You may have wondered why I haven’t posted anything on this blog for a LONG time. Well, only yesterday were we connected to the internet, and so I can finally get some news out. I’ve been writing fairly often and so this may be much more news than you want to know. Anyway, here goes. I'll do this in at least two installments.
Going backwards in time, here are some events from the time I left Arusha on 10th June. That seems like a long time ago, and I guess it is. Over one month already . . .
I had an uneventful trip by bus to Dar es Salaam, and the next morning early was at the airport to welcome Connie as she arrived from the U.S. My companion arriving in the country made it seem like the actual move and settling into home and ministry was actually going to be a reality. I let her have a couple days of rest, and then we were off to Dodoma. We arrived on Sunday evening and on Monday we went to look at the house that I thought would suit us well and in the meantime another house had become available and so we went to see that also. Connie agreed with me that the house in Kisasa area was very nice, and we met and talked rent with the owner. We couldn’t agree right away, and so agreed to meet the next day before we left Dodoma again. There was still no final agreement but he promised to get back to us by phone later that day. We went off to Morogoro to stay with the Sisters there, and to get a ride with them to Dar es Salaam on Thursday. While we were sitting and talking that evening in Morogoro, the text message came that he had agreed to our offer and so we had a house to rent! What a relief, because we really didn’t want to start all over again to look for housing.
We went to Dar es Salaam and on Friday, Saturday and Sunday had our Maryknoll Sisters area meeting. Friday was a day of reflection and I had prepared it on the theme “Mission and Ministry”. We used the Directions from our General Assembly which was held last October, and so those formed the basis of the day. The Direction we reflected on was: “We continually evaluate the quality and depth of our presence in mission. We include areas such as culture, interfaith dialogue, and worldviews that differ from our own.” Some of the conversations we had around this topic included the changing roles that we see of ourselves as we age and as Tanzania changes. On Saturday we discussed the business on the agenda, and one of the items was to discuss the research that we had done regarding establishing a presence in Dodoma. After hearing more from us, everyone agreed that this was a good place to be and so we were assigned. May our lives and the lives of all we touch in Dodoma be blessed.
Sunday we spent at the ocean. Dar es Salaam has some beautiful beaches and we went to an exceptionally gorgeous one, Kipepeo Beach at Mji Mwema. To get there we took a very short ferry ride and then drove about 10 minutes to a white and sandy beach. There were some thatched shelters there on the beach so that’s where I spent most of the time, while others enjoyed the ocean. Since the sun and I have great respect for each other, I prefer to stay in the shade as much as possible. Of course I did have a walk along the ocean and waded a little.
On Monday we met with our landlord and signed the contract, and also went to see about the possibilities for buying a car. I had written a funding proposal for the money, so if it’s accepted then we need to choose from what may be available. Tuesday morning we put all our earthly possessions on a bus with ourselves and took the journey to our new city. We had made arrangements to stay for five days at St. Gaspar’s Conference Centre, and so we got off the bus near there, a few kilometers before arriving in the city itself. They sent some young people to carry our bags, and welcomed us very warmly. It is a large (about 100 rooms) centre and very comfortable and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay there. Every morning we walked to the main road and got on one of the small buses that go around the city, got to the main station, and started our walk around to discover what Dodoma has to offer. The first day was to make application for a post office box, and to begin the process of opening a bank account. The bank account takes some time to open, so although we had all the documents required, still we haven’t been approved yet. That has curtailed our purchases somewhat since we don’t have much money to work with until we have an account and our Maryknoll Sister Treasurer can deposit something for us to use . . . . But we have learned quite a bit about the areas of the city, which bus goes where, what shops are where and what is available and at what price, and we even got the phone number of a woman who can cut the hair of non-Africans! All of these were great achievements, don’t you agree?
4 July 2009
Happy Independence Day!
