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| Picture from the 2012 Ikizu Luke celebration |
During testimony time at the Ikizu church, the pastor's wife stood up to share. She began by saying what a blessing it was to receive visitors to the church and how happy she was to have us there. Then she recounted how when she first met me at the celebration of Ikizu Luke back in April 2012, she was sad to see that we had no children. But then, she continued, when she arrived at church that morning, there we were with a little girl! (Insert sounds of cheering here.)
She then proceeded to say something along the lines of what follows: "Children are God's blessing on a marriage. Too many white people have only one or two kids, and sometimes none at all. I see lots of white people with really little families, or white women who choose to work instead of have any kids. When I first met the Sandeens, I was so sad to see a white woman who was working hard at her career and not having any children. But little did I know that she was pregnant at that time! Listen, you women, God wants us to have babies! Let's cheer for Enzota (my Ikizu name) for having a baby! (Insert more cheering here.) We should have children, lots and lots of children!"
Everyone then cheered some more, and she sat down. I wasn't quite sure what to think. It was nice that she (and others) were quite excited about Zarya, but, having been raised in politically-correct America, where you're not supposed to make sweeping, negative generalizations about people based on their color, her words made me squirm a bit. It seems her idea is pretty popular around the country, being as 45% of the population of Tanzania is under age 15 (and I found that statistic on the internet, so I know it's true). At least the fact I was hanging out in the back of the church with an occasionally-noisy baby didn't seem to be a problem for any of them!
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