baby. Her newborn daughter died from a tragic and avoidable overdose. Information poverty kills…

Children who learn to read and write in their mother tongue before bridging to the official language flourish and fly, while those who have to do it all in French often flounder and fail. It still troubles me that while in the UK only six children out of 1,000 live births die before the age of five, in Chad it’s 200 children. So many of those deaths are avoidable. There is a direct link between mothers being able to read and infant mortality. Mothers who can read have children who live longer.

This reality of the importance of literacy must be understood. Reading is not just a luxury that is nice and fun, a skill to be able to engage with new technology like the Kindle or iPad! No, reading (and writing) is very often the difference between life and death. To read the whole article you can download the magazine here, the article starts on page 9.

Literacy: a part of the process

2010-08-14T12:59:00.001Z

Following on from chatting with many supporters and friends, another issue that we have discovered may need some expansion and explanation is how Literacy work fits into the broader picture of Wycliffe’s work. I wanted to give the ‘potted explanation’ on what us Wisbeys have and haven’t been doing for the last two and a half years in Tanzania! I will try to explain this concept clearly but we are very much open to corrections and comments from fellow Wycliffe people who may almost certainly know more about this than we do!

Firstly, I should start at the beginning…what does Wycliffe seek to do? Wycliffe is an organisation that is engaged in Bible translation, Literacy work and language development with minority languages throughout the world. (This is ‘in a nutshell’ so if you want to read more check out our ‘What on earth’ and ‘Wycliffe – a Wisbey intro’ links in the lefthand column, as well as the Wycliffe UK website itself). So Literacy is part of the vision of Wycliffe but not the whole story. Some of our supporters are interested in Literacy above all else, some are excited about Bible translation, some about language development and some about all of those bits put together! Also, some just want to be kept up-to-date with what Matt and Liz are doing! It’s great to have a wide range of supporters who are interested in different aspects. So don’t let it put you off if you want people to have the opportunity to learn to read and write but you can’t subscribe to the Bible translation part! Both parts drive Wycliffe’s dedication to the work, however they don’t both have to drive your interest or support in one or the other.

Anyway, I got slightly sidetracked from my original purpose, Literacy and where it fits into a language project! A language project is a single language or a group of languages (our assignment in Mbeya was in a ‘cluster project’, working with nine languages) that request assistance from Wycliffe to ‘develop’ their language. (‘develop’ is quite an invocative word but really what it means in our context is that we work to help the language community to use their language how they want to. This will often mean they want its use to grow by being written down and people taught how to read and write it.) Wycliffe works alongside other organisations that do a similar job so that is why Wycliffe may not be working with every language in a given country.

The first thing that is done in a new location/language is a Language Survey. Speakers of the language are asked lots of questions such as: how much is the language used? (Is it a vital, living, language or is it dying?) Who uses it and when? How different is the language from surrounding languages? Does it have dialects (variations within the language)? What attitudes are there towards the language and the possibility of a Bible in the language? Etc, etc!

After this stage has happened (or at least an initial survey has been completed) and if it is decided that the language project will go ahead, the next stage that must be started is Linguistics work. The linguists must work with speakers of the language to understand its grammar and phonology (basically the structure of the language and its sounds). They need to find out as much as they can about how the language works. Often the language that is being worked with is a previously unwritten language so an orthography (an alphabet/writing system) must be devised to symbolise the sounds of the language.

Literacy work is something that should start happening as soon as the orthography is settled and will continue for many many years to come (literacy work should continue well beyond any culmination of a translation). This is where we have been working: devising resources and training teachers to teach people to read and write in their mother tongue (This is another misconception: we weren’t actually teaching Literacy classes ourselves but training Tanzanian teachers to do this. Much of our role was office and workshop based a lot of the time, training, equipping and mentoring nationals so the work would continue after we left). We sought to build up a body of literature, books of different levels of difficulty, so that new readers could become experienced readers and get enough practice before moving onto more advanced texts such as the mother tongue Bible when it (or part of it) is finished being translated. So you can see that this job is in some ways connected to the translation work, however it also exists separately of it. Matt and I passionately believe that literacy is crucial for its own sake. If people do not learn to read and write well, people are not empowered and so are unable to learn for themselves. This in turn restricts the opportunities people get in life, and increases the chance for them to be cheated and discriminated against. These are just some of the reasons why we believe literacy, the right to be get a good education in the language that you understand the best, is a basic human right which we are willing to work hard for!

I have already mentioned Translation, and this is a key facet of a language project where Wycliffe is involved. Translation is done by working as a team with nationals who know their mother tongue extremely well and with expatriates who are trained in the principles of Bible translation. The mother tongue speakers do the translation work itself, with the expatriates helping with ideas and questions along the way. It can start happening when an orthography is settled. It may take decades to translate a whole New Testament so this is a long term project. Often translation is started with a gospel, so people can learn about the life of Jesus, and with ‘basic’ chronological stories from the Old Testament such as Jonah and Ruth.

But our work is not completed when there is just another book to sit on a shelf, so another important area of Wycliffe’s work is Scripture Use. The purpose of this is to encourage Christians to use the translated scriptures (you probably could have guessed that for yourselves!). It is important to work with a variety of church denominations so that the new Bible is accepted and will be used by as many of them as possible. Scripture Use workers often train pastors, Sunday school teachers and others, basically any people who will be putting the new translation to use. In Mbeya this work started as soon as the translation work started so as to raise the profile of the translation and to encourage Bible usage in general.

So those are the main parts of a language project. Of course there are many people involved in Wycliffe’s work that are not found in one of these key departments. We need computer, finance and admin people too. Without skilled people in all of these areas of administration the rest of the team would not be able to do the work they do. It is also extremely important to do partnership work with the local churches, to work together to see a language project completed and awareness raised. Wycliffe does not go into communities and insist that their language be developed, literacy classes taught and a translation done. We only work in communities that request the skills we can bring and are fully committed to working with us. We know from our experience in Tanzania that change cannot happen in communities without the local people being completely on board with the vision and willing to carry it to completion themselves with Wycliffe’s assistance.

One final misconception is that our team was made up of all white people from overseas. In fact most language projects are made up of at least 50% local people since they are the language speakers and can do the work much better than quicker then we ever could! In our literacy department in Mbeya, for example, we had 3 full-time expatriate staff and 12 full-time Tanzanian staff (plus lots of volunteer teachers etc!).

Money and an overseas missionary couple

2010-07-30T20:56:00.000Z

One of the wonderful things about being back and visiting people (family, friends, supporters, churches etc) is that we’re able to hear people’s questions in person and try to help them to get a clearer picture of what our lives and work are like. This in turn helps us to get a better idea of which areas we need to provide more information on, or explanation about, to help people understand better. One such area is money and our responsibility to raise our own funds. We wanted to take a moment now to try and provide a little more information on that area.

How do Wycliffe members get their money and why?
Wycliffe Bible Translators (the charity we work with!) require all members to raise their own support. Although this method puts more responsibility on the individuals involved (some charities raise funds centrally through campaigns and then pay their members a salary), we are firm believers that this is a good way to fund individual members. It both broadens the potential support base of the charity (providing more stability during times of financial difficulty), whilst providing a closer (more personal and therefore mutual) relationship between the supporter and the supported (which in turn helps people feel more connected with the work which is being carried out). Instead of people giving to a general appeal, they give to specific people (with faces!) and specific work.

Why can’t members just work part-time where they are?
Firstly we want to be able to devote all (or at least as much as we can!) of our working time to the main task at hand, literacy work! Secondly, almost all the countries where we go to work have VERY strict rules about who can get work (i.e. paid employment) visas, and so the visas we get do not allow us to receive a salary in the countries we are working in.

How do members know how much they need?
When we joined Wycliffe, and had decided where we would be working, we were given a monthly support quota (a breakdown of the money we would need to raise to be able to live in that place and to do the work) to help with fundraising. This amount of money is based on the location of the work (some parts of the world are more expensive to live in than others!), the number of people in the family (children cost money apparently…!) and the role that will be carried out.

What is this money for?
In short, this monthly support quota should make sure each member (or family unit) has enough money to live and work in their location, i.e. it should cover ALL their costs. If you try and think of all your living and work costs, that is what this amount should cover. As a few examples, however, the different types of costs this money covers are: flights to the country, house rent, utility bills, food, work costs (travel, computer equipment etc), communication costs, education costs, Wycliffe administration costs, health insurance, tax, pension contribution…

Why do members need to raise more money from time to time?
If the persons circumstances change (they move location, they get married, they have children) a new quota is calculated and they must increase (or decrease!) their support. Members often raise their support through friends, family, churches or other local groups committing to give an amount each month. Obviously from time to time people have to stop their support due to personal/financial circumstances and so this money needs to be raised from somewhere else too.

Why do members still need money (or more money even!) when they are back in the UK?
As part of our service with Wycliffe we are required to spend a period back in our home country every few years. Part of this is to reconnect with friends and family and have a break, however, a large part is to get some further education and/or help out at the Wycliffe UK office (or maybe continue overseas work from distance). All of these things cost money (be it rent, travel costs, food, equipment purchases etc) and because all of our expenditure is covered by people’s giving, no matter where we are or what we are doing, we need that support to carry on when we are back in the UK. Support for an overseas missionary is for their entire work, not just their role in a distant country.

I hope this helps give a slightly better picture of ‘money and an overseas missionary couple’! As you may already know we are currently in the position of needing to raise more money. Due to our extended return period in England (which, unsurprisingly, is not cheap!), and then our change of roles to Uganda, we need to raise an extra £400 per month. This can seem like quite a large amount of extra money to need to raise, however, if a small group of people were able to give just a little each then it would soon be raised. We’d be really excited to talk to anybody who feels like they’d be interested in supporting us financially at this time. Our email address is in the left-hand column. Thanks for reading.

Catching up in Sheffield

2010-07-30T19:39:00.003Z

We have recently returned from spending two weeks in Sheffield catching up with family and friends. It was a lovely (if just a little busy!) time, meeting up with old and new (LOTS of cute babies!) people. We really enjoyed hearing people's news and being able to share something of our experiences from the last two and a half years away.

It was very encouraging to see that despite being away for a long time we were able to connect with people easily again. The warmth of people's hospitality, their generosity and genuine care for us was a real blessing to us both. It certainly made it hard to leave when it came to the end of our time. Two and a half years is a long time to be away (not seeing most people at all), and people can change a lot in that time. As a result we both slightly apprehensive about seeing everyone again, wondering how our interaction would be. Although things were not all the same as before we left, it was encouraging to be reminded that change can be a good thing and strong friendships can stand the test of time and distance.

Thank you to everyone who made our visit so special and we look forward to seeing many of you again (and those we didn't quite get to this time) on our next visit in October.

For better or for worse...

2010-07-15T10:10:00.005Z

I came across an 'interesting' article today about the new East African Community (the 2nd try in recent years) and in particular the effect it may have on education across the five member states. In particular this sentence worries me:

"With harmonization of the education curriculum in the EAC, there might be the possibility of Tanzania which uses Kiswahili as medium of Instruction in Primary schools and Burundi and Rwanda which use French to switch to English."

