Christmas 2013

Merry Christmas and Seasons Greetings Friends and Family!

Rather than an update on the last year... or two (forthcoming when I have those quiet nights with no electricity on site). Here is an update and some sharing from my time thus far in Uganda.  It's a lot, so read it in pieces, when you're bored, or wondering what I've been up to.  Worshiped this morning with our catholic brothers and sisters at Church of the Martyrs in Namagongo.  I've been told it is a historic landmark from the 19 century when missionaries first came to Uganda.

Love you all!

Paul Benz the Younger

Saturday Nov, 30 2013

It is Thanksgiving weekend here in Uganda and I wanted send a long overdue thank you to all of you for your help in the process, which has brought me here.  Some of you as current or former Peace Corps Volunteers answered my many questions throughout the lengthy application process, some of you wrote letters of recommendation or agreed to have your name submitted as a reference for work or volunteer activities over the years, some of you have offered me constant counsel and good company, some of you have employed me or prayed for me, and some of you have even offered contacts here in East Africa.  To all of you I say thank you, and for all of you I am grateful.

My official title is Literacy Specialist and the United States Peace Corps has assigned me to a community in Southwestern Uganda for the next two years where I will report sometime in late January or early February after training is complete and we are all sworn in as volunteers.  There are 44 in our training group, all assigned as Education Officers either Primary Teacher Trainers or Literacy Specialists and we’re 3 weeks into a 3 month training period.

I'll be sent out so a community in a remote area of Uganda as an Education Officer.  The idea is that I do more capacity building and development than merely functioning as a substitute teacher.  So the details of my work activity will be more clear once I arrive at site and assess what exactly the school and community need particularly regarding literacy.  Once I have a clear picture of what the need is I begin the task of working with the school and community to set goals on meeting those needs in a sustainable way.  The notion is that if you can improve the classroom culture and approaches to learning you can change and entire school and empower people who will one day lead their communities and country.  How would you define community? This word is thrown around a lot and like many other words (critical thinking is a great example) I think it’s worth while to hone our bs detectors from time to time and think about words we use and that others use to better understand what others are actually saying or trying to say and to make attempts that we are clear in our own words.  I'll just pose the question and let you ponder as you wish as I surely will in the coming months.

Here in a hodgepodge way are some of my moments thus far I hope this finds you well and living:

Tuesday November 11, 2013 

This morning looked out my Hotel window at the snow blowing gently into the streets of Philadelphia and occurred to me I might not see a scene like this for quite sometime. I smile into the quiet of Philadelphia’s morning.  A few blocks away is that old cracked bell I wondered at when Mom and Dad brought us to see all the History America’s East Coast has to offer.  Didn’t make it to Independence Hall on this trip.

A two hour bus ride from Philadelphia to NYC and looking at old pictures from Italy to Vienna to Cambodia I remember well Brian’s words a lifetime ago driving down a sunny street in Southern California, “Life is not a right, it’s a gift.”  I have been given so much and I do feel a duty to give back, this is a big reason why I find myself here now on a bus with 43 other USA Americans going to Volunteer with the Peace Corps for the next 27 months.  I look back at the smile of my first Tuk Tuk driver in Pnohm Penh and imagine what his life has been like.  Many things we might shudder at dealing with daily or going without, yet he smiles so fully.  Imagine what it might be like if we all could have smiles like that, giving up so much cherished luxury so others might be able to smile like that with just a few more basic things.  I don’t know if it’s possible and if it’s forced it definitely won’t work, but it’s worth working for even if all you achieve is to let folks know out there that there is love on the other side of the world and that they too are remembered.  Also worth the forthcoming effort I feel is to help show friends back home what it’s like to be over there reminding always how strong our most common bonds are.  For who, that has food to eat, a place to live in and healthy children in school does not have cause to smile and give thanks for life? 

This is part what the Peace Corps does. Created by and Executive Order (that’s right an executive order ;-) in 1961 by President JFK established with the mission statement to promote world peace and friendship through the service of American Volunteers abroad. 

The bus through Manhattan began a fitting farewell as we trudge down 42^nd street through the neon throbbing pulse of Times square.  My friend Dave in the seat across the aisle, himself from Long Island explains to another in our group the insanity that is New Years Eve at Times Square and that New Yorkers generally try to avoid the fiasco all together.  All the while I’m looking at a giant Leonard Cohen billboard advertising his presence here next April. Sisters of Mercy plays in my head and I think you should all try to see him,  "and I hope you run into them you who’ve been traveling so long."  Neon lights at McDonalds are silly and excessive and Vegas has never been one of my favorite destinations,  and deep down I realize that the neon lights on our city streets are really not so different from those of the others cities I’ve walked, bussed or scootered thru at night but…. perhaps New York is simply what I hold as the greatest city in the land I call home.  At JFK it was becoming clear to all of us, I think, how soon we would be calling a very different place home far, far away.  Good conversation with Joseph, who later became my roommate, insulates me from the hour-long security wait where we are all crowded under some steel disc modern art piece. A few hundred of us dressed for November in New York are assaulted by the chic advertisements for designer clothes and perfume on a screen the size of a world series score board: BUY EXPENSIVE STUFF AND YOU WILL LOOK COOL AND HAVE A SUCCESSFUL LIFE WITH LOTS OF MONEY FANCY CLOTHES SURROUNDED BY SEXY WOMEN LIKE NATALIE PORTMAN AND CHARLIZE THERON AND THAT ONE GIRL AND ALL THE MODELS THAT LOOK SO SERIOUS  AND BORED FOR SOME REASON.  Yuck.

