"...You know Miss Jennifa is just trying to help us?!"

Saturday May 2, 2009

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is still celebrating the Resurrection of our Lord! Alleluia!
Today I experienced something very different….the funeral of a young girl. Last night when we got home, I went to spend some time with the girls and I noticed that Betty was gone. (There were only a few girls in the hostel since the last week in every month the girls all go home to visit their families. Some girls don’t have any so they stay.) Betty is from the village called SumaKunda. Last year the sisters had a young girl named Barbra who stayed in the hostel and she was also from Sumakunda. She finished her grade 12 year and graduated just on time since she had been sick the entire year. She had been in and out of the hospital and I don’t think they ever found out what she really was sick with. Many of the girls knew her well, since they all stay together in such close quarters. So when Barbra was sick the girls would go to visit her in the hospital. Apparently she got really sick a little while ago and we found out yesterday that she had gone to Dakar, Senegal to receive treatment and she died there. I think she was only 18 years old. Betty had gone to SumaKunda right away when she found out the news. Since the weather has been so hot and it’s very expensive to take a deceased body to the morgue, they buried her today (from what I know…1 day after she died). They brought her directly from Dakar this morning and had the funeral at 4:00 pm today. We were wondering when the funeral would be since many of the sisters wanted to go and many of the girls wanted to go because they all knew her so well. When we found out it was at 4:00pm today we all changed plans and got ready to go. I have been to one other funeral here (I’m not sure I mentioned that one.) and what I will say is that today’s and the previous one I’ve been to are very very different. The last one I went to was the funeral of an elderly lady. She was the sister of a priest in the diocese, so all the religious and priests went to the funeral mass and burial. But since she was an elderly person and had lived what she could of her life, it was a celebration realizing that she was on her way to heaven, hopefully. Since today was the funeral of a young girl, who had just started life, there was crying and weeping like I’ve never seen in real life before. When we arrived in Sumakunda, I remember passing a young woman who looked like she was completely lost and didn’t know what to do with herself. She was walking extremely fast and she had tears rolling down her face. We parked the truck right near the church and all of a sudden I saw this young woman as she pasted the church. She began to weep, and scream and run to a compound that we all assumed was the family’s compound. As she started many other women began to weep. I was walking toward the church with the sisters and I just couldn’t believe what I was witnessing. The death of someone young is very difficult to anyone, I’m sure but the outward expression of the women here in Africa is something that I would only have witnessed in a movie. We entered the church and it was packed inside as well as many people standing outside listening. Mass was beautiful and it was said by Father Gabisi. After mass ended, some of the men got up and carried the casket (which was probably the plainest casket I’ve ever seen) outside toward the graveyard. Everyone filed out of the church and we walked for a while in silence following the casket. I was trying to take everything in because, even though things are the same as a funeral at home, the environment and customs are VERY different. We passed the family’s compound and then started walking down a little road that led to a narrower road in a bush. We were walking through what looked to me like something we would recognize as a wheat field. There was a wooden fence that we followed along and at one point we had to walk one by one through the small path. We walked past and under a few cashew trees. Once we got to the spot where they were going to burry her we realized that she was the first person being buried there. Now, whether there is another graveyard somewhere else in the village or not is unknown to us but it was definitely the first time they had buried someone there. Father did the burial and just before he finished, a young girl began screaming and ran as fast as she could wailing all the way back to the compound. As she began to run, all the women except for a few of us all ran weeping behind her. Just as they put the casket down I saw people throw a bag of something on top of the casket and what I later found out was that it is custom to package up the deceased’s