plowshares....

Over the past few days, I have been asked by quite a few friends "why are you going on this trip to Africa?" or have had friends say to me "that really cool, I've always wanted to go there, but never to work. It's called summer vacation for a reason." These comments always throw me a little bit- I am never completely sure how to respond. Of course, a few hours later, I have some brilliant statement but never right when I need it. So, maybe thinking about it and writing it down here will help me to formulate a succinct response- and will maybe help you all understand my odd mind a little bit more.

For me, it all comes down to the Bible. Now, please, don't misunderstand me- I am not some crazy Christian fanatic. I'm (almost) positive that if you know me, you know that is not who I am. But, its true- I do what I do because of the Bible. Now granted, I am fulfilling a second Bonner summer of service so I guess a nit picky person could say that I am going on this trip to fulfill a requirement for a scholarship program. But it is so much bigger than all of that. This is my life.

I have been a Religious Studies major (woot woot RS!) at Rhodes for three years now, and in all the time that I have spent studying Biblical texts and discussing theological ideas with professors and friends (at the smart people table....inside RS major joke), the only thing that I can really pull from all of that study is the absolute necessity of service to those in your community (however large you make your community). God doesn't advocate hoarding personal wealth or only looking out for you and yours but rather God gives the radical command to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly (Micah 6:8). God calls each and every person to be an ordinary radical so much so that "when you throw a banquet do not invite your friends...invite the poor" (Luke 14). Jesus didn't do all the stuff he did, perform all of the miracles that he did just for fun, just to impress people into believing in him (remember that in the desert Satan tempted Jesus to turn stones into bread. Jesus refused). No, Jesus did what he did to feed the people; his miracles had purpose. And so can ours. Yes, turning water into wine is difficult (though I am sure college students would love to figure out that trick) but we can help the two million plus people who are dying of thirst find water. That is a miracle. And if we do this, then maybe Jesus will whisper in our ears on judgment day, "when I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink" (Matthew 25). Also, there is no one type of person who can do this- that is what is so great about being an ordinary radical. Any (and all) ol' person can perform these miracles. We are all given skills and gifts, we just have to be mindful of how we use them. Instead of asking our graduates what are they going to do when they grow up, we need to be asking them who are they going to become.

So, I am going on this trip, "giving up my summer break" as some may say, to go out and be an ordinary radical. I see a need, I have certain gifts and I think I can perform some small miracles. I really can see no better use of my time than this- how else can I be more of what God intended Christians to be than by going out and building community with the world.

And maybe I am just a big dork who thinks too much but I want to live for the world- that is my purpose, for this trip and for my life.

So I thought learning another language was easy...

...until now.

Since part of what I will be doing this summer is teaching English to the children, I thought it would be a good idea to learn a little Swahili before I left. I didn't think it was going to that difficult to pick up a handful of phrases as I seem to be able to learn new languages with great ease. Well, lesson for today- Swahili is hard! :) I do have a few key phrases down-help, may I take a picture, hello, how are you and my name is Jen. A good start but a short conversation.

If I am lucky enough to get to see you or talk to you this week, quiz me! I might even know a few more phrases.


namaste

Hey Mzungu!

It takes a lot to get ready for a long trip! Above is a picture of me with all the cool things that have been bought for the trip! Yay! I have a great pack, a mosquito net, a cool new (and small!) video camera and a water purifying pen. Now that these things have been bought, it really feels like this trip is coming up, and soon! Now it is real (though I guess it should have felt real when I purchased the plane ticket).

But, even though I absolutely love all of the new things that have been bought for this trip (they are really cool), I can't help but have mixed feelings about the amount of money that is being spent. I am not completely sure how to understand the expenditures when the amount of money that I am spending on this trip is equivalent to a half-year to full year salary in the area of Tanzania I am going to. Is this the best way that my (and my parents) money can be spent? My parents and I have been really careful to purchase only the things that are really necessary for safety reasons (admittedly, the video camera and the pack were purchased as early birthday presents) so its not like I am going to REI and purchasing every little outdoor thing that has ever been made. I'm just very conflicted. I have been doing a lot of reading lately about Tanzania, poverty and responsible tourism and that has left me questioning/thinking about how I use the resources that have been given to me.

Any suggestions?

P.S- Below is a fun "action" shot. Just me being goofy.

Mambo mazuri hayana haraka...

...good things cannot be rushed.

