A LONG DROUGHT

Not only has the Dodoma environment endured a long dry spell, so also has my blog writing.  Actually the dry season here has lasted much longer than my blog writing hiatus, but today seems like a good day to recognize a new season and get back to writing.

Yesterday morning’s rain has changed the face of the countryside.  It started to rain at about 3.30 a.m. and continued on for almost two hours.  There was a real downpour at the beginning and then it settled in to a more gentle rain for a total of almost 2½ inches.  All the dust that had been accumulating on the trees and bushes was washed away and they all look so green and shining today.

And as I walked this morning I saw numerous people on their way to their fields, each one with a hoe on one shoulder, a bag of seeds on the other and carrying a jug of water.  Every little unoccupied plot has been planted and certainly the rain has brought out the farmer in everyone.

One thing I especially noted on my morning walk was how many trees planted alongside the road have survived.  Nearing the end of the rainy season last year the City Council planted trees on both sides of all our new roads in this area.  Some were cared for by the people living in nearby houses; some were eaten by the goats and cows; some died from neglect; others that I noted today survived and now after this beautiful rain are standing strong and ready to grow during the coming season.  They will certainly beautify the area, as well as offering their shade.

The frogs are croaking away in the gully near our house, and viewing the road kill today I saw smashed frogs, lizards and those big black scorpions that make me shudder.  The water has gone down in all the nearby gullies but I could see where it had been high, way above its banks.  Because it has been so hot people have been saying that we’re going to have a heavy rainy season.  We shall see.

It feels like a new beginning with the rain, and the fact that the celebration of Jesus’ birth is only a couple days away just reiterates that feeling.  New life, new birth, new peace and loving kindness on our earth:  my prayer today.

14th October 2014 - Nyerere Day

Today is a public holiday here in Tanzania and it is nice to have an off day.  When I told the little scholars yesterday afternoon that today we wouldn’t have class but would rest, one of them said “Oh, yes.  We don’t go to school tomorrow either.  I’m going to sleep late, then get up and have breakfast, then  play all day.”  Now he knows how to make a plan!

President Nyerere continues to be an inspiration for Tanzanians and it is a day like today when he is especially remembered for his wise leadership from before Independence until he retired as President, and even beyond.  In 1970 he was invited to the Maryknoll Sisters General Assembly and gave a keynote speech which is well regarded as a model of how the church should be. 

At the end of that speech he quotes from the Encyclical letter of Pope Paul VI on the development of people, “If someone who has riches of this earth sees his brother in need and closes his heart to him, how does the love of God abide in him?”  The pope then quoted St. Ambrose, “You are not making a gift of possessions to the poor person, you are handing over to him what is his.”  Later Nyerere quotes the letter again, saying, “To wage war on misery and struggle against injustice is to promote, along with improved conditions, the human and spiritual progress of all men, and therefore the common good of humanity.  Peace cannot be limited to a mere absence of war; it is the result of an ever-precarious balance of forces.  No, peace is something that is built up day after day, in the pursuit of an order, intended by God, which implies a more perfect form of justice among men.”

Students at Secondary School

We’re still a long way from that ideal even all these years later but all we can do is keep on trying.  It breaks my heart to see the news of ebola and how it is wreaking havoc in West Africa.  Last evening on BBC there was shown those in Liberia whose job it is to pick up the dead and bury them.  It showed the group in their protective clothing going into a very small mud house to collect the body of a young woman who had died, the mother of a three month old baby.  The reporter didn’t know what had happened to the baby but there was a picture of the husband, standing at a distance as his wife’s body was collected for burial, with none of the traditional and usual ceremonies usually associated with burial being carried out.  The day when all people can get decent health care, when everyone has access to education, when dignified and productive work is available for all – maybe that will be the day when there will be peace.

28 September 2014 - Back home

Tomorrow is back to school after nearly a month of being away.  We’ll see if the girls did all the work that I left for them, and, since I believe that they did do it, how well it was done.  I’ll be happy to get back to classes with them, and I hope that they feel the same way.  The little scholars have seen that I’m back and I expect they’ll be here with all the enthusiasm in their little bodies tomorrow afternoon.

It was a long trip and a busy time.  Travelling doesn’t get any easier as I get older, but the weariness of it doesn’t all have to do with age, I believe.  Every airplane that I flew in was fully booked, and it seems as though the seats become closer together and the aisles narrower each time I travel.  Cabin crews are busy trying to serve food and drinks and their voices asking hundreds of time whether one wants the “chicken or pasta meal” seems to get louder and more irritating as the time goes on.  However, even with the mostly comfort-less airplanes, it’s still a miracle that one can travel safely for more than 16,000 miles and in a relatively short period of time. 

The Maryknoll Sisters’ meeting was a wonderful opportunity to get together with 145 others of us, to get to know each other better, and to discuss some of what impacts our lives every day in our mission.  I especially loved being with the younger ones of us and to appreciate their wonderful gifts and dedication.  God is good and the Universe is kind to us.

