November 23, 2002

Dear friends,

Many greetings from Morogoro! It has been a long time since I sat down to write a travelogue. And I have the feeling this travelogue will be somewhat different than former ones. Why? Because, this time my travel took place not in exotic Tanzania but in the exotic USA. Visiting one’s home country after a two-year absence, many things appear unexpectedly strange. Such a visit sheds light on my life both here and there.

What struck me most forcefully when I visited in July and August was how organized America is. Everything is accounted for and in its place. The roads and houses are basically “where they should be,” the animals are where they belong, things connect. Procedures are clear...like how to buy something, how to order food, where to go for this or that. Everything seems regulated and designed to maximize efficiency. Even the inefficiencies and waste you sometimes see can be shown to be efficient.

As a result, people in the US expect a lot. They just expect the phones will work, safe water will gush out of the tap, electricity with keep the refrigerator humming along, the mall will open and close at 9, etc. This allows people to plan long strings of activities. “I’ll go there and see them, and then pop in and buy that, and then take the car in for service, and while it’s in I’ll stop in at the bank, have a cup of coffee, pick up the kids at school, and get home to start supper by 4:00.” Here people don’t plan long strings of activities. Each trip has one goal, and in announcing your intention you always conclude with “Mungu akipenda” “If God wishes.” Because here, there are so many things that can easily go awry...sickness, breakdowns and accidents, shops unexpectedly closed, roads washed out, a wedding or funeral, or when you finally get to the office they tell you, “the man with the key isn’t here today” or worse yet, go home and bring another document.

All this makes life in the States seem like a big network where everyone must be plugged in. The plugs are a car, a phone, a computer, and a credit card (with something to back it up). With these things you are connected. Without them you are really on the margins. You are dependent. And to get plugged in for just a short visit requires that somewhere, someone must rearrange himself. And then the organization, the expectations, the time table, the network itself are jeopardized.

These are some of the things I felt when I came back to the US as a visitor. And I learned that sitting here in my office in Morogoro I can imagine zipping here and there to see this one and that one, ringing up this old friend and that. But when you are disconnected, unplugged, the reality is quite different. So based on this year’s experience, next time (2004) I shall do things somehow differently. Exactly how, I am not sure. But there is plenty of time to mull it over. Those friends I saw I was happy to see; those I missed I was sad to have missed. I think it really is much easier for you all to come over here and visit me at your leisure than for me to try to see all of you back there. Welcome!

One final remark. There is so much talk about first world, third world, developing world, etc. And clearly, the differences in people’s lives, expectations and the standards of living are enormous. But what constantly amazes me is not that such alien worlds exist, but that they exist on one planet. The great mystery to me is not the differences but the fact that such inequities exist so close together. All this talk of “worlds” can give the false impression that the problems of developing nations are really somewhere else. That it would demand a great effort to go to such an alien world, and that when we arrived the contours of that world (its geographies and cultures) would be so very different that we could not make any meaningful intervention. But that is a myth–perhaps comforting but totally wrong. The truth is that we are one family, inhabiting one planet, whatever our differences might be, however far off the grid some other people might live.

Now, as promised, more about the birds of Africa. One of my very favorite is I think what they call in the States the egret. Perhaps they are the same as those in the US, perhaps not. I never lived closly enough to that species to take careful notice. They are a large (18" tall) , long legged, delicate, snow white bird with a long pointed warm-yellow colored beak. At sunrise and sunset you see them winging their way silently overhead either to the fields or back home again. And they never make a sound. During the day you see them following the livestock around in the pastures. They tell me that the action of the cows stirs up the insects. So when the cows are out the cafeteria is open! Occasionally in the hot part of the afternoon you can see them roosting silently in the trees. They look like so many white decorations amidst the dark green foliage.

What I like so much about them is their stately appearance. To me they are grace in motion. When the stand they are tall and still as sentinels. When they walk they move slowly and deliberately, planting one leg before moving the next. I would say they look like they are stalking, but fully erect, not crouching or slouching. When they fly they are so silent and smooth, their white feathers taking on the colors of the morning or evening sky. They also have a place in folk wisdom. They figure in a common saying. If someone is a hypocrite he is said to be like this bird. All white feathers on the outside, but the skin beneath is coal black. I don’t know if this is literally true, but it makes the point well.

As for my life here, I returned in early September. Our community regrouped by mid month for our annual 5-day retreat. This year it was led by Fr. Nestor, SDS from Venezuela. After a week of housekeeping meetings we began classes on Oct. 1 This semester I am teaching 3 courses. And that makes me happy.

This year our scholastic community numbers 23: 9 from Congo and the rest from here in Tanzania. In mid December we hope to be joined by 5 more newly professed Tanzanian confreres who will begin a year of pre-philosophical studies with me. Although we are now almost 30, I remain the only formator. Someone came to assist me, but after a few days he was needed urgently on one of our parishes so off he went. For me it is ok. But I think it is somewhat hard for the scholastics to be exposed to just one point of view. It also greatly limits the kinds of things we can do in formation here. For example, one formator can’t run two different houses, and I think it would be a great thing to set up a theology house off campus separate from the philosophers. Oh well!

My health remains strong. My weight is good, although I think I lost whatever I had gained while in the States. I have my annual trip to Rome coming up in late January for the SDS Historical Commission. I have added one extra week to visit friends in Belgium. Just for fun. And my spirits are good. I think the recent vacation was very helpful for me in readjusting myself. I now think of myself as living here for the duration, not just visiting short term. So now slowly things are going up on the walls of my office. It looks like I’ll be staying so long as I am needed. And I am satisfied.

There is not much more to share right now. I promise to have more exotic African tales next time. Till then sta y tuned, and remember me in your prayers, as I do you.

Love, Fr. Dan