Sifu Mungu Gari

Ok this week I want to talk about string theory in theoretical physics…Just kidding of course I am going to talk about the truck.

Let’s start at the beginning of this particular set of events.  Tuesday, March 9 I get a text from William about he has found a vehicle can I come to Arusha.  So the next morning I went into Singida through the normal transportation method of finding a piki piki to Katusha where I got a Noah minivan into Singida.  The piki piki ride was fun as I had no idea how many days I was going to be gone so I packed a larger bag for the trip in addition to my normal backpack.  Spent that night in Singida after buying a bus ticket for the next day.  I always find it interesting that all the seating charts look the same when they sell you a ticket but when you get on the bus it rarely looks the way it does on the seating chart.  The seat I paid for was on the left hand side about 2 rows behind the door so I can get a breeze.  The seat was actually directly behind the driver over the air intake system meaning I had no place to put my legs.

I arrive in Arusha about 1 pm and William wants to go directly to test drive the truck so I do the normal tell every taxi driver who ever existed in Arusha that no I am waiting on someone and don’t need them to carry me somewhere-it seems they all believe that no matter how many they see me turn down they are positive I will get in their taxi.  Can’t say I am a big fan of waiting at the bus station very long.

William finally gets there and off we go.   The truck is a 1996 Toyota Land Cruiser-one of the most ubiquitous vehicles in Tanzania-one of the important features we wanted was a vehicle that parts would be easy to find even if they were lying about a shade tree somewhere.  This particular vehicle does not have the safari style pop top (the tops open for safari goers to stand up in the vehicle and take pictures of animals) but instead a luggage rack on top.  The luggage rack is strong enough for lumber and pipe to be carried to site.  The back seats are arranged facing each other which works well for the ambulance layout and for carrying supplies in the main cargo area.  The vehicle is clean and in good physical shape and appearance.  There are minor things wrong like the tab on the driver side door lock is broken (just the plastic tab not the door lock) and the foot pedals are all bare metal with no rubber grip.  Major concerns are the fact the tires are in bad shape and it has 120,000 Km and the belts have not been replaced. 

So we go for the test drive.  The first to drive it is our mechanic/professional safari driver who I am paying to give his opinion and help us price out all the work we want done on it before we agree on a purchase price.  I let him drive through town because both people and motorcycles jump out in front of vehicles as they drive along and I want my test drive to be away from all that so I can concentrate on the vehicle and remembering the gears are opposite of where I want them to be.  It is a manual transmission and they are the same gear layout as the states, however when you sit on the opposite side of the transmission everything becomes reversed.  In the states the lower gears are closest to you but here they are furthest away you.

The vehicle handled well and the gears felt good as I worked through them on several occasions as did the brakes.  I told William to warn everyone I was going to brake hard to give them a test but I don’t think they got it in time as some of them slid forward kind of hard.  After me was William then we went for sodas to talk about the price the man wanted then talk with our mechanic and send him out to price things we knew we wanted done to the vehicle.

After that I walked back to William’s house to eat some banana dish Martha had prepared.  The next day we got enough information early to go ahead and ask the money be sent as soon as possible for the purchase of the vehicle.  After we got all the costs to do the minor repairs, basic maintenance, major maintenance, replace the tires, recharge the A/C system and possibly replace the brakes we were still under the budgeted price for the vehicle.  We had additional photo requests from the board so we went over to get those photos and stumbled into someone else about to take it out for a test drive.

Fortunately, the money was sent quickly and actually arrived in the bank here in Tanzania quickly as well.  So Saturday, William went about getting the money out and exchanging it for Shillings so we could purchase the vehicle.  Everything went off without a hitch, which is extraordinary for Tanzania.  One thing here that is different in the sale is that a lawyer drafts your sales paperwork so that also had to be arranged for on Saturday.

During the next week we did hit a couple of snags but fortunately most were planned for.  The first came when the mechanic felt we should not use one of the old tires for a spare but should replace all 5 tires.  I felt one of them was in good enough shape to be used as a spare but he disagreed.  I like to think I am smart enough to know what I don’t know so I deferred to the mechanic.  (BTW the tire store was separated of the work he was performing for us).  The second was the brakes were more worn than we had hoped and would need replacing sooner rather than later.  As I mentioned before these I had planned for by including them in our budgeting process so the costs did not upset things.

The snags that I couldn’t fix had to do with Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA).  The power was out in Arusha off and on for most of the week as was evidenced by all the generators on the street being used to power store lights.  What this meant at the TRA was that after we paid for our vehicle to be transferred to FDMC they could not print the documents for us.  Paying was also interesting-you don’t pay at TRA but go to an Adjutant to pay.  This is basically a small shop hidden on a dirt road with other shops and no formal markings.  You pay him, get a receipt then the sends the money electronically and you get an text message receipt as well.  When TRA gets the text message they will process your paperwork.  The first time through it did not work because like most small shops he has a lot of people there wanting something, he works by himself and he tries to handle every request at the same time. 

