Friday, February 6, 2009
We did the BIG 5 on Safari
Friday, January 23 through the 25th we were on safari. Two nights, three days, three different safari locations. What a welcome break from our exhausting schedule! STEMM people before us have learned of the need for the break and, even so, one should not go to Africa and fail to view God's animal kingdom up close if at all possible.
We learned that people from all over the world come to Africa just for the safari experience, and at least one criteria for success is to get to see (hopefully up close, but not necessarily) the following five animals: elephant, water buffalo, lion, leopard and the black rhino. You can count us in the distinct group of safari participants that DID achieve the BIG 5! The elephant, water buffalo and even the lion are readily viewed most of the time. The two that are often missing from view are the black rhino and more scarcely, the leopard.
Our first day we visited the Tarangire National Park, where we very quickly saw zebras, and excitedly took a whole bunch of pictures. Little did we know that we were to see hundreds, if not thousands of zebras, and even had them blocking our vehicle and surrounding us so that we could almost touch them. Naturally, more and better pictures were the result!
Then, to our suprise we saw a couple giraffe walk across the road in front of us. Seeing them up close in their natural habitat beats a zoo any day. We saw more later but not in large quantities.
Water buffalo were fairly numerous but I don't remember ever getting very close to them.
Other animals, and this list is probably not complete, that we saw were the hyena, wildebeests, a small deer like animal called a "dik-dik", the ibis, hippos, many monkeys and baboons. On a couple occasions we were surrounded by monkeys and baboons and laughed at their antics up close. We also saw many very different and beautiful African birds, some small and some quite large.
We had two very unique experiences with lions. On one occasion we saw a female lion and a couple cubs feeding on a wildebeest that they had killed for food. That was interesting enough, but as we watched, along came a huge male lion, walking casually about 40 feet in front of us, and when directly in front of us, he decided to relieve himself. Our guide said in all his experience as a safari guide, he had never seen that before. The big lion then walked up to the others who were feeding and laid down to rest. It was obvious that he had had his fill earlier and now it was the female and the cubs turn to eat.
The other lion experience was when we saw a female lion stalking prey for a kill. It had seen three zebras, two adults and a young one, who had seperated from a large herd. The lion hunkered down motionless, and at intervals would slowly creep closer to the zebras. Then, in a great burst of speed, it ran toward the zebras, the zebras saw her and started running away. This took place in a very large meadow area, so we saw the entire chase. After chasing for several minutes, the lion gave up and simply stopped running. Knowing they were out of danger, the zebras quickly stopped as well, and to my surprise, immediately started grazing again as if nothing had happened. While that lion didn't succeed on that chase, one can pretty well bet that it would get its dinner before too long.
We also visited the Ngorongoro Conservation area, part of which is a huge sunken crater from a long ago active volcano. It is about 13 miles in diameter and about 4000 meters below the surrounding area. It is in this crater that exists a huge quantity of animals, and it was here that safari viewing was at it's best. The floor of the crater is a huge open meadow with a lake and water holes. It was here that we saw the lion chase the zebras.
While in the crater we saw a black rhino far away, became aware that he was slowly heading our way, so we waited. Sure enough, he eventually got quite close and crossed the road we were on immediately in front of us. All that's left of the big 5 is the leopard.
On out third day we visited the Lake Manyara National Park and it was here that we were surrounded by elephants, from a big bull to a bunch of little ones, all cooling off in a small stream. We counted 27 elephants in this herd.
I frankly cannot remember which of the last two areas we were in where we saw the leopard. Our eagle eye guide spotted him, laying on a branch of a not too nearby tree. I guess they hunt at night and it is not unusual to find them resting during the day in a tree. As hard as I looked, all I could see was a silouette and would never have quessed it was a leopard. However, looking through the binoculars, I could see the beautiful animal, and those with zoom lenses got some good pictures. Score one for the big 5!
I hope others of our group will post their experiences on safari, because there was a lot going on that I have not related.
