Completing a Month of Epic Hospitality

MCC SALTers at Teri-Lynn's house where we stopped for lunch on the way to Bujumbura.

If 50% of our job as country reps is travel, then I would have to say that the other 90% is hosting guests.  Not that we mind too much.  The Bible says that hospitality is a spiritual gift so maybe we are just really blessed.  In the past 3 weeks we have hosted a continuous number of people starting with Zachee and Bridget two weeks ago but continuing even up to today.

I will back up and try to fill in some of the details.  Zachee and Bridget left last Sunday morning to return to Canada, and on Monday I also left the country for Kigali by car.  I went with Felix to meet some partners and the host families of our SALTers to take care of various bits of business.  I was there for several days and during that time I had a chance to do some social visiting with host parents who are all affiliated with the friends church as well as some of the missionaries there, particularly Dave and Debbie Thomas who have been living and working in Rwanda for the last 17 years, I believe.

I also had the chance to go on a field visit to one of our projects.  It was a training for a number of rural agricultural groups on how to do savings together with the Village Savings and Loan model.  It has been amazing to see this very effective program transform communities as people pool their resources then lend to each other (with interest) and eventually raise enough capital to buy everyone a cow, for instance, or other asset.

Although the training was in Kinyarwanda, I could understand what was going on well enough and was encouraged by the work I saw there.

Matt & Bash

I saw our volunteers as well and when we left I took our two SALTers, Alyssa and Janelle with me and Matt Gates, our agronomist followed us in his car (with his new puppy “Bash” in tow.)  I stopped by Burasira on the way back to Bujumbura and picked up Terri-Lynn as well.  She had just finished doing mid-term exams in all her classes as the school prepares for a two week Easter break.

The reason we were all convoying down to Bujumbura was to have a team gathering to discuss MCC values and how they apply to the work we are doing in our assignments.  It is a once yearly activity that MCC expects us to do.  But although it might sound a bit redundant, it is actually very interesting to consider each year.

The trip was a bit rough as we were delayed by an hour at the border because when I bought the SALTers visas, the immigration officer did not have the $20 change I was supposed to get back.  It literally to an hour of waiting for him to return with money for change.  We sat at the border the whole time waiting for the problem to be solved and frustrated that he would not give change in local currency despite our request for him to do so.  Eventually we were able to leave only to come upon an accident (truck went over a steep embankment) later on the road that took another 30 minutes to clear.

When we arrived in Bujumbura, we found Melody and Yolanda were already down from Gitega and were helping Rebecca set up for dinner and prepare materials for the meetings.

Matt was the last to arrive, but by Thursday evening we were all together for dinner and shared fajitas and enjoyed visiting.

We ended our evening with worship following an Anabaptist Lenten liturgy leading up to Holy week.  Everyone seemed very pleased to be together and we had the 4 Rwanda folks in our house while Melody and Yolanda stayed with Jennifer (who lives about 2 blocks away.)

On Friday morning we took the kids to school in the morning and then began meeting in earnest beginning with worship and a time of sharing what we do in our work and the things that have encouraged us in the last few months.

We began our values discussion after that and followed a form which identifies 8 values of MCC that are expected to be evident in our programming, but also modeled in our individual lives.

It struck me that this is something that one either loves or hates about MCC.  There is an expectation, in fact a requirement that those working for the organization model the values that we exhibit programmatically.  I could imagine some that would consider that perhaps overbearing, even invasive, but I think it is one of the things that makes our organization unique from so many other NGO’s doing development work. 

It is not just a matter of being Christian either.  There are many here working as Christians in Christians organizations.  It is how our faith expresses itself in particular ways regarding, service, justice, and standing with the poor and marginalized.

Here are the values we discussed:

Yolanda

Relationships—This has to do with the way we treat each other and our partners.  We realize that relationships are the key building blocks of our programming, but do presume a certain level of accountability with regard to the completion of the work we are trying to do.

Learning—This recognizes that we are a learning organization and we have as much to receive from our local partners as we have to give.  It presumes that we are not the experts coming in, but we depend on partners and beneficiaries to help us shape priorities in our programming. 