We actually moved into our house in Dodoma on the day agreed upon, which was July 1st. We had been staying at the Diocesesan Hostel for the previous three days while slowly gathering some few essential first needs. And so on that day, immediately after breakfast, Connie went off by small bus to St. Gaspar’s Conference Centre to collect our personal belongings, which consisted of four large suitcases. I hired a taxi and put in the things we had bought so far: a bucket, two plates, two cups, an electric hot plate, a knife, two spoons, a kilo of rice, four onions, two tomatoes, a cabbage, a packet of salt, bottled water, some bread and peanut butter. Then I went to a shop and bought two mattresses and four pillows and off I went to “our” house. After off-loading the things from the taxi, I immediately went to the technical training centre where we had ordered some furniture the previous Friday. We had ordered two beds with poles to secure mosquito nets, a set of five seats with which to form a couch, two wardrobes, two bedside tables and two bookshelves with the assurance that they would be ready by Wednesday. Of course that was living in a dream world to really believe all that would happen in such a short time ….. When I went at the time agreed upon (10.00 a.m.) I was shown the one complete bed and the other getting ready for varnishing ! Nothing else was done, most not having even been started yet. Anyway, I was promised that the beds would arrive before nightfall, and with that I went back and helped start putting things in order. We ate out first meal at noon, consisting of peanut butter on bread and peanuts, standing in the kitchen while a young man was trying to clean some of the dust and cobwebs from the windows. He was commissioned by the landlord to clean the house before we moved in so he was doing his best. We continued to unpack a bit but since we didn’t have any place to put anything, that was almost a useless task. By 4.00 we were thankful to see the beds arriving. Four men quickly put them together but when we asked about the mosquito net poles, lo and behold they had been forgotten. Anyway, the bed was the main part of the equation and we were grateful to have them. Of course when I tried to put on my sheets they weren’t the right size, so I made my bed with khangas (pieces of material) and tied the mosquito net to the curtain rods. I cooked a supper of spaghetti and reconstituted dry fish and it tasted really good. There is a bit of a problem though with eating spaghetti with only a spoon. Since the fish was eaten best by using fingers, that became the best way to eat the spaghetti also. Since we had no chairs, dinner was served while sitting on the living room floor, and soon after we had showers, blessed the house by walking through all the rooms and praying for good things to happen here, and went to bed. The first night’s sleep was good but I was cold! The nights get quite chilly here, and there’s a good wind what whips around so I finally got up and put on my sweater, some socks and found some more khangas to put over me. And so ended the first day.
5th July 2009 – Sunday
Today we went to pray at our local church, a walk of about 15 minutes from our house. Yesterday we had asked the man who is building his house just opposite ours where the church is, and he said that he’d show us this morning, at 9.00 a.m. He himself is an Anglican but said he knows the Catholic Church. When 9.00 came and there was no sign of him, we asked the woman who is hired by our landlord to water the new cement, etc., if she knew where the church is. She said that she did, and proceeded to lead us to it. She herself is Moslem. As usual, I am amazed at how everyone respects each other’s beliefs and helps the other in their faith life.
We arrived at about 9.15, just as the final announcements were being made! We learned that Mass starts at 8.00 a.m., not 9.00. But at the door of the church we were met by a woman who welcomed us warmly, and asked us to sit and meet the parishioners. We were introduced by the fellow who was making the announcements, who I believe is the chairperson of the Parish Council, and were received with applause by all. We introduced ourselves and everyone loves it when we speak Swahili. The woman who welcomed us asked to see where we live so that we can be informed of things that happen in the church community and to ascertain which Small Christian Community we would belong to. So we had a small procession of children who followed us as we made our way back. It became apparent that we live very close to the woman who first welcomed us, Mama Macha, and when we arrived at her house she invited us in for tea. It seems that we will be members of the St. Clara Small Christian Community.
Let me explain about the usual parish set-up here in Tanzania. The larger entity is the parish (parokia) and each parish usually has many outstations (vigango) and each outstation is divided into small Christian communities (jumuiya ndogo ndogo). The church we went to today is St. Anna’s outstation and has several small Christian communities, one of which is St. Clara’s. Each community meets once per week for praying together and for taking care of other community concerns. For example, if a child is to be baptized, that passes through the community, and other things as well. The people were saying that our outstation is to become a parish within the next couple of years. The church has walls made of cement blocks, but no windows have been installed yet nor have the blocks been plastered or the floor finished, etc. All of the building is the work of their hands, they proudly announced, although the roofing sheets were a gift. Today the Catechist led the service because there was no priest available; usually they do have a priest and Mass.
