Our Vacation

We went on vacation Sunday the 9th and stayed in Iringa.  Sunday, we went to the mini-zoo and did some shopping.  The mini-zoo is called Mkwawa Magic Site (see post "mini zoo".) 
We had a very good lunch.
The next morning we went to a camp just outside of Iringa called Masumbo.   I was really excited to see that in the cabin in which we were staying I would sleep in the loft.
We played on the zip-line that crosses the river, went swimming, ate mulberries, climbed rocks, hiked and had a just-plain-fun time.
 In the evening I met Seth.  He is twelve years old, same as me.  We have a lot in common.  He is even an American.  His parents manage the camp.  We chased monkeys that were trying to eat the mulberries.
The next day, Tuesday, I spent almost the entire day playing in the river with Seth and his Tanzanian friend, Calvin.  We played on inner-tubes and had a great time.  After lunch we floated down the river a ways and then we talked a lot.
We were told that there was a resident hippo, but we never saw it.
I am glad I made a new friend.

The zip-line

can you see me?  I am in the middle of the picture, just my head

My loft

Seth and me

Overview 25th August - 24 September and First 3 Fires

Written on 9/24/2014
Hi. So sorry about not posting in a long, long time. I will try to tell what has been going on.
We have had 3 wildfires and 4 controlled burns. All the fires happened in 4 days! Wow. That was from the 25th to the 28th of August. Then on the 5th of this month we went to Kirando, Dodoma, for a 2 week effort. The locals were mainly Mus1îm and Masai. On the way a truck came barreling around a corner and the back of the truck came swinging toward the car we were in, and fortunately our driver swung our car into the ditch and back on the road AND---- we missed it.
 So- this blog is about the first 3 fires. The first fire was on Monday the 25th of August.

Our worker saw smoke right after lunch and it looked very close so we checked it out. It was a controlled burn close to our house. The smoke was blowing straight at our house so we(Mom and me) went to the fire on the side where there was verylittle smoke. Dad and a few other people were working on one of the water pumps. We started helping a little as the firecontinued. Little did we know we would be seriously needed later. Later we saw the fire team leader running with 1 or 2
men behind him. As he came up he said there was a wildfire at the end of the runway. The driver of our water truck for fires, who is on the fire team ran with them and took our fire truck. My mom started calling people all around campus to help with the wildfire. People began arriving soon. My mom, me, and a few other people stayed to help at the controlled burn. As soon as the edges were burned a few stayed while a few went to the wildfire. We were able to put out all the fire.
One hour after my parents went to bed it was 10 pm and we got a phone call saying the controlled burn had escaped and was spreading. We caught it in time, or it would have not been able to be stopped. At about 1 am everybody went to bed except the director(Jason Fournier,)2 Masai(Kibidula guards,) and the fire team leader(Hosea Mapile.) So that was the first day!

Without our Lay Missionaries, Kibidula staff(especially Kibwana, Jason, Hosea, David Katsma, and others),and fire team we would not have put them out and been safe. A big “Thank you” to all who helped and prayed.

Joshua Schoch

Bunge (pronounced Boo ngay)

We went to Dodoma for three weeks to do health talks, health counseling, and health testing. While we were there we were invited to visit the Parliament of Tanzania. We had to go through two or three security checkpoints. Soon we entered. We sat in visitors seats high above the senators seats. We were able to see many different interesting things, BUT it was very, very cold. The bathroom was nice and warm. We left early because it was so, so cold. It was fun.  I was given an agenda paper which I will keep as a memorial.

Lightning Pictures

When we were in Rukwa doing some outreach, one night there was lightning.

Mother's Day Watermelon

On Mother's Day, Dad and I secretly brought a watermelon in the house. We then carved it for her breakfast. Here are the pictures:

The Mini Zoo

Today my parents and I went to a mini zoo. It cost about 59 CENTS for me and a $1.18 for each of my parents! We saw Yellow Baboons, White Colobus Monkeys, Black-Faced Vervet Monkeys, a Nile Monitor Lizard, Nile Crocodiles, Water Turtles, 2 different types of owls, a falcon of some kind, Geese, Savannah Tortoises, and Ostriches!

Swinging Bridge

On our stay in the Rukwa Rift Valley we took a swinging bridge built by the Germans in 1984. Now it is 2014.  It costs 500/=(Tshs) to cross and come back. We asked and went over and back for free.  Some people go on Pikipiki's (motorcycles-like 125 or 150 cc) over the loose rickety boards 2 or 3 feet long. It was scary. I hung on very tight when pikipikis came past, but I'm glad I did it though.

Breakfast

I saw a similar idea on my dad's Facebook and decided to modify it. 

The Ingredients are the following:
A ripe banana
Two tangerines
Porridge
Ground Golden Flax Seed (opt.)
I sliced the banana length-wise and put it on my plate.  Then peeled the tangerines and divided the sections.
I then placed the banana halves the same direction. (Refer to pictures)
Then I placed 4 tangerine sections for the leaves.  Afterwards I poured the porridge on the bottom and sprinkled the ground flax.

Then I ate it.

Links

Here are four blog posts my mom has on her blog. They are very interesting. There are are some safari pictures. The links are below:

http://www.schochmission.blogspot.com/2014/04/march-2014-building-school-two-safaris.html
http://www.schochmission.blogspot.com/2014/04/our-first-safari-coucal.html
http://www.schochmission.blogspot.com/2014/04/safari-pictures-march-experience.html
http://www.schochmission.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-trip-to-dar-es-salaam-with-rita-and.html

Lizard!

We went on safari March 30th.  We drove beside the Great Ruaha River, and we saw a monitor lizard beside the road.  He disappeared into a small strip of grass.  Mom saw SOMETHING scaly in the grass. We hoped it was the monitor lizard and not a HUGE snake.
I said "I'm not afraid of nothin'." FAMOUS LAST WORDS! I got out of the car and went to the other side of the strip of grass.  I stomped and nothing happened.  I picked up a small stick and threw it at the scaley thing.  It didn't work immediately, so I reached over him to pick it up.  Then he did a 180 really fast.  It ran about 30 Yards in two blinks of an eye!  He really scared me.

Joshua