Nane Nane

The sights and sounds of Nane Nane:  As I mentioned last time, this day is set aside to honor farmers and peasants, and is always held at the very large fairgrounds just on the outskirts of Dodoma.  Since the day has to do with farming, there are lots and lots of exhibits showing different crops, gardens, animals, including bee keeping (honey production is a big industry here in Dodoma region), sunflower oil making, etc.  We saw demonstrations on solar power and energy efficient wood-burning stoves.  And a lot of government offices had places where they announced and taught the services that they provide.  There was used clothing galore, shoes (new and used), lots of household good being sold along the roads and in other places being auctioned.  The Wildlife and Tourism Ministry brings in a few exotic animals (lion, hyena, boa constrictor, etc) and that’s always a popular place for people who have never seen the wildlife of their own country.

I made a beeline to the place that I remembered from previous years, the place that Tanzanian craft is sold.  There wasn’t as much displayed this year as last year, but some of the craft was of new designs and very nice.  We didn’t go all around the whole fairgrounds because of the sun and dust but saw lots of interesting things.  Before we left, we had our meal, in a tent with a couple of small tables and the cooking being done in the back of the tent by a woman who had set up her kitchen there for the duration of the fair.   It was tasty (spiced rice) and some vegetables.  This is a great time of the year to do business, and everyone with anything at all to sell was there at Nane Nane grounds, hawking their wares.  We also noticed a lot of extra traffic on the main road, as well as people walking back and forth, and motorcycles galore.  A good time was had by all.

It seems like our season is finally changing.  Everyone has been remarking that our cool season is exceptionally long this year but now I think it's finally finished.  It's been nice while it lasted but now my blanket has been put away and the time has come again to begin sweating.

And tomorrow will start the final week of school for me for almost a month.  I’ve been preparing lessons for the classes to do while I’m away and I think that’s ready.  The students will have a week of mid-term break during that time as well so we’ll all have a time away from each other.  I’m looking forward to seeing friends and doing the work we need to do as Maryknoll Sisters to prepare ourselves for the future.  My motto during these months of preparation leading up to our General Assembly has been:  Trust in the slow work of God.  And so I do.

WILD WEEK

3 August 2014

I guess some weeks are like this last one – lots of extra-ordinary events – and dealing with them is tiring.  It started out on Monday with the whole afternoon (4+ hours) spent at a meeting with the discipline committee, that is the committee made up of teachers whose responsibility it is to keep ahead of the students on discipline matters.  The background to our long meeting was a surprise inspection of the dormitories that had been carried out the previous week.  School rules prohibit certain things from the dormitories, and during the inspection a LOT of contraband was found.  Mostly the first and second year students were alright, but the third and fourth year students showed us that they have the knack of sneaking things in down to a science.

 

And so on Monday we began the task of interviewing some of the biggest offenders, and then realized that we needed parents’ help, and so arranged that parents come for a meeting on Friday.  Not all the parents of the students concerned were able to come so our job isn't finished, but a number did manage to come and we spent all Friday afternoon meeting with parents and students, with parents admonishing their daughters and daughters crying and asking for forgiveness.  And not only students asked for forgiveness but mothers as well.  One mother threw herself down on her knees and begged that her daughter be spared punishment!  I guess we must have hard hearts so all offenders are being given something to remember that, like it or not, some rules are made to be followed.  Some are suspended for two weeks, some will do outside work during class time, all of the offenders are barred from going out to the Nane Nane fair, and all have to write statements admitting their wrongdoing.

 

These exercises are very tiring and time consuming and not fun to be involved in at all.  And yet it seems like rules need to be in place so that more than 350 girls living together can do so fairly peaceably and well with some order.  I wish I knew the answer as to why living outside the rules is so enticing!

Going to Nane Nane is one of the highlights of this time of year so staying home while others go hurts quite a bit.  Nane Nane is the eighth day of the eighth month and is designated as Farmer’s/Peasant’s Day here in Tanzania.   Here at the Nane Nane fairground in Dodoma there is always a good time to be had, with many demonstrations, exhibits, sales, food, music, dancing  – everything under the sun.  I always go for a couple hours just to breathe in the excitement of the crowd and, even though the bright sun and harsh wind aren't very conducive to strolling around, it’s worth it for a short time.   And it’s on my schedule for this afternoon!

TIME

TIME:  I had recently written some thoughts about time to post on this blog but thought that it wasn’t very interesting and so left it alone.  And then one afternoon this past week I spent 2 ½ hours, yes, 2½ hours, standing, yes, standing, in a line at a bank waiting to pay in some school fees for a young girl who is just beginning Form V.  I had left school where I had taught five 40 minute periods, mostly standing up, and hoped to do the bank deposit quickly and get home to teach the little scholars.  Instead I became increasingly frustrated as I waited in line as half hour followed half hour.  I think what amazed me most was the patience of everyone else in the queue.  There was a bit of murmuring about the long delay and the hardship of standing all that time, but mostly people were amazingly patient.  I couldn’t seem to achieve their level of patience, and went to the desk of the “Customer Service Officer” to ask why another teller couldn’t be provided to speed up the service.  My frustration wasn’t alleviated when told that as it was is the arrangement of the bank, and so that was that.   I really tried not to portray the image of a cranky old woman, but don’t think I succeeded.

