To Kilosa and Back Again - All Systems Go. Part Two.

The men gathering with the Bishop.

Saying goodbye.

Good turn out for church despite everything.

Kids napping on the church floor.

Women gathering in church.

Our donated food.

Moving the food inside.

Like my previous blog said, we headed off to Kilosa today – the Massai village that has been having all the problems recently with rampant violence. It was an exciting day, to say the least. Our day started with breakfast with Mchungaji, like usual. He gave us a brief overview of what our day might look like and then he asked us to pull together some of our money (if we wanted to) so we could buy food for the people since most are in hiding and they cannot go out to get food. Between PH, Tim, Steve and I we pooled together 240,000 tsh – a little under $240 USD. We were able to buy maize meal (used to make uji [porridge] and ugali [a thick maize meal] – two staples in a Tanzanian diet), cooking oil, sugar, beans, rice, soap, and potatoes. The food literally poured over the small trunk of the car and into the backseat – trust me, I was sitting in the backseat with all of it. We drove to the village and it was extremely eerie – usually as we drive to the Massai villages (which tend to be located a ways off of the main road and accessible only by dirt ‘roads’) we see many Massai intermixed with the Waswahili people and then out and about in the Massai territory. But this time we drove and saw no Massai. The Waswahili people seemed to give us looks of disapproval – a big difference from the smiles and waves we get as we pass through their village on the way to see the Massai. Once we got into Massai territory things got even more eerie – we saw no one. Sheep and cattle were grazing with no Massai herders, very few people were outside of their homes, and it felt like a genuine ghost town. We got to the church and unloaded the food into the pastor’s house. Then we took a walk around. Virtually no one was outside. We walked out to the school where they had stored anything they could save and hide from the police, Waswahili, and thieves – several families lost everything they had. We were told that when people ran from the police, who had come to ‘find the culprits and bring them to justice,’ thieves followed, knowing that no one would be protecting their homes and belongings. They took chickens, floor mats, and anything they could find. Then we walked to the water tank – PH and Luka hit it and we only heard a hollow sound (talk about adding insult to injury). As we were walking, we saw a truck drive past on the road into town. Everyone stopped and stared – it even looked like a bad truck. The evangelists and pastor told us that it was a truck that the thieves had been using for the past three days to carry stolen goods out of the village. We asked PH why the Massai don’t just slash their tires or something and he responded with, “The Massai are usually a very gentle people.”
We headed back to the church to sit and talk with some men. Still, very few people had come out and those who did, did so very hesitantly. It was obvious that people were still frightened. While we talked to the men you could see their appreciation for our visit but at the same time there was an underlying feeling of sadness. Slowly more and more people (mostly women and children) came and went directly into the church. After we finished our talk with the men, we got ready for church. As we walked into the church it looked like a place of refuge – children were sleeping on the floor, women were talking amongst themselves, and there was a hint of relief. We held a usual service but it was kept short so no baptisms. We finished the service, said our goodbye, and got ready to head off. When we got back in the car PH told us that they wanted the service short so they could get back to safe places quickly but they had stayed around for awhile with us since it felt so good to be together in community for a happy reason.
I think that this visit had a special meaning for me since it is so much of what I want to do with my life – I want to be able to provide hope for people when they need it, I want to be able to be there when times are rocky and when times are good, I want to live in a place where I can help with daily problems but also work with problems that arise from injustice and violence – I want to be able to help mediate and provide hope and happiness when people need it most. This visit also reassured me of the hope and happiness that can be found in a community of faith. I was amazed at the visit today and I am certain that the sights and sounds will stick with me for an eternity. These types of things are my motivation and my hope – motivation to work for a world of peace and justice, and hope that such a world is possible.
Peace (of every kind, for everyone, in every corner of the world).