The Extended Family

Wednesday night we had dinner at Anna Ngede's. She is the window of Benjamin Ngede who was instrumental in the growth of Bega Kwa Bega. Benjamin was our guide and interpreter when we visited in 2007 and died in 2010. His son, Dennis is one of the staff of BKB here in Iringa and his company provides the transportation arrangements for visitors. In other words, Benjamin's family has been a big part of BKB. Anna is also the secretary for the Theology Department and provides tea and copies for us. Anna's extended family includes nephews and friends who are here in Iringa for their university education. In addition, Dennis' brother Ruben brought his wife and children to meet us. It was a great celebration. This family arrangement is the norm here in Africa. So many families are affected by disease and separate due to schooling that it is most common to come into a house where many relatives live. Here is the group:

I thought I would show you the typical traffic jam at Kihesa every morning. This is a major intersection for the little buses and is usually jammed with people and cars. The on coming traffic is on our side of the road (remember we drive on the left here). If you put your right blinker on that means you intend to occupy the oncoming traffic's lane. Another interesting part of the highway is that the tarmac is slowly eroding on both sides as there is no underlying support. As the dirt washes away at the edge of the road, the asphalt just breaks off. Hopefully, if the oncoming traffic decides to take your lane, the left hand side hasn't cracked off so far there is no road. It is very nice to have the BKB battlewagon for our transport.

Today dawned with a heavy overhang of low clouds. It has since started to rain and I have no idea how I am going to get from the New Science Building back to Dale's office in the Theology Wing, but I guess I will get wet. I have my final exam all ready to copy but the only functioning copy machine is in Anna Ngede's office (next to Dale's office) so I guess I will gut it out and run down there. Here is what the low clouds look like around the University.