Tanzania: Exploring Gospel Values Through the Teaching of “Us”

After a trip of nearly thrity-two hours, Franco Pizzorno and Pierangelo Tassano from the New Humanity Movement arrived in Singida, Tanzania.

The object of their trip was to attend a formation course for seventy leaders of the ‘volunteers of God’ coming from Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Ruanda, Congo and Tanzania, who are invovled in enlivening different sections fo society with Gospel values.

The five days of meetings proved to be very fruitful, highlighting the importance giving a life witness to the efficacious words of the Gospel. The cultural and spiritual research, presented by the volunteers themselves, and the deep sharing of experiences, made some guidelines emerge for seeking peace and the common good of society and its different ethnic groups, particularly in the field of education.

“The peoples of these nations,” say Franco and Pierangelo, “have in communion and creativity in their DNA, perhaps more than people of other continents.”

“Ubuntu, a typical African term means “I am what I am because of what we are,” and this is the natural root of this culture of relationships that makes you see problems in a different light, opening a space for new intuitioins from which valid solutions can be found not only for African society, but beyond.”

John Bosco from Uganda states: “M. lives in my city. She has AIDS and other related illnesses. She’s old and poor. I called a meeting of the executive committee from my parish to see how we could help her, and with my wife cared for her. We brought her food, medicine, we washed her clothes. . . and other friends helped us in assisting her. Now M. is a part of our community. These actions did not go unnoticed and our testimony has stimulated many others to look better upon those who are in need.”

Franco e Pierangelo conclude: “We left well aware that the peoples of this continent have so much to offer to the world, and so we listened and tried to understand not so much their most compelling needs, but mostly the talents of this culture which is so different and rich. As always, we recevied much more than we gave.”