| Easter 2007 Letter from Africa The African Story Continues with Easter Greetings Here we are already into the Easter Season and it seems like just yesterday when I was burning palm branches for Ash Wednesday. This was the quickest “Forty Days” that I can remember! I guess that that just goes along with my being older than I was when Lent seemed to last forever. This year our parish community of St. Catherine of Siena experienced the “Desert of Lent” as we worshiped in a tent. It wasn’t that we were trying to be liturgically creative it’s just that we were forced out of our “makuti” (thatched-roof) regular church because of safety concerns.
The old “makuti church” was originally put up to be a temporary structure while we waited for permission to begin building on the site. One thing led to another – or in other words – the Nairobi City Council Building Commission, found one thing after another to delay granting the permission. Many people told us, “why don’t you just pay the “kiti-kidoga” (a little something, e.g. bribe) and you’ll be able to start.” However our parish council made the decision that, since corruption and bribes are such a part of the problem of life in Kenya, we, as a Church community wouldn’t give in to this method of bypassing the system. People have told me, “It was so much easier before they started curbing the corruption. Now there’s no incentive for the city council people to push projects through so they just let them wait in a kind of limbo. This “kiti-kidoga” is such a part of Kenya and it happens on all levels of life around Nairobi as in the following example. Recently I parked on a downtown street and dutifully looked for the on site parking attendant to pay the required 70 shillings (about $1.00). As I looked in my wallet I only found a 50 shilling note and didn’t have any coins to make it to 70. The attendant said, “You have 50 shillings. Just give that to me and I’ll watch your car to be sure it’s safe.” When I asked her if she would give me the receipt to display in my window she replied, “I told you, I’ll watch the car.” My response was, “Here’s 100 shillings, give me the change and a receipt and then I’ll know that my car is safe.” What would have happened, of course, is that the authorities would have come and put a “boot” on the tire and the attendant would have forgotten all about me and “watching the car.” Such is the way “kiti kidoga” is a part of everyday life in Kenya. So, back to our Church building project. Since we chose to be honest we get put off and have to wait. In the meantime, the life expectancy of the temporary structure passed its own deadline - helped along by water damage and termites. It was intended to last for just three years but had already exceeded five and some of the trusses were beginning to break apart. Then a strong wind storm put a noticeable lean on the structure and a decision was made to take it down before it fell – perhaps injuring someone in the process.
Since we don’t have permission to build a permanent church we decided to replace the “makuti church” with another temporary structure but one built with a little more solidarity. Plans were laid and our hopes were brightened with the thought that we would celebrate Easter in the new church and then dashed almost at the start because the trusses, which needed to be treated against termites and bugs, couldn’t be ready in time. Now we’re making progress and we should be in the new structure by our feast day, 29th April – the Feast of St. Catherine of Siena.
Building procedures here in Africa are very different from the way construction is done in the states. Labor is cheap and heavy construction equipment is almost non-existent. I have never seen a regular cement truck in all the time I’ve been here. Stone blocks are delivered rough-cut from the quarry and given the final, finished edge by the workers on site. The huge trusses in the picture above were hoisted into place by shear muscle and lots of workers. The season of the long rains is soon upon us and we’ve already had a hint of what’s to come in these last few days. It tends to be hot during the day which causes thunder-heads to build up causing massive electrical storms. It usually pours through the night and into the early part of the morning but then we have a sunny, warm day. Of course none of this helps our already bad roads and there are many places where the pot-holes are too big to cross. I was told by a person following a VW Bug that she saw it drop into a pot hole and disappear. That’s how big the pot holes are. We also lose power on a fairly regular basis – sometimes due to the rain. Just the other morning, while I was walking the dogs in the first light of day, I heard a loud “bang.” All the streetlights around me went out and I watched as fiery sparks shot along the four power lines (right over my head) from one pole to the next. I said to the dogs, “we’re out of here before live wires drop on us!” My daily life seems to get busier all the time. I’m not sure where the time goes but my days pass quickly. I’m usually up a little after 4:30 so I take seriously the old adage, “early to bed, early to rise…” This means that I’m no longer a “night owl” but busy myself with day projects. I’m continuing with our adult catechism classes and happy that our lay-catechist, Jane Kamuti, helps me. I type up the notes and make the presentation and Jane translates into Kiswahili as we go along for the people who are less English fluent. It’s funny to me, though, that I can say a sentence of 10 or 15 words and then Jane will translate taking three or four times as long! I say to her, “Did I say all that?” On the Fridays during Lent, I was responsible for conducting the “Stations of the Cross.” During Holy Week I did my best to organize these special Liturgies. Since we are still without power on the church compound we are limited in how late we can go with our services. Many people have to walk to church and it would be much to unsafe to have them struggling to get home in the dark. However, beginning the Easter Vigil with the setting sun glaring in our eyes wasn’t my liturgical preference. On the positive side, though, our “Easter bonfire” was the best ever since we used the old makuti and it only took one match to get the fire going. I wish I could say the same for my efforts with the incensor: I must have put in too many coals – not wanting it to go out before we needed the “smoke.” When I handed the censor to Father and he sprinkled on the incense the whole thing burst into a ball of fire! I must say that gave new meaning to the term, “Easter Fire.” I also continue with my classes with our Dominican student brothers in public speaking. Now we’ll move into one-on-one where I’ll coach each of the brothers and videotape their reading so that we can work on individual problems. Africans tend to be super-conscious about speaking loudly so I have to almost force them to speak out. They also have difficulty with the letters “l” and “r” and words like “slip” and “sleep” come out sounding the same. The words, “earth” and “mercy” are said as if there were no “Rs” in them. I still enjoy singing with the Nairobi Music Society Choir and we did a Concert on the Palm Sunday weekend which featured Rossini’s “Petite Messe Solennelle” which is more like an opera than a Mass. The harmonies were difficult and the practices were grueling, but we managed to pull it off to everybody’s delight. On the first Sunday of every other month I manage to squeeze in an early morning volunteer duty counting animals at the Nairobi National Park. The park is right at the edge of the city limits and is only fenced in on the city side and open on the southern end so that the animals can come and go at their leisure. We’re given a quadrant and a list of the animals ranging from rhinos, cape buffalo, zebras, giraffes and lions plus countless antelope species. It’s fun to do and it’s free and I usually take a few friends with me as navigators and spotters.
Recently, we got stuck with a puncture which we were able to fix quickly before any wild animals found us. Later that same morning we got a second puncture and, with our only spare already used, had to wait more than two hours before the park rangers came to assist us. We were way down at the southern end of the park and I was quite surprised that we didn’t see any animals in all the time we waited. Earlier that morning a lion came towards us, walking on the road and passed by my side of the car close enough that I could have petted it if I didn’t have the window up and the door locked! Of course, that was the day I forgot to bring my camera. So the best I can do in closing is a picture of my own “wild animals,” Kate and Nellie the guard dogs for our house.
From Nairobi, Kenya
it’s another Letter From Africa of
Br. Daniel Thomas As always, I write back to folks who write to me. |
