Saint John’s University’s soccer team sent their past soccer
jerseys to Africa with John and Fr. Nick. This week I was able to distribute
them to the boys on Hanga’s team and they were very excited. I met with the
head teacher at the seminary secondary school and he brought me to the
cafeteria where all the boys were eating. He and I made an announcement and
then I was able to hand the jerseys out. It’s safe to say that the Hanga
football club will be sporting Johnnie red and white this season. Johnnies go
global! J
I have friends who teach at the Nocagugu formation school
which is located out in the bush (about 8km from Hanga). I told them that I
would visit them this week and so on Thursday I walked over there and spent the
day with them and the school kids. It was fun and very peaceful. Hanga Abbey is
located near the village and so a lot of noise, music and vehicles can be heard
heading from Hanga into Songea. However, nothing can be heard from Nocagugu. It
was nice to visit them and I will try to do so each week. I enjoy walking out
there and when I get there they always make sure to serve some bread and tea
and show me around which is nice.
There is a pineapple farm that the kids run and so they
showed me to where it is. These farms are kind of funny looking. Pineapples
grow from the ground and so when fully grown it looks as if someone has just
placed a large amount of pineapples in a row. You are able to go to one and
just rip it from the ground and what you will have is exactly what you will
find in the store.
While at Nocagugu I witnessed some students being punished
for goofing off. The teacher instructed another student to hit the kids who
were goofing off in the head. It was not a full-on punch, but more of a solid
knock on the top of the head. The teachers looked to me and asked how teachers
punish kids in America. I told them that it is illegal for a teacher to strike
a student and that we just have detention (or something along those lines).
They were amazed. They could not believe teachers weren’t allowed to hit kids
and I told them that doing so can cause psychological harm and suggested better
forms of punishment. I doubt they will switch to a new form of punishment, but
at least it made them think about what they were doing.
Now that I have begun to help out Br. Germanus in the garden
I have been able to gather lots of fruits and fun foods to try. That is a big
bonus to helping out in the fields. Additionally, Br. Germanus tells me each
day “you do good work,” and proceeds to give me a large piece of cassava, sugar
cane or some other food. It is a very nice thing to do, but it’s funny because
a piece of sugar cane is quite big. It’s like carrying a really large stick of
bamboo around. So, I am not too big of a fan on keeping that in my room. Also,
I don’t feel like having hundreds of ants as roommates.
Instead, what I do is bring the food with me to Saint
Benedict’s secondary school. What happens next is what I call the “sugar cane
massacre”. Seriously, it’s hilarious to see. I hand over the large piece of
food (sugar cane in this example) and one hundred girls swarm and tear it apart
and begin to eat it. The sugar cane doesn’t stand a chance. It also benefits me
because I don’t need a large piece of food and so this helps me get rid of it
and they all love me for bringing food.
I have really enjoyed my time at the school and the kids
seem to like having me around. In addition to tutoring them in English and
playing Frisbee with them on days with sports time (that’s what they call it)
they have asked me to come and watch their debate on Friday’s.
 |
| The Debate |
Each Friday a class of girls debates a class of boys (two
separate schools) on a topic. I have begun to attend these because they are
fairly interesting and the girls want me to support them and secretly help them
win the debate if possible.
I am impressed that a debate every Friday is a part of their
curriculum and weekly schedule. This is the most structured educational
activity I have seen in Africa. The motion debated yesterday was an increase in
unemployment in Tanzania is due external factors. The boys argued for and the
girls were against this statement.
As you probably have thought, I picked an interesting first
debate to attend. With the debate topic focusing solely on foreigners coming to
Tanzania and taking jobs I quickly became the center of attention. The boys,
who were arguing in favor of this motion (saying the statement is true), spoke
on how Europeans, Chinese and Americans come and take their jobs. The girls,
arguing against the motion, made statements about the poor government, lack of
education and other internal factors.
It was hard to hear a lot of what was being said (high
school kids never stop talking) and their English as well as accents didn’t
help, but I felt that the girls made a better argument. The boys had some great
statements though they did not have any facts to back them. Without facts you
cannot win a debate (sorry Donald Trump). Additionally, the boys were garrulous
(ß
GRE word) when it came to making their points. I can’t be too hard on them,
though. I am sure I was the same when giving speeches in high school and
probably in college as well. This will be the demise of my presidential bid in
2020… hahaJ
#Kerber2020
I did not speak up, much to the dismay of the girls, but I
did not feel as if it was my place to interfere with their debate and learning.
However, if I had I would have made the point that most foreigners come for tourism
and volunteering. Tourism brings in money and creates jobs while volunteering
only brings aid to the country. Finally, the government asks for the Chinese
and other countries to help create infrastructure so even though it is an
external factor (the Chinese) that is working within the country it is the
internal factor (the government) that is causing it to be so.
I enjoyed watching the debate and my students were very
happy I was there and it is because of this that I will continue to attend. After
the debate some of the girls came to me and said “Sorry, Mr. Joseph. We should
have done a better job.” I laughed not because it was funny, but because they
thought they had to apologize to me. I told them that I thought they had done a
great job and that it did not matter who won or lost.
As for other work, in the carpentry shop I have been helping
out with creating inlay. An inlay is a little piece of decoration that adds to
the furniture. The symbol for the Hanga carpentry shop is a star and so I have
been busy sawing around and gluing a number of pieces together to create this.
I’m no protégé when it comes to woodworking, but I know more now than I did
when I first arrived and that is what really matters.
 |
| Be Jealous |
Br. Germanus, the guest master, has urged me into getting a
Tanzanian phone. I did not want one because it’s just another thing to worry
about, but he had an old phone that I could use and so I am borrowing that for
now. I bought a SIM card and some talk-time so I can communicate with him if I
need to. It’s a snazzy old-school Nokia phone. It’s something to be jealous
about, that’s for sure! I suppose it may come in handy when traveling next
month. Being able to check in will be good.
The past few days have been moto sana (very hot)! When I
say very hot I mean sweltering. Just going outside was like entering a steam
room. All this heat has brought some strong rainfall. The rain is clock-work. I
swear, I would put money down that it is going to rain between 4:20 and 4:30pm
this afternoon. Every day around that time the rain begins to fall. I don’t
mind because after all the heat it’s nice having rain. However, it’s amazing
how accurate and timely it is.
I feel as if that sums up the past few days fairly well. It
looks like it will be a rainy weekend here. It makes for good reading, though.
Saturday and Sundays are my days off from working (like most folk) and so I
spend my time reading, writing and relaxing while listening to my podcasts that
I have fallen in love with. Being able to hear about the American presidential
race and world news is fantastic and allows me to get a glimpse into what is
happening out there. As for reading, I am nearing completion on the book Lord of The Rings. If I finish all of my
books I may just have to read the Bible haha J
A big shout out to my sister Grace and her friend Kate
Sullivan! You two are the real Slim Shadys. Thanks for reading my blog and
keeping up with me and my time in Africa.
Thanks for reading!
No comments:
Post a Comment