22 December 2010 - Christmas time

Only a few days remain before we will be celebrating Christmas 2010. It seems like this year has gone very fast and soon we’ll be in a New Year once again. As I look back at this year and see that I haven’t done very many postings to this blog, I know that one reason is that has happened which I feared when I returned here to Tanzania in 2009. And that is that I have started to take things for granted again. These new eyes that I had when I returned and used to look at things, events, ways of doing, etc. when I have become so used to everything once again that I don’t see the uniqueness in them and so don’t remember to share that with the readers of these postings. But in contrast to that I can say that this Christmas I feel so much more at home here in Dodoma, know so many more people, know how to get around and not get lost, have made friends with the neighborhood, have discovered who to call on when needing help for repairs, and so many other ways that I now feel a part of this place. And so this year has been a year of settling in and feeling at home. And that has been nice.

After we closed school on the 4th of December I took a week off and had a retreat. I went to the convent of the Sisters who run the orphanage and school and they received me graciously, gave me space and food, and it was a very nice week. The room that I was given was on the second floor and I could look out the big windows on the flowers and trees that are so in abundance at the orphanage, and I could also hear the children as they played and sang and drummed, and sometimes cried. It was a good time for quiet and prayer.

In between this writing I’m baking some Christmas goodies to take along when we go to spend Christmas with our closest Maryknoll Sisters’ community in Morogoro (three hours away). Christmas sweet bread and molasses fruit cake remind me of Christmases at home, and they’re on the list of things to be baked. I’m praying that the electricity stays on. If it doesn’t I’m in trouble. :)

Christmas blessings to everyone. Let us pray for each other.

20th November 2010 - Thanksgiving

Next week is Thanksgiving, and so my thoughts go to some of the many things that bless my life every day. I think of my family, my friends, Maryknoll community, my faith and insights, our neighborhood, living in Tanzania, my students, fellow staff members, neighbors, sunrise in the morning, sunsets in the evening, clouds soon to bring rain, flowers on the baobab trees, breezes in the trees, lizards playing on the walls, water in the taps, electricity, a car to take me places out of the sun, children laughing as they pass the house, my mission vocation, food in the cupboard, books to read, music to listen to, our church community, people who I love and who love me. And that’s just a couple of minutes of thought. Really, life is blessed. One thing I’ve realized lately is how many more people from around here that I know now than I did one year ago. We were at a gathering a few weeks ago and it was nice to be able to recognize, to talk to, to know so many people. That wasn’t true a year ago, and it’s a nice feeling.

Yesterday was the last day of teaching for the year and I can hardly believe that the school year is over. Next week we have examinations, then marking and preparing the report cards, and school closing date is December 4th. It’s really been a good year and I’ve enjoyed the students so much. Yesterday I asked them what they most appreciated about their year of leaning English and what they disliked about it, then asked their advice on how I could do better next year. The great majority were very positive in their responses and there were sentences like “I love my English teacher” (Those are the ones who will get “A’s” !) and lots of expressions of gratitude. Almost everyone wrote about how they liked that I taught them songs in English. They also appreciated that I took time to answer their questions and to help those who didn’t understand. There were a couple comments as to what they disliked, and it was when I became angry (Yes, it happened a few times when I got really annoyed with their behavior ….). Some commented on how I could improve by saying that they would like that I mark ALL their exercises. I’m sure they’d like that but marking every exercise they do for 90 students makes me tired just thinking about it. Most of the time I asked them to mark their own, and gave them weekly quizzes which I marked in order to ascertain their progress. Anyway, it was a good exercise and most of them asked if I would be teaching them again next year. I won’t – I’ll be teaching the new Form I students and hand over these, who will be in Form II, to another teacher.

This morning at our Small Christian Community meeting and as we prayed the gospel of tomorrow, the last Sunday of the church year, it’s amazing to realize that Advent starts next week and Christmas isn’t far behind. 2011 is just around the corner.

Happy Thanksgiving and an enjoyable holiday season to you.

20th October 2010 – Early Mornings

Some thoughts /observations as I go out walking in the early morning.
Water: The other early morning people are mostly looking for water. Women from the outlying areas are coming in to try to find a tap that has water. Young boys are on their bicycles with four or five buckets tied to them, going for water for which they’ll be paid.

Fuel: Women are going to the hills in the distance to look for firewood to bring back. Some will use it for their own cooking and some will be sold. Men come walking (trotting) with charcoal that they’ve made, carried in two sacks with a pole over their shoulders. This will be sold to one of the many people who still use charcoal for cooking.

School: Children start to leave their houses on their way to school as I return from my morning walk (about 6.45). The children are of all sizes but what impresses me are the little ones, first graders or kindergarteners, who are walking all by themselves. I met one such little girl this morning, going to first grade, all dressed neatly and cleanly in her uniform (skirt much too long for her but I suppose “she’ll grow into it”) on her way to a school which is about two miles away. What a beautiful smile she had on her face. I’m grateful that these children are safe enough to do this. There are many children walking along the side of a very busy main road as I go to school in the mornings and I’m happy that just recently the traffic police have begun to appear at the place where they need to cross the road. At least they’ll be able to do that safely as the trucks and buses roar by on their way to Dar es Salaam in the morning.

