A Whiter Shade of Pale

“Jo, I know that you don’t get frightened, but I don’t want this to frighten you.”

When Father Kamanzi begins a story that way, I know I am in for a doozy.

Our first day of traveling from Nairobi brought us to Sirari, just on the Tanzania side of the border. The Apostles of Jesus have a parish here, St. Michael’s. This entire area, all the way to our destination in Bukoba on the west shore of Lake Victoria, is very rich in gold. Commercial miners from all over the first world come here to remove the precious metal, but it is so abundant that even locals and amateurs can successfully dig for gold, if they have enough luck.

Sadly, many locals think they have found a way to augment their luck in the most horrible possible way.

It is believed that if you take a body part of an albino person into the mine with you, you will find more gold. This has resulted in the hunting and killing of albino people throughout Tanzania.

I heard the story of a man in Kenya who befriended an albino man. After getting to know him, he said, “Hey, I know you are having a hard time finding work. I have some friends in Tanzania who will gladly hire you and pay you well!” The albino man eagerly accepted his friend’s offer, and when he got to Tanzania, was sold, by his “friend”, to Albino Dealers. From what I understand, the Kenyan man got millions of shillings for him.

Even today, people with Albinism are being hunted and killed Albino children must be escorted to school, and any albino person is in danger as soon as they come to this region. The government is trying to squelch the practice, but it is a difficult battle, not unlike trying to curtail drug trafficking or a vast prostitution ring.

And, of course, it’s all horseshit. The local and amateur miners are still among the poorest people. They are killing these poor people for nothing- they have no better chance at striking it rich than anyone else.

I had never heard of this situation at all, but at Fr. Kamanzi’s encouraging, I Googled “Albino trade in Tanzania.” I highly recommend that you do the same. The practice extends beyond the mining industry. At 150,000, Tanzania has the largest population of people with Albinism in Africa. There are a bunch of articles from the past couple of years that are definitely worth checking out.

And We're Off!

Tomorrow morning I get back on the road. Fr. Kamanzi, Fr. John, and I will be circumnavigating Lake Victoria (I know, right?!) by way of Sirari (a small town at the Kenya-Tanzania border) and Mwanza on our way to Bukoba, where Fr. Kamanzi is from. After a few days there, Fr. Kamanzi will return to Nairobi and Fr. John and I will travel with My Man Godfrey (!!!) to Uganda, where we will stay for about 9 days. This is my first time to Uganda, and I am excited to finally see in person the "Pearl of Africa". I'll be coming back to Nairobi on the Ides of March (sorry to be missing the annual Pressimone party, but I brought my tee-shirt, so it'll be ok), just in time to introduce all of these Africans to the glories of St. Patty's Day (I am spreading the word that they will be expected to wear green.) I wonder if I can get my hands on some Guinness before that...

Like I said, I don't know what internet access will be like, but whether I am able to post or not, I will keep writing! Thanks for reading!

The Smiling Mountain

Kilimanjaro is a shy mountain. It seems that she spends most of her time shrouded in clouds, even on the clearest and brightest of days. To see her in all her glory is a rare and humbling pleasure. When I came to Tanzania in 2010, she smiled on us and I knew then that it may be the finest view of her I will ever have, no matter how frequently I might visit. Indeed, when I returned to Moshi this weekend, located at the foot of Kilimanjaro, I didn’t get even the slightest glimpse of the mountain.

So imagine my surprise and delight when she decided to escort me on my journey back to Nairobi!

Fr. John and I departed Arusha by public transport at about 8 am. The morning was grey and wet, an excellent thing for the parched country, but not ideal for window-watching from the bus. Mt. Meru towers above Arusha, and there are some other mountains visible from the Great North Road, even through the mist. I have a great love of mountains large and small, so I was very content to watch them roll by as we traveled. One of the more craggy peaks even appeared to wear a fine dusting of snow on its head. As this mountain passed us by, another more distant mountain appeared with even more snow on its peak. I actually thought to myself, “That mountain must have nearly as much snow as Kilimanjaro.” It wasn’t until we had traveled many more miles without the mountain fading into the distance that I began to suspect that this was Kilimanjaro. I mean, she had to be at least 75 miles from where I was, and I wasn’t certain that the mountain was even visible from this angle. I kept convincing myself that this was simply a smaller, closer mountain with which I had hitherto been unacquainted. But as the bus entered a great flat expanse, I saw her towering above the plain in all her snow-capped majesty, I knew I had been kidding myself all along. She is simply too magnificent to ever be mistaken for another mountain, at least not for too long.

