Bucket Full of Surprises

Now we have come to the end...


There are so many things that I didn't have a chance to say. So many things that happened that I didn't tell you about. But none wants to read a whole book about these things right!


Our last day was spent with Fr. Josephat and Eve. We feel so at home at Eve's house and it was like coming home after a long journey. Father picked us from the Airport and we caught up with him and then when  straight to bed after eating. In the morning we went to Mass with Eve then after that we had a final meeting with Fr. Gregory and  the executive for his Elder Association. It was lovely to see him again and wearing his bright new Madonna House cross. We had a short but meaningful meeting. They presented us with the  cloth that there association members wear. They gave us a lot. I think I should make a shirt for Fr. David Linder. He would like the pattern and you only have to be 50 to be in the association so no one needs to feel old! 😊. I think elders from parishes in Canada and the US should get in contact with these folks. I think what they are doing could be really meaningful in our culture too. Father says they aren't a prayer and breakfast group. Not that there is anything wrong with those type of groups but they have a much broader vision then just that. They seem to have organized plans and goals to empower elders as well as being active in thier communities. I think the level of commitment can be pretty serious as they have constitutions and everything.

Then we went home and packed up all our stuff. We only took a little bit with us on our travels in Tanzania. Most we left at Eve's so we had some sorting to do. Then we went for a nice lunch with Eve. It was good just to relax before heading home. Fr josephat come to say goodbye to us and we gave them pysanki eggs. Father pulled us aside and put his hands on our shoulders and gave us such a heartfelt thank you for coming. He really felt that we are his friends now. Good thing as I think know he'll need lots of friends praying for him. This guy is so intense and he never rests and is always up to a million things. He always looks very alive and totally exhausted at the same time. So pray for him!  I am perhaps intense myself 😉....so I have sympathy for his plight.

Here is a plug for Eve's organization. It's called Seeds of Kindness.

WWW.SEEDSOFKINDNESS.OR.TZ


People can stay at her hostel for super affordable rates and great food.  Then she provides them with volunteer opportunities in the local area. They can work in schools or orphanages or clinics. They can also take time to go on tours or safari if they want. She can arrange all that. Her place is close to lots and it's super safe. Actually Tanzania is really safe in general. Eve says she can walk outside at night no problem. Now perhaps as a foreigner that wouldn't be smart. But just saying they don't have much crime...women generally pump gas and they stand outside by the pumps with huge wads of cash in thier hands instead of having a till.! U wouldnt see that here because theyd get robbed for sure. That's different if you go to Zanzibar or Dar es Salaam, the big cities and tourist capitals.


So all that to say...tell your friends about Eve. It's a great place to stay in Tanzania and you can see so much. You can just stay on a vacation too without volunteering.  And for all you Catholics out there Eve can hook you up with all the Sacraments. Daily mass, Adoration etc. Sometimes these things are hard on a holiday but Eve is super stoked to have Catholic guests. She says it's a good example for her kids to see people from all around the world who practice their faith.


Well not sure how to end this....


I must just thank God for his great Providence. He blessed Philo and I so much on every step of our journey. Our Lady kept us safe and I think had her hands in arranging many of our less expected meetings. We could have never expected things to go so well. It has just confirmed one of things I carry in my heart as the Lord sends me to and fro throughout my life. That is that PEOPLE ARE AMAZING. I know there is lots of evil in the world and I just listened to a podcast generally asserting that people are rotten and prone to evil. Well it's true in a way but when we fall into evil we somehow become even less human....that is to say that evil is not what we are meant for. Actually we florish and thrive when we are the amazingly good people we were created to be. So we can't be evil at our core or we'd be happy and content to be that way....and we aren't. 

We saw so many different ways of living and being and lots of variations even within the Church. Different joys and struggles. But wow, Christ shines in the eyes of our brothers and sisters wherever you are.

I must thank everyone for praying for us. I can't imagine the drama that might have ensued without you travelling with us so closely. I know our poor MH brothers and sisters have been  sick a lot during our journey too. But still you all went with us from your sick beds.  Thank you for your encouragement and enthusiasm about our trip. We certainly needed all the love and support you gave us. I'm pro adventure but definitely there was times I had to take a deep breathe and tell myself okay Meaghan you can do this....All for the Glory of God. But since you all were with us I had the courage to do what was being asked of me in those moments.

Last but not least....Thanks to Philo! Philo is a champion.  I'm so thankful that she was chosen to come on this trip. I was amazed at her adaptability and humility. She is a wonderful sister. Many people were amazed that Philo and I didn't really know eachother that well before we went. She was kind and patient with me the whole time....and frankly I know my chillaxed ways don't exactly inspire patience in people. It was also a gift to witness the ways the Lord was blessing Philo on our trip. Praise God for his faithfulness.

Linda ....you must send people again before 30 years have passed! We have many more friends to meet!

And also in the next letter we should send your picture....everyone always wants to know what you look like haha! Linda is like Fr. Nova. Friend to all! And now we just made her some more friends but I'm sure she won't mind.


Oh I forgot to mentioned about the title of this post.

