Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Yesterday we were asked to help supervise mid-term exams. I discovered that I am getting a little old to spend three hours on my feet walking back and forth in the assembly hall. In between we also managed a trip to the community library in Mbeya. Unlike public libraries in the US, the library is not free. A membership for nonstudents costs Tsh 10,000, ($7.69 US)—that is also about how much we are paying per week for internet time. It is a hefty sum for many Tanzanians, and I wonder how many Americans would stop using libraries if they had to pay anything at all? Last evening darkness was falling as we took our walk around campus, and we noted several large fires on the mountain to our north—farmers burning off fields in preparation for planting when the rainy season arrives. The College, and I suppose the surrounding area has had no running water for over 24 hours. Hiari walked the 1.5 km to Uyole Junction at least twice yesterday for water, returning carrying a full 5 gallon bucket balanced on her head—we had not asked her to do that. She did it on her own accord, even cutting her evening English class in order to water the garden. We have decided to pay her Tsh 20,000 over the monthly minimum wage.
This morning there was a meeting with all the first year students to talk about the new syllabi—the students had not learned of them yet, even though they go into effect for first year students immediately after break (October 15). One of the changes is that communication skills has been added to the Certificate Course, but taught in English—heretofore, Certificate Courses, except for English itself, have been taught in Swahili. The principal told me I would be teaching that course, along with a new tutor who has not started yet. The meeting with the students, along with the faculty meeting that followed it, was entirely in Swahili. We understood nothing but we did our duty and attended.
The weather pattern has reversed itself. The last several days it has been calm an night and very windy during the day. A veritable dust storm was kicked up in the Assembly Hall during the session with the students. I understand this pattern is normal as the rainy season approaches.

Sunday, September 27. Today Mwankenja took us to yet another Lutheran congregation, this time to the oldest Lutheran congregation in Mbeya. We arrived late and attempted to sit in the back, but we were invited to come to the front. During announcement time we were introduced and as always asked to say a few words. It was a special day to honor children and Sunday School teachers, and the children had several presentations, including one boy who recited the whole of Genesis Chapter 25. Adults in the congregation presented him with monetary offerings afterward (apparently traditional). The service lasted almost three hours, but this is unusual. Once again after the service we were invited to the pastor’s office and then to his home (adjacent to the church) for lunch. The pastor and Mwankenja are old classmates but had not seen each other for a while. After church we purchased some English language newspapers in an effort to find out what is happening in the world, but the international news content was sparse. We finally arrived back at our house around 3 PM.

Saturday, September 26. We spent the afternoon with Verywell and his family. He had invited us to lunch, which by the time we walked together to his home in the warren of dusty streets and footpaths north of the highway took place late in the afternoon. He told us his home is about 1.5 km from the College, but it seemed to be longer. There are no street signs and I question whether we could find our way there again on our own. His home is on what appears to be a large lot by local standards—perhaps about the size of our property in Carlisle. It is surrounded by a wall somewhat higher than the waist, with a wooden gate. The yard, where he raises bananas, ducks, and chickens, is hard packed dirt—no dust. He told us that we were the first white people ever to visit his home. Verywell, too, has an extended family. In addition to his wife (for whom he paid three cows and still owes a fourth) and his three children, a nephew from his side of the family and a niece from his wife’s side of the family live with them. A second nephew was visiting. On the way to and from Verywell’s home young children whom we passed would greet us with “shickamoo”, the traditional greeting given to someone who is older and higher in status, to which we would give the traditional reply—“maharaba” . The words have no specific meaning. It is merely a societal convention. We told Verywell that in the U.S. children would never greet adults whom they had not met. We walked back to campus afterward, despite Verywell’s expectation that we might want to hire a taxi. He insisted on walking back the whole way with us despite our telling him that we could find our way back once we reached the tarmac road.

Friday, September 25.

