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Written by Daniel Orr
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Thursday, 04 August 2011 23:41 |
Thursday Joe and I traveled an hour and a half to Magilla, a place where Bishop Burt's wife, Martha, describes a powerful experience of peace during their stay in the place in 1974. I can see why.
I have been on some rough dirt tracks in Arkansas, but the track to Hegongo boarding school was as far as one could go up into rocky hills. From the moment we stepped out of the land cruiser, and three teachers met us, I could feel a vibrant energy. The headmaster, a tall thin man, had an attentiveness and engaging manner that was beautiful. He and two other teachers took us into a small office where we visited over "biscuits" and water. One young teacher/priest read a short history of the school. In 1996 when the headmaster took over, only 13% of the school's 50 students passed examination. Now they have three hundred students and 93% are passing the state exam. They aim for 100%. The place was founded by British missionaries, an order of nuns established in the late 1800's out of penance for slavery. And I gather that it fell into decline after the order lost members and then left. On our tour of the school, they were rehabing the library and science labs.
We climbed a steep hill to what looked like the back of a chapel and my jaw dropped as we stepped into the court yard of an old convent, two stories of stone residences facing each other with a huge church at the far end. One corner of the two story structure was crumbling, but the teachers stay in the residences that were built in the late 1800s on European design. The huge cistern and "pedal bell" were marvels.
The rest of the day Joe and I went to two other churches a hospital and nursing school. We were pretty worn out at the end. The 300 bed hospital (Teule) had been moved from Magilla to a more accesible location in the 70's.
Just driving and seeing the villages is riveting. Their shambas, fields, are mostly corn, but squash, orange trees, banana trees or other crops are always mingled in. Most cultivation is by hand. Houses are red homade brick or waddle and dab, tin or thatch rooves. People are every where. The sides of the road are the sidewalks. Open air shops are right along the road.
Today we go to Tanga.
Daniel
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Comments
My prayer is for a safe trip home for all.
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