Jack ’25, reflects on what it means to appreciate new experiences despite having conflicting emotions.
Sitting in the 80 degree, 20’ by 20’ living room, with the smells of my fellow travelers flooding my nose, I’m definitely more comfortable today than I was last week. Upon arrival in Tanzania, I was astonished as most of my childhood influenced preconceptions of “Africa” were knocked out of me like the wind. For starters, holy green. My uneducated and unresearched mind anticipated a scorching and dried barren plane with the occasional Tumbleweed and the scattered Mud Hut. When I saw Dar es Salaam from my window seat on the Emirates flight from Dubai, I was struck by the sight of not only grass, palm trees, and parks, but also skyscrapers. I then realized everything I had previously expected was wrong. After 40 hours of waiting in airports and sleeping on planes my tired mind was awake with curiosity. What had I just seen? Why hadn’t I thought of Africa like this before? Will there be a fridge where I am staying? At that moment, Africa to me was a city with parks, palm trees, grass, and hopefully refrigerators. We landed in Mwanza late at night and drove about an hour and a half to MainSprings. Pulling in, the only things I caught in the headlights of the bus were a Maasai warrior and what looked like a run-down warehouse with no walls. I would come to learn that the “warehouse” was the dining hall that produced over six hundred meals a day. My now almost asleep mind and closed eyes were opened and again curious. What was that? I asked myself. It certainly wasn’t a nature filled city, but it also certainly wasn’t an empty plain. I woke on the first day of the trip with a clean slate and the question, What is Africa? on my mind. Over the course of my first four days at Main Springs I was again convinced of what Africa was through my experience. I spent time with many of the students from Joseph & Mary school, learning games, rhymes, songs, and many of the hobbies the students engage in. I met many girls from the JBFC girls’ home and experienced their soulful prayer, impressive basketball skills, and impactful kindness and joy. I learned about the benefits of permaculture from Lazaro, as well as at least tisa (ten) Swahili phrases from Shuku and Rodgers. These experiences filled me with amazement, happiness, pride, faith, appreciation, and pity. As much as I was astounded by the beautiful permaculture gardens or the well rehearsed basketball players, I couldn’t help comparing the tiny science classroom at MainSprings to Deerfield’s Koch building, or the unkempt MainSprings single soccer field to Deerfield’s extensive plain of endless nicely mowed fields.
I came on this trip with no actual knowledge of what was planned or what I would see, but for some unexplainable reason I had the preconceived notion that Deerfield was on this trip to help. Over the course of these four days at MainSprings despite the insuppressible pity I felt, I realized that I wasn’t actually here to help. I was here to experience and learn new things, buy into activities at MainSprings, and not only encounter but also share cultures. This hit me after watching a tribal drumming and dance performance when the other Deerfield students and I stood up to sing Party In the USA by Miley Cirus. At that point, I didn’t know about all of Africa, but I knew about Dar es Salaam, and about MainSprings. I experienced a similar conflict between pity and astonishment when our group went on safari for two days in the Serengeti. After waking up early one morning, we drove for two hours to the park entrance. I felt awkward driving in nice army green Toyota Land Cruisers with little kids, often barefoot, excitedly waving to us on the side of the road, accompanied by adults or parents giving us unreadable stares. I got uncomfortable after the sixth or seventh time experiencing this, and put my sleep mask on to avoid my guilt. We arrived at the park, stopped for a bathroom break, boxed breakfast, and to pop the roof of the safari cars. Driving through the park was exhilarating. I was struck by the curiosity of the little monkeys, the overpowering height of the giraffes, and the majesticness of the astonishingly humongous elephants. I even got to witness two lions feel the love tonight. (If you know what a euphemism is). Although seeing the wildlife was awesome, I couldn’t help but think about how I have only been here for a few days and got to see all of the cool animals, but most of the JFBC girls have been here their whole lives and have never seen the animals I saw. Despite the pity I couldn’t help feeling at MainSprings or the guilt I felt at the Serengeti, I think it was definitely necessary.
I have learned from this trip to appreciate all new experiences despite conflicting emotions. Staying at MainSprings definitely changed my life for the better. The JBFC girls have inspired me to always stay curious and to openly accept new cultures and traditions, just as they did for us, and we did for them. I’ll never forget the people I met, the sunrises I watched, the food I forced myself to try, and the important lessons I’ve learned. And as far as what Africa is, I don’t know. I only know what Dar es Salaam looks like from above, what the people at MainSprings are like, and the animals I can see in the tiny part of the Serengeti I visited. I don’t think I, or anyone else, will ever be able to say what Africa is, I don’t even know what Tanzania is. I have seen and experienced so many cultures, traditions, people, and places, and I have yet to see so many more. The one thing I’ll keep with me for sure is a sense of curiosity and appreciation for what I have and know, and for what I have yet to learn and experience.
