Sunday, March 29, 2009
I can’t believe it, I’ve been here for two and a half months and I have had three colds. Would anyone ever think that you would catch a cold in Africa? I sure didn’t. The first two times that I caught a cold weren’t bad but the one that I’ve been fighting the last week has been probably one of the worst colds I’ve ever had. I think because the change in seasons and the drastic change in temperature from day to evening it’s caught me off guard and I sometimes don’t think to put a sweater on until I’m already cold. I have even started to realize the change is temperature. When I first got here, since I was still new and the weather I had come from in Canada was very very cold, even the cold weather here didn’t seem so cold. But now, I really feel it. This week I spent most of my week in bed. I hadn’t been feeling very good from the week before and on last Sunday I had a fever and it just went downhill from there. I tried to fight through it but on Wednesday I woke up to get ready for mass and school and I felt like a truck had hit me. So I stayed home from school and honestly I slept the entire day. I got up for about an hour to have a little bit to eat but the rest of the day I spent in bed. As well as the majority of Thursday and Saturday. Honestly, I’m known for being able to sleep- whenever or where ever but I can say I’ve never slept that much, ever. I was so exhausted and my throat and chest hurt. But what I will say is that thank the Lord for fresh oranges, lemons, and papayas.
One thing I love about being here is that there are tons of fresh fruit to eat. Sr. Cecile had a bunch of oranges taken down from some of the trees so that I could make some orange juice as well as fresh lemonade to get enough vitamin C and since papayas are packed with vitamins she gave me a whole one to eat. I will say that today, since I’ve eaten so much fruit over the past few days my throat has felt so much better. I got up Friday, still not feeling well but I managed to get up and ready for mass and school. Thank the Lord that we only had half a day because I don’t think I would’ve made it through the entire day of classes. I spent the afternoon taking a bit of a nap and then I got up to walk to the church for 4:30. There was a gentleman who was travelling around the Gambia showing “The Passion of the Christ” to any parishes that wanted to watch before Easter. So some of the girls and I walked to the church and when we got to the hall there were only a few people. It was still light out and the man had set the hall up with a projector that was pointed toward a white sheet on the wall, so it was kind of difficult to watch. The reflection of the sun from the windows made it really hard to see the words at the bottom of the screen. There were old wooden benches that we all sat on and as the movie played there were more and more people that came to watch. We had to stop it half way through to go for Stations of the cross but after they resumed the movie. I had been thinking that I wished the movie would’ve been around because I enjoy watching it just before Easter so I’m glad that we had the opportunity to see it. Seeing our Lord Jesus go through his passion and death really makes it real to me. It’s one thing to read about it but it’s another thing to see it replayed before your eyes. I think the parts that really get me are the ones where you see Jesus with Mary and how they interact with one another. To know how human Mary and Jesus were and that she loved Him with an incredible motherly love. I can’t even imagine what it was like for her to see her son go through such a horrible experience. Can you imagine? It’s not like the Angel Gabriel came to Mary and said, “Hail Mary, Full of Grace. The Lord is with You now I’m going to tell you the whole story about what is going to happen to you if you agree to do the Lord’s will.” No…Angel Gabriel didn’t say that. Mary, when Gabriel appeared before her only said, “the Lord has found favor with your and in your womb you will conceive and bare a son that you shall call Jesus.” And based on little information, Mary - THROUGH FAITH- says, “Yes.” She wasn’t revealed the entire story about what would happen to Jesus, she went on faith knowing that the Lord would never abandon her. But what would our reaction be? Mine for sure would be….”Ok Lord, are you sure it’s supposed to happen this way? I thought you said you were going to give me a son, and now you’re going to take him away?” My reaction would be a doubtful one I’m sure. But that is why we can have such confidence in the Lord’s grace through Mary because even though she was human, the Lord worked through her to show us what perfect obedience looks like. She trusted the entire time and even when it must have been most difficult, she still trusted. I’m definitely glad that we got to watch it because it got me ready for Holy Week. After Stations of the Cross, I couldn’t stay for the rest of the movie since I had to go and stop at the super market and buy something for supper, but I went in to give Sr the keys to the truck and the place was packed! I couldn’t belelive it! And by then, it was getting dark so you could see the picture really well. I wished that I could’ve seen the rest, since it was a such a unique experience, sitting in this old church hall, watching a projector on the side of the wall. I’m sure everyone else was glad to watch it.