Kilimanjaro is the 3^rd tallest mountain in the world, a source of pride for all Tanzanians. Her image is everywhere- bottled water, tee-shirts, beer bottles, vehicles, billboards. But it doesn’t matter how often you see the image; nothing in the world can compare with seeing her smile in person.

There's No Business Like Show Business

Last week, when Fr. John and I were driving through Ongata Rongai in Rift Valley, I noticed a large stage erected along the side of the road. There was a small group of people gathered in front of it, and a few energetic speakers occupied the microphones. I assumed it was some sort of political rally (I pictured Sybill Crawley sneaking out of Downton to attend it), but when I asked Fr. John what was going on, he said it was just a “Roadside Show.” My first reaction was “Ooooh! A Side-Show!”, but this was not a Depression-era, road-side, steam-punk circus attraction (but how cool would it be if those still existed in Kenya of all places?). This was actually a marketing ploy by a local bank, a fairly common occurrence. People whom they are targeting don’t necessarily have access to the internet, and television commercials won’t reach everyone, either. People don’t look at flyers, so they have found that this is the best way to advertise to the general public. The ultimate question is, why didn’t I think of this when I was a Campus Minister?

Terrors of the Savannah

I have a long-standing debate with my dear friend Mo regarding the disposition of kangaroos. While she maintains that they are, by nature, cute and/or cuddly, I hold to the opinion that they are aggressive, vicious beasts to be respected and feared.

I am right, of course.

At dinner on my first night in Arusha, I learned that there is another animal equally misunderstood and life-threatening. My eyes have suddenly been opened to the horror of animals I hitherto believed to be graceful, gentle herbivores.

Giraffes are cold-blooded killers.

I really wish I was being glib or flip or sarcastic, but the hard truth is that giraffes are incredibly dangerous creatures. It was not immediately apparent to me exactly how giraffes go about killing people. Not biting, obviously, as their heads are in no way proximal to humans, unless you are up in a tree or something. I once saw a YouTube video of giraffes thwacking each other with their necks, and while it looked painful, it didn’t look like it could harm humans on account of our collectively short stature. So how, you ask, do they wreak their havoc?

They kick you.

It makes sense, when you think about it for a second. Giraffes are 49% neck, 49% legs, and 2% everything else. If I ever took a course in physics, I could make some comment about pendulums and fulcrums and velocity, but I am very obviously out of my wheelhouse. Just take my word for it: giraffes should be admired from afar and never ever approached on foot.

For real real.

Internet for a Few Days More

Hello, all! I have just returned to Nairobi from a wild weekend in Arusha. I was greeted like family and fed like they were fattening the calf. And the beer.... oof. So. Much. Beer. My liver is grateful for a little break.

While we were there, we visited every AJ Mission in driving distance. I will be posting some tales from the journey over the next couple of days. On Wednesday, we hit the road again, this time for the lake region of Tanzania on our way to Uganda. Who knows what internet access will be like, but I will try to pop in as often as I can.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Travel Update

Friends, I hope that you are enjoying these posts! I am doing my best to keep it interesting.

Tomorrow, Fr. John and I are traveling by public transportation to Arusha, Tanzania until Monday. I do not know what internet access will be like, but I remember it being sparse during my last visit there. So, if you do not hear from me for a little while, worry not! I will continue to write posts whether I can publish them or not. I'm excited about my first experience with the public transportation, and I am especially grateful that Fr. John will be accompanying me.

I will make sure to give a big update next week before I depart for Bukoba, Tanzania, with Fr. Kamanzi.

Kwa heri!