So as the day for me to travel back to Singida with the truck arrived we still did not have all the paperwork cleared.  Here in Tanzania that is not so uncommon that you cannot drive the vehicle.  They will often use the insurance from the previous owner for up to half a year before changing it to their own name.  That was suggested as a way we could save money until I asked who the insurance company would pay if something happened to the vehicle-the persons who name is on the policy.  No we are getting our policy.

So the mechanic finished up with his work on Thursday including installing a stereo I paid for since I cannot imagine going 6 hours without music in the background.  The original stereo was only able to pick up a couple of the talks stations which I am not a big fan of while driving.  Friday morning I take off with the original owner’s registration papers, the contract of the sale, and our receipts for paying the TRA since they still have not printed our transfer paperwork yet.  Along the roads are constant police check stations where they verify you have paid your taxes on the vehicle.  Fortunately for me at all four stations, they merely checked the standard laminated sheet from the original owner with the windshield sticker and sent me on my way.  It probably helped some I forgot all my Swahili during these encounters.  My international driving license was also never questioned.

The truck did well and I had no problems with the journey other than the speed.  The national speed limit is 80 km/hr and the towns it is 50 km/hr and there are constant speed humps along the way in addition to speed traps and the police check stations.  So driving between 30 and 50 MPH for six hours gets a little tedious but I only had a problem at one of the speed traps (out of five I thought that was good).  They had set up temporary signs and after about 20 KM and not seeing the “it is ok to get back up to speed” sign I felt it must have fallen down especially since I was getting passed a good bit.  Once top the hill they had about 10 vehicles pulled over.  I was doing about 10km/hr over the temporary sign.  It cost me 30,000 TSH on the spot ($16).  I felt like I was in Mauldin again-though I never actually got caught by one of their notorious speed traps.

About 4.5 hours in I realize I am coming up on Katesh where some of my friends go to get a bus to Singida if they are coming into town so I scan the bus area to see if any of them are there but no such luck then I noticed one of them walk alongside the road so I honk the horn and pull over.  Sure enough she is going into Singida and has been having a rotten day-someone on the bus to Katesh stole her phone.  So I offer her a ride and off we are again.  It was fortunate to spend some time talking with her.  Her degree field was neuroscience and minor in creative writing.  So of course my novel which features a good bit of neuroscience in the science fiction part came up and we discussed some solutions to areas I was struggling with.  All in all it made the last part of the journey very enjoyable.

Once in town I helped her find the places that sell phones so by the time I got the monster truck parked in the very small parking lot of the hotel it was too late to do anything but grab a bite for dinner.  I ran into some more peace corp folks at the Stanley and ate dinner with them, then the friend from South Korea showed up as well.

The next morning, I went to the post office and nothing was in my mail box so I was about leave when the postmaster type person ran out to get my attention.  He had a package for me he had not processed as it had just come in.  I knew my parents were sending me something but it seemed a bit early for that to be there.  It was a large package from the mother of one of the board members that was full of beef jerky, fruit gummy snacks and sugar free candy.  It was a wonderful surprise to keep the weekend going.

That weekend in town was a big one for the peace corp as new folks were arriving and being sent out with existing members for kind of an orientation of living in the villages. 

Monday I loaded up the truck with medicines, pre-school supplies, paint, cement and my groceries from Arusha and headed out to the village.  The trip out was wonderful.  I can honestly say it was my favorite trip out there so far.  It was peaceful, quiet and comfortable and on my schedule.

William joined at the site on Tuesday and used the truck to take a guest around to various areas.  So I officially get to announce I was not the first to get the truck stuck.  We have a new rule I am adding to the use of the truck-no driving after dark in the valley unless it is a medical emergency and then we will use a motorcycle escort I hope.  There was no damage except to William’s pride and that will heal.  (trust me mine has healed a lot over the years).  I told him the story of before I joined the teams and I was driving an old military jeep in the Death Valley of California-the actual desert.  I had two lieutenants in the back arguing and one of them screamed at me to stop the vehicle so I did.  We were in such soft sand it took an tracked APC to push us out. 

Friday we had a dedication ceremony for the truck on site with the medical staff.  I read from Exodus 16 about when God provided quail and manna for the Israelites.  Not only from the standpoint that God provides what you need but he only provides what you need.  Then William prayed to give thanks for the vehicle and the ministry it will provide and I prayed for the vehicle to be protected and for its use to always be reflected in God’s glory so that it will do no harm to anyone.

After the dedication ceremony, we used the truck to go to Gumange and distributed 133 pairs of eyeglasses. 

For everyone who participated in the purchase of the truck-Thank you.