villages, a baptism, Swahili... oh my!

I guess it’s my turn for the blog post… It’s been my turn and I’ve been intending to get to it for over a week. But, sadly for you, I’ve been occupied with other things as of late.  Today is the day, however, that you will get updates on our three village visits from last weekend, two from this past weekend, as well as a few comments on some in-between stuff. Here goes… 

Magole (March 4)

I think Magole was perhaps my favorite village visit (shhh. Don’t tell the others!). I’m so glad that Pastor Hafermann pulled us out of class for the day to accompany him. He was particularly anxious for us to meet the people in the village and also to hear the choirs. It didn’t take us too long to drive to the village, and the road was surprisingly good (I think I only hit my head once). The choir was rehearsing when we arrived but stopped when they heard The Beast (our beloved vehicle) pull up. They all ran out chanting “Babu! Babu!” (or for you English speakers, “Grandpa! Grandpa!”). It’s evident that he has been around for a while and holds a special place of honor here. By the time we had greeted the children, the elders had arrived, so we greeted them too. The ‘chief elder’ of the village even blessed our heads, which is still a somewhat strange experience for me. 

At this point we pulled up chairs, continued the greetings, and began to hear about the news and problems of the village. After a short while, Pastor Hafermann and Ema went to talk with one of the evangelists, Laura and I looked at one another nervously, wondering how to continue the conversation with this elder. However, he became determined to continue the conversation with us and wasn’t going to let a little language hesitation stand in his way! Although I still have a pretty limited vocabulary, I am able to understand a fair amount of Swahili, which enabled me to mostly understand and answer his questions. He asked me all sorts of things—the geography of the United States, the weather there versus in Tanzania, future plans, if there are cows or milk in the U.S., etc. He even asked me if white people practice circumcision! We compared shoe prices and he asked me the time (a test of my Swahili, I’m certain). He also told about one of his sons getting into a tussle with a crocodile and living to tell the tale! We later got to meet the boy (12-15 years old, I would say) and see his wounds and scars, which were pretty gory. This boy somehow had the peace of mind to punch out the crocodile’s eyes, which allowed him to get away. So, next time you’re in a fight with a crocodile, the proven method is to go for the eyes… 

As we sat talking, I was introduced to Lasoro, a Morani (AKA a Maasai warrior), with both legs amputated. Around 6 years ago, he discovered cancer and was dying. They amputated his legs three different times to stop the spread of the cancer. He was baptized essentially on his deathbed. But he pulled through and now the cancer is in remission. What’s more, he is married and has several children, one of whom was baptized the day we visted. His is a true “resurrection story,” which seems appropriate for a man whose name is the Swahili equivalent of Lazarus. 

We also met a young boy who has Down Syndrome. His physical and mental disabilities set him apart from the other Maasai kids his age. But it was neat to see that, rather than shun him for his differences, the whole village has stepped in to care for him. Children younger than he patiently led him around, the women all kept an eye out for him, and even the Morani seemed particularly gentle and friendly with this little boy. 

As we waited for the service to start, the conversation continued and one of the Morani even asked if I would teach him some English. Using the book he got from Pastor Hafermann to help him learn to read and write Swahili, I began to teach English. He flipped through the pages, pointing at various pictures on the pages. I would first read the word in Swahili and then say the word in English. At first it felt a little strange teaching these Maasai boys English, but they were eager students. I’m not sure if their enthusiasm came from actually wanting to learn or simply from a desire to learn from me. Soon, quite a crowd had gathered around us, mostly consisting of the other Morani and curious children. It was fun to hear them all try to imitate me in saying the English words with their Maasai accents. But, it was equally difficult for me to mimic the Maasai words.  Still, I think it was fun for everyone involved, and it made me smile to hear little Maasai children running after me later on saying “tree tree tree” or “person person.” 

Magole held many more stories and great experiences, but I think we’ll end with these for now. After all, everyone has a story, and there is only so much time for telling them. 

Laura and Ellen with some new friends at Magole

Kibangile (March 5)

The village visit on this day was one of the few villages that we’ve been to that is not Maasai. Kibangile is a Swahili village in the mountains, and to get there we drove in a completely different direction than we’ve gone before. We actually drove through part of the rainforest! The drive itself lasted around two hours, but it felt much shorter because I was so fascinated by looking out the window. When we stopped the car, we had yet to arrive in the village, so we had to walk a short way to the house of the evangelist. The setting of Kibangile was gorgeous—lots of fruit trees, paths winding along the mountain, lush vegetation. For our tea, we ate boiled bread fruit and plantains, which I’m sure were grown only steps from the house. 

The church at Kibangile is actually set on top of a hill (and was built there after a stream ran through the first church during the rainy season… but that’s another story). When it came time for the service, we walked down one hill and then up another, admiring all the interesting plants along the way (me), baking in the hot sun (Laura and me), and trying not to fall (also mostly me). As we waited for the congregation to arrive, Ema and Laura and I had a good time feeding the ant lions and watching the black and white colobus monkeys. I probably could have stood and watched those monkeys for an hour, they were that entertaining. They would swing fearlessly from branch to branch to branch, always landing gracefully. I think I saw five or six as I stood outside the church, and they must have been well-fed because they were very energetic. 

