On Sunday October 26th, I made my second visit to the parish of Hombolo Mleche, or Mleche for short. This parish will always be special for me because it’s the first place where I was actually called by my name and though I have definitely been more than warmly welcomed at every DCT parish I’ve been to, the experience of being called by my own name has stayed with me. I’d seen Father Dan, the parish priest, several times since my first visit and I was looking forward to actually attending a service at his church. To be honest, I was really most looking forward to seeing the little girl I met in September who smiled at me the whole time I was there and made a special point of coming over to say goodbye to me before I left.
We don’t usually make trips outside of Dodoma to attend church services, so I was excited to go to Mleche to see something different. I was also excited to see the welcome that Buck Blanchard, from the Diocese of Virginia, would receive. Buck is part of our Friends in Colorado group that sponsors 201 Carpenter’s Kids in Mleche. This summer he and his friends in the group brought their families to visit and work on the new church building. Needless to say, he was greeted like a national hero! It was great. We arrived in the parish and were greeted by a huge crowd of Carpenter’s Kids, their guardians, Father Dan and so many other people. It was quite amazing. I was delighted because the same little girl that I was going to make a point of trying to find came right over to me as soon as I got out of the car and said hello. She took my hand and we walked to the church together, stopping so I could say hi to some of the other kids including the girls who had called my name and then tried to hide behind chairs the last time I was in Mleche. There were so many guardians who came up to me and said ‘Karibu tena, Eliza’ (Welcome again, Eliza) that it actually kind of felt like coming home in a way.
We finally made it to the church, and signed the ever present visitor’s book. David May, the rector of Grace Church in Kilmarnock, VA, and Buck were participating in the service so they got to sit up at the altar. The rest of us also sat at the front of the church, but off to the side. There were so many people who wanted to come into the church that the kids, who had initially been sitting in chairs, had to move to the floor and steps in front of the altar so there was room for everyone. There were about 800-850 people in the church and more outside watching through the windows. My little friend came over and sat on the floor right in front of me. At one point we all stood up to sing a hymn and she moved closer to me and took my hand. When we sat back down, she climbed onto my lap and stayed there for the rest of the service.
The actual service was great. David gave an excellent sermon which was translated into Swahili by Pastor Noah-Pastor Noah told me later that he really enjoyed the sermon and found it to be very powerful. Buck read several parts of the morning prayer service in Swahili and Emily (David’s wife) and Floyd and Sandy (parishioners at Grace Church) got to do all of the readings for the day in Swahili! Better them than me! At the end of the service, the group distributed sweaters, soap and petroleum jelly to all of the Carpenter’s Kids. They’d also purchased enough soap to give everyone else at the church soap as well. It was a sort of controlled chaos, but it was wonderful. I should clarify here and explain that while it is incredibly hot during the day here, the nights can be pretty cool-especially when you are sleeping on the dirt floor of a mud hut. The sweaters will definitely be put to good use! After we’d distributed sweaters, soap and petroleum jelly to everyone. We took a group picture of all the kids. Let me tell you, the 201 kids were an amazing sight to behold. Huge smiles all around.
Just before we were going to have lunch, one of the older girls in the program came up to me and handed me a small black plastic bag. Inside was a dried gourd with a design stamped into it. Thanks to Willy’s translation skills, I learned that she had stamped the design on the gourd herself and that she’d gone home right after the group photo had been taken to get the gourd because she wanted me to have it. She was so shy that she wouldn’t even look me in the eye when I shook her hand and said thank you, but afterwards she gave me a big smile and said ‘Karibu tena’ (welcome again).
Generally, when a group comes to visit we arrange for them to have lunch with the parish priest, committee, teachers and the Carpenter’s Kids. In this instance, Buck requested that we do family lunches, which is what he and his friends had done when they were here earlier this year. Instead of having a big group lunch, we broke up into smaller groups and had lunch in the homes of some of the Carpenter’s Kids. Buck, John (our Assistant Director) and I went with a parish committee member to the home of one of the older Carpenter’s Kids in the parish and had lunch with her, her mother and father and three younger siblings. Their home is typical of other homes in the village. It has reinforced mud walls and no furniture to speak of, with the exception of the 3 stools that Buck, John and I were given to sit on. The family sat on cloth bags that were laid out on the dirt floor. The mother of the house initially laid out a large plate of ugali and a bowl of sauce for us, but the parish committee member waived it away and proceeded to unpack an enormous lunch of rice, beef, chicken and vegetables, along with banana and orange wedges for dessert. We were also given a bottle of water and a soda to drink. The parish committee had obviously planned the meal well in advance. Part of me felt bad that the family’s contribution of ugali had been waived away, but I was happy that they were given generous shares of the food prepared for us and would have the ugali for later as well.
Through John’s able interpretation, we were able to ask lots of questions and engage in a real conversation with the family. We were so welcomed and just made to feel at home. I really don’t think that I can actually do the day justice. No matter how long I stay here in Tanzania, this is one of the experiences that will stay with me. We go to parishes almost every week and we meet the children that the program serves and we meet their guardians and it’s wonderful. But having the opportunity to spend time with a family in their home is an experience that defies description. We were invited into relationship with this family and offered a place at their table. This experience, along with simply being here in Tanzania, really gives a whole new meaning to the question posed in the Parable of the Good Samaritan, “Who is my neighbor?”
Despite the great joy of the day in Mleche, there is one thing that I wasn’t able to do. I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to my friend-the same one who made a point of saying goodbye to me at the end of my first visit! I tried to find her in the great crowd of people outside the church before we were taken to lunch, but I couldn’t. Before we left for the day, I showed her picture to one of the parish committee members and asked her to tell the little girl goodbye for me. I don’t know if she will or if she’ll say goodbye to the right child, but in the end, I guess that’s ok. I’ll get a chance to go back to Mleche and see her and all the kids there again.
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