1ST PARENT - TEACHER MEETING!

Today, May 28, 2014, Rehema and I (as a team) had our first parent-teacher meeting. Rehema is quite experienced at these meetings since she's been with Shaloom, as the assistant teacher, for a number of years now. I was not sure how successful the meeting would be because I continue to struggle with the language, but we were blessed, and the meeting was a great success! I had prepared progress reports for each of the students, which would have been difficult enough in English, but given the fact that they needed to be written in Kiswahili, it was necessary to ask for help editing the reports. Thanks a million to Corine, one of our SMA Dutch lay missionaries, for always being available to help! She also helped edit the speech I prepared for the parents/caregivers. I provided each of the families with an envelope containing their child's school papers and art work completed since January, as well as a workbook to be used at home during our month long break in June. The meeting was scheduled to begin at 9am, but didn't start until 10:30 because everyone hadn't arrived until then. Actually, that's pretty normal for Tanzania, so it was expected. All of the students attended, as well as all but one of the caregivers!

Rehema

Mektilda-Shaloom Care staff member

 The following are photos of the students, accompanied by their parent or caregiver. The first is Justina, her little brother and her mother. Justina is the little sister of one of last year's students, Bernardo. She's pretty quiet and sweet, but every once in awhile she acts up in class, to the surprise of Rehema and I both! Next are Naomi and Thobiasi Isack, accompanied by their mother. I did a home visit to their home last week. I learned Naomi and Thobiasi are the youngest of eight children. Their main sources of income are selling eggs and chickens. Life is pretty rough for the Isack family.

Justina with her family

Naomi and Thobiasi with their mother

Next we have Omari and his aunt (mama mdogo in Kiswahili). I did a home visit to Omari's home the week before last. Omari lost his parents to Aids when he was an infant so he lives with his aunt and her two children. His aunt is expecting another child any time. They live in a one room shanty with very little to eat. When I visited them, it was the first time I wasn't served a meal, which is pretty rare here. I'm glad Omari's aunt didn't serve me a meal; I was spared the guilt I usually experience for eating food that could be eaten by the family. The next photo is of Magdelena, accompanied by her mother and sister. Magdelena is our newest student. I don't know too much about her yet because besides being the newest student, she doesn't attend very regularly. Maybe that will change now since her mother has visited the school.

Omari and his mama mdogo (with Mwaju in the background)

Magdelena with her family

Dolli and her grandmother are pictured next. Dolli has missed a lot of time at school due to health problems but she's a bright student so I think she'll do alright. At the end of our meeting, Dolli's grandmother said a long prayer of thanksgiving for Shaloom, the staff and the teachers. It was very thoughtful... Next is little Mwaju and her grandmother. We call her little Mwaju, or Mwaju mdogo, because we have two Mwaju's in the class. Little Mwaju was out all last week because she was hit by the swing in the play yard on Monday, the 19th, and her forehead was cut pretty bad. I was out that day for an SMA meeting so Rehema had to handle things on her own. She is very capable, though.

Dolli and her grandmother

Mwaju mdogo and her grandmother

Bonifas is pictured with his grandmother, too. Bonifas lost his mother last year to Aids so he just moved in with his grandmother at the beginning of this year. He's one of our more advanced students. We think he is 7 or 8. No one is sure. His grandmother is a volunteer at Shaloom Care House. She helps with the home visits for the families with Aids...Our next photo is of Jeremia and his mother. Jeremia is a sweet little boy but isn't real interested in learning. We're never too sure how old these children are but we're thinking Jeremia is closer to 4 than 6, if he's really 5. He seems to be catching on the last month so maybe he'll surprise us.

Bonifas and his grandmother

Jeremia with his mother

Peter and Mwaju Mkubwa (big) are pictured with Mwaju's mother and baby sister. Peter has been raised most of his life by Mwaju's mother, although we have met Peter's mother, too. We're not sure if the two children are even related. We don't know what the situation is at home for Peter but he sure seems to be a happy boy! He's one of our students who is infected with Aids. He goes for monthly treatments and doesn't show any signs of being sick... Aglipina is pictured next with her mother. One day, at the beginning of the school year, Aglipina and Justina remained after class, waiting for their mothers to pick them up, when we got hit with a thunderstorm! Aglipina just curled up in my lap and fell asleep as we waited for the storm to let up. It was nice to know she was that comfortable with me.

