Yesterday I ventured out with a ECHO volunteer who's here for 5 months to help the HIV+ people I work with to use better agricultural practices to improve their nutrition, their environment, & their income. All things which I'm excited about and which take me back to my roots in Iowa. I'm trying to soak up everything I can & feeling like a 4-H'er again. She's come over a few times to help me in my little garden, but yesterday I went to help with the clinic shamba (field). The sun was hot but the work both interesting and cathartic - throwing the jembe (hoe) over my head and back down to pull up the grasses and soften the soil in new raised beds.
The garden project was started a few months ago and has been successful in producing the greens from cow peas several times over - which have been sold locally - other leafy greens, onions, tomatoes and the carrot tops are now looking good. A cow is providing milk daily and her young calf grazes and fertilizes the soil. It will be an interesting project to watch grow and one I hope to contribute to as time allows. I've been composting in my own little garden for 2 years now and have patches of good earth. My addition to their training this week was samples of fresh compost vs the rocky stuff I started with - and a photo documentary of how to compost with kitchen scraps.
From the shamba, I went to my office (with a quick costume change & rinsing the dirt off my hands & feet - waa-la! new person) to be with my students for an afternoon of tutoring. I hadn't told many that I was coming & was surprised and delighted that 10 students came. There were some that came right from the mandatory Saturday morning school session - so I'd like to be able to provide them with lunch (Let me know if you're interested - 50 cents per student will do!).
We did quadratic equations, statistics, logarithms and indices - including things I don't remember from my own high school experience. Working with some students is a delight, helping them to make a connection they didn't see before or watching a light bulb go on. With others, I see how far behind they are and realize that academic success may be out of reach.
In trying to help these students, I struggle with my own ambition, wanting change that might not be realistic and realizing so much is out of my control. It is at this moment when I am reminded my work is not just mine, but of many and hopefully, the work of the God I try to serve. My faith is challenged and stretched and helps me to return to my roots.
A prayer I will be praying with my co-missioner, Judy, later today, starts with the words,
Firmly rooted in the center of my being,listening,
and opening to the touch of your Spirit ...
Grateful for my roots deep in the soil of Iowa and in my faith in a God of love,
Mary
