Story 1: Msikwao is a young girl, early high school age who is seen at a river breastfeeding a child. The boy who sees her tells his father who gathers the village elders to interview her. She says she’s looking for her grandfather, and they question her about her past. […]
Last night I wiped the tears and kissed the cheeks and hugged the skinny little body of my anxious three-year-old, who as he thinks about our trip to Australia, is constantly checking that Mama AND Dadda AND Elliot will be there too. “Please don’t leave me,” he sobbed. This is […]
One of Arthur’s colleagues, Eliud is getting married to former TAFES staff member Dorothea next month and he and Arthur have been talking about marriage, specifically, the Christian ideal of unity in marriage. Eliud and Doro have been thinking very carefully about the cultural views they have inherited and whether […]
You’re down to your last jar of Vegemite. No one’s undies have any elastic left in them. You start checking expiry dates on drivers’ licenses and car insurance, and renewing them even though they have 5 months left. You’re thinking about where you’ll store the washing machine for 6 months, […]
After my post about mafanikio, another missionary here in Tanzania wrote to me with some questions. In her experience, people who are on the road to becoming successful are torn down by others until they stop striving, so they never reach it. Mediocrity and inertia are what Tanzanian culture produces. […]
In the English dictionary, ustawi (ooh-STAH-wee) is prosperity or welfare; mafanikio (ma-fa-nee-KEE-oh) is accomplishment or success. The latter is a very popular topic for teaching in Tanzania. The former does not feature as much, but a long-time missionary suggested it to us as an alternative to mafanikio to distinguish prosperity […]
Here we are at Easter Sunday. Resurrection Day animates the Christian hope, without which our faith is meaningless. Red Twin loved Easter Sunday. My feelings are complicated. I’m not so numb this year. When I think of the resurrection, there is a stirring in me; a feeling wells up, but […]
Meet Jesus at uni 