Muslim Aggresions toward the Christians

Friday 24 May 2013
Muslim aggressions toward the Christians

Today I was given a tour of the two villages in the area, one village, Londo, just outside of the fenced convent compound and another, Tandali, 5 km upstream of the river.  The area has a population of ~25,000.  The only modern electricity provided by a hydroelectricity plant from a dam 12 km from the convent is available within the convent grounds and not in the village areas yet.  The construction of the hydro plant was only finished last December.  Before December 2012, the available electricity came from generators and were used by only those who could afford the expensive form of power.

Another nun, Sister Mechtilda (or Sister Mech) met me for breakfast this morning to give me a tour of the areas outside of the convent.  We first rode to the village primary school where all the children were outside in recess.  Upon riding our bicycles into the school yard I could hear the message of “Mzungu” being spread and within minutes all the young students were in a state of excitement and loud chatter with my arrival.  We were invited into the principal`s office for a brief introduction as the 6 teachers prepared the children for my introduction.  Outside, I could see the kids being organized by grade in long rows, which happened rapidly from previous practiced drills and visitors, as Sister Mech explained to the principal who I was and why I was there.

Stepping outside the office, the principal introduced me to all 442 students ranging in age from 6 to 14.  After the introduction, in unison, they all said GOOD AFTERNOON MR. ERIC, HOW ARE YOU? I responded, I am fine thank you and you?  FINE THANK YOU.  I then began a brief introduction of myself saying where I was from and that I was a student at a university in America.  Some photos were taken then the kids dispersed into the classes.

Afterwards I visited three classes spending about three minutes in each class.  After raising their hands, the students told me what classes they were taking including English, Kiswahili (the common language as there are about 120 different tribal languages in Tanzania) civics, mathematics, history, social studies, and science.  After spending time with the students, the teachers asked if I would like to see the river 100 meters behind the school.  The river was about 15 meters across and has a population of crocodiles.  The teachers explained to me once about 5 years ago a student had been killed by a crocodile.  During the rainy season, the river floods also flooding the school grounds.  The school is forced to close during floods which may last for a few weeks.

My tours for the day ended at the orphanage within the confines of the convent.  After meeting with the 30 children, I sat with the sister who manages the center.  The majority of the children`s mothers had died during childbirth from multiple causes, the main cause of death being not having proper health care in the villages where they live.  If health care is available, the families have very little or no money to pay for the care.  Often when the time for birthing is imminent, the general dispensary (health center) may be 6 km or more walk (or by tractor, bicycle, motorcycle on the very rough roads) away and they may die from the journey while giving birth in route.  If the mother dies in route to the dispensary, the father may continue in hopes of saving the child, although the child often dies.  Nearly everyone has no vehicles.  When the mother dies, the family may already have 6 or 10 or 17 children and can`t afford to care and raise another by a single father or other relatives who are already overburdened by the many children in the family.  The father then may give the new child to the orphanage until the child reaches age 6.  At this age the child goes back to the family; the father or grandparents or an aunt and uncle.  While the child is being raised at the orphanage, the family is required to pay TZS 30,000 (USD $18.75 per year) for necessary incidental expenses.  If the family can`t pay, they may pay through donations of clothes, chickens, cows, pigs.   Some families do not pay at all.  The families are required to make regular visitations to the orphanage so the child will get to know their relatives.  As the orphan reaches the age of 6 the child returns to the custody of relatives.

When the child reaches 6, the orphan is abruptly taken from the orphanage where proper meals have been provided and even modern electricity.  The sister explained when the children have to leave, they do not want to go leaving the modern comforts of the convent behind, but they must return to their families as the cut off age is 6 years old.

There were 22 girls and 8 boys and one child of 9 who remained there due to special circumstances of which I did not understand.  There is one set of twins and one set of triplets.  Since there are no engineering projects going on here at this time, Sister Senorina asked if I would like to volunteer with anything of my choosing, either at the dispensary, the orphanage, or the school.  I said I would like to start off with the orphanage which I will report tomorrow at 0900.

The main areas of the convent compound is surrounded by high thick concrete fences and secured gates with armed guards at the entrance.  The main religions of Tanzania are Muslim (one third) and Christianity (two thirds).  There have been several attacks, kidnappings, and other aggressive confrontations in Tanzania by the Muslims toward the Christians.  Just last month in another village, Arusha (the main city near Mount Kilimanjaro in the northern part of Tanzania), the Muslims bombed a convent killing several people and injuring over 60.  Before this occurred, the convent here in Mbingu had an armed guard at the entrance for only during the daytime, now the convent is guarded 24 hours per day.  From the tour today, Sister Mech explained now that the Muslims have seen me traveling in the village with a nun, the area may not be safe for me to be alone, traveling outside the compound, mainly at night.  She explained I could be kidnapped or hurt since the Muslims know I am associated with the Christians.  My night dreams were plagued by a Muslim attack my first night here.  I thankfully survived as I had hidden in a closet, not to be found.  During the dream, I remember waking to look out the windows of my room as I was hearing noises.  The outside remained peaceful and as I woke standing at the window, I realized my dream was caused by the sounds of the ceiling fan in the center of the room.