As if access to primary education wasn't hard enough through one alternative language (Swahili in Tanzania, French in Burundi and Rwanda), they now talk about the possibility of changing the language of instruction to a language two steps removed from everyday life... English! Here this discussion is held in the context of 'harmonisation', with the default answer being that harmony must mean everyone doing the same thing, using the same language. This is a false economy. True harmony, I would argue, will only come when everyone is able to engage fully with the learning that is ahead of them. When everyone has the same access to education and opportunity to learn. This is only possible when people are provided the opportunity to learn in the language that they understand the best, their mother tongue if you like.

With a deep sigh I'm sorry to say it is short-sighted to think that the answer to harmonising education across East Africa is to make everyone learn through English. If you want, you can read the whole article here. It would be lovely to one day read an article talking progressively about harmonising education worldwide, ensuring all our children have access to education through their mother tongue, the language that they understand the best.

This story comes the day after I read of google's introduction of services in Swahili (the article is here). It's nice to see they are not assuming that everyone needs to use English to access their email or search a map. Who knows, one day people may be able to search google maps in Kimalila, Kikinga, Kinyakyusa....

Liz update 6

2010-07-08T21:33:00.000Z

For those of you who are interested or who are praying and keeping a track of my progress through the blog I thought I’d give you a short update on how I’m feeling. This is a number one question we are asked when we see people: “How are you doing now, Liz?” It’s lovely to be so cared for! Thank you.

Last week we went back to the centre for tropical diseases in Oxford and they had the test results that we had been waiting for. Everything was clear. They wanted to do another test for Bilharzia (seems to be standard procedure to do a few) and check a few other things but there doesn’t seem to be a major infection of any kind. The doctor advised me to start exercising gently and regularly to build up my strength and to see how I do.

I fed all this back to our GP and she was pleased with my progress. She suggested I come off the tablets for my stomach (acid reflux). I had been phasing these out anyway and had not suffered any ill effects. So I have stopped these completely (lovely to be medication-free for the first time in a long while!) and have not had any increase in nausea or any vomiting so far. This is good news.

I feel as if things are slowly getting a bit more back to normal. My appetite is mostly good. I still have days when I get very tired and don’t feel like eating a lot but I know how to manage this now and I am soon feeling ok again. My strength is building up but I’m probably still at only about 80% most of the time. I’m so much better than a few months ago though so I rejoice in that and we continue to pray for full recovery.

Where we’re ‘at’

2010-07-08T21:04:00.002Z

Another question we are frequently asked at the moment is: “Where are you based?” The answer to this is really: “All over the place!” We are currently doing a bit of a tour of the UK seeing lots of friends and family. At the moment we are at the Wycliffe Centre near High Wycombe for a week in order for Matt to learn about his role in recruitment, which will start in September. I am doing some Mbeya Literacy work long-distance, preparing for presentations and spending time with a good friend here on centre. This weekend we head into London to stay with some more friends then next week we are on to Sheffield for a couple of weeks to catch up with many, many special friends and some important family members. We are very much looking forward to this time of sharing and catching up on all that’s happened in the last 3 years!

So, it’s a busy time, a fun time and a time with lots of transitions. We worked out how many places we will be moving in the next couple of months and it didn’t bear thinking about! It is a potentially tiring time because of this. I am getting used to not having a base and to enjoying this varied lifestyle but it doesn’t come naturally to me. I know that it is something that is fun and relatively easy to do at this time in our lives, however. Also, I take great comfort in the fact that my home is in heaven!

From September we will be based at the Wycliffe Centre when Matt will take on a role in recruitment for a couple of months. This is where the certainties end though! At the moment the answer to a lot of questions seems to be: “Don’t know!’ We aren’t sure when exactly we are heading back to East Africa (though we anticipate it being sometime in the first half of 2011), I am not sure what my role will be from September onwards or even what it will be when we get to Uganda. This could be unsettling if I let it be (and it certainly is in my nature to like having things planned out!) but I am learning to ‘go with the flow’. The challenge now for me is to get the right balance of proactively seeking out the answers whilst trusting that the answers will make themselves known when the time is right!

Feeding Back

2010-06-16T11:02:00.007Z

We have just confirmed a few 'formal' (or in some cases not so formal!) opportunities to feedback from our experiences in Tanzania over the last couple of years. If you live near any of the places below and could be there to hear us (and hopefully talk to us before/after!) we'd love to see you. Equally, if we're not visiting anywhere close to you and you'd like us to come speak at your church/event do get in touch. Email us at our normal address.

Where?	When?	Details…
Faringdon	4^th July, 10:30am	Faringdon Baptist Church, Faringdon Junior School
Sheffield	22^nd July, 7:30pm	Training Centre, St.Thomas’ Church Philadelphia
Narbeth	15^th August, 10:30am	Narbeth Community Church, Bloomfield Community Centre
Exeter	29^th August, 10:30am	Exeter Vineyard Church, St. Peter’s School
Faringdon	24^th October, 10:30am	All Saints Church Faringdon

Rest

2010-06-15T12:48:00.000Z

…He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul…

I am really enjoying living in the countryside at the moment, amidst the green pastures and quiet waters, just like in this well-known Psalm. It is lovely to listen to the sound of the wind in the trees and the birds singing, even woodpeckers drumming on nearby tree trunks. I like the sights as well as the sounds of the countryside too, such as patches of sunshine, a squirrel skipping along the branches outside, the colourful flowers in the garden, the friendly robin and a shiny slow worm. I am really thankful for this time and the chance to rest. Rest as well as good food and company can be as restorative as medicine sometimes!

I have been struck recently though about how rest doesn’t just happen, especially in the society we live in. Often we have to consciously slow our thoughts and breathing down and other times it takes someone else to make us rest, as if we need permission. There is something almost forceful about the way the start of this verse is phrased in the NIV ‘He makes me lie down in green pastures…’. But of course, this is for our own benefit and this is the way that our souls are restored. It doesn’t always come easily though.

I have been surprised since being ill and needing to rest a lot how hard I have found it. I find I can’t lie in the same position for very long or keep my eyes closed unless I’m really exhausted – I fidget! It is a real discipline to rest but one we definitely need to master.

Being ill has forced me to work on this skill generally. I have had to slow myself down, take each day as it comes and not put pressure on myself to always be doing things. When you do this you recognise the background ‘noise’ (of worries, doubt, frustration etc) that is in your head all the time but that you don’t notice because you’re busy. Turning this ‘noise’ off and focussing your mind is another skill. I certainly think this time is/will be useful for a number of reasons!

As well as resting (I struggle not to say ‘just’ resting as if it’s not very important!) we are using this time to catch up with family after our time away from home, correspondence, preparing presentations for the next few months and doing work from Mbeya. This is all part of our role with Wycliffe. We are also trying to include exercise in our routine to avoid the side effects of lots of sitting down! We hope this gives you a good picture of our lives in beautiful Devon at the moment.

Liz update 5

2010-06-02T15:45:00.000Z

Over the last few days Liz has felt very tired, nauseous, and wornout again and so we wanted to update you all once more so you could keep her in your thoughts and prayers. This ‘sudden’ change is typical of our experience over the last six months, despite a general improvement over the last few months, and so we are not too surprised.

As we mentioned in our last update it is positive for us to know that it does not appear as though her condition is anything tropical, and that she has been feeling generally better over the last month or so. However we are also very aware that whatever the problem is it will not be easily or quickly solved (if ever), and that Liz has to be very careful to ‘manage’ her activities and health well.

Please think of us as we plan our movements, continue to try to ‘take life easy’, and consider what further medical options there might be.

Liz update 4

2010-05-29T10:07:00.001Z

Yesterday (Friday 28th May) Matt and I went to the centre for tropical diseases in Oxford to get the results of my blood tests. Although one test has yet to come back (bilharzia), everything else was clear. This is good news. They have asked me to come back in around a month’s time (when we’re back in the area) to get the final result and to check how my health is continuing. However, from the other tests they could already tell that I don’t currently have a major infection. So, as I am starting to feel stronger we will see how I get on for the next few weeks. I haven’t been sick for almost a month and haven’t felt too nauseous. I have still felt tired but have been able to manage this with resting and have been able to do just about everything I have wanted to do. So it seems like whatever was wrong may have been starting to right itself in the last month, which is really good news. So, for now, we are moving base to my parents in Devon and are hoping to continue to recover well!

Liz update 3

2010-05-19T09:00:00.002Z

We thought it would be good to put a brief update on my health here so those of you we haven’t seen yet can keep up to date!

Since being back in the UK I have been to see the local doctor and had some tests done. These all came back clear. They checked malaria and other normal blood stats, plus urine and stool samples. We were relieved that everything was fine. The only thing that was a slight problem was that my potassium was a little low, which can lead to weakness so I have been told to eat lots of bananas!

After receiving the results the doctor referred me to the Tropical Medicine Centre in Oxford at the Churchill Hospital. I went yesterday and they did a good examination. They took blood samples to check for Brucellosis and Bilharzia and other such tropical things. They also did a chest x-ray to check for TB. The latter was clear. I have to go back a week on Friday (28th May) to get the results from the blood tests. They seem to think that it is unlikely that I have an infectious disease as these usually present a temperature or fever and I haven’t had this at any point, however it will be good to rule this out once and for all. If this lot of tests draws a blank I will probably be referred to a specialist to look at my stomach and other non-tropical explanations for my problems.

We are thankful that we have got this far and have ruled out some things and that we are in the system and things are moving forward. We are aware that this is a long process, however, and can be frustrating at points. We need patience and to trust that whatever is the problem will be discovered. Thankfully I haven’t been feeling too bad since I’ve been back. I haven’t been sick for just over 3 weeks, have a good appetite and have been able to put some weight back on. I have still felt very tired and achy at points but have been able to recover after sleeping. This makes everything a lot easier and means that I can enjoy having some home comforts and treats too. Thanks everyone for your continued care, concern and prayer as well as all the communication and practical help we’ve had – we appreciate you all!

Observations on being away

2010-05-12T21:06:00.001Z

I thought I’d give you all a little, light-hearted glimpse into my thoughts over the past few days. These are some of my observations and musings since returning to the UK after almost two and a half years in Tanzania. It’s often funny the things you notice after a long time away….!*

Bananas not only seem to taste of nothing much but also, if this is possible, have another strange taste that I can’t put my finger on! Other than this I am enjoying lots of ‘taste sensations’ and am conscious how easy it will be to put weight back on whilst staying here!
Tea is a lot hotter because we are so much lower in altitude than Mbeya and so the water boils at a higher temperature (so I am reliably informed by my scientific father-in-law!). I also attribute my increased lung capacity, meaning I could belt out the songs at church the other day despite having had little practice for the past few months, to being accustomed to living at a higher altitude than Ben Nevis for the last 30 months!
The sunlight has a totally different quality, it seems ‘whiter’ maybe rather than ‘golden’ like it is in Africa. We couldn’t work out why this is as it has to travel through more atmosphere to reach the UK but then wondered if it’s to do with the complete absence of dust in the air! Weird.
Birdsong wakes me up in the early morning because it is ‘just different’. But it is lovely not to be woken by howling dogs or local bars. We can’t believe how dark it is when we wake in the middle of the night and at first thought there had been a power cut!
The trees in spring here have a fresh green colour that is amazing but I am constantly surprised how bitterly cold the wind is. What forethought I had to leave my warm boots, hat, scarf, (umbrella!) and gloves accessible for when I got back!
I had no idea how to put credit onto my old UK SIM card when I realised my top-up card had expired. I imagined some futuristic way of doing it but I just got a new top-up card. Very odd when you don’t know how to function in your own society!
My hair doesn’t get greasy as fast as it did in Mbeya. Despite feeling cold there the last few weeks I must’ve still been sweating a fair amount! As for the contrast to Dar es Salaam’s climate…it is just so nice not to feel sticky all the time!
I can’t get over how fat the cats are. We thought our kitten, Rolo, was well-fed compared to the scrawny, local Tanzanian cats (and Tanzanian colleagues commented the same!) but these UK cats are on another level entirely!
Matt commented that since being back he has noticed electricity cables and how they connect to houses, how relatively neat or ‘un-neat’ (i.e. similar to Tanzania) they are! That is definitely something that never crossed our minds before since you just don’t need to think about how we get our power here!