10th July 2009
Today is a recovery day after a whole bunch of walking yesterday. We had set as our task to finish the paperwork at the bank and to do some more shopping for essential items. The walk from our house is probably about one mile and takes us 20 minutes. When we reach the main road we wait for a dala dala (mini-bus) and then have a short – 15 minutes is normal but that depends on how many stops it makes and how long it has to wait for passengers – trip into the main dala dala station in town. Then we walked to the post office to pick up a letter with some checks so that we have some money to live on. Then on to the police station where Inspector Haji, who is married to my former student, was to fill in the second referee form needed so that we can open a bank account. What we thought had been a complete set of papers for opening the account wasn’t actually quite right. A second referee was one piece that needed to be added. Anyway, I had a very nice visit with that family and after filling in the form he took me to the bank in his car, which saved a rather long walk. When I got to the bank I found out that Inspector Haji ‘s account in the bank was a savings account, not a current account and so his recommendation wouldn’t do the trick. While trying to figure out who else might act as referee I stopped at the Vodacom office, trying to make plans to get a modem in order to hook us up to internet, email, etc. And there I found that it isn’t as easy as I had assumed, and one piece of paper needed in order to contract with them as our server is proof of a bank account! Back to square one. In the meantime I was able to contact the secretary of the Bishop and she put me into contact with the treasurer of the Diocese. The Diocese has a current account with the bank so he said he’d act as a referee and told me to come at 11.30 a.m. And so there was another long walk back to the Diocesan Offices, and there I waited for 1-1/2 hours for the treasurer to show up. He happily filled the form, and was welcoming and charming, with no mention of having kept me waiting for that time ….. And then the long walk back to the bank. It seems like we may have completed all the forms necessary now for that task, and so I walked back to the dala dala station and started my journey home. It took more than 45 minutes on the bus this time, because there weren’t many passengers and so the driver and conductor were waiting to pick up a few more fares. When I got off the bus it was after 2.00 p.m. and the sun was hot and strong so I took a very leisurely walk back to our house, under my umbrella, and was more than happy to arrive, albeit hot and dusty. I keep telling myself that it’s good exercise …… We are beginning to be known in the neighborhood and children shout out their greetings to us. We are the only non-Africans I have seen in the vicinity, and with Connie wearing her hat and me carrying an umbrella, we do manage to stand out!
12th July 2009
Some more days have gone by and it seems like we’re not all that much further ahead in our purchases and settling in. We have been waiting for the furniture to arrive for several days now, and the waiting hasn’t produced many results. On Friday we had a call that the couch and bookshelves would be ready to bring that afternoon but since we hadn’t paid any money for a down payment nor paid for the beds that had already been delivered, it would be good to pay something. So I walked to the road, got a dala dala, walked to the workshop, and paid a hefty down payment. Then I was invited to look at the progress of our furniture: the couch set only needed varnishing, the bookshelves needed the back put on them as well as sanding and varnishing. I knew we wouldn’t be getting the wardrobes, and was told that it might be a few days yet for them because the hinges weren’t available in Dodoma and they needed to be ordered from Dar es Salaam. But as I was shown the other things that had been promised for today, I realized that that wouldn’t happen either. After some complaining about how we are sitting on the floor with our old bones, etc., and receiving all sorts of apologies, it was promised that these things would be brought “tomorrow” , and off I went by foot again after being disappointed that I didn’t have a ride in the truck that was bringing the furniture.
Yesterday afternoon came the call we were expecting – only we were expecting the call to say they were on their way and the call that came was that no driver was available and so the furniture couldn’t be brought after all. The next promise was for Monday morning but in the late afternoon another call came that it could be brought this morning, between 7.00 and 8.00 a.m. It’s now 11.00 and there is no sign of the furniture nor any word. We’ll see what happens next.
We have agreed that the looking around for stuff has to quit now, and we just get on with it. The hardest part is not having transport, so carrying heavy stuff around town is not a pleasant prospect. We will try to do a lot tomorrow (Monday) and hire transport to bring it out here.
We are learning a little more about our neighborhood and are finding that it’s an interesting combination of modern and traditional. This area on the outskirts of the city used to be pretty much open space with a few traditional households, with some farming and grazing going on. When the Capital Development Authority started developing this area, each person/family already living here was given a certain number of plots depending on the land they were using. It was up to them to either build a permanent house or they could sell the plots if they wanted to. Many of the plots were sold, like the one we’re on, and anyone with money to invest could buy the plot and build a house on it; that’s what our landlord did. But right next door is a traditional house, made of mud brick and flat earthen roof. The development of the area looks rather haphazard right now but at some point there will be streets, etc. On our walk to the main road we pass lovely modern houses, and then a traditional house with a large enclosure for cows that are kept there. The folks at that place sell fresh milk, and also next door to that they sell pork nearly every day. The hunks of meat are hung from the tree and they have a scale to weigh the pieces when sold. Guess what we’re having for our Sunday dinner ….
Another of the traditional and village life activities that we are experiencing is the celebration of coming of age of some of the youngsters. At a house near us is a boy who has just been circumcised and so there are traditional dances, songs, and drumming going on much of the day and night. I don’t know much about these traditions as practiced by the people from here, the Wagogo, but I suppose we’ll find out as time goes on.
