Dramas and Pets and Sickness

In Kimande

Living in Kimande has been so fun!  Louisa and I love playing there. We have lots of friends now. There is a baby donkey that I have stroked. I love him!  The stoves group is going well, all the stoves people seem to enjoy it! We have the bible study and meeting first, and then we go to make stoves. I have made lots of pots. I really like Baba and Mama, the older couple from Itunundu. They gave us a big sack of rice, a bag of peanuts and a beautiful shell! They are very kind. We have been to their house twice now, and both times they have given us mandazis ( which is a bit like a donut) and chai! We invited them back to town last week and got them some glasses  so now they can see better and read their Bible. 

Louisa in the rice bags!

Getting the bricks for the stoves group kiln

 Our Nutrition Drama

In one of the stove group meetings, we did a little play about all the different food groups (protein, wanga (carbohydrates), fruits and vegetables and sugars/fat).The story was about a man who wanted a good place to live. This represents how we want good healthy bodies. In this story, the house is like your body.

There was once a man who wanted a house. He thought about what he would need. “Aha! I need some bricks.” And off he went to get some bricks. Brick after brick the house grew. Finally it was done. The bricks are like protein, they are a good foundation and make you strong.

The man thought again. “I now need firewood to make a fire to keep me warm and to cook my food and boil my water.” So he went to find some firewood. When he returned he made his fire and cooked and kept warm. The wood is like the energy we need, the carbohydrates. After all his work, he was tired and needed a rest. So he lay down and fell asleep.  While he was sleeping a thief was creeping along. The thief went in the house and stole some things. Then he crept silently away.




Sleeping before the thief came

When the man woke up, he found his things were stolen and was upset. He thought. What could he do to stop the thief coming again?

"I know! I'll buy a lock!" he said. So he went and bought a lock.

"Now I can rest I peace!" The next night the thief crept silently to the house. Finally he reached the house and fumbled at the lock. But he couldn't get in. Annoyed, he ran off into the night. The thief is like disease, you  don't want it to enter your body.  The lock is like fruit and vegetables with vitamins and minerals that protect our body.

Finally, the man decided that he needed a light to work in the evening. He just needed a small light to read by. So he went and bought a candle which was just right! The candle is like the fats and sugars which we only need a little bit of to give us a little bit of energy. 



Candle (fats and sugars)

And that is the story of the man who had a good place to live. And that is why all the different foods are so important for our bodies! 

 

(I was the man and Louisa was the thief and she also did all the signs. We also both helped to hand out pictures of all the different foods and helped people to stick them under the right heading.

 

Pictures of protein carbohydrates



Pets

Remember we had some baby bunnies born? Four of the bunnies were darkish and one was lighter. But sadly they all died when we were in the village. Moab, our guard said that they were all scattered around the hutch. LAlso sadly, this morning we found one of our pussy cats dead. She was poorly and although the vet came to try and help her, she died. Now we only have Kettle left.

But happy news is that Andy and Angela have a new puppy. Today I went to Andy and Angela' s to wash him! He his so cute! He is creamy white and has beige ears! I love him so much! He really likes me too, and always follows me!

Sickness

Louisa is now very sick. We took her to the hospital and the doctor said she has amoebiasis. She keeps throwing up and has dirarrhea and has a very bad tummy.  

Teasing Mr Crocodile, "You can't catch me!"

TODAY'S NEWS!

Our rabbit gave birth to 5 baby rabbits! I have been waiting for a long time for baby bunnies to arrive!

We found out that Elly (our guard) had been to feed the rabbits at 10 o clock last night and saw that the babies had been born. It' s good news they survived the night! If they are alive tomorrow there is a good chance they will survive, unless the dogs get them.😢

River Fishing!

When we were in Kimunde, we went fishing! We have to walk across the football pitch and down a path through thornbushes. Then you can see a line of green, where the river is. When you get to the green, it is amazing. Our friend, Mama Sungura has a huge garden there. Find out why we call her Mama Sungura by looking at the Swahili page to see what Sungura means! Her real name is Mama Kristina! In her garden, she grows lots things like eggplant, spinach, papaya, bananas, and tomatoes. We go through the garden to get to a good fishing point.



Can you see where the river is?

We fished the Tanzanian way. We asked Mum for her headscarf and used it to catch the fish. They also use khangas (the cloth that ladies wear as a skirt). We got in the river and held the corners of the khanga and gently pushed it into all the weeds on the side. Louisa thrashed the weeds with her stick. All the fish in that area (if there are any) then swim into the khanga. Then we quickly pulled up the khanga and let all the water drain out. Then we opened it up to see if there were any fish. Salma wore a khanga in a special position so that it makes a pouch that she could put all the fish in. We just went along the edges of the river where we caught small fish. The first day we went with Salma and Ellis. We caught sixteen small fish that time! We got two dagaa (that smelly small type of fish people sell in the market) and fourteen of another type. (I can’t remember the name!) The second time we went, we went with Salma again as well as Diana. We caught about fourteen little fish (about five dagaa) and one big one!! We also caught a snake which made us all have a little panic and splash back to shore in a hurry. But it was a little water snake and Salma said it wasn’t a bad one.

We caught some!

Dagaa and a little fish

A big one! 

We took our fish back to Salma’s house and got the three stone fire going (they don’t have a fuel-efficient stove yet). We washed the fish. Cleaning the insides of the big fish was a bit gross. We put some oil and salt in a pan and then added all the little fish and the big one. We soaked some rice while they were cooking. We found an onion and two tomatoes in Salma’s house and prepared a sauce on another fire. And then we cooked the rice. When it was all ready we took a plate of the food to Mum and Dad to try. Then we all ate the rest of it. It was so much fun.

Cooking the fish

We found out afterwards from Mama Violet that there are crocodiles in that river! But we didn't see them and we didn't tease them ... and I’m glad they didn’t have me for tea.

These boys were using poles!

                                                                     

A Guided Tour of our House in Kimunde

While we were in Kimunde we thought we would do a video blog with the camera as we don't have a computer there! So watch here for a guided tour of where we live, our house in Kimunde.


Our House in Kimande, Tanzania from Rachel Monger on Vimeo.

If you have questions about what it is like where we live or would like to see videos or photos of other things there, please email us or comment here on the blog to let us know and we'll come back soon with answers for you!