Flexibility—This connects to the idea of learning and reminds us that we must rely on others (local advisory counsels and partners) to help understand the context and direct our programs.

Solidarity—This reminds us that we need to attempt to immerse ourselves in the culture through language study, and lifestyles compatible with those we serve and to particularly understand issues of injustice in our context and be responsible to our privileges.

Non-violence—This is the Anabaptist commitment to non-violent methods in resolving conflict, especially in confronting injustices.

Servanthood—We must behave with humility in relating to others, be accountable, both in terms of integrity but also procedurally, and we should be aware of the informal power relationships that may privilege us above others and not abuse them.

Collaborative Decision Making—Mcc is not autocratic and there is an expectation that decision making will involve all stake holders.  Time will be taken to give all a voice.

Involvement with the church—MCC does recognize the church as the most significant agent of transformation in the world.  We are expected to be accountable individually and programmatically to a local church in our context.

As I said, above, you may react positively or negatively to the idea that your employer is holding you accountable to both uphold and practice its values.  For me, I appreciate the challenge more and more as I spend more time in MCC.

We had many discussions, some bordering on debates as we worked through these values and ended by creating a series of action points for the coming year to improve our track record on these things.

We worked all day Friday and Saturday, but did have time for games in the evenings.  Actually on Friday afternoon I taught my ballet classes as usual and appreciated having all 3 SALTers join the adult class in the evening.  Teri-Lynn has come before, but it was the first time for Janelle and Alyssa.  

On Sunday we had some worship time together then headed to the beach for the afternoon.  It was a beautiful day and we tried a new place called Jenny’s Beach, which is a nice café with very attractive gazebos out in the sand where you can order food an beverages.  It features many salads and fruit drinks that our just perfect for the beach.  In general I would give it a favorable review except the service was quite slow (an hour and a half from ordering to receiving food.)   

The kids enjoyed swimming in the lake as did most of our team and we stayed there until early evening.  When we returned, we had a Birthday party for Matt Gates for which Jennifer and Rebecca made a fabulous chocolate cake.  (using a Betty Crocker mix!)

Monday morning the kids were back in school and we managed to get our whole team out of the house and on to the road.   I gave them an 11 am check-out time because we were expecting another set of guests by 2pm.

The transition promised to be hard because one of our house staff was sick, so we all pitched in to get the house cleaned, all the beds remade, and the kitchen restocked and ready for the next set of guests.

Mark Sprunger, our area director, arrived with Tim Lind the MCC Congo rep. and Michael Sharp, the MCC Eastern Congo coordinator from Bukavu by 3pm that afternoon.  The timing was perfect for us as we had just finished getting the house back in order.

They are here for a subregional MCC Great Lakes discussion.  Our country programs have much to talk about and coordinate.  For anyone following the conflict in the Great Lakes region, you could imagine the issues that might come up between representatives representing Rwanda and those representing Eastern Congo in our organization, especially as we try to help clarify advocacy positions for our organization.  In truth though, it is really good to be together and discuss our region with them and share stories about the radically different perceptions of the conflict from our Congolese and Rwandese partners.

We had dinner together at Ubuntu restaurant on our first evening together, then met at our house all day Tuesday.

We will be done with all meetings and hosting this coming Thursday, just in time for Easter and two weeks of Spring break.  We are trying to decide what would be relaxing to do and give us time to make some much needed time with our kids.  At this time staying home alone as a family and repainting the porch has the greatest appeal.

For more photos of our team gathering, you can check out this link.  MCC Team Gathering  

  

How to plan a Burundian Reception and other events

This week, I – Rebecca – am giving Paul a break from writing the blog. He has left for a few days in Rwanda and I’m home with the kids holding down the fort. But I’m not just being a kind, thoughtful wife – If anything, I have less time than him this week, believe it or not. Rather, I want to set down for posterity (and for myself for future reference) what it takes to host a Burundian reception.