clothing and burry them with them because they believe that when they get where they are going, they want them to be able to cloth themselves. Obviously, that is a tribal custom that has slowly began to change with the rise of educated people. But many people still do it. As Catholics, we know that we wont ever need to be buried with anything since when we enter into the Glory of our Heavenly Father, we will be clothed anew! Since in Africa, you have many tribes who have slowly – with education- realized that many of the customs and believes are mere myths, when you attend things like this you see what each tribe’s customs are,like. We stayed until they were getting ready to cover the hole up. When we got back to the compound the sisters wanted to give their sympathies to the mother and father, so we had a gentleman take us in to the compound (which was lined with people sitting around the yard and house) and we greeted the family. The mother was in a room and she was lying on the floor. She was weeping and gently throwing herself around the floor. When she saw the sisters she got up and as she was still weeping the sisters all shook her hand and said something in the local language. I wasn’t sure if it was my place to say anything or to even greet her but she stuck her hand out to me and that was when I began to feel tears in my eyes. What would it be like to be a mother who loses her child? I can’t imagine. There were many people in the room with her as well as the room where the father was. The father was taking things much better than the mother and it was calm going into his room to greet him. We left eh compound but we all just kind of stood around being silent. That’s what everyone was doing. You can really see how hard the death of someone in the community is. It takes it’s toll on everyone in the village. I’m not sure what happened after since we left after that but I imagine that the family will mourn for many days. Sr. Catherine said that tomorrow they will kill a cow as a custom to the Mangiagos (one of the Gambian tribes, which this girl was). Customarily, the family will grieve for 1 year giving charity on the 10 days, 1 month, and one year after the death. Some tribes will wear black for the entire year to show that they are in mourning. In things like this, I really see how the customs and traditions of small villages are like. I remember having a teacher in high school whose husband died, and since she was a native she cut her hair as an offering. That was as much as I saw for customs growing up – other than a pow wow or sweat. But here, you can see what the tribes are like and the customs that they have, and it’s honestly incredible to witness. On the way home, it was pretty silent in the truck. I feel like I just watched a movie and jumped into the screen. These are experiences that I am grateful that I’m not just a passing by tourist, I feel like a part of the Gambian Community.
The past week has been very busy because we have been trying to prepare for what was supposed to be a big fundraiser event today. Anne Marie Rivier (our school) has been trying to raise money for our bus and some of the building for the school. Since the sisters have a bus and we carry many students, they try to make the fare for the bus cheap. Many of the families can’t afford to either pay transport or an expensive bus fare. But since the fare isn’t very expensive ( up to maybe 6 dallasis for the longest ride) it can be difficult to pay the driver and pay for any repairs that may happen. So the school committee came up with the idea of a fundraiser to raise money to have in case there is a need for money for the bus. So, they hired a local musician, “Jaliba” to play. For the past week, the committee and teachers have been working on trying to get things organized for today’s show. We were going to have it held at the Presentation nursery school. Many people were invited and had been talking about it all week. It was announced on the radio and on tv, and there was going to be ton of really good food to buy. It was supposed to be a great day. But a few days ago, the sisters heard that he was out of the country recording some music so they were trying to get ahold of him to see if he would be back in time for the fundraiser. But no one could get ahold of him until this morning, when everything was supposed to start. I was even frustrated, knowing that if you have a commitment and something else comes up, then you should just inform the people with a bit of notice. But he didn’t let anyone know and we were all worried for the past days since there was so much planning that went into all of it. So the show was cancelled. We’re looking at trying to get things rescheduled since the school needs the money.
