The time has come again for me to go north into Tanzania, this time not only to Masai land but also to the Rufiji Delta where the Rufiji River runs into the Indian Ocean. The Rufiji Delta is about 200km south of Dar Es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania. I have been into this delta on several different occasions. This time I go with a team from Australia.
Between Dar Es Salaam and the Mozambique border in the south, are at least 21 unreached people groups. Most of these groups live within the Rufiji Delta itself. In the delta there are hundreds of islands, many of these are occupied by small people groups, some groups are just a few hundred and other groups are up to 2000 in population.
I have been told that only one in ten thousand make it through high school. Life here is hard and all about fishing. This is the livelihood. They net, smoke and sell most of their catch. Fish, prawns and crabs are caught and put on ice, once a week a truck delivers ice and loads up their catch and is off to the big city to sell the fish to the local market. Crabs and prawns go to all the places where the wazungu (white people) go, the hotels and lodges. Most locals do not eat these creatures. They are considered dirty, I personally quite enjoy them. The team and I have ate four kilos of prawns while we were on the island called Simba Uranga, that was just for dinner and we paid about 4 bucks per kilo. On this particular island nearly all houses are built on stilts because the tide covers most of the island during the high tides of the full moon.
Very few fruit trees grow here because of the salt water that comes in from the Indian Ocean and mixes with the river water. The few doctors who pass through here say that the people living on these islands have high blood pressure due to the amount of salt water intake. I always thought high BP came from stress, at least in my case it does…
When we arrived to the island of Simba Uranga we were escorted to the chairman’s house, or the mayor of this island community. Over the hours he became quite friendly. He raked the sand clean from rubbish so we could set up our tents, he cooked rice for us, then he wanted to be our night watchman because he said the community was full of thieves and that we could trust no one. We thought it funny that he was so friendly but you know relationships are important out here so let’s build this relationship with the ‘chief’ because this relationship will possible benefit us in the future.
We showed the Jesus film and then got into our mosquito tents next to our now fearless watchman who by this time had a few drinks. After a great night of ‘sleep’ we awoke with the sun. It did not take long to notice that there was a box missing from among our things; the box that held all our fishing gear. Our fearless watchman said “I told you that you can trust no one here!”
Not long after the police showed up on the island making their rounds. Their small boat flipped just off the shore of our now homey little island so they had to swim in. This island was not on their scheduled route but flipping your boat makes you do things out of your routine.
We met the police and told them of our dilemma. They were ready for action, they took our fearless watchman aside and after about a half hour he was handcuffed along with another guy. Our friend reluctantly admitted that he was the guilty one. He was actually fearing for his life, the police could have just killed him right there and then. He set us up from the beginning, that “corker”. Anyway, as the sun lifted higher in the sky, the police said they were leaving. They told us to take the chief and his friend in our boat back to the mainland police station. So we loaded them up with the rest of our gear and we pushed off. While we were sailing our ‘friend’ wanted to make a deal with me, “Hey Simba” he said, “I will tell you where the box is if you let me go.” I was told once that one is only stupid if he makes the same mistake twice. Being a bit wiser we reached the mainland and dropped the two men off at the small police office. I was told the next day that he would go to prison for two months and maybe longer if he does not return the items. It is likely that he will pay his way out and we will never see that box again, but I do know where he lives and will likely be back to his little island in the middle of the delta. One thing that is true about Africa is that time is always coming, so here in this situation we sit and wait and time take its course. Stay tuned ‘For the rest of the Story’ in 2011, maybe 2012 or maybe even 2013….
By the way, the ‘Jesus’ film was a great success. It was the first time for many of the 70-or-so onlookers. Another great thing was that it was all done by batteries. The projector is about the size of a small book, tiny speakers and tiny DVD player, all of this fits into a small bag. Gone are the days of generators, PA systems etc, etc. Pack your little bag and away we go. Now one is free to set up just about anywhere, what a tool! I remember the days when I was in Haiti, we went to a small island off the Haitian coast to show the Jesus film, all the work carrying the generator and 16mm films etc. People have asked me where I got my muscles. Well, that trip gave me most of the few muscles I have…
While in the Delta we also stopped by other island communities. One of those islands is where they build the Dhow boats. This is a vessel that has been on the seas for hundreds of years. These smaller vessels continue to this day to travel the rough seas reaching as far as India. Now this little island community with a population of about 500 have mastered the skills of building these Dhow boats, this island has passed down the skills on for generations. It was a fascinating to sit and watch as a half a dozen men used their handmade tools and handmade spikes to build not just a boat but a piece of art. We watched as they ran their panel planks into a fire and with the right amount of pressure put a twist in the board to mold around the ribs of the dhow. No machines here just true skill. How fascinating it would be to stay with them for a few months to work with them from beginning to completion of a dhow. The smaller ones take 2-3 months while the bigger ones take up to 6 months to complete.