The big event of this past Saturday was helping to host an open house for Zachée and Bridget, a time when they could invite everyone they hadn’t seen adequately during their extremely short 1 week visit to come and greet them. Honestly, the inspiration for this came from dear friends at Poughkeepsie United Methodist Church. On several occasions when we came back to visit Poughkeepsie since we left in 2008, church friends made an open invitation to a potluck picnic after church so that we could at least see briefly some of the many people who have been special to us. It was always a great gift to us. And it was the kind of event that we imagined Zachée and Bridget would need, so together with our friends Naja and Thomas, we started planning.

The trick is this: potluck is an American concept. It is totally anti-hospitality here in Burundi. If you invite people, you need to be prepared to offer food and beverage to them. And the guest list for this event was anyone’s guess! We decided to plan for 40 adults. But what does that even mean, in a country where people can actually eat a LOT when they have the opportunity to enjoy a good meal? Would we have enough? Here was the menu:

For starters--

• 50 meat samosas / sambousas
• 3 crates of soft drinks (remember, we go by 375 ml glass bottles here! No 2L bottles to share around!)
• 2 crates of bottled juice

 

Main meal –

• 7 kg rice
• 4 kg beans in tomato sauce
• 5 kg mixed potatoes, green bananas and carrots in tomato sauce
• 1 big pot of lenga-lenga (amaranth greens cooked with little green eggplants)
• 9 kg of beef carbonade stew
• 2 kg sautéed green beans
• 3 heads of cabbage and 2 kg carrots for 4 platter salads and 1 huge Cole slaw
• 2 kg of pasta salad with veggies
• 4 loaves of bread
• 8 bunches of small bananas
• 3 cakes and 2 banana bread loaves

Naja and I ended up calling in 4 cooks total to work from early Saturday morning until the afternoon in our 2 houses. You cannot imagine the size of the huge pot of rice that finally finished steaming at 3:30 (along with 2 smaller ones) when we loaded our dinner contributions in the back of our car and headed over to Naja and Thomas’ house (I am eternally grateful that they were willing to host this event and allow us just to bring food – our house was in no state for visitors!).

Around 5:30 the first guests began to arrive, and by 6:30 the veranda was full of family and friends. I was really glad for the chance to greet some of Zachée’s family members whom I hadn’t seen for quite a while. And in addition, there were many friends who attended that are also connections for us through MCC. So it wasn’t as if we were entertaining total strangers. On the other hand, it was quite nice to not be the main entertainers, but just to keep refilling dishes from the kitchen, offering people drinks and helping Naja’s cook try to keep up with the never-ending pile of dishes. One sweet aspect of the evening was that Bridget mobilized Timmy and his Burundian cousins as the server crew – they actually did most of the drink distribution, collected dirty plates and offered people cake, like very well-behaved Burundian children should do. At a certain point in the evening, on demand, Zachée gave a short speech, and his brother gave a counter speech. And around 8:30 most people felt that it had been a good party and prepared to leave.  A few latecomers arrived, but we were pretty-well done with clean up by 9:30 – and ready for bed!!

So what was the outcome on our food planning? We had WAY too much!! The only things that were really finished up were the samosas, lenga-lenga, green beans and cake. Both Naja and I ended up with mountains of rice and beans, to the great joy of the house staff at our respective houses. Our original planning had been even higher: 10 kg of beans instead of 4. Thank God we consulted with Marceline who informed us that she had fed 450 people with 15 kg of beans at her graduation ceremony last year.

So here is a revised shopping list for 70 people (that’s probably how many came and ate, including children) on a Saturday evening, when they may have eaten at earlier receptions also:

• 3 kg rice (and keep some water hot so that if you need more rice you can make it quickly, but you won’t have waste)
• 5 kg meat at most.
• 2 kg beans
• 2 kg potatoes / ibitoke (plaintains)
• 2 loaves of bread
• 2 crates of Fanta
• 1 crate of juice (and just have passion fruit concentrate available if you run short)

It would have been nice to fall into bed when we got home, but Sunday morning was a special Women’s Sunday at our church. Thus the men were teaching Sunday school (Paul needed to prepare for that) and the women were leading the service (I needed to do some finishing touches on the worship song sheets).

