We got to Mwanza in time to see the sun set. The Mission house there is really nice and has a great view of Lake Victoria. It was good to see Tim and Joyce Jarvis and Intern Erica.
Monday morning we (the girls)went Mitumba shopping. Looking for second hand clothing and we found a lot in great shape. It is not as cheap as I can get it here in Arusha but it was fun getting to see the different places. The name of it was Mlango Moja, One door. The guys went to the Regional commissioners office to get a letter of visitation to the Albino school we were going to visit. The Jarvis's dog also had puppies so the kids were busy looking at the 4 day old pups. Erica who is Interning with them was so great with the kids. Nick had a meeting a the Bible school to talk about thier projects and ideas for helping out the school.
Tuesday, the Jarvis's were our tour guides as they took us all over their town. mwanza is the city of big boulders and blue pillars. It is very stunning to see such natural beauty.
At Lake Victoria's edge... If only there wasn't parasites in the water it would be swimmable.
climbing some boulders.
They took us by hotel Talapia to see one of the nicer places there. It had a really great swimming pool and nice spa. These cars are old just parked in front of the hotel. Next to it was their yacht club that was not what you think of when you hear yacht club! It had a few dingies in the water tied to a small wooden dock. Nothing like Dar's.
By the lake at hotel Talapia.
If you don't believe Lake Victoria has Bilharzia, just take a look at these snails that they are digging out of the lake... They crush these up and add them to chicken feed. The big stork like birds just hang around. Because there is so much fish coming out of the lake you can imagine how many birds are around mwanza.
MALIKA RESORT.
This beautiful resort is new and looks empty. It doesn't look like anything I have seen in Africa before. I thought it was pretty nice! We took a look around.
One of the first things we loved was the grass. We took off our shoes and walked on this natural carpet. So lush.
These condos are expensive. Probably had all the miners in mind when they were building it. It was just really cool. (Miners mine in Gata I think its 3 hours from mwanza town.)
Having a coffee and juice break. This hotel had a glass floor!
A really great plant. I love these kinds of trees.
Uncle Tim took the kids to the playground because they wanted to play. They had a trampoline and a ball room. This was kid heaven for an hour. :)
Mwanza Bible School.
The school looks good but could use a lot of help financially. We are trying to aid them in starting projects that can help them be self sustainable.
The kids showing off one of the many uses of Neem trees, they make great toothbrushes. The school just recently got 40 new mattresses.
Nick with Tim, head Principal Kienga, and some of the teachers. The office, the dinning hall, the classrooms and the bell. (I liked the bell.)
One of the projects Nick has wanted to implement in the bible schools is bread making. It was really great to see that Mwanza BS has started this project out of a barrel. They even made baking pans!! So cool.
These are the Jikos that several donors came together to help purchase these jiko's for the school.
Mwanza Bible school has a lot of land. There is no fence on it and this has become a huge problem. Squatters have settled on their land and built houses on it. The government says that if you want them to leave you need to buy their house from them, you cannot just kick them off your land. how crazy is that?!! Anyway so there a few people that are upset and Mwanza is very dense in witchcraft. We found this hanging in a tree on the property. It is Uchawi which is the name for whichcraft. We took it down and know that The Lord God is on our side, No power is greater than His!! The bible school has many project ideas many of which are very beneficial.
We both thought that the kids had done so well on this trip that we wanted them to enjoy a day having fun. So Wednesday morning we went back to Hotel Talapia and they went swimming. Nick and I both got a hair cut and I had a massage for 8 bucks for 30 mins!! It was the best one yet in Tanzania. We ate lunch then headed home to change to go visit the Albino school.
My three favoarte people in the whole wide world!!!
The School for the visually impaired. Recently Joyce Jarvis has really taken on the needs for albino children. I don't know if any of you have heard of how those children are used in witchcraft ceremonies but its really sad. This school protects them, its fenced and guarded. Just recently a large number of kids were removed to be taken to a secondary school and one had died, the kids there at this school had just found out and were in mourning. So it wasn't the greatest of days to go but we had brail paper for them and sunscreen. We got to talk to some of the kids for a little while.
Albinism is worldwide. In some countries they blend in more than others. But they have many problems, the have visual problems, could use glasses and sunglasses, skin cancer is a killer among them, they need hats and sunscreen. (Nick is working on a way to make sunscreen out here for them and then to teach the school how to make it too) Hopefully we can have wwk ladies make hats for these kids. If you feel a need to help out please let us know and we can see what we can do. Joyce and Tim Jarvis are working with this and would love any kind of donation for the kids they can get. Also any medical eye teams would be great!!
Lexxi and Ethan talking to the kids. They were very intrigued as they have never seen so many in one place before. Lexxi closed us in prayer, asking the Lord to protect His children and to bless them. Nick translated for her.
Our time in Mwanza was great. Tim and Joyce were such great hosts. Very friendly and honest people. The food was good and fellowship sweet. Thank you guys for hosting us!
