let’s talk logistics//merikani

it’s just a typical thursday and here’s what i have to show for it:

~twenty-four beautiful new pieces of puzzle-piece art
~approximately a gazillion softballs thrown by seven-year-olds
~three frisbees thrown by middle and high schoolers
~one whole papaya eaten
~no power outages today(!)
~three miles run (no measure for how gorgeous the sunset/stars were/are!)
~hundreds of songs shuffled through and danced to by gifti and her friends
~copious amounts of ice cream eaten
~one birthday package received from america (!!!! THANK YOU SASHA AND TAYLOR !!!!)
~29 days: till i come home to MERIKANI (america)

…
it’s not really that i feel a need to countdown. it’s just that the countdown is effortless.
and there are a billion things i can’t wait to do, and, more importantly, so, SO many people i cannot wait to see, laugh with, and squeeze tightly.

i’ll be back in nashville on june 28…

…and i will be returning to DAR ES SALAAM for YEAR TWO on august 13!

why? 
the most simple answer is this- i don’t know/God said so. 
i will be working at Haven of Peace Academy (HOPAC) again, teaching primary P.E. and art. also, i’ll be volunteering both with wYLdlife and YoungLife with international schools such as HOPAC in dar es salaam.
i also will continue volunteering with sala sala kids club, as well as spending time with my sweet little friends at kurasini orphanage…

i’m so excited to see what the Lord has in this next year. year one has been challenging, beautiful, surprising, frustrating, crazy, lovely…

here’s the part where i thank YOU. if you’ve prayed, given words of encouragement, skyped, e-mailed, shared your income, or even just listened to/read these stories, than i am inexpressibly grateful.

here’s also the part where i ask YOU to continue to join me, and, possibly even, bring a friend or two. HOPAC is growing, YoungLife is expanding, sala sala kids club is reaching more children than ever before, and God has seriously wrecked my heart about the boys and girls at kurasini. it’s alot. i’ll be honest, i’m greedy for prayer, encouragement, friendship, family. i also am continuing to raise funds for my living for year two here. this time around, there are two ways to give monetarily. first, you may send a check to St. John’s Lutheran Church at:
SJLC
3259 McGavock Pike
Nashville, TN 37214

also, there will soon be a way to partner with me by giving online via YoungLife Africa! details to come…no matter which way you choose, the funds will be used for my ministry expenses over this next year.

...so here’s to seeing YOU in less than a month at home in America,
and to a second year here at home in Dar es Salaam!

love,
ali 
questions, comments, ideas, concerns? e-mail me! amprice0607@gmail.com 

a lesson in living

over the past few weeks, i have been blessed immensely by the book one thousand gifts by ann voskamp (i highly recommend it!)… to summarize it is a collection of thoughts on living fully in thanksgiving, something i seldom do, but when i choose to live with a grateful heart, i am given more grace than i could ever measure out.
i have been able to spend time lamenting the losses i’ve encountered this year, face to the floor, and yet, seeing that God is always good and He always loves His children- regardless of the gifts.

i could easily share one thousand gifts in my daily grind… but i will settle for ten tonight. ( i will also teach you to count from one to ten, or moja kwa kumi )

(moja) experiencing the birth of each day with sunrise, and it’s sunset of red meeting blue.

(mbili) love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control. all given to me when i just step back.

(tatu) sweet children like hasani, mudi, frankie, hadija, gifti, josie, sophia, doro, and so many others. love and purpose spilling out of their stories. love that could only come from the Father spilling out of me, surprising me more each day.

(nne) miracles of humor and future in this classroom.

(tano) God-given family from frantic van rides leaving ditches, rushing to hospitals; sharing holiday meals at a lengthy table; feasting on conversation and seeking highest and best in spite of imperfections.

(sita) sweet middle school and high school friends, granting me giggles and great big hugs. always, always. 

(saba) humility and occasional success that come with learning a new language.

(nane) the reality that compassion is a language all its own, i am not here to change the world, or even a life, but to simply be…

(tisa) the daily challenge of my legs pounding on dark dirt roads, my lungs processing humidity of three thousand percent. 

(kumi) hearing my mama’s laugh ten thousand miles away, sharing secrets with sisters and being arrested by their honesty, feeling love and prayer and Holy shouts on my behalf daily.

…i already want to go on and add to this list the relentless pursuit of ice cream under a starry sky via bajaj, unsuspected packages in the mail, my favorite red shoes, being able to drink hot cocoa on the way to church, disney soundtracks playing on crowded daladalas, beautiful color and design of kanga fabric..