But we were not the only ones preparing. The women of our church started working on this service 6 weeks ago and set up committees for every aspect of the day: décor, ushers, worship team, speeches, skit, and big reception after the service. For me, this was another really interesting experience in intercultural event planning. I was incredibly impressed by how seriously the women took this event. For example, the reception committee prepared a budget for food and drink 3 weeks in advance. It was to be a small, light meal, of a soda and snacks (which also meant including chicken and meat balls), and the budget was pretty high. The women decided just to mobilize all the cultural groups of women in the church to contribute, and it seems like they must have come up with the necessary amount. When it comes to a special occasion here, people always find a way to make the sacrifice of giving a little extra. I helped to mobilize the western community to contribute, and it was really great to see how many women got involved in doing things who normally haven’t done things outside of the Sunday school program. But I think all the great preparations remained a bit bewildering to the occidentals, who are so used to an informal, low-key style of celebration.

Another insight came during our Saturday worship team rehearsal when I found out that the Burundian ladies had all decided to rent matching imvutanos – the special sari-like draped dresses that are customary for special occasion. These can be rented for 3000 per day usually. But the church ladies had decided to rent ones that cost 7000 per person. That’s only $5, but still it is a lot of money for many of the women in our church especially when they had already contributed for the reception. But I realized what a high value is placed on dressing up for an occasion and making it really special.

On the worship team front – it was a very fun process that took up much more of my “free” time than I could really afford at this moment. The organizers had recruited ladies from all the major cultural groups in our church to be together on the worship team and bring representative songs from their traditions. So the 20 of us learned songs from Kenya, Congo, Burundi, Ethiopia and the USA. A few songs were easy to sing in 4 different languages, especially a Lingala song which says, “Christian women, let your light shine (x3) in your home, church and everywhere” and the old favorite “How Great Thou Art!”

Things I learned along the way:

• Transportation to our far away church is really, really hard for most people in our church community
• Giving people rides to the rehearsals because of the transport issues gives you a chance to get to know one another
• People will never show up to a rehearsal on time, so it’s a good idea to see the waiting around time as relationship building time
• Learning songs (like I needed to learn the Ethiopian song) gives you a chance to visit with people and spend time with them
• The lead singer will probably start singing sharp, so be ready to transpose the song along with her (during a rehearsal of the Congolese song, it started sounding all wrong. I looked at the bass guitar player and he pointed up. I was grateful for 12 years of piano and theory lessons to help me move keys quickly)
• African musicians are incredibly adaptable and do not need to know anything about the accompaniment except what key you’re starting in. Honestly, they don’t need to be told. Most will figure it out in 30 seconds or less (though some are better than others at intuiting the real harmony)
• The permanent worship team at our church (bass, drums, piano) is REALLY good. We only rehearsed with all 3 of them a total of 40 minutes before the service and it all ended up sounding great!
• Our final rehearsal was pretty chaotic, with none of the same musicians, and it didn’t seem likely that the worship set would go smoothly at all. But that didn’t mean anything.
• Did I mention that it’s all about relationship?

On Sunday morning, we had no chance to rehearse at all, because of generator problems. But once the service got going, it was really fun. We’d planned 4 high-energy songs in 4 different languages right at the beginning. And with the excellent musicians helping our voices sound good, it was easy to make a joyful noise to the Lord. The last in that set was a traditional Kirundi chorus with a very intricate rhythm that I needed to leave to the Burundian musicians to play. Two women stepped out front, one singing and the other young woman dancing. That was my favorite moment of the whole service, seeing Arianne dancing her heart out in the graceful but boisterous steps of Burundian women’s dance. Little girls from the congregation began to imitate her also.  To me it was a real celebration of the best of the feminine image of God, grounded in a particular culture.

And the whole Burundian group looked fabulous in their matching imvutano, which matched the bold orange and burgundy décor. The Congolese ladies all came wearing matching tailored dresses sewn out of coloring “8 March International Women’s Day” fabric, complete with photos and lettering. Yvonne from Kenya wore Maasai beads with red kanga cloth. The sermon was a clarifying exposition about how gender differences were never a problem in Eden, when both men and women were demonstrating the image of God. But the problems have come up as a result of sin and our misuse of power against one another, and the devaluing of the image of God in women in some cultures. Azele called us to value our cultures, but to critique them biblically and seek to be Christian above all else.  The reception was incredibly well organized and plentiful – it looked like they had met their fund-raising goal. Overall, it was a very, very joyful day at our church.