A couple days ago we took a walk and found the railroad tracks. We hear the train sometimes during the day and night so knew that the tracks couldn’t be far. And they aren’t – maybe about a 10-15 minute walk. The well-maintained gravel road ends before reaching there, so I guess that’s as far as the formal development has gone up to now. This road has several bridges because there’s a gully that winds its way through this area. It will be interesting to see what happens in the rainy season. Now we’re in the middle of the dry season, so it’s chilly and windy.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
9th June 2009 - Leaving Arusha
I leave my Arusha home tomorrow after having been taken in since my arrival back in Tanzania almost four months ago. And this move has made me reflect once again on "home". Many times when I meet someone for the first time I'm asked where home is. Sometimes I don't know how to answer because it seems like I have so many homes and so many people have welcomed me into and made their homes be mine. The answers range from Maryknoll NY, to the family farm in ND, to Singida/Arusha/and now presumably Dodoma Tanzania, to dear friends in NJ and NY, to brother in Casper WY, to family in Bismarck ND and wherever they are. Everyone of these places and the people there welcomes me and invites me into their lives and I am at home with them. What a gift that is, and one for which I'm very grateful. I guess that's one of the characteristics of a missioner - to be at home wherever, and so maybe the words of the song are true: Home is any place you choose to put your heart. For now my heart is definitely here in Tanzania and notwithstanding how much I miss family and friends in the U.S., it is very good for me to be here.
I go to Dar es Salaam tomorrow, a 9 hour bus ride, and on Thursday will meet my Maryknoll sister, Connie, with whom I will be living with. I'll let her have a couple days to rest and to get over jet lag, and then we'll go to Dodoma, where she'll see if the possibilities that I saw in Dodoma look as positive to her as they do to me, and also we'll make a decision about housing. On June 18th we'll go back to Dar es Salaam where the Maryknoll Sisters will have a meeting and we'll be assigned to our new home. After that presumably we'll start setting up house and get to work as quickly as possible. This is all very exciting for me, and I'm really looking forward to settling in and meeting the people with whom I'll be working.
I was interested to compare the weather of Arusha, Dar es Salaam and Dodoma - this is what I found. This afternoon the temperature in Arusha is 73 F., Dar es Salaam 81 F., and Dodoma also 81. Low expected is Arusha 57, Dar es Salaam 78 and Dodoma 59. However, the humidity is 65 per cent in Arusha, 70 in Dar es Salaam and 39 in Dodoma. So, as expected, the temperatures of Dar and Dodoma don't vary much but the comfort level is very different because of the humidity. And the low temperatures between Arusha and Dodoma don't differ much but it feels colder here in Arusha because the humidity is higher. I'll let you know what it's REALLY like when I get to these places! Stay tuned ...
I go to Dar es Salaam tomorrow, a 9 hour bus ride, and on Thursday will meet my Maryknoll sister, Connie, with whom I will be living with. I'll let her have a couple days to rest and to get over jet lag, and then we'll go to Dodoma, where she'll see if the possibilities that I saw in Dodoma look as positive to her as they do to me, and also we'll make a decision about housing. On June 18th we'll go back to Dar es Salaam where the Maryknoll Sisters will have a meeting and we'll be assigned to our new home. After that presumably we'll start setting up house and get to work as quickly as possible. This is all very exciting for me, and I'm really looking forward to settling in and meeting the people with whom I'll be working.
I was interested to compare the weather of Arusha, Dar es Salaam and Dodoma - this is what I found. This afternoon the temperature in Arusha is 73 F., Dar es Salaam 81 F., and Dodoma also 81. Low expected is Arusha 57, Dar es Salaam 78 and Dodoma 59. However, the humidity is 65 per cent in Arusha, 70 in Dar es Salaam and 39 in Dodoma. So, as expected, the temperatures of Dar and Dodoma don't vary much but the comfort level is very different because of the humidity. And the low temperatures between Arusha and Dodoma don't differ much but it feels colder here in Arusha because the humidity is higher. I'll let you know what it's REALLY like when I get to these places! Stay tuned ...
Thursday, June 4, 2009
5th June 2009 - Packing
This is my last full week of being in Arusha and so I'm gathering my things and re-packing for departure next Wednesday. These last couple of weeks have been really cool here, but today the sun came out really early and it has been sunny all day. The wind is strong today, and I remember that such is the case during these winter months. Murigha (Singida school) was a really windy place, and as the rainy season gets further and further away, the dust blows something awful. Because we had planted a lot of trees on the school property, that helped so much to deflect the wind and also to keep the dust down. People used to come to the school just to get away from the wind and dust and to enjoy the trees. You might ask why they didn't plant trees themselves. Well, it's really hard to have a tree grow in an environment where goats and cows run quite freely. Supposedly the herds (some really small herds, but groups of goats and cows) are cared for but the herder is often a small boy (or girl) and sometimes playing gets in the way of watching the animals and so what shouldn't get eaten does in fact get destroyed. How did I get off on that track??
