The Hills Are Alive...in Tanzania

Meghan McLaughlin's reflections on Thursday. 

Today was another amazing day in Tanzania. We began the day with a visit to the ELCT Women’s Center, which is an educational center for young women raising children, along with a kindergarten program. The purpose of the program is to invite young women living in villages to come to the center for seminars that are designed to empower women and their children. They provide training in specific trades that will help them support their families, as well as up-to-date information about health and wellness, finances, and other topics that will strengthen families. The greatest challenge they face is funding. They have in the past been able to support the women’s seminars two or three times a year by renting space and services for other organizations holding meetings or seminars, but because their space is quite out of date (ie, no computers, wifi, or private rooms are available), and they don’t have the funding required to update the space, they have found themselves unable to hold the seminars for women as they would like to. This program feels like an incredible resource for the future of Tanzania that, like so many other things, can’t be utilized because of lack of funding.

 

The kindergarten classroom was a real treat! The children were so excited to have visitors to their classroom, and had prepared a very special greeting for us in the form of songs, our first music of the day. The classroom looked like a very typical American preschool, with the exception of the Swahili on some of the posters on the walls—legos on the floor, hand-print paint projects on the wall, posters about colors, weather, and numbers—sound familiar? The only thing missing was outdoor playground equipment—they have not been able to secure funding for that.

 

On to the English Medium Primary Day and Boarding School sponsored by the ELCT! Again the students were really looking forward to visitors, and called out “welcome, visitors” and stood up as we entered the classroom. Once again, we were offered a song—Twinkle Twinkle Little Star—and we felt that our own performance of “Jesus Loves the Little Children” was our best yet! Students at the school come from many different villages, and many of the families live in poverty. Again, as with all the private schools, many children require sponsors to stay in school. Education is seen as such an important priority that parents support their children’s education at almost any cost, but with an unemployment rate that is staggering (about 20% of Tanzanians have regular full-time employment) it is no wonder that private education even at a cost of a little over $800 a year is seen as out of reach for many.

 

Our final stop of the day was several different college programs that share the same campus: a Bible College, Ruhija School of Music, and the Bukoba Lutheran Teachers College. It was interesting to learn that students qualify for either a diploma, allowing them to teach secondary school, or a certificate, allowing them to teach primary school. It is quite rare for a student who has the educational background for the diploma program to opt to teach primary school, because the need in secondary schools is so great. The Bible School prepares students to be Evangelists, trained assistants to pastors who can teach, minister, and preach but not provide sacraments. Evangelists are necessary because most pastors in Tanzania serve multiple congregations—some as many as 9 or 10—and they can’t possibly be at every congregation every week. It made us feel lucky to have both Jay and Ingrid with us at Holy Trinity!

 

By far, the highlight of our day was the Ruhija School of Music. The hills were not only alive, but shaking as we were entertained by drums, singing, and traditional Tanzanian dancing by the student and teachers, which we later learned were from several different tribal traditions. They even got some of us to dance! We felt very moved, filled, and renewed by our time with them. We were served a traditional meal of Bukoban bananas and beans, during which we were presented with hand-made shakers instruments to take home. What an incredible afternoon!

 

At the end of this, our second full day in Bukoba, we are very aware of the time, energy, and thought our hosts put into our visits. They have all gone out of their way to welcome us, providing special food and drink, entertainment, prayer, and an invitation to come again, soon! It seems like, as much as our experiences, resources, language, and culture many differ, there is a far stronger bond of faith and common humanity that unites us.