Getting Started in Musoma

 Hi Friends!

Musoma Cathedral

It’s been a hot minute since my last blog post. Since then, it feels like so much has happened and nothing at the same time! Ive really settled into my place, here in Musoma and my work is really starting to take off! I joined the choir at the local parish and I’m starting to get to know some people around town. I am also- slowly but surely figuring out how to cook with the limited ingredients we have here. (If you know any good **simple ingredient** recipes send them my way- particularly without cheese!)

My House

My House

I really like my house- it is the perfect size for me. I have a decent sized bedroom and a rather small guest room. I’ve slowly but surely been making it mine- I got a couch a couple weeks ago, been putting pictures up on the walls of all of you that I miss so much, finally got my books out and onto a bookshelf, slowly building up my kitchen staples (flour, sugar, rice, beans, etc). I did a house tour on my instagram stories a couple days ago, so if you would like to go check that out, I saved it on my highlights. 

Joto

Joto is waving Hi!

Sleepy Pup

As many of you know, I got a puppy about a month ago, now. His name is Joto Mfuko (which loosely translates to hot pocket… but if you put it in google translate you get ‘heat bag’ lol) I was complaining one day about how I wish I could just have the convince of frozen/ microwaveable foods like hot pockets and pizza rolls to Doug and he suggested I name the puppy ‘hot pocket’ so I have one here. Joto is a German Shepard, he was born in December of 2021. We are still working on potty training but at least I just have concrete floors (pretty easy to clean up). He is scared of most things- balls, purses, hats, blankets, just to name a few and he is especially scared of new people. Usually he just growls at things he’s scared of, but if the move he will try to run away. All in all, not the best guard dog… but I think the growling would do the leg work if there was an intruder. Lol 

Work at Rosemiriam Dagg

Students at the Center

When I first got to Musoma, I was very unsure of what people wanted me to do here. I don’t really have one particular skill that I came here to use (I’m not a teacher or a lawyer or a nurse). I just wanted to come and serve and let God pave my path. Well, with that mindset it was quite a slow start. With that said, the center I was assigned seemed like it was absolutely perfect for me- It is a vocational school (type of center) where they teach young women Sewing as a hard skill. Well, I thought, ‘I have some experience in sewing, that works’. They were also looking to open a pharmacy to generate income (there is a clinic up the road that writes prescriptions, but you would have to go all the way into town to get them filled right now). As many of you know, I worked at Walgreens for a little over two years and had a pharmacy tech license, so I thought that was a great fit. They were also looking to open a cafe/bakery for the commuters who walk by the front of the store. I have been a waitress and I love baking.

I taught the girls how to bake cakes!

This all sounded so perfect to me! Its like this center was made for me… or so I thought. When I got here the first thing I was asked to do was help with the finances. I am not an accountant by any means, but I like to think I’m pretty good with budgeting and keeping track of where money is coming from and going to. However, there were no books, no records of any kind, and it was very hard for me to even start to figure out where the money was. I started to make some small suggestions- a cash drawer, a written record of everything, etc. But with the language barrier and the fact that what I was asking was very unusual and confusing- the message didn’t really get across. 

Students figuring out Selfies

So, I thought, well ill just try to hang out and whenever any money gets handled, try to personally keep a record until I’ve built it up enough to show the head sister what I meant. It didn’t take me long to realize that would take a very long time and there were so many things going on that I couldn’t even figure out and that I wasn’t in the loop on most things. 

I was trying to figure out what to do next, when the head sister at the center told me we have to figure out a proposal on how we are going to make money asap because we were supposed to meet with the head sister of the whole order the next day and have it all ready. At this point, that was the first I had heard of this so my initial reaction was to suggest the opening of the pharmacy and bakery. It was then that I was informed the Sister who heads the whole order wanted to take those over to fund the order, not our center, and we had to come up with a textiles only solution. Something that the girls could sew or make that we could sell for a profit. a

Life Values Lesson

School uniforms are big here- everyone has to wear a uniform at all the schools. So some previous missioners has suggested we make the sweaters for the uniforms. Well, apparently the cost of the yarn is more than what you can sell the sweaters for so that option was out. At that point I was at a loss for ideas so I texted one of our other missioners in mwanza who has done similar work in her ministry, she suggested that first we have to come up with a real goal of the center and program for the girls here instead of focusing on the money first. Which, was a great idea but that still didn’t solve the proposal we needed by the next day. So, I called my boss and asked if he had any grand suggestions- he said we should propose to make the center into a real technical school- with school fees. I knew none of the girls would be able to pay- that’s why they’re at the center in the first place; but I thought maybe we could get donors to support each girl and it could work. 

Embrodary class at Rosemiriam Dagg

So, I brought all these new ideas to the head sister and she said none of them would work. I was at a loss. I had no idea how to proceed. I still don’t know what to do on that issue and how the center is going to make money, but after that they haven’t really asked me for any more help in the finances- instead they asked me to start teaching the girls English. 

English Tutoring at my House

I am not by any means a teacher- I don’t really know how to write lesson plans or anything like that, but there are a lot of books here so (at least for right now) I am just going to follow the text book and try to make it fun. Another challenging part of that is that the girls are at a whole bunch of different levels- one girl can read the Bible in English and another girl asked me the difference between have and has. Another challenge is that well over half the girls are deaf. I am not sure how this will go, but I will be trying my best, and I’m sure after a while I will get into a groove- but if you have any helpful hits do not hesitate to send them my way!

I am also teaching a PE sort of class after English to the girls. Its just a half hour of ‘lets get up and move around a bit’ type of thing, but I’ve really been enjoying that! So far its mostly Zumba style dancing (I don’t think I’ve met a Tanzanian who doesn’t like dancing yet) with a little yoga and body weight exercising worked in. 

Working with the Elderly Sisters

Sr. Lucy won Musical Toss

I have also started doing some work with the elderly sisters in the local order. They are so much fun! So far, our schedule is exercising three days a week (this also is a lot of dancing and some yoga moves, but also just basic walking or stepping in place and chair yoga for those who can’t stand for too long) and one day a week we have a ‘social evening’ which is playing games and chatting, but also brain stimulating. We have a book club as part of it and some of the games are a bit challenging- we play things like sudoku and word finds. But we also play just fun games like musical toss (like musical chairs but you just toss a ball instead of having to get up and walk around) and they LOVE snakes and ladders. 

Working with the Novitiates 

I was also asked to start exercising with the novitiates. I haven’t started this yet but I am very much looking forward to it! They seem like a very fun and energetic group of girls! They also have a library that hasn’t been used in a long time. Ive been asked to help make an inventory of the books and organize it from a storage room of books to a easily accessible library with logical sorting and alphabetizing. I think this will be a great project for me and the novitiates and it will be fun to get to know them in the process. I have been asked to converse with them in English to help them with their skills, but not formally teach them so far.

My First Tanzanian Rainbow!

All in all

I definitely had a slow start when I got to Musoma but now I have so much to do and to plan for and to look forward to! I’m very excited to see where the next three years take me and how I can make my impact on the people here and the lives that will touch mine. I never felt like I didn’t belong here, but now I know what (at least the beginning of) my journey will look like. <3