*Disclaimer: some of these observations may just relate to where we happen to be right now (Wisbey house, Faringdon, Oxon). You will have to decide for yourself if this holds true for the whole of the UK…of course it helps if you’ve recently been to Tanzania too and have something to compare with!

Springtime

2010-05-12T20:31:00.003Z

So we've been back in the UK for nearly a week now. It's been seriously COLD, especially coming from such a warm part of the world, however at least one benefit of the extended winter has been the late blooming of many spring flowers. This has meant we've had the privilege of enjoying much of the beauty that makes this time of year one of our favourites! Here's a picture of Liz enjoying the little bit of sunshine we've seen, just to prove that we have actually arrived! To see a few more pictures just click here.

Being back – the weeks ahead…

2010-05-10T08:20:00.005Z

Now we are back in the UK we thought it would be a good opportunity to remind you what our plans are for the next few months, especially as we have returned a little earlier than we originally had planned.

As we have said before this period in the UK (probably until early 2011), our furlough, is for a number of reasons: for us to reflect on the last few years, to reconnect with family, friends and supporters, to raise further support (our new assignment in Uganda will be significantly more expensive than Tanzania), and to work in the Wycliffe recruitment department.

Although we will enjoy holiday time on our own, with family and friends this time is not just an extended holiday! These next few months are an important part of our assignment with Wycliffe. There will be lots of work happening in this time, though it will be more varied – we will continue with some Literacy work from Mbeya at a distance, we will speak at various churches and we will be working whilst staying at Horsleys Green near High Wycombe, the Wycliffe Bible Translators UK headquarters, from September onwards.

Our plans for the next few weeks are to get Liz’s health issues sorted (visiting doctors and hospitals), debrief on our last couple of years with Wycliffe, and to continue with our Literacy work from Mbeya. Of course we’d love to see you as soon as possible so do get in touch and we can try and work something out.

From July onwards we are still hoping to be able to follow our original travel schedule, which in case you need a little reminder, is as follows:

12 – 25 July	Sheffield
26 July – 4 August	Avonwick, Devon
5 – 10 August	Cardiff
10 – 15 August	Pembrokeshire
16 – 30 August	Avonwick, Devon
1 September – early 2011	Horsleys Green, Buckinghamshire

During the next few months we would love to share our experiences with as many people as possible. If you would like us to come and share at your church, group or event please do get in touch and we can try and work something out.

Re-entry

2010-05-10T08:20:00.001Z

Last Friday saw us return to the UK for the first extended period for nearly two and a half years. It is a funny experience returning to your home country and culture after an extended time away. On the one hand you do feel like you are ‘coming home’, back to a place that you understand and which (most of the time) understands you! Sure, some things might have changed a little… more cars, bigger shopping centres, newer cars, bigger TVs… but generally it is a place that you recognise and in which you can find your identity relatively easily. However, on the other hand it can be a hard transition to make.

The ease of air travel (ash clouds permitting) has made the world feel smaller, more accessible (for a little more on this see our blog last month). This ease of travel, being able to leave East Africa at breakfast time and arriving in the UK in time for dinner, makes the ‘transition time’ extremely short. You leave one culture, one world, and before you know it you are confronted by a totally different one. It is a strange scenario. While you might think this would bring these two cultures – these two worlds – closer together, I would actually suggest that instead it just emphasises the differences between them. In turn actually making a transition between them more challenging.

It makes me think back to the missionaries of old, who perhaps travelled abroad by boat and train, taking months to complete their journey. Whilst their lives were undoubtedly more difficult in many, many ways, I do wonder whether this longer transition period could have actually been a blessing in disguise – providing them with a slightly longer transition period in which to prepare themselves for the change of culture that awaited them. Who knows? Don’t get us wrong, we love the fact that we can return to the UK easily if we need to (and that friends/family can come and visit us easily!). We love Tanzania and the life we have left behind there AND we love the UK and the life we have found again here. However, a quick move between these two lives and the impact this has on who we are as people is certainly a challenge.

What a small-big world!

2010-04-25T07:03:00.001Z

In so many ways the world seems such a small place. Thanks to advances in technology: planes, mobile phones, internet… the world can seem like it has shrunk. We can communicate easily (and clearly) with friends and families thousands of miles away, instantly and at the touch of a button. If we have the resources, we can book a flight, jump on a plane, and be back in the UK within 10hours! Cultures may still be worlds apart, however our ability to travel (physically or virtually) between those cultures is almost effortless.

But then the last few weeks of ‘disruption’ due to one small change in our circumstances (a bit of glass and dust from an old mountain) goes to show not only how fragile our systems are, but also how large the world really still is! Although we have not been personally affected by the recent flight problems it has served as a reminder of how BIG the world still is and how far away from ‘home’ we really still are!

If planes suddenly stopped flying, for good, we would be stuck! How would we get back to the UK? By car, train, bus, boat, foot? Maybe. It would be possible but it would be difficult, tiring, and hugely more time-consuming! It’s made us think about the missionaries of old – how they would make the long (months’ long in some circumstances) journey to foreign climes taking their coffin with them. They were moving for good, knowing they were leaving their old life behind and ready to die and be buried in their new home. (There is a lot that could be written about the pros and cons of the changes that have happened and the ease with which current missionaries can return home easily if needs be – but that is for another time!).

It has also got us thinking about how big, how amazingly diverse, and how challenging this world is! It is easy with all the technological advances to think that we as human beings have somehow ‘tamed’ this world. We have conquered it, we are in control of it, and it is now just one big garden which we can move about in at our discretion. The reality is, of course, very different. We are very, VERY, small beings in a very, VERY, big world. We need to remember this and so, in turn, remember our place within it.

Technological advances are wonderful in so many ways, however, we must not let them cloud our view of the world and of ourselves so much that we lose sight of who we are. Only One is able to stand above it all and look down on it as if it was one big garden, and if we forget that we are in serious trouble!

Change

2010-04-18T18:16:00.002Z

Since last writing we have had many changes, one of which being Liz's health (again). :-( Because Liz’s health is not improving significantly we have decided to bring forward our return to the UK, and so we will now be flying into the UK on the 7th May (ash permitting!). Obviously this has necessitated us speeding up our finishing off here, sorting out our house and work so that we will be ready to leave in two weeks time!

This change of plans has also meant that we have had to start thinking more about the logistics of our return to the UK! Thankfully we have generous parents who can host us for a while, providing us with a familiar environment on our arrival, giving Liz a good chance to recover properly. Once back, one of our first jobs will be to look into the different medical options, perhaps having to visit some specialist ‘tropical medicine’ clinics to try and rule out the foreign ‘nastys’. It is going to be good to be back, to be close to family and friends and to have good medical resources available to us, however we are prepared for it to be a very tiring time for us both.

Of course returning back after a long absence will also mean we need to replace some of the items we no longer have in the UK. One of the most important things will be a car. When we left the UK back in early 2008 we passed on our car and so we are in search of a cheap replacement one on our return. If you know of a suitable vehicle, or even have one that could be available for some of our time back, please do get in touch. We will be doing lots of travelling during our time back, visiting friends and family as well as the doctors(!), and so really need to get our own transport.

Despite all of the difficulties change can bring we know there will be many blessings too. One will certainly be seeing you all and catching up properly! In the meantime please do continue to remember Liz and her continued health issues. Thanks.

Family Fun

2010-04-04T07:45:00.001Z

We know many people are keen to know how Liz is doing and so we thought we’d write a very short update. After four months of sickness (of and on) it is often difficult to see progress day-to-day. That said, Liz has been doing quite a bit better these last few days. Having finished her latest dose of antibiotics last week she has been feeling stronger and has more of an appetite. Our experience over the last few months has been that it is fairly common for her to feel better and then after a few weeks get worse again, so please do continue to pray for, and remember, her. We hope her current improvement continues!

Last Sunday also saw the arrival (with us at least – they had been in Tanzania for a week already) of Liz’s parents, Paul and Diana. We spent a week with them in Iringa, showing them our ‘first home’ in Tanzania (at the Campsite where we learned Swahili two years ago!), and had a lovely couple of relaxing days at a farm in the highlands between Iringa and Mbeya. Liz has loved having her parents with us and so I think it is far from coincidence that her health has improved with their presence! We are now back in Mbeya, where we will have 10 days together showing them our current home, before they head off back to the UK. Please do remember us all, our health and travel safety.

As I write I can hear the sound of church bells welcoming in a new Easter Sunday. A nice ‘home from home’ sound that reminds of the UK. Although many things in life are unpredictable and unsettling, what a joy it is that because of this day many years ago we know that our hope is steadfast. Whatever difficulties we face we know that our future is secure because of what was done on the cross for us all.

Travelling and Sharing

2010-03-15T07:47:00.002Z

This last week we travelled to Dodoma (the administrative capital of Tanzania) for a week of sharing for all of the branch’s Literacy and Scripture Use personnel. Since Dodoma is central to Tanzania (hence it’s title as capital!) it proved a good place for us to meet, especially as our branch has an office there and so organisation was easier.

The week was split into time for sharing, giving each project a chance to explain what they have been doing so far (what is and isn’t working!) and discussion times around topics common to most projects (distribution issues, pricing, staff training etc). It was a very useful week and generally an encouraging and inspirational one for all. In total we had 26 people from all over Tanzania and Uganda who attended, both ex-pats and national colleagues, and it definitely helped us all to feel a much stronger sense of ‘team’. When we’re working at such a distance from each other it can be easy to get so focused on our own work and forget that there are others doing the same job in other places who are probably facing similar challenges. It is important that we keep a clear grasp of our common vision and remember the support structure that we are fortunate to have around us.

It was also a generally encouraging week for Liz as she was able to engage in at least some of the sessions. It made a really nice change from the weeks of ‘bed ridden-ness’ she has had to cope with recently. Although she is still far from ‘normal’ she has gained more strength over the last week and has been sick less. Now we are back in Mbeya for a few weeks we hope and trust that she will continue to gain in strength and feel better and better. Please continue to remember her (and Matt as he is currently suffering from a cold) at this time.

It was great that during our time in Dodoma we were able to stay with some good friends that we got to know well at Language School (see our blog posts from the first half of 2008). It’s been a long time since we’ve ‘caught up’ with them and we enjoyed being able to just ‘hang out’ as well as experience some of the benefits of Dodoma together, such as the Italian pizzeria and the swimming pool on their compound. We also paid a visit to the local ‘ice-cream parlour’ Aladdin’s Cave, where we saw many familiar faces from our group who were also getting their fix of ice-cream sundaes!

