Monday, March 25, 2019
Leaving: Final Thoughts
For the last two weeks of our time in Arusha, we didn’t see
much of Mama Kundayo. For many evenings
in the last 3 months, Janet and I enjoyed sitting out in the courtyard with her
and catching up on all the gossip. There
was the story about the Australian woman who was afraid to fly home; about the
young woman who ran away an hour before her wedding; and, about how the rats
ate the word of God. Occasionally Mama came to see us and we’d talk about our
food adventures and daily activities. Mama and all of her interpreters were
very interested in who we are and what we were doing, both here and in the US.
Recently, however, Mama wasn’t feeling well and she finally ended up in the
hospital with kidney stones. They were
pretty bad and they couldn’t do surgery so she had to get rid of them with time
and patience and suffering. We didn’t see her for awhile. We sent her flowers
and a card. Then, one day, we were allowed into the inner sanctum of her
personal courtyard and house for a visit. We talked about when she was able to
make it out to the big courtyard, we would celebrate with beer. She laughed. We laughed. And a few minutes after returning
home, Emmanuel came over with 4 beers for us to start celebrating early. We
continued to visit her every couple of days and afterwards, Emmanuel came with
4 beers for us to celebrate her recovery.
On Saturday—2 days before we
left—Emmanuel brought over an entire traditional Maasai Tanzanian African
meal—mbuzi (goat), ugali, tomato salad and a kind of okra vegetable dish….and 4 more
beers. (Yes, the beers are piling up
because neither of us are big beer guzzlers. John doesn’t drink at all.) Anyway,
the meal was pretty nice and John was super happy because goat and ugali are
his faves.
On Sunday, we went to church for the last time. Several
people I’d gotten to know said their goodbyes.
We went to lunch with Sharon and
Terry and another woman, Chantal who is visiting from France. The restaurant,
named Andrews, was one we (the Js and I) hadn’t been to before. Terry had been
there which turned out to be a good thing. After we were seated, the waiter
told us what was on the menu and expected us to order. Terry said that we
needed to see menus with prices. It seems that she had organized several days
of strategic planning meetings for the Albino Peacemakers at this restaurant
and the first day they charged about 3 times more than she was expecting—because
they hadn’t seen the price list. So, the waiter brought 1 menu for 5 of us and
Terry asked him to bring menus for all of us. With a pained expression on his
face, he did. He brought a second menu for us to see. Terry asked him in Swahili,
why he didn’t bring menus and he mumbled something about not having everything
on the menu so he didn’t want to have to explain. Terry told him we needed to
see the prices and then he understood.
This is an example of people here thinking that Wazungu are
all rich with unlimited funds. Understandably, they think that anyone who can
afford to go to Arusha and eat out at a restaurant and buy stuff must be
rich. There is so much poverty here that
it’s unimaginable for them to think that by our standards, we’re not wealthy.
After all, the average daily wage is $1.50. Beans and corn is a staple
food—when they can afford the charcoal to cook it. It appears to me that
everyone is trained from a young age to ask for something from Wazungu. Here
are some of my examples:
·
A middle school student on his way home from
school walked beside me and kept saying over and over that he was hungry. He
didn’t look hungry and he wasn’t dressed like he needed anything.
·
A woman stopped us in the street and asked us if
we would give her a job. She didn’t speak English and we couldn’t even figure
out what kind of job she wanted.
·
A man from church one week said he needed $1500
to plant his field in onions. The next week he said he needed a used computer.
Not!
·
When I asked the lady at the produce stand if I
could take her picture, she said I had to pay her. I didn’t go back to that
stand.
·
On the dala dala, the man didn’t give me change
until I asked for it.
·
An old woman downtown kept tapping my arm with
her open hand as she followed me down the street asking for money.
OK, it goes on and on and on. So what do I do? In my great
“benevolence” am I supposed to open my purse and empty my wallet? And if I
don’t, am I selfish, indifferent or heartless? It’s something I haven’t been
able to resolve. Personally, I believe in giving through “sweat equity” rather
than coin but that doesn’t help the common person on the street who has nothing.
I also believe that just giving money to people is not a dignified way of
helping. That feels like I am putting myself out as someone more than or
greater than they are and how does that help? Money is a very powerful force
that determines the course of one’s life.
So… I leave Arusha without having resolved this for myself.
I don’t want to leave my blog on that note. Tanzania and
Arusha are considered to be “Africa light” because it’s easier to live here
than in just about any other place in Africa. It’s the only former colony that
has not had a civil war after independence. People seem to get along here and are
very friendly. I could definitely return for another warm winter to experience
something completely different. There are so many choices. For now, though, I’m
ready to return home to see what choices I have there….and what adventures
await me.
I'm posting two slideshows here as a final final overview/wrap up of my Africa Adventures.
The first is called Around Arusha which is a variety of photos from Arusha. Many were taking from a moving vehicle and others were taken while I was walking or just out and about.
The second one shows photos of me in many situations and conditions. You can get a general idea of the variety of experiences that I had.
Until my next adventure…..
