Id al Fitr

The feast of Id al Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadhan, is celebrated tomorrow after the new moon is sighted tonight.

I have to be sincere: I don't quite understand the workings of Islam when it comes to these lunar feasts. The Golden Age of Islam -- in the medieval period -- was marked by amazing advances in astronomy. What I can't figure out is why folks have to wait to find out on which day the holiday will be celebrated. Surely this can be figured out scientifically.

I myself have made it clear to our employees that the day as it appears in our student handbook is the day on which we will celebrate this national holiday -- despite when it actually lands. It is hard to run a school when everyone is trying to figure out just what day will be the holiday. In fact what most often happens is that people simply make it a two-day holiday.

In any case, to all my Muslim readers: عيد مبارك

Discernment of Spirits

Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man, and kept him in custody. When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed, yet he liked to listen to him. (Mark 6:20)

I customarily do not post explicitly spiritual reflections here. However at this morning’s Mass with our students (the Feast of the Beheading of John the Baptist), it occurred to me to me that Herod could have profited from Ignatius of Loyola’s “discernment of sprits.” What does it mean to discern spirits? It means to take account of the “motions of the soul.” As the helpful folks as Loyola Press note,

These interior movements consist of thoughts, imaginings, emotions, inclinations, desires, feelings, repulsions, and attractions. Spiritual discernment of spirits involves becoming sensitive to these movements, reflecting on them, and understanding where they come from and where they lead us.

What we see in today’s gospel for the Feast of the Beheading of John the Baptist is that Herod took no such account. On the one hand he liked to listen to John the Baptist, and on the other hand what he heard perplexed him. If only he’d taken a few minutes to take account of what was going on spiritually, maybe he would have found a way to withstand Salome’s request!

Rivalry

Well, Virgina, we had our own earthquake last night. Having lived so many years in California, I am accustomed to them -- and attuned to them.

Ours came at 1:55 a.m. It woke me up. In the first instance, I thought a truck had hit the building, but within a nanosecond I realized just what it was -- I realized this when the jolt was followed by about 3 seconds of rolling. The rolling stopped before I could get out of bed, and I fell back to sleep.

I inspected our buildings this morning and I see no signs of damage. I asked after Mass if others felt it, and I would judge that maybe 15% of our school population woke up. When I myself woke up this morning I found myself wondering how I would say, "Did you feel the earthquake last night." I must say I was proud to find out that I was correct -- here one does not "feel" an earthquake but rather "hears" one: Je, umesikia tetemeko usiku? Did you hear the earthquake last night. (Okay, I admit this is entirely unfair and entirely English-language-centric because the fact is that the Swahili verb kusikia covers more senses than just hearing.)

In any case, glad the damage was slight -- both here and the Mid-Atlantic States.

Thanks

I write this as I look out onto our campus from my bedroom window. Sooner or later I'll post a picture of this wonderful vista of our campus.

The campus is extraordinary really, and yesterday's visit of our families was a great reminder of just how extraordinary it is. They continue to be overwhelmed by the scope and beauty of the facilities. Not only the Jesuits but also our students and their families are so thankful to our partners, the Our Lady Queen of Peace foundation. It is a heartfelt appreciation that move me.

The present phases of construction are winding up. I suspect that by the early part of next year things on this part of the campus will have quieted a bit. What I am most eager for is the completion of the school's chapel. Like the other buildings, it has been built for full capacity of 1,200 students, which will mean that during these first years our students will get lost in the large building, but even with so few it will be an inspiring place to offer praise and thanksgiving to God.

Parent Visitation

Today is our third day dedicated to hosting families of our students. It is always a mixed day for me. The excitement of so many students anticipating the arrival of their families is wonderful, but there are also students whose families do not visit because of the distance such a visit would entail. It is a rather sad sight to see them moping around.

There are some families who have noticed this and have sought to include these students in their own activities. Seeing this has been edifying.

