ACC Families and Friends

January 28, 2018, Sunday

As always on Sunday mornings, Ray showed up soon after 10:00 to drive us to church. He always goes to his big Lutheran church earlier so he is free to take us to our service at ACC. Today was to be a “family” service, which meant everything was geared toward the children, who would not be going to their regular Sunday School classes. The opening prayer was given by a very small girl whose many petitions included one “that the children would not be bored.” About 70 children, ages 3 to 12, sat in the front rows, for the service, the main part of which was an elaborate puppet show put on by Angelica Kinsey. I had no idea that Angelica was an experienced puppeteer of some renown, and her presentation, while sketchy in theology, was incredibly well performed. The children definitely were not bored! They laughed, clapped, and counted to three on cue. After church, someone told me that several years ago, someone got a grant to video Angelica’s shows and put them on disc so they could be distributed more widely. And here I had thought she was just an older German woman who loved gardening and raising goats.

The Sunday bouquet

Our puppeteer

Triplets? Or twins plus one?

After church we wanted to go somewhere for lunch as we usually do on Sunday. Terry Morton, who used to work with MCC and returned on her own dime to continue her work with albinos, linked up with us. After waiting 30 minutes for a taxi which was promised in 10, we went to a very humble looking roadside Indian restaurant need Taj. I knew that many old-timers liked the food here and had long wanted to try it myself. We sat in the outdoor lawn area and had a truly delicious feast. My chicken sagwala was incredible and the butter nan was the best ever. The fact that most of the other customers were Indian testified to the authenticity of the menu. Our servings were very ample, so we brought home enough food for lunch on Monday, too.

Being with Terry reminded me how important connections and social networks are. After working with MCC for 5 years, she no longer has a paying position with an agency. Yet, she did not want to leave her projects with albinos here in Tanzania, so after a short time back in the States, she has returned to continue working on her own. However, she no longer connects to an administrative office, attends staff meetings, seminars, etc. and now feels more isolated than I think she realized she would. Last Thursday, for the first time ever, she came to our women’s group, and she was very pleased to join us at Taj. She’s dedicated to her work, but going solo is going to be a hard road.

Terry showing some of the sewing done by the albino women's workshop.

Tanzania has an unusually high incidence of albinism and also a horrible history of using albino body parts for “magic.” Even today, many albinos are attacked and mutilated by people who can get large sums for fingers, arms, legs, etc. Sometimes relatives will sell an albino child for thousands of dollars, and grave-robbing is common. The traditional healers are very opposed to this, but are still blamed sometimes. It the shamans who deal in dark arts who are behind albino attacks and killings. There are some safe houses for albino children, but in them the children live in a segregated, prison-like environment. Living a “normal” life is very difficult and dangerous, and because of the condition itself, there are many health issues with eyesight and skin cancer. So, both public education for Tanzanians and health assistance for albinos are important. Terry works with a women’s sewing co-op, which provides albino women with strong social connections, health assistance, and an opportunity to earn a livelihood. ( For more information, check out the organization Under the Same Sun, or read this post: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tanzania-albinism/attacked-for-body-parts-tanzanian-albino-children-get-new-limbs-in-u-s-idUSKBN18Q2L0)

John and I returned home satiated with wonderful food and intense conversation and needed a nap.  Then, we read and tried to video connect with our granddaughter Peri. Even with the more expensive Smile modem, the best internet connection available in Arusha, we had only brief moments of audio and images, with numerous lost connections and much recalling. I miss seeing Peri, but I’m also a bit pleased that Tanzania has not yet been completely “tamed” by western technology.