Belated guest blog #4

Father Christmas and the Tooth Fairy or Christmas in Dodoma

We had to work at Christmas in Dodoma, as it’s not natural for us Brits to have Christmas when it’s so hot. We’re more used to “In the bleak midwinter” scenarios and we had to keep reminding ourselves what time of year it was, in the bright sunshine. Driving round the town wasn’t much help either, as there weren’t any Christmas decorations. We saw the odd tinsel seller and the odd artificial tree for sale, but most people don’t have the money for such things. Having no electricity in their homes and no televisions, they aren’t constantly bombarded by adverts for things they don’t know they need, nor do they have fridges and freezers in which to store all the food bought over the Christmas season in the UK, as if all the shops were closing for a month.



The Grinch discovered that Christmas comes anyway, even if you remove all the add-ons we’ve come to associate with the festival, because the real significance of the birth of Christ, the salvation He brings and the restored relationship with God the Father, offered to mankind, is no longer smothered and obscured by these things. In many ways it was a relief to escape all the hype.



However three small people new Christmas was coming even though it was hot and sunny and could hardly contain their excitement. It’s always a wonder to watch their little faces light up, when they open their presents.



Libby and Daniel had invited a number of people to join them for a “bring and share” Christmas dinner at their house, but in the end it happened at another house, which was bigger, as there were 19 people in all. Libby provided the turkey and we’d brought stuffing, cranberry sauce and bread sauce with us, to go with it. Others provided roast pork and ham, various vegetables etc. Daniel made brandy butter to go with the Christmas puddings, or there was a choice of other desserts. It was a veritable feast and because we’d had heavy rain during the night, causing the temperature to drop, we were hungry enough to be able to do it justice. We all appreciated the opportunity to share Christmas with each other, as an extended “family”.



On Christmas Eve, during the day, Joshua’s second baby tooth had wobbled and come out and was duly placed under his pillow for the Tooth Fairy. Christmas Day dawned, but the Tooth Fairy, who was also covering for Father Christmas and been distracted by those other duties, had completely forgotten about the tooth-oops! Ah but maybe Joshua, with the excitement of opening his stocking, might not have remembered either, not a bit of it. By bedtime he’d lost the tooth anyway, which was a bit of a worry to a small boy. All was well though, when he and Mummy discovered some money INSIDE his pillowcase; the Tooth Fairy must have taken his tooth after all. What a relief!