Today we inaugurate our parent association. I have asked four parents from Dodoma to serve as the first officers of the club. In the future the parents can elect their officers, but for the time being, I thought it would be good for me to choose so that we can get things off to a good start. I chose well! Last week I met with them along with Kizito. They are very keen on supporting the school -- not afraid to share concerns that will help us grow, but genuinely supportive of the school. I am looking forward to the meeting with the parents.

Families are also receiving progress reports. I worked most of last week on them, using Excel and doing a merge in the Word. It all worked well, and I printed the reports on Friday. As I was stuffing envelopes yesterday (which brought me back to my first job, stuffing envelopes at ABC Mailing, my Uncle Joe's bulk mailing business in Toledo, Ohio), I realized there was something wrong with the biology grade, so I had to do some sleuthing, correcting, and reprinting.

I also figured out too late that one of our teachers does not know the meaning of "commendable". Our teachers use coded comments, and this teacher wrote the code for "attitude, effort, and achievement in this course are commendable" for those students doing remarkably poorly. Oh, well. Maybe it will encourage them.

Sometimes I Wonder...

You'll see on the right side-bar that there is a visitor "tracker."

Don't be frightened, but I know who some of you are (like families of volunteers!). But others, I haven't a clue -- but I'd love to know, if you'll let me.

So if you care to, send me an email introducing your self. (The address can be found in my introduction on the right.)

Here's to U of D High School

I was principal at the University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy at the end of the 1990s and the beginning of the new century.

As I watched this video of the school, I couldn't help but be proud AND be hopeful that we here at St. Peter Claver High School might enjoy some measure of the success of U of D High.

Fixed an Important Link

But it still needs to be oiled.

I just tried the link to the Chicago-Detroit Jesuits under the "You Can Help" section to your right. It was broken, so I repaired it. It needs a little oil, however.

An Important Interactive Map

Please click here to see a very interesting interactive map regarding spending on food.

A one dollar bag of rice in the U.S. is not the same as a one dollar bag of rice in Indonesia. For an American, who, on average, devotes about seven percent of his or her spending to food, it won’t matter that much if the price of rice doubles to two dollars. An American can likely take the money that would have gone to a “non-essential” item and put it towards food instead. But for an Indonesian, who devotes 43 percent of his/her spending to food, it could mean less to eat.

Tanzania is not listed, but I can tell you that nourishment is what most people spend most of their money on.

EE-I-EE-I-O

My sister Toni along with some great friends in Toledo had a fundraiser last night for us. It was held at one of the great watering holes in greater Toledo -- Dale's Bar and Grill in Maumee, OH (thanks to Bill and Liz Anderson, owners, for hosting the event). The goal was to raise funds for our agricultural project.

Initial reports are that we'll have a few moo-moos here, baa-baas there -- here a cluck, there a quack, etc. My friend Mary Russell (buy her book!) donated enough money for 4 milk cows with the provision that we name them -- Mary, Donna, Jessie, Danielle. Happy to do such (it is less attractive to name animals raised for slaughter, though!).

I just completed a call with my oldest friend in the world, Rob Loeb, who co-chaired the event with Toni. He reports that folks had a marvelous time.

If you weren't at the event and would like to help, feel free to head over to Chicago-Detroit Province of the Jesuits site here, and donate what you can. Please choose "Eastern Africa" as your designation, and write "OLQP farm" in the comment section of the on-line donation form.

Thanks to all for your continued support!

*****UPDATE*****
I just heard from Toni that $8,455.00 has been raised so far. Can you help us hit $10,000.00? You can click on the link above.

A Sad Day

Today is Scholastic Martin Waweru's last day among us. He'll be leaving to make his annual retreat and then heading to Kenya to visit his family before starting a program in educational leadership at the University of London.

Martin has been a great companion, and I shall miss his presence here in Dodoma immensely. Last year at this time I was having a particularly tough go of it, and he was there accompanying me every step of the way through that dark valley. And before that when there was a bit of tension in our community it was he, so much junior in this Jesuit life, who called his elders to face the issue and to forge a way through the difficulty.

In late December I discovered a teacher whom I'd employed was not going to show up, so I had to re-arrange the schedule. I asked him if he would be available to teach mathematics because he is trained as a maths teacher, and he agreed on the spot.