I presume I am finally an “old age pensioner” because my first Social Security payment was to be deposited this week. The brief rain last week must have wrung all remaining moisture from the atmosphere because this week there has been no dew at all in the mornings. Previously there had been some. I finally got to teach the first lesson in the unit on oral communication on Wednesday, but then mid-term exams started on Thursday so no classes Thursday through Monday, with morning prayers at 7 am instead of 7:30. As a result we have spent some long days in the library. Cataloging is going more quickly than we had envisioned at first. Yesterday we started cataloging the books that are kept in a locked cabinet because supposedly there are “special” but I am not sure why. Mgogo, the academic dean, nearly had apoplexy when he came in and saw those books spread out on a table, but we assured him they would be put back in the cabinet once we cataloged them. I think may changes must be made to library procedure if the school is to succeed in obtaining university status. Last evening we experienced the third power outage since we arrived, but the first that happened during hours of darkness. We were pleasantly surprised when the Principal’s wife arrived from next door with a kerosene lantern that she lent us. Power was restored shortly after 9 pm but by then we had decided to go to bed.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Today is the Equinox, but that apparently has little significance here where the people think more of the rainy season and the dry season. I have noticed that day length has been increasing. Maybe with the change from winter to spring the night winds will not howl so much and sound so cold. We spent several hours cataloging in the library today. The quality of the library holdings is “interesting”. We worked on the 900s today. In the open stacks apart from two specialized books on French history, all of the history books deal with American history. The library has depended heavily on donated books, which people appear to have sent without any inquiry into what is actually needed or appropriate for the school’s needs.
The Ministry of Education has sent out new syllabi, which has the tutors quite concerned. They were in meetings about it most of the day. Supposedly second year classes are immune, but first year classes must begin using the new syllabi immediately even though we are well into the current school year. I do not know yet what if any the change will have on my Communications Skills class.

Saturday, September 19. We have discussed Tanzanian wedding customs with a couple of or colleagues. The “bride price” custom is alive and well here. The prospective groom must pay the bride’s family a price in the neighborhood of 3 to 5 cows, or the valued thereof in order to be permitted to marry the woman. Some of our friends back in the States have written to ask how things are in the jungle. I am not sure there is any jungle in Tanzania, except perhaps in the far north along the border with Uganda, and perhaps in a few places along the DRC border; certainly not here in the southern highlands. What we see from our house are maize fields and cattle pastures with trees scattered here and there. It is still quite brown because the rainy season has not yet begun. The rain of a few days ago served only to settle the dust for a short time.
Friday, September 18. No classes again today. There is to be a special assembly to welcome the first year students, with student entertainment, and the students wanted additional time to prepare. The tutors were not all aware that classes were cancelled. I have been to only one class this week. Perhaps the unit on oral communication will finally begin next Wednesday. The assembly itself, conducted in Swahili, went about two hours. It included student comedy skits and a reenactment, including face paint and “spears”—actually broomsticks, of a Nyacyusa celebratory dance. Today was also the day of the netball and football games between students and faculty. Students won the netball game 6-4, but the faculty took the football game 2-0. Neither Karen nor I were needed to play. I did not mind.

