KELEMENT'S BIRTHDAY

"Happy Birthday Kelement!"

Kelement, the son of our catechist, turned 3 years old on November 23rd. I knew that Kelement's mother would not be able to bake a birthday cake, since she doesn't have an oven, so I invited the family to my home for a small celebration. Due to my inability to communicate well, I didn't realize our party would include many of the neighbor children. All of the children came dressed in their Sunday best, only an hour and a half later than planned, which is pretty common here.

Kelement received a rubber soccer ball from Fr. Tony, and I gave him a small blue ball which lights up when it's bounced. We knew how much Kelement loved to play with balls. Unfortunately, he spent most of his time trying to keep the balls away from the girls. Since I hadn't planned any games for the children, we sang "Happy Birthday" and Kelement blew out his candle. We cut the cake and all of the children sat on the floor to eat. I'm glad that's the way they are accustomed to eating since I didn't have enough seating for all of our guests.

Kelement feeds his sister

 It's traditional here for the guest of honor to feed all of the guests a piece of cake, but Kelement only fed his sister. I don't think he liked the idea of feeding all of Ana's friends.

The family thanked me again and again for hosting the party. They said it was the first time their family had ever celebrated either of the children's birthdays in this way. It always brings me joy to see how much happiness such a small gesture can bring. Ana turns 7 in January so I'll be better prepared with a couple of games for her party.

Bye! See you again in January!

NEW S.M.A. CHURCH

The church at the present time

The middle of January 2014, work began on the new S.M.A. church located behind our S.M.A. compound in Bwiru. It will be called the Bresillac Multipurpose Center, in memory of our founder, Bishop Melchior de Marion Bresillac (1816-1859). The building will house our parish church and sacristy, as well as two classrooms, a few small offices, a storage room and two restrooms. The worship area will also be used for meetings, receptions, and so forth; with a seating capacity of approximately 1000. 

Breaking stones

Fr. Tony checks on the progress

Before the foundation could be dug, it was necessary to use dynamite to break up the large rocks which were scattered throughout the property. The rocks were then broken down into smaller pieces by hand...very tedious work! The smaller rocks were then used in the construction process. Because I know very little about building construction, I won't go into much detail. I will let the pictures do the talking. The foundation work began in early June.

Corine & Mara talk with Guido, the general contractor

Pouring the concrete floor

Women also help with carrying water and bags of cement

While the work on the building is being done, Mama Dani, the wife of the watchman for the property, and Mama Elina, prepare food for the workers. Mama Dani is over 8 months pregnant in the following photos, and she went into labor just two days later on Aug. 15th. This was due, in part, to the fact that little Dani, who was only 18 months at the time, fell into the well and almost drowned. Luckily, one of the workers saw it happen and pull him out.

The well used for making cement, that little Dani fell into

Mama Dani & Mama Elina preparing rice for the workers

Elina with her little sister, and Dani

Serving the workers

The sacristy

Building the classrooms and staircase which will lead to the offices upstairs

The worship area

Braces placed to support the floor of the upper level

Staircase

The floor of the 2nd level where the offices and restrooms will be built

Due to heavy rains, a rock fell & crushed part of the classroom wall

Building the upper wall of the worship area

Classrooms below & construction on the offices & restrooms above

The women assist

Fr. Hugh Lagan, Fr. Tony Gill & Marga visit the building site during our SMA Meeting in December

Men burn the stones to make them easier to break up before repairing the damaged wall.

Construction is at a stand still at this time as we try to raise funds to build the roof. Anyone interested in contributing can do so through the S.M.A. Lay Missionary house in Takoma Park, Maryland. Just make a note in the memo line of your check (payable to SMA Lay Missionaries) "Jean Dowell - building fund". The check can then be mailed to 256 Manor Circle, Takoma Park, MD 20912. We hope to begin using the facility by February or March, and hopefully we will be able to celebrate our Easter Mass in the new worship area! Thank you for your interest in our work.

END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR!