We went home, cleaned our house for bible study together as a family (Oren fully helped) and then had a quiet pizza lunch at Ubuntu – where we were surprised to find them hosting a St. Patrick’s Day event. You wouldn’t forget that day in the USA, but here in Burundi, it takes you a bit by surprise to find the “pub open” and Belgian teachers walking around sporting green leprechaun hats. I didn’t realize that it had become an international holiday. I suspect it was all about the pint of Guinness… We had our Bible study later and Paul and Oren played games before bed – apparently Oren checkmated Paul for the first time. So now a new week, and lots to do to prepare for team meetings starting Thursday, and regional meetings (also hosted at our house) starting the following Monday.

A Visit From Some Very Good Friends

Zachee, Bridget and Tim, our surprise visitors,  chillin' by the pool at Club du Lac Tanganyika.

I am definitely guilty of letting too many days go by at this point.  The truth is I have been having too much interest in living life this week to want to sit back and reflect.  OK, there were some times of escape, like watching an episode of Downton Abbey on Monday evening.  (It is amazing that we have internet fast enough to stream it these days.)

I am trying to remember the highlights of the week. I do know that I did spend some time getting our bed rebuilt.  For anyone remembering a past blog where I mentioned bedbug problems, our intermittent skirmishes broke out into a full-blown war a couple weeks ago when we jettisoned the mattress and took the frame apart completely and had a carpenter re-varnish every piece of wood on it including the screw holes.  We bought a new mattress and had the frame reassembled with a new mosquito frame last week.  We also rewashed all linens and pillows several times as well.  

I think we finally have it under control, and have enjoyed being back in our room after two weeks away.  

Teri-Lynn next to her gigantic rosemary
shrub in her backyard.

That was one of several small crises that have had to be managed.  On Monday evening I also got a call from our SALTer Teri-Lynn saying that she was out of everything (cooking gas, bread, oil, sugar, money) and needed a supply run.  I had not planned to go up this week but did make a trip up on Thursday to Burasira.  It was not a major inconvenience to drive up, although on the way I hit a pretty big bump at a good clip and caused the 30 kilo gas canister I was carrying to jump up and land on the loaves of bread I had in the trunk.  

I am actually quite impressed at how well Teri-Lynee does in her very remote setting with none of the local language and limited French.  There are absolutely no mzungus anywhere nearby either.  Yet she teaches English at the Hope School with admirable dedication and is committed to seeing her students pass their exams this year.  

The trip up to see her takes just over 3 hours and the road continues to be a challenge.  Because I did not want to lose any days of work in Bujumbura, I went up and came back after swimming on the same day.  I spent a short time at her house dropping off supplies then we swung by the school on the way out to see the progess on the construction of a new library that is being built there thanks a grant from the Foundation for Hope in Africa.  As it turns out Innocent and Beatrice (the Batwa heads of the organization that runs the school) were there.  It was good to see them and talk a bit about how things were going at the school as well.  I took a picture of them with Teri-Lynn in front of the library which is going up fast.

Teri-Lynn decided to ride back to Bujumbura with me since it looked like classes would be cancelled in Friday for meetings.  We got back to town in the early evening and picked up Oren, Rebecca, and David at karate and we all went and got icecream at Iceworld.  (Our Thursday-after-karate family tradition)  It is the only place in Burundi where you can get soft-serve icecream.

Friday was fairly normal with ballet in the afternoon.  Teri-Lynn did join in 2 of the classes as she was a dancer before coming to Burundi.  Not the first MCCer that has taken my ballet classes, but I have not had any for a while.  The day was also one of preparation for some other guests we were very excited about and who’s visit I have not mentioned in the blog until this posting...  

Oren was extremely excited about the fact that Zachee, Bridget, and his best friend Timmy were coming to Burundi for a week from Canada!!!  

