Sunday January 10, 2016

Today we improvised as our original plans to visit an orphanage were postponed.  We made the most of our time.   This morning we learned a song in Swahili about “bringing hope to Africa.”  We discussed our faith during devotion and listened to Simon pray for us in Swahili. 

We were then given the task to go to the market and figure out how to feed a family of five with only 2,000 schillings (1 U.S. dollar).  This is what a Tanzanian living in the slum areas has to spend in one day.  We found the task to be very difficult and really could not imagine how to survive with this little bit of money.  Even if we were able to come up with a meal plan, this doesn’t represent the reality of sustaining this type of lifestyle on daily basis.  The meals we came up with mostly consisted of rice or flour, and did not include healthy fruits, vegetables or meat.  We also did not account for the tools needed to make the meals such as oil, charcoal, wood or water.

This experience really opened our eyes to the poverty and misfortune in this world.  We have to realize that we cannot solve what we perceive to be peoples hardships in the course of one trip.  However, we can hope to begin to understand how fortunate we are.  We forget to give thanks for clean water, food and electricity.  We take for granted a hot dinner every day.  This became clear as we tried to accomplish our task in the market today. 

We were very lucky to have lunch in Moshi.  The pizza was awesome! After this, we stopped by a local mall to do some shopping.  Our group was able to purchase gifts and souvenirs for our friends, family and loved ones.  The experience definitely lifted our spirits.  Once we were back at the hotel, we reflected upon and discussed our day.  We were again reminded of the privileged lives we live.  We could not buy dinner at the market as Tanzanians, but we could afford numerous items at the mall as Americans. 

Our day started with devotion about faith.  At the end of the day, we must have faith that God has a plan.  We may not understand why things are the way they are in the world, but we can have faith that God is watching over us all.  We can also live as Jesus instructed, loving and caring for one another regardless of race or socioeconomic status.

“Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”  John 13:34