Yesterday, the sisters had their monthly retreat in Banjul and I was planning on going but I woke up still not feeling very well so I stayed home and slept for most of the day. I don’t know what it was, but a mix with the flu and over exhaustion seemed to me to be the root of it all. I sure haven’t been feeling good. I hope I will feel better this coming week.
Today, I woke up with full intentions of going out to the villages with Sr. Cecile and Sr. Suzanne, so I got ready and was having breakfast when they said that it might be better if I stayed home and took the morning easy. I thought it was probably a good idea since it seems to be a bit cooler in the mornings in the villages and I didn’t want to take any chances of getting sick again since I still am not over this one yet. Some days – expecially days where you are sick and have to stay in bed – all you can do it think and since I couldn’t really do much all I thought about was how I felt like I came all this way to help but it seems that I’m being helped more than doing the actual helping. So I am anxious to get better so I don’t feel so useless.
So I stayed and ate breakfast with the other sisters and got ready for mass. Since Sister Cecile and Sr. Suzanne take the truck to the villages we either go early enough to walk to church or else we take transport. Today I walked with John (who is one of the boys who comes to water the flowers on the weekends). I was also accompanied by Francis who I met up with half way to the church.
In the afternoon I was up for a walk so when everyone went for their siesta (afternoon nap) I ventured out not really having a destination but just walking. On my way toward the supermarket I met up with Omar, a friend that lives just a few minutes from our house. Over the past little while I’ve gotten to know Omar because I will see him walking home from his shop at the market and we will walk back home together since we don’t live far from one another. I’ve learnt a lot about him and it turns out that he has a brother who in the UK that still does some business in the Gambia. The house that Omar lives in is actually built buy Omar but it’s his brother’s place because he puts up the money for all the building. His brother sends the money and Omar does what he likes to the house. Today, when I met up with Omar, he invited me to his compound to see how the building was coming along. I can honestly say it is one of the nicest houses I’ve seen in the Gambia so far. The house is a pastel pink color and has a roof top that isn’t finished but has a great view of the Brikama highway. The floors inside are all tiled and what I like most about it, is that it’s clean! It seems that most of the houses or compounds that I have seen are so messy and they don’t really care to take good care of them but Omar does a great job at keeping the place clean. He has a HUGE mango tree in the middle of the yard and he’s planted some shrubs and flowers along the compound wall that will make really great shade when they grow taller. I didn’t stay long, but I was glad that I finally got to see the fruits of his hard work. One thing I like about Omar is that he seems to have a great work ethic, which is very different from how the rest of the men around here work. One thing I can say for sure is that the women in the Gambia work about 99% harder than the men around here, and I think it comes partly from their social culture and partly from their religious culture (since the country is almost entirely Muslim). But Omar owns his own little shoe shop in the market and in his spare time he builds his brother’s house. It’s really nice to see someone so hard working. After I left I went to see NdayFatou and Papis and I spent a good part of the afternoon with Nday. When I got the their little shop Nday invited me to their house so we went and just sat and talked playing with the kids. At one point she got up and said, “I have something for you.” She went to a tiny table that she had and took the plastic flowers that were in a basket and said. “here, I got these at the market for you.” I was shocked that she even wanted to get me something. At the same time I felt bad even agreeing that I would take them because it is clear that they don’t have much and the flowers add a little bit of color to the room. I said to her, “No, Nday…I can’t take those! You should keep them!” After I said it I wasn’t sure I should’ve, knowing that the hospitality of any Gambian is to give the little that they have and if you refuse they consider it somewhat of an insult. She didn’t really seem to say anything but she sat down and we kept talking. At one point she put her knees to her chest (since she was sitting on the floor) and said to me as she shook her head and started to cry, “Jennifer….you really like me, you really like me.” I didn’t know what she meant by it but as I sat there looking at her I realized that what she felt was honor that I would come and spend time with her and her family, knowing that not any Toobob would just stop in for a visit. I just enjoy spending time with her because we can just sit and talk and laugh at the funny things that Mancy and Babocar do. Usually Mancy is getting into some sort of trouble and Babocar is just running around doing his own thing. I stayed for a good part of the afternoon and then I came home. It was good to get out of the house for a bit to just walk because I haven’t been able to do much of that for the past week.
