New Year’s Day in Bonga, Tanzania
Dr. David Bjorkquist and his wife Eleanor spent six weeks, less than a year ago, with Raymond and Nellie Faye Hagberg who have lived in Tanzania for 33 years and in Bonga for about 15 years. This is the second time an entry from his journal has appeared in Pietisten.
New Year’s Day was not a Sunday, but it was a special day of worship in the Bonga Lutheran Church. The Bonga church is one of eight congregations in the Bonga parish served by Pastor Raymond Hagberg.
The New Year’s Day service began about 10:30 am and continued until approximately 3:00 pm. The church was about 100 yards from the Hagbergs’ house. A broken blade from a disk plow, hung in a tree and struck with a metal rod, served as the bell to call people to worship from throughout the village. We listened for the bell and walked over to the church when it was rung. As we arrived at the grove of trees next to the church, we heard the choirs singing and leading the congregation. As more people arrived, they joined in the singing. Usually the choirs or a single choir member sang a verse or a phrase and the congregation responded. When several verses of one hymn were finished, they moved easily into another one. The voices were good, and some in the congregation sang in harmony with the choir, setting a joyful mood for the worship service.
Joining the choir from the Bonga congregation was a choir from the church in Erri. Erri is a village close to the western escarpment of the Great Rift Valley, about 25 miles from Bonga. Its access is an eroded roadway infrequently travelled by motor vehicles. The choir (men, women, and women with babies on their backs) had walked to Bonga to be part of the service. Their evangelist came with them to preach the sermon. Although we had noticed that most Tanzanians we met were lean, muscular, and accustomed to walking and running over rough terrain, this seemed like a long trip to make before 10:30 in the morning!
The New Year’s Day service was a celebration of many things. Several women reaffirmed their faith, babies were baptized, four young women were confirmed, a 25th wedding anniversary was celebrated, and the sacrament of communion was shared. There were no short cuts in the liturgy. The two choirs sang at least two songs each, the sermon was long, there were two offerings (one for the congregation and one for the anniversary celebrants), and all verses of several hymns were sung by the congregation. It was easy to get up and leave, but few did, and there were no signs of protest to the length of the service. It was a celebration.
The congregation was made up of people of all ages, although the scarcity of those older than sixty was noticeable, particularly in the frame of reference of the United States. There were many more babies with their mothers, and many older children and young adults. We sensed that the people, seated tightly together on the benches under the trees, liked to be together. They showed this in the way they welcomed each other, in their singing, and in participating in the liturgy. In spite of the four-and-one-half-hours length of the services, several people stayed around well afterward to visit and to exchange greetings. The physical contact and socializing were more than most people in the United States would tolerate.
After church we were invited to the home of one of the confirmands for a meal. We drove off the road onto a footpath, across two washouts, and up to a deep-walled creek about 100 yards off the road. Here we left the car to cross a narrow footbridge of slab-wood pieces nailed onto logs. The house, another 200 yards away, was built of handmade brick with a corrugated metal roof. Part of the floor was concrete, the rest was dirt. There were window and doorway openings but no doors or windows in the house. All of the windows openings had been covered with kangas (colorful square cloths usually used as clothing by women). Banana stalks and leaves with canna lily blossoms framed the sides of the front door and formed an archway through which we entered. We were seated in the room at the front of the house at a cloth-covered table. Before the food was served, the cloth covering was removed and a plastic pail with water was brought to us individually so we could wash our hands. This was followed by a tea kettle with rinse water that was poured over our hands and into another pail. This was done for every guest before the meal. After a considerable time, a large aluminum platter of rice with meat was brought. Bowls for pilau (curried rice) were shared by at least two people, although we each had our own spoon. Some of the guests chose to eat with their fingers, and no one except us took any notice of it. The rice was spiced with a combination of things that darkened and flavored it. On top of this, we added a salad garnish of onion, sprouts, and tomato. A sauce, which had an oily base and meat juices, was put over all of this. The food was very tasty and was a lavish meal according to the standard of the village. We did not have such an elegant meal in any other Tanzanian home during our stay.
Behind the house was a packed earth courtyard with three other buildings facing it. Flowers were strung from one building to another. Close to 100 people, including Christians and Muslims, were there to greet the confirmands. Soon the confirmands and a group of followers came walking and singing. The confirmands were dressed all in white, including hats and gloves. They sang antiphonally, with different individuals taking the lead. The singing was joyous, and it was beautiful to hear them coming to the house. They had walked a couple miles from the church and through the village, stopping at the houses of the other confirmands before coming here. Instead of applause, people in the group gave a high pitched cry, one that I associate with Arabic singing and dancing.
After we ate, the dishes were taken away and the tea kettle and pail were brought to the table again so we could rinse our hands. The table was wiped clean and the cloth was place on it again. On this, a platter covered with another cloth was placed. This was for gifts for the confirmands. The gifts of money were to be slipped discretely under the cloth and on to the platter so others could not see how much money was given.
The use of envelopes would have been extravagant, and most people would probably not think of using them for a gift of money. (The envelopes used in church were emptied and returned to the giver after the church service so they could be used again). After eating, we went into the courtyard behind the house where Ray was asked to speak a few words to the confirmands who were seated on chairs in the middle of the yard. Eleanor presented each of them with a pen (fortunately she had brought some with her), and we were walked back to the car by the mother and father who had hosted the celebration. The father, who had attended a theological college, spoke very good English. We were welcomed to return.
A couple days later we learned that after we left there was a lot of drinking and drunkenness at the house. The woman of the house was a brewer of pombe, a millet beer. Drinking was very evident in Bonga and other villages we visited. It consumes much of the scarce resources of many families. However, the brewing and selling of beer is one of the few ways women can earn money on their own.
On the drive back, we passed a house where a large group of women were quietly sitting or squatting under the trees. Ray said someone had died there. The burial would take place soon afterward in the yard near the house.