I have recently been reading a book that a friend gave me called, “Mother Angelica: the story of a nun, her nerve, and a network of miracles”. The book is the life story of Mother Angelica, the sister who began the EWTN network for Catholic television and radio. If anyone has ever read it, they can relate to what I’m going to say because one thing you will find out is that Mother Angelica is absolutely hilarious. In everything she does, there is an element of surprise and laughter. Many times while I’m reading the book, I realize that I’m laughing out loud all alone in my classroom. I’m amazed at her faithfulness to the Lord and her story is really incredible. Now, I’m one for a surprise, so I won’t say much about the book if any one wants to read it but what I will say is that her faith in our Lord has given me a new outlook on what my vocation is, why I’m here and why it is important to give my entire being to the Lord. Even though many times, Mother is stuck in a rut and all things seem impossible, she knows that the Lord will always provide for her. That has really helped me being here since the past month I’ve said to myself over and over, “why am I really here? What good am I actually doing? What is my purpose in being here.” But, over and over I hear and see the Lord show me reasons why I am here and why he has called me (of all people) into this position. I’ve thought so many times, “ah…I’m definetly not cut out to be a teacher, and I’m not sure how I got these kids.” And one day, I felt the Lord say to me, “Jen, I’ve given each of these 12 students to you for a specific reason. Don’t worry…” There are times I feel like I’m not making a difference, but I’m glad that it’s that way because those are the times I say, “Ok Lord, you’re in control. You’ve given me this situation, now you work through me to get to these kids”( which are ALL muslim…by the way  ). Every time I read Mother Angelica’s book, it gives me a little bit of strength to go on, since that’s how the Lord worked in her life. The Lord just gave her enough to move forward but not to have the entire picture. So, all in all…I thought at this point of my jouney being here I would’ve thought I would’ve had all the answers as to why the Lord has called me here, but I can honestly say that I don’t yet have a clear picture of why. But then again, what is true faith when we know what the next step is? Please continue to pray for me.
The kids are definetly improving and I’m pleased with what they’ve learnt. I know that my kids are doing well because I will go to the other classes and realized that some of the kids are still behind because my kids can sound out letters and read small words. It’s exciting for me to see it and I know that even though they complain sometimes, they KNOW that I’m here to help them. Alieu said one day when I was giving a few students a talking to that hadn’t finished their homework, “you guys, why don’t you finish your homework? You know that Miss Jennifa is just trying to help us?!” It was so cute. There are a few students who are still struggling but they have come a long way and I’m glad that there are a few key students who really help the kids move up since they are very intelligent when they do their work. I am learning to love each one of these students in their own way and each of their personalities is very different and unique. Alieu has become my side kick and he loves to help out in class. He is one of the smartest kids in the class and what I love most is that he “gets” the non classroom related things, like what it means to be a good person or that you should respect others.
Yesterday was May 1st and every year the priests and religious have a gathering at the beach to just relax and have fun. I was excited to go since I had been invited and I now I know many of the religious and priests. I enjoy spending time with all of them. I got up at around 7:30am to see what everyone was doing and I ran into Sr. Odile outside in the African kitchen making meat pies. So I asked her if she needed any help and soon after there were Sr. Catherine, Sr. Odile, Sr. Josaphine and I helping to try to get everything done so we could leave in time for mass at 10:30am. We made our way there and we thought we were going to be late for mass but we arrived just as mass was starting. Mass was held under a little hut area on the beach. The Bishop said mass and many of the preists and religious came. After mass two of the postulants, Harriet and Elizabeth and I walked down the beach together. The postulants have been separated since February due to their assignments at different places in the country so I think it gave them a good opportunity to catch up and talk. I spend most of my time walking trying to catch these tiny little crabs that would stick their heads out of the sand. It’s so funny to see how fast they move. When we got back to where the party was held everyone had started playing board games, or card games and was eating food. I visited with a few people for a bit and then Sr. Josaphine asked me if I wanted to go for a swim. Both her and I love to swim so we knew at one point we’d have a partner to go with. So we went in and the waves were really big. We didn’t go far since we didn’t want anything dangerous to happen but we had a good time getting slapped in the face with huge waves. For the most part I spent the day just relaxing, spending time with friends, and I spent some time by myself too just sitting on the beach reading. Just before supper everyone was summon closer to the gathering area to play some games and honestly, everyone had many laughs and a good time. At one point Fr. Bruno started lining people up for the 100 meter dash and that’s when the real laughing started. Everyone was lined up according to how they fit into the category of height or ability and seriously, I think EVERYONE had their chance to run, whether they wanted to or not. I fit in with the postulants and young sisters. We ate supper with was pork and chicken yassa and everyone left to go home shortly afterwards. I think everyone had a great day. It was nice to just get out and relax.

Much Love, In Jesus and Mary,

Jen