Merry Christmas!

It has been forever since I have posted any updates.

I was moved to post this update after seeing a very moving picture on the Facebook page of Sean Kenney, a man who recently returned to the US after volunteering in Dodoma for two years.

This photograph captures for me so much. First, notice the school bus -- the gift of so many friends of Saint Peter Claver High School. The bus is being used for its intended purpose -- to transport our students for their weekly community service.

And notice the groups of our students in their uniforms working with younger students. This is the program that Sean spearheaded along with the Ivrea sisters -- to get our students into the local village to provide weekly tutoring for the children there. The learning conditions are abominable, and it is my hope that we can manage to accept two students from the village on an annual basis in the coming years.

Third, notice how dry the place is. In good years Dodoma is semi-arid -- the good years don't follow one another as often as they used to.

Fourth, notice the unfinished structure in the distance -- Tanzanians don't live beyond their means; they build as they have the money.

Finally, this is all happening at the local church. Our students are formed to be men and women for and with others in light of Chapter 25 of Matthew's Gospel (vv 31-46).

If you haven't made all your charitable donations for this year, please consider helping us out at St. Peter Claver High School. In addition to assistance with school fees for students, there are a number of other projects that would certainly benefit from your generosity.

Donations can be made online. Click on "international missions" and then write SPCHS in the comment section.

And thanks to all those who have so kindly contributed this year. We'll soon have a bakery up and running, providing healthier food for our students but also generating an income for the school by having a retail arm.

God bless you in 2013!

PS: I myself will be moving on to John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio, where I'll be teaching in the Department of Education and serving the Jesuit community as the superior.

Dough for Dodoma

On Sunday afternoon my family and friends will gather at Dale's Bar and Grill in Maumee, Ohio, for their annual fundraiser for St. Peter Claver High School. (From 4 - 6 p.m., if you can make it!)

South African bakers

This will be my first opportunity to attend and to thank folks in person for their past support. In the first year, they raised more than $10,000 for books for the school library -- and covered the shipping of 40 computers as well. Last year, they raised funds for livestock. The school now has 8 cows and a bunch of pigs with more on the way (along with chickens, rabbits, and goats). This year, they will be raising funds for the building and equipping of a bakery. The baked goods (mostly bread) will be used to for the school but they will also be sold at a retail outlet.

 In some earlier posts I noted all the things I was thankful for. I am so thankful to so many for their constant support. Some have been able to help us financially, which has been a great help, indeed. Others have volunteered their gifts. Still others have kept the Dodoma project in their prayers. To all I say Asanteni sana! Thank you very much.

I want to thank especially my friends Rob, Pete, and Tom and my sister Toni. A special shout out to my sister Kathleen, who not only has designed the invitations the last three years but also designed the school's logo. Also, Grax Anderson (St. John's Jesuit HS, '78) has kindly provided Dale's (otherwise closed on Sunday's) for our  use.

There are many others who have helped out with this event and with other such things, but I wanted to name them specifically.

The World Needs Africa

I couldn't say it any better than the Superior General of the Society of Jesus:

Thanks, Continued

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I thank God for the people that were in my life in Tanzania.

Where to start? Certainly with Sossy. I met Sossy within days of that phone call from Rome. He happened to be in the United States, so I flew up to Berkeley from Los Angeles in order to meet him and the equally wonderful Deogratius Rwezaura, then a graduate student at the Jesuit School of Theology. My initial excitement was only confirmed in my talk with Sossy about the need in Dodoma. He seemed like someone I could work with, a fact that was confirmed over the course of our three years together. Not that everything was always smooth, mind you. We had our differences but the respect that we have for one another helped us to manage those moments. It was a delight to see Sossy during the recent colloquium in Boston and an even greater delight to spend a couple of days relaxing with him after the meeting.

There were other Jesuit companions in the community in Dodoma, of course. Michel Ruasha could not have made me feel more welcome to the community; his departure from the parish was not easy for me.

