I am just over four months into my experience here and I
thought I would have had more blogs written by now. In the beginning,
everything was new, exciting, and worth writing about; now those things that I
deemed so different and interesting are just facts of life. Most things have
just become a part of the natural routine….washing clothes by hand and taking
bucket showers, for example, are totally normal and I barely remember those
things ever being different. Life is life and people are people no matter where
you go. Granted there are many culture differences that influence daily life
but at the end of the day everyone just wants to be happy and healthy and most
importantly, surrounded by loving and supporting people.
I love the culture of community here. Regardless of the
other larger issues of injustice that are more prevalent here than in the
States, there is this unspoken rule that Tanzanians take care of each other and
you are welcomed wherever you go, no matter who you are. Often times while
walking to school and around the neighborhood, people I barely know (or don’t
know at all) welcome me to visit with them in their home or share a meal…even
though I’m a stranger and not only a stranger but also clearly not from this
country. It’s incredibly humbling to be accepted, for the most part, for no
reason at all. If Tanzania has nothing else going for it, they at least have a
tight knit community of people looking out for each other 24/7 and that alone
is enough to make someone’s (or at least my) day.
One thing worth noting, though, is the religion class I had
yesterday with my Standard 6 students. It wasn’t incredible riveting or
creative but I was able to teach them something I know they did not know before
(how do I know? I asked them). I taught them about St. Ignatius and the Society
of Jesus. They all knew what a Jesuit was since our school is named after a
Jesuit saint and the Jesuit priests here helped found the school. But outside of that,
their knowledge of Ignatius or Jesuit ideas is pretty minimal. I began with a
little bit of history on Ignatius and gave a dramatic retelling of his time as
a soldier and his recovery, during which he found his faith. I think they
enjoyed the story…it was silent and all eyes were on me as I explained. I think
in a way it made spirituality more human; Ignatius wasn’t perfect, in fact, he
was a bit of a hothead for most of his life. There’s comfort in knowing that
even saints aren’t perfect people.
Then, I went out on a limb and tried to pray The Examen with
them. I explained its steps, its purpose and how it is used. Then I asked them
to close their eyes and tried to lead them through it. They were quiet during
the whole thing and I like to think that it went well. But I guess I will never
know if they really got anything out of it. For some of them, it may have just
been a much needed 15 minute nap after along week at school. But that is more
than okay with me, I’m pretty sure it was a Jesuit who said that sometimes God
comes to us in our sleep….so that’s what I’m going to tell myself about the
handful who were pretty much drooling on their desks. After we finished The
Examen, one girl asked me, “Does God hear what is in our hearts even if we
don’t speak it out loud?” And I said, “Of course!” The Examen is a perfect
example of that inner reflection that can happen with God. I was surprised by
the question because for me prayer has always been an internal thing (outside
of Mass, of course). But I guess sometimes the only way people are taught how
to pray is by reciting out loud the formal prayers that have been given to us
by those who taught us about our faith/spirituality. I’m really glad she asked
this question though; it assured me that at least one of my 40 sleepy students
was at least thinking about praying. That is enough for me. Even if no one else
prayed or got anything out of that 15 minutes, I have at least one students who
knows that God it always listening. And that was good reminder for me as well…God
is always listening, even when I feel like I’m talking to no one.