In Tanzania Wazungu (Europeans, Americans) are well known for their propensity to be on time for everything.  It’s a real cultural practice that has been a part of my life from birth, I guess, since it seems very deeply ingrained.  When I’m told that some event will start at a certain time, I just HAVE to be there on time, even though I know in my head that the event will not begin at the time stated.  When I was at a school in a village area and invited to attend village meetings, if I was told that the meeting would start at 2.00 I would be there at 2.00, even though I knew for absolute certainty that I would be the first and only one there at that time.  At first I was annoyed by that, but later I came to realize that I was the one out of sync, and so brought a book to read or staked out someone close by to visit or something to use my time before the meeting began.  Even now when I’m told that something is to start at a certain time, someone might tell me on the side the REAL time it may start. 

The concept of time becomes a bit different in schools, when things need to be on a certain schedule so as to run smoothly.  However, the invitations for our school graduation last year said that the ceremony would start at 9.00 a.m. while we were all preparing for the actual starting time – 10.00 a.m.  Sometimes it’s also true in churches, but again many times I’ve arrived “on time” for Mass and find myself waiting for the pews to fill up and the service to begin.  Sometimes the priest warns people that he will start on time, and so at 6.30 he enters the church, with less than a quarter of the church filled.  By the time the Gospel is read, the church is packed, standing room only.

So time is an interesting concept, interpreted differently in different cultures and different situations.  Last thought about time comes from John O’Donohue:

A Beauty Blessing

As stillness in stone to silence is wed
May your heart be somewhere a God might dwell.

As a river flows in ideal sequence
May your soul discover time in presence.

As the moon absolves the dark of resistance

May thought-light console your mind with brightness.

As the breath of light awakens colour
May the dawn anoint your eyes with wonder.

As spring rain softens the earth with surprise
May your winter places be kissed by light.

As the ocean dreams to the joy of dance

May the grace of change bring you elegance.

As clay anchors a tree in light and wind
May your outer life grow from peace within.

As twilight fills night with bright horizons

May beauty await you at home beyond.

- John O'Donohue from his book Divine Beauty

Back to school

I've been amiss at writing, maybe because I was enjoying the time off and was not very concerned about fulfilling commitments !  A weekend away with friends, reflecting and sharing together, a holiday (SabaSaba) and today back at school.  And so I guess it's time to get back in the groove.

This second term of the school year always seems like a short one.  Two classes have national examinations, and before those exams, a "mock" exam is always done, so there is quite a bit of time spent in doing exams. There's also graduation (in October) to plan for and get together.  This month is Ramadhan, and so at the end of the fasting period there will be two holidays.  And  life goes on, trying to cover all the topics that need to be covered in class, trying to make learning fun and interesting for the students, working with them to internalize their moral and ethical and spiritual responsibilities - Lots of good moments all in all.

It was nice to see my colleagues this morning.  We have a good staff and a great group to work with, and there's always something interesting going on with them.  This morning there was talk about who will win the World Cup, of course.  We'll see if their predictions come true.

16 June 2014

Home sweet home.  It’s always nice to go away but how sweet it is to come back home.  There are so many impressions of the “big” city running through my head.  And Dar es Salaam is big, really big.  The population now is around 4.5 million, and there is a prediction (fear?) that it will double in a few years.  One of the main talking points around DSM is the traffic, and while there are steps being taken to ease the jams, still people use a lot of time getting around from one part of the sprawling city to another.  We actually didn’t have a very hard time of moving around in the city but leaving was another story.  It took over three hours to do the first 60 miles, mainly because of lines of slow moving trucks.  Dar es Salaam  has a very large port which handles cargo for not only all the upcountry towns in Tanzania but also for several neighboring countries which are landlocked.  And the rail system isn’t very good so most of that cargo needs to go by road, and these roads are nearly all two lanes.  A lot of the road between Dar es Salaam and Dodoma is climbing, and parts quite curvy as well so all in all it took eight hours to go 280 miles.  That was a long drive on a sunny day … But the main consideration – a safe trip – was achieved, thanks be to God and to all our guardian angels and loved ones in heaven who are looking out for us.

Some of the scenes which I observed waiting in traffic in the city:

-          A young girl, about nine years old, leading an older man, probably her father.  She is holding one end of a stick, he the other.  He’s blind.

-          Young men, late teens or early twenties, walking between the cars which are sitting in stalled traffic.  They are selling all kinds of thing:  mosquito zappers, glassware, toys, water and soda, grapes, apples – to mention only a few.  They obviously know the places in the city where there are  traffic jams, and so they go, trying to make a sale.

-          Traffic policemen and women, directing traffic at almost every intersection.  Without them keeping the traffic moving the jams would even be worse.  Standing in the hot sun in the middle of traffic moving in all directions with exhaust fumes all around can’t be a real fun job.