“all i have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all i have not seen.”
-ralph waldo emerson 

nine

today marks nine months of living in t-zed. 
that’s a full grown tanzanian baby…

today i also taught a bible lesson in for the sala sala girls in swahili, not my native tongue of english!
thankful doesn’t even begin to cover how i feel for where the great Creator has me. i’ll say it again: He is good. always. even when i so easily miss it (which i often do).

i like the baby version best.

at about six this morning, i opened my door victoriously to start my day. as soon as my body felt the air, however, i exclaimed the following words, “it’s cold!”. i ran to my room, grabbed a sweater, (perhaps i need a scarf, after all is it pretty cold), and headed on my way to school. i get to my classroom and check the temperature outside- 27 degrees celcius. (for those of you at home converting, this is 80.6 degrees fahrenheit.)
the past three nights, i have eaten chili for dinner. i am drinking gingerbread tea. i do not find myself sweating just by sitting on the couch. i’m wishing i had brought a blanket. but my favorite part of all this is that i am ever more comfortable about my christmas music.
allow me to explain. while most of you were lighting candles and singing christmas carols in coats and scarves, people in dar es salaam spent it in our best, most breathable sundresses, trying not to turn into a puddle of perspiration. i remember walking outside for maybe twenty minutes the day after christmas and coming home sunburnt. i also remember no power in our house for about a week (which is not to complain, because a majority of africans dont even have that!).
so right now, when i’m on a run, and it’s been a whole ten minutes without wheezing- i may celebrate a little. if i turn on my ipod and see my playlist chock full of “oh come oh come emmanuel”, “hark the herald angels sing”, and my family’s favorite version of “carol of the bells”… i won’t mind if i do! i’ll run a good ninety minutes on that playlist through the hills by my house, just me and my baby jesus music, and feel the breeze in my braid, without a care in the world (until i almost step on a ginormous snail…snails are really cute, by the way)… i find myself in a rhythm, and would run even further, but it is starting to get dark earlier these days (and i cringe at the thought of stepping on a snail!).

so yes, i have celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and do so every day. i’m relishing this new season that has come upon us. i am thankful that God has brought the rains and the breezes and less than 374% humidity. and so i will unabashedly listen to christmas music for as long as it brings joy to my soul (and the truth is, this may be all year long…). i am unashamed of my love for baby Jesus and His celebration music.

in other (more important) news, want to change the lives of high schoolers in Africa for ETERNITY (i know you do!)?! then check out this website and get started! climbingforchangeafrica.com

heartache and wild hope

we found ourselves on a not-so-packed dala, laughing big belly laughs and watching the konda dance with no inhibition as he yelled to people to get them on his bus. the ride to the orphanage is about one hour long, and by the time we get too far, the whole dala is packed (people are standing, or sitting on laps. packed.) . it stops at traffic lights, or perhaps to pick up more passengers, and we are bombarded by men on the streets selling drinks, cashews, peanuts, fried termites, random toys, cell phone accessories, etc. more people board. we are, no doubt, sweating, and the smell on the bus is not something i would bottle for memory’s sake.
but eventually we make it, pay our five hundred shillings (thirty cents usd), and walk down a winding road past factories, dukas, and small restaurants… this journey is more than worth it, because when we reach the gate, it is a sweet sort of homecoming. children appear out of nowhere and interrupt a church service that is taking place with their jubilant shouting voices.

kurasini children’s home is the only government run orphanage in all of tanzania. it is home to over one hundred children, like my friend shakila, age fifteen, who is from arusha, a town about eight hours away. shakila lost her mom a few years ago, and because she had no family around, she ended up somehow at kurasini. other children were abandoned by parents, waiting for them to come back. from meeting and speaking with one of the prominent staff members at kurasini, i am struck with the impression that there is a strong desire provide the best for these children. however, due to extremely low government funding, the children eat a steady diet of ugali and beans, bathe in unsanitary conditions, and sleep more than one to a bed. many of the children have special needs that are unable to be met because there is no money for adequate supplies.

..and so children the wait. in the meantime, they live with it, but i cant help but hope that they are waiting for things to change. i cant help but hope they know that they are worth gold, even though they arent living like it now. i catch a glimmer of when the little ones outstretch their hands and whisper, “mama”. its as if they know that there is a place where they belong, where they can be held and nourished. my heart aches with such writhing pain when i have to say goodbye to a sleeping child who, out of sheer exhaustion, has collapsed in my arms. but i have hope.

why?

because i know how my Father feels about orphans. it’s clear in His word…

Father to the fatherless, defender of widows—
    this is God, whose dwelling is holy.
⁶ God places the lonely in families;
    he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy. (psalm 68.5-6)

this is the God who loves you and me.

so i’m praying the children of kurasini might know His joy. i’m praying that they may be able to use a toilet that isn’t clogged, sleep in their own beds with sheets, know what carrots and bananas taste like, and go to schools that will educate them with excellence. i’m asking him to bring them mommies and daddies who will show them just how special they are. i’m begging our Lord to give these sweet babies things beyond their wildest imaginations, that the heartache might end. and i’m hoping with a wild hope that you and i might be part of His solution…

i suppose we’ll see…

nothing sweeter

than knowing i have all i need, and all i have is already yours. 

“and i do need the wind across my pale face
and i do need the fern to unfurl in the spring
and i do need the grass to sway
yes, i do need to know my place…”
(bowerbirds, northern lights)