I am very thankful for having had the opportunity to live and work with Martin Waweru Kamau. I’ve recounted a difficult time in our life in our community at the parish before those assigned to the high school moved the 17 kilometres to Ihumwa. I was in part implicated in the difficulty. In any case the tension – the details are unimportant, really –  in the community went unnamed and unaddressed until at a community meeting this outstanding young Jesuit so many years my junior called the community to greater growth by naming the issues and inviting us to address them. Thank God he did. We worked well together – and lived well together.  I can say that one of the best years of my life was the one spent living in two apartments – Martin, Brother Vincent, Kizito, and I.

What would I have done without Kizito? He was an ear for me in some difficult times and never gave me anything except good advice – which when ignored led me down some much rockier roads than I would have had to have traveled had I listened. He taught me a lot in his gentle way. Talk about a man without guile!

Among the people I most admired were our domestic employees. They worked so hard on our behalf. The love of Rose Anthony for the Jesuits and her devotion to  work were inspiring. And her joy was infectious.

At my farewell party, I told the story of our day guard Kikwete. This older gentleman had worked on the security team for our contractor. At one time there was a reduction in force among the guards; the supervisor informed him that for a certain amount of money (about half a month’s salary), Kikwete could keep his job. Kikwete responded by saying that he had too much integrity to engage in such a practice: he’d go home before paying such money. He went home and within a couple of weeks we hired him as our employee because we knew from this incident that he was a man of integrity. He exemplified hard work. Dotto the night guard was equally inspiring. This young man worked through the night and then went to the government secondary school during the day. And inspiration.

The volunteers were such an amazing support. I was supposed to be their support person, but they served me as much in that role as I did them! Their own generosity and desire to be with the people and to serve the nation was inspiring.

And the Ivrea sisters modeled for me what religious life at its best looks like. Jesuit life is not their life, but we could stand to learn from them how to live a more communal existence.

Teachers are liars. They say they don’t have favorites but they do. The challenge is to treat everyone fairly. I had my favourites. One was Esdory Richard, who wants to be a Jesuit. I hope one day I can call him a brother. Another is Christopher Massawe. Christopher arrived at SPCHS without much English. After the first marking period he came to my office inconsolable because of the poor marks he’d received for the previous term. I explained – with Kizito translating because his English was so poor – that it would all work out, that he had to give it time, but that he had to be more actively involved regarding his studies. From that day he showed up every day for extra help from teachers, attended an intensive English program for English language learners during the June break, etc. He finished his first year with B’s. The third is a young girl named Brigiter –  pronounced "brighter," and she is! She comes from a poor, single-parent family. She’s receiving substantial help for her fees, and she never missed an opportunity to thank us for the chance she was receiving. Finally there is Calvin Massawe, who combines maturity and real kindness. He really understands our mission. These four stand for so many others – and they’re going places!

Those are just some thumbnails of folks I’m thankful for. They stand for many others unnamed here.

As I wrote, I’m thankful to have had them in my life.

Next, I think I’ll recount some moments I’m particularly thankful for.

Thanks

Auden is among my favourite poets, and among his poems "Thank You, Fog" is my absolute favourite.

Thank You, Fog
by W.H. Auden

Grown used to New York weather,
all too familiar with Smog,
You, Her unsullied Sister,
I'd quite forgotten and what
You bring to British winters:
now native knowledge returns.

Sworn foe to festination,
daunter of drivers and planes,
volants, of course, will cause You,
but how delighted I am
that You've been lured to visit
Wiltshire's witching countryside
for a whole week at Christmas,
that no one can scurry where
my cosmos is contracted
to an ancient manor-house
and four Selves, joined in friendship,
Jimmy, Tania, Sonia, Me.

Outdoors a shapeless silence,
for even then birds whose blood
is brisk enough to bid them
abide here all the year round,
like the merle and the mavis,
at Your cajoling refrain
their jocund interjections,
no cock considers a scream,
vaguely visible, tree-tops
rustle not but stay there, so
efficiently condensing
Your damp to definite drops.

