Playing Pretend in Tanganyika

Playing Pretend in Tanganyika

When my big brother Cal was home from boarding school, my younger sister Marlowe and I enjoyed playing ‘pretend’ in very creative ways. Being quite young when we’d left the USA for Tanganyika, our memories of America were dim at best. I recall wearing hats and...

Shoes from America

I remember vividly anticipating the arrival of a package from America, which was to contain five pairs of shoes for me! In those days in Tanganyika shoes were not readily available and I was growing faster than my parents could keep me in shoes. We were always...

Castor Oil – Ugh!

One of my most unpleasant experiences as a youngster growing up in Tanganyika Territory was having to swallow terrible tasting medicines for various diseases or illnesses! Having to swallow bitter quinine daily against malaria was bad enough but when worms took up...
Huge Hippos

Huge Hippos

It was in an early morning call of desperation. “Bwana, kiboko iko ndani ya shamba! Saidia!” Here’s a loose translation. Mr missionary, please come down to the lake as the hippos have been eating in our gardens and have destroyed our crops! My dad, Oliver Donner, was...
Season’s Greetings

Season’s Greetings

There is a common misconception that Christmases are not as enjoyable as they were in the past. In any case celebrating Christmas in the tropics never has been and never will be as good as celebrating it in the Northern Hemisphere.  Of the many abilities of the early...