Wonderful Things

Roxanne, one of the volunteers at SPCHS, kindly sent some photographs of the recently arrived materials, including computers, science equipment, sports equipment, and some other items. You can get a good sense of the excitement.

Ninafurahi!

I'm happy! A container has arrived in Dodoma filled with things that will be so helpful to the school. Chief among these are 28 computers and science laboratory equipment. These items were made possible because of the generosity of the students, faculty, staff, and administration at Walsh Jesuit High School in Cuyohoga Falls, OH. The Jesuit school-to-Jesuit school relationship is a wonderful one. Thanks especially to Sean Lynch for all of his work on behalf of St. Peter Claver HS. His interest and support -- along with Andrew Kerr's -- has made a great difference. Thanks also to my old  (er, long-standing) friend, Karl Ertle, president, for his encouragement.

In addition to the computers and lab equipment are books, musical instruments (guitars and keyboards), and a host of things that will enhance learning and life (including a push mower so lawns don't have to be cut with garden shears!). Thanks to all my friends who helped. A special thanks to Summer McBride, who was the administrative assistant in my department at Loyola Marymount University -- she made the donation of some videos a family project with her sons, AKA, "the wild things". She and her husband are raising their sons to be "men for others"!

Thanks so much to all of those who assisted.

Now on to the next thing: A fundraiser at Dale's in Maumee, Ohio, hosted by my sister Toni and my friends Rob, Tom, and Pete. They're raising money to get a beekeeping project off the ground.

Gettin' Bigger!

I had a colleague at St. Ignatius High School, Cleveland, whose response to me when I inquired about his baby girl was always, "Gettin' bigger!"  Well, that's precisely what I thought when I watched this Youtube video of our students singing Paul's famous words about love during their first weeks of secondary school. They have grown from being children to being young men and women -- and they've grown in wisdom, too!

Service

The motto of St. Peter Claver High School is to learn ~ to love ~ to serve. The Chicago-Detroit Province provided us with a bus early on, and a second bus was purchased with funds donated by a number of groups. These buses have two principal purposes: (1) to transport students to and from their community service, and (2) to transport employees from Dodoma (about seven miles) to the school campus.

Initially our students did service at a residential program for children with developmental disabilities; more recently they have been working with students in Ihumwa, the local village -- about four miles away. When I left, I set a goal: That SPCHS would admit at least two students per year from the village (which is horribly under-served school-wise). I am happy to say that as a result of the support of our students and adults at SPCHS, two students from the village did well enough to gain admission this past January.

SPCHS uses the local Catholic mission station as the tutoring center. All are welcome.

I often told the students, "You can have a good school even under a tree." Yes, indeed.

Some students tutor inside. But tutoring outside the church means Muslim students can participate.

And why not end with some dancing?

 This program was started and continues as the result of hard work on the part of American volunteers (JVC) and is inspired by the example of the Ivrea sisters (Sisters of Charity of the Immaculate Conception of Ivrea, Italy).

Finally, here are the groups that helped with the bus:

Ordination Celebration

One of the principal reasons that I traveled to Tanzania was for the ordination of Cyriac Francis Malasi, who was the "clerk of works" as the buildings were being constructed at St. Peter Claver HS. He worked hard with the Tanzania Revenue Authority to get exemptions from taxes, saving us a lot of money. Beyond that, he was a generous, kind companion to live in community with.

That's Malasi in the center; Rwimo, the other ordinand, is on the left.

I also had the chance to visit with Malasi's parents, whom I'd gotten to know over the years.

One of the amazing graces of the entire time was when the father of a student whom I had asked to leave SPCHS in order to get a new start elsewhere came up to me thanking me for the care I had shown his son and the family. The following day, I spent about a couple of hours as a guest in their home enjoying their company. Below is a picture of Christian's father and his little sister, Nora, who attends our primary school in the neighborhood.

I was happy to have the chance to visit with two of my favourite people: Martin Waweru, SJ; and Sr. Immaculata, SCIC.

Martin took over the clerk of works job from Malasi and also taught mathematics; Immaculata was the first school nurse.

We had some great entertainment, including a dance by the students from the traditional dance club at Loyola High School Dar es Salaam and by two of the Jesuit volunteers.

The celebration continued into the evening at the Jesuit residence, where the volunteers entertained us again -- and where we danced to some Kikuyu songs, too.

We could have danced in style. This shop, now closed, is just outside the gates to the Jesuit community: