Flags.... but no Fireworks

This is Independence Day in the Congo.  

After a lesson on colors, the flags of each country represented in our class were drawn on the board. 

In the first picture, Sister Hilaria from Mozambique is explaining what each color and symbol represents on her flag.

There were four flags drawn- Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, and the United States. 

Then we all sang our National Anthems.  We recorded the anthems on the iPad and listened to them together. Here's a picture of the sisters enjoying the celebration.

Feast Day Celebrations in Masasi

Today was a special day for the sisters here in Masasi. It was the feast day of Saints Peter and Paul, as well as the name day of Sister Paula, who is the provincial secretary. 



There was quite a celebration with laughing, dancing and singing, and a big meal with wonderful food cooked by the sisters. 

The picture shows the sisters at dinner. In the foreground on the left is Sister Sophia, the provincial, and seated across from her is Sister Paula. What a treat to be able to join the sisters and share their joy.

Masasi in Bloom

Our topic today is the beautiful flowers that can be found everywhere here at Masasi.  The sisters work hard to keep the grounds in beautiful shape. There are always fresh cut flowers at the altar of the sisters' chapel.  Even the poinsettia grow larger here.

Another day in Paradise!

Tuesday: Today we had a full class- 11 people. The last two sisters from the Congo arrived late Monday evening. They joined the class for afternoon session and jumped right in.  Lots of smiles and patient support.


The pictures show Sr Trojestina and her huge garden. She grows bananas, cassava, sweet potatoes, and this year, she added watermelon. Most meals we have beans and fresh fruit from the sisters' gardens. They sure work hard, long hours.

We are quite a multi-language mix!

[Editor's Note: From S. Patrice Colletti:
Twelve hours on the road... On Monday and Tuesday, Sister Rita Vogelsang and I drove back to the Lake Traverse Reservation in South Dakota from Milwaukee, WI. While on the road, we didn't have internet access, so if you noticed a brief break in blog postings, that's the cause. Now we are home and I'm catching up on blog posts! Stand by for another posted soon after this one from Monday! Thanks for your patience.]

From Monday: the sisters are working on a saying from Blessed Mary of the Apostles. 

Please notice three different dictionaries- Kiswahili, French and Portuguese. 

We are quite an international group!   


This was the first class for our sister from the Congo. She is a great addition to our group.

Joyful harmonies

Today we celebrated Mass in the sisters' chapel. The picture of their chapel, below, was taken Saturday at the feast of John the Baptist. 


We wish you could  all be here to hear the beautiful singing of the sisters. The harmonies are amazing. It is also a joy to see Fr Jim Weyker everyday at Mass.

Sunday is a quiet day here. One sister from the Congo arrived yesterday. We are all happy to welcome her to our community.

Alleluia Translates Well

It's Saturday. We have one two hour class. 

We started with a song and Mother Mary's Triple Alleluia. (Thank you to Sr Jenada for the copies of this prayer.). 

Then we had fun with numbers in English as we solved Sudoku puzzles. 

The sisters work so hard. After class they were sweeping and cleaning and washing clothes.

Put your left foot in, take your left foot out...

...put your left foot in, and shake it all about!
Do the hoeky pokey as you turn yourself around...
That's what it's all about!!

(Now that we have firmly embedded THAT song in your brain for the next 24 hours.... we bring you the Tanzania update. 😀)

Our third class each day starts with a song or dance. Here we are enjoying the hokey pokey. 


This followed a lesson naming different parts of the body.

How do you say...?

We teach three classes each day. In one of the classes we divide into ability groups. 



Margaret works with the beginners and Sue works with other two groups because they can be more independent. 



We are thankful for the materials that Sister Virginia found. They are still helpful and the sisters enjoy the stories and exercises. Another great day of learning.

An Elephant?

Yesterday we had a problem with our internet connection. I was worried we wouldn't get it back. Then I reset the phone and it slowly restarted. Anyway, if we miss a day, it's just because we've lost our connection.

Here's our news for Wednesday:

Today we read the story about six blind men and the elephant. They all touch a different part of the elephant and think it's a pipe, or a pillar or a rope, etc. 

After reading and discussing, we acted it out. There was lots of laughter and learning.

More than just learning English

This is only our third class and already there is lots of laughter and learning. Lots of participation. This picture shows the sisters sharing their time lines and talking about themselves.



