Cultural Differences

There are some cultural differences which are hard for me to understand. Living in Tanzania means living amongst a people with a very different mindset; at times this can cause a clash in our ideas and attitudes. This fact has been highlighted in a tiring way this week.

On Sunday morning this week, we were woken at 5:30 by the technical sound of a microphone system being tweaked and tested, with a highpitched squeak being broadcast across the darkness of Dodoma and straight into our bedroom. Then suddenly, a man's voice burst into life down the airwaves of the microphone system. It took a little while for our sleepy brains to realise what was going on, but it soon became apparent that a local preacher appears to have a new mission: to preach a sermon into the pre-dawn darkness of Dodoma, with the help of a very loud speaker to reach as many people as possible.
I was feeling very annoyed at being woken so early and it was impossible to go back to sleep, as the local dogs and cockerels began to compete with the preaching, which finished off with a flourish at 6:15- by which time we were thoroughly awake and I was rather cross and grumpy at missing out on the final hour of sleep on a weekend morning.

On Monday, my day started at 5am. A thirsty Joel woke me first and the sounds of the local mosques with their daily prayer call mingled with Joel's demands for attention. I was just settling back down for a bit of sleep again, conscious that my alarm would be going off for school preparations at 6:25. However, sleep was to elude me, as the voice of the local preacher forced its way into our home again at 5:30! This time, the preaching was louder than ever, but it was hard to follow all of the Swahili so early in the morning, making it a frustrating disturbance. At 6am, Andrew left for work, so the day had started and it seemd more sensible to just get up as well , as any hope of rest or sleep had completely escaped me.

On Tuesday, I was ready for the onslaught of noise! Andrew was away overnight, so I had access to an extra pillow- it is brilliant how effective a pillow on your head can be to cover unwelcome noise! The enthusiastic preaching has continued every day this week, but amazingly, it did not wake us on Friday morning, so I was delighted to see my bedside clock displaying 6:30 when I first opened my eyes. What a lovely lie-in!
This morning, Joel woke at 5:30, his early morning muttering shortly followed by the electronic sounds of Mr. Preacher's microphone being switched on and then the inevitable preaching. However, after feeding Joel, I finally had a revelation- ear-plugs! I reached into my drawer and unearthed my new friends- 2 little ear-plugs- what a wonder of modern technology! I actually managed to get a little bit of extra sleep before getting up with Joel and Ben about 6:45!

It has been a tiring week. It is hard to catch up on that missed hour of sleep every day. Many of us from overseas are feeling disgruntled and fed up with this early wake-up call. We are all hoping that this is a short term thing, but it could become an everyday addition to the daily noise we have learnt to put up with from all the local mosques, howling dogs and enthusiastic cockerels. Interestingly though, many of the Tanzanians we ask about this early preaching seem to be in favour, as they start to get up around 5:30. The Christian population seems to welcome the preacher's message as a good opportunity to give equal voice to the Christians in a community used to daily prayer calls and preaching from the mosques, which are broadcast across Dodoma on loud speakers from 5am. The Christians have also been saying that it is good to hear this preacher pronouncing blessings over Dodoma and praying for the country of Tanzania.

Personally, I feel tired and frustrated with having all this noise imposed upon us. Whilst I may not be against the actual message of this anonymous Preacher Man (it's hard to tell, as I can't understand it all!) I would prefer it to be broadcast within daylight hours! Our American neighbour pointed out the following proverb this week (Proverbs 27:14) - it definitely expresses a sentiment that we can relate to:

"If a man loudly blesses his neighbour early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse." !!!