Indoors specific spaces,
cosy, accommodate to
reminiscence and reading,
crosswords, affinities, fun:
refected by a sapid
supper and regaled by wine,
we sit in a glad circle,
each unaware of our own
nose but alert to the others,
making the most of it, for
how soon we must re-enter,
when lenient days are done,
the world of the work and money
and minding our p's and q's.

No summer sun will ever
dismantle the global gloom
cast by the Daily Papers,
vomiting in slip-shod prose
the facts of filth and violence
that we're too dumb to present:
our earth's a sorry spot, but
for this special interim,
so restful yet so festive,
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You, Fog

Though these past weeks have not been spent in the English countryside during winter, they have been a "special interim, so restful yet so festive." Much of the time was actually spent alone. It was only in my early thirties that I learned how to be alone, and now I can say with the famous eighteenth-century historian of the eighteenth century, Gibbon, that "I was never less alone than when by myself."

The days have given me time and space to think about these last years. There is only one word, really, that captures my present attitude and disposition as I consider them: gratitude.

I never tire of recounting that March morning when I was awakened a little after 6:00 a.m. by a phone call from the Jesuit provincial, my friend Tim Kesicki, SJ. He was calling from the office of Fr. Joe Daoust, SJ, at Jesuit headquarters in Rome. They had a proposal for me: Would I consider helping to start a high school in Dodoma, Tanzania, and then do the same for a teachers college?

Without that request, I would not have had the graces of the last three years. As i was preparing to leave, I had the chance to visit with a Jesuit friend of many years. I first met this man when I was a scholastic studying philosophy at Loyola University Chicago and he was a priest on the faculty at that time. He asked to see me before I left for Tanzania, certain that due to his failing health he might not see me again (I can report that he is still with us, doing okay). During our visit he said to me, "Marty, I have never been asked by the Society to do anything remotely challenging, anything at all close to the edge. What a grace for you in your Jesuit life to be asked to do so." And he was right. I've never felt more like a Jesuit than these past years.

I've jokingly told people that it was my version of a mid-life crisis -- half-jokingly. The mid-life crisis is about identity formation. The existential question one faces at different periods of life is "Who am I now at this stage of life?" In fact the question is better asked as "HOW am I now at this stage of life?" What I was facing before agreeing to move to Tanzania was a life spent coasting, really. I did not need a sports car or a paramour, but I did need something to give me a sense of being a bit edgier. The mission to Tanzania fit the bill. And I'll be forever thankful for the opportunity.

To be continued...

Wow!

It's been forever since I've posted anything here at CHoP. My apologies.

I am presently at Boston College, where I am a participant in a fascinating colloquium: The International Colloquium on Jesuit Secondary Education. It has given me a chance -- among other things -- to visit with my friends from the Eastern Africa Province, including Shete Wangira, Sosthenese Luyembe, Ahmed Andrew Omondi, and the provincial, Fr. Orobator.

On Thursday, I'll deliver a keynote address to the assembly (almost 400 people), which I have spent quite a bit of energy preparing for -- I am excited and a bit apprehensive about this. If there ends up being video of it, I'll share it with you here.

I spent a month in the Colorado Rockies. For those unfamiliar with the Rocky Mountains, they are a grand chain of mountains that stretch from north to south, continuing north into Canada and south into Mexico. My kind sister Colleen and her husband Tim let me use their vacation home in the mountains. I managed to exercise a lot, eat well, rest, read and write, and also catch up on some movies that I'd missed. It was just what I needed!

And thanks to some other good friends, I'll spend some days after this conference resting, too -- for a couple of days I'll be accompanied by some African brothers, which I am looking forward to.

I'm feeling a bit homesick for Tanzania these days -- but that is a good thing to feel, really.

Happy feast of St. Ignatius!  And I might add, that prayers for another more recent holy man's canonization are not out of order -- Solanus Casey, OFM, Cap.

Present Realities

The TED talk below rather captures my recent experience relative to my return to the US. It also captures what I learned from my three years in Tanzania.

Almost Two Months

It's been almost two months since I last posted. I apologize.