I drove into downtown Arusha on Tuesday and was once again amazed at the amount of traffic. Cars and trucks and bicycles and motorcycles and carts and buses and pedestrians are all vying for a place on the single lane road. Some days are less congested than others, and some times as well, but I guess I chose the wrong day and time to go. There are a lot more cars and motorcycles around these days because there are a lot of second-hand ones being brought in and so somehow affordable to a certain group of people. Most of these vehicles come from the Far East and it seems that some of them are good bargains and others are real lemons. I don't know how you can guarantee to get a good vehicle, but maybe that's part of the bargain. Petrol (gas for cars) sells at $3.50 per gallon and many folks buy only a gallon at a time. Sometimes that's true also of taxi drivers, and they might ask you to pay part of their fare first, stop to put in some gas, and then take you where you need to go.
When I went to buy my bus ticket for Dar es Salaam today I was reminded about what happens on a Friday. The ticket seller was not there, and when asked where he was, the reply: He's gone to pray. Friday is the holy day of the week for Moslems and it's important that they go to pray around noon time. The official day off here in Tanzania is Sunday so Christians don't usually have that conflict of balancing work time and prayer time. Anyway, someone else finally got around to selling me a ticket but he didn't have a pen with which to write out the ticket so I now have one less pen. I didn't want to ask for it back because there was a fellow in line behind me and if I had taken the pen then he wouldn't have been able to get a ticket. And so it goes. Thanks to the children of my home parish I have lots of pens!
I'll write one more post early next week before I leave Arusha. Have a good weekend.
I drove into downtown Arusha on Tuesday and was once again amazed at the amount of traffic. Cars and trucks and bicycles and motorcycles and carts and buses and pedestrians are all vying for a place on the single lane road. Some days are less congested than others, and some times as well, but I guess I chose the wrong day and time to go. There are a lot more cars and motorcycles around these days because there are a lot of second-hand ones being brought in and so somehow affordable to a certain group of people. Most of these vehicles come from the Far East and it seems that some of them are good bargains and others are real lemons. I don't know how you can guarantee to get a good vehicle, but maybe that's part of the bargain. Petrol (gas for cars) sells at $3.50 per gallon and many folks buy only a gallon at a time. Sometimes that's true also of taxi drivers, and they might ask you to pay part of their fare first, stop to put in some gas, and then take you where you need to go.
When I went to buy my bus ticket for Dar es Salaam today I was reminded about what happens on a Friday. The ticket seller was not there, and when asked where he was, the reply: He's gone to pray. Friday is the holy day of the week for Moslems and it's important that they go to pray around noon time. The official day off here in Tanzania is Sunday so Christians don't usually have that conflict of balancing work time and prayer time. Anyway, someone else finally got around to selling me a ticket but he didn't have a pen with which to write out the ticket so I now have one less pen. I didn't want to ask for it back because there was a fellow in line behind me and if I had taken the pen then he wouldn't have been able to get a ticket. And so it goes. Thanks to the children of my home parish I have lots of pens!
I'll write one more post early next week before I leave Arusha. Have a good weekend.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
28th May 2009 - Sounds
These days I've been noting the sounds I hear in the mornings. The first thing is the 5.00 a.m. call of the local muezzin. I think there must be two mosques in hearing distance because I often hear what I think are two different voices. The call is basically telling the Moslem faithful to get up and get to the mosque for their morning prayer, and of course he (always a "he") also chants that God is great, etc. At about the same time the vehicles start travelling on the road which is just on the other side of the hedge/fence of the property here. This road starts at the main Arusha-Babati road and the paved part of it ends here (it was paved when President Bush came to visit Emusoi Centre). Many mornings there are what sounds like small cars or taxis passing although this morning there was obviously large trucks going somewhere, and they were loud. Then the pigeons begin to coo. There is a nest under the eaves just outside the windows to my room, and so they awake and start their day with their sounds. By the time they've finished the other birds begin, and it's about this time that the sun begins to come up. More and more birds sing as there is more and more light, and there are some quite varied songs coming from them.
