A Leaf on a Stream

Writing about the second month of school during the second year here in Tanzania is far less captivating than it was last year. As I have sat here today setting the school’s midterm examinations, I have been mulling over what I could write about. The month did pass quickly, but I think if I was to look back through past entries I would find that I begin more than half of those with a sentence along the same lines. Yes, it is indeed true; time continues to pass ever more quickly and will undoubtedly continue to do so until I leave. This is to be my last reference to the fleeting nature of Time.

As eminent as February’s fugitiveness was its lack of extraordinary events. And so the news of February is perhaps its lack of news and what that implies. Surely if I were to look through the lens with which I viewed last year I could find something to report, but our lens is ever-changing. Fr. Don, our in-country coordinator when we first arrived, always reminded us when we found ourselves frustrated with circumstances or in awe at the differences between home and here that we are leaves on a stream. This was difficult to appreciate at the beginning, but as the year progressed it came to make more sense. What then became difficult was not maintaining a lifestyle of the leaf (it can be easy floating downstream), but rather continually being aware that as a Canadian living in Tanzania I am to be practicing leave-no-trace volunteering while watching what I consider to be injustices sprout around me; that is to say, actively participating in everyday activities while trying to ensure that my presence will not be felt when I depart.

Enter the second year JV. I think that one can grow tired of the constant realization of being a Canadian leaf on a Tanzanian rainbow-tinted stream, especially with the restraints that it can place on one’s actions. And so, to some extent, I feel that as I have commenced this second year at Gonzaga I have grown weary of the realization and have allowed myself to grow too comfortable with the surroundings. I haven’t stopped asking why?; instead I have stopped seeing situations about which to ask why? The rainbow river has tie-dyed my leaf. I have been travelling along here for such a length that new scenes no longer appear strange and I do not feel as out of place. This comes with advantages and disadvantages. I am growing in my enculturation with the people and this country, but at the same time I have stopped noticing the more subtle differences between the two cultures; differences that may stem from injustices here or that may promote equity here where it is absent at home.

Along with being a leaf on the stream, Don also warned that when we grow too comfortable we stop learning. I suppose it is time to slip some peas under the metaphorical mattress to rouse the sleep that is life in a different land.

Gonzaga Turns 1 or We Enter Our Second Year!

We marked the completion of our first year at Gonzaga this past Monday, January 26. With one year of growing pains under our belt, we have opened for the second time on much smoother waters. Three weeks deep into the new school year and we are now fully staffed, although I say this with fingers crossed as our final hire's first day is to be Monday. But I feel confident. Nevertheless, we are still ahead of last year's schedule when our last hire did not begin teaching until the middle of February.

In my second year here I am teaching a majority of the same students, having moved up from Standard (read grade) Five to Standard Six with my students from last year. The school currently has 236 students in eight classes spread out through six grades (kindergarten and Standards 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6). To the fifteen students I teach, I am their homeroom teacher along with teaching them mathematics, English, Catholic religion (to the Catholics) and phys. ed. I am no longer teaching the students of last year's Standard Three. When I am not teaching I have continued working in the school's administration in my role as the school's dean of studies - a position I will hold in full for only a shortwhile longer before beginning a period of transition with a Tanzanian who will fill the office permanently.

The new year has been busy with school's opening, but also with welcoming a couple of visitors from the Great White. Prior to the first day of classes, my two eldest sisters visited. We rung in the New Year together before spending two weeks catching up on the news from home and my life here in Dar. It was wonderful to see these two familiar faces from home and I feel refreshed and energized after their visit and our adventures. Plus, it was an added bonus that I got to taste a little bit of Mom's cooking. Jessie and Christina bravely transported in their carry-on a homecooked meal including a frozen pasta casserole along with frozen meatballs and moulignan. A real treat to get a homecooked Italian dinner an ocean and a continent away from home!

Since their departure, it has been school and everything that goes with those opening weeks and so there is little else to report at this time. I hope all is well with you in the New Year and that it has greeted you with many warm tidings. Stay warm.

A Lesson in Community

It has been a busy month. A friend working in Uganda visited at the beginning of the month, four new Jesuit volunteers arrived on the 5th, and then on the 17th we said goodbye to our communitymate of the last year, Kate. After Kate's departure, Caroline, I, and the four fresh arrivals escaped the heat of Dar and travelled north to the town of Lushoto for retreat. Lushoto is a town built into the Usambara mountain range. At 1,200 metres above sea level it was significantly cooler than Dar es Salaam, which at this time of year is hot and muggy. We were able to hike in Lushoto to a couple different vantage points outlooking a Maasai steppe.