There have been a few people who have asked how they can help out and being here now for over three months, there are MANY things that I can see can use our help from Canada. I can definetly see how hard the life here is for many people since the development of the country is taking some time. Yes, here it seems to move fast but compared to how fast things happen in Canada to me it seems slow. I’m not sure if I mentioned, but at the school a few months ago they began to put up the new administration building, where there will be an office, kitchen, resource room, library, and computer room. I think from what I’ve heard the men are ahead of schedule but it’s so funny because I think out of all the time I’ve seen them working, I’ve only seen one machine and that was a cement mixer that still had to be cranked by hand. Other than that, everything is done by manual labor. It took two weeks to dig a bore hole for the septic tanks and I just kept thinking about how if it was in Canada, it would’ve been dug in a matter of hours. The men worked hard picking the ground with picks and shoveling the dirty until it was deep enough. Since the foundation has been done the walls (which are made of cement bricks) have been going up pretty fast. They say that the school should be done by the time school opens in September. I know that the sisters are one day hoping to have another two classroom buildings built as well as a high school and then I think they are hoping to have their convent on the property. Every time I call home and talk to my dad I always say, “Dad, you have to come here and see how they work! They do it all by hand!” I know that it is obviously a big undertaking to fund a whole building but there have been organizations who have donated the money for the previous buildings and since people are asking, I’m writing about what there is a need for. Honestly, being here and seeing the WONDERFUL things the sisters do, I can appreciate what the sisters do here. I know many of you don’t know what it’s like here but the education system in the Gambia is very, very poor. Many students will go through 12 grades of school and not know very much English or they won’t know the material that they should coming out of high school. But I can say that at the schools that the sisters run, well Anne Marie Rivier for sure, other community members or teachers from schools say how well the students who are only in grade 1, 2 or 3 can speak English. The sisters’ schools that are run are well known for giving a good education and like I said, the students come out speaking English better than any other school in Brikama. So I can assure you that any money donated for putting up part of the school buildings will be put to great use and honestly, it will help this country develop in a huge way because the young children are the future of the development of the country. If the children are not educated they cannot do much for this country and I see how unbelievably valuable one child’s education is.
Another thing, I have so many children come up to me on the street say, “please…will you sponsor me for school?” One thing I’m always amazed at is how the basic income for a family doesn’t cover the cost of living never mind trying to put your children through school. Many families have many many children (since many people are Muslim and have more than one wife) so they need assistance to put their children through school. We have many Muslim children who come to our school and as different as their values and the way they live are, I can assure you that they will come out of school having learnt MANY Christian principles without having realized it. So, school fees are another thing that if you would like to help, your money will be put to great use. For our school – Anne Marie Rivier – since it’s a private school, it is a bit more expensive but like I said, the education that a child comes out with is significantly higher than in other schools. For the whole year, it costs about $4,000 dallasis which converts to around $200. Nday Fatou approached me one day and asked how much it would be to send her oldest son to our school since she realized that he was learning nothing in the school that he is currently in. I have a hard time telling her how much it costs since I know that their family could never afford the cost of it. And it’s hard because I know how drastic their family’s life would change if they had one educated child. We are currently only up to grade 3 but next year the kids will move up to grade 4 so the classes will slowly move up to eventually all the way through high school.