-          This wasn’t noted in Dar es Salaam but from Dodoma to Dar every roadside along the way is having its grass slashed.  Not by a mower on a tractor, not by a hand or gas powered mower, but

by people with slashers.  Most  people doing the work are men, but there were some women as well, and I suppose many are glad to have this work in order to earn some cash.  This is what a slasher looks like (for those who don’t know):

 

Finally, a day at the ocean.  It was beautiful – enough shade with a gentle ocean breeze and a good book.  Is there a better way to spend a day??

School is out!

All exams given.

All exams marked.

Marks recorded and submitted.

All paper work done for the term.

Three hour committee meeting done.

Three hour staff meeting done.

Non-exam year students gone home.

Time for a change of pace!  And a very nice way to start the month of June. 

Yes, we have closed the school, somewhat.  Exam students (2^nd and 4^th year students) will stay for three weeks to do remedial/extra work in preparation for their exams but others (1^st and 3^rd year students) are now happily at home, enjoying family life.  Since I don’t teach 2^nd or 4^th year students, I’ll have no classes.  We expect to move the library to its new location sometime during this month, so I’ll be part of that move but otherwise there will be lots of time for other – than – school – activities.  The time will go fast, I’m sure, but I’m not thinking about that yet.

A safari to Dar es Salaam is on the schedule for this week – meeting and a couple days extra to enjoy the Indian Ocean.  How nice is that going to be !!??

20th May 2014

The biggest event of the last two weeks was the opening of a new box of crayons!  The afternoon scholars could hardly contain their excitement when I brought out a new box (48 count!) of crayons.  They had to count them all (good practice ‘cause they did it in English), arrange them on the mat in order, hold them in their hands and gaze on them, quarrel a little over who had which color, accuse each other of holding too many at a time, and all in all could hardly contain themselves in their joy.  The few little stubs of the old box that were left I gave to each one – two to each – and that was pretty exciting too.  We had a long discussion about how they were not to write/draw on any walls with those crayons, and so far I haven’t seen any of the colors in the neighborhood.  It’s the little things in life that mean the most!

Since it’s the time of year for harvesting of ground nuts (peanuts) and other legumes, we’re enjoying a special treat of boiled nuts as a snack.  Because they’re dug/pulled from the ground while  not real dry, all we do is wash them and put them in boiling salted water for about 15 minutes and then enjoy, warm or cold, shelling and eating them.  They’re a good source of protein, good for the heart, fattening, I suppose, and very tasty.

I was reminded again this past week of the cycle of life and death of a family:  A cousin was laid to rest and a great-grand-niece was born on the same day.  Thanksgiving for the lives of both.

It's May

4 May 2014

The beginning of another month and here is dawn as seen from outside our house on the 1^st of May.   We’re already into our fifth month of 2014 and the year is galloping along.  We celebrated Worker’s Day on Thursday – a public holiday here with no schools or banks or government offices open.  In Dodoma, as probable in every town and city,  there was a parade of workers from various companies and government entities, marching through town to proclaim “their” day.  I haven’t heard of any pay raise for workers this year.  As far as I know, the last pay raise was last year, and I was interested to know the minimum wage.  I’m no longer an employer (like I was when managing a secondary school) so haven’t kept up with the wage scale.  People who live around us and who are not employed but do daily labor get paid according to the work they do, be it mixing cement or carrying water or whatever in the building boom that’s going on around us.  But for someone who is hired I haven’t kept up with what they might be paid.

And so I looked up what the minimum wage is, and it’s the equivalent of about $50.00.  No, that’s not a day, no, that’s not a week, that’s a month.  A farm laborer gets paid less than that while teachers, nurses and other professionals get about six times that, or around $310.00 per month.  Of course, there are others who get more – managers, technology experts, politicians (they get more than three times a teacher’s salary.  What’s new?  That seems to be the case around the world).    For some things it’s cheaper to live here than in other parts of the world, especially in the developed world, but in some ways it’s more expensive.  Gas/petrol for the car costs a bit over $5.00 per gallon but of course that doesn't

directly impact those who earn minimum  wage.  But it does still  impact them, because even if they don’t own a car that needs a tank of gas now and again, they do use public transport and bus fare always goes up along with the price of gas.  And so we celebrate another year of just getting by for most people. 

But some good news I heard this week is that in many of the villages around us, there is an abundance of food.  That makes people here happy also, since that food will be transported here to the city and if there’s a lot, it will be fairly cheap.  Those with a little nest egg can buy enough food for the year now while the price is cheap; those who are too poor to have any savings will continue to live from hand to mouth.

19 April 2014

Tomorrow is Easter and the world is celebrating new and resurrected life.  We have wild flowers, aka blooming weeds, decorating our living room.  They are yellow, so full of color, so vibrant – just like life itself.  Alleluia.