Eve used this expression when we asked if we'd see fr josephat that day. She says hard to say, he's a bucket of surprises. I thought YES....that expression describes many of our friends we met here. In fact it describes the whole adventure God had us on. It wasn't!  just another surprise up the sleeve but a big over flowing bucket of surprises.  Here is a picture my friend who is a sister in Tanzania just sent me. She is currently running a Holy Week youth retreat. They just put up this cross on the mountains close to her Parish.  It's a good image to express a bucket full of surprises.  The cross, young beautiful Tanzanians, a mountain and blue skies as we journey first through death and suffering then BAM...resurrection and NEW LIFE. See you there!

Never thought I'd see Rwanda and Uganda at the same time...

As our trip was coming to an end I found myself counting the days. At the beginning it seemed like there would be an infinite number of days to spend with our new friends. Then we had to say goodbye to our friends in India and I realized things could not go on forever. Since coming to Tanzania we have been moving around so much that it felt kind of the same, always new people and new places. But as I started getting emails about our departure flights...it became more of a reality that we would be going home soon.

In God’s providence we were to have maybe our most unexpected adventures with Fr. Nova and we were in such an isolated and beautiful part of the country that it just about took up all the space I had in my head and my heart. No time or space but to be anywhere but exactly where we were. This sort of situation is my jams! I feel peaceful in the unknown and the unexpected, nothing to be stressed about because you have no idea what will happen. That’s sort of always true of life, but for me this kind of moving around and meeting new people is certainly my joy. I am exceedingly curious and love to learn new things and this part of the trip was a bottomless pit of brand new and also perplexing experiences.

It probably goes without saying that as we drove further and further up into this diocese I saw many sites I have never seen before. That’s pretty much true everyday, but this was especially true here. This place is distant but it’s certainly not unpopulated. A few things to see are that the cattle here have enormous horns. We ask why and they say just because they do and that the horns have no purpose. Also sooo many Banana trees. Now everywhere we have gone since day 1 has Bananas but they don’t call this region the Banana capital for nothing! It’s also my first time eating raw coffee beans right from a tree. And well, the most amazing thing was the view. All day we drive high up steep hills and then down the other side into deep valleys. I wish the pictures could do it justice but they don’t. Our destination was Murongo and it lies deep in a valley and from the hills you can see Rwanda and Uganda. Both are less than 20km away. However there is a national park all along the border, mostly to protect the border and to be able to dissuade those arriving on foot from either of these countries. But during the Rwandan Genocide there were many many refugee camps in the towns father took us too. He says many of the Rwandans returned to there country but you still see quite a few around. You can see that the men all carry large sticks because culturally they were pastoralists, so even on their way to church when they are not with animals the men carry what looks like a walking stick.

Of course by the time we arrived at Murongo parish it was dark :). We cleaned up and reported to the main living room only to meet the parish priest and a group of parishioners who had assembled for dinner with us. Fr. Nova didn’t mention there would be guests for dinner haha. Fr. Valerian says the parish has a motto and that is, Guests are a Gift. Fr. Nova and Fr. Valerian have a young man living with them named Pius and it was his 18^th birthday so they were having a party for him. They invited some catechists, Pius’s mom and young sister along with the young ladies that work at the rectory. They have been sending Pius to school. He’s quite bright but never went to school and is just now completing grade 6. From what I understand the young ladies that work there along with Pius all come from difficult family situations and that is the reason they were chosen to come work at the parish. 

Someone had given the parish a bottle of sparkling wine at some point, maybe a foreigner I think. So they have kept it for some time because no one wanted to open it because of what they had seen in movies when they open champagne. I was nominated to open it! Thank goodness my family has trained me well in opening such things. Shout out to uncle Bunny! I said it was probably going to dent the ceiling and asked if that was okay. They said yes but I don’t think they believed me. I carefully scouted out all the ceiling lights and picked a good spot to aim. I told them if you don’t shake it, it wont spill everywhere but will still shoot out :). Anyhow it was a fun moment and Fr. Nova made a toast. They also made a cake, something which they did for our benefit as they don’t eat cake. They asked how they should eat it after everyone had a piece..I said I dunno just pick it up and shove it in your mouth..and they laughed and followed suit.

After the party, we gave Fr. Nova his gifts we had brought. He was particularly touched by the ciborium we gave him. He has been using a small metal container in his mass kit for the last 24 years and he was so thrilled to have a real ciborium that was small and portable to bring to the missions. The next morning at mass he brought the ciborium, pyx and holy oil container and blessed them all with all the congregation present. Because the priests travel so far on Sundays the parish mass is quite early. When we arrived for Mass a little before 6am the church was already super packed and it was still dark outside. Definitely some of these people have walked for over and hour in the dark to get here. They are a pretty new parish and are building a church basically over top of the existing church which was an out station. It’s pretty cool to see. We asked Fr. Valerian if they have a good choir, he said yeah they are trying but it’s just okay because they are a new parish. But from my Canadian perspective they are pretty fantastic. Choirs here are serious business and I think the standards are very very high.

At the end of mass Fr. Nova spoke to everyone about us and we introduced ourselves. Philo said some beautiful things to them and encouraged them. I often am not saying much in these situations, because well, I get all choked up so I try to keep it short :). There was something about this moment too. Like we had made it all the way to see our friend and his people and now we were together after many many years of knowing one another and praying for eachother. The mass was said for the soul of our Madonna House sister Linda Lambeth. Fr. Nova loves Linda Lambeth and he gets kinda choked up himself just speaking about her. She was the first person he knew at MH and she really took him on and he is forever grateful. He loves MH so much and well we love him too. It was a culmination of sorts for our trip. It’s hard for me to really describe this experience of mass in this place and the sun rising during mass. 