Tuesday, September 15. Hard to believe we have been here three weeks already. I have been reading a chapter per day in English Grammar For Dummies. The other day I came across an interesting fact—in 1850 the British Parliament passed a law establishing Masculine by Preference for use in English—e.g. everyone should bring his notes to the meeting. The book did not say if the law was ever repealed. Today Hiari and I walked to the local market, about 1 km, for some groceries. We got 2 kg of rice, 1 kg of wheat flour, a cabbage, a coconut, a little over a quart each of onions and tomatoes, two small hands of bananas, and about 2tsp of pepper for 9,700 shillings. Hiari said that market is very expensive compared to prices in Mbeya, 10km from campus, but it seemed very cheap compared to prices in the US—at 1300 shillings to the dollar, I spent $7.46, but then that must be balanced against an average income in Tanzania of perhaps $600.00. Minimum wage for domestic workers is 65000 shillings per month—about $50.00.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Haven’t written for a whole because the Bishop invited us to attend the meeting of the Diocesan Executive Council at Matema, a conference center that the church has on the shore of Lake Nyasa. Matema is known as a resort, and everyone we spoke to before going there said it was very nice, but it would be very hot. What they did not tell us was the difficulty in getting there over dusty bumpy dirt roads. On they way from Mbeya to Tukuyu we stopped and bought a stalk of small bananas from a grower who was selling them along the highway—500 shillings (less than 50 cents) for the entire stalk. We munched on them as we traveled. They were small and sweet but very good.
The Tukuyu area gets some rain year found, so the landscape is greener, and there are crops growing that have not yet been put in around Mbeya—corn, potatoes in various stages of maturity, beans, etc. They get three crops of potatoes per year—we saw some that had been harvested—it wonders me that potatoes are not a bigger part of the local diet, rather than corn. On the way home on Saturday we bought a large sack of potatoes, I would guess 40 pounds or so, for 3,500 shillings—a little less than three dollars. Even though the landscape is greener, it is no less dusty than at Mbeya. Once off the pave road, dust is still everywhere.
From Tukuyu there are two ways to Matema—we took the one that is unpaved road the whole way, because Mwakenja wanted to visit his father, who has been ill. Along the way we visited a former German colonial outpost, saw a troop of monkeys near a secondary school—Mwakenja told us they frequented the school to beg for food, and stopped at Masoko Crater Lake where legend has it German Troops dumped treasure during WWI to keep it out of the hands of the British. The Tukuyu area is home to two dormant volcanoes, one of which, Mt. Rungwe, is the third highest mountain in Tanzania. There is still enough volcanic activity to make the “harvesting” of carbon dioxide economically viable. Along the way we also saw several other craters which did not contain lakes. We are told, however, that there are several other crater lakes in the vicinity. It seemed to take forever to get to Matema over those bunpy roads. Mwakenja continually assured us that it was only a few kilometers more but I became very impatient as more time passed and we still were not there yet.
Matema itself was nice, although many westerners might not consider it much of a resort. The facilities were perhaps more like church camp. As guests of the bishop we were accorded VIP treatment, which I am not accustomed to. Food was plentiful and very good. Dinner the first night included a large catfish baked with the head and skin still on. I had never before eaten catfish that had not been skinned before cooking. The temperature was certainly warmer than in Mbeya, but not unbearable, and there were few mosquitoes. Lake Nyasa (also called Lake Malawi on some maps) is the third largest of the African great lakes. Our “hut”, actually a brick house with tile roof and western toilet, was right on the beach facing the lake. Every night you could see lights out on the lake which were fishermen out in canoes fishing for sardines. When we arrived the first night it was already dark and it looked as if the lights could have come from buildings along the shore, except they were actually stretched across the long narrow lake. In addition, even if on the shore they would not have been electric lights because that part of rural Tanzania is not yet on the grid. The Lutheran Centre runs a generator each evening from 7 to around 10, and the Lutheran Hospital at Matema also has a generator which it runs whenever doctors are operating.
The Bishop introduced us to the executive committee after first giving an exhortation that the ELCT should not be quick to condemn the ELCA for the general assembly’s recent action concerning pastors in publicly accountable same sex relationships because the Germans and the Swedes had already gone down the same road as the ELCA, with the Swedes probably having gone farther and faster. It was good that none of the committee had any questions for us concerning that issue. It was interesting that some of the committee members that we spoke to during the sessions thought that we were from Germany! Perhaps because the long term missionaries who are ex officio members of the counsel were from Germany.
On the way back from Matema on Saturday we took the other route by way of Kyela which still required about two hours of travel along unpaved roads until we finally reached the paved road at Kyela—we are told that this route is sometimes impassible during the rainy season. It is also said that mosquitoes are much worse during the raining season. The trip back included a side trip to the Malawi border where we got to walk across the bridge into Malawi, stopping just short of the customs gate, and a breakdown just past Tukuyu. The clutch master cylinder in the car that Mwakenja had borrowed from a friend for the trip failed. We waited a few hours while Mwakenja’s friend and a mechanic came out from Mbeya to make the repair. Very interesting—had the same thing happened to us back home I am sure that the best we could have managed on Saturday afternoon would have been a tow to Lebo’s. Thankfully, the breakdown occurred along the highway rather than been back in the bush when we were visiting Mwakenja’s parents whose farm is way off the road. When we finally did get back to campus we baked some of the potatoes we had purchased and ate them for dinner.