Our trip also gave us another opportunity to experience the dangers of road travel here. On the way to Dodoma we saw a number of wrecked lorries, including one that was literally hanging off the side of the cliff (on the way back we saw that it had eventually fallen down). Then on our return journey our bus had a near head-on collision with a lorry that was on the wrong side of the road. Thankfully the driver reacted quickly and we escaped with just a blown-out tyre following our off-road swerve (to see a picture of the tyre click on the link below!). We are always incredibly thankful whenever we reach our destination safely and this is why we always ask for your prayers for safe travels for us and all our colleagues. Please do continue to remember this essential need in our lives here.

To view a few pictures of our last week click here.

Liz update 2

2010-03-02T07:49:00.002Z

We are writing this update from cool (in fact COLD!) and wet Mbeya. We returned back home from Dar on Sunday (thankfully a very smooth, if long, journey) after taking lots of tests (that all came out negative) and having a few days rest. Liz finished the giardia medicine on Saturday and felt quite a bit better. However since returning to Mbeya she has again been feeling nauseas and tired. It's not clear whether this is the same problem, tiredness after the journey, or a combination of them both!

Please continue to remember Liz at this time. She is very tired and generally frustrated. It was good that all the tests were negative but at the same time it does make it difficult to know where to go from here. She is currently taking another dose of the giardia medicine to see if that can finally kick it. If not we will of course need to think of other options.

As always we value your support while we're so far from family and friends. Your words of encouragement do really help us to try and stay positive!

A 'Liz' update

2010-02-25T11:47:00.000Z

Just a quick update for those who are keeping up with our progress via this medium! We are currently in Dar es Salaam (the main city in Tanzania) having travelled up yesterday (Wednesday 24th) from Mbeya. Liz was sick another few times on Monday, despite finishing the course of medicine for typhoid on the same day, and so we decided we needed to get some other opinions.

We visited one of the best clinic in the country yesterday and had some other tests done. Unfortunately these were also inconclusive and so the Doctor’s best guest for now, judging more by symptoms than lab results, was giardia (an amoebic stomach problem). This was a little frustrating for us since this is a problem that most people will get when being in Africa and the symptoms are almost never as severe or long-lasting as Liz has been experiencing. We have taken the medicine however (it doesn’t hurt to take it even if the problem is different) and obviously we will hope to see an improvement within the 3 day dosage period.

This morning we have also spoken to a friend of a friend who is a GP when back in the UK but is currently working here on a project. She has advised on a few other tests Liz could have to check some other things and so we will try and get those done tomorrow morning.

Please continue to think of Liz at this time. She is obviously very tired (of the illness and of the ‘not knowing’) and the weather here in Dar makes it not the easiest place to try and recover. We hope the medicine she is on will work well and/or the extra tests tomorrow will give some clear indication. We will try and keep updates coming here.

New Newsletter

2010-02-22T10:59:00.001Z

Our latest newsletter is now available. To view it online click here.

Some new pictures

2010-02-17T12:05:00.002Z

We've just uploaded some pictures from Christmas and the first half of January 2010. To SEE a few of the things we've been up to just click here!

From Liz...

2010-02-14T11:38:00.004Z

Just a quick blog to say a big thank you to everyone who has sent their best wishes to me since I’ve been ill by way of letters, texts, phone calls, Facebook and emails (and of course those who are able to actually visit!). Also to everyone who has thought of me or been praying for me. I appreciate everything a great deal!

I wanted to give you all an update on my progress. You may know that I have been feeling off-colour since early December with weakness, fatigue, achiness, nausea and vomiting. We had tests done at the Swiss-run hospital just out of town (at Ifisi) over the Christmas holidays but nothing showed up. We were a little confused but hoping that things would turn around soon, but they didn’t. Now, in early February, we decided to go again and get some more tests done. So this Tuesday we went back to Ifisi hospital. I braved a blood test again (!) and this time it showed a reaction for Typhoid. (Apparently, if I hadn’t had it for very long the first time and my body was fighting it that is why it didn’t show up on the first test). I have a mild-moderate infection (perhaps due to the fact that I have had a typhoid vaccination…obviously these things are never 100% effective!) and need to take medication for 14 days. We are glad now to have a diagnosis and some medication so that hopefully I am on the road to recovery. The medication is pretty strong though so I feel almost as bad on it as I did before I got it. It makes me feel very tired, woozy and queasy a lot of the time. We are praying it does the trick though and that I will soon be fully recovered. It’s been a long journey so far.

Please pray that I make a full and swift recovery so that when I come off the tablets (or even before that would be nice!) I will feel a lot better. We hope this is the only thing wrong. Please then pray for me as my energy levels increase and I start to make the transition back into normal life with work and visitors coming. I need to make sure not to do too much too soon.

Thanks again for everyone’s support, in Tanzania and at home!

Home / Work

2010-02-14T11:38:00.003Z

It’s interesting, the distinction we draw between home and work. Back in the UK it seemed pretty clear to me that generally home and work issues do not mix. Yes, you may need to take work home, and yes, your home life might affect work from time to time (babies, moving house etc). However generally speaking these issues only interact on a practical level, which is then often provided for at work with a clear procedure to follow (i.e. maternity leave for pregnant mothers). There is no responsibility on the employer to engage emotionally in the personal issues and, I expect, there is no expectation or even desire from the employee for this either!

However, here in Tanzania we have found, with a clear case recently, that there is no such obvious boundary between work and home life. As an employer (of a guard or a house-help for example) you effectively become part of their support network. Their personal life is brought to work and you, as a responsible and able person, are expected to help to intervene. This can be very tiring. For us many of the issues are clearly nothing to do with work and therefore we do not feel responsible, or able, to do anything about them. Add into the mix the fact that as guests here we still do not fully understand the culture or the environment, and you end up being in a very hard place indeed. Yet still the expectation of the employee continues!

I’ve tried to think a little about why there is this expectation on the employer, which we don’t feel so often in the UK. Two things come to mind:

Since the underlying culture here is based so strongly on relationships, when you enter into an employee/employer relationship you are effectively agreeing to take some responsibility for or involvement in their life. This level of responsibility may depend on how much they work for you, how well you get on, or how much interest you show in their lives etc. however it is certainly there. By choosing them to work with you and for you, you are affirming their importance to you.
Maybe because there are few, clear, followed procedures in place (maternity pay, sick leave etc.), very little trust of official authorities (police etc.), and difficult access to facilities (courts etc), the employee turns to the first person they see and know who has authority – their boss. Whereas normally we would pursue personal issues through other channels, maybe they do not have (or don’t feel confident in being heard through) these channels available to them.

It is these kinds of intricacies of culture, and the way they rub up against your own upbringing and expectations, that truly make life here tiring. No one can say which is right, or which is better. However, the way a different set of expectations effect you can certainly always be defined as a challenge!

What will you be doing this (2010) summer?

2010-01-31T14:53:00.007Z

As you’re probably aware we will be returning to the UK at the end of June for six to nine months. This period, typically taken by missionaries every two to four years, is to allow us time to reconnect with family and friends, to raise further support, to share our work with churches and other interested parties and to gain further training or experience. We will have been in Tanzania doing literacy work for nearly two and half years by the time we return and we are particularly looking forward to sharing – in person – more of our stories from our time here. Firm plans for our time are still a little way off however we wanted to take time to share with you our initial ideas of how we might divide our time back.

If you would like to see us, and you can see how it could (or could not) fit into our rough schedule below, please let us know. If we can get some input early on it will help us make sure we see you all at mutually convenient times! Of course we will be happy to make journeys to visit you, however our ‘base’ locations might give you a good idea of when we’ll be in your vicinity!

1 – 11 July	Faringdon, Oxfordshire
12 – 25 July	Sheffield
26 July – 4 August	Avonwick, Devon
5 – 10 August	Cardiff
10 – 15 August	Pembrokeshire
16 – 29 August	Avonwick, Devon
30 August – onwards	Horsleys Green, Buckinghamshire

We look forward to hearing from you and to making plans to meet and catch up!

Since last time

2010-01-23T13:15:00.002Z

It is nearing the end of January (believe it or not!) and I feel it is high time for a newsy blog. I shall try to cast my mind back to what has happened since we last wrote but it’s been a while! Sorry for the long absence but it has, of course, been a busy season. Also, it’s been nice to have so much contact from folks back home in the form of cards, parcels and emails. We have tried to give individual thanks (yours may be winging its way to you right now!) but if you have slipped through the net please receive our warm thanks for everything you’ve sent. We have been very touched to be remembered so much.

My up-to-the-minute news is that I have just had my first ‘ants in the pants’ experience after 2 years in Tanzania! (That is in the American AND the English sense of the word! Ouch! ) In case you are not up to speed we have siafu here – biting ants that climb your legs before latching on. Somehow I have managed to avoid this nasty experience up to now. Either this is because I am observant and able to nimbly jump their lines or because Matt is usually blazing a trail in front so usually bears the brunt of the attack!

As well as marking another special day (someone’s 27th birthday!) Tuesday 19th January 2010 marked 2 years since coming to Tanzania. We really can’t believe how much the time as flown. I guess this is because there’s been so much to do. Funny how, despite this, you can feel like you’ve hardly made a dent in the work! Now seems a good time to look back and take stock. We are pleased with what we have accomplished but also feel encouraged to ‘hold things lightly’, knowing the work is not ours alone – there is a bigger plan than this and what we need to do is to be obedient.

Currently we have the blessing of being able to take a few days out of our schedule to rest and reflect thanks to a Christmas present from family. It is lovely to have some down-time in beautiful surroundings in the southern highlands of Tanzania. We are able to enjoy the gorgeous view of hills, valleys and lakes while a swallow family dive in and out of their nest above us! Unfortunately we have not been able to be as active as we’d like as we are both ill but we can’t think of a better place to recuperate either.

The last few months haven’t been as easy as they might have been. I (Liz) have been ill on and off since the beginning of December. It has been very frustrating and upsetting to keep feeling like you are getting stronger before suddenly getting sick again. Also, it has cut back my productivity a great deal. We are unsure what to do, except for scale back Liz’s hours in the office so she is able to take life a bit easier, as tests have shown nothing and so far doctors haven’t been able to diagnose the problem. Somehow, through this I am learning not to trust in my own strength but to have my hope in God.

Since we last wrote there has been Christmas. We only started to think about this a few days in advance really so it kind of snuck up on us. Thankfully a few preparations here and some decorations and goodies from the UK helped to get us in the mood. We had a quiet time. Our friend, Katherine came to stay for a few days as her house was empty and we had a couple more friends, Andrea and Elizabeth, for lunch on Christmas day (hence the picture above!). Apart from that there was a lot of reading, watching dvds and general chilling out done. New Years also passed without a big fuss. We enjoyed good food, company and a few fireworks over Mbeya when the clock struck twelve.

Another big landmark has been the office move at the start of January. Though the office was just moving 5 minutes down the road, as you can imagine, there was lots to be done. In the Literacy office, especially, there was much packing up and sorting out needed as we are probably the department with the most stuff! This was a good opportunity to get things organised that are normally just shelved and now we are feeling a lot tidier and more ‘lightweight’. I have been designated keeper of the archive of materials produced and that is a job that appeals to my orderly nature! We are enjoying our new offices and starting to feel more settled. They certainly have a lot of benefits compared to the old one – more space, less dusty, less noisy and a restaurant a few seconds away! Of course, the problems of power cuts are ever-present!!

