i have the best job on the planet...

out of all the jobs i could think to have right now, i would pick exactly what i am doing here in tarime. there is no where else my heart desires to be, and honestly, i think this is the best job on the planet.

my job is simply being love. being a person with skin on to kids who haven't always known what love is and have maybe never felt the comfort of touch. i have the great joy of going to MAHOTT everyday and knowing that they feel loved.

this is what i get to do:

the other day i was hanging out in the kind of courtyard and heard a squealing from one of the rooms...i go to investigate and it's sammy, our resident dance master, laying in his bed with a pillow over his head peeking out at me. i go in to see what he's doing and sit down next to him. he cuddles up next to me still under the pillow and i start rubbing his back, as he snuggled closer--there was no where else i wanted to be. it's amazing how much being touched makes a difference and if that's all it takes for them to know it, i am there. everyday.

other perks to the "job" include:

i took a deck of cards one afternoon and literally sat on the porch of the orphanage for close to 3 1/2 hours playing some sort of rendition of uno with regular cards with a bunch of the boys. it was a blast!! during the card playing nossi came to sit on my lap, and of course is always a highlight of my day. she is precious, and a handful all rolled into one beautiful 4 year old. that same day, nossi took my bandana and wrapped it around her as a kanga (material they wrap around their waists, like a skirt) and after that proceeded to comb my hair and try to tie the bandana back onto my head. pretty funny. i also love the moments when the kids just want you to hold them. i will gladly be a jungle gym of affection and God's love.

i feel so privileged to be a part of this place. i feel like i get to see a glimpse of heaven everyday in the smallest of moments, but aren't those the ones that matter and make all the difference? when i get home at the end of the day i always feel that where i was, and who i was with, were exactly where i was supposed to be.

here's an excerpt from my journal: "God is the perfect author--and i am so thankful that He has written part of my story here in this place--this "heaven on earth."

contact info

just wanted to give everyone my contact information while in Tanzania:

snail mail:

Nicole Guthrie
c/o Holly Heyroth
P.O. Box 465
Tarime, Tanzania

cell: 011-255-789-903-003
email: nicole.guthrie@sckans.edu

i would love to hear from you!!!

picture post...

my fellow Kansans entering the great country of Tanzania: Jordan, kylie, chelsey, holly and myself! Just stopping for a touristy photo op.


part of my dinner during our Serengeti adventure…yes, a whole fish. And it was delicious!!



James (our African father and driver), kate, nate, me, chelsey, kylie, holly, Lawrence, Jocelyn, and Jordan. My family for the summer!

we had the secondary girls over to our house for an afternoon of dancing, juice and candybars, and of course a little manicure/pedicure action! They are all wearing a new shirt that we brought over for them. (left to right) bhoke, bhoke, leah, sarah, rhobina, lucy, paskazia, benedetha, and agnes (on floor). I wish you all could see these ladies dance, they truly put my dancing to shame!


_________________________________________________________
Gamasara:
Methodist Angel House Orphanage has a large plot of land not far outside of town where they are building a new home for all the kiddos—the property is called Gamasara and we take the kids out there on Saturdays to just be, play, swim in the river, and harvest the shamba (garden). It was such a blessing to be out there with them, it will most definitely be one of my favorite parts of the week I am sure.

we had to wait for the cattle and goats to cross before getting in to swim!

meet zach, our friend and translator, his nickname is zora (like zorro). He’s really into martial arts and of course as a ninja myself, we hit it off. He came out to Gamasara and gave me lessons in tai chi.

during the week we have an amazing woman named Catherine, that cooks our meals, cleans, and does laundry…but on Saturdays, we Americans are left to our own devices when it comes to our meals. I offered to cook a version of what we would call stir-fry. It was fun using the jiko—and nate said if he wasn’t married to kate, he would marry me. Haha.


i have posted 2 other blogs after this so keep scrolling down! :)

new twist on the top ten list...

The top 5 things i enjoy so far...
1. the kiddos at Methodist Angel House, every single one of them.
2. my housemates…new friends/family.
3. not always having power/water.
4. the cuisine and cooking on the giko.
5. a roughly 4 mile walk (or trek really, it’s pretty hilly) most every
morning…bliss.

The top 5 things that aren't quite my fave...
1. being a part of the mzungu (white person) parade.
2. the roosters.
3. the little neighborhood kids that stand outside our windows and yell mzungu
and when we don’t respond they start knocking, even after we’ve closed
the curtains.
4. the mosquitos.
5. the parade o’ ants in our bedroom.

sex ed...?

I don’t know how you feel about having “the sex talk” with teenagers, but for me it’s just slightly awkward. One thing I never thought I would do while here is have a sex talk with the girls at MAHOTT (Methodist angel house orphanage, Tarime Tanzania—this is the abbreviation I will use from now on). To be completely honest, I was dreading the meeting and was intending on staying quiet the entire time. But, God is a comedian, and he had other plans. The meeting with the secondary girls was actually the highlight of my day. There have been some issues with some of the older girls, mainly regarding boys/boyfriends, hence the meeting/talk. Those on my team with boyfriends spoke a little bit about why their relationships work on a purely non-physical level and then the talk progressed into the wait until marriage spiel. During the course of our discussion, the girls inform us of certain men in town they call fataki’s. These men are usually older, most likely married, and wealthy and outrageously exploit young girls. They will give the girls a phone, or a new shirt, or buy them a soda in exchange for the gift of their bodies, utterly damaging their self-worth and taking what does not belong to them. Even more saddening is that some of these men are their teachers—who will give better marks if the girls sleep with them. Some of these men can be dangerous going as far as inflicting serious injury for those who do not comply. These girls are so precious and deserve to live without the fear of exploitation, and I pray and hope that you will burn with the same kind of righteous anger that is in each of my team members for the atrocities that occur. I hope that our talk with them will give them the strength to say no to these evil men if they ever find themselves in that position, and that they know deep in their soul that they are worth more than all the gold and jewels in the world. Pray for the fataki’s that they may see what they are doing as evil and let girls be just that, girls.