Just on the other side of the road, so the closest neighbors, are offices and residences of a law firm. It's a large compound with several buildings, and this firm maintains all the plants and trees alongside the road. Apparently the founder of the firm was one of the first Tanzanian lawyers, and it is now being run by his son. They advertise themselves as experts in Real Estate and Property law, Corporate law, Commercial law, Tourism and Wildlife law, Trust law and litigation, and they obviously take good care of their staff, since the houses are very nice and there's a social club included. They're good neighbors and very quiet.
Kitty-cornered from this property is another large compound, and this one is a tour company. They are the ones that have a lot of safari cars going in and out, and many times are coming and going early in the morning and late at night. They also have a bunch of dogs, so those dogs and the dogs here when they get going together create quite some cacophony. Some bark, some howl, some do both, and they really are loud some nights. Sometimes also some animals dare to come around and into the compound, and so that drives the dogs really crazy. These animals aren't large nor very exotic (the most common is like a weasel) but they sure drive the dogs wild.
During the day there isn't a lot of noise except for the times when someone is teasing the dogs outside the fence and they get wild and bark their heads off. Besides in the morning, the Muz zein calls people to prayer at noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and the last time around 8.00 p.m. On Thursdays and Saturdays the Pentecostals are singing and praying, and although they are way down the street, they can be heard very clearly. I've begun to know some of the songs by heart! And in the evenings the girls at Emusoi Centre pray,and their singing is also very loud. There's the occasional sound of a herd of goats passing on the road, and children talking and laughing as they go to school -- all nice sounds.
Enjoy the sounds in your life.
Just on the other side of the road, so the closest neighbors, are offices and residences of a law firm. It's a large compound with several buildings, and this firm maintains all the plants and trees alongside the road. Apparently the founder of the firm was one of the first Tanzanian lawyers, and it is now being run by his son. They advertise themselves as experts in Real Estate and Property law, Corporate law, Commercial law, Tourism and Wildlife law, Trust law and litigation, and they obviously take good care of their staff, since the houses are very nice and there's a social club included. They're good neighbors and very quiet.
Kitty-cornered from this property is another large compound, and this one is a tour company. They are the ones that have a lot of safari cars going in and out, and many times are coming and going early in the morning and late at night. They also have a bunch of dogs, so those dogs and the dogs here when they get going together create quite some cacophony. Some bark, some howl, some do both, and they really are loud some nights. Sometimes also some animals dare to come around and into the compound, and so that drives the dogs really crazy. These animals aren't large nor very exotic (the most common is like a weasel) but they sure drive the dogs wild.
During the day there isn't a lot of noise except for the times when someone is teasing the dogs outside the fence and they get wild and bark their heads off. Besides in the morning, the Muz zein calls people to prayer at noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and the last time around 8.00 p.m. On Thursdays and Saturdays the Pentecostals are singing and praying, and although they are way down the street, they can be heard very clearly. I've begun to know some of the songs by heart! And in the evenings the girls at Emusoi Centre pray,and their singing is also very loud. There's the occasional sound of a herd of goats passing on the road, and children talking and laughing as they go to school -- all nice sounds.
Enjoy the sounds in your life.
Monday, May 18, 2009
19th May, 2009 - Connections
It's been awhile since I've posted anything so I guess it's time to let you all know what's happening. I went to Dodoma again last week and spent two days looking for housing. I rather enjoyed it, and was reminded again of how important connections are. All of the contacts were friends of friends of friends ..... and so it goes. The word goes out and somehow things happen. One of the people who showed me a house was someone that was asked to do so because the original contact was out of town. Amazingly enough, in the course of the conversation I learned that he was married to a former student of mine! After that connection was established I certainly got the red carpet treatment.
Hopefully we will be able to make a decision about the next step soon after the arrival of Sr. Connie, with whom I will be living and working. She comes next month, so I'm looking forward to settling in.
One thing that struck me during the 12 hour ride to and fro was the grass cutting along the sides of the road. The rainy season is now finished or finishing in most parts of the country so the grass which grew so tall along the sides of the road and in the ditches is now being cut. It's being cut by men with slashers and machetes, all by hand. I'm not sure what portion of ditch is given to each person but it's obvious that each fellow has his piece and works at it. It would be interesting to know how many people are hired to do this grass cutting each time it's done since Tanzania is a big country with many, many miles of roads.