Editor's Note (S. Patrice): Today, in Milwaukee, at the Annual Assembly, an annual gathering of Salvatorian Sisters, we "visited" Salvatorian sisters all around the globe via Sister Edith Bramberger's slides and report. We also reflected on the impact of initiatives, such as this English in Africa language initiative. As Sue and Marge's post today reflects, Salvatorians coming together from the Congo, Tanzania, and Mozambique to spend time with Salvatorians from the US builds relationships across all sorts of cultural, tribal, and language boundaries. At a time in our world when there is so much focus on building walls to separate peoples, here we are, as Salvatorians, building bridges to bring people together. What a wonderful Gospel witness!

School Days, School Days...

Today was our second day of class. The sisters are already sharing, talking and helping one another. One picture shows us all up and switching partners as we introduce ourselves and talk about what we do. The other picture shows Margaret teaching a sister from Mozambique.  We are off to a great start.

Celebration

This is Corpus Christi Sunday. The Mass at the parish church in Masasi was beautiful. Children processed and danced, there was beautiful music. Fr Mukasa , a Salvatorian priest presided.  After the two and a half hour Mass, we processed to different stations for Benediction. A very meaningful experience.

Jubilee Prayers from Tanzania

Congratulations to all those celebrating their Jubilee! We are sending good wishes and prayers.

Today was our first class. It went well. We have two sisters from Mozambique. They know some English and are really trying hard. S. Edesia and S. Sara have been in the class before and are learning and helping at the same time. We will have two more sisters from Tanzania in class on Monday.  Still no word from the Congo sisters. We hope they can join us. And this afternoon two candidates arrived who will also be joining the class.

As you can see by this picture, we had no electricity tonight at dinner.  Thank goodness for solar flashlights.

Happy Jordan Day!

Happy Jordan Day! It was a busy day for us. We set up the classroom and are ready for our first class on Saturday.  

There was a beautiful Mass to celebrate Jordan Day. It was held in the sister's chapel. I counted 11 priests, over 25 sisters, and about 20 men in formation.  After Mass there was a dinner and celebration.  It was also the end of their retreat which included the Spiritual Diary of Fr Jordan which is now translated in Swahili.

Lesson Plans and More

Today we actually wrote some lesson plans and looked through our class materials that are stored here. All is well!


This is a picture of us with the statue of Blessed Mary of the Apostles that stands in the garden in front of the chapel.

It's Wednesday in Tanzania...

...and it's nice and quiet around here.

We will think of these quiet days when we are busy with teaching. 

Our day started with Mass in Swahili with Fr Jim presiding. Then we walked to town to the ATM machine. It worked!! And now we both have some Tanzanian Shillings. 




In the late afternoon 
we walked with Fr Jim to town and enjoyed a great conversation, catching up on the latest from the US and Tanzania.

Getting Ready to Start

Here is the before picture of our classroom, no books, materials or students... but soon it will be filled with fun and noise and learning.  We are getting ready to start.

Zzzzzzz

 No photo today,  but know that after a long bus ride we arrived safely in Masasi with all our bags. We enjoyed a wonderful greeting from S Sophia and S Pauli. No electricity, but no worries, we are ready to crawl under our mosquito nets and go to sleep.

Sunday- hot and windy

Here are the sisters outside the parish church, some went to Mass in Swahili and others to the English Mass. another hot and windy day in the city.  Bags are packed and ready to leave at 5 am on Monday. Masasi here we come!

Saturday is busy!

Here's a picture taken at dinner on Saturday night.  A candidate, Petronila, is visiting. The others are Sister Carman, S Liberata, S Angelina, and S Agnes.  During the day we took the daldala to get our bus tickets to Masasi. We will leave early Monday morning.

Air Hockey in Tanzania?

Friday was our first full day. It was a rest day. 

We slept a bit, took a short walk around the village and visited with the sisters.

In the evening we enjoyed time with the sisters for recreation. Here Sister Angelina and Sister Monica are playing air hockey on Sue's iPad.   A good first day.

Happily Landed!

Here is a picture of Margaret on the plane. The flights went well , just a long journey- Chicago to New York to Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro to Dar es Salaam. Arrived late Thursday night. Sr Mecky met us and the sisters greeted us with a small dinner at midnight. All is well. Africa is beautiful.

Missioning 2017

Welcome to the Tanzania blog for 2017.  Thank you to everyone who was able to attend the missioning at the Sisters Community house on Tuesday afternoon.

And for all the cards and well wishes.   

Missioning Ceremony

We leave today, Wednesday, June 7, 2017, early in the morning, and will arrive in Dar es Salaam at 10:00 pm on Thursday.

We hope you will enjoy following our adventures as we travel to Africa to be with our Salvatorian Sisters from Tanzania, the Republic of the Congo, and Mozambique.  Our English class will have many languages!!

Coming soon!

Soon, we'll begin posting from the 2017 SDS Tanzania experience!