They wouldn’t let me strap my yoga mat to my checked bag so I brought it on the plane and as took my window seat facing the west I looked out at my last American sunset for quite sometime.  A solid pink cloud blanket covers the New York Sky line flanked by dark outlined smaller clouds, the George Washington Bridge, the Empire State building and to the left the sharpest diagonal line across the sky holds the dark of night on the other side.  Quite a contrast, fitting huh =) my camera didn’t quite capture it, but I have my memory.  We flew into the night.

Why did I decide to join the Peace Corps?

I knew it would be an extreme challenge and that’s always been appealing to me.

A strong sense of calling to serve the most vulnerable in our world that comes from my faith and teachings in scripture.  And as Steve was to put it later You Only Live Once.  Also wrapped up in the decision to answer this call is my identity as a USA American: to serve as a volunteer for my home country.  As a citizen of the United States of America I recognized how much I have been given in abundance compared to millions of the world’s inhabitants and that to whom much is given much is expected.  For the last 8 years or so from time to time I’ve watched Ted Kennedy’s Eulogy of his older brother Bobby at St. Patrick’s in Boston.  When I was angry, disillusioned, depressed and cynical about the world and our government and the seeming futility, corruption and mendacity of it all these words gave me hope, inspired me even and made believe that it was still worth it to work for justice.  I’d always thought joining the Peace Corps would be a good way to put this belief, this inspiration into action.  While I don’t harbor any illusions of grandeur I know fully well that I would regret it if I didn’t do.  Most warm and fuzzy remarks come across as trite because they are grounded in a disarming truth we tend to want more from, but I know full well that to the world any one of us may only be one person, but to one person any one of us may be the whole world.  “Until a person becomes a part of a cause greater than themselves, he or she is never truly whole.” –Richard Nixon

The sun rose in Belgium .
Hours later from the middle of the plan I looked out at my first african sunset.
A dark pink orange divide with darkness under the horizontal line below.
I couldn't tell whether the sunset was into a blanket of clouds, the sea,
or the vast Sahara desert somewhere over Sudan.
Getting off the plane we walked into Ugandan night air which smelled like the wooden
or charcoal cooking fires of Cambodia and rural Taiwan.

We got in Wednesday night after a 3 hours bus ride from the Entebbe Airport.  I remember after my first two weeks at the Mt Clef dorm at CLU that college dorm life was like a combination of High School and Summer camp.  I’d follow that in description of the dynamics here being something like college meets summer camp, but make no mistake this is no vacation, this is training and all this was soon apparent, but the long session days with more information than I can retain were conducted with windows open facing the garden, the birds that sang and occasionally dropped in for class.  The intensity and pace of the information coming at us to prepare for the two year task ahead was matched by a near angelic grace and dignity of our hosts.   

Thursday November 21, 2013

In one week we’ve had a one site visit and took a trip to church and already I’ve had a half dozen experiences that tell me clearly I am in the right place.

Thanksgiving Nov 28 2013

Today was thanksgiving. Wow. Went to Peace Corps Headquarters in Kampala and feasted with close to 80 folks.  Sunday we leave to complete teacher bootcamp.

Saturday Nov 30

17 days, 3 hot showers, a dozen sunrises and sunsets to add to the subconscious memory beauty queue.

Wrote a poem about honeysuckle scent that I can't find now.  Those mornings we went jogging on the trail thtough the farms seeing the homes of our neighbors and the greetings of their excited children.  The roosters had bright feathers like the ones from the road to Hana and the cows and pigs were all similar as were many of the flowers and all the corn.  What was different at first sight was the houses.  Mud brick, with seldom a window and the cooking was done in a separate structure out to the side with a fire. Water was carried from a nearby boar-hole.

Tuesday Dec 3 

Today I asked a classroom of Ugandan children the same question our 6^th grade science teacher put to us nearly 20 years ago, “What does the word science mean?”  Thank You Mrs. Kizer.  Passing on to others what you passed on to us.  Happy Advent Everyone.

PS Joseph says to say that he’s awesome (which I vouch for completely) and that I’ve been a positive influence. We’ve done a lot of praying together, text study and passage readings from the Bible to Tich Naht Hanh to The Tao te Jing.

Wed Dec 4

Just Before Sunset

I washed my hands in the rain today

In conversation with a roommate he said “I’d rather be uncomfortable in Africa than uncomfortable in the States… or comfortable for that matter.”

There is in our group often an absence of the need to explain statements like this. We are on the same page.

I took a shower in the rain today washed some clothes in a bucket and hung them on the line after the rain storm ended.