That phrase certainly encapsulates my experience getting ready to leave for the summer. Though it took a long while to receive my summer placement, it finally came and seems absolutely perfect for me (see last post). The project for this past week was to purchase a plane ticket- sounds pretty simple right? Well, flying across the world is not nearly as simple (nor as cheap) as flying to another state. I thought I could spend an hour or so looking at different websites comparing prices and then purchase a ticket. Yea, not that simple.

First, my dad thought it was a good idea to call the people at IFRE to make sure I knew exactly what day to arrive in Dar es Salaam even though I was positive I knew when to get there. Turns out, I was wrong and dad was right (way to go, dad!). So, all of the flight research I did was out.

Then, for some reason, in the 24 hour period that I waited to get the ticket, the rest of the world (literally) decided to get a ticket to Tanzania, so availability had gone down and prices had gone up. Not a happy moment for me since I am traveling on such a tight budget. Seeing my frustration, my dad suggests that we look our credit card rewards program to see if we have enough points to get me to Tanzania. Turns out we do (I knew all of my credit card spending was a good thing)! South African Airlines (SAA) has a flight that goes from Ft. Lauderdale to Washington-Dulles to somewhere in Germany to Johannesburg, South Africa and, finally, to Dar es Salaam. A lot of stops I know, but I am willing to do almost anything for a free ticket. So, I make my dad call SAA (I hate making phone calls) to book the ticket only to find out that the free ticket deal works only from Dulles to Johannesburg; I would have to purchase my ticket from Ft. Lauderdale to Dulles and from Johannesburg to Dar es Salaam. So this was out of the picture.

I'm pretty sure by this point I was ready to just throw on my bathing suit and swim to Dar es Salaam ( I have to admit, I am a pretty strong swimmer...). So now, three days after I had originally intended to purchase the ticket, I was still ticket-less and rather frustrated. But by some miracle, the third night I was able to find a ticket that was only mildly out of my price range (thanks mom and dad for paying the difference!) On July 2nd, I fly British Airways from Miami to London and from London to Dar es Salaam, arriving on July 4th. I don't have to be there until July 6th, so I will spend two days sleeping and sightseeing.

Now that I have a ticket, I can get a visa (no, not the credit card) for Tanzania. Though I really wanted to get that sent to the embassy last week, everything was delayed because of the plane ticket so I will be sending it out on Monday or Tuesday. Keep your fingers crossed that the Tanzanian embassy accepts my application!

What have I learned from all of this? Mambo mazuri hayana haraka- good things cannot be rushed. The world works on its own time, not Jennifer time, so I just need to go with the flow and everything will happen when it happens. It's a good lesson for me.

Mpaka baadaye (until later), namaste.

Lay Down Your Heart

It has been a while, a long while. But, I have great news! I finally know where I am going to be living and what I am going to be doing this summer! And it could not have come soon enough because I'm really ready to go, antsy even. July 4th can't come soon enough.

So, here is the run down: first, I thought I would be living in Dar es Salaam, the economic capital of Tanzania. Nope. Then, I thought I was going to be living in Arusha, at the base of Kilimanjaro. Nope. Today I received my actual placement- Bagamoyo, one of the larger cities in the Pwani region of Tanzania. Bagamoyo, Swahili for "Lay down your heart," was once the capital of German East Africa and was one of the most important slave and ivory trading port in East Africa. Needless to say, this town is full of history.

Like the uncertainty surrounding what city I will be living with, my job for the summer was up in the air until now. I will be working for an orphanage, the African Child Care Center in Bagamoyo. The African Child Care Center serves 85 children, ages 2 to 7, many of whom have lost parents due to HIV/AIDS or poverty. The main goals of this orphanage are to offer an education to, a home and love for the orphans. I will be teaching English in the primary school, and organizing games and singing programs, well really all extra curricular activities, at the orphanage. Given my gifts and talents, this program seems absolutely perfect.

I know this is going to be hard, emotionally brutal even, but I can do it. I will lay down my heart for these kids, doing anything I can to brighten each moment. I know I will be of great service, but I think I will receive so much more than I give. No, I don't think it, I know it.

So a little off topic, but not completely- I have ended the last two posts, and will continue to end all posts, with namaste or "I honor the holy one in you." I challenge you in the next week or two to live out this namaste for children in East Africa through a program called Project Mosquito Nets. Every 30 seconds, a child dies from Malaria, a preventable disease. We can do something to stop that. Check out http://www.projectmosquitonet.org/ for a few ways in which you can see and honor the holy in each child.

I will write more soon but as always,

namaste.