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!