Through the Eyes of a Child

We have a budding photographer in the family. Here are a few of Daniel’s recent pictures.

  

He especially likes taking pictures of his work.

Any guesses what this is?

Adventures in Cake Baking

We celebrated 12 years as a family this month. As we explained to the kids that we were celebrating that Mama and Daddy have been married for 12 years, Micah burst into tears and declared that he wanted to be married too!

In accordance with Halter family tradition in which any occasion is an opportunity to bake a chocolate cake, I decided that this would be a good time to bake our first cake in Tanzania. I would have baked it Sunday, which was our actual anniversary, but the power was out and our stove has an electric oven, so that was a no go.

On Monday afternoon, Daniel and I get to baking while Micah is napping. This is the first time I’ve baked a cake at high altitude and I can’t quite remember what the adjustments should be so we make it according to recipe directions. Except we don’t have a mixer so we mix it with an egg beater – which has been quite a handy tool for us here and I plan to acquire one for our own kitchen. It looks good enough. I usually do two round cake pans to make a layer cake, but we just have a 9×13 pan – no problem. We get the cake in the oven and in ten minutes the power goes out. Hmmm. We leave the cake in the oven to absorb the heat that is left, not having any idea when the power would be back on. And it sits there the rest of the day because the power doesn’t come back and it’s as good a place as any to leave a half-baked cake.

Meanwhile we start making frosting – again with the hand mixer. I decide to make half a batch of frosting since we’re just frosting the top of a 9×13 cake. I put in half the cocoa, half the sugar… and just as I pour in the last of the milk realize that I put in the whole amount of milk. Oops. Well, soft frosting it is. Just as we’re getting kids to bed, the power comes back on so the cake commenced its baking and actually turned out quite nicely! The next day we sat on the porch and shared cake and chai with the three workers who were there.

Rainy Day Fun

The rains are usually done by the end of May, but we’ve had several rainy mornings and the kids have enjoyed playing outside in the rain.

Exploring the lush environment.

Thinking about stepping out into the rain.

Letting the leaky gutter drip on his head.

This kid sure likes his umbrella.

Our Latest News

Our latest news is that we have officially been appointed as WorldVenture missionaries to Tanzania. We have started the process of training, preparing and building a partnership team and expect to head to Tanzania by late 2014. This has certainly been a longer process than we initially anticipated, but we know that we will be well prepared when we get there. One of the reasons we picked World Venture as a sending agency is that they do a phenomenal job caring for their missionaries. World Venture missionaries typically stay on the field for decades, so they’re definitely doing a lot of things well in the preparation, even if it takes a while!

Dave is still working with a great group of surgeons who are extremely supportive of our plans to move to Tanzania. They actually created this position for him last year and arranged it so that he’s getting surgical experience while also having the flexibility to do the training, traveling and other work necessary to prepare to move to TZ.

In other news, Micah is nearing 8 months old. He started crawling about 6 weeks ago and almost immediately started trying to climb things and pulling himself up on the furniture, the cat, our legs, etc! He is a very active and adventurous little guy and it’s fun to see him learning, growing and figuring out the world around him. Here are Daniel and Micah playing outside with water yesterday:

Looking Back, Looking Forward

We are home now after a wonderful two weeks in Tanzania and we want to take time now to share a little bit about our trip, what we’ve experienced and how God is leading us.

Our church has been studying Genesis for a while and we’ve been talking about Abraham – how God told him to leave his home and go to the place God would show him. As Dave shared with the church about our trip the Sunday before we left, he explained that God has been leading us toward Arusha, Tanzania and that this was the time for us to go to the land he’s been showing us.

As we prepared to leave, we were very excited to finally see the hospitals and surrounding area and meet the people we might be working with. Even as we traveled, it was almost unbelievable that we were really on our way!