Tuesday, September 8 2009

Last evening we were invited to dinner at the home of the principal of the College, whose house is next door to ours. He introduced us to his family, beside his wife and two children, there are his wife’s younger sister, and his three younger brothers. If that house is configured the same as ours, and I have no reason to believe it is not, then the home is very crowded. That house is receiving an extension to accommodate a western toilet attached to the main living area, because the principal like ours so much after it was built.
Each weekday at 7:30 we attend morning devotions which all students, including those who are Muslim, are required to attend. There is very good singing, all without musical accompaniment, and usually student lead worship. The Chaplain, Mwankenja, usually attends but has preached only once since we have been here.
We had our first detailed meeting about the library today, with Verywell, the Assistant Dean. He had started the library but then gave up that duty when he began teaching. The books are roughly shelved according to the Dewey decimal system, but the books themselves are not individually cataloged, and because the current librarian is on maternity leave, there are no library hours. If both of us were to do nothing but work on the library it would seem to be a boon to the College.
At morning tea we have been speaking with the other staff members in an effort to learn some Swahili. They say we are doing well for having been here only two weeks, but I doubt we will be able to learn enough to be able to follow conversations.
When we returned to the house we found Hiari working in the garden, digging up a much larger area than I had already prepared. We could not convince her that we did not need that large a garden. She had purchased seeds of various fast maturing greens, which she has also planted and watered.
Today I started reading “Giants in the Earth” by Ole E. Rolvaag. I had read an excerpt in 11th grade English but no further exposure, although I have had the book for several years. I finished the book the following Sunday—sort of a tragedy I guess. It covers much of the same subject matter as the Little House series. The books I have bought that could be considered literature I plan to donate to the college library.
Later in the afternoon, before some of Karen’s students arrived unexpectedly, I spent a short time photographing some of the wild flowers near our home. I do not know the names of any, except that one is a variety of thistle.

Saturday, September 5, 2009. Karen is keeping a detailed chronological journal, so I may focus more on topical entries. Contrary to the belief of many Americans, ourselves included before coming here, not all of Africa is hot. Mbeya’s altitude is a little over 5000 feet, and at this time of the year—late winter—September is equivalent to April in the northern hemisphere, it is quite cool in the morning. It warms up quickly when the sun rises, but does not get above the high 70’s, at least not yet. In evening the temperature falls quickly when the sun gets low in the sky. When we take a walk in the early evening we often need a sweater or jacket. In addition, there is not much twilight here. There is full darkness no long after sunset.
I continue to be fascinated by people, mostly women, carrying things balanced on their heads—even fragile things such as baskets of eggs or tomatoes, without using their hands. When we checked into Luther House in Dar es Salaam, a woman easily put our heavy suitcases on her head, one by one, and carried them upstairs to our room. We are told that loads of up to 50 Kg are carried on the head.

Sunday, September 06, 2009 We continue to struggle with Internet issues. Apparently I did not understand what plan we purchased from Zain, and it seems that every time we speak with them the answer is different. I am sure it is mostly because of the language barrier. Mwankenja has suggested that he and I switch modems and ISPs because his is easier to refill, and perhaps that will help. I had prepaid internet while on the cruise last winter too, but we always knew at any one time how many minutes were left.
We attended worship at a different local parish today, and there was Holy Communion. Again we were introduced as guests from the USA and asked to speak briefly. After the service there was also an auction for offerings in kind, albeit shorter than that last week—no live chickens, but we bought two eggs. Like last week, we were invited to “tea” with the pastor, which turned out to be actual lunch.
Yesterday using a borrowed hoe I began preparing a small patch of ground for a garden. We hope to raise some fast growing greens to supplement a diet heavy on starch. I do not think I will develop a taste for ugali, but Karen seems to like it.
I was looking forward to teaching oral communication skills this coming week, but I will be missing those classes because we have been asked to attend meetings at Matema, a resort on Lake Nyasa were the ELCT has a retreat center, that are being held in preparation for the diocesan assembly in November. I think it will take place after we return home.

Sunday worship

August 30. Mwankenja took us to a local Lutheran church just off the road to Tukuyu for Sunday worship. The service, in Swahili with Mwankenja translating for us, lasted about two hours. There were perhaps 300 in attendance. Some of the offerings are made in kind rather than cash, and those are auctioned off immediately after the service. One of the parishoners bought a live chicken that had been contributed, and gave it to us as a gift. It will be dinner later in the week.

Settling in

We moved into our house Saturday August 29. It is built of concrete and is quite nice. Four rooms with bathroom in the main section, and a separate kitchen across an enclosed courtyard. The college has about 100 acres, fenced and gated, perhaps 10 Km or so out of the city. There are no paved roads or walkways on the campus. Our house is perhaps 100 yards from the administration and classroom buildings. The Principal's house is next door. From our front porch we look out on a rural setting, but the road into town is all urban. Traffic in Mbeya is lighter and less chaotic than in Dar but I am still glad we are not driving.