Greetings from Dodoma! I need to apologize to you all for
taking so long to update my blog, it has been over three months but it’s better
late than never, eh? Luckily the reasons for delaying have been good; staying
busy at school, enjoying some travel opportunities, and feeling very alive and
full in my life here.
Speaking of greetings, I thought I would share with you a
little bit about the Tanzanian culture of greetings and how it is so important
to greet people well. Unless you are on a bike speeding through town, it’s
polite—almost expected—to greet people you see with as little as a smile or as
much as a long conversation checking on news of life. We volunteers laugh when
we translate the shorter greetings from Swahili to English; they literally mean
things like “news?” (what’s the news?) “things?” (how are things?) “well?” (are
you living well?) and “whole?” (are you whole?). More extensive greetings will
go into one’s health, work, and family; if it’s been a while since you’ve seen
someone, they’ll ask about where and why you’ve been “lost”. Before arriving I considered myself a fairly thorough
“greeter” but folks here blow me out of the water; as common as it is to greet
well it’s never a matter of course but rather a very intentional check-in with
you as a friend and companion in life. I appreciate that.
Likizo
Soon after my last post we began the mid-year break where the
school closes for the month of June and students (and us teachers!) enjoy a
well-earned break. I enjoyed this time to rest in Dodoma, see some friends
around town, and take a week to explore the neighboring country of Rwanda. The
other volunteers (Mary, Victoria, Becca) and I took a two-day bus journey to
arrive in the capital of Kigali. Rwanda is simply beautiful; rolling green
hills, lush forests, perennial rivers and clean lakes were a sight for sore
eyes coming from dry, deserty Dodoma. The country is also very well-developed,
clean and safe; we enjoyed feeling comfortable wherever we went. We met some
great people as we stayed at the Christus Spiritual Center including a young
Jesuit named Theo who was kind enough to join us for a day exploring the city.
Visiting the Genocide Memorial was certainly a moving experience as was hearing
Theo’s experiences and reflections of the country’s dark period of history.
From Kigali we bussed west to the coast of Lake Kivu where
the city of Kibuye is nestled in those lush hills that push right up to the
lake. Settling at the Home Saint Jean—recommended by my friend Paul—was a great
choice; we were able to swim in the clear lake, enjoy the view, and truly relax
far from our work at school. I took a solo kayak/hike trip for most of a day,
getting totally lost in nature and feeling free as a bird. Something about
having freedom to roam really puts me in my happy place.
After Kibuye we travelled south to Kamembe to visit
Claire--Paul’s sister who finished Peace Corps in Rwanda and stayed to work in
Kamembe—after she invited us to her home to see the area and enjoy her warm
hospitality. We swam in the lake, took a dip in a natural hot spring and even
took a quick hike in the Nyungwe rainforest. Although our time with Claire was
short we were very blessed with her insights about the country’s history and
culture as well as her warm welcome into her home.
Our trip in Rwanda ended with a short stop in Kigali and the
long bus ride home. It was 100% worth the long trip, Rwanda is breathtakingly
beautiful and I felt so refreshed coming back to school for the second
semester.
Shuleni
The second semester of school is very different from the
first at secondary schools in Tanzania. Teachers are expected to cover the
year’s syllabus in the first semester (which I worked hard to do) and use the
second semester to revise, review and test the students to reinforce the
material. I’ve been enjoying the freedom in my computer classes to revise with
fun activities and work on typing skills since the required syllabus is
covered. Recently my efforts to get textbooks has been rewarded; the students
now have a Tanzanian textbooks that cover the topics of the national syllabus
for Form One and Two very well. We’ll use the textbooks, previous exams, and
typing practice to prepare for the comprehensive exam at the end of the year.
My Ignatian Values class has been just as fruitful and fun
since the new semester started. We are learning more vocabulary and discussing
the values we prioritize according to our opinion, family, culture, etc. I look
forward to diving into a new unit where we’ll learn more about the life of
Saint Ignatius and connect the values of his life and ministry to ours.
Work outside of the classroom is just as blessed as it is inside; every day I am growing ever closer with my students and fellow teachers. The school really feels like a family and as the year goes on, we all get more and more comfortable being our true selves. Many students have opened up to me about problems and concerns, whether from home or from school, and they are just as open to listening to me about my experience as a volunteer teacher from the other side of the world. After school, on weekends, and even during breaks we have the chance to chat and enjoy activities like basketball, Scouts, volleyball and even slacklining!
German club continues to be my favorite hour in the week. We have been learning a lot each week; topics like greeting, numbers, months/days, time and adjectives are getting familiar as we review and improve our language skills. They even led their own session while I was on retreat; I’m really proud of these students and their inspiring zeal to learn a new language during their free time. It has been really cool to teach each other simultaneously; using English as medium, I try to help them learn German while they help me with my Swahili.
Before the semester break, the German club students organized, prepared, and filmed a video showing various scenes from around the school in German; we worked really hard and we are all proud to share with you our final product, enjoy!
Mafungo
At the end of August we Dodoma volunteers took a few days to
retreat with the volunteers of Dar es Salaam. We made our way to a spiritual
center near the coast of the Indian Ocean and enjoyed swimming and runs on the
beach between self-led sessions about our experience as volunteers, children of
God, community-mates, teachers, and guests in a foreign culture. These retreats
are a pivotal part of our JVC experience; three or four retreats a year keep us
grounded and able to keep a better perspective about who and where we are
Sherehe Nzuri
I just celebrated my birthday with some of the people I love
here in Dodoma. I have been visiting my host family regularly and on Friday
they welcomed me to the graduation of Debora, the oldest daughter, from grade
school. The celebration lasted from mid-day till evening, we ate cake and drank
sodas at the school after the ceremony and returned to their home to eat, relax
and enjoy the company of family, friends and neighbors. I stayed the night with
the family and made breakfast with mom in the morning before joining some of
the Jesuits to the Saturday meat market. We ordered freshly-slaughtered goat
and pork and shared beers to enjoy the day together. On the day of my birthday
I went to Mass, baked cake and bread, and welcomed my whole host family over
for a lovely get-together to celebrate not only my birthday but the beautiful
friendship, love, and welcome we all share. That celebration, along with chats
with Sara and my family, made my 24th birthday very blessed.
I want to finish by saying THANK YOU for reading my
reflections and sharing in part of my life in this special way; as much as I
would rather chat with each one of you personally, I think a blog is a great
way for me to reflect on my life and for you to catch up with what’s new here.
Please feel free to reach out to me any time through my email or Facebook. Be
well and God bless!
peace & love,
-Ryan-
rknotttza14@gmail.com
ps I hope you enjoy the video showing a bit of our high school, I hope to include pictures on my blog soon once I find a good way to upload them to blogspot
