On this coming Thursday, September 22, 2011, I will fly to Washington, D.C. for the 50th celebration of the Peace Corps. In November of 1964, after joining and training for the Peace Corps, I flew to Tanzania, East Africa to teach for two years in an African boys' boarding school, called Mysengi Upper Primary School in Musoma, Tanzania right on Lake Victoria, the second largest lake in the world. It was one of the highlights of my life and to this day, it was one of the best things I ever did for myself!!! I am going to continue this entry with a "writing" I did for "The Summit," my high school in Cincinnati, Ohio, when it came out with a book called, "This I Believe." I share this with all of you in celebration of the Peace Corps of 50 years.Entry:
I left Cincinnati by train on a snowy November morning. My family, mom, dad, two brothers and four sisters were all at Winton Train Station to see me off. Everyone was crying and my youngest sister, Chris, held me tight, not wanting to let me go. I was off to New York City to meet the Peace Corps Group I had trained with for three months at Syracuse University, and then heading to East Africa for two years. There I would teach school at Mysengi Upper Primary School, a boys' boarding school in Musoma, Tanzania, right on Lake Victoria. To the alarm of my mother, (my dad was too proud of me to be alarmed) I was off to the Dark Continent that, at this time, few people seemed to know much about. I was alarmed myself, and very scared, but I did not want to show I was feeling less brave than my family thought I was, and when I waved tearfully good-bye to them through the train window, my stomach doing flip-flops, I had no idea this would be one of the most enriching experiences of my life.
Living in a third world country, being a minority for the first time in my life, and having to communicate in Swahili taught me many things about myself, and about what is really important in life. I experienced a completely different and more simple way of living; a way of life which had never occurred to me before. As an American with a task-orientated mind-set, I was always in a hurry to get something done; to accomplish something. In Africa, the pace was much slower, the Africans taking time to be with each other, to laugh and talk together, and to help each other. They went about their lives with a joy and happiness I had never known before. One day, while I was racing to town on my bike with an important errand, my African neighbor ran out into the road waving her arms. Annoyed with delay, I almost missed her beautiful gift to me. Mrs. Mbaya stood in my path and sang Happy Birthday to me in perfect English. She had been practicing for weeks, and this was her present to me on my birthday. She knew no other English.
Over two years time, I came to love the African people and all the ways they had of living more simply on the earth. The school children taught me how to plant a vegetable garden (this city girl had never done that before) and to enjoy their simple games with sticks and stones they found all around them. They loved to sing, and showed me the joy that came from music and singing, no matter what the task. The sweet voices of the African children still ring in my heart today. I can still hear them singing. Their presents to me were always simple, like the birthday song. Sometimes it was something they had cooked or woven together like wild flowers or a small basket. One day, a knock on my door brought two African students to my porch holding an empty bird's nest for me, huge smiles on their faces that melted me more than the hot beating sun..
The African people were models of courage and endurance to me. Some of our students walked ten miles or more each morning to school. This included all of the girls who could not board at the school. Most never missed a day. And when faced with danger, i.e. a giant python in our school yard one day, the Africans went towards the problem with a solution instead of running away. That day, the whole school followed behind or African headmaster with a rifle over his shoulder to hunt the python that was making its way toward the Lake.
At the time I taught school in Africa, only ten percent of male students were able to go on to high school due to a shortage of secondary teachers and facilities. The competition to go on to high school was fierce. When one day we had to miss a class due to a late breakfast, the students refused to eat unless we made up their class on Saturday. Education and learning are so important to the African children, and the opportunities for higher education are rare, even today. The African children taught me to appreciate my education more than I ever had, and to not take it for granted. I found the African people I lived and worked among to be genuinely happy people in spite of hardships. They knew how to smile, laugh, dance, tease, and joke with each other and to find happiness in simple things. What a life lesson for me! They had so much fun with my inadequate ability to speak good Swahili, and would love to tease me, but were always gracious in trying to help me speak better. Most of all, they knew how to laugh at themselves, and taught me to do the same.
What do I believe? I believe in taking some risks in life, and getting out of our comfort zones. I was afraid when I went to Africa, but I did it anyway. I remember thinking that I had a 50/50 chance of ever coming home, but the experience enriched my life more than I could ever have imagined, and I think I did some good along the way. Today, I still try to stretch myself, learn more, get out of my comfort zone now and then, and never forget the lessons I learned in Africa.