Agriculture: The clouds are beginning to form in the sky these days and smell of burning fields is in the air which means that folks are beginning to prepare for the next planting season. And this morning I saw a fellow on his way out to some field, a hoe in one hand and a panga (machete) in the other. Let’s hope and pray that the rains are good this year.

8th September 2010 - Mid-term Break Time

Another long time has passed since I posted anything on this blog. What I’m thinking about today is how things change and especially how nature changes. Suddenly we find ourselves in what seems like a different season here. Today was the first day in a long time I walked in the morning without a sweater. The dry bushes are beginning to bloom, the flowers of “kiangazi” (dry season). The field mice are scurrying around when I’m walking along the road. I’m thinking about washing my blanket and putting it away for a few months. All of these outside changes bring a change inside as well, or so it seems. It’s hard to articulate what those changes are but I can feel them.

Or maybe it’s because I’m a bit tired after what seems like a rather long couple of months. Anyway, our mid-term exams at school are over with and the students go home on Saturday. The break is only one week and during that week we teachers will have a seminar/workshop with folks from the Ministry of Education. Apparently there are some aspects of the syllabus (“new” from 2005) that they want to share with us so it is said we’ll be learning from 8 a.m. until 4.30 p.m. all week. That’s a lot of time so I hope it’s worthwhile. I’m looking forward to meeting teachers from other schools and sharing resources and experiences, however.

The students have been in a “mood” this week. I don’t think it’s a very good plan to have them remain at school after exams are finished but the reason for that is so the teachers can finish marking exams and then prepare some short report for the students to go home with. The intention is good but the students’ thoughts are at home and no longer at school so it’s a challenge to have them pay attention in class. We’ve been doing more singing than usual because they love singing, and at least that keeps them awake and attentive when they’re not in the mood for learning.

I just went to the local fruit and vegetable seller to buy five oranges and five bananas. While I was there (a makeshift table under a tree) a little boy came wandering by, about 2 or 3 years old. He was from a traditional house just down the road and was looking so longingly at the oranges that were being sold. Of course I bought him an orange, and you should have seen his eyes light up! It’s the little things in life…

14th August 2010- Reflections on the Death of a Friend

Sharing some of my thoughts of the past week seems to be a good way to work through a little of the sadness I feel at the loss of my dear friend, Patricia Kelley. It’s hard to believe that so many emotions could be packed into this one week since it was really only one week ago that I was struck with the fact that we were really going to have to say good-bye to Pat here on earth. Although she had been struggling with her disease for about 3 ½ years, still I always believed that she was going to win the struggle and be with us for some years yet. But maybe it was blindness and not wanting to believe – whatever, last weekend her condition grew worse, Monday she returned to her home under Hospice care, and on Tuesday she went to be received by the angels and her loving God.

I never had a blood sister, only brothers, but I feel like I had a close facsimile to a sister in Pat. Her entrance into my life came in 1964 when we met at Maryknoll after having spent our earlier years as Maryknoll Sisters in different parts of the country. Who knows what makes a friendship bloom, but ours did very quickly and strongly. I remember so many good times together during those early years, as we learned together and struggled through those tumultuous days of change in the church. We read the works of Teilhard de Chardin together, puzzling over what he was saying while somehow knowing that even in its obscurity it was important. Then she went to NYC for nursing and I to Manhattanville for music, and although we saw a little less of each other, still we remained very close. I remember my graduation recital at Manhattanville, and how she made the trip from NYC to be with me at that special occasion. As always she knew just the right touch, and brought me flowers – just a sign of her always present graciousness.

Then I went to Tanzania and she finished her degree. Her life took a different turn from mine at that point and I was devastated when she wrote to me that she was leaving Maryknoll. I nearly left myself at that point, but something kept me in while the same thing urged Pat onto a different path.

And fortunately even though our paths took different directions, we kept close in heart. We never lost that special connection. I’ve always been grateful that I’ve been blessed with many “homes” – farm home in North Dakota, Maryknoll Center, different places in Tanzania, and added to that was Pat’s home. I was always welcome, felt completely at home in her house; truly it was a home for me. Pat was the only “East Coast” friend who ever visited my farm home in North Dakota, and she did it twice! That meant so much to me, and was such a visible sign that Brooklyn and rural North Dakota have something in common.

I loved it when we were together and people commented that we must be sisters. First of all, I was extremely flattered because Pat was so beautiful. And maybe like couples grow to look like each other after a long time, our friendship made us resemble each other in some way that people saw.

