Some things never change. In every part of the world. But it seems like here in Tanzania, MANY things never change. In fact, MOST things never change. But is that a good thing or a bad thing?
In America, we embrace change and progress. We sing its praises. We think it’s the only way to go. But what’s to say for things saying the same? In Tanzania, there is little uncertainty. People know what they are going to be doing, tomorrow, next weekend, five years from now…because it is what they have always done. And it is what everyone else has always done. And while that may sound sad to you, I think it is in some ways comforting and reassuring to most of the people living in that eternal cycle here. They know their role in their society, and they fulfill it, and they feel like they have accomplished all that they need to accomplish.
To me, looking at them from an American perspective, I tend feel sorry for many of them, working all day, one day to the next, never daring to hope for more, never getting those opportunities that I have taken for granted my entire life. And I don’t think that it is wrong to try to give them a little hope and encouragement, to show them that there is more for them in life if they are brave enough to go for it. To tell them that they don’t have to just accept their lot in life because its what their mothers had and their grandmothers had. To show them that it is possible to be educated and to travel and to excel.
But I also don’t think that I am the only one that has something to teach them. I see that they have things that I don’t have. Like that they are not always in a hurry, they know how to just sit and relax and talk with their neighbors. They don’t always feel like they need to be doing something or going somewhere. They don’t feel guilty for taking some time to do absolutely nothing. They don’t feel like there is a certain amount of things they must accomplish in a day or in a life in order to feel successful. They just wake up, and do what they can. They take their time. And that would be nice, to be able to take life one day at a time the way that they do.
And so with change and progress, there is a delicate balance. I personally believe that it is good to grow and evolve and try new and different things in life. But I have also learned that change just for the sake of change and progress for the sake of progress is not necessarily a good thing. It not only has to be needed, but it must be wanted. Which is what I’m gradually beginning to get into my thick skull. I can’t make anyone want to come learn new, more nutritious ways of cooking, they must feel on their own that it is something that they need and want. I can’t make anyone learn to save their money, or make a budget, or plant new vegetables, or make their own compost, they have to have that spark within that tells them that things don’t have to always stay the same. They have to know for themselves that many times change can be good and that progress can lead to an easier life. But its not my job to thrust that change upon them, I’m just supposed to be here when they ask for it.