We had a picture with everyone after mass.

But the day quickly is speeding on! We have another mass to get to. Usually Fr. Nova has more than that but today there will be just one because we are with him and must travel on. We had a quick breakfast with two of the Catechists. Philo asked one why he is a Catechist. He said because his father was and his grandfather was and it is in his blood. The priests tell us they could not do their ministry without the help of the catechists. Philo says they are like John the Baptist because they prepare the way but Fr. Nova says no no they not only prepare they actually bring Christ to the people. Both are true I think! 

The second mass was at a secondary school for the students.who are boarders. Some could have gone home earlier in the week because they were finished exams but they stayed on because Fr Nova was coming with us. Their formator is a super excellent dude. Fr. Nova says he's one of the best YCS teacher formators. He asked us all sorts of pastoral questions about youth and faith culture in Canada. 

The school itself was not so awesome. It was in not so good condition and if I remember correctly I don't think the kids here do so well because they don't have the resources or people educated enough to teach them. All the same it was great to meet them and YCS executive. One of the students asked how he could become a missionary. Philo gave a great answer. She said you better start now by loving and serving your neighbors, your fellow students. And that you must fall deeply in love with Jesus.

Before we left Murongo we went to the young catechists house. He is married with 3 small kids and is a farmer. He is still building the house as time goes on. He was proud for us to meet his family. Maybe to us he seems super poor  he is doing okay for himself it seems. He is the only one of all his siblings to go to school and is obviously pretty bright because his English is super good and he wouldn't have learned that well in public school. He seems like and industrious guy. Also he sometimes walks 50 kms to out stations to teach catechism and pray with people. And this is a mountainous place!  Being a Catechist in Tanzania is no joke! 

It seemed like the end of the day but actually it was only time for lunch. We had lunch with Fathers cousin. She was quite the lady. She is a seamstress and trains other young women and also does catering. Soo yes Lunch was super yummy. She is also a single mother with two kids. Again Fr Nova is super proud of her. He said a few years ago because she was doing so well some people in town where jealous and they tried to acuse her of being Rwandan and not a lawful citizen. Father said he defended her and helped prove her citizenship.  Actually one of there grandparents was from Rwanda so that's how the rumors and accusations came about.

see check out these nice dresses! 

This is getting so long but maybe just to mention that in this diocese we met a few of these sisters called the Franciscan sisters of St Benadette. In Fathers town we met Sr.  Pensia and Sr.  Maria goretti.  Then we also went to their formation house briefly in another town. Sr. Maria goretti and Philo really hit it off. She's having her 60th anniversary this year. She was formed by the original sisters who came from Canada. Anyhow great ladies! Sr Pensia is only 26 and we told her she should listen hard to her elder sister LOL.

That night we stayed at a parish closer to Bukoba and Fr Novatus friend Fr David who you saw in the last post would come in the morning to drive us to the airport. Father asked him because he drives a lot faster. So actually Fr. Nova drives super slow haha. He drives a lot I think but mostly his motorbike so perhaps he's not so comfortable in the car? I dunno...

So this completes our adventure in the far West of Tanzania. We happily flew back to Moshi having avoided any trouble due to that Ebola like disease that was in Bukoba where the airport is. They scanned our temperature and off we went...

Fr Nova and ALL his friends!

We discovered very quickly that Fr. Novatus is friends with everyone. Like seriously, in every tiny village he is pulling over and talking to people on the side of the road. They are waving and he is honking. 

Then every priest he meets, he tells us ..they are my very very good friend. I think it's true he took us to see his friends mostly. ...but still....He is a friend to many. From visiting little old ladies to drunkard young men, they all know Fr. Nova. 

First main stop was Father's home town. Forgive me that I omit many of the smaller stops! We arrived in the afternoon and met the parish priest....who is actually very interested in raising animals and communal life. He has some younger men living at the parish compound now with him along with the assistant parish priest. Even though they are few priests they seem to always live in twos. They need two for a parish I think as they all have between 16 to 25 outstations. They could be 6 priests and still be busy.

Then we had the delight to have lunch at Father’s sisters house. Her name is Rufina and we were joined by his other sister Ravina. They look just like Fr. Novatus. He is very proud of his sisters. Especially his youngest sister Rufina, who is a single mother. He told us over and over again how well she is doing because she works so hard at the market selling things she buys in Uganda and that also she is great farmer.

 

I believe there is quite a bit of stigma about being a single mother here in Tanzania, whether that is because you were not married to begin with or because you left your husband. In fact Fr. Witness told us that it can be difficult for children to receive sacraments and baptism if the mother isn't married, and that the mother herself could face a long time separated from the Sacraments even after the child is born. He said that it is because the Bishops want to strongly maintain family values and the importance of marriage. Fr Novatus confirmed that this is sometimes the case, but that he always baptizes and babies brought to the church. He has much respect for women I think. He said that in difficulties in his life or when he was struggling it was his sisters and women cousins who were there for him.

