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Talking about Tanzania

Habari! Hello!

From Iowa to Tanzania, a companionship unfolds

Bariki

Bariki’s sister wrote for him: “Kind regards. I am extremely happy to receive your letter together with your picture…”

Nearly a year ago, Bridget Garvey needed gas money. A freshman at Scott Community College, Bridget stopped in the church office to “fuel up” with cash from her mother Jennifer, the church receptionist. “I saw this photo on my mom’s desk.” It was Bariki Charles, a five-year-old in green blazer and pants, standing in the arid landscape of Bombo Lutheran Parish in northern Tanzania, east Africa.

“Oh, he’s so cute,” Bridget said to her mom. “You should write to him,” urged Jennifer.

The photo had been part of a children’s message delivered by Lori and Todd Byerly, ELCA missionaries in Tanzania, when they were home on furlough last June. Each child received a bracelet hand-beaded by Maasai women along with a photo of a Tanzanian child.

Cyndi Bunting, a nurse who traveled to Tanzania with a St. Paul medical-construction mission in 2005, told Bridget about the beauty of the children: “When we were traveling down the road, with tall grasses on either side, it seemed like no one was there. But suddenly kids would run out of the grass shouting ‘_Habari! Habari!’_ (Swahili for Hello! Hello!). Out of this long blowing grass would come life.”

The letter Bridget received, she noticed, had been written by this small child’s older sister. Relationships are precious, and Christina had found a computer to type a letter connecting Bariki with Bridget. “I think it’s so cool,” says Bridget, shuffling through small clippings of African animals that he had tucked into a brown envelope. “I’m going to write him back.”

Cyndi remembers: “What they would tell us over and over again was that ‘we hunger for your friendship, for relationship.’ We were asked to pray for their youth because of problems with alcohol and drugs, and they were aware of our youth.”

St. Paul congregation shares a companionship with the people of the Bombo Lutheran Parish in Tanzania. This unfolding Iowa-Africa partnership is grounded in prayer, study, communication, and people-to-people connections. The exchange of letters between 18-year-old Bridget and five-year-old Bariki helps to bridge the geography and language gaps. So too do our mutual prayers for peace, justice, health, and the abiding love of God.

Habari! Hello! In the words of Bariki and sister Christina, “we regard” one another as “partner prayers.” That’s powerful communication.

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"We are all pencils in the hand of a writing God." ~Mother Teresa