The day before I left for Dodoma I visited a woman who lived near the school in Singida when I was there and who now lives outside of Arusha. She has a very long and very tragic story, but the short version is that she has five children with her who she ran away with from her husband who is a drunk and was beating her within an inch of her life. When she first came to this area she managed to get a job at one of the flower farms, and she said it was a great job. She was paid almost $2.00 per day and was also given morning tea and a noon meal, and with this job she was able to pay rent for two very small rooms and to buy food for her children as well as school uniforms and supplies for the two youngest (the oldest boy has finished primary school; the oldest girl and second boy had to quit school and so don't even have a primary school certificate). Unfortunately, with the demand for flowers bottoming out because of the financial situation in Europe and the U.S., the farms have had to lay off many workers, and because she was among the latest employed, she was among the first to go. And then in March she fell when getting out of a bus and broke her arm so that is just now healing. The oldest boy does whatever job he can get, and together they are just barely managing. She says that the only job available to the oldest girl is selling local beer, and she doesn't want her to do that since sellers always have to taste the gourd of beer first (a guarantee that it isn't poisoned). I'm sure that stories such as hers are multiplied many, many times but her loss of what she considered a very good job shows again how the world is connected and especially how what affects the developed world has many repurcussions for the developing world.
The cold season has started and mornings and afternoons see us all with sweaters or jackets. I even sometimes pull up a second blanket at night so that 's a big change from February.
Hopefully we will be able to make a decision about the next step soon after the arrival of Sr. Connie, with whom I will be living and working. She comes next month, so I'm looking forward to settling in.
One thing that struck me during the 12 hour ride to and fro was the grass cutting along the sides of the road. The rainy season is now finished or finishing in most parts of the country so the grass which grew so tall along the sides of the road and in the ditches is now being cut. It's being cut by men with slashers and machetes, all by hand. I'm not sure what portion of ditch is given to each person but it's obvious that each fellow has his piece and works at it. It would be interesting to know how many people are hired to do this grass cutting each time it's done since Tanzania is a big country with many, many miles of roads.
The day before I left for Dodoma I visited a woman who lived near the school in Singida when I was there and who now lives outside of Arusha. She has a very long and very tragic story, but the short version is that she has five children with her who she ran away with from her husband who is a drunk and was beating her within an inch of her life. When she first came to this area she managed to get a job at one of the flower farms, and she said it was a great job. She was paid almost $2.00 per day and was also given morning tea and a noon meal, and with this job she was able to pay rent for two very small rooms and to buy food for her children as well as school uniforms and supplies for the two youngest (the oldest boy has finished primary school; the oldest girl and second boy had to quit school and so don't even have a primary school certificate). Unfortunately, with the demand for flowers bottoming out because of the financial situation in Europe and the U.S., the farms have had to lay off many workers, and because she was among the latest employed, she was among the first to go. And then in March she fell when getting out of a bus and broke her arm so that is just now healing. The oldest boy does whatever job he can get, and together they are just barely managing. She says that the only job available to the oldest girl is selling local beer, and she doesn't want her to do that since sellers always have to taste the gourd of beer first (a guarantee that it isn't poisoned). I'm sure that stories such as hers are multiplied many, many times but her loss of what she considered a very good job shows again how the world is connected and especially how what affects the developed world has many repurcussions for the developing world.
The cold season has started and mornings and afternoons see us all with sweaters or jackets. I even sometimes pull up a second blanket at night so that 's a big change from February.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Finally some photos
Mt. Hanang
Bibiana & Family Easter
Maryknoll Sisters & Friends
Morogoro Retreat
Arusha house
Mt. Meru (Arusha)
Gladys, M.M.
Morogoro
Deo making juice Easter Sunday
Sunday & his mother cooking on Easter
Friday, May 1, 2009
1st May 2009 - May Day
Today is a national holiday here: Worker's Day. There are national celebrations taking place in Musoma and everyone has a day off. Usually the national celebrations consist of a parade of workers, speeches by politicians, etc., so the president is there in Musoma doing what needs to be done for the occasion. As I remember there is usually some promise of wage increases on this day, so we'll see if that happens this year. I'm sure all the workers are anxiously awaiting and hoping for an increase because I hear so often complaints about the increase in cost of living.
Yesterday I had an enjoyable morning visiting a lot of shops in downtown Arusha. I was looking for ballpark figure prices for things we'll need as we set up a new house and so decided to walk the main street to see what is available. And there I found some shops the same as years before and some very different. I have had in the past quite a lot of experience with shopping in Arusha, but a lot of that shopping was for books and school supplies or tractor spare parts. And I never needed gas or electric stoves nor refrigerators so looking at those things was a new experience for me. I remember some shops that sold household things, and they were really very ordinary and had not a lot of variety to choose from. Those same shops now are quite different -- spruced up, lots more things to choose from, nicely displayed and nice things to buy. Many of the goods are from UAE, Dubai, that area, but there are also things from Europe and East Asia. And the prices vary a great deal. At one shop I was looking at bed sheets and towels and noticed some blankets on the shelf. I asked where they were made (Korea) and the price and was told that they sold for the equivalent of almost $90.00! When I asked the price of the locally made blankets, the shop attendant told me that they didn't carry them. "But," I said, "you probably know the price, don't you?" And she told me that they are sold for less than $10.00! You can guess which blankets we'll buy.