Her generosity to me was outstanding. I won’t even try to enumerate the gifts, but my first major league baseball game and my first Broadway show were only two of the many experiences I had because of her generosity. And looking in my closet I can pull out this which was Pat’s and that which Pat gave me. She liked to get her nails done, and we went many times together and sat chatting while our feet got pampered. She was gracious to say that she wanted company, but don’t think that I didn’t enjoy it as much as she did.

Gentleness, graciousness, thoughtfulness, interest in so many things: These are just a few other lovely qualities that Pat had. She touched so many lives, through her work and her commitment to it as well as lots of people from very ordinary encounters. Her bravery during her illness was outstanding. She will be missed so much. Robert, her husband, is absolutely amazing and his care for her during her illness was an inspiration to many. She loved her boys so much and she is such an example of a loving mother. She was proud of them, and she had every right to be so. She so looked forward to her first grandchildren, and the twins shared just a little more than a month of time on earth with their grandmother.

During these last couple of days of her wake and funeral mass I’ve been constantly thinking about all those who loved her so much and the rituals connected with saying goodbye to her. I have been living in two spaces: bodily I’m here in Dodoma but mentally and emotionally I’m in New Jersey. I’m so grateful to Pat’s loved ones who have kept closely in touch during these days. That means so much to me.
Although we are saying farewell to Patricia as we knew her, she remains with us in so many other ways. Her loving spirit is part of our lives, a part that will never die, and so gratitude is so strongly connected with sadness right now. Thank you, Pat, for sharing your life with me.

21st July 2010 - Long silence

It’s been a long time since I’ve written anything here. Why? Lazy, vacation, wondering if it’s interesting to anyone. But with just a little encouragement, here I am.

Last time I wrote, we had just finished the first term of school and were planning to teach extra classes during the school holidays. Those went well but unfortunately during the last week of classes the five-month old baby of one of the teachers died of malaria. It is so hard understand why so many people, children and babies especially, are still dying from malaria. It seems like this little one shouldn’t have died – he was healthy, well nourished, well taken-care of. But when he got malaria it seems that maybe he was given too high a dose of quinine. They say that the medication that children were given in the past is no longer effective, and so some kind/dose of quinine is given to them these days. Anyway, little Godi started throwing up and having diarrhea, got severely dehydrated, seemed to be getting better with liquids/oral rehydration, etc., but then took a turn for the worse. When they took him to the main hospital on that last Thursday evening, there was only one doctor on duty, and there also had been an accident and this doctor was dealing with a lot of severely injured people as well. By the time the baby was prescribed a drip, they couldn’t find any vein in which to insert the needle. By 8.30 in the morning he was dead.

I sat with the mother for quite a while after they brought the baby’s body home, as is the custom here. The bereaved woman sits on the floor and those who commiserate sit with her as she cries, wails, laments, etc. Not much is said, but I guess just being there is helpful. The men are in another part of the house, making arrangements, etc. My fellow teacher was sobbing when we met, but later was meeting with other men. There needed to be a coffin made, grave dug, etc. so those were their jobs. So sad.

The following weekend our friend came to visit, and a wonderful visit we had. We lived together 25 years ago: Sr. Connie, Michelle, who was a Maryknoll Lay Missioner at that time, Bibiana Mkenda, and myself. We lived in community, two Sisters and two lay women, and lived so very well together and became lasting friends. Michelle came to Tanzania with her 16 year old son, who stayed back in Dar es Salaam to work with a group of street children. The three of us (Connie, Michelle and I) drove to Singida and spent the day with Bibiana, who is now Headmistress of a large secondary school there in Singida town. We had a wonderful time, talking, remembering those days, catching up with each other, Michelle and Bibiana comparing the challenges of raising children. It was a graced time, and I think we all feel more grateful than anything else for long, lasting, strong, caring friendships.

Then off to Dar es Salaam. We Maryknoll Sisters had a two day seminar with Sr. Efu Nyaki,M.M., who is from Tanzania and whose mission is Brazil. She shared with us some of her expertise in healing and energy work. It was an excellent two days, and very helpful. Those deep breaths in the morning are a good foundation for the rest of the day!

Then a day of meeting, and finally a day at the beach, enjoying each other and catching up with the news of hither and yon. On Monday, Connie went off to the U.S. for a visit with her mom, among other things, and incidentally was able to accompany a Tanzanian woman who has just joined the Maryknoll Sisters. I stayed on in the big city and enjoyed seeing some of my old haunts. I also had a nice visit with the family of a student I had in the early 70’s. Their second daughter (now 32 years old!) is my godchild, and it was very good to see her again after a long time. By the end of the week I was back home, with evenings spent with only myself for company! During the day I’m busy enough and see plenty of people but the evenings are a bit lonely. Connie will be back before too long.

So the second term of school has started and I think we only lost one student. Others are back with plenty of energy and we’re off to a good start. This week many of them have sniffles and coughs but they’ll recover. Hope I don’t catch it ……………

18th June 2010 - Winter

Our winter is here. It’s time for a blanket on a bed and a sweater in the morning and evening. The difference between the temperature in the very early morning and that of noontime must be very great. The sun, so close to the equator that it is, is always so strong and hot but when it’s not shining, the coolness is wonderful.