life so far...

i have safely arrived in Tanzania, and have enjoyed every minute so far! Let me just tell you a little bit about life in Africa so far...

our first two days in Tanzania were spent traveling to the Serengeti and going on a safari...and can i just say it was probably one of the most amazing experiences of my life. seeing God's masterful craftsmanship in creation was a truly humbling and awe inspiring time. the land is absolutely breathtaking--i feel so close to God when i am basking in His glorious creation. not only was the landscape amazing but so was the variety of animals we were so privileged to see. we saw tons of zebra and wildebeasts (they are migrating through the serengeti at this time of year), crocodiles, lots of hippos, elephants, baboons, giraffes and the best of all lions!! we spent the night in the park and at night with no lights the stars took my breath away, i have never seen so many stars in my life--our God is such an artist!! kate (one of the women i live with) climbed up on top of our van to stargaze. i loved it!

on monday we had the chance to run around town and do some errands, change money, buy water/soda, etc. and then in the afternoon (and by far my favorite time) we went to the orphanage to meet the kids again for an extended time. when we first met them it was so late we only stayed for a few minutes. they are the most amazing children, so full of life and have so much to offer in the ways of love. i spent a lot of my time with nosi, she is the youngest of the kids at angel house at the age of 4, she has quite the little personality on her! she will cling to you and climb you as if you are a mountain, it's great, and she also squeezes harder when hugging than any burly man i have ever hugged!! :) my friend holly has been in Tarime since January and has set up a pen pal program with the kids and people in the states. i feel so privileged to be a pen pal and even more excited that i have met her and will get to form an in person relationship. her name is grace and they call her gili. she is very shy but we were watching a skit and i waved at her she came to sit with me, the others who have been here since jan. were really surprised that she came and sat with me, which made me feel pretty good. she doesn't speak english so i am going to try real hard to learn some phrases so i can converse with her. needless to say, these kids have stolen my heart. i am overjoyed to spend the next 5 weeks with them!!

now i want to tell you a little bit about life in Tarime for an american...

so i came knowing and expecting to not have power and water 100% of the time--and sure enough our first night back we did not have power. interestingly enough we will not have power for another whole day and then after that for the next 2 weeks we will only have power at night (which in all actuality is only a convenience for charging our technology) going without power is so liberating and has really shown me how simple life can really be when you only have the basics--it's an adventure and i love it. also, on the "waterfront" we don't really have running water or water pressure at the moment so i haven't had a "real" shower since we left from nairobi, so about 5 days. i have learned to bucket bathe like a pro! and, yes, i think that that is liberating as well. our laundry gets washed and hung on a line in our courtyard and all around our veranda, it's kinda weird at first to see all your stuff hanging for all to see but it's fun too! also, i have had my first visit to a doctor here (don't worry i am fine, just have a small infection) but they drew blood to test as well as urine--it is interesting to have experienced a doctor's visit here.

so that is just a small taste of life so far, i really really love it and i cannot wait to see what else God has in store for me here. thank you again for all your support, love and prayers! hope to update again sometime soon!!

a sweet aroma...

June 12, 2009 (i wrote this our last morning in nairobi, but the internet wasn't working correctly! better late than never, right?)

2 Corinthians 2:14-17
“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among these who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task? Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God.

One of my favorite things about going to the Eastleigh Fellowship Centre, is meeting with Sunny first and foremost for prayer and worship before we begin our day. He is one of the most humble men I have ever met and is so passionate about God. He is wise and has an incredible knowledge of the scriptures and it is infectious! Now, we meet in his office, which is a very small room and we all pile in to sing songs (the words are on the “overhead projector” aka paper taped to the wall!!), read scripture and pray.

This morning he spoke about us being a sweet fragrance to those around us. Are we exuding a fragrance of life or are we exuding a smell that will cause others to be turned off to us? I love the imagery and sensation of being a sweet fragrance, the fragrance of my God. I want to be a sweet aroma to God and to others by giving myself and His love away. This really made me think about how often I am not a very pleasing aroma, whether it’s because of work, or if I’m just annoyed, etc. But, we have such an impact on those around us that is it really worth letting our moods get in the way of sharing the love of God? Of course not! So I encourage you, and also myself, to think about how we can be a better fragrance to God and those around us. May you be a sweet, sweet smell to those around you!

the packing has commenced!!

before actually getting down to the nitty gritty, i always feel like i need to waste a bit of time to work myself up to the act itself. like today for instance, my house looks like my room exploded alllll over. i have crap everywhere and suitcases strewn about. i want to start the packing of my personal bag which will most definitely be an event. but before i can do so i felt the need to post, hype myself up a bit.

last week we had a team packing party for all our supplies which was awesome! each of us (5 all together) will be taking 3 bags. eeek! also, holly had begun a project for the kids and has collected one pair of school shoes and one pair of tennis shoes for each child at the orphanage!! how amazing! and how amazing the response has been--there were so many shoes! i was overwhelmed by the generosity of her friends and family, it will be such a blessing to give the shoes to the kiddos!

now for pictures...

this was jordan's living room before the packing...

like i said it was a total mess! but completely worth it!

SHOES!! :)

i LOVE school supplies!!!

so, needless to say, we are taking a lot of supplies but that is awesome! thank you to everyone for donating items, shoes, etc.

now, i suppose i should get to getting the rest of my packing done..eeek!