"Sister Give me My Brush!"

Tuesday May 18th- Painting at Wami Dakawa
Today started the day of our volunteer building projects. We took the bus past Dar Salaam and into Wami Dakawa where one group stayed to help paint in inside of the church while another group headed to a different Massai church. I was at the first site, but everyone was fed before we split into groups. We were fed the usual snack of goat milk with donuts (more like bread) and flat bread. After having gallons of goat milk at other villages and being in the heat it is hard to drink another hot beverage, but we still are the honored guests. Afterward a group of girls and I started painting the inside of the church. We weren’t so sure if we would be able to do work since some men might struggle with the fact that females aren’t allowed to do that kind of work. It ended up going o.k. but we had spectators watching our brush strokes and I even had a couple guys take my brush away from me. One said, “Sister…give me my brush!” Stunned and unsure of what to say I just gave him the brush to avoid further conflict. The church was pretty simple but had more decorations than I have seen at any other village church (which doesn’t take much.) Some plastic flowers were hung up and a glass lectern was by the alter. In the end we painted the walls, doors, Luka got outside columns, and the alter.
The most surprising thing was Luka. He went to the hospital the night before and we were all praying for him and unsure of what he had but it turned out to be parasites. It was good he got to go along since he is a hard worker, but he hardly stopped and rested. ..God heal him.
We had our first lunch that didn’t have goat but pork instead and it tasted delicious. I noticed that when we were eating we sat with the men and the women were assigned their own designated spot by the fire and off to the side behind some trees. This not only bugged me in the fact that it showed inequality, but I also felt like I couldn’t communicate with the women at all. Maybe this is why it is hard to form relationships with women because they are taught to be reserved…just another observation of the culture.
We had a boy who was in the church the whole time watching us paint with a Minnesota Gopher jersey…not only was it shocking but also kind of humbling to see something from the Midwest in such a remote place.
Our painting job in the end (I’m sure in both places) was much appreciated and really fun to do. At the end of the work day they started playing songs with guitars so we could all come together through music.