Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Once Upon a Time

I met Fr. Kamanzi in August of 2006. I remember the moment very clearly: he was wearing a fantastic purple shirt and was all smiles. It was his first time back in the office since April, when he had returned to his home near Bukoba, Tanzania to mourn the death of his father, so even though I had been a Campus Minister for a whole month, I was meeting the college chaplain for the first time. I was a little nervous, considering how much we were going to be working together and how (relatively) ignorant I was about things like “catechism” and “liturgy” (I can say this now, right?). But he greeted me with smiles and an embrace, and all of my fears were assuaged. Looking back, that was probably one of the most important moments of my life. Who could have known then where I’d be now?

Almost since that first meeting, I have wanted to see where Fr. Kamanzi came from. He told me about his place, his family, his heritage, and I wanted to see it, to see if imagination could possibly equal reality. In 2008, Fr. Kamanzi was recalled to Nairobi to assume leadership of the Apostles of Jesus. A profoundly humble man, he never in a million years thought he would become the Superior General of the order, but, as I told him the other day, he is probably the only one who didn’t see it coming some day or another. And so, on a Friday in February, Fr. Kamanzi was yanked out of our arms at Alvernia and sent halfway around the world. Thankfully, in this age of modernity, he and I were able to stay in touch, and I was able to visit him at the Generalate in Nairobi with my friend Dave. Together, we visited many of the missions of the Apostles of Jesus around Nairobi, Kenya and Arusha, Tanzania.

But I still hadn’t seen where he came from.

Back then, Fr. Kamanzi and I agreed that the next time I came to Africa, I would not go home without seeing his place. Through some good fortune and more than a little divine providence, I did come back, now as an employee of the order, as close to being a member as possible without having to take any vows. And Father Kamanzi held good to his promise (as he always does). When we first started discussing the itinerary for this trip, it was always a priority to travel to the Lake zone of Tanzania. While I was excited about the whole trip, nothing made me giddier than the prospect of seeing where Fr. Kamanzi came from. This was the focal point of my entire trip.

As I got closer and closer to actually seeing the place of Fr. Kamanzi’s origins, I started to get scared that I had somehow built it up to impossible heights in my imagination. I had been looking forward to this for almost 6 years, and now I was actually going to meet Fr. Kamanzi’s brothers and sisters and see the house where he was born. However, within moments of arriving in Bukoba, all of my fears were proved unfounded.

Bukoba is paradise. Nestled in a bay of Lake Victoria, in the shadow of soaring cliffs of gray stone, it is a breathtakingly beautiful place. I kept taking pictures of the exact same view, hoping that my camera could somehow capture the raw beauty of the area. Fr. Kamanzi’s birthplace, Maziba, is about 40 minutes south of the town, down a series of increasingly rough roads, buried in a hillside banana tree forest. The road doesn’t reach the home of his father; we had to hike the last kilometer or so. And it is perfect.

And the people! I was so nervous about meeting Fr. Kamanzi’s family. I have heard so much about them and seen so many pictures over the years, but I had no idea what they would think about me. They were wonderful! His older brothers, Gereon and Honoratus, greeted me warmly in English (though Honoratus is more comfortable speaking German). I was happy to make a non-verbal connection with his sisters, Fortunata and Maula (and am now more determined than ever to master Kiswahili so that we can communicate next time I come!). Seeing all five of them together (there were 7, but two of their sisters, as well as their mother and father, have passed away) reminded me so much of being with my own siblings. They were so overjoyed to be with each other!

I am going to be sharing more from my time in Bukoba and Maziba, but for now, suffice it to say that Bukoba has made a sparkling debut on my list of Favorite Places in the World.

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