They left here about 2 years ago and have not been back since.   We did have the good fortune to see them in Baltimore last summer as the surprised Rebecca on her 40^th Birthday.   They told us of their plans several months ago but asked us to keep it a bit under wraps because they did not want everyone to know.  

Their plane arrived about 2 in the morning and we were spared the task of picking them up from the airport as they took a cab.  Oren could hardly wait for Timmy to wake up on Saturday once he got up.  Understandably they slept in and did not emerge from bed until after our morning yoga session.  

They emerged looking tired but terrific and it was great to see them.  Elias and Aviaja and their mom were over early as well as they were also great friend’s of Timmy’s.  We went to the beach with them (Club du Lac Tanganyika) later in the afternoon and the kids swam in the pool and the lake.  It was a perfect evening to sit by the pool during the sunset which has got to be the best tourist selling point of Burundi.  (Bujumbura at sunset)  The breeze was perfect as the sun disappeared behind the DRC mountain range.  We had fish brochettes, French fries, and pizza and reminisced about the old days and the many changes we have seen in the past two years, for better and worse.  

Sunday morning was very special because it was a day that Rebecca was preaching.  It was definitely one of her best sermons and somehow during the past week she was able to prepare for it despite many other claims on her time.  

She was given the task of speaking on the role of the Holy Spirit in achieving Christlikeness—a dauntingly Theological challenge to say the least.  She however went the route of story-telling and used the passage of Jesus’s temptation in the desert to talk about the way He, being filled with the spirit was able to fend off 3 temptations to use and abuse power offered by the Devil.

She very effectively played the devil’s advocate (using his voice) to flesh out each of the three temptations and the kind of power they elicited.

               1) The power to help himself for personal gain.

         2)   The power of the state to advance his agenda by force.

         3)   The power of celebrity to accomplish things (and avoid the cross).

The problem with all of these is that none of them represented a path of obedience God had laid before him.  Jesus resisted them all.  But he did so without resorting to any kind of power (even though he was ‘full of the Spirit.)  He did no miracle whatsoever to defeat the Devil.  He simply answered him from scripture.  “Like a stubborn child who knows what is right.” as Rebecca put it.  

Among the important things she reminded us was the fact that Godly ends can never, never be accomplished by UnGodly means. I have to say I am surprised what a trap that is for all of us, especially Christians.  If we know what is right and a good end, can’t we take any short cuts to get to it?  Can’t we lie just a bit to trap a dishonest person, say.  The Christlike answer is of course, No.

The sermon really hit a chord, especially because I think here, the Holy Spirit is usually thought of as giving us super-natural power to do miracles and wonders.  But to see how Jesus handled this very difficult ideological challenge without resorting to any extraordinary means is a very important model as well for us who follow him.  We do not need to impress anyone with signs and wonders to do the will of the Father.

Rebecca was pretty wiped out after church but had to stay a bit longer to prepare for a women’s service for next week that she is worship-leading.  We rested at home in the afternoon and then had small group in the evening.  The sermon was a take-off point for some good reflection there.

We restarted the week well with Zachee and Bridget still with us.  Monday night was uneventful, but on Tuesday the women went out: Bridget, Rebecca, Naja, Tanja, and Jeanette.  This is most of the old group that used to go out monthly when Bridget lived here.

I was the babysitter for Timmy, Oren, David, and Isabel (Jeanette’s daughter).  I did manage to get them all in bed before the women came home.  Wednesday night was quid-pro-quo with the men going out while the women stayed home.

Zachee and Bridget are with us until Wednesday when they go upcountry.  They will come back for an open-house at our home Saturday and then leave Sunday.

We are sad it is such a short trip.  When they were here our lives were very interdependent and as a result we were very close, particularly Oren and Timmy who spent at least 2 days per week together and often more.  

It is interesting to note how, at this point in our time here, we have many old memories from Burundi, not just recent ones.  People come and go a lot here, the good thing is, there are bonds that are made that endure.

 

Decoding the Culture of Driving

Our dogs inspecting our recently purchased Toyota Raum.

