Travelling and Sharing

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.