Peter and Mwaju with Mwaju's mother (baby on her back)

Aglipina with her mother

Last, but surely not least, are Shalon and Kasi. They are twins, although they say they're not. Their grandmother wasn't able to make it for the meeting but the kids came anyway. They began with Shaloom kindergarten last year, part way through the year, but they weren't ready yet to go on to Primary One in January so they are repeating the class. They are a little ahead of the other students, but not too much. Both of the kids have a lot of personality! I've heard that their grandmother has a distillery in the yard and brews beer for the family income. Sometimes during playtime, Shalo plays like he's "under the influence". It makes me sad to think about all that they must be exposed to. But they really seem to enjoy learning! Thank God!

Shalon and Kasiline

So now you've met our class. The only one missing is Buseleke, who lost his mother in April and hasn't attended school in the past couple of months. He's the second youngest of six children so we don't know what his poor father is going through right now. We hope, eventually, he will return to Shaloom.

Funeral of Phaustin

James, Krystina and Phaustin

Phaustin-Shaloom Care House tailor

The first photo above was taken just before Krystina returned to the U.S. in May 2013. The Shaloom Care House staff had a "going-away" party for her. There are only a few members on the staff at Shaloom, so we are all like "family". Phaustin, who is the shorter man on the right, was the tailor for Shaloom. He made the school uniforms each year for all of the children registered with Shaloom. He also made a skirt for me last Spring. I think he also made the dress which Krystina is wearing in this photo. If not, he certainly could have because he was a very talented tailor. On May 11, 2014, we lost Phaustin to an unknown illness. He had been at home or in the hospital since last October, trying to recover from whatever was troubling him. Because I was away at language school from August through December 2013, I only had a few months to get to know Phaustin, but in just that short time I could see that he was a kind, caring, good and happy person. I learned from others who knew him well that he had encouraged them, shared his faith commitment with them and was interested in the well-being of others. He was in the process of building a house in Mwanza,  and had planned to marry this year. I understand that he sacrificed a lot to build the house on a very small salary so that he and his new wife would have a place to live.

Phaustin's funeral was an experience I will not forget. Family and friends came from miles around and were a constant support system for the grieving, close family members. I have learned that most family members stay at the home of the deceased person for at least three days, and as long as five days, in some cases. Although this brings emotional support for the close family, it also brings an added financial burden to the family who provide food and drinks during this time. Food and drinks are even served to all who come for the funeral service. It is customary to give a donation to the family to help relieve this burden. 

There was a memorial service held at Phaustin's house in Mwanza first, where the catechist from his parish church led the mourners in prayer. Everyone was served a plate of rice and a cup of tea here and then all those in attendance took a half hour ferryboat ride to Sengerema, to the childhood home of Phaustin. Since Phaustin worked for Shaloom, which is a care facility under the diocese of Mwanza, two Land Cruisers, owned by the diocese, were provided to transport the body, and a few family and friends, from place to place as the memorial service progressed. Once we arrived at the family home, Phaustin's body was, again, placed in front of the house under a tent. Family and friends were given the opportunity to briefly pay their last respects to Phaustin. The coffin was only opened briefly, due to the fact that there are no services available in Tanzania to preserve the body. 

After about an hour we moved to the parish church for the funeral service. Most of us walked the long, rough path to the church, while Phaustin's body was transported again by car. Once we arrived at the church, the body was placed in front of the building for a period of prayer, and then brought inside for more prayers, readings and speeches. There was another brief period after the prayer service to view the body once more. It is customary for women to process past the coffin first, followed by the men.

 After the funeral service the coffin was transported to the cemetery. Final prayers were said at the grave site. The coffin was lowered into the ground with large branches and then covered with dirt. Everyone remained until the end. When we returned to the house, a meal of rice, beans, vegetables and bottled water was served to all. Many women had remained at the house to prepare the food. There were a number of huge kettles placed between stones, over wood burning fires, set all around the property. On this day I learned how to eat rice without eating utensils, which is very common here.

Good-bye Phaustin. May you Rest in Peace.