While we welcomed the break in our busy schedule for a safari, we were also ready to get back in the missionary groove as we had a bridge to build. Missionaries are always building bridges, between different cultures, different beliefs, but we had a REAL bridge to build. Tomorrow I will post a blog about the bridge we built from my perspective.
In God's Love, Doug Wiley
We learned that people from all over the world come to Africa just for the safari experience, and at least one criteria for success is to get to see (hopefully up close, but not necessarily) the following five animals: elephant, water buffalo, lion, leopard and the black rhino. You can count us in the distinct group of safari participants that DID achieve the BIG 5! The elephant, water buffalo and even the lion are readily viewed most of the time. The two that are often missing from view are the black rhino and more scarcely, the leopard.
Our first day we visited the Tarangire National Park, where we very quickly saw zebras, and excitedly took a whole bunch of pictures. Little did we know that we were to see hundreds, if not thousands of zebras, and even had them blocking our vehicle and surrounding us so that we could almost touch them. Naturally, more and better pictures were the result!
Then, to our suprise we saw a couple giraffe walk across the road in front of us. Seeing them up close in their natural habitat beats a zoo any day. We saw more later but not in large quantities.
Water buffalo were fairly numerous but I don't remember ever getting very close to them.
Other animals, and this list is probably not complete, that we saw were the hyena, wildebeests, a small deer like animal called a "dik-dik", the ibis, hippos, many monkeys and baboons. On a couple occasions we were surrounded by monkeys and baboons and laughed at their antics up close. We also saw many very different and beautiful African birds, some small and some quite large.
We had two very unique experiences with lions. On one occasion we saw a female lion and a couple cubs feeding on a wildebeest that they had killed for food. That was interesting enough, but as we watched, along came a huge male lion, walking casually about 40 feet in front of us, and when directly in front of us, he decided to relieve himself. Our guide said in all his experience as a safari guide, he had never seen that before. The big lion then walked up to the others who were feeding and laid down to rest. It was obvious that he had had his fill earlier and now it was the female and the cubs turn to eat.
The other lion experience was when we saw a female lion stalking prey for a kill. It had seen three zebras, two adults and a young one, who had seperated from a large herd. The lion hunkered down motionless, and at intervals would slowly creep closer to the zebras. Then, in a great burst of speed, it ran toward the zebras, the zebras saw her and started running away. This took place in a very large meadow area, so we saw the entire chase. After chasing for several minutes, the lion gave up and simply stopped running. Knowing they were out of danger, the zebras quickly stopped as well, and to my surprise, immediately started grazing again as if nothing had happened. While that lion didn't succeed on that chase, one can pretty well bet that it would get its dinner before too long.
We also visited the Ngorongoro Conservation area, part of which is a huge sunken crater from a long ago active volcano. It is about 13 miles in diameter and about 4000 meters below the surrounding area. It is in this crater that exists a huge quantity of animals, and it was here that safari viewing was at it's best. The floor of the crater is a huge open meadow with a lake and water holes. It was here that we saw the lion chase the zebras.
While in the crater we saw a black rhino far away, became aware that he was slowly heading our way, so we waited. Sure enough, he eventually got quite close and crossed the road we were on immediately in front of us. All that's left of the big 5 is the leopard.
On out third day we visited the Lake Manyara National Park and it was here that we were surrounded by elephants, from a big bull to a bunch of little ones, all cooling off in a small stream. We counted 27 elephants in this herd.
I frankly cannot remember which of the last two areas we were in where we saw the leopard. Our eagle eye guide spotted him, laying on a branch of a not too nearby tree. I guess they hunt at night and it is not unusual to find them resting during the day in a tree. As hard as I looked, all I could see was a silouette and would never have quessed it was a leopard. However, looking through the binoculars, I could see the beautiful animal, and those with zoom lenses got some good pictures. Score one for the big 5!
I hope others of our group will post their experiences on safari, because there was a lot going on that I have not related.
While we welcomed the break in our busy schedule for a safari, we were also ready to get back in the missionary groove as we had a bridge to build. Missionaries are always building bridges, between different cultures, different beliefs, but we had a REAL bridge to build. Tomorrow I will post a blog about the bridge we built from my perspective.