Musafiri is my mechanic.  Over the years that I have been here he has become more than that.  Not so much a friend as a sort of cultural liason.  In Burundi there are no formal relationships.  Try as one might, no one will allow you to remain at a professional distance.  Relationship is the canvas upon which every interaction here is painted and there is no distinction made between a business and a personal one. 

Musafiri has been giving me insights into decoding the culture of driving here.  It began several years ago when I wanted to replace our  1994 Prado (4X4) with a newer car.   I began looking around at different models of landcruisers and other vehicles I was shown, primarily looking for a good value, and when I asked him to evaluate them he would tell me their condition, but would also ask me odd questions about my interest in such a vehicle.  Sometimes he would just shake his head and say in his French that betrays a preference for Swahili:  “Monsieur Paul.  Pourquoi est-ce-que tu veux un vehicule comme ca.  Ce n’est pas un vehicule pour un missionaire.”  I realized he had very clear ideas about what I should be driving.  I was not working for the UN or EU so I should not be looking at a certain type of vehicle in his opinion, and he seemed to feel it was important that my car give cues to my social status, and not confuse anyone.    The question of price was never a prime consideration to him it seemed.   As a missionary or pastor I should be looking for something more modest, or at least older.   When I told him we had a large team that needed transport he told me he would find a vehicle that was suited for me and eventually picked the 2006 Fortuner which I did buy.  (It is interesting to note as well that Musafiri is Muslim and still felt he had a responsibility to tell me the kind of cars that missionaries and pastors should drive.)

When we decided to get a more fuel efficient second car this last month I consulted him and he suggested the Raum which he considered to be suitable--not too ‘feminine’ but something Rebecca could drive as well.  I had asked about the Carina and he shook his head vigorously against it and said that was a car for women and ‘commercants.’   He poo-pooed the Vitz as well which he considered entirely too ‘feminine’ and weak for driving up country.  I did eventually settle on his advice and have been happy with both cars he has recommended.

What I do notice when driving is how differently I am treated when driving the two vehicles on the road.  When I drive the Fortuner I find people make way, do not butt in front of me as quickly, the police do not stop me, and I can usually get through an intersection with no stop signs almost as soon as I arrive by simply edging slowly into the oncoming traffic.

In the Raum I am like a second class citizen.  Prado’s and landcruisers pull up behind me and honk me out of the way, even if I am stopping to make a turn.  I have to wait a long time to enter into moving traffic, and there is not right-of-way for me in that car until all have past.

I have come to realize that the sociology of driving here is a good reflection of culture that is a product of traditional African with an overlay of French culture.   Both of these cultures project strong hierarchical social relations which are defined by but extend well beyond the boundaries of ones profession.

Since, as I mentioned above, there is no distinction between formal and informal social relations, if I am say a Bishop in my church,  I am a Bishop everywhere I go.  The same is true of other roles of high social status.  The entitlements I have in one of these roles are assumed to extend to all areas of life.   If I am a boss in my job, I am your boss in the street even if you don’t know me and don’t work in my organization.  As a boss I have the right of way in all circumstances.

As one friend put it, there is no presumed equality here among ‘citizens’.  Everyone is either above or below you and the only relevant question when meeting someone is to figure out which.

Don’t get me wrong, I do know that there are clear deliniations of social class in the cars we drive in North America.  A BMW or maybe even a Hummer certainly represents some degree of wealth or success.  The difference is that the nice car does not entitle one to ignore traffic signals, or to pass cars in a line waiting to turn and pull to the front.  Every driver is subject to the same laws at home and it would be unbelievably obnoxious for someone to presume otherwise.

Not so in Burundi.  If you are grand chef in your work, you are a grand chef on the road.

To be able to display and also decode social cues of status is something every Burundian is practiced at, but a foreigner, especially from an anti-hierarchical  culture like the US can be completely flummoxed and may perhaps appear boorish.

Having the right car, as Musafiri was trying to show me is important to send the right social cues.  Missionaries do not drive large new landcruisers or Prados used by large donors like the European Union or USAID.  Commercants and women drive small cars.   A head of a church should have a car that reflects his social status.

Generally mzungu’s drive 4X4s because they are rich.  But even among 4X4s there is a pecking order that must be respected—generally newer is better, missionaries should not have something newer than about 2000 apparently.