Walked to the end of the road just before sunset hens, and brightly colored roosters walked all around me.  A couple children kicked a red ball and their apartment reminded me of many of the buildings in Taiwan. Across the street the brilliant sun reflected on the tin siding of a building that once was.  Through the treeline of trees I’d only seen in movies and pictures the she became pink and orange.  Walked back up the road and talked with Dennis trying to pick up some Lugandan and Runyankore as students walked all around us to their dorms and to the chowlines.

I pointed to the sun, just before sunset.  The sky made me still. The sky made me smile.

Dusk had arrived.

Sunday Dec 8

I worshipped with my Anglican brothers and sisters today.  The day before while we were all taking a day off at Entebbe visiting the zoo and having pizza on the shore of Lake Victoria the Primary Teacher College students were preparing for Sunday worship services. There was a Catholic, a Born Again and an Anglican service.

I walked in and a dozen or so had gathered and started to sing as more trickled in.  Soon to young men were instructed to grab the drum and play.  The music picked up and when they sang Hosanna I strained to sing along with them as memories, feelings and that which is pure in worship flooded forward.  “Hold it together Benz: you can’t crack up in front of all these folks- you’re their visitor,” the voice inside me (which for some reason sounded like Uncle Tom’s) seemed to say. Sure enough as the song ended and a new one began, the young seminary student was leading worship and wearing a black robe came up to me.  She introduced herself as Irene and asked me to preach the gospel.  It was hard to hear with the music and part of me was hoping she just meant read the gospel but I had a feeling I’d been asked to do more than that.  I’ve been taught in recent years not to refuse requests such as these no matter how under prepared you feel. So I agreed and she motioned me to sit up front with her.  They were dancing with their praise songs!

After 2 other students read the scripture and the Gospel my suspicion was confirmed.  The gospel was from a part of Matthew where Jesus was angry with Pharisees touting all their fancy garments and wealth while widows went hungry. He was denouncing hypocrites.  So when I was told I walked up and stood at the podium in this cement classroom with barred windows converted into a chapel for the day. I talked about gratitude and said thank you, reminding them that I too was a student and that one among them was my teacher and I pointed to Agry whom I’d met my first day at the complex and who on follow up days had joked with others gathered around while I was doing laundry about teaching me for money. Just as that day I talked about the wealth of friendship, on Sunday I thanked him for being my teacher as I was going to a region he was from and his instruction in the local dialect would be quite helpful.   I called to attention the fact that Jesus was angry, angry at hypocrites and shared with them that hypocrisy in the church is why many people in the USA left church or avoid it completely.  I said it was not blame them as hypocrisy is an understandable reason to avoid something: it is not my place to judge only for me to remember what it says in Joshua that’s hung over our kitchen as long as I can remember, “As for me and my house, we shall follow the Lord.”  I spoke then about leader ship and leaders and that Nelson Mandela had reminded us that the strongest form of leadership was is by example and that none us was born hating another person.  We may be born sinners but we had to be taught the kind of hatred he spoke against and if we could learn that we could in turn learn to love.”  I told them of how my father and mother taught me to follow great leaders and that not long after I was born my father had been arrested for protesting apartheid.  I asked them to remember the love of Christ and to be the kind of leaders he would have us be.

Afterwards we sang “What a Friend We Have In Jesus” and I thought of my Grandpa Benz and of Dad, my uncles and childhood.  What a sacred place music holds in our world, what power to bring forth memories, to comfort, to transport and to bring hope.   The way they do music here is not something I’ve seen anywhere else.  It does not seem to be learned. It is not an extension of the individuals or people, it is a part of them.  It is not burdened with the pretense and polish of performance, yet from what I have seen and heard exceeds what I’d seen most of my life.  They make sounds seemingly effortlessly that bring to mind the word exaltation and if it were ever possible this is the kind of music that can carry us to triumph with the melodies and harmonies of their a cappella voices.   The only thing I could compare that first encounter in Africa with her peoples music at the Catholic church only days after we landed would be to summon or direct anyone to the score of The Thin Red Line where I think Hans Zimmer had found some a cappella choral arrangement and just knocked it out of the park.

After the service the campus retired and all the students prepared a performance for us their visitors.  Who knew what a treat was in store.  It was a celebration of culture with music, a special gift from them to us their teachers.  I wish I had it on tape for you.  They used only the drums, their voices and their hands for the accompaniment. There were a number of local dances and few songs in English. “Give Me That Old Time Religion.” How could someone forget a gift like that. 

Dec 13, 2013
Throughout Teacher Bootcamp I have watched the ideas and output with some admitted envy. Then I ask for this to be removed and replaced with admiration as this is more fitting with who I'd like to be. Then I consider the fact that I had diarrhea nearly the whole time and pat myself on the back as I've never been so productive with a rough case of the tummy squirts. After all, my feelings are not facts and the results were that the kids loved it. They loved the guitar and were sad as we left. During picture/farewell time one of the youngsters in a red shirt demanded I come down to hear him whisper something in my ear, "REMEMBER US." Question of the week friends and neighbors: "How do we remember our loved ones and those who touch our lives?"

Some of these children don't have shoes and wear torn clothes to school.  Many of them walk a distance that takes us 15 minutes to cover on a bus.  They choose to come, they are happy when they are there and they work hard.  Two of them even came to visit us the following day an they got a song on the guitar and Madison, Vanessa and I walked them back to the road where they walked on to dinner and home.