And what a maths teacher he's been. Recently a visitor asked five students who their favourite teachers were, and 4/5 mentioned him (and the fifth had a different teacher for mathematics). He exhibits just what you want to see in a good teacher: very high expectations and a willingness to support students in every way possible to help them meet those expectations.

Just two hours ago at our weekly baraza, I announced his departure, and along with Mwalimu David and the Headboy and Headgirl bade him farewell. Oh the tears among the students! -- and a few discreet ones among some school employees, too. His own words of farewell to our students were spot on, encouraging them to shoot for the stars.

In a couple of hours the Ivrea sisters will join us SJs for dinner to bid Martin farewell, and later some of the lay teachers living on campus will join us to lift a glass or two; and then tomorrow he departs.

We humans are not the only creatures who will miss him, either -- Chui our cat prefers Martin to everyone else.

Fortunately, I will have a chance to visit him in London when I pass through in November! Already I'm saving my shillings so that I can take him to a nice place.

Karibu tena, Waweru!

Home Again

I just returned home about one half hour ago.

I was so happy to be greeted by our students returning from an outing to the NaneNane grounds (tomorrow, after all, is nane nane or 8/8, the national holiday honouring farmers). They raced up the road to greet me and refused to let me carry my own luggage (I had taken the bus, the driver of which kindly dropped me off at our corner rather than making me go all the way into town to the depot.)

I enjoyed my holidays immensely (and in many ways wish the time could have been longer), but I am indeed happy to be back home.

A highlight yesterday was the chance to spend time with my friend Veronica Sarungi and her parents, the Honourable Professor Sarungi, retired member of parliament, and Mama Sarungi. It really was a delightful time. Veronica was concerned that I had been taken hostage by her father because of the two hours I spent with him. For me it was fascinating -- he was TZ's first orthopaedic surgeon; served as the defense minister, the education minister, and the minister of health; and has countless stories about Nyerere, my hero.

Time to Think

These days at the beach have been restful, even retreat-like. I've managed to read a lot, to sleep a little more than usual. But they have also provided me a chance to really think about some short-term and long-term issues facing SPCHS and OLQP.

I have been thinking in particular about Loyola Teachers College and just what a difference this could make for the TZ. I'm very thankful to my friend Professor Vicki Graf (who recently visited us) for an an article she sent me that confirms not only my concerns about the present state of things here but also some of my initial thoughts about what's to be done relative to teacher education.

But I've also spent time thinking about how it is I can help our present teachers imagine different ways of being in the classroom, imagine different ways for their students to be in the classroom. That is a more immediate and more pressing concern -- and not an easy one. I think having teachers here who could model different possibilities would be a tremendous help, and I'm hoping the imminent arrival of a volunteer professionally trained as a mathematics teacher might be a good start. I'm also thankful for the kind offer of JP Morrison, the headmaster of St. Ignatius College, Enfield, London, UK, to have some of his best teachers come during the time the students from his school are here so that they could provide demonstration lessons.

It is hard for people to change without models for such. As I used to tell folks in my leadership classes, change for teachers is analogous to 19th century America -- no settler would leave the comforts of, say, Albany to settle in the West until the trailblazers had trailblazed and the pioneers had pioneered and a certain number of trustworthy settlers had settled and had written accounts assuring those they'd left behind in Albany that it was all worth the risk. I have to figure out a way to do this for our teachers, who for the most part are content with providing instruction the way it is customarily done here. And what does a typical classroom presently look like in TZ? According to a recent UNICEF study, something like this:

Teacher-directed activities (explaining, question and answer, writing on the chalk board, reading to the class, asking pupils to read, lesson summary) took up over half (55%) of the lesson time. Individual seatwork, where pupils worked on exercises from the chalkboard or textbooks and teachers marked the exercises, accounted for 25% of the lesson time. More pupil-centred forms of learning (i.e. paired or group work, pupil demonstration) accounted for just 14% of the lesson time, with paired/group work making up 6% of the lesson time. Non-curricular activities (i.e. administration, no teaching activity taking place) took up a further 6% of the time.

Obviously something must be done.