In our first few days, we had some introduction to Arusha town and spent time at the town hospital (Arusha Lutheran Medical Center or ALMC). We had some orientation to the two hospitals and their history, mission and vision. As we heard more about it, it seems like we share a lot of common vision and ideals. We’re finding out that some of the things that drew us there on the surface are reflections of a deeper philosophy that certainly resonates with us. For example, it was very significant to us that there are three Tanzania surgeons there and not just a team of westerners. What we found once we were there is that the hospital leadership has been very intentionally building a Tanzanian hospital. They also described how the hospital is built on a foundation of African, rather than North American or European, theology and a little bit of what it looks like for the gospel to be relevant in the particular cultural context.

We also met most of the surgeons and heard a little of their stories and how they got to ALMC and Selian (the more rural sister hospital on the outskirts of Arusha.) Dave had a lot of opportunities the rest of the time we were there to operate with the general surgeons both at ALMC and at Selian. We were really impressed with the surgeons. They all seem very competent, kind and wise. They have a lot of experience and would be a great team to work with. They are all very interested in teaching, have a lot of experience with medical education and are very excited about the possibilities for training Tanzanian residents and perhaps residents from surrounding countries.

ALMC is a beautiful new hospital that opened in town in 2008. There was a need for a high quality hospital within the city to serve paying patients and patients with insurance (Many of these patients had been coming a ways out to Selian). The idea is that this facility will eventually help subsidize care to the poor at Selian and at other Lutheran medical outreaches.

During the second week, we went together out to Selian, the original semi-rural hospital that is currently run in collaboration with the government. This hospital has grown from a small clinic into a full size hospital over the last 30 years. Selian is what most people would imagine when they think of a rural mission hospital. After chapel, we visited the surgery ward and then Dave spent most of the day in surgery while Daniel and I (Sarah) wandered around the grounds, chatted with some Maasai ladies sitting outside, walked up the road a bit from the hospital to see the area around and had chai in the small cafeteria back at the hospital.

On other days, Daniel and I played outside, went grocery shopping, played with other moms and kids and tried to get a feel for what life in Arusha would be like. One regret we have is that I didn’t get much opportunity to explore what kinds of community development opportunities are around. We didn’t really know where to begin and we figured that a lot would probably change in the next couple years anyway, so we weren’t very intentional about making it happen. We knew that there would be plenty of opportunities available, but didn’t really know what they might be. On our second to last day, I had some ideas about how we could have done it, but by then it was too late.

We visited three churches on our two Sundays, and ended up hearing two American preachers. The first week, we went for a portion of a local Swahili service and then to an international, interdenominational English-language church next door to ALMC. At the international church, members take turns leading services and preaching and the feel of the service varies quite a bit depending on who is leading. We happened to have a very American preacher that week and the people leading music were also mostly American. In a lot of ways, the service was actually less cross-cultural for us than our church here in Detroit! The second week, we visited a Pentecostal church that uses both Swahili and English. They happened to have an American missionary as a guest preacher that week. The church itself was interesting and reminded me a lot of my church in Western Kenya, but we weren’t too keen on the visiting preacher. We know, though, that there are lots of church options and we’d be able to find a place where we can grow and can invest in a church community.

As we come away from our time in Tanzania, we feel really good about the possibility of living there. Working at Selian and ALMC with the existing team of surgeons and the possibilities for training residents seems like a wonderful fit for Dave and an incredible opportunity for him professionally. He also seems like a great fit for the surgery team and hospital and would bring a good set of skills, personality and experience to the team as they continue to expand their services and open a surgery residency program. We know there would be opportunities for me to engage in community development. We’re not sure what they would be or how much I’d be involved in this season of small children, but we know there are options. There are also a variety of educational opportunities for Daniel and any other kids we might have, plus lots of fun things to do around the area.

As we look at our time in Tanzania, we are struck by how God did everything we asked him to do. We were safe and healthy, our travels went smoothly, Daniel did so well, we had all of the funds we needed, we sensed God’s presence and leading, we felt largely at home and we definitely had extra wisdom as parents. Thank you so much for praying for us – we know that it made all the difference.

Please continue praying for us on this journey. We will be making many important decisions and working out a lot of details and logistics as we continue toward moving to Tanzania.

