Geyman Steps

A Year of Joy On Thursday the girls had their first birthday. The girls have had an exciting, event filled life as they have traveled countless hours by car, train, bajaji (motor tricycle), and plane. Through it all they have been a joy. Their is nothing like sweet, happy little people. They say that the first year with twins it the hardest but we are grateful to have survived mostly unscathed! There were times of tears, overwhelming exhaustion, and feeling like we were failing at the juggling act. However, we have found God's timing of giving us twins as an unexpected blessing. No other time in our lives so far have we been in such a good position to help each other, be at home often, and now kpp;l[98'-[-l;o0have help managing four under five years old. It has taught us a lot of patience and given us a fresh dose of joy each day... the smiles, the cuddles, the sweetness, the love and kisses. Two Personalities on the Move Their personalities are starting to unfold the...

As the new pilot for MAF Tanzania I was able to go on a medical outreach to the village of Gorimba for the first time last month. I was deeply impacted. Hundreds of mothers crowded in a line leading into a small room where I and a Tanzanian nurse sat to fill out paperwork (in Swahili) before these women and their children could be seen by the nurses and doctors. Sweat poured down their faces as they held their babies under the harsh sun, waiting for hours before it was their turn. They had already traveled far across the dusty bushland of Tanzania to get here. Flies buzzed around the babies' faces attempting to drink the moisture around their eyes and mouth. As sad as this is, they are used to it. The dust, the dry seasons, the hard manual labor, and the struggle to survive and raise a family. Life is harsh in the remote villages. A month had passed since that first experience, and we were scheduled for another clinic in Gorimba. I looked forward...

This blog post will be different than our normal posts, but we wanted to share with you one of the most common and most simple dishes to prepare here in Tanzania. It is eaten almost every day and is called mboga majani. Translated directly, it is called vegetable of leaves. Each family prepares this dish with slight variations. Joy agreed to let me video how her family likes it!  We made it with an equal amount of these two greens. I do not have the names of them in English but the small ones (as seen above) are a slightly bitter like kale.  The large leafy one (above) is slightly prickly and very similar to spinach or swiss chard. You can substitute any leafy greens! It will taste more like the one prepared here if you use at least one semi bitter green.  I only had one tomato today, but usually there are equal amounts of carrots and tomato. Some families also put in a bit of thick coconut milk when available.  All in all, the recipe is quit ...