I’m writing from Nairobi where I am for our annual retreat and meeting of the Maryknoll Frs/Brs. We come from South Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Egypt and Namibia. We share stories and support each other in prayer and conversations in our diverse life and works in Africa.

Many of us get here a few days early for medical appts, shopping, visiting, meetings and just exploring Nairobi. Today I went to Resurrection Gardens to explore possibilities for the Lake House of Prayer. Resurrection Gardens is a beautiful lush forested area in the Karen area of Nairobi. It combines much of the best of traditional Catholic art in a natural setting. There are beautiful mosaics depicting the life of Christ along with many places to sit and contemplate Scripture passages written on craved marble.

My favorite scene was a nice size wooded section without any art work, just nature. There were a few women there, one sitting under a tree in silence, another standing a gazing a God’s creation and another walking very slowly quietly saying the rosary. The entire place was impressive and yet I was touched by the interaction of nature and the African women in deep contemplation. I hope to recreate this scene on Lake Victoria.

I hope you are able to read this blog without any problems. Lately, we’ve been working on some difficulties with our website, hopefully they will be resolved soon as we have an IT professional working on it.

We continue to break rocks and plant trees as we take small steps in the development of the Lake House of Prayer. Two options lie before us, one to build the foundation of my new home with the funds I have (not enough to build the entire house) or two, to team up with the Bishop to purchase the adjoining house and plot. I would be able to move into the already built home to start a new life of prayer and service through the Lake House of Prayer.

I pray this New Year bring you many blessings in Christ.

Jesus loved everyone and yet he had a special place in his heart for the poor and abandoned. As his follower, I hope I have this special ‘prejudice’ for the forgotten. I usually give attention to how the poor I am in contact with view Christmas and New Year’s.

The liturgical celebrations of the Church are very important to them. The people come to sing their hearts out to praise the fact that God is amongst us to save us. The ‘forgotten’ of this society don’t get into Santa Claus or Christmas trees because they are outside this economic circle of privilege. But they can save up for a good meal with family and attend the midnight mass and again in the morning to celebrate God’s Coming.

As for New Year’s, they are so very grateful. Why? They survived. Many family and friends died during the year. For many it is like a war which you got through, barely. So there is a deep joy of thanksgiving that comes when facing the possibility of death and not dying. One lives another day in hopes of another day until the days pass to a year when one looks around and sees one is still around. This is an occasion for great joy.

We were fortunate to find a professional gardener whom we hired to plant bougainvillea plants along the total length of our wire fence. We want to bougainvillea to climb up the fence and cover it so it looks like wall of green inviting a sense of nature surrounding us. The bishop has 21 tree seedlings we want to plant next week as we begin the long process of transforming the land into a healing space of nature.

Mwanza is not a very attractive city, especially when away from the lake. It like many cities is full of concrete with no parks to speak of with trees going down at an astounding rate. Part of the vision for the House of Prayer is to recreate how people experience nature in the villages were many have come from in this mass migration to the urban jungle. So there is the attendant deep sense of alienation brought on by being separate from nature.

I hope we can make the area we have thick with trees, plants and vegetation on every kind so that nature itself will heal the tired and broken-hearted who come to visit us. Of course we cannot recreate Eden but we can do all we can to create an environment that elicits a healing distant memory in our collective consciousness that says, “Ah this is good, I’ve been here before”.

Last week I was invited to a celebration of the SMA Missioners (Society of Missions to Africa). This is the group who is allowing me to used the their small meeting hall to meet with people for Spiritual Direction and our weekly Christian Meditation Group. It was a wonderful celebration of diversity and community. There were men and women from Poland, Congo, Tanzania, Ireland, India, Holland, Nigeria, Bein, Slovakia and other countries I can’t remember now.
All members of one community in the Church.

I felt like this what the Church looks like at its best, a rich diversity in unity. Whether we human beings like it or not, the world is a very small place now and we need, must find ways to get along with each other. Following the Gospel of Jesus and the Kingdom of God is a wonderful way to live together. The SMA Missioners in Tanzania are a great example of how we can live in the small global village.

This year and next are critical years for the future of Tanzania. There is the election of the local government officials (yesterday), a nation wide referendum to accept or reject a new Constitution, and lastly the election of a new Parliament and President. If it seems like a lot, it probably is, especially the Constitution. Many are asking that the referendum be held after the presidential election.

Yesterday were the elections of the “Wenyekiti wa Mitaa” (Chair people of Streets). Mitaa means streets so roughly translated these elected people serve that population at the grass roots level. They are important officials because they interact with the local citizens on a daily basis.

There is much dissatisfaction with the ruling party CCM. CCM has ruled Tanzania since independence but a long series of scandals, incompetence and a lack of being with the people has put them in a situation where they could lose the elections for the first time in Tanzanian history. Preliminary results show the opposition part CHADEMA grabbing many local seats. As someone told me today, “tumechoka”. We are tired.

I’ve been getting my haircut at this one barber shop (that has once moved to another location) for almost 14 years now. In the beginning they were a father and son team. The father who cut my hair used to cut the hair of the British colonial rulers in Zanzibar. The father has died a few years ago but I continue to go to the son.

I ran into Ashan, the son barber on the road near his shop. I was to be his first customer. When we arrived at this shop I noticed he still hadn’t put up a sign and asked him why. He point to his skin and said, “When your skin is this color the government gives you a lot of taxes that it does not give to the local African with black skin.” Ashan’s family came to Tanzania many years ago from India to work as laborers on the railroad. Many are now shop owners and business people, some millionaires.

Ashan puts a white bed sheet around me to catch my hairs that looks like in hasn’t been washed since the colonial times. All his instruments for cutting hair also haven’t been clean for a long while. Ashan is not into having everything sparkling clean to impress his customers. But he is a good barber. He cuts as well or better than any barber I’ve ever been to in the States. So, I bear with the uncleanliness but when he takes the razor I watched him closely to make sure he puts in a new razor blade and throws away the old one. As I leave I wish him a Blessed Christmas even though he is a Hindu and give him a tip. Ashan smiles and thanks me and returns to cut the hair of a Chinese man. Ashan’s Global Barber Shop.

Me and Ernest (our foreman) at the site

That’s me at the site…

The site with new fence

You can see our storage shed and outdoor toilet

Sickness is very much a part of life here, especially for people with merger resources. I am amazed at the fortitude and patience people have in the face of chronic sickness. If you want to know what real life athletes of life look like, come here and see the gold meal winners of facing sickness without any safety net.

I’ve been fairly fortunate during my 25 years living in Tanzania. I’ve had my share of sickness but overall have been very healthy. Just lately I had malaria and ring worms(in the stomach). I hadn’t had malaria since 2009. Usually, many people who can’t afford to rest just take the medicine and continue on with struggling to survive. I like to rest when I take the medicine which takes 3 days to finish. It is a good time to slow down and be aware of one’s fragile nature. When one is stricken with malaria one is humbled and thankful for the gift of good health.