The students went home for their holidays last Saturday morning. On Friday we had an assembly to close school for the first term, and at that occasion a recap of the first term was given by the academic master. The top ten students academically were recognized and the bottom seven were warned, not by name but they would find out who they were when they looked at their report forms. The school has indicated that any student not getting an average of 45 would not be allowed to continue on to the next level so the warning was that if they don’t get that average by the end of the year they won’t be allowed to go on to Form II. An average of 45 might seem like not much to those who are accustomed to another marking system, but here the marking goes like this: A = 81-100; B = 61-80; C = 41-60; D = 21-40 and F = anything under 21. Testing and marking then follows these levels. Our school average for all students and for all subjects came out to be 63 so that’s a decent average. The English average was 64 so that seems to be where we are. I certainly notice an improvement in the students’ English, and that gives me encouragement and the students feel that as well.

Starting Tuesday we began to teach some extra classes for those students who live in Dodoma. They come from their homes every morning and we have three hours of classes with them and then they return home. Parents asked for this arrangement so that their children continue to learn during holiday time, and this keeps them in the learning mode. And because they live in town, there probably aren’t a lot of tasks for them to do at home, and you know what idle hands are ….. It seems to be a good option for everyone, and will continue for the first three weeks of holiday, leaving the last one free for everyone.

Yesterday I had an appointment at 10.00 a.m. to get my hair cut. As usual, I was there on time and do you know how long I waited? Two hours. We were back and forth on the phone a few times with the hairdresser giving me the assurance that she was coming. “Just wait a little bit longer.” Since I wasn’t in a hurry to do anything else and am sort of on vacation, I waited while enjoying the plants and flowers and birds in the courtyard of the Dodoma Hotel, where she has her salon. All the same, I was practicing what I would say to her when she arrived. And when she did come, she explained that the child of a co-worker of hers was in the hospital and just as she was ready to come to cut my hair, a phone call was received asking her to bring some cooked spinach to the hospital since the child was anemic and needed to eat spinach. She explained to me that she couldn’t not do that or she would be accused of being more concerned with her work than with her friends! So what does one say to that? Nevertheless I did tell her with a smile on my face that if there was another hairdresser here in Dodoma who could cut my kind of hair, I wouldn’t go back to her. She laughed and agreed that was true, once again offering an apology. One of the first things we did when arriving in Dodoma was to inquire who cuts European hair, and she was recommended to us as the only one. She does a good enough job, but time and appointments are a challenge for her.

1st June 2010 – Is it June already ??

Another month has passed and I guess I was a bit busy since the time went SO quickly. I don’t know where the weeks and months go. For lots of youngsters in the U.S. this time of year means the end of school and a chance to enjoy good weather and the fun of summer. I hope some of you can appreciate the mosquitoes that come with the warm weather better than I. And do you know that they like to look at themselves in mirrors? Every morning I can kill (pacifist that I am) at least a couple who are sitting on the mirror in the bathroom. They also like to sit on bed nets, but at least they’re visible there and as long as they stay on the outside then they don’t disturb my sleep. I continue to wonder what purpose these creatures have on our earth…..

We see a lot of baobab fruit this time of the year. I don’t know about you but I didn’t know that baobab trees produce and edible fruit until I lived in this central part of the country where there are so many of these trees. Their fruit/seeds are in pods, some of the pods being quite large (5 – 6 inches long and a couple inches in diameter), and the seeds are small but covered with a sweet cottony something that kids love to suck on. I’ve also heard that these seeds are sometimes soaked in water and that water given to children to stop diarrhea. Collecting these seeds is a business for some, and many people use food coloring to dye them, package them, and then they’re sold in the market, on street corners and everywhere people are passing.

Coming home from work today I was reminded again about how, although we live in the capital city, our area is still very much village. I was behind a herd of cows and goats, and had to wait until they decided to get out of the way. And we hear roosters every morning (early, at a couple different times), and guinea fowls, dogs, cats, cows, goats all during the day and into the night. And this morning during my walk I was out of houses before I had gone 20 minutes, and it was just like being in the wilderness except for the things I could see in the distance. I came across a couple magnificent baobab trees during this walk, and so that reminded me to write about them. Maybe I can put a picture on the page as well, one taken of a beautiful big baobab near St. Gaspar’s Conference Centre.

10th May 2010 – Mother’s Day Yesterday

There’s something about Mother’s Day that’s SO nice. One reason for that may be that we take the time to acknowledge what wonderful influences the women in our lives have been, be they our birth mothers or other women who helped shape us. Even though this holiday is hardly celebrated here in Tanzania, I did get a couple phone calls from women who look on me as a mother in the sense that I’ve helped and supported and encouraged them in some way in the past. It was really nice to be told that they were thinking of me and wanted to know how I am. Just that much, but very affirming.

