What Thanksgiving Means in Tanzania

                                                                                                              25 November 2014
Dear Family and Friends,
   I'm not sure if it's the weather (constantly low 80's) or the culture (nothing like America), but it is very hard to believe it is Thanksgiving this week back home. We have classes on Thursday since it is a normal day here, but in the evening we will be enjoying the company of many ELCA missionaries from the Arusha area along with "as-close-as-we-can-get" traditional Thanksgiving meal!
   We have had some fascinating and thought provoking experiences since the last blog--Tim and I spent one day with Bob Lange, a physicist who has developed a stove and a solar system that can be used by Maasai women in their mud huts with the thatched roofs.  Currently, the women burn wood inside their small, unventilated and unlit home. Between the heavy dark smoke and the lack of light (no windows or openings), the family often suffers from pulmonary illnesses as well as general discomfort from red, sore eyes.  After working alongside the women for 1 1/2 years to develop an efficient and affordable stove, Bob needed to convince the polygamous Maasai husband to purchase one for each of his wives.  The women loved them but the man was never interested, until Bob developed a way that the boma could be set up with a small solar system, providing light inside each hut, plus a light on each animal kraal, thus keeping the hyena away during the night.  The man was extremely eager to obtain the solar system, so Bob said the man could buy the solar system only after he purchased a stove for each wife.  Instantly, the man agreed!! So we were there the day the women were setting up their new brick stoves (and remodeling their roofs to accommodate their unique chimney--we watched as the women climbed up on their roofs and disassembled their thatch, cut the supporting wood frame of the roof and then later reconstructed it!).  We also watched as the women dug the trench to lay the line for the solar system to connect the houses and kraals.
   Probably more fascinating than even this experience, however, continues to be the discussions we have with our predominantly male class.  Recently when we were discussing psycho-social development in our Psychology class, I responded to a student's statement by commenting that polygamy is not allowed in the U.S.  They were shocked!  And they quickly asked, "Who will protect the women?"  (This seems to me to be an odd question since the women here do so much of the work and the money is controlled by the men yet somehow the women still survive--but the question of protection came up).  Then another student stated, "Don't they (people in US) realize that there are more women in the world than men so the only way for them all to be married is to allow polygamy?"
   The concept of a woman not needing to be married to have worth and value was just as shocking as the idea of outlawing polygamy!  So this conversation was almost heretical and more than they could digest.
   It is true, however, that women in this culture do need a husband to protect them--which means that they have validity thru him.  He represents her and gives her value as she produces children and works to help all subsist.  A woman's legal rights  come thru being married. This is technically changing but, in reality, a woman's rights are not recognized whether she's married or not. But to be unmarried is the greatest disgrace for a woman here --just above being married without having children---the is definitely the bottom of he barrel.
  Yesterday I had a small incident in which I arrived at our classroom only to find that it was already occupied by a Masters Degree class that didn't want to vacate.  The head student from that class came to where my class was standing and approached the men not me the teacher!  My male students, since they were underclassmen, were shaking their heads yes--we would relocate.  I had previously gone to significant lengths to secure this room for the semester so I wanted to explain to the man that I had followed the procedure and wanted to continue having my class there.  As soon as I started to talk, our male students began apologizing to this male student!  (I couldn't believe it--the fact that I was truly the elder of all of them, in a culture where age is most respected, meant NOTHING ----because I am a woman.)  This is such a minor incident but, for me, it was sooooo telling of the underlying dynamic regarding the role/value/rights of a woman.
  They get that we are all children of God, but for many of them that does not equate with being equal.  Unfortunately, many women here have only known the lot of having little status--little worth so they pass that cultural belief onto their children--males and females.
   Yet, these very students truly want to learn.  They are very attentive and inquiring, but in so many ways we are speaking a foreign language to them--not just because it is English and not Kiswahili, but because the concepts and practices seem so absurd---it is a lot for them to take in.
   But there is hope. The men and the women truly do love God and they are genuinely caring about those they live in community with---and that even includes us.
   Every morning at Chapel, we hear their words of thanksgiving--that God has brought them safely through the night and has provided for them salvation.
   So, in fact, it is Thanksgiving here in Tanzania too--everyday---
 as I close with the words we and the students say each morning in worship:
   " Bwana, (Lord) open my lips and my mouth, so I will speak your praise.  Remind me that you have come for  me with your salvation. We praise you, Baba (Father) na Mwana (and Son) na Roho Mtakatifu (and Holy Spirit) like it was in beginning and is now and all day until forever and forever."
  Amen.
   May you have a blessed and beautiful Thanksgiving,
     Tim & Diane