Well, I’d better sign off as I think that’s enough news for now. I’m sure I have missed many things though. Hope you’ve all had a happy Christmas, new year and start to 2010!

A scaled-down Christmas

2009-12-24T12:48:00.003Z

So we've reached the eve of Christmas. Its been a busy last month: a basic literacy workshop, two trips taking in four language areas (for a few pictures click here) and packing up the office in preparation for a new year move! We really haven't had too long to think about tomorrow and how to celebrate the day. This has been good in some ways, not allowing us to dwell on the friends and family we're missing from home, however it does also risk us not remembering the main purpose of this holiday!

As we've reflected a little on Christmas and culture it has been interesting, if not a little surprising, to see how culture is not always actually a bad thing! When at home we used to get frustrated with the cheesy music and mutli-coloured decorations all around, even starting as early as September in some places! Display after display would show a large Father Christmas with reindeer surrounded by snow, presents and pine trees! Now we believe there is nothing inherently wrong with any of those things (we love presents) however I remember thinking how lovely it would be to rid ourselves of all those 'distractions' for once. How that would instantly allow us to focus on the real meaning, the purpose, of Christmas and not to be distracted by these peripheral items! However this Christmas it has been interesting to be on the other side of the fence and to see, as always, that the grass really isn't quite as green as it had once looked!

Because as much as we may not like it, our culture is so ingrained in us that without those things around it is actually just as easy to forget not just the meaning of Christmas but actually that Christmas is here at all! Its too warm, there's no ugly decorations, no mince-pies for sale in shops, no turkey to buy! All the factors that reminds us that Christmas is coming have been taken away. So what are we left with? A day, or week, off work. A chance to spend time with friends. An 'excuse' to prepare a big meal and all feel very full! Does that sound at all familiar?! We are left with the same challenge as we faced at home, the challenge to focus on the real meaning of Christmas. To enjoy the time, albeit in a different way as at home, but still to not forget why we have Christmas at all.

We want to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support over 2009 and to wish you a very Merry Christmas. This comes, as always, with lots of love from us both.

Uganda and more

2009-12-03T15:02:00.003Z

Well, after the excitement of all those blogs being counted it went quiet for a while! Sorry for the silence. The pace of life is fast here at the moment (not what you normally expect in Africa!) and we are hurtling towards Christmas with barely time to stop and think! So… I should fill you in one what’s been happening with the Wisbeys…

Since we left you we have been travelling (and more). Thursday 12th November saw us flying (yes you did read correctly – FLYING!) to Dar with MAF. It was the first time for us to fly from Mbeya and we concluded that it was greatly preferable to the bus – no surprise there! Also, it was our first time flying in a small plane (13 seater – I think) and though I was a little anxious that I would get travel sick we both had a fabulous time! You get such an amazing view of the Tanzanian countryside and mostly new territory as the flight path did not stick to the main road (the Tanzam highway). It was incredible to arrive in Dar in just two and a half hours compared to 13 hours on the bus! Anyway, we were brought down from our high(!) by the stickiness of Dar, no air-con at the airport due to powercuts, and our plane to Uganda being delayed by three and a half hours! We finally got there though, just a little tired.

We really enjoyed our nine days in Uganda. Entebbe is lovely – very green due to almost year-round rain (a contrast to the dry and dusty Tanzania we left at the end of the dry season), has an amazing number of bird species and is situated on the shore of Lake Victoria. It was interesting to explore a little of a country that though neighbouring Tanzania, in some ways seems very different. How strange (but also nice and easy!) that everyone spoke some English and when we did think we heard Swahili it was Luganda (that shares many words and phrases with Swahili)! We stayed in the guesthouse at the office and were able to spend some time in the office to see how the work (especially Literacy) is going there. Everything felt very different, especially as the work has been going on there much longer so is further on with many more nationals heavily involved. We were also able to take a trip to Kampala, the capital that is not far away, with our colleague Doug. Though the big city is filled with traffic and fumes it was nice to be able to frequent a coffee shop, a burger joint and some malls! For a short break Matt and I spent two nights at a lovely place by the source of the Nile at Jinja. It was great to really ‘get away from it all’ and just watch the Nile flow by. This was our first holiday as ‘just the two of us’ for several years so we really enjoyed ourselves! We left on Sunday 22nd after having a good break and a real insight into the work in Uganda.

The time away wasn’t quite over then though as we had one special day in Dar to celebrate Matt’s 27th birthday. As the day itself would dawn on the return bus journey we filled the day before it with lots of fun things such as swimming, shopping and eating out (all things we struggle to do in Mbeya!). I think it would be safe to say that Matt enjoyed himself and it made up for the usual bus-ordeal on the 24th! This certainly was a come-down after the MAF flight on the way but at least I wasn’t being sick like last time!

Now the time has flown since we got back with days in the office to prepare for our upcoming Basic Literacy workshop next week, trips to see the newly installed coordinators and being ill (again!). I think we are mostly prepared for the workshop, despite my illness absence of late and we all look forward to seeing the Basic Literacy preschool teachers again for a week of reviewing, improving materials, learning more about their languages and some new introductions to the program (materials-wise!). We hope the review workshop will go as well as the teaching workshop in June did and that we can have some good discussions about the teachers’ progress and the path ahead, packed with lots of ‘audience participation’! Please think of us as workshops are always full-on and there is much to be covered. After that come more trips to get the coordinators started well and then we will have a well-earned break at Christmas!

Photos from this trip are now online. Click here to view them.

101 posts

2009-11-09T17:11:00.004Z

Apparently, we are informed, Liz's last post was our 100th! That's not too bad going in 32months! A big thank you to you all for reading, following us and supporting us through this medium! We really appreciate it (a few more posts like this one and we'll be at 150 before we know it!).

Training coordinators

2009-11-09T17:11:00.001Z

Last week was the week for our workshop to train our new Scripture Use/Literacy coordinators. We had been planning it for some time but it really sneaked up on us quickly with everything else that’s been going on. However, we were all just about ready. Though we have done many workshops in our time here this was the first of its kind so this necessitated us writing lots of lesson plans, Powerpoints and handouts from scratch.

There was a lot to take in for our newly appointed coordinators as well. For some of them it was the first time they had used a computer (well, apart from our assessment days to choose them!) so they went from learning how to switch it on to how to send emails with attachments in just a few short days. They also received training on issues such as planning, research, finance, and reporting as well as the fundamentals of Literacy and Scripture Use in our project!

Though we filled the heads of our workshop participants to bursting point all were enthusiastic and interactive and we were able to have good discussions about the way forward in our work. All were willing to learn and grateful for the training they received. This encourages us that these six guys will be what we need at the moment to take our work forward in a way that we haven’t been able to before.

Our new coordinators will be based in six of the 9 language areas we work in (we haven’t been able to appoint the others yet) in the main town in each area. They will be much better positioned than we are to find out about the needs of the area, spread the news of our work by meeting with pastors, education officers and everyday people, sell books, supervise the transition literacy and basic literacy teachers and do many many other tasks. There’s one thing for sure - they won’t be bored!

So we need to remember to keep thinking of these guys and keep supporting them. Some have moved back to their language area after living away from home and have consequently left friends if not family, all have changed jobs, many will be doing things that are new to them and all are a long way away from our help. We are really thankful for them.

Superstar Status

2009-11-08T15:49:00.001Z

The recent visit of the president in Mbeya gave us an opportunity to reflect on the power of celebrity-ness. The premier’s visit was generally accepted and appreciated by the populous, despite the Mbeya people’s apparent disapproval of him, as a result of the stable electricity that his presence seemed to invoke and the many promises he made while speaking around the region. People lined the streets, waiting to catch a glimpse of his motorcade as it sped past.

This got me thinking. The leader of a nation can be idolised by some, as they follow through their plans and seemingly ‘get things done’. They can be admired by others, as they stand up for issues and fight for their people. They can be appreciated by others still, as their work brings change (albeit temporary in many circumstances). And they can be held in awe, as people are impressed by the smart cars and the exciting lifestyle. However what can they ever really do? How many of their changes, or improvements, or developments really last?

Thankfully, for us, we know we have a heavenly premier who offers more than stable electricity or a new road! What he offers cannot be found anywhere else. So I begin to think… how many people line the streets, waiting, watching for him? How many of those who are waiting really believe in him and follow his words? How many of those even like him? Do we idolise, admire, appreciate, stand in awe, or just hold a strange intrigue for him?

Unlike our earthly celebrities, who people crowd to see, our God will not disappoint. He IS worth waiting for and he offers us something that will not only fully satisfy, but that is also the only reason worth living.

Why are we waiting? Isn't there something, however small, however deep inside us that wants to believe and be a part of what he promises?

Vwanji pictures

2009-10-31T18:28:00.002Z

We promised we'd upload some pictures of the Vwanji dedication that was last Saturday. They're only a week late! If you'd like to get an idea of what the day entailed just click here. Enjoy!

Dedicated

2009-10-26T15:44:00.010Z

Last Saturday we spent the day at our cluster’s first dedication ceremony! The Vwanji people were officially receiving their first books of the Bible (Ruth, Jonah, Mark, Titus, Timothy 1 & 2, Philemon) and celebrating the progress of their language. They are the first language that we are working with to have such a celebration and also the first language to have the gospel of Mark printed and in people’s hands! It’s been seven years since the first survey of the language was done and so you can imagine how happy people were to have reached this key stage.

Our role on the day was to man the bookstall (we really are the grassroots!), selling these books and all the other literacy and Scripture Use materials we have produced over the years. We had almost 20 separate titles including books on how to learn to read and write Kivwanji (the language), local stories, health booklets, bible study materials and cassettes and CDs of Mark! To see people’s excitement on getting hold of books in their language for the first time was a joy to see – especially as they clustered in groups outside the church trying to read for the first time!

Obviously providing people with the materials is ‘just’ stage one in the process. If we don’t do our work properly no one except the best educated few will be able to read and write Kivwanji. We must continue to find good ways for people to access teaching on reading and writing and support groups for them to keep using their language together. As always this is only just the beginning…

Here are just a few pictures to give you a taster of the day. We'll try and get more online as soon as possible!

The congregation watching a choir (there were 4!)

Mhalila, one of our translators, reading from the book of Ruth in Kivwanji

Us, Katherine and Konga (our new Vwanji SU/Literacy Coordinator) selling books!

Power struggles

2009-10-21T17:59:00.000Z

So as you may have heard we are in the midst of some power problems here at the moment (not the first time - see November '08 posts). Tanzania relies heavily on hydro turbines (water from reservoirs) to generate much of its electricity. This is a fantastic thing (very eco friendly!) and an example to many western countries with their huge coal smoke stacks destroying the environment!

However for a country which has upto 7months without any rain AT ALL this can be a rather risky business! And so we have found these last few weeks as the electricity company have announced a large deficit of power nationwide. The combination of low water levels in key reservoirs and turbines that have broken means that they have started large scale ‘power shedding’ across the whole country. They do not have enough power to meet demand and so they need to cut back.

