Here in Tanzania, time is low on the
list of priorities. As a part of the culture, the people here are so much less
concerned about being right on time and being so precise. Back home, we have
every minute of every day planned out, making sure we get where we need to be
and that our timing is right for what we have to do. Here, the schedule is
wrapped around a different concept. Instead
of “I” and “me”, it is “us” as a community. If someone here were to be late, it
would be no issue. The reason behind being late would have to do with being a
part of the community. People would be helping somebody else and spending their
time on someone other than themselves, and with the loyalty here, they would
finish the task at hand. It’s really amazing to see the difference in how time
is spent, in this culture and in America, and the reasoning behind it.
To begin in my class, so that we
could teach and help, I needed to gain the teacher’s trust. I asked questions,
learned stories, and investigated my teacher, all so I could gain her trust. After a few days, Teacher Doroth and I were
as close as could be. She called me sweetie, gave me hugs and kisses, shared
whatever she had with me, and trusted me with her class. It wasn’t an easy task
and it wasn’t quick, but after I did gain her trust, it was amazing. When I
took the time and had the patience, gaining my teachers trust was worth every
moment.
On Sunday, we took the second half
of the day to visit an orphanage called Save Africa. When we got there,
everyone was shy and didn’t know what to do. The kids were doing their thing
and we were doing ours, and we just didn’t know how to join together. All it
took was one pass of a soccer ball, one move, one slight task, and we were
intertwined. After that, it was as if we
had known each other for weeks. We were holding hands, and dancing around, and
we all became inseparable. It took some time to warm up to each other, but
without that time we wouldn’t have become what we were. Later on, at the orphanage,
we discovered this puppy. He was pulling the chain attached around his neck and
crying his loudest cry back behind a tree. As we went out to the field in the
back, the kids decided to bring the puppy, Ziggy, along with us. As we got
closer to him, we noticed that he had sores all over, prominently on his ears.
He obviously wasn’t healthy, and he was covered head to toe in fleas. Just
until Krissy could take him to the vet, I wanted to help him out. So, flea by flea,
I pulled them off of him and discarded them. There were so many and it took a
lot of time because they are so small and they are so fast. With, each flea I
removed, I knew I was leaving Ziggy a little better off. It was the same
notion: the more time I took to de-flea him, the healthier he would be, and the
better I felt.
Because people are more relaxed
about time and are more open with their schedule here, I have so much needed
time to think. I have time to think about things at home, in the media, and about
family and friends, and with that time, my mind is able to run wild. With all
this time, and all this thinking, I come back to one thing. I come back to the astonishing
fact that I am in Africa. Not only am I in Africa, but I am working in a school
and teaching children; I am stepping towards a better place not only here, but
to a better me. So the next time you are rushing out the door, checking your
watch, or cramming your calendar, pause. Stop and give yourself some time to
think, because we don’t know the value of time until we really experience it
for ourselves.
