Walimu

That's the plural for "teacher." I write the plural because I am thinking about two teachers.

One is my hero Mwalimu Nyerere, the "Father of the Nation." His writings are an inspiration -- and his life of service for the benefit of others is an example. The other is Jason Raley, who directed my dissertation at UCSB, Jason whom I asked to be my director about this time of the year nine years ago.

Well, I've been very interested in howt the national devotion to the memory of Julius Nyerere gets played out relative to notions of schooling. I have some ideas and have informally collected data. How nice to find out that Mwalimu Jason has cooked up a pretty wonderful idea for a panel at the American Anthropological Association's annual meeting next November in Montreal.

And how nice that the provincial here thinks this is a worthwhile endeavour. And how nice that my niece Susan is getting married to Brett at the end of that week!