Down The Memory Lane

As I await my old beat up truck to get fixed at Upendo Garage (repair of failing brakes, gear lever moving all over in the cabin and regular service and tightening bolts here and there), I have decided to work on the my silver jubilee missal. Went to post office first and was disappointed to find that the parcel with missal covers printed in Poland by Bożena, our Foundation CEO) has not arrived yet. Came to my favorite spot in Musoma then, fired up the macbook and opened the text file.

Interesting how such a simple work as proofreading and fixing styling and changing words here and there in my mission statement (call it extended CV) will evoke such a wonderful world of memories. Walking down the memory lane it has become...

Memories of my childhood, family, our small flat in Nowa Huta, my home parish, First Communion, Confirmation, my priestly vocation, friends and relatives. Kraków, Kona Street where my father lived with his parents and family (now Bandurskiego Street) before they moved to Krasinskiego avenue. I remember vaguely that house, the stairs leading to the main door, the entrance gate, the vegetation here and there...

Then Nowa Huta, kindergarten, primary school, secondary school, friendships, youthful follies and stupidities, dreams and visions of the adult life, fears and worries, hopes and achievements...

The reaction of my parents when I told then I was going to seminary, that I felt I had a vocation to priesthood... Reactions of my teachers and classmates...disbelief...

Then seminary life, first terrible weeks when my fears and expectations clashed heavily my the reality and I found myself packing and wanting to go back home...the conversation with my spiritual direction who asked me for patience and chance for the vocation... I felt so out of the place!

I took a leap of faith and gave the chance to the call...It was not easy... I am not sure I would want to go through the same experience for the second time... if I would manage to pull through... It was always about me, not about the seminary or the people who were making the seminary community. No, it was always about me, feeling strangely out of place, out of context...

The ordination, first pastoral experiences here and there, first parish in Sułkowice, then sudden switch to Jaworzno-Osiedle Stałe...challenging but wonderful years... learnt so much from so many... neverending gratitude...

Then the sudden vocation to missionary life in Africa... and the following preparations... with disbelief and pain of my parents, turned to be pride and support in the following years... Then the first pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi, the flight to Tanzania, the first days and weeks... such a steep learning curve... falling and standing up, till now...

And all that lies between from that first evening in Dar es Salaam on January 8, 1991 till today... As I go through the missionary CV and highlights of my missionary work in Tanzania, on one side I feel disbelief that God wanted to achieve so much (relatively - judging according to the size of my pond in which I swim) through such an awkward and shabby tool; on the other side I feel that I am still out of place here... somehow...difficult to explain... a misfit... yet belonging... unfulfilled yet, but weary and burnt out at the same time... feeling remorse and guilt, asking God for forgiveness, that He has to fight with this stubborn and crude tool of His choice... trying hard to do His Will somehow, but unsure if I really do so to His liking...

Walking down the memory lane... Unexpectedly, on this ordinary Monday morning, in Musoma, awaiting the vehicle, the silent witness and my old friend in my journeys for the past twenty years...

Something extraordinary out of utterly ordinary day...

Enchanting...

What Better?

When worries - about people one cares for and loves, about important issues and challenges in one's life - reach unbearable intensity and one feels helpless and deeply hurt by the one's inability to shelter them from harm, what better can one do than to immerse and hide all the people, all that matters and oneself in the Ocean of Divine Mercy and to whisper - Jesus, I trust in You...?

"Commit your way to the LORD;

trust in him and he will act"

(Psalm 37:5)

White Plate White Mug

On my to-do-list for today in Dar es Salaam there was a quest for food warmers / food servers for our new kitchen in health center and in new pre-school. I went to Kariakoo to search for them. Found them here and there, but what caused my heart melt were white plastic plates and mugs I bought from the wholesale Chinese shop for the pre-school dining hall. 

As I was holding a sample plate and a mug in my hands, my mind went to the opening day of the new pre-school, November 22. On that day we will not only have the ribbon cutting ceremony at the gate, but also the short sample of 'a day in new pre-school' which means - first lesson in each age group, breakfast in new dining hall and first games in our new playgrounds. 

I felt touched by the mental picture of some one hundred happy pre-schoolers sitting at the new tables in dining hall and having their first breakfast served from the new kitchen, equipped with modern stuff. Nice nutritious breakfast served on new white plates and a mug of freshly brewed tea for our little ones... All effort that went into the planning of the project, waiting in anticipation for the announcement of the Polish Ministry for Foreign Affairs - if the project passed or not, then the entire construction process up till now - it was worth it. 

The picture of our pupils enjoying their first day in their new pre-school is priceless. And melts my heart. Grateful to God and so many grand people of good will - from the donors through our Foundation Kiabakari to the task force - who made this possible, who made this happen. 

Touchdown

Finally, after a couple of months of communication, paperwork and pushing through bureaucracy and unexpected twists and turns on the way, the first container with donated goods for our health center, pre and primary schools and for our neighbors - Resurrection Sisters at Chief Wanzagi Girls' Secondary School - has touched down in Kiabakari this morning. The offloading work went smoothly and things are securely stored for the time being as we finalize the development projects and make space for the equipment to be placed where it should be.

Gratitude to God Almighty for His blessing and Providence, thanks to Resurrection Sisters in Melbourne, Australia, in particular, Sister Hermina, and to all people of good will involved in the whole process in Australia, my friends in Dar es Salaam who helped with clearing process and finding the solid transporter, my classmate in Austria who donated two thirds of the money needed for the payments in clearing and forwarding process and to all who prayed for the safe journey and arrival of the container to Kiabakari. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart! Certainly, the donated items will help us immensely in providing better healthcare and education at grassroots level in rural Tanzania. 