 

Our lunch with the sisters and a catechist from the parish was lovely. Father hasn't seen them in a few months so they were all chatting away catching up. They were also discussing a difficult situation within their family that has to do with their family home which was given to the next oldest brother. Fr Nova is the oldest and although he is a priest and not so involved in all the temporal matters he obviously feels great responsibility for his sisters and family. We felt so trusted by Father because he told us all the details of what is going on in his family and he took us to see his parents graves along with his young brother.

 

On our visit to Rwambaizi we walked all over the village. We walked through his town several times as well as through all the paths off the main street which connect all the houses. We went from house to house saying hello to everyone. We also went to stations of the cross at the parish which Fr. Nova celebrated because both the priests where gone to outstations. People were quite friendly to us and didn't seem to make to much of a deal of us. Even though foreigners never go to these places people were not so nervous to welcome us right into their houses and sit with us. Of course it was obviously partly because we are the friends of Fr. Nova who is friend of all!

 

We got to see the computer building that Father is slowly constructing and the small shop in town that provides computer training and services. Fr. Nova is pretty dedicated to education I think. These things are his private initiatives. He is proud that he has many books, many of which are Madonna House books and that he reads every Saturday afternoon and also lends books to many priest friends. Now he sees how important it is for people to be able to know how to use a computer. Especially the young. In Rwambaizi as well as at his parish in Murongo these small computer shops house the only computers around and there is certainly no internet. People have access to internet through data on their phones if they have money and a smart phone but that's a pretty small number of people.

We had very good visits with the two priests in Fathers home town and we stayed with them at the parish house. They and the two priests we met at Mabila parish the next day for lunch were very curious about Madonna House. Under a previous bishop this area actually formed a community where lay people,families, religious and priests lived together in common. From what I gathered it was modelled on a similar community in Germany. The bishop was pretty dedicated to this idea of communal life inspired by the first Christians. After his time the community was disbanded and the community of the sisters is all that remains. There community name translates as Unlimited Love and they are the diocesan sisters and growing in number. Fr. Eric from Mabila actually grew up in this community and it inspired his priesthood. So in some ways they can kind of understand Madonna House because they compare it to this community. All the priests and even the bishop asks why we cannot open a Madonna House in their place. We tell them it isn't up to us! They'll have to ask our Directors and the bishop must invite us besides... :). Philo and I told them we aren't sure people would understand us (because we don't "Do" things like teach etc)but they respond that they would just have to get to know us and it would be fine..haha! Whether that is true or not who knows, but certainly we felt welcomed and loved in this diocese.

Before we left Rwambaizi we went to the school to meet the YCS group. It was a Saturday but they all walked to come see us! The elected executive greeted us and when we turned around the corner there was a few hundred students gathered in the yard. The teacher who is the formator for this school (a volunteer position as this is a public school) lead our meeting. We spoke to the students and they asked us questions. This school is one of the better public schools in this area. A lot depends on the teachers because all the schools are difficult to fund and teachers are paid very poorly, so many have second jobs. The kids at this school understood a little English, which is sometimes not the case in secondary schools even though their studies are in English. The teacher did translate our answers though which I was glad for. They assure us the kids can understand because they supposed to be able to but that just isn't the case. Maybe only the oldest students. 

Anyhow these kids were lovely! Even though public school is free, in many ways it isn't. Still often it's too far for kids to walk so they pay to board at the school or at a church hostel. They must pay for supplies and lunch food and uniforms even if they can walk. That's tough if your family doesn't have any cash income. Lots of the kids walk for hours everyday to get to school. And actually very few kids that go to a public school will pass the national exams and cannot go on to university. But I think they are doing well at trying to establish good education. It's only been since the 1960's that they had public primary schools for all children. They have difficult geography and tonnes and tonnes of kids to educate. It seems to me that it takes time to build up this sort of system. In fact most people are literate and unless they are super far from anything I think most people complete primary school. But what a challenge to educate enough teachers and to pay them enough that they can really dedicate themselves to teaching. We hear lots of complaints about the public system from people but I say good for you Tanzania, you're doing a  lot with the resources you have. Now that's not to say that the government couldn't put a little more money where their mouth is :). But Tanzanian's value education that is for sure! It's probably just not agreed upon about how to go about it...

I'm reading Sr. Chrispina's thesis on educating vulnerable children. I think the government should listen to her ideas! So far I think this woman knows what she is talking about. I probably wont get really into it until I get home but so far it's a really excellent read.

Bishops and African Tarmac Roads

This post is dedicated to Cardinal Rugambwa. The first African Cardinal and native of the places in this post. In some ways I think he was praying for us on our trip to his country. Some many things just worked out and fell into place. He invited us to the Bukoba diocese in the late 1950s after his 3 visits to Madonna House.

Well Cardinal....better late than never right?

This last leg of the trip we went to the Kayanga diocese but we had to fly to Bukoba and Father was to pick us up from there. Actually the Kayanga diocese is only 12 years old and was split from the diocese to it's east. However in Cardinal Rugambwa's time this huge region was all the diocese of Bukoba. 

When you land at the airport you fly right over the Cathedral where Cardinal Rugambwa is buried. It was our first stop immediately after leaving the airport.  Fr. Novatus met us and happily brought us to see the Cardinal's tomb. I must say that I was quite moved by the experience.  It left me a little speechless. It was something else to be in the home place of the man who had visited us so long ago.

I'm not sure what to say about the next 3 days that followed....

