The Rowbergs In Africa: Christmas 2017 from Tanzania. Debi's entry

Dear all, I just wrote two quick messages about our Christmas for my family, but I may not get around to composing more at this point so I will send to all of you as well.

We leave here exactly two weeks from today (12/26)! There is so much to do to pack up and leave our house ready for the next renters. We can only take a suitcase and a carry on to get home because we are making so many stops on the way. We arrived here with nine large bags plus there is much we have accumulated here to make our lives more comfortable.....so a lot will have to be stored for our next trip...whenever that will be. We want to be home for at least a year this time. Six months here and six months there was too disruptive.

Thank you for sharing this journey with us and for supporting us in so many ways. It is truly life changing! We have been blessed and I hope and pray we have been used to help change this small corner of the world.

❤️Debi

12/25

Well, it is nearly 11 pm here so our Christmas in Tanzania is coming to a close.

Our pre-Christmas three days at Tarangire Safari Park were magical! On the drive there the ground was bare and brown and dry. As we approached the park, it got greener and greener. The grass was long and ponds were full of water. The animals know where to congregate! So we could stop the car to look at elephants and see so much more at the same time...zebra, impala, buffalo, ostrich etc.... just mind boggling! Here are some of the highlights: baby warthogs. They ran around in circles chasing each other...cutest thing ever! I even saw a warthog wallowing in a pond of mud. He did not like me stopping to stare so he jumped out and ran away. Saw a whole pack of bat-eared foxes emerge out of a hole in the ground. For me the best thing happened just outside my tent. Don got up before sunrise at 6:00 to go on a guided nature walk. I was awake and saw an elephant through the mesh window of my tent. I decided to get up and see if I could see anything. Soon it appeared two tents away and was headed my direction. It was huge with giant tusks. It was walking on the path which was just a few feet away from my porch. The people in the next tent were on their porch too. Soon another elephant appeared behind that one, then another and another. Altogether 7 elephants paraded by including two babies! They were 15 feet away from me. The last one stopped to scratch herself on the tree right in front of our tent. By then the sun was coming up. As she scratched, a cloud of mud or sawdust could been seen. She scratched both ears, her side and finally her butt! Quite a show!

It was fun to watch nephew Seth and Amber deal with four children. The second son is a handful and very talkative (age 7) and entertaining.

We got home on the 23rd. On the 24th we were planning to go to Simonson's along with 25 others. At church I learned that some of them were sick. Right after church Seth vomited as did one of his sons. By the time we got home Naomi sent an email cancelling the dinner that night. Nine of them were sick! We ended up staying home alone. Bernice and Erik went to her sister’s house. We were going to go to a nice restaurant but I ended up cooking instead. I guess we must have been tired. It was strange to be alone on Christmas Eve.

Today we packed up hamburger and hot dog stuff and the bbq and headed to a “resort” on a small lake. Erik & Bernice and Wema’s family came too. We were able to rent canoes and paddlers so all of Wema’s family got the FIRST boat ride of their lives! They are just so much fun and so grateful. They loved their gifts. I got them family gifts and a beaded heart for Wema which she loved. We had ordered UNO, plastic playing cards and a deck of Five Crowns that Ann brought out. We also gave them chocolate and a bag of coffee. They were absolutely delighted! They gave us an electronic rap song that they made up. It is not finished but I will be sure to share it. It is very cute and full of humorous gratitude for all the things we have exposed them to like BBQ turkey!

We finished our meal and decided to come back to our house so we could get away from obnoxious music next door and listen to Christmas carols instead. So they got to enjoy our “tree” and they were fascinated by the little gingerbread house Linda’s family gave us. We finished the evening playing cards for several hours. When I took them home, their expressions of gratitude were just so special. They all said this was the BEST Christmas of their lives. It is certainly one we will never forget!

❤️Debi

Here is the second message: 12/26

Just had to add this note. We woke up this morning and Don got ready for work as usual. He met Mark, wearing casual clothes, by the cars. That is when he found out today is a HOLIDAY! Boxing Day, whatever that is! Too funny! The lack of communication never ceases to amaze me! Boxing Day!

That gives Don time to finalize the online registration so that Maasai Health can be recognized as a charitable organization by Microsoft. Kussy works there now and is determined to get us into the modern age with a website and electronic payment capability. We have the potential to earn $22,000 this calendar year because of her effort!

Maribeth went to our house in 6 inches of snow on Christmas Day to dig through files to locate a particular IRS letter we needed! Just amazing!

Thank you to all of you who have made a contribution to Maasai Health recently! Rowbergs pick a charity to sponsor each year for Christmas giving in lieu of a gift exchange. That raised $2500 so far! This is most helpful!

By the way, Kari’s old laptop that Ann brought out has been wiped clean and upgraded by Orjantan. It will be what allows doctors to read reports on the ward from the new digital X-ray machine at the hospital! It is just amazing what a few resources can accomplish here!

About the time I get discouraged that our efforts do not amount to much, I get to see the impact we have made on one family and one hospital! The hospital wants to start a computer lab and an electronic medical record. Old laptops can be put to fabulous use here! A little bit of money goes so far here...a lot of money creates miracles!

Thank you so much for supporting this effort!

❤️Debi

PS: address in case you still want to contribute:

Maasai Health Systems

16714 91st Ave E

Puyallup, WA 98375-2244