A Holy Week In Tanzania…

April 10, 2009 by Stephen Day.

Greetings from Msalato on Good Friday.

I wanted to post today because it has been so terribly long since I have posted. Well, this has been an interesting week. Msalato has two weeks off for Easter so that our students may return to their homes and churches. It takes many of our students two days each way to reach their homes. This also serves as our “Fall Break.” Only about five to ten students are still on campus. Many of the Tanzanian staff have returned to their home villages as well. Also, the New Zealand staff members have left for Arusha in far northern Tanzania to met up with all NZ missionaries in Tanzania. So it is really quiet here.

I have used this week for many different things… First, I have completed some job applications and sent them off to two possibilities (a teaching job in Dallas and a campus ministry job in Arizona). Also, I have hunted for more possible jobs/careers. Second, I have gotten some much needed rest (it has been a chaotic semester thus far). Finally, I am using this time to try to make my final revisions to my history masters thesis. I am hoping that the thesis can be all finished and defended when I return to the US in July/August.

I will be spending Easter in Dodoma, which is actually 10 kilometers away from Msalato and when you don’t have a car 10 km is pretty far away. I will be able to go to the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit on Easter Sunday and spend time with other people. I am looking forward to that after a very quiet week. Next week I will be working on preparing for the second half of the semester. Next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday the staff of Msalato will be meeting to deal with a number of issues. Many of them will be pretty mundane, like planning for graduation and updating the syllabi and curriculum. Others things to be done relate to the future of Msalato….

As I think I have already mentioned, Msalato is in the midst of several transitions. We are shifting from a mixture of English and Swahili language programs to English only. This shift was mandated by the bishop of this diocese and the board of the college. The goal is to make Msalato a center for studying theology and leadership in English. Another school within the diocese will focus on training church leaders in Swahili. Msalato’s last class of Swahili students will graduate in June. Who will replace them? Well, that is a little more complicated. Msalato plans to start two new programs in August. First is a one-year certificate program for English. There is a great deal of demand for learning English in this country, even though it is not an official language. All education from the secondary level and onward is done in English. The second program is going to be a teachers college. Now this is a little bit confusing… at least to me. This program will be designed to teach students to be primary school teachers; however, the real focus is on teaching the students how to teach and not what to teach. This program has required a lot of work on the part of Msalato’s administration to setup. New administrators and teachers have to be hired and a room had to be converted into a lecture hall. It is hoped that this program can subsidise many of the costs of running the theological programs here.

Well, I better run for now. I will share more later. Have a good Good Friday, but try to remember what it is all about - not just a day off or the beginning of a long weekend.

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