The week has been slow and nice after closing school one week ago.  Filing of class notes, organizing handouts, a morning of accessioning books in the library, thinking about lesson plans for the rest of the term:  these were the school tasks which I faced and did, slowly and leisurely.  Then one morning was spent at the dentist for annual check-up and teeth cleaning.  Since I was in the U.S. last year and so hadn’t seen this dentist for a couple of years, he acted really pleased to see me again.  “Oh, you’re still here.  How wonderful!”  I’m not sure if he meant “here” in Tanzania or “here” on this earth, but both places are fine with me.

For the Holy Thursday services we went to celebrate with the orphans at the Village of Hope.  The service was much too long but I stayed awake by interacting with a little girl, about a three year old I’d say, who danced to her heart’s content whenever there was some music.  Especially at the “Glory to God” when the bells rang and the drums sang out, did she get out into the aisle and enjoy herself.  She was a little darling, and I pray for her future, infected as she is with HIV.

And then on Good Friday morning we went to visit some other children, this time at a facility for children who are mentally challenged.  It is run by a group of five Sisters and supported by the Diocese of Dodoma, Cheshire Foundation (from Great Britain) as well as local donations including some help from the Tanzanian government.  There are 40 children who live there, and those with less severe disabilities go to classes with their special education teachers.  They have some projects to help them with running expenses:  cows, pigs, chickens, a garden, a plot of grapes.  The children are precious, and followed us around wherever we went, holding our hands and arms.  Children love my arms because they are soft and fat, and they’ve never received such massaging as they did yesterday!  We took them some boxes of fruit juice as an Easter gift and hope that we can find some other things to take to them in the days ahead.  I admire so much those people who care for the children.  All the children  looked so neat and clean, and their overly exuberant behavior was lovingly accepted by their caretakers.  The Sister who took us around said that she had just received a phone call that the Prime Minister of Tanzania was on his way with some Easter gifts.  I hope they were many and useful for these beautiful children.

HAPPY EASTER!

7 April 2014

Today is Karume Day and a day off from school since it’s a public holiday.  Abeid Amani Karume was the first president of Zanzibar after a revolution (in 1964) which deposed the last Sultan of Zanzibar.  Later that year Zanzibar and Tanganyika united as Tanzania and Karume became the first Vice President of the United Republic of Tanzania with Julius Nyerere as president.  Karume was assassinated on April 7^th 1972, and I remember that quite clearly.  History seems to have happened very recently in a relatively young country like Tanzania.

The two past weeks have been rainy, with lovely rains falling almost every day except for the last few.  The air has a feel that seems the rain might be about over, but certainly the blessing that fell during these weeks have saved a lot of crops.  Some of the maize was really too far gone, but other fields were young enough to benefit from this rain.  I’ve heard that many parts of the country predict a good harvest; here it’s dicey, but some will reap and others not so.  That’s the life of a farmer.

We are getting ready to close school for mid-term break next week and so have been administering the exams that precede every break like this.  I still have a few of the 87 English papers to mark but the pile is getting smaller every hour.  Good results from good students.

And our city, Dodoma, the capital city of Tanzania, has its first traffic lights installed!  I don’t know if there are more than two intersections, but those two are the only ones that I’ve seen so far.  It’s all very orderly with drivers being patient as they wait out a red light.  Now if only there was a light at the end of our road that leads to the main Dodoma-Dar es Salaam highway.  One has to look right and left several times, trying to see past staff buses which have parked obstructing a line of vision to the right, small commuter buses dashing both right and left, bicycles, pedestrians trying to cross the road, and motorcycles by the hundreds.  Last week when I came home from town I decided to count the number of motorcycles on the road.  From downtown Dodoma where I started counting to home (distance of about six kms.)  I counted 69 motorcycles on the road.  They are menaces, and we  are told that many young men have been killed or incapacitated because of motorcycle accidents.  They take too many risks, for sure. 

23rd March 2014

Another two weeks have gone by, and these weeks were full of activity of which I’m still trying to catch up to.  After teaching on Monday (10^th) and giving out work for other classes that week, on Tuesday we left  early for the trip to Arusha.  It’s a long enough trip, usually taking between 7 and 8 hours, and we made it in good time that day.  On the way we saw lots of good looking millet between Dodoma and Singida, and after Singida until Babati, there were fields of beautiful corn as far as the eyes could see.  It was a treat for the soul to see all of that beautiful corn, knowing that not only will the people in that area have a good crop but that they will also be able to feed others who are not so lucky.  Closer to Arusha it was much drier but it rained while we were at the meeting and so on the way back here the grass had already become green.  The road is beautiful almost all of the way these days – there is resurfacing going on still near Arusha but what a difference a good road makes in both time used for getting somewhere as well as wear and tear on the body.