In God's Love, Doug Wiley
Thursday, February 5, 2009
I'm home from TZ and ready to Blog for the first time
Hello, everyone. I have finally got over my jet lag having arrived home safely on 2/2/09. It's now 2/5 and all I can think of is our incredibe experience in Tanzania. I didn't blog while there because we were, frankly, too busy and other things came first, which is God's work.
First of all, let me say we had an incredible team of people, all of whom put God's work first and not a one faltered in being totally involved in what we did. The team was divided into a medical group and Bonnie and I were in the "orphanage" or "grunt" group. I'll let the medical group report their experiences, except to say that when we visited Selion hospital it was so unlike an American hospital that it blew my mind. Poorly organized, dirty linens on beds with patients that were so terribly sick. I'm sure the nurses are dedicated, but thay have so little to work with, so backward in their teckniques and so ill staffed. At one point we became aware that the hospital had exhusted its supply of medications. It had NONE!
A word or two about Tanzania: It is summer there, 5 degrees below the equater. Sun is intense, temps were 95 to 100. People are everywhere, traffic is crazy, roads are terrible! People don't shop like we do. No Walmart! The streets are lined with vendors selling everything imaginable. Hawkers trying to sell their wares drive you crazy if you let them. All you can do is ignore them, yet they are still in your face.
We visited two orphanages, Humura, far from civilization, incredible poor, but the kids were terrific. Oh, if we could only be so happy, so satisfied if we had NOTHING! We brought them schoool supplies, blankets, toys, stuffed animals and bought them a 6 month supply of food. We sang for them, they sang beautifully for us and we prayed together. What an experience! There are kids that have been abandoned, parents have died, mostly of aids, and if they weren't at Humura, they would be street kids, surviving however they could. One of the boys was the one in the DVD that lived in a tree. He is a bright, lovable guy and will, God willing, grow up to be a substantial adult.
The other orphanage was called "New Paradice" where we tore down their old crummy kitchen and built them a new one in two days. A kitchen to them is simply an area that is walled, a dirt floor, where they cook in pots on a fire as they squat to tend it. The old one was black with soot, walls covered with creosote from the fire and NOTHING else. Now they have a new structure, a bench and a shelf. The old one had a "roof" if you could call it that, which leaked so bad they could not cook when it rained. Now they have a secure area with a corregated metal roof , that does not leak!! The ladies were so grateful for their new kitchen, that they cried and we cried with them. The kids, again, were wonderful, so innocent, they don't know how poor they are and how little thay have. We gave them school supples, stuffed animals, sunglasses and bought them six months of food also. Food consisted of rice, corn, beans, vegetables and we also included both personal soap and cleaning soap. Again, we prayed with them, we sang hymns with them and they insisted on cooking a meal for us in their new kitchen. It is amazing the meal they prepared for us. As you guess, there was no way we could refuse their invitation and it was very special to break bread with them. Hugs all around when we left and they all wanted to know when we would come back.
Enough for now, tomorrow I'll relate our experience on safari.
In God's love, Doug Wiley
First of all, let me say we had an incredible team of people, all of whom put God's work first and not a one faltered in being totally involved in what we did. The team was divided into a medical group and Bonnie and I were in the "orphanage" or "grunt" group. I'll let the medical group report their experiences, except to say that when we visited Selion hospital it was so unlike an American hospital that it blew my mind. Poorly organized, dirty linens on beds with patients that were so terribly sick. I'm sure the nurses are dedicated, but thay have so little to work with, so backward in their teckniques and so ill staffed. At one point we became aware that the hospital had exhusted its supply of medications. It had NONE!
A word or two about Tanzania: It is summer there, 5 degrees below the equater. Sun is intense, temps were 95 to 100. People are everywhere, traffic is crazy, roads are terrible! People don't shop like we do. No Walmart! The streets are lined with vendors selling everything imaginable. Hawkers trying to sell their wares drive you crazy if you let them. All you can do is ignore them, yet they are still in your face.
