In today's homily I told students a story of my first weeks in Tanzania, and they got a big kick out of it.
I told the story because it has to do with mountains -- and the mountain featured in today's gospel (the transfiguration of Jesus). I explained to them that when a mountain is named the word "mount" is used -- Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Meru, Mount Kenya, and so forth. And in English this is abbreviated "Mt."
In my early days in Tanzania, I couldn't get over how many mountains there were -- and they all had Christian names: Mt. Agostino, Mt. Maria, Mt. Bartolomeo, etc.
The Kiswahili word for saint is mtakatifu, and it is abbreviated "Mt." Not so many mountains, but lots of saints!
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Proper School Homepage
I know there are many parents and parents of prospective students who find their way to this blog.
The blog is really intended not so much for school news but is rather intended as a way to keep my friends and friends of the school in the USA informed about some happenings.
I am happy to announce that within the coming weeks the school's website will be up and running.
I am very excited about it. The design of the website and all the necessary arrangements are thanks to my nephew-in-law (is there such a term?), Stephen Weinberg, who is one of the nicest people you'd ever want to meet.
The blog is really intended not so much for school news but is rather intended as a way to keep my friends and friends of the school in the USA informed about some happenings.
I am happy to announce that within the coming weeks the school's website will be up and running.
I am very excited about it. The design of the website and all the necessary arrangements are thanks to my nephew-in-law (is there such a term?), Stephen Weinberg, who is one of the nicest people you'd ever want to meet.
Singida
Last weekend, I made a trip to Singida, which is the region north of Dodoma Region.
View Larger Map
I was the guest of my friends Mungwe ABC Athman and Andrea Wall, who run the Poverty Eradication Netowork Trust, an NGO in Dodoma and Singida aimed principally at increasing literacy.
It stands among the top five moments in my time here. I have some of my own pictures, that I'll post in another batch, but here are some from the weekend posted by Andrea at her FB page.
This is a picture of part of the boma at Mungwe's parents' place in the village of Ikhanoda, in a district known as Rural North Singida.. (A boma is a structure to keep livestock -- it very often uses the walls of human housing as part of its own structure. So for instance, the men's house might be on one side and the women's house on the other with fences on the two remaining.) Mungwe's parents are both well into their eighties -- Mungwe's mother is one of three wives of Babu Rajabu, a convert to Christianity from Islam.
Here's a picture from Itaja. We had a very unhealthy picnic here (Pringles, muffins, oatmeal cookies -- you name the carb, we had it.) This overlooks the Rift Valley, looking toward Kondoa. (Incidentally, like Kondoa, Singida has ancient rock paintings.)
Mdilu was an ujamaa village that remains; it has an outcropping that is a dome. We had a great view from there.
This part of Singida has had great rain during this season, resulting in great crops but also some pretty bad erosion.
We didn't stay in the village but rather at a hotel in town on the edge of Lake Singida. Here is a fishing boat we came across just a short walk from our hotel.
We also saw a leopard print on the path to the boat -- just metres away from where I was sleeping!
We actually visited people, though. The first two pictures are of Mungwe's mother, Asifiwe (short for Bwana asifiwe -- Praise the Lord!) and his father, Rajabu (pictured with their domestic servant -- known universally here as "house girls" -- and some grandchildren of one of his other families). The third is from his relative Fatuma's place. These folks are sooo poor, and yet they shared local soda (finger millet brew just at the edge of fermentation) and boiled fish.
View Larger Map
I was the guest of my friends Mungwe ABC Athman and Andrea Wall, who run the Poverty Eradication Netowork Trust, an NGO in Dodoma and Singida aimed principally at increasing literacy.
It stands among the top five moments in my time here. I have some of my own pictures, that I'll post in another batch, but here are some from the weekend posted by Andrea at her FB page.
This is a picture of part of the boma at Mungwe's parents' place in the village of Ikhanoda, in a district known as Rural North Singida.. (A boma is a structure to keep livestock -- it very often uses the walls of human housing as part of its own structure. So for instance, the men's house might be on one side and the women's house on the other with fences on the two remaining.) Mungwe's parents are both well into their eighties -- Mungwe's mother is one of three wives of Babu Rajabu, a convert to Christianity from Islam.
Here's a picture from Itaja. We had a very unhealthy picnic here (Pringles, muffins, oatmeal cookies -- you name the carb, we had it.) This overlooks the Rift Valley, looking toward Kondoa. (Incidentally, like Kondoa, Singida has ancient rock paintings.)
Mdilu was an ujamaa village that remains; it has an outcropping that is a dome. We had a great view from there.
This part of Singida has had great rain during this season, resulting in great crops but also some pretty bad erosion.
We didn't stay in the village but rather at a hotel in town on the edge of Lake Singida. Here is a fishing boat we came across just a short walk from our hotel.
We also saw a leopard print on the path to the boat -- just metres away from where I was sleeping!
We actually visited people, though. The first two pictures are of Mungwe's mother, Asifiwe (short for Bwana asifiwe -- Praise the Lord!) and his father, Rajabu (pictured with their domestic servant -- known universally here as "house girls" -- and some grandchildren of one of his other families). The third is from his relative Fatuma's place. These folks are sooo poor, and yet they shared local soda (finger millet brew just at the edge of fermentation) and boiled fish.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Mungu ni Mwema!
God is good!
It's been raining heavily for three hours with no signs of letting up! This will make a huge difference for us and our neighbors.
It's been raining heavily for three hours with no signs of letting up! This will make a huge difference for us and our neighbors.
I Think I Deserve Some Congratulations
Because I killed my first cobra this evening.
When I returned home from my office, Brother Soreng told me that he'd just seen a snake. We looked for it, but we couldn't find it. I went into our dining room and got some water and looked around the kitchen, thinking it might have slipped under the door but didn't see it.
When I came out of the kitchen I was met by mewing cats, Macho and Moshi. I told those creatures: "Go. Do your job and get that snake." (Did you know that cats do as well with snakes as with rats? Neither did I before moving here.) They preferred to mew some more and refused to do the job I gave them.
As I walked away, I spotted the snake -- and quickly dispatched it with a nearby broom!
It was only when our night guard arrived and I asked "nyoka gani?" -- what kind of snake? -- that I learned just what a hero I am!
Incidentally, I couldn't tell it was a cobra because it was so small (about a foot long) -- even so, the toxicity of the venom is the same regardless of the size or age.
When I returned home from my office, Brother Soreng told me that he'd just seen a snake. We looked for it, but we couldn't find it. I went into our dining room and got some water and looked around the kitchen, thinking it might have slipped under the door but didn't see it.
When I came out of the kitchen I was met by mewing cats, Macho and Moshi. I told those creatures: "Go. Do your job and get that snake." (Did you know that cats do as well with snakes as with rats? Neither did I before moving here.) They preferred to mew some more and refused to do the job I gave them.
As I walked away, I spotted the snake -- and quickly dispatched it with a nearby broom!
It was only when our night guard arrived and I asked "nyoka gani?" -- what kind of snake? -- that I learned just what a hero I am!
Incidentally, I couldn't tell it was a cobra because it was so small (about a foot long) -- even so, the toxicity of the venom is the same regardless of the size or age.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Throughout These 40 Days, O Lord
If you are looking for some Lenten inspiration, you just might find it in a series of videos produced by Loyola Productions in a cooperative venture with Loyola Press and my home province, the Jesuits of the Upper Midwest (Chicago-Detroit).
40: The Series.
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