Thanks to your help, we raised enough money to cover all of our expenses. We were blown away by the generosity of all who gave financially, especially knowing some of your stories and situations and how you gave so sacrificially out of limited resources.

Thank you so much for loving us and supporting us. We could not do this without you!

Home

(originally published at sarahhalter.blogspot.com)

We are home! We arrived home last Monday afternoon and have been grateful for the not-so-frigid temperatures we’ve had. On Tuesday it was in the 50s and sunny and our sleep schedule was way off, so Daniel and I went to the zoo in the afternoon.

Our trip home was very smooth. We left from Kilimanjaro airport around 10pm and Daniel went right to sleep. Surprisingly, he slept through the lights on, switching passengers, announcements and safety videos at our stopover in Dar es Salaam less than an hour later. He ended up sleeping almost all the way to Amsterdam waking up just in time for breakfast. Unfortunately, Dave and I didn’t sleep nearly as well (I was holding Daniel for half the night after he woke up the first time.) He got to play in the Children’s Forest at the Amsterdam airport before boarding the flight to Detroit. He did pretty well on the flight to Detroit, except for the last hour or so when he kept wanting to yell (maybe “screech” would be more fitting). We got a snack with ice cream around then, so I told him he needed to use a quiet voice if he wanted ice cream. Worked wonders 🙂 He didn’t have anyone sitting in front of him, so he could put his feet up on the seat and not worry about disturbing someone.

I think we’re finally adjusted to the time change. Daniel seemed to do better than the rest of us! Daniel and I went to bed at 5:30pm on Monday, which was as late as we could make it. I went to bed with him for several days knowing I’d need to be up with him whenever he woke up – anywhere from 4:45 on! It was nice to see Dave before he left for work at 5:30 and it’s amazing what you can do in a morning when you’re up so early, but I think I’d rather be sleeping. For several days, Daniel woke up between 4 and 5am, waking me up too. He would go back to sleep, but I never did. Today, though, we slept until 7:30!

We weren’t gone long enough to be making very many cultural adjustments back to the States. A few things I noticed, though, were greeting people in English rather than Swahili, not having to turn on the water heater an hour before showering, having consistent electricity, water and internet. Though those last two show you that we were living a pretty easy life in the city – we HAD running, water, a way to heat it, electricity, internet access, etc. It’s been very quiet here, especially at night (in the winter – summer in Detroit is a whole ‘nother story!) No roosters or cows or loud diesel trucks bumping and creaking up the hill. In other ways, Detroit is so much like an African city – you never know what you’re going to see and nothing is really surprising. We were on our way to a fruit market the other day and I noticed a random abandoned boat on the side of the road in front of an old warehouse. On the way home, I realized there were actually two abandoned boats.

After all the preparation to go to Tanzania, it seems incredible that we’ve gone, were there for two weeks and are already home and back into the swing of things here. Then again, I’ve never gone to Africa for such a short time before. More to come about our experiences and where we’re going from here.

Daniel in Tanzania

(originally published at sarahhalter.blogspot.com)

Daniel LOVES Tanzania. We’d been prepping him for weeks about how we were going to go on an airplane to Tanzania and he was so excited. The morning we left, he woke up and asked to go to the zoo (like he does almost every day) and I told him that we couldn’t go to the zoo, but that it was the day to go to the airport and go to Tanzania. His eyes got wide and he said, “Go on an airplane to Tanzania!!”

The weather in Tanzania this time of year is hot and sunny. Daniel loves being able to play outside and would really appreciate living in a place where he could easily play outside all year. This is a dry season and he found lots of dirt to play in – in the yard around the house where we were staying, at the market and any time we walked down the road. We had to enforce “walking time” when we were in a hurry to get somewhere and he really couldn’t stop and play in the dirt every five feet. He was pretty intrigued by all the noises too – “woosters” crowing, cows mooing, lorries bumping up and down the road, pikipikis (motorbikes), music playing, the metal cutting shop nearby.

Playing in the dirt:

Exploring outside:

Helping water the garden:

 

Daniel has adjusted so well to everything – and he’s usually a kid who takes a while to warm up and be comfortable with new things. When we first arrived, I was asking God to give Daniel a real love for Tanzania too if this is the place for us. Several times I asked him if he liked Tanzania and if he thought it would be a fun place to live and he replied with a very enthusiastic, “Yeah!!” He did really well greeting people and responding when people greeted him, though he usually needed a prompt and for a while he was using a very funny voice any time he was speaking Swahili. In Tanzania it is important to greet people and be respectful towards elders, so I really wanted him to be friendly and polite.

We had the opportunity to take a day trip to a nearby national park and Daniel had a wonderful time driving around and seeing lots of animals, especially twigas (giraffes) – his favorite. He associated the tarmac road with going to see animals and any time we were on a tarmac road after that he asked if we could go to “the zoo” to see the animals again.

We also met up with several other families with small children so Daniel was able to play with some new friends. At one point, we had three boys three and under rolling around on the ground at a playground – completely covered with dirt. We found out about a lot of fun things to do with kids around Arusha as well as various school options.

Another thing I really appreciated about having a small child in Tanzania is that people nurse freely – there’s no shame about it and no one is offended like in the U.S. I wasn’t sure how it would be nursing an older toddler, since I’ve mostly seen young babies nursing, but every time I did, the women around were so supportive – “Just like an African!” they would say. 

 

First Couple Days in Tanzania

(originally published at sarahhalter.blogspot.com)

We’ve been in Tanzania for a week now. We’re feeling pretty comfortable. Fortunately, we have enough experience in Africa that it isn’t all new and overwhelming and we can focus our attention on whether Arusha and the two hospitals are a good fit for us more than on whether we could live in Africa.

We finally have semi-reliable internet access, so we’re starting to catch up a little on sharing about our experiences.

Our trip here was pretty smooth, except for Daniel vomiting an hour into the trip and having a stinky car seat the rest of the way! He fell asleep shortly after, but only slept for about 30 minutes before waking up again. After that he was wide awake until we were just about to land in Amsterdam. At least he was happy. I don’t mind wide awake as long as he’s not cranky or crying. He slept for a few hours in Amsterdam and a few hours on the flight to Tanzania. The Amsterdam airport, by the way, is fantastic, especially for traveling with children. They have a baby care lounge that’s dark and quiet, and there would have been room to get him a bath if he hadn’t been sound asleep. They also have a playground where kids can run around and climb. We’re hoping to take advantage of that on the way back.

Daniel was so excited to arrive in Tanzania, and we were too! As soon as they opened the plane door, we could feel the warm air! We got our visas and bags with no trouble and then met the director of the hospital who had come to get us. He gave us a bit of geographic orientation and told us about the things we were passing in the dark along the way. I showed Dave where I studied Swahili back in 2006. Daniel fell asleep right away in the car and we were hoping that would transfer into bed when we got to the guesthouse in town, but according to his body it was just an afternoon nap. Dave stayed up with him for a while to read and play while I went to bed. Apparently Dave fell asleep on the couch and the next thing I knew, Daniel had climbed up into bed with me.

Tuesday morning we went to the town hospital (Arusha Lutheran Medical Center or ALMC) where had some orientation to the hospital and it’s history, mission and vision. Then we met with most of the surgeons (with chai and mandazi – yum!) and heard a little of their stories and how they got to this hospital. We were really impressed with the surgeons. They all seem very competent, kind and wise. They have a lot of experience and would be a great team to work with. As we heard more about the hospital, it seems like we share a lot of common vision and ideals. We’re finding out that some of the things that drew us to the hospital on the surface are reflections of a deeper philosophy that certainly resonates with us.

Africa Update Part 4: Next Steps

(originally published at sarahhalter.blogspot.com)

This is part 4 in a series about our journey towards working long-term in Africa. Part 1 described our decision to go back to Africa long-term, Part 2 describes Dave’s desire to train residents. Part 3 talks about a particular hospital in Tanzania that we are considering.