There are stoves, mostly gas but some electric, simple ones without a lot of bells and whistles, ranging from about $300.00 to nearly $1000.00. The same is true for the prices of refrigerators. Some of the price variables come from size, some comes from where it's made. Anyway, it was interesting to see the variety of things available. Even before I left in 2004 there had been quite a lot of trade liberalization taking place, but now obviously there is a lot more.
I didn't bother looking at furniture because I know that we will have it made locally. There are local carpenters in every town who make furniture as you want it made. I'm sure we'll go with a simple frame with sponge cushions for couch and easy chairs, and that that will be relatively inexpensive. Beds will be the same: frame with wooden slats and a sponge mattress. I think I know the kind of mattress that lasts (the same kind we had at the school) so that will be fine. I notice that the manufacturer is still in business here in Arusha.
As I went around I remembered how much I enjoyed this kind of interaction with people, in shops or wherever. At one shop I went in to ask for directions and got into a long conversation with the shop attendant. One of the reasons that happens is that folks are surprised at my command of Swahili, and so they're interested to know all about me. When I was ready to go home, I engaged a taxi to bring me back here. The taxi driver and I also had a good conversation, and one thing I was interested to hear is how he, as a very young man, attributes the stability of the country to Nyerere. I thought that maybe after quite a long time since Nyerere was in power and ten years since his death, the young people may have moved on and forgotten his contributions to the country. Not so, and I was glad to hear that sense of history and gratitude from him.
Have a great month of May.
Yesterday I had an enjoyable morning visiting a lot of shops in downtown Arusha. I was looking for ballpark figure prices for things we'll need as we set up a new house and so decided to walk the main street to see what is available. And there I found some shops the same as years before and some very different. I have had in the past quite a lot of experience with shopping in Arusha, but a lot of that shopping was for books and school supplies or tractor spare parts. And I never needed gas or electric stoves nor refrigerators so looking at those things was a new experience for me. I remember some shops that sold household things, and they were really very ordinary and had not a lot of variety to choose from. Those same shops now are quite different -- spruced up, lots more things to choose from, nicely displayed and nice things to buy. Many of the goods are from UAE, Dubai, that area, but there are also things from Europe and East Asia. And the prices vary a great deal. At one shop I was looking at bed sheets and towels and noticed some blankets on the shelf. I asked where they were made (Korea) and the price and was told that they sold for the equivalent of almost $90.00! When I asked the price of the locally made blankets, the shop attendant told me that they didn't carry them. "But," I said, "you probably know the price, don't you?" And she told me that they are sold for less than $10.00! You can guess which blankets we'll buy.
There are stoves, mostly gas but some electric, simple ones without a lot of bells and whistles, ranging from about $300.00 to nearly $1000.00. The same is true for the prices of refrigerators. Some of the price variables come from size, some comes from where it's made. Anyway, it was interesting to see the variety of things available. Even before I left in 2004 there had been quite a lot of trade liberalization taking place, but now obviously there is a lot more.
I didn't bother looking at furniture because I know that we will have it made locally. There are local carpenters in every town who make furniture as you want it made. I'm sure we'll go with a simple frame with sponge cushions for couch and easy chairs, and that that will be relatively inexpensive. Beds will be the same: frame with wooden slats and a sponge mattress. I think I know the kind of mattress that lasts (the same kind we had at the school) so that will be fine. I notice that the manufacturer is still in business here in Arusha.
As I went around I remembered how much I enjoyed this kind of interaction with people, in shops or wherever. At one shop I went in to ask for directions and got into a long conversation with the shop attendant. One of the reasons that happens is that folks are surprised at my command of Swahili, and so they're interested to know all about me. When I was ready to go home, I engaged a taxi to bring me back here. The taxi driver and I also had a good conversation, and one thing I was interested to hear is how he, as a very young man, attributes the stability of the country to Nyerere. I thought that maybe after quite a long time since Nyerere was in power and ten years since his death, the young people may have moved on and forgotten his contributions to the country. Not so, and I was glad to hear that sense of history and gratitude from him.
Have a great month of May.
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