Everything is going well at school. I had been lobbying for a staff meeting so that we could all be on the same page as far as what is expected of the students as well as having an opportunity to contribute to the betterment of the school. I should be careful of what I ask for: We had a meeting last week, four hours long! But it was very good, with everyone’s concerns brought out openly and clearly, and I think we’re all happier for it.

Last Sunday we took a drive up to the University of Dodoma and this time we were able to see much more than during our previous excursion. So far there is only one faculty, that of education, but we saw all of those buildings with classrooms, dormitories, administration, etc. This is a huge faculty, and there are already some 20,000 students there. We were also able to see the new part of the university that is now being built, this one the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. This is a very extensive and ambitious project as well, with lots and lots of new buildings going up. I think I heard that there is one more faculty that is still to be built but I can’t remember which it is. The word is that there will be 40,000 students when it’s all finished. That should make this town hop a little!

I don’t exactly like to think of having more traffic because it’s nice to have few cars on the streets. However, having more traffic might actually work in a driver’s favor. Why? Because it seems like pedestrians and cyclists are so used to having the roads to themselves, a driver really has to be on the alert in order to avoid them. When I drive into town I usually come home marveling at the many times one has to give way to those on foot or on bicycles, when I thought the roads were for cars! Anyway, it makes for interesting driving.

26th April 2010 - Union Day

Today is Muungano Day here in Tanzania. Muungano means “Union” and it’s the day that commemorates the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar into the United Republic of Tanzania. It’s always nice to have an extra day to play around with.

Yesterday was the Sunday when parents visit the girls at school, and so I met some new people again. They come to visit and then have an opportunity to meet with the teachers and to ask how their daughters are doing, etc. It’s a nice chance to get to know them a little and to share insights about the students. Of course those who don’t have visitors get a little down in the mouth, but hopefully that doesn’t last long.

On Saturday I had a nice visit from a former student of Murigha. When she phoned I couldn’t quite recall who she was, but of course recognized her when we met. As we talked I began to remember her story. She applied for and was accepted as a student in 2000, but her mother came to me and said that she really couldn’t pay her school fees as required but she begged me to allow her come to school and she’d try to pay little by little. She was a widow, with a couple younger children as well, and just didn’t have any means to get much extra money. I agreed that Ashura could come to school, and for four years I met her mother innumerable times, as she would bring minuscule amounts of money. Sometimes it would be only a couple thousand shillings (out of the 300,000 that were supposed to be paid), other times one pencil, or a jar of the cheapest lotion, or a bar of the cheapest soap. But Ashura was a good student academically, and a fantastic worker. She worked with the cows a lot, and was very responsible in everything that she was assigned to do. When there would be some money coming in for scholarships or school fees, I’d make sure that some of it went into Ashura’s account. And so she finished her four years of secondary school, and then was chosen to go on to Teacher’s Training College. By that time I had left Murigha and was back in the U.S. and so didn’t hear from her during those years. So having her phone out of the blue was a real surprise. She was here in Dodoma to take an entrance examination for further studies in adult education, and I hope and pray that she gets this opportunity to advance herself. Right now she’s teaching in a primary school in Singida region, in a remote village to which she has to walk nine kilometers after getting off a bus. As is usual in many village primary schools, there are more kids than teachers should have to deal with, and she teaches science to 80 to 100 kids in one classroom. It’s a real miracle that kids learn anything with conditions like that, but it’s testimony to the dedication of the teachers that they do. Anyway, it was wonderful seeing Ashura again, and to know of her successes. Her mother’s belief that education would change Ashura’s life has borne fruit.

12th April 2010 – Back to School

Today we were back in the classroom after two weeks of a change of pace. It was nice to have had lots of time to do organizing and catching up, etc. but I realize how much I missed the kids. It was great to see them again this morning, and they seemed fairly ready to get down to work immediately. They were all back except for two, who are reported to be sick, so that’s good. No slacking off with these students.

We are definitely into a change of season, with the windows beginning to rattle at night with the wind. The dust is more and more visible on our bookshelves and other furniture as well, so that means we’re moving into the dry season. But looking around outside there is still so much to bring enjoyment to our eyes. Every open space, i.e., any space that doesn’t have building going on, or farming going on, is filled with wild flowers ( or some would say “weeds that bloom”) – yellow ones, white ones, purple ones – some very tall, some medium height and some creeping on the ground or climbing on whatever they find to climb on. The shapes of the flowers and their shades of colors are so many and so lovely. The millet is also getting ripe and will be ready for harvest before too long. One problem with millet is that the grains are so small and so well-loved by the birds. Birds perch on the top of a head of millet and just start eating from the top down until they have had enough to eat. People try tying all kinds of things on the stalk or over the head, but I still see missing grains on mostly all heads. Every creature has to eat, I guess.

Easter was quiet here but nice. We do notice more noise during the days when the primary school children are at home rather than at school, but on the whole they aren’t at all bothersome. It’s actually nice to hear them at play outside, with their giggles tickling us as well.