King of the Road

I asked Musafiri about the pecking order and he said the Double cab white  HI Lux pick-ups are at the top of the heap--driven only by ‘les Grand Chefs” of the ruling party.  The large white landcruisers are in the same category and tend to be the preferred mode of transport for foreign diplomats and heads of large NGOs.  I have noticed the Presidential caravan now sports 8 brand new Mercedes Benz’ but was until recently a line of white land cruisers.  For him, all roads are closed at least 15 minutes before he even whizzes buy and cars must wait on the side of the road until he is well past. 

So on the road, one is expected to be aware of and maintain the decorum of the hierarchy.  Smaller less important cars must make way for bigger cars because people of higher social rank are driving them.  Taxis are at the bottom the barrel in this but seem to be a law unto themselves.  They do pay dearly though, as police will stop them at every check point to exact a small bribe to allow them to continue operating their vehicles which often seem to be held together by little more than chicken wire.

Bicycles and motorcycles are not even considered have any rights whatsoever and can be cut off without any warning by any 4 wheeled vehicle.

I am learning to go between the two vehicles and drive according to the rank I project,.  Admittedly my Burundian colleagues seem a bit perplexed that I would have two cars that send such contradictory social cues.  I think most would say I should have been driving a Rav4 as my second car, not the Raum.

It is interesting in this context to ask the question:  What car would Jesus drive here?”  I would say that many Burundian Christians and especially pastors would aspire to drive the Hi Lux, but Jesus would probably choose a bicycle and would probably be a friend of the much maligned taxi drivers.

I have been happy to drive the more fuel efficient car any demotion in status not withstanding because of the ongoing fuel shortage.  I am not sure how much longer this will go on.

I do have an update and some news about the financial crisis that seems to have gripped the country until last week. Actually on Tuesday the Burundian franc regained about 30% of its value in one morning.

The change was so rapid that I suspected some kind of currency speculation, but when talking to some friends I did find out that the rise was due to, as I expected, a severe shortage of foreign currency in the country, but then the World Bank provided an block grant of several million dollars on Tuesday and brought the currency value back down vis-à-vis the dollar.

The value is still not great to the dollar but at least it is not outrageous and continuing to rise uncontrollably.  Apparently our timing for buying the car was perfect as the day we bought it was the day when the value of the dollar was at its strongest.

Despite massive currency fluctuations, the week was fairly normal for us as a family, with the kids in school every day and us following a fairly regular schedule of activities.  The weekend provided a number of social opportunities which began Friday afternoon with a Birthday party for Oren and David's friend Micah Johnson's 5th Birthday.  (Jessie and Joy's son).  Oren and David went over to their house with a number of other friends from the missionary community here.  

We went and visited Stephen and Laura  on Saturday afternoon.  He is the political attaché for the UN mission here and she is an MPH who does consultancies.  They have 3 kids in the Ecole Belge. The two boys are older and play soccer with Oren in the after-school league and their daughter takes my ballet class.  Oren and David play very well with her and like to visit their house.  They have a nice place with lots of legos and a swimming pool!

It is always interesting to talk to them and he often has helpful insights about the political landscape of the region. 

We had dinner with Tim and Jeanette that same day so it was quite full socially. 

Sunday was church where I continue to more and more to help out with Sunday School (mainly to keep David in his classroom.)  The two Anglophone class average about 27 kids each so they are quite large and need several adults to supervise.

In the evening we had a potluck with our small group at the house of Natasha, one of our members.  She is Burundian but had lived many years as a refugee outside of the country (mainly Canada).  It was a very nice gathering and we were all there at once.  With the kids we hardly look like a ‘small group’ as you can see in the picture.  Currently we are Americans, Kenyans, Ethiopians, Burundians, and South African/Australians.  (We lost our Canadian couple last year—miss you Scott and Danica).   It is a very international group and that is one of the things I really love about meeting with them. 

Our 'not-so small' cell group

We got home at a reasonable hour and put the kids to bed.  Rebecca is currently reading Oren The Secret Garden, which he seems to like.