Tanzania Nakupenda

Tanzania, I love you.

“Our vocation is to travel throughout the world and to live in any part of it wheresoever there is hope of the greater service of God and the good of souls.” Inspired by those words of Saint Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, I made my way here to Dodoma, Tanzania, in 2009. My first task was to assist in the founding of St. Peter Claver High School and then the plan was to do the same for Loyola Teachers Training College.

SPCHS is up and running. I think I have provided some little bit of help in putting into place the structures and practices which will serve the school well as it continues. However, plans for LTTC are presently on hold. Having accomplished the first part of my mission and not having the second part – the teachers college – to move on to, I will be heading back to the United States in April.

These three years in Tanzania have been remarkable, and I count it as a gift from God to have lived and served among so many wonderful people.

I will have a chance to reflect on my experience during a sabbatical that will end in December 2012. You can be certain that you’ll be included on these reflections right here at CHoP. (And soon the school’s website will be up and running and you will be able to keep up with the day-to-day school news at that site and at the school’s Facebook page, which we promise to maintain better.) I will start a new apostolic assignment in the United States in January 2013; what exactly that will be is yet to be determined -- I am hoping that it will be an assignment that provides some flexibility to allow some trips annually to Dodoma (and maybe some $ for that travel, too!).

They (I'd ding my English students for using an indefinite they!) -- they say that people tend to donate to people and not to causes. I hope that isn’t the case, because SPCHS will continue to need the support of my family and friends. I myself am only leaving the place physically; I have every intention to continue to support the mission in every way possible and hope whatever my next apostolic assignment is will provide me the flexibility (and maybe the financial means) to return to the school a couple of times each year.

I have told Father Sossy that I prefer not to have any farewell celebration – just a small ceremony with our students, teachers, and other workers on the day of my departure (12 April) will be sufficient.

However, I would like to have something tangible at the school by which the generations of students that come here will know of the support of people thousands of miles away.

What I am thinking of are some vibanda where our students can gather in small groups for studying. The singular is kibanda. A kibanda is a simple structure, a shelter or hut. Our study huts will have open sides – just a concrete floor, low walls to accommodate built-in benches, and a roof for protection from the sun and rain. We will decorate them with inspirational quotations (like this one from St. Ignatius Loyola: “You can do nothing more pleasing to God at this time in your life than to devote yourself totally to study.) And of course, there will be a notation that these vibanda are gifts of friends from the United States who are invested in the futures of children who are meant "to learn, to love, to serve."

If interested, you can use the link on the right of this page. Where you are given the opportunity to make a comment, you can mention “kibanda at Dodoma” so the gift is properly directed.

I am so thankful to so many for such generosity, interest, and support over these three years. As I wrote earlier, my own support for this project will not fade; I hope yours won’t either.

Let me close by sharing the words of a patriotic song that is very much on my mind:

Tanzania Tanzania
Nakupenda kwa moyo wote
Nchi yangu Tanzania
Jina lako ni tamu sana
Nilalapo nakuota wewe
Niamkapo ni heri mama wee
Tanzania Tanzania
Nakupenda kwa moyo wote

A rough translation:

Tanzania Tanzania
I love you with all my heart
My country Tanzania
Your name is very sweet
When I sleep I dream of you
When I wake to you, Mother, I am happy
Tanzania Tanzania
I love you with all my heart