Sunday, July 21, 2013

Day Four Under a Tin Roof!

Happy sharing her story!
After spending a few days getting to know this close, beautiful family one thing is clear, Monika is not the average single mother. She has so much help and support from her three oldest children, Happy, Rosemary and Jennifer.  In Tanzania girls take on responsibility at a very young age. They begin helping with the housework around 8 or 9 years old and sometimes even younger. Their chances of education depend on the financial situation of the family and many never pass Primary School (7th grade). They know there is no money for them to continue school and their load of work at home often becomes too much to study and do well at school. Their future is finding a husband and having children. This is not the case with Monika's children. Monika has struggled to keep her girls in school. Although they are a huge help around the house they still study hard and hope for an opportunity at College.

I spoke with Happy to hear her story. Happy, the oldest is waiting to go to College. At 18 years old she has not only finished Secondary School but she has passed her exams. This is rare for a girl in her situation. The problem is there is no money to send her. Even though Monika has worked hard learning the skill of beading and sewing she doesn't make enough to send Happy for the 2 and a half years it's required to get her degree which is only $2,000. And so Happy waits. She is waiting for a miracle. Maybe help from another family member or the off chance her mother will find enough money so she can go. Most likely Happy will have to find another way to make her way in the world. My fear is that she will see that finding a man and having a baby is her only option and settle for that. A young girl sees marriage as a chance to change her status in this culture. Right now she is nothing, or so she feels. With no husband and no children and being a girl she is as low on the social scale as she can be in the eyes of her community.

This story is so common. When I mee
t and interview the women that come into our program I often hear how they thought marrying a man and having his child would make their life have meaning, that they would be something, if only a mother and a wife. Most of these women are left abandoned with out any way to support their child. The husband leaves or wanders coming in and out of their lives. This story is so common and so sad and yet at Shining a Light we are breaking that cycle. We are providing opportunities for women to support their families and change their future.

Happy has hope right now. A hope of making something better then her mother had and someday supporting her younger sisters to attend school. We will continue to search for a path that her mother can afford and a path that can further her younger siblings in life. She has two more sisters that are doing awesome in school and will one day need to decide where and how they will spend their future. Happy wishes to be a role model and Shining a Light is determined to assist her in making a way and changing the fate that so many of the Tanzanian women face.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Day Three Under a Tin Roof!

Jennifer helping with laundry
I follow Monika home with Elisha, here youngest running behind. I am expecting the same routine as all the other days and wondering how these women can live day in and day out doing the same thing over and over. But today is not the same. We don't start preparing dinner right away. Instead we start doing laundry and everyone helps. One of the things that brings me some peace is that Monika is never alone in her work of managing this large family. Her 3 oldest daughters, Happy 18, Rosemary 16 and Jennifer 14, all help. Without even being asked! Such a heavy work load is not for one but shared by 4 and their relationship is a marvel to watch. They are family for sure but what is so interesting is that they are friends too. No sister squabbles and no rebukes from mother. It's as if the know their mother needs them as much as they need her.
Washing clothes

Monika teaching Rosemary to bead
We wash clothes together and it's not a chore. There is laughter and singing and telling stories. After the wash is finished Monika pulls out a little stool and table and begins beading sandals. She's not taking her work home, she's not doing this to get ahead at our training center. She is making sandals to sell to earn extra money while she trains with us. Not only that but she is also teaching her daughters the skill. She is passing it on and empowering them. Our goal at Shining a Light is to create a woman who not only gets empowered but empowers someone else too.

After it gets too dark to bead we move inside under the light of a lantern. Today I have brought coloring books and crayons which breaks up the routine of just sitting and waiting for dinner. All the kids, even the cousins cram in the little room to color. Even Happy the 18 year old joins in and we make a contest out of it. Each one trying their hardest to stay in the lines and make their picture the best. Every one of them constantly asking of my approval.

Monika is in the other room preparing a traditional Maasai meal. It's beans and corn mixed together and by far the easiest to prepare and the yummiest yet! After dinner we sit by the light of the lantern and Happy reads from the Bible. Some are doing their homework but as we read the story of Daniel in the Lions Den not one peep is made. After the Bible story we all crawl into bed. There are four of us in mine. No room to spread out and no room to toss and turn but it's warm and cozy and we are all grateful for another day!

Jennifer Beading
In the morning we all start at 6:00. I wake to hear Monika praying, something she does each and every morning before leaving the bed. Her life is hard but her Faith is huge! I am blessed to be apart of this family this week.

The coloring contest by lantern
Over the past few days I have talked separately with some of these family members (some are too shy to talk). I hear about their struggles and their fears for the future. I will be sharing these stories over the next few days. One thing is sure. They have hope because of what Shining a Light is doing for their mother and for their family. This is only possible because of all of you back in the states and your amazing generosity!






Thank you from Me and the Lewanga Family (Monika, Happy, Rosemary, Jennifer, Vincent and Elisha)

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Day Two Under a Tin Roof!