The school year for the primary, secondary and high school levels in Tanzania runs from mid January until the end of November or the first week of December. Shaloom kindergarten closed on Friday, November 28th. On Wednesday, the 26th, we had another parent/caregiver/teacher meeting. In spite of rain in the morning, all the caregivers and students attended our meeting. 

Boniface's sister, Mwaju Mdogo's bibi, Omari's mama mdogo & Aglipina's mama

Magi's mama & baby sister, & Dollie's mama mdogo with her little boy

Shalo & Casi's bibi, Jeremia's mama, Mwaju Mkubwa's mama & little sister, & Justina's mama & brother

Thobiasi & Naomi's father, and Rehema, the assistant teacher

Progress reports (thanks again to Corine for editing my Kiswahili) and the student's workbooks were distributed to the caregivers. They also received an envelope containing all of their child's school work for the second half of the year. Some of the caregivers registered children for next year's class. We already have five students registered! After discussions and refreshments, the children performed all of the songs they learned this year. Because our classroom rehearsals hadn't gone very well, I was afraid the children would have trouble with the songs, but they really surprised me...and their caregivers!

 

I've already had uniforms made for the 13 students who will be advancing to Primary One. The tailor (fundi mshonaji), who made the boys uniforms, sits outside a little shop, with his manual sewing machine, on the main road which runs through a village nearby my house. Many of the tailors work in these conditions. They don't seem at all distracted by the activity going on around them. This tailor was referred to me by a local woman, and I also had him do some work for me, so I was sure of the quality of his work. The girl's uniforms were sewn by one of the members of the Lulu Project (Corine's group). I wanted to give one of the girl's the opportunity to make some extra money. Corine asked the girls which one felt comfortable with the responsibility of sewing school uniforms. Violet made a sample for me to inspect. I was pleased with her work so I hired her to sew all of the girl's uniforms. The boys wear khaki shorts and white shirts, and the girls wear green skirts and white blouses.

Fundi Mshonaji

Violet-member of the Lulu Project

A couple of weeks ago, Rehema asked a shoe peddler to come to Shaloom and bring shoes for the students to try on. He came with a bag full of shoes and we managed to find shoes for all but three of the students. The peddler returned the next day with three more pair of shoes. It's nice that the children aren't at all fussy about the kind of shoes they receive. They're just happy to get a new pair of shoes! I picked up 13 pair of socks from the little shop across from Shaloom. Next on our list of things needed are school supplies. We already have the bags, compliments of our very generous supporters in New Jersey! All of the items will be distributed the week before the new school year begins...that way everything will be in good condition for the start of the new year.

 

VISITORS AT SHALOOM!

At the end of November, the staff and students at Shaloom welcomed a couple of international visitors...Fr. Daniel Lee, who is a South Korean diocesan priest, and Miro, who is an S.M.A. seminarian from Slovakia. Our visitors took part in every aspect of our day. They participated in our morning English class, and even tried to sing along with our English and Kiswahili songs. It was so much fun! When it was time for uji and hard boiled eggs, our guests helped peel the eggs! Fr. Daniel taught Rehema and I a trick for getting the shells off easier...using a teaspoon. Unfortunately, we don't have any teaspoons available but we'll keep that in mind for the future.

After our math lesson, the children went outdoors to play. Fr. Daniel and Miro are both tall so they were able to fix one of the swings, which has been broken for as long as I've been at Shaloom. Having two swings available, instead of just one, was a real blessing! 

The students also enjoy jumping rope. Fr. Daniel and Miro were happy to take the ends and give each of the children an opportunity to jump without the usual challenges, which inevitably take place when the children take the ends!

 At the end of the day, we like to give the children time to be creative. Fr. Daniel and Miro taught the students how to make interesting things with the wood scraps we have available. Miro also taught a few of the students some hand slapping games. It was wonderful to see how happy the children were! It's always nice to have some change from the daily routine, especially when the children get a little extra attention and love.

Fr. Daniel and Miro, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your visit, and especially your kindness. The children will never forget your visit! Your gift of patience will always serve you well while in mission! Karibuni tena Shaloom!!