August 13th
Jambo
The greeting itself
does not seem particularly specific,
one can say
a wide variety of words.
Mambo
Just move your mouth.
and the end result is still the same.
The important thing is
that you say something.
A greeting means,
‘I see you.’
It means,
‘you exist,’
Tells a stranger that
‘you are a human being
And
I acknowledge you.’
Habari gani
At first, to me,
the greeting -
so superficial and incomplete!
as I have been here,
it becomes a comfort,
warm -
slowly turns beautiful.
Yes, I’m white.
Yes, I’m a woman
on a university campus
dominated by men.
But to them
I am still human,
I am still worth something.
Gone is the privileged lifestyle
assumptions
labels
stereotypes
just for that moment
I am still seen.
I am still here.
I still exist.
Jambo.
About Me
- Sarah Jean
- I am at Luther College, struggling as usual to exist in a place that seems contrary to that intent. I am deeply in love with Tanzania, and anxious to return. I want to go to seminary after college, but in the mean time I am attempting to maintain the illusion that I can do good in the world. Cynical as that may sound, I am a person who is full of hope for all things. --------------------------------------- Essentially, I am my own person. I love my family, and friends are family in my eyes. I am someone who loves deeply, fights for what I know is right, learned stubbornness from my mother and patience from my father. I see unfair things in the world and it breaks my heart. I am someone who lives in constant hope that things can be made right while holding on to the knowledge that one person can only do so much. I live with the strength given to be each day, and in the midst for great anxiety, find courage to live in faith with God. I love holding hands, and was thrilled to see that Tanzanians do as well.
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