American village in Tanzania...

Kibondo is a small, mountainous town in rural western Tanzania. It's the headquarters for a number of international agencies (UNHCR, IRC, TCRS...) who work in the refugee camps located at various points outside the town and we've been visiting with some of the (mostly American) staff over the past few days.

Our plan for today is to visit Kanembwa, which formerly hosted up to 15,000 refugees at one point. Now it is the site of the 'American village', home to those who have been accepted to resettle in the US and are undergoing medical screenings, background checks and attending cultural orientation classes on life in the US. We will visit the camp this morning (Monday) and accompany a busload of refugees to the Kibondo airstrip, where they will board a chartered flight on their way to new lives in the US! It's possible I will even meet some who are on their way to North Carolina. We plan to interview a few of them about their expectations and even follow-up once they arrive in the US..

Right now, however, we are waiting for our camp entry permits to arrive from the capital of Dar es Salaam. There is a lot of waiting, and not a lot of hurrying, in Kibondo. Waiting...for someone to arrive, for electricity to cut off or to be restored (it's provided through generators so only has certain hours of operation- generally it's lights out at 11 pm), for the guards to pump water at the well so we can shower, for water or food to heat on the kerosene stove, for rains to end so that we can begin a journey, or for rains to come so that crops will grow....
It is good practice for all of us to wait, to realize that we (esp. as Americans) live our lives creating this illusion of control that we don't really have. To live in a place where even basic needs are frequently subject to inavailability....one more easily remembers to Whom we are truly indebted. I haven't lacked for anything that I truly need here. There is more than enough food (believe me!) and water (even hot water for showering, thank goodness!) and even Internet (though I still haven't had enough extra time/technosavvy to post pictures yet)... So I won't make anymore false promises about photos. And I will continue to have faith that the permits will come! Thanks for the comments...will post more after our trip.