Final Blog

My final blog is being written at home since it was almost impossible to go on line in the village of Monduli. I continued enjoying my last couple of weeks at the school, getting to know many of the teachers and students better, and also Jean and Marv that not only teach, but also organize all the visitors and volunteers that come to the school.

The girls were very sweet and many were quite shy. Unfortunately those that needed the most help with English were often too shy to ask. They were fascinated with my pictures of snowy Minnesota. The girls found the concept of snow and cold completely beyond their comprehension. When I was comfortable in t- shirts, they wore sweatshirts. They are required to have their hair very very short so that they do not spend time on it. Every Monday morning the girls are checked to see that their hair is short enough and that their skirts are long enough. I’m told that when girls go on to university, they immediately grow their hair long.

I will miss their marvelous singing in English and in Swahili at early morning or late afternoon chapel when their wonderful powerful voices are heard in the surrounding area.

In Form 3, the girls were reading Things Fall Apart, a book by Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe. Several of the girls came to me asking for help with a chapter. I ended up reading chapter 9 several times with different small groups, and later I sat in on the class. I was very impressed with the discussion; the teacher provided very thought-provoking questions getting the girls to relate the events of the story to their own lives and to their own cultural beliefs. The same girls with good English participated in all of the discussion. Later they were to write answers to similar questions that had been discussed in class.

The last week I participated in some of the activities of a church group from Virginia. They were staying in the other half of the guest house, and 2 of the women shared my side. The best part was that they had their own cook and invited me for delicious 3 course meals. I also was invited to go with them on several visits to villages, and to a Lutheran hospital in Arusha that is run by a doctor from Stillwater, Mark Jacobson.

One Sunday morning we went to a Maasai village, Enguiki, about a half hour from Monduli, high up on the side of a mountain with a splendid view. Six of the village girls from the school went along. They hadn't been home for at least a month so they were very excited to see their families. I rode with Jean, Marv, and the girls. The girls started singing as soon as we left the village of Monduli and the singing got louder and louder the closer we got to Enguiki. It was very emotional. When we arrived at the church, the girls bowed their heads and they were blessed by the pastor. We arrived in time for chai and hard boiled eggs before the church service which was primarily conducted in Maa. The women's choir, dressed in traditional clothes with beaded collars, necklaces and earrings were seated on the left. They were amazing singers and moved and danced to the rhythm of the music. The choir on the right, both men and women, sang in Swahili and to the beat of a drum. The pastor had excellent rapport with the congregation, and he was obviously very amusing. Later, we were all introduced by Jean, and we were given necklaces by the choir members. After the ceremony we were greeted by the members of the congregation and we took pictures, later we were invited to more chai, fried goat meat and potatoes.

On the way home, we stopped at the boma, the traditional mud hut, of one of girls, Nicedey. This compound consisted of 5 huts which belonged to the deceased herder husband of the women. Nicedey was so excited and pleased to introduce us to her sister and her mother. Her mother had 8 younger children. We entered the mud hut which was very dark. The cooking fire was in the middle and there were benches around the fire. There were sleeping chambers on the other side of the cooking area. In some of the huts, the animals are also brought in, but in this compound there were two enclosures, one for cattle and one for goats in the middle of the huts. There were dozens of children. It was a wonderful experience to actually get to visit a village that girls come from.

So now I'm home and anxious to see all of you. It was great being in Tanzania, and my timing was pretty good, although it does seem to be a bit chilly. I came home on Wed. to stacks and stacks of mail to go through and lots of pictures to sort. How nice to have the time to do that.