I’m pretty sure none of you have ever heard me curse, and it’s a good thing I’m in Tanzania, because in the past half an hour, I think I’ve cursed more than my good friend Jonathan Kent has in his whole freaking life.
I have found another Chinese teacher. It still hasn’t settled in yet, and I am shaking my head vigorously, but oh my god, I can’t believe I have found another teacher to continue to teach Chinese here in Tanzania. Like, I feel as if a boulder has been lifted off my shoulders, and I am literally going to explode with happiness once I stop jumping around like I’m five years old.
You have to understand that I was really starting to lose hope. I had started to form backup plans, where I would send audio recordings to one of the storeowners who would be able to then download them and listen to them. He, being professionally trained as a teacher, would then be able to try to teach the other students. Also, yesterday, I was explained by one Chinese medical director that the Chinese people have very little concept of Volunteerism, and doing work without getting paid. Today, I received a call from one person who asked if she could be paid to teach. Then, tonight, in the shower, I was thinking about how really very few Chinese people actually volunteer, and it is certainly a shame. I was even conjuring up twisted thoughts about writing an article which argued that Chinese people have lost their roots in emphasizing making money over other things like yi and dao.
But now all of those thoughts are gone, and with just one received phone call, my faith in the Chinese people has been completely restored. Chinese people rock. They freaking rock! I can’t believe my plan of talking to every remotely looking Chinese person has worked, but it has worked, and I can’t help but to feel like, wow, if I can do this, I can really do anything now. Looking back, I’m thinking where in the world would asking people if they’d like to teach Chinese to woodcarvers for free work anywhere else in the world? Could you imagine this happening in America? Where I’d hunt down every Chinese person and ask them if they wanted to teach Chinese to Tanzanian woodcarvers? It seems like such a bizarre plan, and yet, talking to people really seems to work. Wow! What a concept!
Now that the excitement and pure shock is starting to leave, a bit of fear is starting to creep in. This truly has to be too good. I’m meeting with the teacher and a guy I talked to yesterday at the woodcarvers market. He really did look for other teachers, and when he picked up the phone and explained to me he found someone else, I couldn’t believe it. The first thing I asked was, “You know this is volunteering right?” (In Chinese), and he said, “Yup, you explained it to me.” And I went on for about 5 minutes, thanking him, trying to explain to him how he couldn’t understand how freaking happy I was. After we hung up, I called him 5 minutes later, asking him he knew that the time was 6-7, and made sure that this would work for him. I am so freaking paranoid right now that this is some kind of joke, or that something will go wrong, and then my happiness will be shattered.
It’s been such a struggle with the Chinese embassy, getting them to call me back, trying to set up a date where they could just come look at the classroom. But now, I have an actual Chinese citizen lined up to teach Chinese. Surely, that gives me some leverage with the embassy. Now they surely will come and shake hands with me and the new teacher and bring in the papers to show that the Embassy is doing so much to try to let local Tanzanians learn more about their culture and language. It looks as if things will turn out ok, but I will have to wait until Monday before I can call the embassy, a wait that will surely be too long.
I don’t even care if I get no credit for this honestly. It makes me so freaking happy that the woodcarvers will be able to continue their Chinese education. I am certain that they are just as deserving of anyone else in the world of receiving education in a Chinese language, and that they appreciate it just as much as anyone else in the world. They take so much joy out of learning, and have been so concerned with my pursuit of another teacher. After texting all my students who have cell phones, one responded “Oh… That is so poa… Xie Xie Lao shi”, (poa = cool). The others expressed similar emotions.
I’m not sure if anyone can understand how much this means to me, and I guess from any perspective, it seems like such a small victory. But I have put in so much work running between my homestay and the Chinese Embassy, talking to everyone, that I don’t think I’ve ever fought for something this hard in my life. And as I stated earlier, though the Woodcarvers’ learning Chinese may not greatly affect them in terms of moving up the social ladder, through this journey, I somehow started to believe that it was their right to learn Chinese.
Chinese learning is something that is a luxury in their life, with sometimes practical applications. It’s not something like clean water, or anti-malaria drugs, or a microfinance loan. But there is something about learning a language, of learning anything really, that is so freaking beautiful. Though they wish to see the world, the reality is many of these woodcarvers will never leave Tanzania. I feel like this is perhaps the next best thing for them. They are gaining knowledge of something foreign, of something not many natives in their country know, and by doing so, are entering somewhere outside of what is their harsh reality. I’m not sure if I’m being clear. It is likely that I’m not, but geez, I feel like I’m doing something so right here.
I have been asked many times why I decided to take Swahili my freshman year. Most of the time it’s been very skeptical, as in, “Why in the world would you do that?” (A lot of Chinese people here). My “professional” answer would be that I was looking for a niche so that if anyone would be sent to East Africa to do development work, it would be me. But wow, now that I think about it, if this is all my Swahili ever does for me in my entire lifetime, I’ll still consider it one of the best decisions I have made.
I think people underestimate how powerful any language is in giving you a new perspective on things. Even if the language is spoken by only one hundred people, that’s one hundred new people you could communicate that you otherwise couldn’t have. If you’re a businessman, that’s a hundred possible new clients. If you’re a teacher, that’s a hundred possible new students. And no matter what profession you are, that’s a hundred new teachers that you can learn something from (Citing Confucius here). Lucky for me, Swahili happens to be spoken by 100 million people.
Anyway, I’ve settled down now, and am really looking forward to the days ahead where I will meet with Mr. Li (who is leaving after 2 months), and the teacher he has found. One thing that really impressed me about Mr. Li was that he saw this as an opportunity for him and this other teacher to learn some Swahili. I believe that this is completely the right attitude, but at the same time, is an attitude that is hard for many people to comprehend.
To end on a funny note, Mr. Li calls me “Xiao Jin”. Honestly, he can call me whatever he wants. As of now, I am eternally thankful.
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