30th March 2010 – Holy Week

We have finished the first half-term of school and so now have two weeks of vacation. The students from other towns went home by bus early on Saturday morning and the rest dribbled out later on Saturday morning. They were SO excited to be going home and anxious to see their families and friends. They were relieved to have finished three days of mid-term exams, and of course are now anxious to see their results. I chuckle at them and their intensity. They agonize over the questions that they don’t know the answers to and the expressions on their faces as they think are memorable. Some of them lay their heads on their desks, I guess thinking that the answer will pop up through the wood! It will be good for them to have a little rest and relaxation from the stress of getting used to a new school, being away from home, new classmates, studying in a language not theirs, in short, all the new things they’ve been confronted with during the past three months.

I spent many hours marking their exams and once again it seems like 90 papers never end. There were some laughs along the line, however. One of the sections had to do with new vocabulary that we had just learned, and one part of that vocabulary was the names of places and another part was the names of young animals. One answer that I got for the place where bees live was “bees home”. Sure. And the answers for young animals were the best: A young cat is called a “catlet”; a young sheep a “sheeplet”, or the best for a young sheep, a “piglet”. We’ll need to do some revision of those words ……

I celebrated my birthday by being on the bus for 12 straight hours! We Maryknoll Sisters had a meeting in Arusha over the weekend so I had to travel on Thursday. I had called a taxi the day before to pick me up here at 6.00 a.m. for a 6.30 bus. When he hadn’t appeared yet at 6.15 I started to phone him, and after a couple tries he answered and said that he was on his way. He arrived at 6.22 and we flew to the bus station. We arrived, I got on the bus, and the bus took off. (The taxi driver found a flat tyre on his car when he woke up and had to rush around trying to find another car. That’s not easy to do when so few people own cars.) The trip was fine; safe and just long. The bus is big, can hold 50 passengers, but the driver seems to do his job effortlessly. At one point he was eating peanuts from the shell, talking on his cell phone, passing a long lorry, all while driving us. All the religious symbols he has near him on the bus must do some good as talismans for protection; he’s got some from every religion under the sun.

We have had some rain this week after quite some time of none so that is hopeful. There was needed a few more showers in order to bring the crops to their desired state, so this was very good. The weather is cooling off considerably, especially at night. We almost need to pull a sheet up at night now .
Do you want to know one thing I’ve noticed about getting older (notice I say “older” and not “old”) is that I can’t change a light bulb anymore! Now that may not be a problem for many, but we have a time trying to get someone to change a bulb. Why? Well, it seems they’re really high up. We find that we don’t have the balance that we used to have, and so climbing even a short step ladder and reaching up is challenging to balance. The youngsters we know who would be happy to help us don’t have these kind of lights at home and so don’t know how to remove fixtures and change bulbs. Others are busy, working until late at night and asking them to come seems like an imposition. I never thought I’d see the day when changing light bulbs was a big problem …

We’re in Holy Week now and may you all have a blessed one. When we arrived at the church on Palm Sunday, we found almost no one there. It was only after a little while that someone came up to us and asked us if we weren’t going for the Palm Sunday procession. Where was it? At the main road, about a ten minute walk away. We should have known that we were out of the information loop when no one else was in the church waiting for Mass to begin. Anyway, the procession was great. Lots of people, lots of singing, lots of tree/bush branches being waved.

Happy and blessed Easter to all.

15th March 2010 – Always Listen to Advice

Sometimes I wonder why it takes some of us so long to heed advice from those who have more experience in certain matters. Here is how I learned the lesson in a less than easy way.

For a couple weeks we had a family of wasps building a house on our gate, a couple of feet from the door through which we go in and out. Everyone who had visited us had noticed this construction going on and each one warned us about how severe the sting of a wasp can be and advised us on how to get rid of them: Some day after dark, spray the family with insecticide so as to slow them down, then knock down the house and crush it. Well, I delayed, and continued to watch them grow bigger, to increase in number, the house to get larger. Saturday morning when returning from praying with our Small Christian Community, I opened the gate and was immediately stung by one of them. I came into the house and made a paste of bicarbonate of soda and water, applied it, and the pain quickly became a little less. I was teaching within a short time and so rushed off to do that. The students noticed my white flaky arm (dried baking soda paste) but I explained what had happened and went on with the class. The pain and the swelling weren’t bad on Saturday but Sunday, Sunday night, Monday, Monday night the redness and itchiness were really severe. By Tuesday the swelling was down and the itching tolerable. I kept thinking about how it would have felt like to have more than one of those creatures do the stinging, or what if it had been a child that was stung. By next time I may have learned to listen to advice.

The last Sunday of the month is visiting day at school and teachers are asked to be there to discuss with any parents who want to their concerns about their daughters. On the last Sunday of February there were quite a few parents who came to visit, including one with a baby who has been born since her daughter came to school. It was a thrill for Doreen to get to meet her little sister! There was crying and laughing going on, both from those who had visitors and those who watched from a distance while others embraced their mothers. The parents that I talked to were concerned about their daughters, asking about their progress in their lessons, about their discipline at school, how they behave, how they get along with the other students, etc. And inevitably they thanked me for not only teaching their daughters but also for caring for them, guiding them, helping them develop.