We visited two orphanages, Humura, far from civilization, incredible poor, but the kids were terrific. Oh, if we could only be so happy, so satisfied if we had NOTHING! We brought them schoool supplies, blankets, toys, stuffed animals and bought them a 6 month supply of food. We sang for them, they sang beautifully for us and we prayed together. What an experience! There are kids that have been abandoned, parents have died, mostly of aids, and if they weren't at Humura, they would be street kids, surviving however they could. One of the boys was the one in the DVD that lived in a tree. He is a bright, lovable guy and will, God willing, grow up to be a substantial adult.
The other orphanage was called "New Paradice" where we tore down their old crummy kitchen and built them a new one in two days. A kitchen to them is simply an area that is walled, a dirt floor, where they cook in pots on a fire as they squat to tend it. The old one was black with soot, walls covered with creosote from the fire and NOTHING else. Now they have a new structure, a bench and a shelf. The old one had a "roof" if you could call it that, which leaked so bad they could not cook when it rained. Now they have a secure area with a corregated metal roof , that does not leak!! The ladies were so grateful for their new kitchen, that they cried and we cried with them. The kids, again, were wonderful, so innocent, they don't know how poor they are and how little thay have. We gave them school supples, stuffed animals, sunglasses and bought them six months of food also. Food consisted of rice, corn, beans, vegetables and we also included both personal soap and cleaning soap. Again, we prayed with them, we sang hymns with them and they insisted on cooking a meal for us in their new kitchen. It is amazing the meal they prepared for us. As you guess, there was no way we could refuse their invitation and it was very special to break bread with them. Hugs all around when we left and they all wanted to know when we would come back.
Enough for now, tomorrow I'll relate our experience on safari.
In God's love, Doug Wiley
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Update from TZ
Slowly but surely we are getting things moving here. Access to internet is sometimes challenging. We'll try to give you a quick update of what we've been doing over the past week. (Hard to believe it's been almost a week, but we've seen and done so much.)
The countryside here is absolutely beautiful. I was traveling around the Masai country one day and when I looked at the hillside and mountains, I saw Masai herders draped in traditional garb walking with their herds of goats and cattle - just like National Geographic.
Last Saturday, most of our team went to the orphanage at Huruma. We toured the facility (a long story), gave gifts to the children including quilts from Tom's church E Free. We all piled into the vehicles to take the children and staff out for a Tanzanian barbecue. These are very well behaved children.:-) Tom, Doug, and Wilson shopped for a 6 month supply of staple food for the orphanage. They purchased about $500 worth of food 14 children and this lasts them about 6 months.
This past Monday and Tuesday, the orphanage team built a new outdoor kitchen for the children and staff at New Paradise Orphanage. This orphanage is located within the city of Arusha while Huruma is situated more on the outskirts. The new kitchen is probably similar to what US residents may call a summer kitchen except that the cook in this outdoor kitchen squats on the ground to cook over an open fire. The team totally demolished the old kitchen and constructed the new one under the direction of fundi (Swahili for carpenter) Rich. This completed project brought tears of joy to Mama Gayle and a number of orphanage team members.
On Thursday, many of the STEMM team members went with Wilson to an outdoor food market to buy food for the children of New Paradise. This is a huge market and nothing like what we've seen in Spirit Lake or the Twin Cities. We purchased staples and some fresh vegetables for them and then delivered.
The medical team has been busy, some of us learning more than helping. A number of us had the opportunity to make home visits with the Hospice Team from Selian. Patients are living in their homes with assistance from local volunteers. We are learning the value of community. Many of the patients on the hospice caseload are HIV. The fabulous STEMM team donated over $240 to buy food for hospice patients - no subsidized food programs for the poor here.
Dr. John Sinnot gave a presentation to medical staff and others on Wednesday re: rheumatoid arthritis and the success he has had in treating it. It was very well received with many good questions from participants.
Of course, Dr. Steve is doing surgeries on children with deformities who otherwise would not have any corrections to their orthopedic problems. A number of us have been able to observe him at work - both with the children pre- and post-op - as well as the surgery itself. Mike, John, and Rachel have helped Steve in the OR. The facilities at old Selian do not compare to what we know in Sioux City, Spirit Lake, etc. More later.
