Iringa Lutheran Centre

Last year, I stayed at the Iringa Lutheran Centre with students on the LCCT program. The Center is hidden away in a corner of Iringa, off the road from the Regional Library to Kihesa. A quiet, well kept establishment, the Centre has guest rooms and a restaurant.

Here I am with Tom Nielsen, the director of the Center. He and I had first met in Grantsburg, Wisconsin, where we both conducted a retreat for Lutherans. In his apartment across the street, I saw a copy of my Africans and Americans: Embracing Cultural Differences among his books. It is a small world.

Thanks to Don Fultz, a pastor who tirelessly promotes relations between Tanzanian and American Lutherans, my students and I traveled from Dar es Salaam to Iringa with guests from the Roseville Lutheran Church. They were going to Iringa on the Bega kwa Bega program. I discovered, as soon as we met, that these people knew about me. Dave and Karen Dudley, their trip leaders,  had urged them to read my Africans and Americans book. For much of the journey from Dar es Salaam to Iringa, I answered their questions about the nuances of African culture.

Our two groups stayed at the Iringa Lutheran Centre for several days, even though each had its own daytime schedule. We met during breakfast and dinner. One evening, I did a book signing, which I wrote about here.

Tom and his staff made our stay at the Centre a pleasant experience.

The Iringa Regional Library

This year, during a brief stay in Iringa, Tanzania, I walked by the Iringa Regional Library several times. Seeing this building brought back fond memories of my days as a student at Mkwawa High School, 1971-72, in this city. I used to come to this Library regularly, alone or with friends who were fellow Mkwawa students.

This year, I could not resist the urge to take a photo of this Library which meant so much to me in my student days. I recalled the many hours I spent reading in this Library, which was well stocked with different kinds of books and other publications, including the latest. I recalled one of the librarians, John Simbamwene, a famous novelist who wrote in Swahili and whom I adored. He was a most gentle person, very well dressed all the time. Talking with him was always inspiring.

There were bookstores as well, not far from the Library, on the same street, and I used to visit them. It was a great time to be a student in Tanzania. As students, we knew what we were doing, and we worked hard. The teachers were well trained, knowledgeable, and conscientious.

Mkwawa High School was one of the best high schools in the country. To enter Mkwawa, you needed to be an outstanding student. Although entry into the University of Dar es Salaam, the only university in the country at the time, was very competitive, half of my Mkwawa graduating class got in. Many of my classmates went on to become distinguished scientists, diplomats, writers, civil servants, professors and so on. I like to think that this Library, modest as it appears, played a role in our lives.

This year, I did not just walk past this Library. I went in and took a look. Then I had a chance to talk with the lady at the reception desk. She struck me as a person who genuinely loved the Library. When she learned that I am a professor in the USA, she asked me to help the library with books, especially in the field of English. I am always delighted to have such conversations with people who want to foster positive change in our country.