There used to be a popular television program called, “Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?” hosted by Jeff Foxworthy.  Yesterday I discovered that “I’m not stronger than Sr. Moly.”  

Every Friday, Sr. Moly (shown) travels to the market in Makambako (some 20 miles from the INUKA Centre) to purchase all the food and supplies necessary to provide breakfast and lunch for the children, parents, and adults served by INUKA the following Monday through Friday. (Dinner is the responsibility of the parents and adults.)

Jewel, Mariano’s, Aldi, Target, and Wal-Mart don’t exist in Tanzania. Therefore, Sr. Moly and I set out in a pick-up truck for this large outdoor market (under roof) that operates seven days a week in Makambako. We departed INUKA at 11 a.m. and returned at 3:45 p.m. It took nearly five hours to buy all the supplies and food needed. And Sr. Moly has to repeat this task every Friday!

Jewel, Mariano’s, Aldi, Target, and Wal-Mart don’t exist in Tanzania. Therefore, Sr. Moly and I set out in a pick-up truck for this large outdoor market (under roof) that operates seven days a week in Makambako.

I was grateful for the experience, but exhausted by all that we had done. And in many ways, I was emotionally and mentally drained by what I witnessed at the market; the realities of life in Tanzania. For the Tanzanian, they know no different, and are likely very grateful that such a large market exists where they can purchase all the necessities for their household. If you are in a remote village, such a massive market would not be available to you without traveling a great distance.

Sr. Moly had an extensive list of needs: paper products, cleaning supplies, soft drinks, rice, flour, brown sugar, peanut dust, bananas, watermelon, eggplant, avocados, cucumbers, tomatoes, apples, coconuts, and ginger, etc. We even stopped at two different vendors for meat. The meat purchases were very small because the consumption of meat is a rarity in Tanzania (usually just for Christmas, Easter, birthdays and special occasions).

I took a few photos in the market, but Sr. Moly told me to limit my taking of photos, as it is not appreciated by many of the Tanzanian people. I could not bring myself to take a photo of the meat hanging on hooks (when you consider meat in the U.S. is always refrigerated or frozen).  

Be sure to look closely at the photo on the right so you can see live chickens for purchase in a pen. In fact, as I was loading the truck at one point, I heard a chicken squawk behind me; the chicken had startled me.  I turned around and saw a man departing on a motorcycle with six live chickens fastened to his motorcycle. Also, note the mound of very tiny fish in the photo below.

The smells, the dust, and the multiple treks back to the pick-up truck left me emotionally spent and fatigued.  Sr. Moly, however, simply smiled; grateful for all that we accomplished. And Sister will do this all over again next Friday. In my book, she is a rock star!

In the photos to follow, also note our pick-up truck partially loaded with food and supplies (left). When we departed, the truck bed was completely full,as was the back seat of the truck. Also note the man carrying fresh cabbage into the market (right); he simply went back and forth non-stop with the heavy basket-loads of cabbage.