In part it is because of a lot of initial travel, and it part it has been because of a little grief. It hasn't been so easy to say goodbye -- certainly not as easy as I thought.

I am often asked about the cultural re-entry. Initially that presented some challenges. In my first days I had to do some shopping and found it extremely difficult to be in a shopping mall. Not so much because of the consumerism but because of the assault on my senses -- having to smell Cinnabun (sp?) and Pizza Hut all at the same time and all of the noises. It was too much.

I had nice visits with family and friends in Toledo and Detroit and Cleveland, where I also had some meetings at John Carroll University. My time here at Loyola University Chicago Jesuit Community has been good. I am especially thankful for the superior here, Fr. Brian Paulson, who entered the Jesuits with me in 1981.

For those who don't know, the main campus of LUC is located right on Lake Michigan. Its location has provided me with the opportunity to get more exercise -- mostly walking. I haven't yet taken full advantage of everything Chicago has to offer, but I will.

I have had a thorough check-up (including a colonoscopy), and everything checked out well -- though weight is an issue (I think I'm one of the few people who has returned home from Africa heavier than when he left!).

I also had the chance to reconnect with a number of Jesuits at a gathering of Jesuits of the Midwest in St. Paul, MN. It was my first visit to St. Paul. It was a great time for me -- my only disappointment was not meeting up with Mary Richards, Rhoda Morgenstern, Ted Baxter, et al.

Next week I will be making my way westward to Winter Park, Colorado. My sister Colleen and brother-in-law Tim are kindly allowing me to use their home for some r 'n r 'n r 'n r -- rest, relaxation, reading, and writing. Among the things I will be writing will be a keynote to be delivered the International Colloquium on Jesuit Secondary Education to be held in Boston at the end of July/early August. After the Boston meeting I'll spend a few days relaxing lakeside in Connecticut, thanks to the kindness of my friends John and Mary Beth.

How do I sum all all of this? Mungu ni mwema! God is good!

Go Forth and Multiply

There have been some additions to the animal population at SPCHS. Another shout out to all those who were were so helpful to us in obtaining the cows and pigs.

Just minutes old! Notice how brown Dodoma's become.

These were born after my departure.

10 piglets! Any less than 7 and mama becomes ham.

Loyola @ Loyola

Today, I had the opportunity to meet someone that I have been corresponding with for the last year: Fr. Pete Henriot, SJ, who is directing the development of Loyola High School in Malawi.

Fr. Henriot's story is an inspiring one and it was good to hear him share it with those of us who gathered for lunch at Ignatius House here at Loyola University Chicago. After starting the Center of Concern in DC and working for almost two decades there, he moved to Zambia to begin work. Among the fruits of his labours is the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection. Among the projects that has most impressed me is the basic needs basket project.

As I mentioned, we've been in email correspondence about how to manage to infuse a Jesuit ethos in new schools. With a vision like his, they won't have such a difficult time in Lilongwe, I'm sure. Not sure how it is said in Chichewa, but given common Bantu origins it can't be so different from Kiswahili: Mungu akubariki! God bless you, Pete.

My Kinda Town...

Chicago is. I arrived early this evening at O'Hare, where I was greeted by my novice classmate, Fr. Brian Paulson, SJ, the rector of the Jesuits at Loyola University Chicago.

A new chapter begins.

Transition

I am enjoying a week's sojourn in London as I make my way back to the United States.

The Jesuits here at the Clapham residence (Garnet House) have been very welcoming. On Tuesday night I had a chance to meet 3 of the 4 Heythrop students who will be visiting Dodoma this summer, and last night I had a chance to catch up with Martin Waweru Kamau, who had been a Jesuit regent at SPCHS and his now completing a degree in educational leadership here in London.

A lot of time just spent walking around. I did try to go to the Damian Hirst exhibtion at the Tate Modern but judged the crowds of middle school students from the Continent as not providing the best conditions for viewing, so I'll return there tomorrow.

Today I head to catch up with folks at Heythrop College.

Mungu ni Mwema!