As for another school, one of our teachers’ – Anna and her husband started a school in their home when their youngest son, Renautus was young. They originally started it by hiring a teacher for him to prepare him for nursery school and since some of the neighborhood kids that couldn’t afford school weren’t going to school, Anna and her husband invited them to attend for free. After the year was over and Renatus entered formal nursery school, Anna thought that it would still be good to give the kids who began learning the opportunity to continue with a bit of education so they kept the classes going. It has now grown into a nursery school and day care and they have a full time teacher as well as 2 part time teachers. Although the have started requiring fees but the fees are very low. Each nursery student pays 650 dallasis ($around $30 Canadian dollars) per year and a day care child would pay 4oo dallasis (around $20 Canadian dollars) per year. The full time teacher gets paid 1,000 dallasis ($50 Canadian dollars) per month. The other two part time teachers get paid 500 dallasis (about $25 Canadian dollars) per month. When she told me what the salaries were I couldn’t believe how little a good salary is around here. The school is located not far from our house in Brikama and it is called “Renatus International Preparatory Day Care and Nursery”. They named it after their son who they originally started having classes for. The school is open from September to July. Anna is just looking for some support, whether it’s a little bit or alot. Any little support can help because both her and her husband are teachers and I can assure you that teachers don’t make very much money. They also have three boys, so any little bit will help. She said that even if the teachers salaries could be paid for the year it would help out SO much. So I did the math and just for all three teachers salaries for the entire year would equal to around $1,100 Canadian dollars….for an entire year. I seriously still can’t believe that’s the amount. I don’t know how many students they have but when I look at the amount that a student pays for the entire year, it’s amazing to think of how little it actually is. And remember, the fact that a child is getting an education is must more important than the cost. An education for a child around here can completely change the entire family’s financial position. It’s really amazing to see first hand.
The church in Kembojeh where we have our youth group and we do weekly scripture studies has more than a leaky roof….half of the roof is off of the building. I can’t even imagine what it’s like during the rainy season. I guess when the rains come, so does the wind and last year half of the roof blew off so they have been stuck with sitting under only half of their church for mass. I can assure you that they don’t have a collection that would be big enough to accumulate enough money to repair it because they even have a hard time finding the money to buy a simple altar cloth (which would be around 75 dallasis – maybe). Since Kembojeh is a village, you have hard working families that don’t make much money. I would guess that an average Sunday collection might….MIGHT be between 10 – 20 dallasis (which is equivalent to 50 cents - 1 Canadian dollar.) I don’t think the roof would take much to repair, but like I said the congregation can’t really afford it.
I was talking with Sr. Cecile about the repairs and she was saying to me that if she had more time, she would spend it in the villages doing more for the Catholic churches in each community. I sympathize with her. It’s one thing to be a part of Brikama, Serrekunda, or Banjul because you can get almost anything you need. There is running water in most places and electricity. But in the villages, most people have it hard. Most families have to walk to the well or tap to get water for their use at home and some places don’t have electricity. The villages are very poor. It’s sad to see, but I will be honest…most days I enjoy spending my time there since there is a sense that life’s purpose is more than material things. One thing Sr. said was that if she could she would love to help the churches out and help them to have the initiative to work toward getting altar clothes, a crucifix, candle holders, a station of the cross, benches and hymn books if their church doesn’t have them. Doesn’t that sound SO small? I know…I think about our church in Duck Lake or some of the churches I;ve been to back home and think how small those things are. But to a church community here, to have mass hymn books or benches or a station of the cross is a prized possession. We really are blessed to have the things we have at home. Has the thought ever crossed your mind that you would ever be without a crucifix in your church? I hadn’t. But now I realize how important those things are to remind us of our faith and how I need to be grateful that we have them.
Anyway, this is just a list that I’ve made since there are many people reading and many people who are asking in what ways they can help. Please, don’t feel obligated to send money, but just pray about how you can maybe help. It may be through prayer, and it may be financially. Like I’ve said before, in the intelligent words of Mother Teresa, “All money is God’s money, it’s just how He chooses to give it to us, is the mystery.” If any of you are planning to give money just email me and I will let you know how to get it here. One thing about giving to somewhere you know someone is that the entire sum of the money gets to where it needs to and you know where your money is going.
I hope all is well and I will talk to all of you very soon!
Much Love,
In Jesus and Mary,
Jennifer
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