Today is a National Holiday in Tanzania. It is Saba Saba, otherwise known as July 7th.
Yesterday was John's first day of teaching. Its a new semester at the school and it was the first day of the new semester. They told him there would be no school tomorrow because of the holiday, that's how we found out about it. Imagine starting a new semester and the second day is a Holiday. So it goes here at Uswaa.
Saba Saba is a harvest holiday. People are taking the day away from work in schools, businesses, and such to be home working in their shambas (gardens and farms.) What a great holiday. Its getting to the end of the rainy season now and many crops are ready to be harvested and taken to market. This holiday recognizes that many people are dependant on this extra or only source of income and they need extra time during this season to bring in the harvest.
Of course this is making me miss having a garden with produce to bring in and put up. When I arrived here in May the peas were just popping out of the ground, now they are tall and hearty and heavy with blossoms. The bananas and avocado are abundant and people are bringing in coffee and beans now too.
Up here on the Mountain it has been a fairly good season, but down below, near the highway and into Moshi and Arusha there has been almost no rain to speak of. The corn is dried up and wilted, I think it may be past the point that any rain now would even be helpful. As conversations with farmers go (and I know, because I grew up surrounded by them) there is always always always discussion here about the lack of rains. It affects so many other things, if families don't have a good crop, they are not able to pay for school fees and uniforms for their children, they are not able to give as they like to the church, and at some point they even have to make choices about what to feed their families.
If you're needing some people to add to your prayers today, may it be the farmers in Tanzania on this day of Saba Saba.
Njou, one of the teachers at Uroki Secondary School, was telling me about his shamba (small farm) and all the different crops he had planted there. He said that even for career people, it's important for them to practice growing food because someday they won't be able to do their jobs anymore and they will have to depend on their farming skills to live. That's what a retirement plan looks like in Tanzania.
ReplyDeleteSix years ago I was teaching there and found out it was a school holiday the next day. The teachers told the kids to come to class anyway so I could teach them. The strange part: they HAPPILY did.
ReplyDelete4:02 a.m. Krist Larson, I guess I don't have to ask how the jet lag is treating you ...
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