Old Moshi – day three (July 12 2008)

Saturday was a Tourist Day in Moshi. We started by checking out of the Keys Hotel, and loading all our gear into our hosts vehicles. We headed into Moshi, and visited KCMC – Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center, where we got a short tour and visited one of Pastor Godbless' parishioners, who is recovering from some injuries. He was in a ward with 10 other patients, and there were two more in the hallway, as the ward room was full.

Next we stopped at the Lutheran Center Umoja Hostel and had lunch at their cafeteria. We proceeded to a store owned by one of the Elders of Kikarara, and bought many more mementos of Tanzania.

Once we finished shopping, we stopped by the location of the grain mill that Bethel helped buy for Kikarara. Originally, the mill was to be located on the Church property, but it was soon realized that trucks can not climb the steep hill to the parish land. Some land was acquired (from a parishioner, of course), and the building is almost complete. Both milling machines have arrived and are being stored until the building is complete. The plan is to also house storage silos at the site, and purchase grain at harvest time (when prices are low) and store it until later in the season when grain is scarce. During the scarce season, prices rise considerably, and many AIDS victims face the unpleasant choice of paying for anti-retro viral drugs or food. Studies have shown that a poor diet negates the drugs effectiveness, so HIV infected people will have high priority for receiving food at reasonable prices.

After the site tour, we stopped at the church, and hear one of the choirs rehearsing. We walked across the street to Mr Mattai's house, our host for the evening. A gorgeous sunset greeted us, and we sat on the lawn while dinner was being prepared. We experienced the first power failure of our stay, which delayed dinner, but gave us more time to converse. The power came on just as dinner was served.