Fr. Novatus took us on such and adventure! He told me no worries he'll pick us up from Bukoba and then take us to Karagwe and it's only 100 km and there are good tarmac roads. This was true but he didn't happen to mention that this would only be the first stop; to see the Cathedral of the new diocese and meet the bishop. Actually we would make maybe 15 stops over the next 3 days and we wouldn't reach his parish until late Saturday (we arrived Thursday at noon). 

Upon our return to Moshi we were telling Fr Josephat about our adventures with Fr Novatus and he laughed. He said, I thought it might be like that, we joke here that people from Bukoba must show you everything. We certainly found this to be true! 

Father is involved with coordinating the Young Catholic Students and his diocese has 60 secondary schools. Public schools also have YCS groups as do the private Lutheran schools. He was determined to show us as many as possible as well as his hometown, many of his relatives, and probably about 9 parishes including the one where he is stationed. 

In fact we did all these things and stayed in a different place each night. It only involved driving 6 plus hours a day LOL. And the roads certainly were mostly not Tarmac from our first night onwards. As we were bumping along Father would exclaim in his jolly way, this is African Tarmac road and laugh.

After leaving the airport we only stopped at one parish, a Lutheran school and the diocese of Kayanga Cathedral before arriving at the bishops house. It was only a taste of what was to come and I'm sure I'll mix up all the details because it was a blur!

We had a very good meeting and supper with the bishop. It was late in the evening because he was actually away at his sisters funeral. He and Fr Castor, his secretary kindly welcomed us. They took great interest in MH and told us all about there new diocese. They are few priests and there bishop and some religious but they are proud that they have been given the task of being their own diocese. Father says to us often, Priests here are working very very hard, very very hard.

Interestingly, the bishop is very interested in herbs. He served us his special herb tea that has over 100 different ingredients.  He has quite the garden with tonnes of varieties of herbs and a laminated chart of herbs and their pictures on the wall in his dinning room! 

A young sister was also joining us that evening. She had just made vows in the a religious congratulations founded in India under the patronage of Mary Immaculate. She had come to greet her home bishop before being stationed in Sami,  which is not to far from Moshi.

After dinner we prayed night prayer with the Bishop and the diocesan sisters who live with him. Then Sleep....then our road trip adventure begins with Father Novatus. But first morning prayer and mass at 6 with the Bishop.

PS....these are the glass doors to the bishops dinning room. Super cool right? This diocese is super into the Sacred Heart.  I was delighted. And in case I forget to mention a lot of the missionaries that came here were from Canada. They had names like Gannon and Lyndsay. 😊. White Father from Quebec maybe?

Illegal Ferry Photos and Night Church Visits.

Here is a hopefully a quick post about our surprise visit with Fr. Witness. Father was in the middle of exams but was determined to not only meet us but to bring us to his place of study and show us around. We were thinking he would come around 4 in the afternoon but he was delayed as the ferry was full. He arrive after 6 to collect us for the journey to his college.

His medical college is in the diocese of Geita. You have to drive about 45 mins and then take a big ferry across lake Victoria and then drive another 45 mins. We are so glad Sr. Bene came because this turned into quite the adventure. We arrived at the ferry at sunset and actually only the driver can go in the car so we must get out and walk through the gates and get tickets and walk to the ferry. Again sister helped us navigate all this.

Apparently it is illegal to take photos inside the ferry gates and on the ferry. Probably because it's like government controlled area or something. So Sr. Bene advises us to go stand away from her. She says further! She says I'll pretend to look at my phone and take your picture.  Act natural LOL! We now have a bunch of acting natural photos from the ferry. They are beautiful but also funny.

It was a beautiful ferry ride. It reminds me of the Halifax ferry. It's not too much longer actually. But all the driving gave us a chance to have good chats with Father. We learned from him about how he became interested in MH. I thought it was more from Fr Novatus but actually similar to Fr.  Josephat he read our books in seminary. 

He wrote a book about Liturgy recently but has been sent to become a medical doctor by his bishop. Not because they want him to be a doctor but so that he may be an administrator in a Catholic medical institution. .likely a hospital. Otherwise often the diocese must hire someone who isn't necessarily familiar with the Catholic faith and teachings. His diocese is very young and they are just beginning to develop their churches and institutions.  More on that soon...

Father had great English so I took my chance to ask him more nuanced questions about the churah and culture.  We talked about the last three Pope's and there focuses and perceived reputations.  Father brought it up not me! I said he'll have to read Jeremiah s book. We also talked about what he sees as the Tanzanian bishops view and approach to passing on the faith. Also about how culture and faith intersect. He says there is a strong emphasis on preserving culture and tradition as a way of guarding against secularism.  He said his bishop talked about how the faith was given to them by the German missionaries and White Father's from Canada and they were great Evangelists. The bishop said we must also look at them now and the loss of faith in Europe and learn from them and avoid the same mistakes.

We arrived in his place in the dark but he was still excited to show us his school and the hospital and the new Cathedral they are building in that diocese. It's pretty awesome even in the dark. Again Sr. Bene and Philo are a great pair both following behind Father and I as we chat away even tho neither of them can see very much at that dark hour. You know me I can see great in the dark. But by now it's almost 10pm and we haven't eaten and actually have no idea where we will stay LOL.

We then learn we are staying at the Convent of St Charles where Father says mass every morning.  The sisters kindly waited up for us and we had dinner and went to sleep. But not before exchanging gifts and more talking. 