I had a good birthday week and enjoyed all the greetings that a special day like that brings.  I spent some of the day catching up on things that were delayed because of being away, and then in the evening was cooked a lovely meal which included birthday cake and ice cream.  There was a celebration at the meeting in Arusha, and the students had a fun time singing Happy Birthday to me at school, too.  Several of the students gave me cards, some handmade, and one class even managed to surprise me.  I walked into their classroom and at first glance there were no students.  As I walked in, I said out loud, “Oh, the students aren’t here” at which point they jumped from along the wall that I couldn’t see and from behind desks shouting “Surprise!” and then sang Happy Birthday.  Of course they wanted to know how old I am, so I asked them how old they think I am.  The answers ranged from 47 to 90 so it’s obvious their perceptions are skewed.  Anyway, I’m grateful for good health and enough energy to deal with them, even on days when they’re hyper!

The moon going down near my favorite baobab tree.

Wild flowers along the way.

Wild flower among the thorns.

Millet field.

Corn field.

Groundnut (peanut) field.

Here are some photos of my early morning birthday walk.  Truly blessed with beauty.

9th March 2014

Yes, here is the confession:  I didn’t write a blog post last week.  It’s not that I was too busy or too lazy or too anything except not creative enough to think of something that might be interesting.  AND that’s really the case for today as well but I can at least talk about the weather.

And that is very disappointing.  We haven’t had rain now for too long a time and the corn is all looking very unhappy.  Most of it was tasselling and starting to form cobs but that process has really stopped now and very soon it will be only food for cows.  A lot of people were really excited about the prospects for a good crop this year but then the vagaries of Dodoma weather clicked in and that’s the end of the excitement.  Even most of the peanuts haven’t set their fruit yet so the food situation in the area isn’t looking too good for the coming year.  Hopefully there will be areas of the country that will get a harvest so that people will at least eat, even though it will be costly.

If you were at all impressed with my cement sack garden and the greens growing so nicely, you should see them now.  They were invaded by some insects which have left only lacy remnants between the ribs of the leaves.  Looks terrible and I’ve given up trying to find the little critters and drowning them.  I must say those leaves, when they were in good shape, were delicious and tender.  Good while they lasted.

Next week is a safari to Arusha and a Maryknoll Sisters meeting and workshop.  It will be nice to have a change and to see the Sisters, have some good discussions and learn something new.  The car is serviced and ready to roll so we hope and pray we'll have a good and safe trip.

23 February 2014

There were lots of happenings this past week and each week seems to go by faster than the previous ones.  We had some rain again, not a lot but enough to keep the crops looking good.  Many times here the month of February is dry, and sometimes that period of dryness is long enough to kill the corn and that’s the end of that crop.  However this year we've had some nice rain this month and the corn really looks nice.  People have a lot of hope that there will be abundant food when harvest time comes around, and if the rain continues into March, it looks like that will be the case.  What a blessing that is.

We have been eating from my “garden” these days.  This garden consists of three cement sacks half filled with soil, and four Chinese Cabbage plants in each sack.  Their color is beautiful and the fresh taste is wonderful.  I’m proud enough to attach a photo!

Yesterday at school we had a meeting of parents, an annual event which brings parents to hear about the progress of the school,  problems that may have arisen, gives them a chance to air their concerns, and they also have an opportunity to visit their daughters.  The meeting was good, and everyone was very happy with the news which had just been released the previous evening.  The results of the national Form IV examinations came out and our school performed very well.  Every student passed, and more than half achieved Division I and II, the highest marks possible.  Good results like these will give the students a wide choice in careers and further studies so I’m sure they are thrilled.  The parents of the current students certainly are, and have the same kind of hopes for their daughters.  May all the dreams of these girls be fulfilled, and all of their hard work and the sacrifice of their parents be fruitful.

16 February 2014

One of the events of this week was the inauguration of the new library at the secondary school.  A group of people from Italy had taken on the project of building this library and 25 people from this group came about a month ago and have been working on completing it.  They were due to go back to Italy on Friday and so on Thursday we had a little ceremony to inaugurate the building.  Since it was a school day, we were all on hand early and awaited news of what the day would bring.  Around 8.30 we started walking over to the church, which is on the adjoining property.  The students marched in class groups, led by the beating of the drums, and we teachers moved along with them.  Mass began almost on time (9.10) and finished by 10.45, made as long as it was by a too long homily.  The homily in Swahili was long enough and then it was translated into Italian!  Not only were we celebrating the library but it also St. Maria de Mattias’ feast day (patroness of the school) so there were two reasons to celebrate.  After the Mass we all walked back to the library where another speech was given, this time by one of the Italians, and so now we listened first in Italian and then came the translation into Swahili.  Finally the ribbon was cut and we went in to see the building.  It truly is very nice, with an open second floor and a curved stairway leading there.  At the top of the staircase is the top of the center column, and on the top of that is a lovely round clay sculpture, signifying the globe.  We were invited to envision the staircase as signifying the evolutionary progress of humankind and education leading to deeper consciousness.  Teilhard de Chardin was even quoted! 

After the inauguration, the students had some entertainment to share with the guests, they were each given a gift, and then hurried off to have some lunch before leaving for Dar es Salaam where they would board a plane the following day. We have been seeing these folks around for the past few weeks, working hard every day, and now they have left us with a lovely and strong building.  Thanks be to them and their friends.