Teacher Paul is back =)  Hope the New Year is Good to You and Yours and until the next update: "Webere Mononga!"

Christmas Greetings from Uganda

Merry Christmas and Seasons Greetings Friends and Family!

Rather than an update on the last year... or two (forthcoming when I have those quiet nights with no electricity on site). Here is an update and some sharing from my time thus far in Uganda.  It's a lot, so read it in pieces, when you're bored, or wondering what I've been up to.  Worshiped this morning with our catholic brothers and sisters at Church of the Martyrs in Namagongo.  I've been told it is a historic landmark from the 19 century when missionaries first came to Uganda.

Love you all!

Paul Benz the Younger

Saturday Nov, 30 2013

It is Thanksgiving weekend here in Uganda and I wanted send a long overdue thank you to all of you for your help in the process, which has brought me here.  Some of you as current or former Peace Corps Volunteers answered my many questions throughout the lengthy application process, some of you wrote letters of recommendation or agreed to have your name submitted as a reference for work or volunteer activities over the years, some of you have offered me constant counsel and good company, some of you have employed me or prayed for me, and some of you have even offered contacts here in East Africa.  To all of you I say thank you, and for all of you I am grateful.

My official title is Literacy Specialist and the United States Peace Corps has assigned me to a community in Southwestern Uganda for the next two years where I will report sometime in late January or early February after training is complete and we are all sworn in as volunteers.  There are 44 in our training group, all assigned as Education Officers either Primary Teacher Trainers or Literacy Specialists and we’re 3 weeks into a 3 month training period.

I'll be sent out so a community in a remote area of Uganda as an Education Officer.  The idea is that I do more capacity building and development than merely functioning as a substitute teacher.  So the details of my work activity will be more clear once I arrive at site and assess what exactly the school and community need particularly regarding literacy.  Once I have a clear picture of what the need is I begin the task of working with the school and community to set goals on meeting those needs in a sustainable way.  The notion is that if you can improve the classroom culture and approaches to learning you can change and entire school and empower people who will one day lead their communities and country.  How would you define community? This word is thrown around a lot and like many other words (critical thinking is a great example) I think it’s worth while to hone our bs detectors from time to time and think about words we use and that others use to better understand what others are actually saying or trying to say and to make attempts that we are clear in our own words.  I'll just pose the question and let you ponder as you wish as I surely will in the coming months.

Here in a hodgepodge way are some of my moments thus far I hope this finds you well and living:

Tuesday November 11, 2013 

This morning looked out my Hotel window at the snow blowing gently into the streets of Philadelphia and occurred to me I might not see a scene like this for quite sometime. I smile into the quiet of Philadelphia’s morning.  A few blocks away is that old cracked bell I wondered at when Mom and Dad brought us to see all the History America’s East Coast has to offer.  Didn’t make it to Independence Hall on this trip.

A two hour bus ride from Philadelphia to NYC and looking at old pictures from Italy to Vienna to Cambodia I remember well Brian’s words a lifetime ago driving down a sunny street in Southern California, “Life is not a right, it’s a gift.”  I have been given so much and I do feel a duty to give back, this is a big reason why I find myself here now on a bus with 43 other USA Americans going to Volunteer with the Peace Corps for the next 27 months.  I look back at the smile of my first Tuk Tuk driver in Pnohm Penh and imagine what his life has been like.  Many things we might shudder at dealing with daily or going without, yet he smiles so fully.  Imagine what it might be like if we all could have smiles like that, giving up so much cherished luxury so others might be able to smile like that with just a few more basic things.  I don’t know if it’s possible and if it’s forced it definitely won’t work, but it’s worth working for even if all you achieve is to let folks know out there that there is love on the other side of the world and that they too are remembered.  Also worth the forthcoming effort I feel is to help show friends back home what it’s like to be over there reminding always how strong our most common bonds are.  For who, that has food to eat, a place to live in and healthy children in school does not have cause to smile and give thanks for life? 

This is part what the Peace Corps does. Created by and Executive Order (that’s right an executive order ;-) in 1961 by President JFK established with the mission statement to promote world peace and friendship through the service of American Volunteers abroad. 

The bus through Manhattan began a fitting farewell as we trudge down 42^nd street through the neon throbbing pulse of Times square.  My friend Dave in the seat across the aisle, himself from Long Island explains to another in our group the insanity that is New Years Eve at Times Square and that New Yorkers generally try to avoid the fiasco all together.  All the while I’m looking at a giant Leonard Cohen billboard advertising his presence here next April. Sisters of Mercy plays in my head and I think you should all try to see him,  "and I hope you run into them you who’ve been traveling so long."  Neon lights at McDonalds are silly and excessive and Vegas has never been one of my favorite destinations,  and deep down I realize that the neon lights on our city streets are really not so different from those of the others cities I’ve walked, bussed or scootered thru at night but…. perhaps New York is simply what I hold as the greatest city in the land I call home.  At JFK it was becoming clear to all of us, I think, how soon we would be calling a very different place home far, far away.  Good conversation with Joseph, who later became my roommate, insulates me from the hour-long security wait where we are all crowded under some steel disc modern art piece. A few hundred of us dressed for November in New York are assaulted by the chic advertisements for designer clothes and perfume on a screen the size of a world series score board: BUY EXPENSIVE STUFF AND YOU WILL LOOK COOL AND HAVE A SUCCESSFUL LIFE WITH LOTS OF MONEY FANCY CLOTHES SURROUNDED BY SEXY WOMEN LIKE NATALIE PORTMAN AND CHARLIZE THERON AND THAT ONE GIRL AND ALL THE MODELS THAT LOOK SO SERIOUS  AND BORED FOR SOME REASON.  Yuck.

They wouldn’t let me strap my yoga mat to my checked bag so I brought it on the plane and as took my window seat facing the west I looked out at my last American sunset for quite sometime.  A solid pink cloud blanket covers the New York Sky line flanked by dark outlined smaller clouds, the George Washington Bridge, the Empire State building and to the left the sharpest diagonal line across the sky holds the dark of night on the other side.  Quite a contrast, fitting huh =) my camera didn’t quite capture it, but I have my memory.  We flew into the night.

Why did I decide to join the Peace Corps?

I knew it would be an extreme challenge and that’s always been appealing to me.

A strong sense of calling to serve the most vulnerable in our world that comes from my faith and teachings in scripture.  And as Steve was to put it later You Only Live Once.  Also wrapped up in the decision to answer this call is my identity as a USA American: to serve as a volunteer for my home country.  As a citizen of the United States of America I recognized how much I have been given in abundance compared to millions of the world’s inhabitants and that to whom much is given much is expected.  For the last 8 years or so from time to time I’ve watched Ted Kennedy’s Eulogy of his older brother Bobby at St. Patrick’s in Boston.  When I was angry, disillusioned, depressed and cynical about the world and our government and the seeming futility, corruption and mendacity of it all these words gave me hope, inspired me even and made believe that it was still worth it to work for justice.  I’d always thought joining the Peace Corps would be a good way to put this belief, this inspiration into action.  While I don’t harbor any illusions of grandeur I know fully well that I would regret it if I didn’t do.  Most warm and fuzzy remarks come across as trite because they are grounded in a disarming truth we tend to want more from, but I know full well that to the world any one of us may only be one person, but to one person any one of us may be the whole world.  “Until a person becomes a part of a cause greater than themselves, he or she is never truly whole.” –Richard Nixon

The sun rose in Belgium .
Hours later from the middle of the plan I looked out at my first african sunset.
A dark pink orange divide with darkness under the horizontal line below.
I couldn't tell whether the sunset was into a blanket of clouds, the sea,
or the vast Sahara desert somewhere over Sudan.
Getting off the plane we walked into Ugandan night air which smelled like the wooden
or charcoal cooking fires of Cambodia and rural Taiwan.

We got in Wednesday night after a 3 hours bus ride from the Entebbe Airport.  I remember after my first two weeks at the Mt Clef dorm at CLU that college dorm life was like a combination of High School and Summer camp.  I’d follow that in description of the dynamics here being something like college meets summer camp, but make no mistake this is no vacation, this is training and all this was soon apparent, but the long session days with more information than I can retain were conducted with windows open facing the garden, the birds that sang and occasionally dropped in for class.  The intensity and pace of the information coming at us to prepare for the two year task ahead was matched by a near angelic grace and dignity of our hosts.   

Thursday November 21, 2013

In one week we’ve had a one site visit and took a trip to church and already I’ve had a half dozen experiences that tell me clearly I am in the right place.

Thanksgiving Nov 28 2013

Today was thanksgiving. Wow. Went to Peace Corps Headquarters in Kampala and feasted with close to 80 folks.  Sunday we leave to complete teacher bootcamp.

Saturday Nov 30

17 days, 3 hot showers, a dozen sunrises and sunsets to add to the subconscious memory beauty queue.

Wrote a poem about honeysuckle scent that I can't find now.  Those mornings we went jogging on the trail thtough the farms seeing the homes of our neighbors and the greetings of their excited children.  The roosters had bright feathers like the ones from the road to Hana and the cows and pigs were all similar as were many of the flowers and all the corn.  What was different at first sight was the houses.  Mud brick, with seldom a window and the cooking was done in a separate structure out to the side with a fire. Water was carried from a nearby boar-hole.

Tuesday Dec 3 

Today I asked a classroom of Ugandan children the same question our 6^th grade science teacher put to us nearly 20 years ago, “What does the word science mean?”  Thank You Mrs. Kizer.  Passing on to others what you passed on to us.  Happy Advent Everyone.

PS Joseph says to say that he’s awesome (which I vouch for completely) and that I’ve been a positive influence. We’ve done a lot of praying together, text study and passage readings from the Bible to Tich Naht Hanh to The Tao te Jing.

Wed Dec 4

Just Before Sunset

I washed my hands in the rain today

In conversation with a roommate he said “I’d rather be uncomfortable in Africa than uncomfortable in the States… or comfortable for that matter.”

There is in our group often an absence of the need to explain statements like this. We are on the same page.

I took a shower in the rain today washed some clothes in a bucket and hung them on the line after the rain storm ended.

Walked to the end of the road just before sunset hens, and brightly colored roosters walked all around me.  A couple children kicked a red ball and their apartment reminded me of many of the buildings in Taiwan. Across the street the brilliant sun reflected on the tin siding of a building that once was.  Through the treeline of trees I’d only seen in movies and pictures the she became pink and orange.  Walked back up the road and talked with Dennis trying to pick up some Lugandan and Runyankore as students walked all around us to their dorms and to the chowlines.

I pointed to the sun, just before sunset.  The sky made me still. The sky made me smile.

Dusk had arrived.

Sunday Dec 8

I worshipped with my Anglican brothers and sisters today.  The day before while we were all taking a day off at Entebbe visiting the zoo and having pizza on the shore of Lake Victoria the Primary Teacher College students were preparing for Sunday worship services. There was a Catholic, a Born Again and an Anglican service.

I walked in and a dozen or so had gathered and started to sing as more trickled in.  Soon to young men were instructed to grab the drum and play.  The music picked up and when they sang Hosanna I strained to sing along with them as memories, feelings and that which is pure in worship flooded forward.  “Hold it together Benz: you can’t crack up in front of all these folks- you’re their visitor,” the voice inside me (which for some reason sounded like Uncle Tom’s) seemed to say. Sure enough as the song ended and a new one began, the young seminary student was leading worship and wearing a black robe came up to me.  She introduced herself as Irene and asked me to preach the gospel.  It was hard to hear with the music and part of me was hoping she just meant read the gospel but I had a feeling I’d been asked to do more than that.  I’ve been taught in recent years not to refuse requests such as these no matter how under prepared you feel. So I agreed and she motioned me to sit up front with her.  They were dancing with their praise songs!

After 2 other students read the scripture and the Gospel my suspicion was confirmed.  The gospel was from a part of Matthew where Jesus was angry with Pharisees touting all their fancy garments and wealth while widows went hungry. He was denouncing hypocrites.  So when I was told I walked up and stood at the podium in this cement classroom with barred windows converted into a chapel for the day. I talked about gratitude and said thank you, reminding them that I too was a student and that one among them was my teacher and I pointed to Agry whom I’d met my first day at the complex and who on follow up days had joked with others gathered around while I was doing laundry about teaching me for money. Just as that day I talked about the wealth of friendship, on Sunday I thanked him for being my teacher as I was going to a region he was from and his instruction in the local dialect would be quite helpful.   I called to attention the fact that Jesus was angry, angry at hypocrites and shared with them that hypocrisy in the church is why many people in the USA left church or avoid it completely.  I said it was not blame them as hypocrisy is an understandable reason to avoid something: it is not my place to judge only for me to remember what it says in Joshua that’s hung over our kitchen as long as I can remember, “As for me and my house, we shall follow the Lord.”  I spoke then about leader ship and leaders and that Nelson Mandela had reminded us that the strongest form of leadership was is by example and that none us was born hating another person.  We may be born sinners but we had to be taught the kind of hatred he spoke against and if we could learn that we could in turn learn to love.”  I told them of how my father and mother taught me to follow great leaders and that not long after I was born my father had been arrested for protesting apartheid.  I asked them to remember the love of Christ and to be the kind of leaders he would have us be.

Afterwards we sang “What a Friend We Have In Jesus” and I thought of my Grandpa Benz and of Dad, my uncles and childhood.  What a sacred place music holds in our world, what power to bring forth memories, to comfort, to transport and to bring hope.   The way they do music here is not something I’ve seen anywhere else.  It does not seem to be learned. It is not an extension of the individuals or people, it is a part of them.  It is not burdened with the pretense and polish of performance, yet from what I have seen and heard exceeds what I’d seen most of my life.  They make sounds seemingly effortlessly that bring to mind the word exaltation and if it were ever possible this is the kind of music that can carry us to triumph with the melodies and harmonies of their a cappella voices.   The only thing I could compare that first encounter in Africa with her peoples music at the Catholic church only days after we landed would be to summon or direct anyone to the score of The Thin Red Line where I think Hans Zimmer had found some a cappella choral arrangement and just knocked it out of the park.

After the service the campus retired and all the students prepared a performance for us their visitors.  Who knew what a treat was in store.  It was a celebration of culture with music, a special gift from them to us their teachers.  I wish I had it on tape for you.  They used only the drums, their voices and their hands for the accompaniment. There were a number of local dances and few songs in English. “Give Me That Old Time Religion.” How could someone forget a gift like that. 

Dec 13, 2013
Throughout Teacher Bootcamp I have watched the ideas and output with some admitted envy. Then I ask for this to be removed and replaced with admiration as this is more fitting with who I'd like to be. Then I consider the fact that I had diarrhea nearly the whole time and pat myself on the back as I've never been so productive with a rough case of the tummy squirts. After all, my feelings are not facts and the results were that the kids loved it. They loved the guitar and were sad as we left. During picture/farewell time one of the youngsters in a red shirt demanded I come down to hear him whisper something in my ear, "REMEMBER US." Question of the week friends and neighbors: "How do we remember our loved ones and those who touch our lives?"

Some of these children don't have shoes and wear torn clothes to school.  Many of them walk a distance that takes us 15 minutes to cover on a bus.  They choose to come, they are happy when they are there and they work hard.  Two of them even came to visit us the following day an they got a song on the guitar and Madison, Vanessa and I walked them back to the road where they walked on to dinner and home.

Teacher Paul is back =)  Hope the New Year is Good to You and Yours and until the next update: "Webere Mononga!"

Facebook and General Correspondence Disclaimer:

Between the Birthday, Preparations for the 2 year+ departure to Uganda, the party and getting out here to Philly, I haven’t had much time to check the FB.  This may be the case for a while so sorry for those of you I’ve been meaning to write back to.  So if I haven’t yet responded to the thoughtful messages from you please know how much they mean to me and how much I love you all.

Should you ever wonder what the heck I’m up to and not know cause I haven’t told you, just be patient, remember all the happy things about acceptance and mindfulness:  Think about the last time I did something that frustrated you or the last time I made you laugh and remember the 4 nicknames I’ve responded to with a smile from many of you over the years- “Paul the Younger,” “Pauly B,” “Stinky,” or “Alcopaul” (although in the last 5 years ‘alcopaul’ has no longer been immediately relevant.  Think of these things and think of this phrase that made me laugh today but might make me cry in a few months:

“Every fart’s a gamble”

Peace Corp  Narrative

Sunday Morning Nov. 10, 2013

Somewhere over the USA bound for Philadelphia

It begins with gratitude.  For my parents, for all of you who helped me in the application process, whether it was perspective in discernment first hand advice on Peace Corps details, or letters of recommendation.

For those who came out at last minute’s notice from the varying chapters of my life to bid me farewell at church.  For those who Reading your words on the plane this morning was a beautiful thing. Thank You.

Certainly we are all standing on the shoulders of Giants. Today I said goodbye to my parents at the gate.  A wonderful young woman let them check in through security and we had coffee while awaiting boarding.

So many people helped me get to this point it is overwhelming in the best possible way, and to whom much is given, much is expected.  I don’t know what exactly lies ahead, many questions are either unanswered or have not been asked, but with the help of so many friends, employers and strangers along the way I feel prepared. And here is the wonderful thought from Chris McCandless and John Krakauer and Sean Penn that it’s been written somewhere how it’s not so important to BE strong, but to FEEL strong.   Here in this place listening to music  at the beginning of an incredible, life changing and perhaps life defining journey, basking in the love of friends and family’s kind words now in cards and in memory I feel the presence of God and find the source of all gratitude and grace embodied. Dad always used to talk about the 3 F’s: Faith Family and Friendship.  =)

And here in Philadelphia after a full day of orientation I must go to spend a few hours in very comfortable bed for the last time in quite a while.  Here’s hoping I get to spend some time tomorrow at the airport writing more observations from the last few days.  There is among our group of 44 individuals such energy, diversity, such laughter, such a vocalized shared purpose and such hope that I feel excited and at ease knowing I am in the right place at the right time. I go to join 136 other Peace Corps Volunteers in Uganda and 8,600 Peace Corps Volunteers serving around the world.

The next entry will be from closer to the equator than I’ve ever been in my life in the land Winston Churchill called, “The Pearl of Africa”   UGANDA

Peace, Cheers and Blessings,

Paul

Attached (and out of order but still relevant) Thanksgiving Post

Thanksgiving 2011

This week for a field trip, our students (ages 2-6 years: about 30 of them) went to a place called Bethany Home.  It is a home for the disfigured and mentally ill here in Taiwan and it sits on an animal farm of sorts with ostriches, goats, a cow roaming freely eating grass from the pathway with no regard for human presence, ducks, geese, peacocks, a few turtles, and a few beautiful Koi ponds.

The residents were all wearing red T-shirts saying, in English, “Outreach Taiwan Jesus Loves You.”

It was a special American Thanksgiving themed program as inside residents were wearing various costumes, wigs, make-up and being led by the volunteers in various Christian Praise songs.  I found myself quite unprepared for my emotional response to the very touching scene that played itself out.  I clapped and sang along (as much as could in what I can only describe as my own awkward “Paul Benz prefers traditional Lutheran Liturgy sort of way”) in Praise of my God- joined by residents who were being cared for in His Name and in the name of kindness, decency and compassion.  They had a program with skits, a magic show, and our kids even preformed a few of their own songs they had been preparing for their parents later in the week.

There is not yet enough distance from the event to get too eloquent or insightful: all I know is that it was a morning I was very proud to say that I am a Christian.

With priests molesting children, Pat Robertson, Fred Phelps and many like them who spread so much hatred and division in the name of Christ I often am on the defensive with my Faith, calmly explaining that, “No, I’m not that kind of Christian.”  But that morning I was so proud to say, “Yes, members of my Faith do things like this.  They are helping ‘the least of these’ in the Name of the God I Worship and Love.  

Paul's Overdue Update and 2011 Christmas Letter all in One =)

HIGHLIGHTS FOR PAUL IN 2011

=)

           A little long this year, but the good news is you don’t have to read it all at once.