1st March 2010 - Another New Month

Another month has passed and all is well here; I hope the same is true for readers of this rambling blog. We continue to have some lovely rains, and everything is green and beautiful. The corn and the millet look so tall and green and healthy, and the peanuts look great, too. With all of the sandy soil around, I guess peanuts (called “groundnuts” here) do very well. Right now many fields of them are in bloom so they are pretty with their little yellow flowers. We have had a taste of some of this year’s crop already and they are fat and nice. Last year was the third bad year in a row for crops in this area, so people are about at the end of their food supply. The hope that the good rains has given this year is a great boost. Of course, I don’t know if the same is true all over the country or just in our immediate area, but this rainy season has made people very happy.

I spent what seemed like hours and hours marking papers this past week. Monday and Tuesday of this week were days for giving monthly tests, and so after giving the test there remains what? Right, marking them, of course. It seems like 90 papers are never ending, and I got really tired of some of those sentences before I could finally put them away. As expected, there were some high marks (in the 90’s) and some low marks (19 and 20). Some of those with low marks shed a few tears when I returned the papers…. School pass mark is 45 and supposedly they will be returned home if they don’t manage to get that average, hence the tears. They will be given some time yet but still it makes them anxious, of course.

Last Sunday I had a couple visitors, both young girls who have just finished their A (Advanced) Level examinations at different schools here in Dodoma. One is the daughter of a fellow who was one of the first employees at the school in Singida and she was just a little tyke when I last saw her. The other is the daughter of a teacher at that same school. She was in her first year of secondary when I left Murigha, and now she’s finished those four years plus two years of A level. She wants to be a doctor so badly; if she does well in the exams she just did, she has a chance at one of the four medical schools here in Tanzania. The government helps girls who pursue careers in science but she’ll still need extra financial help. Her parents are very supportive with whatever they have: her father has a teacher’s salary (not fantastic) and her mother farms and also does some sewing for people. The other girl also wants to go to University, and is aiming for a career in accounting. Both are lovely girls, hard working, smart, charming. May their hopes be fulfilled.

15th February 2010 - Green everywhere

Happy Valentine’s Day to all. I hope everyone enjoyed the day yesterday.

We’ve had some lovely rains in the past two weeks; none was too hard or destructive but nice and gentle just when needed. The green everywhere is so soothing to the eyes, and the little wild flowers that have begun blooming are so pretty. There are many butterflies and moths, and hordes of insects. One morning we found gazillions of little black bugs all over outside, and inside wherever they could manage to get in. They have an odor which isn’t all that pleasant, so we’ve been trying to get rid of them little by little. I don’t know where they hide when we sweep. When we think we’ve got them all swept up and turn around, there are a bunch more. It’s obvious that every living creature likes the rain as much as we do.

My flowers are beginning to bloom and they are lovely. They are a very common flower and grow very easily and fast; I don’t know what they’re called (maybe some kind of zinnia?). I should have put some more manure around when I planted them but I didn’t and even so they are still nice for the eyes. I have them in three different places: by the septic tank , on the side of the house, and outside the wall in front of the house between the gates. The ones on the side of the house are really spindly since the soil there is a mixture of left-over cement from when the house was built and pieces of rock. Still it’s amazing that they’ve grown at all.

I want to share with you an incident of a morning last week, one that happens over and over and typifies the spirit of hospitality one meets so often here in Tanzania. I had just arrived at school and was walking toward the teachers’ office when I met a woman. She is one of many who are working on the school compound, cleaning up the construction mess, carrying cement or water or whatever else needs to be moved from one place to the other, or doing any other odd job that might need to be done. These women come every morning with the hopes of being hired for the day, in order to get enough money to buy what is needed for herself and her children. She was carrying a cup of tea and a few maandazi (something like bread but is fried, maybe more like a doughnut) on a plate. When we greeted one another, she held out the tea and maandazi and said, “Njoo, tunywe chai,” meaning, “Come, let’s go drink tea.” Of course I thanked her, and then continued on my way, marveling all the while. Even after all these years of living here I still don’t have that same kind of spontaneous reaction that she has, the one that invites another person to share whatever she has.

Yesterday we were in church for three hours at a special Mass for the children who were joining the Holy Child Society. There were probably about 40 of them, dressed in white shirts/tshirts, some with yellow skirts or trousers, and all with a yellow headband on their heads. They danced in, and danced to all the songs that the choir sang, and were they ever dear. Some started out barefoot and some with shoes but by the end there were more bare feet than not. It was obvious that they had practiced a lot, and their gestures followed the songs so nicely. Everyone was so happy and joyful and singing and swaying along with the children. It was the long windedness of the Padre and the chairman of the parish council that made the time seem long; watching the children was a joy.