So this post has less picture because it was mostly dark! In the morning we had mass at 6 then breakfast. The we headed back to the ferry. We were eager to get back because we were to spend time with Sr. Chrispina and Sr. Bene wanted to see the workers. We were actually quite delayed...but that is a drama story in itself! 

Fr. Witness like Fr. Josephat would like to visit us someday soon. We pray Our Lady could take care of it. It's so wild that we are connected with these people in the far ends of Tanzania and they identify with our Spirit!

The rest of our time in Mwanza was quality time with the sisters. Again I love these ladies. They are pretty legit and totally themselves, kinda like how we at MH are so different from one another. Never a dull moment with them.

Unexpected Adventures in Mwanza

As mentioned in the previous post Sr. Chrispina entrusted us to Sr. Bene during the times when she was in meetings. So our first day in Mwanza Sr. Bene wants to take us on a little tour to see things.

First though we must stop at the Convent just outside Mwanza. We had planned to go to Mass in the morning but it rained so hard we could not go out and the power went out. So after breakfast Sr. Chrispina asks Sr. Bene when the car will come to take us.  Sr. Bene announced that she would be taking us on the Daladala and the Bajaji. Sr. Chrispina made a worried look but we assured her we were comfortable to travel on the local bus, especially with Sr. Bene. We were glad actually because having to go in the taxi I think it is quite the expense for the sisters. Plus I wanted to know what it's like to go in the Daladala bus. 

Sr.Bene does many things. She happens to be the superior of the convent under construction plus of all the sisters who live alone in this region. Also as Sr. Chrispina says...she handles all the money. I think she is also the secretary for women religious at some level above just diocesan.  Anyhow I can see why she is chosen for all these things. But the other sisters say she works too hard.

You should see her with the workers who are building the convent. She closely oversees every little step and her room is stacked with papers and building plans. I think the workers are not so skilled but she has no qualms about telling them to rip something apart and do it over. I think this happens most of the time actually. They are paid to complete the projects not by the hour so it takes time but in the end with Sr Bene it will be done well. 

God bless her though. If she is not there such as when she was with us, things go missing and also are done poorly. So everyday we have to go check in and there is something to correct. But she told half the workers not to come and only the more known ones so that nothing is stolen. What a job! But they listen to her without fighting as if she was there own mother. She certainly is not intiminated by these men or probably most people :)

They are building a small kingergarden too. It's mostly unfinished and they have no desks or books or anything yet but they have a chalk board. Sr Gisella is there teacher. She has about 40 kids. The sisters charge very little for the school and according to Sr. Bene the kids are learning more efficiently than the more expensive school accross the way. She is hoping to get the kids chairs and maybe some play things soon. For now Sr Gisella runs all around the yard with them.

Sr. Gisella is pretty chill. One night we were joking as we wandered behind Sr. Bene and Philo that those two are a good pair. They are charging ahead on the path in the night intensely talking as we giggle and follow LOL. 

On our adventure around the city we went in the Bajaji and sister took us what up in the hills to the Augustinian Monastery.  They have these large open rocks up there and they have saint statues on the tops and the way of the cross. Here is sister Bene looking her best. Kind of like St Therese don't you think?

Like Sr Chrispina, Sr Bene was good to ask questions about the church and family life in Tanzania. She is brutally honest about things. No beating around the bush with her. She shared with us some of the difficulties people face in married life. Particularly she spoke about unfaithfulness in marriages. Also about lack of self knowledge which leads to unchastity and well as she put it...how men can be so stupid and also how women can be too. LOL.  But what she told us rings true as humans are humans everywhere. But it was good to hear the particular ways this plays out in Tanzanian society. 

Then we had a very unexpected thing happen. Fr Witness who we know from the Kayanga diocese contacted us and says he wants to pick us in Mwanza because he is studying not far from there. We told hi
m he better talk to Sr Chrispina because she is hosting us and we don't want to take too much time away from her.  Anyhow it seemed it would work out but sister suggested that Sr. Bene go with us because it would be overnight. 

We were glad she came because it was quite the adventure....but more on that later. We have to board the plane.

Sister Gaurdians Tanzanian style

It's been a few days since I wrote but trust me we haven't just been sitting around in the sunshine!

We spent 4 days in Mwanza which is the city on the edge of the Lake Victoria. It's quite a sight as from the lake there rises these very impressive steep rock hills. We were greeted at the airport by Sr. Benedicta (Sr Bene). She is from our friend Sr.Chrispina's community. Immediately we proceeded to the market to buy fruit. Sr. Bene said sure come along so we followed her through the large market as she skillfully examined and bought items. We realized very quickly....this Sister is a strong lady and she knows her way in the world. I wouldn't want to bargain against her LOL.

Sr. Chrispina who visited us in Combermere in 2015 lives at St Augustine's University where she teaches because it's too far for her to travel back and forth from the Convent some 45 mins each day. However because we were visiting two of the three sisters, Sr Bene and Sr Gisella came to stay with us at the University too. Also their convent is very under construction so they opted for us to stay at the University. 

When we arrived at sisters house Sr Bene immediately set herself to cooking. Philo of course wanted to help and persevered in convincing Sr Bene to let her in the kitchen. Not an easy task. She showed Philo how she makes polenta.

