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| | Email this article • Print this article | Trip to Tanzania is life-changing adventure
by Leah Nell Peterson
"We went over thinking we would help them - and we did," Sara Otterness said of the mission trip to Tanzania. "But they helped us and changed us to be better people."
Sara and her husband John went with eight other people from Farmington Lutheran Church to their companion congregation in Idete in November. Both Sara and John are originally from Cannon Falls. She is the daughter of Chuck Widholm of Cannon Falls and Jan Zimmerman of Portland, Maine. He is the son of the late Harold Otterness and Alice Otterness Todd of Cannon Falls.
To reach Idete, the group had to travel over mountainous roads that were little more than cattle paths. "The scenery was some of the most beautiful I've ever seen," Sara said, "but up in the mountains, the driving was treacherous and scary!"
The group brought some things with them. Two industrial hand grinders for the people to grind their grain, handmade quilts, Bibles, children's Bibles, school supplies, toothbrushes and toothpaste, soccer balls and footballs - which, Sara thought, were probably the biggest hit.
They brought monetary contributions along and purchased six bikes (for the evangelists), 14 goats, and food items such as corn and grain. They also donated to the "Chicken program" which would allow the people to raise their own food and eventually earn money.
People of Idete
"The people were amazing," Sara said. "They were very gracious and happy and honored to have us there.
"We were late to the village, by about four hours because we didn't have a big enough truck to put our 14 goats in! But the people were still waiting at the end of the road to welcome us. They waved flowers and branches, chanted, and ran alongside of our truck.
"Right away, they fed us and while we ate they performed kettle dances for us and sang," she continued. "After we were done eating, we went out and danced with them - or tried - and sang too. Some of the songs we knew in Swahili. They were in a circle and the little kids were helping us with our dancing!"
During the welcoming celebration, the people gave gifts to their visitors..."kangas," African fabric wraps to the women and shirts to the men.
School in Idete
Farmington Lutheran Church and some of its members sponsor students in a secondary school in Idete, so they toured the school and found out what it needed. "They want to build a replacement dormitory," Sara said. "The one they have now looks like a chicken coop with slatted boards on the sides open to the elements with a grass roof. It houses 90 boys."
The government pays for school through the sixth grade. After that, it's considered secondary school. "It costs approximately $300 a year in our money and very few people there can afford to send their children," she explained. "Most of the students go on sponsorship from companion congregations such as ours, and help from missionaries."
The school has built a second classroom, but it needs a tin roof. Students made their own bricks for the building - that's part of their responsibility. They are expected to work at school with such jobs as making bricks, cleaning the grounds, and taking care of a garden.
Sara and John's group also toured the dispensary, or clinic, a satellite medical clinic of the larger health center in Iringa. The clinic was staffed by one 3-year-trained medical person, (the equivalent of a physician's assistant, who is called "doctor") and one nurse. "They usually see 20 to 25 patients a day," Sara explained. "The dispensary serves about 10 villages, so if people can't walk, they are carted in. Family or friends in their village put them in a cloth sling and tie it to a log that is carried on their shoulders."
4-hour church service
Sara and John's pastor, Pastor Dave Mesaros, led a church service and their group was treated as very honored guests. "About 400 people were there," Sara recalled. "They came from nearby preaching points, little spin-off churches from the larger church in Idete. And the service was four hours long!"
The people in Idete speak Swahili and so the assistant bishop for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT) acted as interpreter.
For the music, there were drums and singing. "It was the loudest and most beautiful singing I've ever heard. They put us to shame," Sara stated. "Many times the children led their songs, and if people felt like dancing during the service - they did."
Food
The group always had traditional African food everywhere they went. "For breakfast, we had 'chapati' - like fat fried lefse, fried dough that looked like doughnut holes, and 'samosoas' - like a fried meat pocket," Sara explained. "Most of the time they don't eat lunch. They eat dinner earlier in the evening, after coming in from the fields.
"For dinner, there was beans, rice, greens, and 'ugali' which is a grain paste with the consistency of play dough. They roll it in a ball, push the food (beans, rice, greens) into the middle of it and eat it.
"They use pumpkin greens most often and cook pumpkin flowers too," she continued. When we told them we let our pumpkins grow, they thought we were crazy!
"We always got meat such as chicken and goat, because we were honored guests but it's unusual for them to have meat. They drink water and tea. But the water isn't safe, so we drank bottled water."
Questions & answers
One evening the Idete and American women got together for a question and answer session.
"When we asked them, 'How do men fit into family life? Do they cook and help with the children?' they laughed and answered that they don't want their husbands doing housework but tending the gardens and raising animals.
"We asked them, 'What do you do to have such well-behaved children?' and they told us that the children are raised by the community, that everyone talks to them and reprimands them.
"The first question they asked us was - 'How far do you have to walk to gather your water?' When we said we were very blessed and had water in our home - they didn't understand the concept at all because they have to walk one mile three times a day to get water from a pump and carry the water back on their heads."
For Sara, the highlight of the trip was the people. "These people have nothing, but never did they complain or seem hostile," she said. "It's very humbling to be in an area where you're honored, you don't speak the language, and all they want to do is be with you and share their area.
"I brought back a deep passion to continue to help them."
John and Sara have two children Ashley, 11, and Dylan, 9. Sara's mother came from Maine to be with the kids while they were gone. "We were unreachable, so I had to have someone take charge," Sara said.
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