1st February 2010 – Fruit in Season

Every day, every meal, I seem to be making a remark about the wonderful fruit we’re eating these days. This month has us enjoying absolutely luscious mangoes, exceedingly sweet pineapple, and plums that are a wonderfully nice change. The mangoes that are big come from Tabora or Morogoro, and the smaller ones from Tanga region. Pineapples come from near Dar es Salaam, while the plums arrive from the mountains near Lushoto. You’ll note that none of this fruit comes from Dodoma where we live. This region is normally just too dry for such fruit, and so we get it trucked in from all these other places. There is something so extravagant about the mangoes and pineapples – they are just SO sweet, SO fleshy, SO juicy. I love going to the market and buying these things, interacting with the vendors who spend their day selling fruits, vegetables, rice, beans, everything under the sun. Most of the time I engage a young boy to carry my basket. They are always around asking to carry baskets of the people who are shopping, and so I usually give my basket to one of them who then gets a tip when we finish going around the market. The first time that I did that here after years away I didn’t know how much to give as a tip. I gave him 200/-and was looking for some more to give him when he said thank you and walked away! 200/- is about 15¢ US so I guess that won’t break the bank ….

These days there aren’t a lot of green vegetables like spinach sold in the market because since the rains have begun the native plants have come up and folks go out and pick them to cook for their green vegetable. However, not far from here is a windmill, and there are very small plots of vegetables, mostly spinach, that people grow there near the water source. It’s nice to go there in the evening to buy a couple bundles of spinach and then come home to cook it for dinner.

This week there were several homes destroyed in this section of the city, destroyed by a bulldozer. They were homes of the traditional type, with mud brick walls and either earth roofs or maybe some pieces of aluminum roofing sheets. If they had roofing sheets, those things were taken off first, and then the houses were destroyed. We don’t know the whole story but most folks say that these were houses of folks who had already been compensated for their land and given other land to move to but who hadn’t done that yet. And I don’t know if it was because these plots belong to someone else or if they are to be used for some development purpose. Anyway, two houses very near us were razed, but the people who lived there had another place and had moved the night before the bulldozer came. They’re very philosophical about it, so I suspect that they knew it was inevitable. I just hope justice was done.

18th January 2010 – New Year’s Blessing

One of the biggest blessings of the New Year for us is that we now have a car!! We had been waiting for it for what seemed to be a very long time, and although it has been fine to use our feet and public transport, sometimes walking in the hot sun seemed like not a smart thing to do. My skin just isn’t made for such strong sun rays, I think, and even with sun screen and umbrella, still damage continues to be done. Anyway, we received funding through Maryknoll Sisters, ordered the car in June, and have since that time been in the process of attaining tax exemption. That came through in late November, and since that time there has been the process of clearance from the bonded warehouse, registration, etc. On Thursday the 7th of January, I got a phone call that the car was ready and could be picked up. Immediately we went into action, arranging for insurance, getting bus tickets, so that we could go to Dar es Salaam to collect it. So on Friday morning we were on the bus to Dar es Salaam. Many phone calls and help from several other people gave us the assurance that the insurance would be ready. The bus left at 7.30 a.m., it’s a minimum of a six hour trip to Dar es Salaam, Toyota offices close at 5.00 p.m., (and we weren’t sure if the insurance sticker had to be collected or would be delivered) so we were hoping for a quick trip so as to arrive early enough to do what needed to be done. Well, Murphy’s Law came into play: When we left Dodoma it started to rain, and it rained heavily for some time. The bus driver was cautious and careful, and drove very slowly through the rain. After a couple of hours, we reached a place where the road descends from the central plains to the coastal area, and again the driver was so careful because of the possibility of a slippery road. On another trip I would have praised the driver for being so careful, but this time I was thinking him to go just a little faster. By the time we were getting close to Dar es Salaam, we were already past the seven hour time, and then the bus was stopped by traffic police. I don’t know what the issue was, but it seemed to take forever for the discussion to be finished, all the while sitting on pins and needles hoping the bus wouldn’t be impounded to a police station or delayed a lot longer. Eventually we were on our way again and arrived at the main bus station at 3.30 p.m. We hired a taxi and were on our way across the city, a city that has grown so much in recent years and has more traffic than it could handle. We passed the office of Sr. Rosanne in mid-town in order to pick up the insurance papers, and off to the industrial area for the car. We managed to get to Toyota’s service garage in about a half hour, and so we had one whole hour in which to finish the handing over, which was done expeditiously, and off we drove with our brand new Daihatsu Terios. So much gratitude is given for the funding and for all who helped move along the other processes.

And all this week I have been driving back and forth to school since the students have mostly arrived and classes have begun. I know hardly any of them by name as yet, but that will come. There are some who obviously have a fairly good background in English, and others who probably have very little, so it will be a challenge to bring them all along together. There are two streams, so far 44 students in one, and 45 in the other. It’s a good thing that the classrooms are spacious and that there’s room enough for them all.