Shortly after this our friend Sr Chrispina arrived. We were so delighted to meet her. She shared all about her love of the ladies at MH Windsor, especially Sandy Woods. The house really took her on when she studied in Canada. She said if not for them she may have gone home.  After being in Tanzania for only a short time, I can only imagine how hard it would be to come to Canada alone to study. I don't have to imagine to much because sister explained some of the challanges.

Sr. Chrispina a is a smart cookie and has many important positions in the Church and University.  But she is just a regular gal. It was so easy for us to be with her and her sisters. We didn't get to spend tonnes of time with her because there was an unexpected meeting with Chancellor of the University visiting who is a bishop. So naturally she cannot excuse herself because her friends are visiting. But our time with her was very meaningful.  

We visited her office and she shared with us about her work with girls and women. She also has done a lot of work in education. She is currently teaching a Masters class for Administrators and Principals in management and oversight in quality of education. Actually we have learned a lot about the education system here in Tanzania. Education is a big focus but difficult to provide access for people. There are so many children and they are really spead out over difficult terrain. It's also hard to find good teachers who are educated themselves and even then the government isn't able to pay them properly.  So if you want to have proper education that usually means you'll have to pay for it. More on this later....back to Sr Chrispina!

Sister also told us lots about their community. The Evangelizing sisters of Mary. They were founded in Uganda.  Let me tell you these are some serious nuns. Their mission of working in pastoral work has often brought them into dangerous and difficult situations. While Tanzania is pretty safe Uganda and Kenya are not. From our observation their community lives simply and takes thier vows seriously. 

Sr. Chrispina shared with us that there can be the problem in Tanzania of women joining religious life just to be able to go to school and to have a job. I can totally see why young women would take that route. However in the log run its obviously problematic as the years go by and these women maybe loose focus and purpose in living their vows because their vocation  is not centred on Christ as their Beloved.  

Sister says she sees sometimes these women who are sent to study at her school and then away from thier communities they don't really live thier religious life. She is not shy to tell them so! She is a fierce Mama I think. She tells them they are causing scandal to the lay people. If she has a seminar with the sister students she calls them out. Also she has little tolerance for them doing poorly in thier studies. She says they have no responsibility besides study so how can a Nun be failing? The lay people at the school have families and sometimes children. Most people are also working hard to pay for their studies or help their family. She says their is no excuse. I think she is quite an example for these young women. She has worked very hard and studies under hard circumstances. Now she has a fancy position but she is totally given to the service of her community. I think maybe she would rather be more in community. Certainly she isn't a career climber. She is quite warry of the dangers of having money too. 

Wow. What a good woman! Our sister for sure! We pray she can visit us on her sabatical this coming year.

She welcomes us so warmly and took such good care of us. Like I said I think she is really a mother. The Church here is so young and for sure blessed to have a wise woman like her in its ranks. 

She gave me a copy of her doctorate thesis on education of vulnerable children. I can't wait to start reading it!

Again we were so sad to leave these sisters. For me it was like leaving Sr. Jasmine and Sr. Anitha all over again. I will write more about our adventures in Mwanza. There was many! But I think Sr. Chrispina gets her own post. 

Ugerwe Ugerwe

When I was planning our time in Tanzania I originally planned that we would depart on Sunday from Moshi. However Fr. Josephat made a strong case that we should stay one extra day. He said he really wanted to take us to the out stations he serves. Philo had told me she really hoped to see some of the out stations so when Father offered it seemed we should adjust our plans. When we are going to these churches in the towns they are huge and very full. On a Sunday they have 5 masses and they are all well attended like what we might see at Easter in our big churches. Actually since many of these churches were built some time ago they were built by missionaries from Europe. They had a lot of resources to build these churches and Praise God they did because they are well used. Still a big town has enough parishioners to build and maintain a large church. There are enough people with money to do so. However once you get outside of a town it becomes very difficult to construct a church or even have a priest there. The church collection may only amount to a few dollars. So our friend Fr. Josephat is hoping to make the town people aware of the situation for these outstations. He says in the past the people where not asked to give anything by the missionaries so it is sometimes a challenge to have people give to projects in their own diocese which are outside their own parish.

On our drive to the out station Father told us a little more of his story. He said his father was in the military so they moved around a lot. He lived in Tabora when he was little then moved to another region north of there then his family settled in Arusha when he was a little older. Now I don’t expect you all to know the different regions of the Tanzania but basically he lived in a more rural area that has a lot of open land when he was growing up. He loved being outdoors and spent a lot of time with Maasai children herding their animals. The Maasai are nomadic peoples and are found in many places in Tanzania. Father isn’t Maasai himself but I think because he was in a military family and his extended family was elsewhere he was more free and apt to make friends with these other kids. So he feels very at home with them and he knows the language. He didn’t even become acquainted with some of his Chaga relatives in this region until he was older and doesn’t know their language. He even happens to kind of look of Maasai. He is just studying in Moshi and is from the neighbourring diocese of Arusha and people from Moshi call him the Maasai priest because he looks like them and is from away.