After all of that on Thursday I came home and soon met with my little ones.  Everything was going on fine until one of the little girls complained that she was missing her pen.  We looked everywhere for it – in all of the books, in all of the notebooks, and some of the older ones even searched the pockets and school bags of each other, looking for the pen.  I didn’t know what to do about finding the pen and so finally I told them that whoever took the pen needed to give it over or else they would all have to stay until it showed up, even over night.  Well, they thought that was a wonderful idea, and started picking out their spaces to sleep on the mat!  Obviously my threat didn’t work and we never did find the pen.  I'll have to keep my eyes open to make sure that this little pilfering doesn't start.

9th February 2014

Another nice week has passed.  It was a good one because we had some rain, we had an overnight guest, classes went well, both of us here in the house are healthy, we haven’t heard of any deaths in the neighborhood, and so the week is complete.

 

The teachers at school laughed at me on Thursday because I said that I was resigning.  As I was leaving school I told the Headmistress that as well, and, although everyone knew I was teasing, still it worked.  What worked?  Well, I've been complaining that there is no teacher’s chair in either classroom in which I teach.  Now I usually don’t spend a lot of time sitting during a class but when students are doing some desk work or taking a test or having group work or discussion, there is usually a few minutes that I could be sitting and getting some new energy during those 80 minutes of class time.  And the second 80 minutes are especially hard when I've been standing all that time.  (I have one group for 80 minutes and then immediately following is the second group for another 80 minutes.)  On Saturday when I went to school for the remedial English class, I noticed that each classroom had a chair at the teacher’s desk!  So you see, it did work.

Another good thing that happened this week was that I got a hair cut!  I think others will be happier than me about that since they don’t have to look at the straggly hair any longer.  It also helps to feel a little cooler, although this past week wasn't bad because of the cooling rain that we had.  We have a new hairdresser in town and I like the way he cuts hair so I've switched from the only other hairdresser in town who cuts this kind of hair.  His salon is also very convenient since it's right near the shops that I usually visit when I go for shopping  in town, so the woman who used to give me a headache because she was never on time for her appointments is missing out.

And so I’m ready to begin another week.  Nature is helping keep everyone’s spirits up with all the green around, and  those who have fields of crops are grateful for the good season so far.  May all the right conditions continue!

2 February 2014

It's a new month but there isn't much news from this corner of the world.  It's hot, hot, hot and we would like to get a little rain soon.  Since it's been more than a week without rain, the corn is beginning to curl its leaves. In some soils a week without rain wouldn't cause that but in our sandy environs it seems like the moisture is gone really quickly.  Anyway, because of the heat today and the clouds on the eastern horizon, maybe there will be something soon.
One funny story from the week:  The little ones were chatting away (instead of doing their writing and drawing, of course) and two little girls in particular, Nuru and Irene,  were having a whispered conversation of some import.  Finally, Nuru asked me:  Eti, Sister, Irene wants to know (yeah, of course it's Irene who wants to know) why you always wear the same dress!  Well, what can I say to that?  I guess they're as tired of it as I am BUT it's shapeless, sleeveless, cool, comfortable and the perfect thing to slip into when I get home from teaching at the secondary school.  Maybe for Nuru and Irene's sake I'll get another one made of the same style in order to rest their eyes a little bit!  In the meantime, that dress will continue to be worn every hot afternoon.

26 January 2014

Weeks go by so quickly and this one seemed to fly particularly fast.  There was great rejoicing on Monday at the secondary school as the results of the 2^nd year national examination were announced.  Our school is in 3^rd place out of 353 schools of the Central Zone, so that is a really big achievement and makes the students (and teachers) feel really good.  The three top students from our school attained an average for all 11 lessons of over 90%, an amazing average.  For sure there will be even more wanting entrance to our school as the results show the possibility of a good learning environment.  As it is now, I have 83 students in the two English classes that I teach!

We have had quite a bit of rain this week, almost five inches.  Tuesday evening there was a heavy rain and on Wednesday I heard that a bridge on the main road between here and Morogoro was washed out.  That meant that no road traffic from Dar es Salaam to anywhere in central or lake areas was passing.  It made it kind of nice to get on the main road near here, which is usually a long wait because of trucks and other traffic.  We heard that on Friday the bridge got fixed, and yes, there were trucks on the road again yesterday.

The rain made us cancel the class with the little scholars on one day, and another day I rushed them home early as the clouds began to show signs that the skies would open soon.  A couple incidents with them this week made me think.  One day I was going to throw away two cheap ballpoint pens because the ink was finished and they didn’t write anymore.  One of the little girls asked me if she could have them, and of course I gave them to her.  When I asked her what she was going to do with them, she told me that they play with them, building houses, etc. along with little pieces of wood that they pick up.  No Barbie dolls so they make do with worn out ballpoint pens.