Zipping Up My Travel Bag

In a few hours time I will be on my way back to Kiabakari via Mwanza. As I zip up my travel bag, I wrap up also the evaluation of this short trip to Dar es Salaam. It has been one of the most intense and exhausting visits to the business capital of Tanzania. Flew in on Wednesday with a short to-do-list hoping that I will be able to tick off at least half of the items on it. I am grateful to Almighty and Merciful God and to kind persons who helped me on the way, that most of the important issues I was able to complete.

The container with school and medical supplies for our health center, pre-school and primary school in Kiabakari is finally on its way to Kiabakari, hoping to reach the destination tomorrow evening or on Tuesday. All due payments settled, paperwork completed. I am grateful to our parishioner and the chairman of the development board of Kiabakari, who was instrumental in making sure that the container clearing and forwarding process went smoothly.

He's been also helping me with the registration of Honda 110 motorcycles which came in last year container. When I am back in Dar, I am sure this process will also be completed and I will come back to Kiabakari with registration cards and number plates for the motorcycles, allowing us to start using the vehicles for the benefit of our mission pastoral work, school and health center facilities.

The registration of our pre-school and primary school has got a new impetus and - although I will have to be back in Dar in a few days again - I am hopeful that in a short time we will see the issue solved positively and successfully.

I used this opportunity of being in Dar to deliver invitation cards for my silver jubilee in Kiabakari to my friends and benefactors, especially those who helped me in fundraiser in March this year. I will be extremely happy to see at least some of them attending the jubilee celebration on November 21 in Kiabakari and the official government and diocesan opening of the development projects, completed by that time - on November 22. I was able to collect the special color brochure (500 copies) with the program of that day, printed beautifully in Dar.

So, feeling happy and accomplished, I zip up my bag and set off to the airport to go back to Kiabakari to wait for the container and finish the paperwork in the district offices to come back again to Dar for a couple of days to push the registration process of our schools ahead and finish other project matters.

Deo gratias for this trip, goodbye Dar and Indian Ocean shores, praying for the safe return to Kiabakari and God's blessing for all of us for this week! Continuing to light the candle of hope for my people in Kiabakari! Take care!

Determination And Resolve

Everybody knows what these two nouns mean. According to the online dictionary Merriam-Webster determination is a quality that makes you continue trying to do or achieve something that is difficult, while resolve is a strong determination to do something.

These two qualities or virtues are among the most needed for me in this particular time of my life and the celebration of the Year of Faith in Kiabakari, full of various events and challenges.

As I continue with dealing and sorting out of different issues and items on my long to-do-list here in Dar es Salaam, it is the state of mind and heart which I have been luckily experiencing - determination and resolve. 

There is a lot of expected and unexpected obstacles coming up while I circle around the town trying to tick the items off the list. But I do not get discouraged or put off. Yesterday was the best example of this attitude. And at the end of the day, although my stomach gave in under huge stress of dealing with people who are not well known for their truthfulness and willingness to fulfill their pledges, I was happy in general, and satisfied.

We will see how things pan out today. Starting with the courtesy visit to the Cardinal Archbishop of Dar es Salaam, continuing with the final stages of the payments and clearing of the container with school and health center supplies from Australia for Kiabakari. Then, later on, a few meetings with important to me people.

The Psalm 37 comes to mind in such a situation like today where very little depends on me, and most of the other parties - "Commit your way to the LORD, trust in him and he will act" (Ps 37:5)

May the Good Lord grant us a peaceful, happy and successful day.

No Vacation

Looks like my blog has been quiet for some time, almost one month now. Whenever I want to sit down and type a few lines, things come up and I have to dive into deep water of current challenges and responsibilities. Luckily, I have started to seen the light at the end of the dark tunnel and soon will come back to more regular posting.

Development projects are in the final stage which demands my presence daily at construction sites as the finishing works depend heavily on the esthetic taste of the project client. Registration process of our pre- and primary schools has to begin anew after mistakes done by the people responsible for preparing the report for the ministry. This takes time and resources. Hopefully, in the couple of weeks the brand new report will be submitted again in the Ministry of Education. Today we made another good step towards the completion of the report.

Visitation of the statue of Our Lady which travels around the diocese in each parish in the Year of Faith has reached us in Kiabakari on Wednesday. Tomorrow is the day to hand it over to our neighbors in Mugango Parish. It has been a time of grace and intense prayer with the pinnacle which was the diocesan pilgrimage of Catholic women of the diocese on Saturday and Sunday with night vigil. Today the statue is at Sisters' convent and after evening Mass there, I will be the last one to welcome the statue in my house chapel, where it will stay with us till tomorrow morning.

Health center equipment for the project has started to come by road transport from Dar. The last part of the shipment we expect to receive soon if not this week then the next.

The parish after the visitation is turning its attention to the next point in the celebrations of the Year of Faith. This will be my silver jubilee of priesthood on November 21, with the consecutive official opening of the completed projects - done by the District Commissioner of Butiama District with the representative of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The preparations to both events are well underway. This will be a summit of all my personal efforts of the entire year. Please. keep us all in your prayers, so we succeed!

I guess, this will be all for today. Praying for you always, dear readers of my blog. Stay blessed and happy!