Starting this week we have a scheduled 3 days (8am until 11pm) without any power. This means that of our waking hours only 58% of them will be with electricity! Considering one of these days is Sunday we will have considerably less proportion of time at home (rather than times when we are in the office) with power! Obviously for us that means a new schedule (early to bed, early to rise) and much less dependence on computers and other electrical items. The fridge seems just about to cope staying cool for these periods and so it’s more the difficulty of reading in the evening that is our biggest struggle!

Of course all these little things are not very bad. We adjust and go on with life. However for many Tanzanians it is causing major problems. For the store owners who can’t keep their freezers frozen. For the workshop owners who can’t operate their machines for 3 days of the week. For the factory workers who cannot do their job 3 days a week. And then you have the residential areas which become more of a target to thieves when in pitch black darkness for the first 4hours of the night. People are more afraid for their belongings and their safety.

Please join with us in praying for Tanzania, it’s people, it’s government and all the people making important decisions about it’s future. These are hard economic times across the globe but companies and individuals here in Tanzania are fighting an even harder battle without reliable power.

This time of year

2009-10-21T17:58:00.002Z

Can anyone else not believe that we are almost into November?! Where the last 2 months have gone since the summer we do not know! This time of year is a particularly hard one for us both as we move towards Christmas - time we would normally enjoy spending with our families and friends. We are very fortunate to have friends around us here to share these times with however the events still serve as a reminder of just one of the things we gave up by coming here. It's always easier to point out the practical differences of living away from home however these are rarely the really hard things about life here! The time missed with family and friends is always harder! Thank you for remembering us in your prayers at this time!

Rolo!

2009-10-13T18:33:00.001Z

This weekend we got a new addition to our family! Currently, this new addition is attacking the pocket of my trousers with little teeth. The new member of our family is Rolo, a tiny tortoiseshell kitten. Rolo is the smallest kitten you have every seen, a tiny scrap of catness, but he certainly has a big character. I say ‘he’ though currently we are not sure whether ‘he’ is a boy or a girl. I personally am convinced he is a boy due to his cheekiness and adventurous spirit coupled with an incredibly innocent face! He is also an attention seeker-whenever we leave him he will miaow a great deal, will try to follow us around the house and has got lost and overwhelmed many a time. (Our house is rather large for a small creature so we have to listen out for the panicked noises to find where he is. He is always very happy to be reunited with us!)

On the first day that we had Rolo he was mewing incessantly, so much so that when my parents phoned they heard the noises in the background and asked if we had an aviary in our house! I was rather worried about how he would get on, having been separated from his mother and being so little. However, he is a lot quieter now and seems to have found his feet (literally) in his new world. In the evenings he scampers around getting into trouble and places he shouldn’t be! Fortunately, he still gives us a few mews now and then so we can have an idea of his whereabouts!

You may think I am rather excited over this little pet but this is the first living thing that Matt and I have looked after together and, of course, his presence provides a great deal of entertainment during dull evenings in Mbeya! It struck me when we got Rolo how there must be similarities to having a baby for the first time! Without a doubt I am aware that babies are not furry and do not come already walking. However, you do have to give them constant attention, help them to eat, worry about them when you can’t see them, try to understand what their cries mean…etc! Anyway, having responsibility for a tiny creature is a good training ground for a baby one day and in the mean time I’m sure we’ll have lots of fun and laughs with Rolo!

Planning

2009-10-10T05:24:00.000Z

In any organisation planning is important. If you don’t take time to think where you are going the chances are you’ll never get there! Despite its importance, however, most people find it hard work and generally unrewarding. For better or for worse I (Matt) do not seem to fall into the category of ‘most people’ in this instance. I often enjoy planning (not all the time!) and can often see possible solutions/practical ways forward without too much agonising! That said, planning in Tanzania – especially in our field of work, is not always straightforward!

Our work has a lot of variables! Since we are always looking to facilitate nationals to do the work themselves we are constantly creating more opportunities for changes, for unknowns and for unplanned circumstances. Working this way really is the only sustainable option, however I do often catch myself thinking: “if you want something done, do it yourself”. That, however, is the easy way out (despite it being an attractive temptation!). We can’t do that here, we want to set up the work so that even if we weren’t here it could continue forward! Training others to do a job you know you could do yourself is always a difficult task. However it is in these situations that we need to force ourselves to look to the long term and the eventual increased capacity in the work.

October is a very important month for our project as we hold our annual planning meetings together. We have spent the last couple of weeks discussing Literacy plans for 2010 and 2011 (we do the next year in detail, the year after in rough outline) in preparation for meetings with our language programmes colleagues from Dar. Since we are actively doing literacy work in 9 languages our plans, as I’m sure you can imagine, are just a little complex! No two languages groups are the same and so literacy plans need to be appropriate, not to mention flexible(!), for each situation. We are also working with many Tanzanians in the language areas: literacy workers, team leaders, transitional literacy teachers, basic literacy teachers. In our plans we need to consider their progress, their skills and their capacity. Considering these are often ‘volunteers’ working remotely from us you can imagine this is rarely an easy task!

We want to prepare plans that are realistic but challenging, appropriate for the people, and that meet current needs whilst also building new skills for the future. We need wisdom as to what is the next step for the work, in which areas to keep moving forward and in which areas to stop. There are lots of exciting things we could do – we need to know what the right one for now is!

Please join with us in prayer for these plans and the upcoming meetings. It is easy to look at the task ahead and be overwhelmed. Thankfully we know we are only a small part of a bigger plan, which was already taken care of 2000 years ago!

Getting arty…

2009-09-27T15:37:00.003Z

This last week we had our very first Artists’ Workshop in Mbeya – another first! We invited our own art expert from Dar, Kenny, to teach and Matt was the one responsible for the admin and running of the workshop. That meant that the rest of us literacy people were able to sit back (a little bit!) and enjoy the ride. I wasn’t there for all of the week but what I was there for I really enjoyed.

Firstly, there was the fact that Kenny did a great job in teaching and the participants, who themselves had been drawing for a long time, really appreciated the insights he gave. He showed us how to draw everyday objects and people using the principles of drawing. He taught us guidelines to lay down that help when sketching scenery or a face. There were even several colleagues from the office who popped in to get some tips for their own sketching!

Another factor that was enjoyable was the participants we had. All were talented artists (we made sure to see a sample of their work before inviting them) but all were very grateful for the teaching they received. The participants were engaged, honest, and willing to learn even through making mistakes. Most were ‘average’ guys, many who have a stall at the market wherever they live, making a living drawing signs or painting walls. We are experienced at working with pastors or Sunday school teachers but it was really refreshing to work with a different cross-section of the community and to broaden the scope of our work. These guys put their noses to the grindstone and produced picture after picture, putting into practice what they’d learnt. The improvement after a week of guidance was evident and some really excellent finished pictures were displayed on Friday. Also, this is the first workshop that I didn’t see people nodding off a little after lunch (!) – the artists were passionate about their work and keen to improve.

This sounds like a lot of fun, you may say, but what relation does it bear to literacy work? Hopefully a great deal, would be the answer. Having illustrations in our books should make them a lot more attractive to potential readers. It will mean more for your money (literally) and if the pictures do the job they will expound and elaborate on our message – whether that be a local story or a health education booklet. Don’t they say: a picture tells a thousand words (or something to that effect!)? It will be a huge help to the new reader who is trying to grasp the meaning of the words and understand the overall message – the pictures will give them important clues. Also, our hope is that as the pictures will be drawn by local artists, they will be truly representative of their local area, scenery, people and customs. The reader will then recognise that this book is for or about them and will be more inclined to want to read it. Anyone will tell you that a book with pictures is simply a lot more interesting than one without.

So, the workshop now being over and many fond memories remaining of the thanks we received and the pictures that were drawn, we are hoping that the future of working with our newly trained artists will be just as joyful as the workshop has been!

Trust

2009-09-19T05:30:00.006Z

So yesterday I (Matt) travelled to the Kinga language area up in the hills to meet with a group of pastors to begin plans for more transition literacy teacher training in their area. We travelled to the town of Bulongwa along the most direct, and very high, road from Mbeya. You may remember this road from our blog in January (‘Journeys in Mud’) where we wrote about the same journey but in the rainy season and about how we got stuck multiple times! The road tops out at just short of 10,000ft and really is a beautiful drive. This time however we are over 4 months into the dry season and everywhere is dust – a very different scene indeed.

The meeting went well. I gave an introduction to literacy work, our partnership officer spoke about our cluster project as a whole and the importance of church unity, Msafiri (our literacy office colleague) spoke about transitional literacy (the main purpose of our trip) and Katherine introduced the Scripture Use department and the work they’re involved in. It was a good information sharing time with about 20 pastors (or representatives) from more than 5 different denominations.

After the meeting however, as the sun was rapidly heading towards the horizon, we had to make the journey back to Mbeya, 2 hours on a good day with lots of climbing and descending along the way. It was all going fine until part way along we come to a halt with steam rising from the bonet. Yes we are in a LandRover, and yes it felt like déjà vu (see our blog from February about getting stuck overnight in a coal mine – ‘Jungle Trekking’!)! This time however we have a driver and it is his responsibility! After removing the pressure and confirming that its not a big problem we relax for a moment (thinking “we’ll be home soon”), until it hits us… now we need to refill the whole water system and we are on a 9,000ft high ridge in the middle of the dry season (I kid you not – the dust was 2 inches deep!) on a road that is very infrequently travelled! Where on earth can we get 20+ litres of water from?

Obviously normally this is the time to pull out the phone and call for help. They might take a few hours to get to us but at least then we can get back. But since this wasn’t our responsibility we left it in the capable hands of our driver/mechanic who started wandering down the road in search of some source of water. Then, over the sound of the engine I hear a deep rumble – either I’m very hungry or I can hear something coming. I stop and listen and there it is again. Again it’s at these kind of times that I’m likely to say something silly like “hey, I can hear God. He’s coming to help, just round the corner”. But no sooner had I thought these words then round the corner does come God, in the shape of a big blue bowser (a tanker used for supplying water)! Amazing! God does know our needs at all times.

The truck stops, they supply us with all the water we need (including 2 extra bottles in case we get any more problems along the way) and off we go. This kind of action demonstrates wonderfully one of the things I love about Tanzania – everyone will help everyone. Life is so hard here, things go wrong all the time in difficult situations, that people need each other. People know that next time it might be them needing help and they are happy to help each other. It’s a lovely thing. Now the reason, you may be asking, for that bowser to be on that road at that time is because they are currently fixing it up. It’s been a terrible road for a long time and they are now working hard to improve it. I was happy enough to see this improvement on the way there… I was doubly happy to benefit from it in an indirect way on the return journey!

And that is how it happened – I tell you no word of a lie. To prove it here is a picture of said bowser with our car. Remarkable. Only in Africa.

This is just one more example of why we never take travelling in Africa lightly. Many places we travel to are very remote and breaking down on the way can be very difficult. Please continue to pray for us and our colleagues as we travel around with our work. Thanks.

Keeping House in Mbeya

2009-09-14T06:02:00.006Z

As hoped, here are a few more 'outsiders' thoughts on how life is here...

Just living takes a lot more effort in Africa. Many indigenous people have no choice but to live subsistence lifestyles. If they don’t work the land they will not grow anything, and if that happens they will not eat. Non-essentials or even luxuries are alien concepts. The problems are large and the process of change is slow.

