November 30, 2010
Thanksgiving
The O-level school year has ended. I have sent Fidesta to Morogoro to stay with Victoria while she waits for her form 4 results. She is taking a short course on computers while she is there. Hopefully it will open up her world just a little bit more and allow her to communicate with me when I return to the United States. The trip has been an adventure for her. She has never traveled far from her homeplace before and Morogoro is a good day’s safari. Unfortunately, it was even longer for her, because the bus broke down outside Dar, and they had to wait hours for a replacement bus to arrive.
Fidesta is a country girl. Morogoro is a city. She is learning the difference. One lesson learned is that you do not put your purse in the front pocket of your back pack while wearing it on a crowded bus. Most likely the bag will be open and your purse will be gone when you get off the bus. Fidesta has always been poor, so she was devastated by the fact that she had foolishly lost 32000 shilingis (less than $30). I told her not to worry, but reminded her that it was best not to carry all of her money in one spot.
Aggie finished her exams and then followed Fidesta to Morogoro. She is going to stay with her mother and attend tuition classes there during the break. She has been working hard at her studies and is doing quite well. I tell her often that I am very proud of her for deciding to return to school. Respect and encouragement seem to be rare commodities around here and are given only sparingly. Aggie celebrated her 25th birthday on the 18th. We had spaghetti with store bought sauce and real cake! A few friends stopped by to give her cards and wish her well. I think it was the best birthday party she has ever had. I jokingly said that she may not want to return to Mkuu (the bush) in January after spending time at home in Morogoro. She was astounded. “No madam, I will return!”
Yuda arrived a few days before Aggie left. His feet seem to have healed from the beating. He is playing soccer again with the boys. Maybe the whole event had a bigger impact on me than it did on him. It is just life in Tanzania. He loves his school and does not want to leave. I warned him to stay away from trouble, and besides, where else would he go? I am hoping that his grades are good. His parent report will be ready on the 20th of December. I will go to Shauritanga and pick it up at the gate.
Fidesta and Aggie gave Yuda strict instructions to take good care of me while they are gone. That means cooking and cleaning and going to the market. He is doing his level best, but his cooking is just not quite as good as Aggie’s. One night we had plain boiled potatoes, plain spaghetti, and stiff porridge. Anyone care for starch? I thought the tea would be better, but no, it was worse. I looked around for a place to dump it while we cleaned up, but Yuda insisted that I sit and relax and finish my tea while he did the work. So I drank it quickly, and then went to my room and took two Rolaids. Actually, they were pretty good! However, with practice, Yuda’s cooking is improving.
I am working pretty long hours on school work and I wonder if Yuda is bored during the day. Usually he sits and studies and listens to loud staticky music on the radio. He goes out to play soccer for a couple hours in the afternoon. Occasionally I send him on errands or ask him to do some special chore. Today he scraped a termite tunnel (yes termites, they appeared during the night) off the wall near the door in my room and then sprayed it with some chemical he bought at our small, all-purpose shop. In America I am sure that I would have had to pay quite a pretty penny to rid my room of termites. Here it cost me 500 shilingis (50 cents). Sometimes in the evening we watch an American movie on my computer. He even likes the chic flicks, although so far Eragon is his favorite. It does not take much to make him happy. We went shopping for his first pair of jeans (not blue, green) but still he is thrilled. He wears them to church every Sunday and he wore them when he went to visit his older sister (Damiana). He does not want to get them dirty.
Yuda is really a very sweet boy. I am trying to avoid over-indulging him, but he has not had much joy in his short life. I want these times to be special. I want him to feel like he has a mother who loves him. I am hoping to take him to Marangu this month to visit the Chagga museum (his tribe) and to take a day hike up Mount Kilimanjaro. Although he has lived on the mountain all his life, he has never had a chance to just enjoy its beauty.
Living here is not easy. Many days I am tired of camping and I just want to go home. Actually I had a dream recently (I think it was a dream, it might have been real) that will give you an idea of how low my standards have become. I dreamed that I could not sleep because there was too much dirt in my bed. So I pulled back the covers and began brushing the dirt and bug parts off the bed into my bucket. There had to be at least an inch of dirt in the bucket when I noticed something else sticking out. I reached in and pulled it out of the debris. After blowing off the excess dirt, I realized that it was three squares of dark chocolate! How did that get there? I did not wonder too long however, because I ate it. Even in a dream, it was delicious!
Water and electricity have both been a problem ever since I returned in October. They are gone more than they are present. If one returns, the other leaves. You cannot have both at the same time. That would be a holiday. When water returns, Yuda and I shout with joy, and quickly run to fill our buckets and flush our toilets. If electricity appears, I charge my phone and computer. I do not know why we have water problems; it seems to rain every day. One morning Aggie and I almost filled our buckets in less than an hour with runoff from the roof. Don’t worry. I did not drink that water. I used it for washing clothes and bathing. It does wonders for the hair: all natural and organic.
It would be easy to become cynical here, surrounded by so much need. Every day, at least one person, usually more, asks me for money or a gift. Those who know me best know that I really am a better giver than I am a taker, but sometimes I am exhausted by so many demands to give. It would be easy to say that I have had enough and pack my things and go home, but I cannot leave. I remind myself that this is not a game. I say the names out loud: Fidesta, Yuda, Agness, Maria, Neema, Diana, Victoria, my students. The list continues to grow. To them it matters that I am here. I must finish the work that I have begun.
What is my task here? I think it is to offer hope, to open doors to opportunities that may have been closed before. The real work must be done by each person who accepts an opportunity to change his or her life. I pray that each one of these people succeeds, but the reality is that some will not. Diana may be the first. She did not do well at Shauritanga. Cheryl has never had children of her own, and her first one happened to be a 14 year old in the throes of adolescence. Diana did not adjust well to living with an American. It went to her head, and she acted like she was better than her friends and family. After much deliberation, Cheryl decided to send her back to Morogoro. I was hoping (and still am) that I can find a vocational training center there where she can learn a trade to make a living. However, Victoria told me that Diana’s mother is happy that she is home. Diana can help with the farming and also get a job to help support her mother and sisters. Diana’s Cinderella tale has come to an abrupt end. Her mzungu clothes will fade and tear. Her life will become hard again. It makes me very sad, but I know that I cannot save the world. Only God has that power.
Last year on Thanksgiving Day, I was traveling to Mkuu on a cross country bus. I ate crackers for my meal. I arrived in the rain to an empty house. This year, Cheryl and I met two other volunteers, Nathan and Owen, in Marangu for lunch at one of the tourist hotels. We sat outside and talked and enjoyed the Englishstyle gardens while we waited for our food. It was a beautiful day. Kilimanjaro is a beautiful region. I silently gave thanks for all my blessings, for my friends and family at home and for my new friends and family here in Tanzania. I also thought about three things: faith, hope, and love. Indeed, love is the greatest of them all. Loving others is what makes life rich and complete. Happy Thanksgiving!
No comments:
Post a Comment