We continued north to Moshi after spending four days in Lushoto. The bus ride north was uneventful, although for the second time in my Tanzanian experience a window from the bus managed to unseat itself and fall onto my arm. When we arrived in Moshi we introduced two of the volunteers, Talia and Mary Beth, to their home for the next two years. JVI, our organization, decided last year to introduce another community in Tanzania and so these two pioneers will be rooting a community in Moshi while working at Maria Goretti Secondary School run by the Sisters of Our Lady of Kilimanjaro. We spent the next few days up in Moshi being taken out by our Jesuit hosts to two villages to see Mt. Kilimanjaro up close. Alas, on the 27th we, Caroline, Emily, Christen, and I, made the trek back to Dar to settle into our new four person community. In the year to come Emily will begin teaching with me at Gonzaga as it enters its second year. Christen will work beside Caroline at Loyola High School, taking the place of Kate.


At the beginning of the month our neighbour's house caught fire. I was once again given the opportunity to learn a lesson in community living. As smoke billowed out from this house, the neighbourhood gathered around, although not in a style to which I was familiar. In my own setting, a similar situation would have also produced a crowd, but the crowd, for the large part, would have been watching the fire department put out the blaze as they pondered the fire's cause. Here, however, the crowd was involved; carrying buckets of water from their own homes, older men rushing in to salvage furniture and the fridge and clothes (forget about the old rule, "once you're out, stay out"), young men on top of the, dare I say, hot tin roof pouring in the many buckets of water, women organizing all of the exiting furniture and incoming buckets. A tremendous ordeal, though amidst the devastation it was oddly wonderful to watch the community spirit come alive so quickly, both from friends and strangers alike. I recognize that at home, if a similar situation were to arise, our response would hopefully be similar; however, for better or for worse, we don't often get to witness such camaraderie. I suppose it simply acts as a reminder to care for our brothers and sisters.


All for now. I wish you all a happy new year, that it may be filled with good things.

An Election and an End to Year One

Tanzania is fully swept up in Obama's victory. Driving into town last week I was driving behind a dala dala simply named, "Barack Obama." Sitting in church this morning, I was sitting behind a woman wearing a "Hongera (Congratulations) Barack Obama!" khanga, a piece of traditional cloth worn as a skirt or as a head dress, with a giant silk-screened image of Mr. Obama's face beside the African continent. In Mabibo you may choose to get your hair cut at the new Obama Salon. The president-elect has indeed inspired many new business names here in Dar es Salaam, but what has been more amazing to witness is the way this man has inspired an entire country and a continent.

School finished on Friday and close officially marked the end of my first year as a Jesuit Volunteer. Students celebrated the last day of class with their favourite dish, pilau, and song and dance performances they performed for each other. The students have taken great steps forward this year, not only in their studies but also in their understanding of what it means to attend a Jesuit school. Watching their idea of what it means to be, "boys and girls for others," shift from helping their friend on a test (cheating) to helping their friend study for the test (helping) is something Gonzaga can be proud of. This commitment to service and the high standard in academics the students achieved in the school's first year have led to the school's warm reception by the local community and in a few years our students will begin making great contributions to our sister school, Loyola High School.

While Obama has enlivened the African spirit with hope today, it will be these students, with their hearts aflame, who will truly achieve that promised change tomorrow.

Ramadan with Mama Nasma

We celebrated Eid at the beginning of the month. As Ramadan drew to a close with the crescent moon making its appearance on the 30th of September, the mosques were filled as sheikhs prayed the sermon; their voices echoing through the neighbourhoods from megaphones perched atop minarets. The next day, a holiday, we were invited to break fast with a woman who worked down the street from us. We arrived at Mama Nasma's in the afternoon as the meal was still being prepared. Mama had recently moved out of Mabibo and was now living with her children, her mother, and her sister in another neighbourhood half an hour away.

Kate and Caroline aided in the meal preparations, dicing and slicing vegetables for the kachi mbali (sp?), a type of local salad most often served with pilau – a spiced rice. As the other women were preparing the pilau and chicken, I sat and talked with the grandmother. She had recently moved up to Dar with Mama Nasma's sister to have surgery done on her eye in hopes of restoring some of her vision. As we sat on the floor, sharing conversation, I in my broken Swahili and her in Swahili, we shared a few meaningful exchanges, but mostly just sat in silence, appreciating the company we both offered each other.

As we sat, sharing the afternoon, the other women on the other side of the room prepared the meal over charcoal stoves. Finally, as the afternoon was drawing to a close, the meal was finished. In Tanzanian tradition – let us remember, “culture is thick” – Kate, Caroline, and I ate apart from the family, who ate together on the floor mat, sharing the meal they had worked hard to prepare. As we broke bread together, I was humbled by the sacrifice this family had made, welcoming us into their home to celebrate a special meal with them while they themselves had barely enough to celebrate this most sacred of holy days. The family, all so welcoming, in openly sharing their faith with us gave us a tremendous lesson in our own, helping to teach us what the Gospel means by “loving thy neighbour.”