We also stopped to visit a school and a broken-down clinic. The nurse and some of the elders of this island were looking for help from the white man. ‘Because the white man has all the money you know’. I was looking around for the white man with all the money, because neither I nor my mates that were with me had any money.
One of my highlights was the chance I had to sit with most of the island leaders and talk with them about stewardship and serving their community. That if each family were to put 5-10 dollars a month into the community account then in about a year they could get books for their school or have a very nice clinic etc. Well, the excuses kept coming, “we do not have any money”, “ we do not trust the mayor here, he will steal the money”, “we are only fishermen”, “we are not educated”, etc etc etc.
This is the way it is in many places out here. There is no trust among anyone. But I challenged them to be investors in their community and not just consumers. It was good and they seemed to enjoy my little speech. They agreed with me, but to actually start living it out, this is another big issue. This is where you need a long-term missionary to continue coming back to these places to follow up, work with them and help them plan, setting goals together, someone to push them a bit and get them to believe in themselves. We as outsiders (both church and government) have come in for generations and have paid it all or built it all for them. Our view has been that we need to help the ‘poor’ Africans. That they can’t do it. They may not be able to do like we do but they can do with some guidance.
To a large degree Africans are not poor, in their mind they tell themselves that they are poor and this leads to poverty. People blame poverty on lack of education but I struggle with this as well. There are millions of well educated leaders, locals etc throughout Africa, having degrees on their walls, but this has had little effect because their minds are not changed. A good example is with the Masai, they also have a poverty mindset yet they are some of the wealthiest people in Africa. I have been going to Masai land now the past three years and I have continually sat with the church and community leaders as I did on this island in the Delta.
I think they just need someone to believe in them and not look at or treat them as poor people, but challenge them, give some guidance and getting them to believe in themselves to give them self worth and self respect. This has been an important key for me each time I go to Masai land. Salvation is truly important, but much of Africa has been saved a hundred times over it seems, but still they live in this mindset that keeps them under such a destructive curse. Money is not the answer for Africa; it is a change of their world view.
Back now to the Rufiji delta; We made our way back to the mainland and packed up the car in the tropical heat and made our way out of the delta, with our hearts full and our spirits high with the hopes that one day soon we will be able to have a more permanent presence here.
As far as TTN goes, we are communicating and wanting to work with YWAM (Youth With A Mission) who also has a desire to work in the Delta. Missions is too big and is becoming too logistical anymore to do things on your own. This again is another topic.
Packed up and on our way out of the Delta, Noah (our host and guide) took us to the outskirts of the Delta to see the Barabaig people. (I visited these people with Noah a few years ago). This is a nomadic group very much like the Masai. For generations they have been the number one enemy of the Masai. They have fought cattle wars right up into the 1990’s.
At this time many of the Masai have begun to settle down and become more stationary. Rather than moving with their cattle, families settle down but they send their cattle out for grazing and return after several weeks and even up to a year at a time.
Unlike the Barabaig people who still pack up their families and all their goods and with their herds move about in search for ‘greener pastures’.
The Barabaig are an unreached people group. Noah has been building relationships with this particular group that moved into the Delta area about three years ago and he is doing a fantastic job. They have accepted him into their community, thus we were able to visit. Just getting accepted into some of these communities can take years, yet often the first time we come visit we insist on preaching the gospel. I was once told that people will not ‘hear’ your story unless they see your heart. We are not much different in the West. We may appear to listen but the message is not truly heard.
Like the Masai, the Barabaig are still hunters and gatherers. The men hunting with spears and the women and the donkeys are the gatherers. Many still wear goat skin clothing and are decorated with red paint and metal rings around their necks and arms. Through the dedication of Noah one of the Barabaig men gave his heart to the Lord last year and now this little Barabaig community sits and watches to see what will happen. If this new convert is truly transformed and continues to walk a changed life, we will see that one day the whole family will come to Jesus, but it all takes time - this is why we stay…
Our visit would not have been welcome if Noah had not been there. The leader of the group who has six wives gave us permission to take a short walk-about to see his cattle. While we were in his little mud hut, he must have spit on the wall next to him a dozen times. Not sure why, I thought it was a bit gross but hey, I am a Westerner, what do I know? We took a few pictures but was soon rebuked by the ‘chief’ of the group and had to stop. We took some of the pictures after we left and got them developed in Dar and gave them to Noah so that he could take back to the people. I would guess that most of them have never seen a picture of themselves.
After an hour or so we were off to the big city of Dar es Salaam, full of people, traffic, business, a far cry from the seemingly peaceful Barabaig people.
We went off to sleep at a small hotel on the beach, spent some more time with Jeremiah (YWAM director) talking about the future of our work in the Rufiji Delta. The Delta is a vast area of hurting, searching people, a lot like us I suppose, just in a different location.
PS. Please feel free to comment and share your own views and experiences!
