The other day was a day of serendipitous moments. Serendipity is really only interesting to the ones experiencing it, really – although I quite get a kick out of sharing and hearing about others’ experiences. So, in case you’re like me – here are two that happened the other day.
I had planned to go to GOSESO to talk with the class about proper treatment of the baboon orphans that live there. Those little guys are my buds and I heard that the students are teasing them, making them fight each other and scaring them a little bit. So, I thought I would show them how nice the baboons can be and what some proper people-animal behavior might look like – especially on a campus that is supposed to be promoting wildlife conservation.
But, alas – we were deterred from our plan mid-route. We got the message via text right as our dala dala was passing Mwandiga Secondary School. I had planned to visit the school at some point before going, so no time like the present! We dropped down from the dala dala.
When we got to the school, I wanted to investigate a small fee required for desk, chair and teacher support. I heard it was required of all students, so I figured we ought to pay up for our students. I thought we would be interrupting classes or that I would never find our students. Of course, the mzungu sighting resulted in a buzz among the young adults and before long, three of the the six that we support there were coming up to greet Lucas and I. And, serendipitously, this was the day that the school had designated for collecting these fees, so our timing was perfect. We went to the secretary, lined up with the rest of the students and paid ‘our’ dues.
Afterward, I got a picture with three of the girls – Zainabu, Hadija and Edina, all of whom are studying in Form 3 this year. Well, let me correct – I got two pictures! First, Lucas took a picture of us under the Karibu/Welcome sign. Then I looked at the picture … “Girls, please! You look like I’m torturing you!”
They made jokes about how none of them were smiling except me. So then, I teased them a bit and said I wanted another. While we were laughing about the first picture, Lucas took a sneaky picture and caught us in this moment – laughter flowing freely!! That’s more like it!
The second serendipitous moment came when Lucas and I were walking along a back path in Kiganza village. We were talking about how the women in Tanzania are so beautiful. Lucas reminded me of a UNHCR security officer that I met on a bus from Mwanza the previous year. She was so sweet and indeed beautiful. Lucas and I had sodas with her by the lake last year. Anyway – he brought her up in the conversation about beautiful women and we couldn’t remember her name. It was killing both of us that we had forgotten. I was jogging my memory … Nema, Naomi, Beatrice … Just then, a little girl came out of her home to greet us and I said to her (which I just about never say to little ones unless we’re hanging out for a while) Unaetwa nani? (What’s your name?) You guessed it!! Her name, Monica, was the name of our UNHCR friend! Incredible. That’s the day Lucas learned what serendipity meant.