Another little girl has been coming with her older brother for some months now even though she hasn’t started school yet.   Sometimes she sits quietly and draws but other times she’s in the older kids’ faces, never sitting quietly, but doing a good job of disturbing them.  Because she’s so smart, she’s picked up lots of English words even though she can’t write nor read.  She’s been telling me that she is starting kindergarten this month and so, since school started for the kids, I asked her if she’s going to school.  She told me that no, she isn’t, and the reason is that her mom doesn’t have any money to buy her a uniform.  I’m sure that eventually she will get a uniform and start but she is such a smart little girl and will be missing some of the early learning that would benefit her.  She’ll catch up, however.

Well, that’s one week of school finished.  Actually, three days only this week.  Monday was the celebration of Zanzibar Revolution which is actually held on the 12^th of January every year but this year the celebration was moved over to Monday, and so that was a public holiday.  And then Tuesday was Maulid, the birthday of the Prophet Mohamed, so we had another public holiday.  At least that gave some more time for students to arrive and get settled in before the new school year actually got underway.

Wednesday we met a new group of teachers.  Some of the teachers from last year had finished their contracts which weren’t renewed, while others moved to be with family in another part of the country, etc.  They seem like a good group (lots more men than women, unfortunately) so I hope we will be able to work together well and have a good school year.

The classes so far have gone well and most students are eager.  Those I teach, 1^st years, were at school during November for an intensive English course and most of them are back.  A few are missing and a few new faces have appeared as well.  We will need to do something about the uneven distribution in the classes, however.  One group has only 30 while the other group has more than 45.  I can certainly notice the difference in the ease of teaching with those fewer students.  45 is really a lot for one class during the class periods, and also when time comes to mark exercise books, quizes and exams!

And so may this year be a good one for all of us.  I hope and pray for patience and creativity for me, for dedication and doing the best for students from all of the teachers, for joy and peace and love of learning for the students, for them to respect and love one another, for their continued growth in becoming adults.  Not TOO much to ask for!

12 January 2014

Another school year will begin tomorrow.  The students have been arriving since Friday evening and so hopefully when 8.00 a.m. arrives tomorrow morning they will be ready to begin their school year.  I don’t know how many of those in the first year who attended the English orientation course in November will be back but I suspect that most, if not all, will appear.  The government selection of students for their secondary schools only happened last month but I’d be surprised if those students who applied for and were chosen for our school would elect to go to another school.  Although fees would be lower in a government school, the quality of education as well as the care for students would be a factor tipping the scales toward choosing a religious school.  We shall see.

I spent some time during this past week waiting in lines for various services.  And during those times I often chatted with people near me in those lines, and, not unusually, I was addressed as “Mama yangu” a couple of times.  That means “my mother” and is used often by younger people as they converse with older women, like me.  I mention that because in the last line I was waiting in, a middle-aged man struck up a conversation with me.  As is often the case, people are curious about what I’m doing here, etc.  When he asked me about my children, and I replied that I didn’t have any, his face showed utter disbelief and pity.  He just couldn’t imagine how I could be even remotely happy without having children.  He is probably an evangelical Christian because he kept reminding me that the Bible says to go and fill the earth, and that I could be a Christian, a religious person even, and not follow that mandate was  beyond his comprehension.  He said he himself has a “nation” of children.  How many?  16.  Fortunately I was called to get my business done at that point because if he had that many children with one wife we may have gotten into a discussion on how his wife’s health has been affected by bearing all those children as well as questioning his ability to care for that many children and provide them with education and everything else that they need.

Anyway, I am to be pitied because I don’t have any children; however, I don’t feel very pitiful, and very much enjoy the times I’m called Mama, Mama  yangu, Shangazi (auntie), Bibi (grandmother), and by many  many more than 16 people!

2014 - 5 January

It’s definitely farming time in this part of the world.  There was a big rain on Christmas night and another one on New Year’s night, and everyone is waking up to farming now.  Each and every little bit of land, and I mean LITTLE, is being hoed and planted with something or the other.  Some of the corn that was planted earlier is up about five inches already and is being weeded now.  Mostly what’s been planted is corn and peanuts, and so far, so good. 

In our area there is a lot of construction of houses going on, all in various stages.  Those that have people living in them are farming the little bits of land around their house; those houses that are just foundations have people planting in the house!  The outside walls of the foundation are laid with cement blocks and then the inside is filled in with soil, upon which will be laid stones and cement, but until that is done it’s a place to plant something. 

Some people have larger plots on the outskirts of the city, and these folks I meet in the morning with hoes on their shoulders and a jug of water in their hands.  Because schools aren’t in session now, kids are tagging along, and you can just see how enthusiastic they are about getting up early and going to the fields!  But they start young.  Some of my little scholars (kindergarten and 1^st graders) were waving at me yesterday as they planted peanuts.  An  older person was turning over the ground with her hoe and the kids were planting: bare feet, toes dipping in the ground to make a little depression, then drop in the seed (s), then the front or side part of the foot covering the seed.  They’re little experts already.

Farming is an occupation for people who have hope.  And here we all have hope that the rain will be enough and at the right time so that food will be available in a few months.