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 ……………