For ex-pats the problems are different, but expectations are higher and adaptation to the new reality can be slow. For most white people in Mbeya, living in a walled and gated compound is a pragmatic necessity - they would be too vulnerable in any other dwelling. These compounds often come with guards and home-helps. An alien concept to many employers, but much-valued income for the employed.

The additional effort required to have a ‘normal’ lifestyle is typified by the problem of fresh milk. It needs to boiled for 10 minutes, then strained, twice. Constant attention is required and the job can take all evening. Is it worth it? Well, I for one was very grateful that Liz went to all that trouble! Of course, the easy solution is to buy UHT milk in cartons, and get used to the taste. If you can afford it!

Readers aged over 40 may remember the tag-line to a 60s American puppet show (was it Stingray or Fireball XL5?) – ‘Anything can happen in the next half hour’! It feels like that in Mbeya. On returning from a 3-day absence, we were confronted by an unattended compound, padlock changed (which we later found out was for a good reason). On gaining access, it transpired that the water had been left running, completely draining the large external water tank. In the house, several new communities of insect were cheerfully feasting on green beans and bananas, while the dried beans had to be separated from attendant weevils. Each of this set of circumstances could be overcome, but it was trying nonetheless.

It was a shock to us to find the night-time so noisy! Who let the dogs out? Well, just about everybody it seems. There are dogs everywhere, and they bark at anything, including each other, keeping up a cross-town conversation all night. Add in night birds and street noises and it’s a wonder anyone ever sleeps! Mind you, now that we are back in England it does seem a bit quiet …

Simon and Lynda Wisbey

Authentic African Experience

2009-09-11T13:59:00.003Z

As promised (hoped) here are a few thoughts from Matt's parents about their recent visit. We hope it helps give a slightly different light on life here.

How do you know when you have had an authentic African experience? Is it when you ease your aching limbs from the ‘crazy bus’ after 13 hours of hard driving? Is it when you have eaten your fill on beef and eggs and rice and bread, and still paid less than £1 for the meal? Is it when you realise that getting £200 from a cash machine in notes worth £2.50 each will give your wallet indigestion? Perhaps it is when you share the joy of family reunion 4,500 miles from home! Or driving for 2 solid hours on dirt roads past banana plantations to emerge at a crystal blue lake into which plunge mountains clad in virgin forest. Or then again it could be when you go shopping for a 2-day trip and have to visit 6 outlets to fill a short list.

There are so many things about a trip to Mbeya that are different – some of them are welcome, some are a bit alarming, all of them come together to result in that authenticity many tourists will miss. Meeting work colleagues and going on a language area trip demonstrated the impact of the work being done, with so much more to do. There are children everywhere, most immaculately dressed on their way to or from school, an increasing number with lives blighted by HIV, or simply abandoned. There is freedom to work there in a manner that is just not possible in the UK. A brief glimpse into a street children project and an orphanage revealed the need and the hope.

There are no street lights, and frequent power cuts, and clear skies, so there are zillions of stars to enjoy. You can sleep near the ocean in rooms designed with natural air conditioning (that’s right, no glass), or high in the mountains where hot water bottles and thick duvets are welcome. You become aware that there is an underlying spiritual awareness everywhere. Churches are full and alive, with choirs who really have rhythm, yet witch-doctoring still has a hold on people. Tanzania seems to be a country striving to do the right thing, to improve itself, to make the most of its limited resources. When you have so little your priorities are different.

Back to that authentic African experience. Is it when you experience warmth and hospitality in the home of those who have almost nothing? Or buy pineapple from a roadside vendor, at a price that both parties are happy with, and find that it is the best you have ever eaten? Surely it is the bone jarring roads, giving you that ‘African massage’ glow? Maybe it is when you go on safari to a remote park and get close enough to hear lions breathe, or walk beside a lake filled with hippo and crocodile. There is no single answer, but we do know that it is simply amazing. Thank you Matt and Liz!

Simon and Lynda Wisbey

Basic Literacy… a follow-up

2009-08-29T05:06:00.002Z

A few months ago I wrote a blog (Post-workshop thoughts) about our recent Basic Literacy workshop talking about how this was just the start of the process (well, really there have been several stages before this but for our teachers it WAS the start!) of Basic Literacy work in Vwanji and Malila language areas. Unbelievably, two and a half months has passed since this time! For us this was in a whirlwind of branch conference, visitors, holidays, then office work and workshop teaching in between! For the teachers they had a holiday then have been back in their preschools teaching for almost two months. Therefore, it really was high time that we visited them to see how they were getting on!

As usual we had several items on our agenda for the trip to Uvwanji. We wanted to conduct a meeting at each preschool to inform the parents, pastors, church elders and village committee people about our work and why we think learning to read and write in your mother tongue is important. Also we wanted to catch up with the teachers to encourage them, find out how they are getting on, any problems they are having and to inform them when we will meet again. We also brought the teachers additional resources of small blackboards, consonant books, flashcards and flashcard holders that we hadn’t had ready at the workshop. All this for two preschools per morning! White people always want to accomplish so much (but we achieved it amazingly – although ‘morning’ did stretch to 3pm)!

It was really lovely to arrive at a Vwanji village in the middle of nowhere and to be greeted by many smiling little people in uniforms, many of them singing and waving branches. It was also a real blessing to see our teachers again who are so enthusiastic yet some of the most humble people I have ever met. The meetings came first. In each village we nervously waited in a church, unsure what reception we would have, as it filled with teachers, children, parents, pastors and other important people. We were greatly surprised at the number of parents that arrived. At one place people even came directly from a funeral that had just finished in the village when we arrived! The white visitors certainly attracted a crowd! People listened patiently to what we had to say and seemed to be open to our work, interested and encouraged to value their mother tongue more. Afterwards, they had words of thanks for us or useful questions such as when adults will be able to learn to read and write too. It was a great time for partnership and publicity (especially considering the dedication of the book of Mark in Kivwanji is coming up in October).

After this we were able to see the classrooms. In two of the locations they are building new classrooms for the children and in the other two locations they have great classrooms already. One had nice desks for the children and shelves for resources and the walls of the other were covered with pictures of animals and the letters of the alphabet. This shows a commitment in the churches (these preschools are all run by the Lutheran church in this area) to children getting a good start in life and in their education and it was very encouraging.

We were then able to provide the teachers with extra resources. At the workshop we had only enough for one teacher as it takes time to produce them so the other teachers had started teaching without any resources. They were very grateful to receive them and put them safely away. We just hope that they will use these things to attract the children’s attention and to help them learn effectively.

In talking to the teachers we found that they are getting on well with teaching, are using the teacher’s guide we produced and the children are learning well. The teachers are making swift progress which shows that they are motivated! Some of the children have already started learning the consonants so it really was beneficial that we were able to print and bring the students’ books with us. I just hope that they are giving time for sufficient exercises and review so that the children learn in depth. We were not able to observe the teachers teaching (we will hopefully return in a few months to see this) so it is difficult to gauge how they are really doing but all things sound encouraging. We have another trip next week to see how the teachers are doing in Umalila and hopefully the news will be as encouraging there.

We headed home laden with presents of baskets and a large sack of mahindi (maize) from the teachers. It should be us who is thanking them for what they are doing to help us in our work and to serve the children of their communities. As happens many times here, we are blessed so much more than we are able to bless others!

Time to rest

2009-08-29T05:06:00.001Z

It’s been 5 week since we’ve had Saturday morning tea in bed – 5 weeks! This will in some way help to explain why we’ve been so quiet blog-wise for the last month (for some reason I often get inspiration, and time to think, at this time of the week!). This long lack of Saturdays at home however has been due to lots of fun so there are no complaints from us here!

Back at the end of July my (Matt’s) family (parents, two sisters and one sister’s fiancé) arrived in Tanzania. I met them in Dar and we travelled back to Mbeya together. It was wonderful to see each other again and for us to get a chance to show them all the things we’ve talked about for so long! We spent a week together at home, showing them around the area and introducing them to the culture, doing some short trips to local areas as well. The second week was spent on Safari! We all travelled up to Ruaha National Park near Iringa where we had a few days animal spotting and getting very hot and dusty in a Landrover! At the end of the week we all travelled to Dar to spend a few days before we all went our separate ways again.

It was lovely to have this time together and we are very thankful for the resources we’ve been given (monetary by supporters, and time by work here) that allowed us to have this time together. Working and living out here can at times be very lonely and our family are one of our largest ‘misses’. It was a real blessing to have this family time together now and for the future. It is so much easier to talk about things over the phone or internet when both people know the context in which you are discussing. On that note some of my family have agreed, as was once done before, to write up some of their thoughts post-trip and have them put up here. We always love to hear what people thought about their experiences with us and we are sure it helps give those who haven’t been here (YET!) a better idea of what life is like!

Having waved goodbye to family we immediately welcomed our good friends Pete and Rachel (literally – they got off the plane my sisters were boarding to return to the UK!). We flew with them to Zanzibar and spent a few days sightseeing and exploring this interesting island. Although it is part of Tanzania (since independence and union in the 1960s) and so certain elements made us feel at home, it is still in many ways very different from the mainland. On return from there we readied ourselves for the bus journey back to Mbeya together however on the morning of departure that Rachel had been sick all night and could not travel. Liz and I, feeling fine and needing to get back for work, left as planned only for Liz to start being sick halfway through the 13hour journey! We all survived (and got better!) and eventually made it back to Mbeya. The first half of our first week back was spent on a literacy trip (see Liz’s new blog here), while the second has been showing Pete and Rachel some of Mbeya whilst settling back into the office and work. We still have 2 days left with our friends before they head back to the UK via Mikumi National Park and Dar and we plan to make the most of this time together!

Again it’s been a real privilege to have time together here in our ‘new’ home with friends who we’ve known for some time. We’ve loved being able to share our lives with our family, friends and supporters and to be able to show a bit more of the vision and purpose of our lives and work out here. If you are interested in visiting and/or knowing more about what we do please please please do write us an email… we LOVE hearing from you!

Meeting together

2009-07-19T15:54:00.000Z

Time together with friends, old and new, can be a chance for real refreshment. Have that time overlooking the Indian Ocean on a beautiful (if seaweed strewn!) beach and you know you are lucky!

We have just got back from our annual branch conference in Kenya which saw nearly 100 members come together from all over Tanzania and Uganda to share, learn, have fun times together, hear a teaching series from an invited speaker and of course do some business. We arrived a few days early so that Matt could be at the ‘entity committee’ (in short the policy monitoring body for the branch membership) meeting. He was not a seated (i.e. voting) member for this meeting, but as ‘1st Alternate’ he was asked to attend to ensure continuity for future meetings should he need to be ‘seated’. It was a good learning experience and a good time for us both to get some rest before the other 80-odd members arrived!

Although the large part of our time was spent in a conference room, not on the beach, it was a lovely time to relax a little away from the everyday stresses and strains of living as a ‘foreigner’ here. (Of course, still being in Africa some normal struggles were able to catch up with us and Liz spent two days out of conference in bed with a tummy bug!) We also had a good chance to catch up with some of our friends from language school who work in different parts of the country and to meet some of the new members who have joined the branch since last year. It is exciting to learn about the work others are doing and to know we are part of a bigger whole working towards one larger goal.