Besides his fondness for the Maasai, he happens to have a heart for the missions. Most of the people in the outstations he serves are not Maasai. He just seems very heartbroken that they often go a long time without mass and they have little catechism. He said sometimes it is hard from him to celebrate mass in these big churches where people can go to daily mass at 3 different times knowing that some people will go months without mass. He was so glad when he was given the task of serving these outstations. His diocese is having him study accounting, which he is obedient to but we see he desires a little more of a simple life as a priest. When Eva was saying about how people comment on his “big future” in the church he said, No! I am a Ugerwe Ugerwe priest. That is the name of the place we visited.

Ugerwe Ugerwe has about 45 people in it. They are super isolated and in fact the bus the parishioners rented to come broke down on the way. It had double rear wheels and was suited to the rough conditions here…but not quite for the difficult roads Father took us on. He just speeds along in his SUV as he knows the roads well. Eva told us what it costs for one of the people from this village to come to town by hiring a motorbike. It’s a huge sum for them and quite impossible. We can cruise all around Moshi in the tricycle taxis which are nice for 10 times less than these villages would have to pay. It took us about an hour to drive there I think.

The village has a catechist and they have constructed a makeshift shelter un a tree for Father to say mass. They know him well now as he comes so often. When we arrived they seemed comfortable even with Philo and I which I think is because we were with him and he said we are his friends. Also Philo and I both had to go to the bathroom after the hot drive and drinking so much water :). So he asked Angelina one of the women to take us to the village. Off we go with Angelina and we meet her sister and she shows us her place too. Again even the people from Moshi parish seemed to keep their distance a little from these people so I think they were happy that we easily went with them without any fuss. The people from the parish were happy to come and meet them though. They did talk with them after mass and brought soap and a fair amount of food for them. But surely it is different than how we are with people. 

Something about this woman Angelina really moved me. I’m not sure I can really describe it well. It was the life she had in her eyes. I think sometimes you meet emptiness in the eyes of people in North America. This woman had life in her eyes, but also so much suffering. I’m sure I have no idea how hard her life is. She had three daughters and the oldest one died shortly after she married and the other two are still young. Because of language we couldn’t talk so much, but just the way she brought us to her place and did so with a sort of dignity about her. I was so struck by it. I asked a young man who came that knew English well to translate for me to her. I just wanted to say thank you. She probably thought I was crazy! I’m telling her how much hope she brings me because I see Christ alive in her. But it is true and I needed to say so! If this woman can have life within her then people at home can too. This emptiness that people carry is really not of God. Anyhow she said politely said thank you. I think even if she didn’t understand why some random foreigner is thanking her for bringing her hope when she is destitute and living in some forgotten place, she at least felt some sort of friendship with us. I wish we had a picture of her but Philo and I didn’t take many pictures there because it didn’t seem respectful to do so. 

All the kids in the village listened to Fr. Josephat with serious attention. There was lots of talking besides mass but they seemed content to listen. I sense they feel this man is “their priest”. He helps them out too. He pays for the sick sicks to get a ride to the hospital or today he told us he is helping a man take a long trip to see his children he hasn’t seen in 15 years. He wants them to know they are not forgotten. At the end of mass he straight up brings out the plans for the chapel he wants to build and asks the people from the Moshi parish to pledge money. He is bold this priest. It’s a really nice little chapel and maybe some could say, why do these people who live in tiny huts need such a building? But for him it is obvious that if anyone needs a nice building to worship in it’s them. They shouldn’t be given a lesser place because they are used to having nothing.  It will cost 20,000 USD to build and could also be used as a school too. Just like my Carmelite friends in the Philippines who are fixing their roof what gets you in construction these days is the metal sheeting for the roof! It’s so expensive and it doesn’t matter your economy or that labor is cheap..steel costs the same for us as them.  They can make their own bricks and stuff but some things you must buy. On Sunday they raised 3,000 roughly. 

Philo was saying to one of the littlest boys that he was chubby. Emmanuel was his name. Very chubby. So then the other boy copies Philo and now all the children are calling him Chubby Chubby and grabbing their cheeks. I told her she is a bad influence! When we arrived back to Eva’s it was already on into the afternoon. We were hungry so we convinced her to bring the children out with us and we got them ice cream and Philo and I heartily ate our lunch. We all went in the Bajaji (the tricycle taxi) and saw around Moshi town. Here is Philo racing Ethan to finish the lunch she shared with him. Philo of course cannot eat without sharing with others.

We all walked home together and stopped at Priska’s, who works at Eva’s place. We just sat around and visited. It was quite nice. I also asked Eva tonnes of questions on our long walk home while Philo was walking and playing Ethan. She has a way of adopting sons. Eva and I talked  just about differences in our counties and also about education and racism and how Africans are generally just so mystified by the questions in the west about sex and gender. They ask, is it really like what we read about? Can it actually be like that? 

In the evening we were joined at dinner by Fr. Josephat. He was tired from his busy Sunday. We watched some of the Madonna House song of love video with him and the kids with Eva. Fr. Josephat has asked us, how can I get that cross you have? He is very interested in visiting us, and perhaps when his studies are finished he might be able to come. He would very much like to bring the Madonna House Spirit more to Tanzania. For this reason he would like to come and see. He asked too, do those Poustinia’s I read about in the book still exist? He would like to build something like that here. Maybe I already told you that in the blog? I can’t remember LOL! Anyhow he has emphasised it again, as has Eva, but she would have to wait longer to come because her children are small. We will see what Our Lady has in store. She is the true hostess at the Training Centre in Combermere.