Pictures and Narratives

It's getting warm again. The Dar es Salaam heat is coming as summer looms and the short rains are slowly arriving, adding humidity to the mix. I write with the same feeling one might have before a snowstorm, wondering whether or not a snow day is in the mix for tomorrow. Only today, the decision won't be based on snow, but rather the moon. If the moon is positioned correctly Eid ul-Fitr will commence tomorrow, the Muslim feast celebrating the end of Ramadaan. Otherwise, we return to school tomorrow and we will have Thursday and Friday off.

As we are nearing the completion of the first year we recently held our year-end retreat - Re-O/Dis-O - up in Moshi. As Kate was dis-orienting, Caroline and I were re-orienting for the year, asking what the experience has been thus far and where it might go in the time ahead. As we were waiting to board the bus to return home, a line of women were sitting at the bus station selling vegetables and fruits. The collections of green peppers, bananas, pineapples, oranges, carrots, and coconuts provided what Kate and I considered to be a beautiful foreground to what we have come to appreciate as a Tanzanian scene. I asked the women if it would be all right if I took their picture and was asked for money in return. Unwilling to pay, the women began lambasting me for having asked and then refusing to pay. Looking back on the moment, I asked aloud what would have happened if I had simply taken the photo without asking? Would they have minded? Would it have been okay or an invasion of their privacy?

In thinking about these questions, I began to realize once again how difficult it is to capture an experience such as this. The picture would have only conveyed a small part of the reality of that street scene. It wouldn't have captured the smells or the ever-present noise. Then how to capture what I am learning and seeing and feeling everyday? As I continue through the experience, I am amazed more and more by the importance of storytelling, both for me and for them. The women at the bus station could not have had their stories told with my picture. No, I think the picture would have only been the first step, or perhaps the last. In order for the people with whom I share this experience to be carried home with me, listening is necessary. To share the experience with others, it cannot be through pictures alone or only recounting the events. It needs to be done through narrative, which might help bridge the gap in understanding between where I am and where I come from, thereby connecting the two experiences.

Shifting Locales

August has passed and it is hard to believe that third quarter is already coming to a close. This semester time seems to be passing quickly, so I suppose I am either having more fun or am more comfortable. I think it is probably the latter, which inevitably leads to more of the former.

At the beginning of the month, we relocated, something we had been anticipating for the previous eight months. Shifting, as the locals call it, is quite a process in a place where people enjoy taking careful note of everyone's next move. As this entails taking note of all the little trinkets one owns, moving twelve years worth of stuff left by past JVs only added to the excitement. What did we find when we began sifting through the treasures of days gone by?

Well, at least 13 unopened bottles of Banana Boat sunscreen and other varieties (JVs coming to Dar, check it off your list!); many litres of bug spray ranging from 5% DEET to 50% DEET (I’m pretty sure the latter is lethal); many old prescriptions, some of which expired a decade ago; three separate first aid kits, none of which contained any medicine that hadn’t expired (side note: I made the five pharmacists in my family happy when I safely disposed of all the expired medications and old prescriptions); 7 full bottles of Gold Bond Triple Action Relief medicated powder (also, none of these have been opened (future JVs again take note)); and what we estimate to be three years worth of feminine hygiene products for a community housing at least two women, most of which have arrived via mail over the last decade as a way of deterring postal workers from investigating the contents of a package. Of course, there were many other jewels, but if I continued listing the contents of our community chest, I wouldn’t have time to tell you about our dogs.

If only I’d have been brave enough by press time to take a picture of our two guard dogs, Simba and Chuky. These dogs have come with the house, but are only temporary, do their job well. Unfortunately, they scare off not only potential intruders, of which we have had none, but also they scare our Tanzanian friends. There are few dogs in Mabibo and so most of Mabiboans (?) only know the animal by their vicious bark. As a result, most of our guests either do not enter inside the gate or run directly for the inside of the house (all of this happening while the dogs are safely chained). The dogs bark or whimper through the night which impinges on the sleep of Kate and Caroline. Luckily, my mother thought it a good idea to vacuum beside my head whenever I slept as a child and so now I can sleep through almost anything (including dogs barking who may be warning, “Hey, there’s an intruder.” For this, we have housemates I am told!)

No complaining. The house is good. Dogs included.

One last note before I send off and you can return to enjoying the last days of summer. In July, I talked about Saba Saba. Caroline, my community mate, informed me that I had forgotten what she considered to be a newsworthy piece of information. And how could I forget a shout out to the scouting movement to which I belonged for so long?
We were strolling along at Saba Saba when all of a sudden two dozen scouts strolled by linked to a piece of yellow polypropylene rope, à la kindergarten. We paused to inspect the formation when Tanzania’s Prime Minister Pinda emerged onto to the scene between the two rows of scouts. Scouts, doubling as Secret Service; somewhere Robert Baden-Powell was smiling down.

Enough is enough. Enjoy your Labour Day weekend and for those of you still studying, best of luck as you return to classes!