Now we are back in Mbeya we have just two weeks before Matt’s family come out to visit! We are really looking forward to that but have much to do before they arrive. Work wise we have application forms to assess, a Sunday School Teacher’s Workshop to teach, more basic literacy materials to produce, and branch wide literacy/Scripture Use discussions to try to promote! Practically as well, at home we have pictures and mosquito nets to hang and taps and a toilet that need fixing! Lots to pack into 10 days!

Politics and Religion

2009-06-28T05:56:00.005Z

Have just spent a few minutes on my Sunday morning drinking tea in bed and reading a very interesting article from a Tanzanian newspaper. I would encourage you to do the same (you can omit the tea if you are so inclined).

For some time I have wondered about the role/responsibility of religion in politics, back in the UK and here in Tanzania. I've generally tended to conclude that religion should not become too directly involved with politics. However I have always believed that it does have a responsibility to engage in politics at different levels. One clear area for me is to encourage all believers to engage in the process. To encourage them to vote, to be educated as to their choices, and to have their voice heard.

The article I have just read, by the Archbishop of the Catholic Diocese of Dar es Salaam, has said much the same:

The Church and all people of goodwill no longer wish to see our community being led by leaders who have no concern for the people.

That condition of leaders being imposters or fisads (overly corrupt) is not loved by the Church. Are such individuals voted in by the people? Was the populace not a victim of a lot of cheating?

Maybe they were given a few portions of rice and pairs of khanga then voted for them. The Church wants to provide voter education, so that when the people go to vote, they do so as responsible citizens, knowing fully well what kind of leaders they are choosing.

After elections, they should not give excuses that they did not know what they were doing, that “what are we going to do since these people are already in power?”

In order to attain that goal, the people must be educated. They should no longer be cheated by rice handouts. Development is a result of choosing good leaders.

I am very encouraged to read this. The church, wherever it is, needs to standup and take responsibility for its role and its power. It needs to play a role in educating the public as to all the options, and so help them see beyond the short term benefits and look to the long term results of their actions. People do have power within politics. The true injustice is when they are made to feel that they do not.

To read the whole article click here.

Integrity in a shame culture

2009-06-18T17:03:00.000Z

So I listened to a sermon this morning on integrity and the importance of it in this world, in the church. I think most people of any character would quickly agree that having integrity, being honest and true, is important to a successful society and good relationships. We need our word, our heart and our life to be one. It is no good us saying one thing and then doing something else. Or for us to do one thing but feel something completely different. We need our ‘back stage’ life to be the same, or as close to the same as possible, as our ‘front of house’ life. We should aim to be in a place where we would not be ashamed if all we do, think and say in private was suddenly made public.

As I started to think about this need to have integrity I began to think a little about how this works in a culture like Tanzania’s. When looking initially, you might think it’s clearly important, perhaps more so than in the west even, because of the importance of relationships. Everything here resolves around relationships, ‘I do business with you because I know you and I know your father, not because of your skills or experience’. In this culture it would appear essential that your home life, your work life, your church life and your rest life all match up. If there is any sign of discrepancy then your relationships could all be damaged. You need integrity.

However, on the other hand this is also a shame culture. This means that appearance is often more important than reality. To be seen to be a good person is most important. So long as you go to church, it doesn’t really matter whether your personal faith is strong or not. Outwardly shaming another is the worst possible thing to do, and being shamed publicly is a terrible situation for anyone. Knowing this makes it difficult therefore to really know whether people have integrity or not. Is this for show, is this a front, or is this real? Of course this is true in the west too. Few people like to show their real self; it’s vulnerable and painful. However, here it is worse. Because the culture of shame is so bad for all involved, including the person who causes the shaming of another, people actively look away from signs that the reality may not be what it appears to be! If confrontation has to be done, and it often is not, it must be done through another and in a very delicate way.

So, what does this say about integrity in this culture? I guess to me it seems that there is any even greater need of genuine integrity. We need to be open with our lives, showing the good and the bad, and not being ashamed of what we know is still a ‘work in process’. Having integrity is not about having it all together and being ‘a good person’. Rather it is about being honest and real. This is not an easy path to walk. It involves letting people see your struggles and failures. However, it also results in greater trust, in deeper relationships and in greater respect. In a culture where relationships mean so much, and so much of our work and its success is dependent on these relationships, it is essential that we build trust with those we work and interact with. My hope is that as we grow as people of integrity this trust will also grow and we will see breakthrough in all the areas in which we work.

New way to donate

2009-06-18T16:17:00.002Z

Wycliffe UK have added a new way for giving directly online. If you would like to support us, or our work, you can now do so online with a credit/debit card. All you have to do is click here and then select 'other' and specify us (or Mbeya-Iringa Literacy) as the recipients in the empty box. All our costs, both personal living costs and work expenses, are raised through donations.

Thank you for your continuing support.

Post-workshop thoughts

2009-06-14T18:29:00.001Z

I find it amazing how something can feel like an end when actually it’s only a beginning! It’s so nice to have some space and time to rest this weekend and look back at the last 2 intense weeks of the Basic Literacy workshop and the 3 previous weeks (after our UK visit) of manic preparation. It’s hard not to feel a sense of relief and a sense of achievement. I am rather relieved the workshop is over (all that thinking in Swahili, all day every day, trying so hard to express myself in a foreign language is certainly tiring!) and also very pleased at all we achieved. But these feelings, true as they are, do give a rather false sense of this being a conclusion when really it’s only a commencement!

The path of the Basic Literacy program in Mbeya has already been a long one. Several years ago Gitti, our supervisor, started dreaming these dreams, made a start with plans and got lots of advice from Literacy experts. A bit over a year ago we had a primer (a primer is a book, well actually several in this case, to teach numbers, vowels and consonants to pre-literates) production workshop for the first two languages to be trialed with the Basic Literacy program. This was our (the Wisbeys’) first workshop in Mbeya – it was nice to know we could lend our limited (well, I speak for myself, at least!) Swahili, Literacy and computing skills to this important process. A template had already been devised and now the language specific information needed to be added – letters, keywords to teach the letters, correct pictures of the keywords and short stories to give the new reader practice. Since that point I have been improving this material – formatting and getting it checked by the linguistics department. I have also completed the teachers’ guides for these primers, got them translated into Swahili from English, done yet more formatting, produced ‘big books’ from the content of the primers and overseen the production of other resources (flashcards, letter and keyword cards, flashcard holders, memory card games…). It has certainly been a team effect (thank you all who contributed – you know who you are!) and quite an effort at that! So it was exciting to see the first Basic Literacy workshop actually take place after such an amount of preparation!

Take place it did… we had 8 preschool teachers arrive in Mbeya to take part – 4 women from the Vwanji language area and 4 men from the Malila language area. They stayed for 2 weeks and were very happy and touchingly grateful to receive this time of training (some had had no specific training whatsoever in how to teach preschool children before starting their jobs!) and the resources that we had prepared for teaching mother tongue literacy (some have hardly any resources whatsoever – no books to guide them or the children, no games equipment or toys and some even have no blackboard or chalk). We tried to come alongside them, equip them and encourage them in the great work they do as it literally can be a thankless task. They struggle with ungrateful parents, little or no pay, huge classes of mixed ages and abilities and little or no resources. I certainly couldn’t do it! We also tried to instill in them the importance of teaching mother tongue literacy as well as Swahili and inspire them in the job we were calling them to do. They left with a box of resources each, thankful hearts and a realization that what they had been called to would not be easy but would be rewarding and eventually could make a huge difference to their communities.

So now they’ve gone back to their homes, families and jobs. It’s quite a scary position we find ourselves in now. As I said it’s only a beginning really… we have trained the teachers as best we could, produced lots of resources to help them, tried to make the books easy to use and as accurate as possible (though we already know there are probably many mistakes to be ironed out even after several checks!). We have given them the tools and now have to leave them to do the job. Of course we will not literally leave them, though many miles separate us, we are already making plans to visit to encourage them, help with teething problems, inform the relevant people of our plans and provide the resources that we couldn’t finish in time. We are still very much working out the process from here on and the best way to go about things (it really is a trial at the moment!) but we will not leave them on their own. However, only time and a lot of hard work will tell whether this program really works and produces children who can read and write well in their mother tongue before taking the next (easier) step to learn to read and write in their second language, Swahili.

As well as these considerations its important to remember these are just the first two languages that we are trialing! There are several more that are waiting for their own Basic Literacy program! When I remember that almost this whole process will have to be repeated for each new language (there are 8!) I realize this is only the beginning of a very long, but hopefully worthwhile, journey.

Working a workshop

2009-06-03T07:10:00.000Z

This week and next sees Liz leading our first Basic Literacy workshop. As I write she is teaching 8 playschool teachers from two of our language groups how to teach their children how to read and write their mother tongue.

A lot of time and hard work has gone into preparing for these two weeks, and the following work and follow-up, and so it is very exciting to finally see the books in the teachers’ hands and the teachers learning these new skills.

Please pray for Liz as she is leading this workshop. It is a lot of work, especially as we are still relatively new to this! I am looking out for the practical and financial side of things and so will be frequently travelling between the office and the workshop. It is going to be a busy few weeks!

Just one need

2009-06-01T08:27:00.001Z

Being a missionary (read ex-pat, anyone living across cultures) can be a lonely business.

As we leave our home culture and dive head long into a new foreign culture we leave many of our safety nets behind. Some of these nets can be found in this new culture, others cannot. Some can be found in the small ‘ex-pat community’ that inevitably exists in any reasonably sized town, others cannot.

Good friends, a community of people who you can share your joy, your despair, your hopes and your fears with, are the hardest things to find.

Yes if you want a network of people who you know, who you can ask for help or advice and who know the practicalities of your life, then this is possible. However I believe there is something deep inside of us that needs more than this. This need varies from person to person, from character to character, but I would argue this need is there in all people somewhere.

I was reminded the other day of the individuality of music, and how each person likes what they like for no particular rational reason other than ‘I like it, it sounds nice.’ How no two people anywhere in the world would ever like exactly the same kinds of music. We all listen out for different things, we all like different things about the same pieces of music. And so, I believe, it is with friends. We cannot say why we get on better with one person and not with another. Why do we ‘click’ with this person? Why can I tell them everything about myself when I can’t with these other people?

So as you look for this particular ‘net’ in this foreign culture you realise this is one of the hardest ones to find. One of the most important ones but at the same time one of the most difficult to find. Obviously you may be lucky and find that person in the ‘ex-pat community’, or you may connect with a national (although there are so many other factors that reduce the chances of this), however often you will not. What then? What then when you feel like you are drowning in that big pool which you only just dived into?

I guess there are three options. One, you begin to get used to this kind of life. You become less reliant on people, you learn to live within the relationships you have. Perhaps you put more expectations on the people you do have, or otherwise you remove all expectations completely. Or two, you keep trying, you keep pushing. Pursuing those friendships you do have, trying to go deeper, or always looking out for potential new relationships. Reaching out, putting yourself out there. This latter is especially hard for Brits, going against the cultural norm of ‘not invading others personal spaces unless a suitable social environment is present’. Or thirdly, you can’t cope and you go home. This is a very real option for some people.

So, I guess it then comes down to this one question: How much do you want it? What are you willing to risk? What really matters to you?