This afternoon we motored to Masai country and saw the STEMM students at the New Life School. This school is providing "free" education to Masai children, and we are especially greatful that girls are included in this school. Historically girls are not allowed to acquire an education. Through this program and the slow change in Masai cultural norms, young women are being educated and encouraged to pursue their dreams.
This has been quite an experience for all us, each probably experiencing something totally different from everyone else. We are growing personally, spiritually, and as a team. We are all in awe of the joy that the people we have met experience as part of their entire life despite poverty and illness.
A final brief note about Wilson's church which is located in one of the poorest parts of this city. Words cannot describe the enthusiasm with which these members worship their Lord in song, prayer, and dance. We look forward to another session at this church. We are treated so well in spite of our stiff white-ness.
Friday we head out for three days of safari and marveling at God's creation.
The countryside here is absolutely beautiful. I was traveling around the Masai country one day and when I looked at the hillside and mountains, I saw Masai herders draped in traditional garb walking with their herds of goats and cattle - just like National Geographic.
Last Saturday, most of our team went to the orphanage at Huruma. We toured the facility (a long story), gave gifts to the children including quilts from Tom's church E Free. We all piled into the vehicles to take the children and staff out for a Tanzanian barbecue. These are very well behaved children.:-) Tom, Doug, and Wilson shopped for a 6 month supply of staple food for the orphanage. They purchased about $500 worth of food 14 children and this lasts them about 6 months.
This past Monday and Tuesday, the orphanage team built a new outdoor kitchen for the children and staff at New Paradise Orphanage. This orphanage is located within the city of Arusha while Huruma is situated more on the outskirts. The new kitchen is probably similar to what US residents may call a summer kitchen except that the cook in this outdoor kitchen squats on the ground to cook over an open fire. The team totally demolished the old kitchen and constructed the new one under the direction of fundi (Swahili for carpenter) Rich. This completed project brought tears of joy to Mama Gayle and a number of orphanage team members.
On Thursday, many of the STEMM team members went with Wilson to an outdoor food market to buy food for the children of New Paradise. This is a huge market and nothing like what we've seen in Spirit Lake or the Twin Cities. We purchased staples and some fresh vegetables for them and then delivered.
The medical team has been busy, some of us learning more than helping. A number of us had the opportunity to make home visits with the Hospice Team from Selian. Patients are living in their homes with assistance from local volunteers. We are learning the value of community. Many of the patients on the hospice caseload are HIV. The fabulous STEMM team donated over $240 to buy food for hospice patients - no subsidized food programs for the poor here.
Dr. John Sinnot gave a presentation to medical staff and others on Wednesday re: rheumatoid arthritis and the success he has had in treating it. It was very well received with many good questions from participants.
Of course, Dr. Steve is doing surgeries on children with deformities who otherwise would not have any corrections to their orthopedic problems. A number of us have been able to observe him at work - both with the children pre- and post-op - as well as the surgery itself. Mike, John, and Rachel have helped Steve in the OR. The facilities at old Selian do not compare to what we know in Sioux City, Spirit Lake, etc. More later.
This afternoon we motored to Masai country and saw the STEMM students at the New Life School. This school is providing "free" education to Masai children, and we are especially greatful that girls are included in this school. Historically girls are not allowed to acquire an education. Through this program and the slow change in Masai cultural norms, young women are being educated and encouraged to pursue their dreams.
This has been quite an experience for all us, each probably experiencing something totally different from everyone else. We are growing personally, spiritually, and as a team. We are all in awe of the joy that the people we have met experience as part of their entire life despite poverty and illness.
A final brief note about Wilson's church which is located in one of the poorest parts of this city. Words cannot describe the enthusiasm with which these members worship their Lord in song, prayer, and dance. We look forward to another session at this church. We are treated so well in spite of our stiff white-ness.
Friday we head out for three days of safari and marveling at God's creation.
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