Although Kibangile is one of the older congregations in the area, they are struggling a little now—there were only 20 people in church, including us! But they were very enthusiastic and I think accurately fit the description of “small but mighty.” After the service, they auctioned off two giant bunches of bananas, as well as a bag of bread fruit, for offering money.  Afterwards, as we were waiting, we were approached by a woman wanting to sell us some gold shavings that she had mined from one of the nearby mountain rivers. Neither Laura nor I were really interested in buying gold dust, but it was pretty neat to see the tiny packet of shavings—it was so shiny! Evidently mining is pretty common in this area, and they tend to be pretty successful. When I think of mining, I think of my history books and of California. While I know these are very limited associations, it does start to explain why I was so surprised to look out the window as we drove and see people knee deep in a river, panning for gold. Like harvesting seaweed along the ocean on Zanzibar or working in a rice field in the flatlands, this seems like a very slow and tedious line of work!

Makature Shuleni (March 6)

Based on what I could understand, our village visit this day had two purposes: 1) to conduct the worship service and participate in the fundraiser auction to raise money for building the evangelist’s house, and 2) to check up on one widow of the village. 

This particular woman is a widow who has been more than able to take care of herself since the death of her husband. She has built a house, and keeps a herd of cattle which she is able to tend to herself. But a short time ago, some of her hired helpers ran off with the money they had made selling her cows at an auction, and now there are a number of villagers who are threatening her and trying to take away her cattle (AKA her livelihood and ability support herself). In a society as patriarchal as the Maasai, evidently this capable widow poses a threat. She has offered to take her herds and possessions and move to another village, but there is really nowhere she can go. Pastor Hafermann is doing what he can to ensure protection for Mama Ana, but this is tricky because although widows usually have respect in Maasai society, the people giving her problems are also respected. 

After checking in with this widow and her cattle, we went to have tea with the men. Pastor Hafermann had briefed us ahead of time on the lawsuits this village is enmeshed in. One of the elders of the village had spent some time in jail over a land dispute after an Arab man contested his claim to land that he had rightfully purchased. The Arab changed the border line, and, when the Maasai challenged this, told law enforcement that this Maasai man had threatened his life. So they went to court. The Maasai banded together to get enough money to hire a lawyer, but the Arab paid off the same lawyer to get the Maasai man put in jail, which he did. It’s really no wonder the Maasai tend to dislike the Swahili people—their very justice system seems so prejudiced against the Maasai. Even when they attempt to operate within rules of government (in this case, by actually buying the land and having documentation of it), they somehow still get the shaft (here, spending two years in jail and this man never getting his name cleared). 

Apart from these two particular situations, the visit followed our normal routine. We had tea, then the service, an auction following the service (chicken, goat, fabric, soap, etc.), extra prayers and blessings for people and households, then the meal, and off we went. 

Pastor Herb and some boys headed to church at Makature Shuleni

A sunset we saw driving home from our village visit... 
I wanted to share the beauty. 

Mlandizi (March 12)

The village congregation that we worshipped with this Saturday was made up of primarily widows and children. I saw only a few men—one an elderly man, one the evangelist, another a visitor, and only one in Morani attire. It turns out, however, that this young Morani is actually an “outsider” to the Maasai. He was an orphan from a Cushitic tribe that has been adopted into the Maasai and now looks after their cattle. I wasn’t very surprised to learn that he wasn’t actually Maasai because I thought he looked very different from than other young Maasai men I have met. I’m very curious about his story—his background, ancestry, future plans, etc.—though I will likely never hear it

I think the other notable thing about this village was the fighter ants! These ants, originally from Brazil, were introduced to African syso plantations to help control the snake population. But, as always seems to happen with introducing non-native species, it backfired. So now there are fighter ants everywhere! We sat and had tea in an area outside just swarming with them. They began crawling over our feet (which tickled and was slightly annoying), latching on as soon as we would make any sort of movement. If they felt threatened, they would bite—HARD! Then, when we tried to swat them away, if we accidentally crushed one, it would emit some sort of scent that brought his friends running. Thankfully we all drank our tea fairly quickly and moved out of the war zone. 

Maseyu (March 13)

Today was the baptismal day of Baby Herbert, the young son of the late evangelist and builder Luka.  Luka, who passed away last summer, was Pastor Hafermann’s right-hand man and had became like a son to him. Baby Herbert Luka was born in January, and is the namesake of two great men: Pastor Herbert Hafermann and his father, Luka. Today was a very special day for all involved, and we were happy to be included in the celebrations. We got to meet many members of the family and share a meal with family and close friends.  Even the location, Maseyu, held special significance because the church was built by Luka and was the very same church in which Luka married his wife.   

Baby Herbert and Babu

Misc. Other Updates

The weather continues to be very warm, as one might expect. The locals tell us that the rainy season ought to be upon us by now, but seems to be delayed this year. We’ll have to take their word for it. I know that I am looking forward to experiencing more Tanzanian rainstorms—the ones we’ve seen so far have been amazing!  The thunder literally shakes your entire body, and the lighting is phenomenal. Furthermore, after a rain shower here, everything gets so green!

We finished up our Swahili lessons last week and are reviewing materials this week. On Friday (we think) we will take our final exam--yikes! This leaves us with two weeks free to travel before we’re on our way back to the U.S. Yes, you read that correctly--only three weeks (plus a few days) left! 

Thank you to all who continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers. 

Wasalaam, 

Ellen