Those were the words of Sister Maria, the director of boarding at SPCHS, when she wrote to inform me that Veronica the lost cow had been found. Indeed, God is good. It seems that Veronica found some companions and joined up with them -- a few kilometres in a direction that we did not imagine she had travelled.

May she have a long and healthy life at SPCHS/OLQP!

Moo!

Our cow Mary had a calf, named Irish, at 6 a.m. on Tuesday. Irish is very healthy -- she was on her feet in moments and was soon hopping about. There are three more on the way! Thanks to all who were part of the Holy Cows! fundraiser in Toledo -- you've made a great difference!

mzima kabisa!

Parents of St. Peter Claver High School

There is now a school website (still partially under construction).

Heri ya Pasaka!

Happy Easter. Here is one of the most poignant depictions of the victory of our God. It is a mosaic of the resurrection at San Marco, Venice.

Sharing the Burden

Please take a few moments to read this on-line article about the "white man's burden."

The author concludes thusly:

But the trick for aid organizations that want to sustain commitment and work effectively with the developing world is to ensure that the sense of empowerment among their supporters doesn't involve a feeling that aid recipients are powerless. The message -- and the truth -- is that aid works when it supports people in the developing world in their immense, ongoing, and incredibly successful efforts to make their own lives better.

I am proud of the Eastern Africa Jesuits and proud to have been part of the inauguration of a school that truly captures the best sort of empowerment here.

Snake Obsession

I've probably posted more stories about snakes here than anyone wants to read! But I cannot let this one go, for it is truly amazing.

As I found out yesterday: Not only do we have cobras and puff adders, we also have pythons. Big pythons.

Ng'ombe amepotea

I was wrong in referring to the lost cow as Crystal. Crystal had the naming rights and she did not name the cow after her self! She named the cow Veronica.

And Veronica is still missing. We hope she didn't cross the road on to the military base, Flamingo Camp, because if she did, she is at this point quite literally dead meat.

Her friend Mary is ready to deliver any day -- I am hoping it is before Thursday when I will be leaving Dodoma. Her udder is full, so I am guessing it will be in the next day or so.

Ng'ombe Wamefika!

The cows have arrived!

This is a great "going away gift" for me because the agricultural aspect of our project is important to me because it will help us to be self-sufficient.

The cow shed is being built with help benefactors of the Upper Midwest Jesuits and my Connell cousins, and the funds for the livestock (not only the five cows we've started with but -- soon -- pigs, chickens, and rabbits were provided by my siblings and friends).

Moo!


This last picture foretold what was to follow. Those are two students who are staying on during the break because they'll be attending a Catholic youth congress here in Dodoma. I enlisted their help when the cows ran this afternoon. There is one, Crystal by name, who is high-strung -- if she hears any unfamiliar noise, she bolts. This afternoon the other followed her, ending up near the Jesuit residence, where Moses and Methodius were eating with us.

I say it foretold what was to follow because Crystal bolted this evening -- REALLY BOLTED. Our Maasai cow tender and his friend who had JUST arrived to start the job raced after her, but after an 1.5 hours and darkness falling failed to get her. We've reported the missing cow to the village, and will check tomorrow.

(Incidentally, that's Crystal in the first picture looking a little on edge.) Wish us luck on the capture!

Home Again

I've been away from Dodoma.

Last Tuesday afternoon I travelled by bus to Dar es Salaam and then took Kenyan Air to Nairobi on Wednesday morning for a Thursday meeting with Fr. Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator, SJ, the provincial superior of the Eastern Africa Province of the Jesuits. I flew back to Dar es Salaam and took the s-l-o-w-e-s-t bus possible to Dodoma today (but here in TZ I'd rather be on a slow bus than an unsafe one).

My meeting in Nairobi with the provincial was a very good one, and I am happy I made the trip. It also gave me an opportunity to say farewell to some friends, especially Fathers Gabriel Mmassi, Bart Murphy, and Deo Mutayoba. Gabriel and I were at JSTB together in the early 90's; he is presently serving as the rector at Hekima College, the anglophone theologate for the Jesuits of Africa/Madagascar. I first met Bart when I was in language school in Morogoro, where he taught church history at the Salvatorian seminary; Bart is now involved in spiritual direction at our retreat house in Nairobi. I first met Deo when I travelled to Berkeley three years ago to meet Sossy about possibly helping out with a little project in a place called Dodoma.

I have fewer than two weeks before I leave this place -- so much to do!

Did I Not Make a Promise?

Here are even more pictures.

Kids, listen to what your elders tell you:
Picking at a pimple can lead to an abscess!

Our generator will ensure that even when the power goes out
our students can study!

Most of the members of the faculty.

OLQP Statue

Here are some pictures of the statue at our roundabout. So thankful to a friend in Santa Barbara who has a great devotion to Our Lady who helped us with this statue. It is a remarkable welcome to the campus.

Even More

I will miss my Pajero -- "Punda" -- Mule -- I call it.

The parents of Jackie and Dennis both work at SPCHS --
and the family lives in staff housing.

Just in case you didn't believe me: We have scorpions!

And they're big!

More Farewell Pictures

Kikwete, the day guard at the Jesuit Residence.

Sister Maria, scic, (director of boarding) and
Madam Lidya (assistan headmaster).

Professor Kalifunja Osaki, a friend.

The food was great -- you see why I'm fat!

Dotto is the night guard at my office.

A word about Kikwete and Dotto. There is an obvious age difference, but they are close friends. Kikwete was riffed by our contractor, but the supervisor said that for a small price he'd pass over him and rif someone else. Kikwete responded, "I'd rather go home proud than pay a bribe." We knew at that point that we wanted to hire him because of his integrity. Dotto works all night and goes to school at the city high school during the day -- I've been privileged to help him with his English. Will miss these two people immensely.

SPCHS Farewell

Here are some photos of the farewell party the employees threw for me.

There was a procession with gifts, including the popular gift of vitenge.

As per custom, I got wrapped in the vitenge.

That cane is a Maasai cane -- hiding a knife.

I couldn't ask for better Jesuit companions than Sossy and Kizito.

I Promise

I have a ton of recent pictures -- including many from the farewell party for the thrown by the school employees. I promise to post them in the next couple of days.

Glub Glub Glub

I think that's the sound of someone drowning.

I have so many things to attend to, so many issues arising, so many projects to do that this little blog of mine keeps heading to the bottom of the list. Sorry -- when I can come up for air, I'll all the news that's fit for print!

New Construction

We're putting up a cowshed (to initially accommodate 10 cows) and a piggery (which will be able to house 3 sows with their piglets, 8 other sows, 2 boars, along with pens for weaning pigs, and growing pigs.

The cowshed

The cow shed, situated along one of our compound's lanes


This grass for cows does well in Dodoma

The piggery

Pen for sows and their piglets

The weaning pen

Piglets will spend two months with their mothers, two months in the weaning pen (litters from different sows are brought together in this pen), two months in the growing pen, and then to market.

Morning Routines

After morning Mass at 6:30 a.m. in our multi-purpose hall because our chapel is still being constructed, our students "pick up their chairs and move quickly and quietly to the tables."


Then table captains line up to get pots of porridge (called uji).



And return to the tables and serve it.



This is maize porridge. I myself prefer the porridge made from finger millet flour -- a nice nutty, almost chocolate taste. The students, however, prefer finger millet porridge.

More Pictures from Singida

In an earlier post, I shared pictures that my friend Andrea posted on Facebook. My camera battery ran out early in the trip, and though I remembered the charger, I forgot the adapter for the plug.

Here are some pictures that capture rural life in Singida. You can tell how much rain they've gotten. You'll see the picture in the smoky kitchen (I'm sure one gets used to it) -- the hanging gourd is used for making yoghurt.

The hanging gourd is used for making yoghurt.

Rural life

This fierce storm threatened us, but we manage to
get back to Singida town.

Part of the boma -- the livestock pen enclosed
by the compound's buildings

The women's house -- also the kitchen

My sister Michelle would compose this better -- It had its
own simply beauty that I didn't manage to capture.