Monika's kitchen/bedroom/storage room
Helping Elisha with his Homework
If I thought each and everyday was the same for these women I was wrong and pleasantly surprised that they do have some variety in their lives.  Yesterday Monika began preparing our dinner while home on lunch break. I was expecting another piece of bread and tea for lunch but I was served a hot meal instead. Happy is Monika's 18 year old daughter and had been home preparing our lunch.  Happy is waiting to go to college if they can find the funds. Monika has 5 children and each one has the hopes of passing primary school, passing secondary school and then heading on to college.  Funds are tight with Monika with no husband and 5 children but they have huge faith in God that he will provide.

Gorgeous Monika preparing corn!
We came home for lunch with the youngest, Elisha and were greeted by a meal of Dega. Now, I have been here for 5 years and have avoided this meal of tiny, TINY fish the entire time. They sell it in plastic bags that sit on the shelf for months before sold and I have always been extremely afraid to try it for obvious reasons. But I am spending the week trying new things and trying my hardest to live like a Tanzanian so I could not refuse (oh I forgot to write that I ate cow intestines the night before and survived).  Although I would never seek this meal out again, it was hot, filling and prepared with love by Happy so how could I not be grateful?

After lunch it was time to get Elisha (the baby, 3 and a half) dressed in his play clothes and off to the day care center for the afternoon. Monika began to prepare for dinner by getting the corn ready and so she would have time for others things after work. I guess I will find out what those are this evening.

Elisha getting his play clothes on!
I want to say that I have been talking with Monika for the past two days and her life is Hard! Hard doesn't even describe it. She has been training with Shining a Light for two years now. She knows how to bead, she is learning English, she does our inventory at the shop and she is developing business skills but she stills struggles to survive. With 5 kids all planning on college she must figure out a way to make a living and a good one at that. Hanging out with her this week is doing exactly what I had hoped. It's helping us figure out new ways to help these women. It's bringing new ideas to mind of how to help them set up business and market their products. We are figuring out where they are still struggling and what we as a program can improve on. It's exciting to have break throughs and develop ways to excel!

Looking forward to sharing more soon!
Lunch of tiny TINY fish

Monday, July 15, 2013

Day One Under a Tin Roof!

Although I feel called to Tanzania and I have lived here for over five years I have never Slept in a house with no electricity and no running water. I have never shared a bed with 3 other people and I have never washed dishes at 6:30 in the morning while squatting down because there are no chairs.

Yesterday I was welcomed into the home of Monika Lewanga, one of the Shining a Light students and was able to finally, after all these years witness first hand the every day life of a Tanzanian woman.

The pictures shown here are what greeted me as I approached her home. I wasn't prepared for all the green lush property that Monika inherited from her family. Her neighbors are her brothers and sisters that all live in harmony and care for each other and each other's children.  Our first task arriving home is getting dinner prepared. Although we start this job at 5:00pm because of the lack of a kitchen, running water and ample counter space our meal will not be ready until 8:00 or 9:00 that night.  We purchase local beef, veggies and charcoal to start the preparations.  After walking through the village gathering all  the ingredients we begin chopping wood to boil water for the kid's bath (she has five children ages 3 thru 18).  After the water is prepared we begin to clean the vegetables and cutting them. As I said there is no kitchen, no counter space and no cutting board. We cut these vegetables with a knife squatting down, hovering over the pot. The sun begins to go down at 6:30 so we move everything into the house. There is a portable stove that uses kerosene and a portable stove that uses charcoal. These are both moved inside to cook the beef and vegetables in a stew and to start preparing the ugali. Ugali is a Tanzanian staple made with corn flour that they make into a porridge in the morning and drink and at night they prepare so that is stiffens into what they call a stiff porridge. The porridge is scooped on to your plate and does not have much taste. The taste comes after you break off a chunk, roll it into a ball in your palm and dip it in your beef/vegetable stew, taking on that flavor while also filling your belly.

After dinner it is now 9:00pm. I have sat with all the children alternating back and forth from the sitting room to the make shift kitchen slash bedroom to help cook. Where we have brought the portable stoves inside to finish making the food under the light of kerosene lamps is also two beds, piles of dishes and kitchen ware, boxes of clothing and any other item the family needs to store. In the sitting room are Monika's 3 youngest children plus about 3 or 4 more cousins from next door. We sing songs and have a snorting contest, yep, a sorting contest which makes them all break out in hysterical laughter. Those children all stay for dinner. Monika has barely enough to feed her family but no one will go hungry at her home. I imagine that when her children visit their aunts and uncles next door they get a hot meal too.  No matter what is available there is always enough for one more.

After dinner it's time for bed. There is no TV or any other form of entertainment (well maybe me this week) so we all pile into the few beds that are around.  I crawl in bed with Elisha the 3 year old , Vincent the 10 year old and Monika herself and within minutes a soft snoring takes over the small house.



This morning we wake at 6:30. Everyone is busy dressing and brushing their teeth. I help wash the dishes from last night's dinner that we will use later on tonight. Tea with loads of sugar and a small donut called mandazi is served and then everyone departs for school or work.

This experience is way outside of my box for those of you who know me. I was pleasantly surprised by the warmth and welcome I received, by the hospitality of those with nothing and by the comfort of a mud hut, lumpy mattress and dirt floors. I look forward to the remainder of the week with Monika's family.