Day Ninty Four: Teach the Children

"Among the greatest of all services that can possibly be rendered by man to Almighty God is the education and training of children..."

- `Abdu'l-Baha

I've recently had another encounter with a Swahili speaker mixing up the "R" and the "L" when speaking English. I was trying to explain to another member of the NTC that a travel teacher was coming from Rwanda, but she thought I was talking about Luanda, the capital city of Angola. After spelling Rwanda and mentioning Kigali, we were finally on the same page.

I've been a little busy these past few days! May had a birthday on Friday with a bunch of spoiled rich kids from the international school she attends. Shame on me, I suppose, but the majority of them had atrocious behavior! A life of privilege really spoils a person's character when it's not accompanied by some program of moral education and discipline. On Saturday, Mitra and I attended the wedding of the niece of one of the local Baha'is. It was my first African wedding, which proved to be a really interesting experience. The groom was Christian and the bride was Muslim, so they had a civil marriage at Karimjee Hall and the reception was outside on the lawn. It was so extravagent! It must have cost millions of shillings, and in many ways it resembled a Western reception. That is until the music started and the dancing began! It was distinctly African in very many ways, but it was easy to see the Western influence.

During the mingling of the cocktail hour, I was able to meet Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim and his wife, Amne. Dr. Salim was the Secretary General of the Organization of African Unity for 12 years and has held a number of posts within the Tanzanian government, including Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Defense, and Tanzanian Ambassador to India, China, Egypt and the United Nations. Since meeting him I've done a bit of investigation into his career and it's really quite illustrious. It's the sort of career I might have once imagined for myself years ago. Mitra and I were able to speak to his wife more than him, and we explained a bit about the Baha'i Faith and the persecution of the Baha'is in Iran. Surprisingly, she knew a little about the Faith but as with most people she wasn't aware of the persecution in the land of its birth. We have her address, and we've promised to call on her with more information about the Faith.

Today, I had to wake up early to go to the Baha'i Centre to teach - you'd have never seen this coming - children's classes! Can you imagine me teaching children's classes? It was actually a group of young junior youth, ages 9-12, so they weren't too difficult to handle. I knew many of them, and they were helpful to me in adjusting to the way the class operates. I actually sort of enjoyed myself, but I definitely learned to prepare ahead. I'll be teaching the classes for the next 2 months or so while the regular teacher is on holiday in the United States. The only down side is that May Saba is in the classes. I had a difficult time handling her today. Sometimes she gets a little jealous when I focus my attention on someone else, especially another girl, so in the middle of the class she was laying her head on me, holding my hand, and trying to sit in my lap. Of course it was disruptive to the class and totally inappropriate when I'm in a "teacher" role, so I had to speak with her about it when we got home. I hope that next week won't be a repeat. It's hard to teach with a 9 year old in your lap!

I'm really getting a little concerned about the intense interest that seems to be developing about my relationship (or lack thereof) with Victorina. This sort of thing really bothers me because I like to keep my private life extremely private. Go figure that someone would want privacy about their private life, right? But the more I try to be private, the more people become interested in it. It certainly isn't my first encounter with this sort of thing, but you don't expect to find rumor-mongering in the Baha'i community. It seems that people are more willing to approach Victorina to inquire about our involvement, and from what I gather quite a few people have asked her. We're going to Iringa together tomorrow (I'm going for work, she's going for holiday) and when a few people found out eyebrows were raised and insinuations were made. I suppose for the most part it's harmless, but I've seen these sorts of things spiral wildly out of control as people's imaginations get more and more overactive.

There's little wonder in a country like this where so much has to be done on foot or in person that the Treasurer of the NTC and, essentially, the Committe's functioning Secretary have to spend so much time together, especially with the National Convention and National Institutional Conference back to back. Victorina have discussed the issue at length since, invariably, a number of people have commented about it since the last time we saw each other. I have to admit that when I see a guy and a girl of comparable age walking together I draw assumptions as well, but I try to keep it to myself, especially when they're a part of my community. I think there's also some level of excitement for the friends at the prospect of two Baha'is dating one another, especially considering when the opportunities for such a thing to occur are rare.

It's not that Victorina isn't a nice and attractive girl, but really how feasible is it that I date an African girl while I'm here, especially considering the very clear guidance about relationships provided by the Writings? Not to mention I have commitments at home. I wish the friends wouldn't apply pressure in such an indirect way, constantly inquiring and insinuating. I would say I wish the friends would mind their own business, but that seems a bit harsh. And maybe I'm overreacting in the first place. Maybe I enjoy the privacy of my private life a little too much!

So tomorrow I'm heading to Iringa for a few days. I'm going to visit my friend Laura, fellow NTC member Dermot, and do a little work for External Affairs. I have to identify newspapers and radio stations, as well as government and academic officials, so that we can contact them in the future. Unfortunately, the LSA of Iringa isn't meeting while I'm there so that necessitates two return trips: one to meet with the LSA and another to train the Public Informationa Representations. I should be complaining, though - it's cold in Iringa!