Picture courtesy of tanzaniabest.com
For the month of June, I will be interviewing different religious denominations in the village of Marwa in Tanzania. There are a total of five different denominations within this rural village: Pentecost, Lutheran, Muslim, Seventh-day Adventist, and Catholic. The purpose of these interviews is to ultimately help the OSU Maji Marwa project learn more about the people of Marwa in order to offer them the best possible assistance. This is also a personal research project.
My original plan was not to make a post about each of these interviews. However, after interviewing in a few of the denominations, I changed my mind. I first spoke with the Pentecost ya Umoja Marwa church, which translates to Pentecost Church of Unity in Marwa. I first met the pastor, Mbatiani, and he radiated light. We do not speak the same language, but I could feel the love his smile radiated. After interviewing him and a few of the parishioners, they asked me if I could share their message of love with my friends in America, so I asked them if they would like me to make a post and they very excitedly agreed. So, I thought I would make one post about this specific church and their views on the relationship between sustainable community development and their religion.
Subsequently, after interviewing the Masji min auwarami, which translates to Mosque of Muslim Unity, and the Marwa Seventh-Day Adventist church, I have decided to write a post about each of the different denominations I interview.
I am inspired by the positivity and love that the religious leaders and parishioners have towards me, a complete stranger from across the world who does not even speak their language. I think that it would be unfair for me not to share these messages, and so with the blessing of my collaborators, I will be posting small descriptions of my conversations along with pictures and videos I have taken along the way.