I’m writing this from the airport. We are on our way to Tanzania to visit the hospitals, meet the team of people Dave would be working with, see around town and generally get a feel for it all. This should give us a sense of whether this would be a good fit for us. It is also their chance to get to know us. We will be in Arusha for two weeks. (And yes, there is someone staying at our house while we’re gone.)

During the time we’re gone, we will be sharing some of our thoughts and experiences here.

Africa Update Part 3: Tanzania

(originally published at sarahhalter.blogspot.com)

This was definitely the hardest part to write, partly because we’ve been so busy the last couple months and partly because this is so much harder to describe in a succinct way.

I’ve been interested in Tanzania for a long time. When I was in Kenya in 2002, I went on a retreat with the other students in East Africa and we traveled around Tanzania for a week. I spent a summer in Tanzania studying Swahili and really grew to love so many things about the people, places, culture and history of Tanzania.

Once we knew that we needed to go back to Africa (see Part 1), we hoped that we would end up in Kenya or Tanzania. We have experience in East Africa. I have a lot of time and energy invested in learning Swahili. Most of our relationships in Africa are in Kenya. At the same time, though, we were trying very hard to be open to whatever God had for us.

Once we were sure we wanted to pursue residency training through the Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons or PAACS (see Part 2), the options of where to go narrowed to the places that either have a PAACS program or that are waiting for surgical faculty to be able to open a program. We had several conversations with PAACS administrators about the different places they needed people and God worked with us to get to the point that we would be willing to go to any of them, even the one that was the-place-I’d-always-said-I’d-NEVER-go. Still, we were most seriously considering existing programs at two hospitals in Kenya and a program in Tanzania that is in the planning stages. Over the course of several months, we felt like the two programs in Kenya weren’t the best fit for us long-term, for a number of reasons. At the same time, we felt increasingly drawn to the hospital in Tanzania.

Arusha Lutheran Medical Center (ALMC) and Selian Lutheran Hospital are sister hospitals in northern Tanzania that are preparing to open a general surgery residency program. Selian is located on the outskirts of Arusha and serves as a referral center for the district while ALMC is a new hospital in the center of town. Together, the two hospitals would serve as the training site for residents.

Here are just a few highlights of the journey and a smattering of things that draw us to this hospital:

– In our first conversation with one of the PAACS leaders at the conference last year, he mentioned that they were considering a program at a hospital in Tanzania. I think he said that he wasn’t actually supposed to share about it yet, but knew we would be interested. Dave and I both felt our hearts stir as he mentioned that possibility and we were definitely interested.

– To make a long story short, we were fasting with our church during lent last year and asking God for direction about our future work. Two days before we finished, Dave got an email from the CEO of PAACS asking if he would be interested in talking further about the possibilities for working there. We thought that the timing was somewhat of a coincidence, but when Dave talked to him more about it all, he said that he felt like God was telling him to contact Dave about it just then.

– The hospital has several surgeons, three of whom are Tanzanian. This means that Dave would be working alongside Tanzanian surgeons to train residents and not just a team of westerners teaching Tanzanians. This is HUGE for us.

– Dave’s current residency program operates across two sister hospitals. There are unique opportunities and challenges to administering a program like this. As a chief resident this year, Dave is getting a lot of experience with the ins and outs of this type of program. This seems like good preparation for developing a residency program in Arusha.

– Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world. There are currently about 150 surgeons (of any kind) for 41 million people. That’s like 35 surgeons for the whole state of Michigan or just three surgeons for the City of Detroit. Our calling has always been to the poor and we feel a special burden for people and places that have been “left behind.”

– To work effectively in Tanzania you really must learn Swahili. Hmm, sounds great to us!

– We really like Tanzania and are very excited about the possibility of living there.

Next up will be Part 4: Next Steps, the highlight of which is that we’re heading to Tanzania in a week to visit the hospitals, meet the team, see the town, evaluate whether this would be a good fit for us and see whether this is really where God is leading us.