Pamela, Muslim Religion

Friday

Today we went to the market and bought the food to take to Pamela and her 3 “grandchildren”. The market area is huge and people buy their food daily as it is fresh and most have no refrigeration. The amount of food they buy is also dependent on what they made the previous day.

We have visited this family twice – last Tues and today. After our first visit we learned that Rajabu fainted at school and was unconscious for 5-6 hours. Nie thinks it is complications from AIDS and lack of food as this has happened to him before. Nie is very concerned about this family and has visited them several times over the last few days. Megan and I decided to buy food for the family so on Friday we went with Nie to the open market to buy peanuts and millet. We also paid Nie to purchase maize flour in Pasua. These items are mixed together to make a porridge. The maize flour can be used for other things and will provide meals for up to 6 months. Total cost – $55 USD (65,800 Tsh). Protein and fruits are definitely missing from their diets and are more of a luxury.

Because of Pamela’s ill health and the children having AIDS, their medical support is an additional expense. Last month Rajabu was at the hospital 3 times and with transportation cost the family around $60.

When we visited on Friday, Rajabu was home from school because of not feeling well. We looked at his school work books and did some words together. He also drew a picture of his house for us. Rajabu has a beautiful smile, likes school and his favorite subject is math. The work books are paper covered in a cut up paper bag.

After our visit Friday Nie was very upset. She said she feels like there is a stone on her heart as she does not see life in the eyes of Rajabu. I don’t know how Nie does this. She is so emotionally attached to the people she works with. She is desperate to offer as many opportunities to empower the people to help themselves and then is so gracious and grateful for any support TAFCOM receives. When she thanks us for something we do I get so choked up because I truly feel grateful that I have been given the opportunity to be here with her.

After our home visit we returned to the office. Farryl stopped by and took us to a new curio/art shop opened by her friends. It has wonderful and unique items and we plan to help make their first month a successful one! We all had lunch together. Ibra met up with us as he needed the payment for our day hike up Kili. He has a car and drove us back to the hostel. He stayed several hours telling us all about the Muslim religion and Ramadan. Ramadan is the Muslim month of fasting which is going on now. If you are Muslim you do not eat until the sunset each day. Ramadan lasts from the first new moon to the full moon in August (Not totally sure on this). It is a time of reflection which is spent getting closer to God by a renewal and strengthening of faith. Time is spent doing good and helping others. It is also a time of “equality” or what I understood as humility where everyone is the same because all follow the same practice whether rich or poor and it reminds those who have what it is like for those less fortunate.

We had a fascinating conversation and learned about the role of women and the reasons behind taking several wives. Women play a very traditional role and depending on how strict or fundamental one is also depends on the role of the woman. In a very strict house, there are instances where the wives are not allowed to leave the house without permission of the husband and if they are allowed to leave they must have every part of their body covered except for a small slit for their eyes. We see a lot of Muslim women on the streets so I think this kind of strict fundamentalism is definitely not a significant part of the population here.

Men may have up to 4 wives but only if they are able to care for all of them equally so this is very rare here (and Ibra only wants one wife!)The reason for several wives is pretty much related to hormones!! It is the woman's responsibility to take care of her husband in all ways. If a man has a strong sexual appetite and his wife doesn’t, he is likely to take a second wife (again only if he can provide for them equally). The way Ibra put it was, “Would you rather have to deal with a second wife you know about or have your husband sneaking around behind your back?” Think on that one for awhile!!!