·      JANUARY-  Started the year out with a trip to Massachusetts to visit Mike, Sherrise and the Family.  Plenty games of “Monsters,” “Legos,” and “Droids” with Liam and Elliot in addition to a couple trips out into the snow for sledding with Sherrise and Megan.  Megan took me out to see TSOL in Boston. A proper punk show in a bar with room on the floor for only about 60 people to thrash around to music from dudes who’ve been doing it for 30 years.   

 Another really special moment on the trip came when I took a train out to New Hampshire to see COUSIN TOM!  Spent the weekend with him, Melissa and got to play with little Brook Ashley (so cute!) Tom took us out to brunch and on a real nice drive up the New Hampshire Coast. If I’d ever seen snow on a beach before that day I don’t remember when.

·      FEBRUARY-  Was paid a visit by Turid and Endre all the way from Norway! So I had the opportunity to show members of the Haga/Vange Clan some of the same hospitality they showed me when I was in Norway, while at the same time getting to see some things in the American Southwest I’d always wanted to and just never had despite living there for the better part of ten years. (What’s the saying Niall, “if you want to really see a place then visit, if not- live there?”)  So we headed up the Pacific Coast Highway, stayed with Ryan and Sayer in Paso Robles and saw Hearst Castle with them the next morning before going to Peidras Blancas to see the all the Sea Elephants and then enjoying a beautiful sunny drive up through Big Sur and into Berkeley where they had a friend studying there and I got to see my old friend and Confirmation Brother Andy Gilbert…always a blast. Walking across the Golden Gate Bridge, Sourdough Clam Chowder at Fisherman’s Wharf, a cruise around Alcatraz and a stop by Amoeba Records before pushing on to stay a night with Haley in Visalia and making our way to Death Valley. (I recommend February to visit the hottest place on earth- the sand dunes were awesome!)  We stopped in Vegas for a couple hours to see all it’s abbreviated glory and then pushed on into Arizona headed for the Grand Canyon.  As for the Grand Canyon… there was snow there and I’d never been before. We floated part of the Colorado from Lake Powell and it (my brief glimpse of this massive Natural Wonder of the World) was more than I could than I could adequately describe in a sentence or even several pages so I will just echo Chris McCandles’s admonition that it “is something that every American should see at least once in their lifetime.”  So we stayed our final night at a hostel in Flagstaff and headed back to LA the next morning: it was an epic roadtrip.

MARCH-  Returned to Las Vegas for Dane Johnson’s (another Confirmation Brother) Wedding… Picked up Corey Edwards at the Vegas airport and well… it was all three Johnson boys, some of Dane’s buddies from South Dakota, Corey and me.  I was coming up on 3 years of sobriety at the time and while Vegas may not be a top destination for an alcoholic in recovery, I honestly had so much fun with Dane and the guys, it really didn’t bother me- although I have to confess I made a conscious decision to smoke cigarettes while I was there, but all the guys were so amazed I wasn’t drinking they made sure I at least never had to buy my own pack =).  From there I drove with Corey out to Chandler, Arizona for Dane’s wedding.  It was a beautiful ceremony.  I may not have made it my ten-year reunion for being in Taiwan, but seeing all 3 of the Johnson boys, Corey, the Greens and Johnson’s that made it out from South Whidbey more than made up for it.  I don’t remember the last time I laughed as much as I did those few days in March with the Johnson Boy’s.  Corey and I were ushers and even though I’m a true doof with things technological, Dane asked me to cue all the music and sound for the ceremony, “You’re the only one I trust with this,” he said.  With the cooler of Bud Light in the dressing room that was stocked full for the Groomsmen at the days start I knew what he meant, accepted my task, prayed and managed to not screw up the music cue as Dane and Michelle walked down the aisle.  Got to meet up with Megan and Patrick Jennet while I was out there too as Chandler, AZ is his hometown where they both live now.  Patrick suggested I take a route back to LA where I could see all the Swarro Cactus as this is the only part of the world where they grew in the wild.  If you’ve never driven that stretch of road en route from Phoenix to LA it is really something to see and my pictures on Facebook do not begin to do it justice.  Made it back in time for the President’s speaking engagement at USC. I waited in line and even snapped photos of the crowd, but as bad as I wanted to see the President speak it wasn’t important enough to be late to work for. I think he’d understand ;-)

·      And at the end of the month back in Thousand Oaks I met Jana… I’m writing this in Taiwan where she is across the Pacific Ocean in LA so I don’t want to make myself all bummed out by thinking to much about how much I miss her here, but I can tell you that I am very excited to go spend Christmas with her and her family on Maui in a couple weeks!

·      APRIL- Was paid a visit by my cuz Dan Benz! Any of you who don’t know him just imagine a much taller version of me, goofy and caring with the same deep Benz voice, but who speaks computer, can fix just about anything and rides motorcycles. Love you Dan.  Drove down to San Diego with Jana and saw the Mackie Girls who drove down from South Whidbey to drop Devon off at her new home.  Jana and saw Ray Manzarek play for a small crowd at a former Border’s location.  Getting to hear him do all the old Doors songs interspersed with Q and A and stories about Jim Morrison was way more than just pretty cool.

·      MAY-  Cody Johnson saw fit to fly me out to South Dakota for a reception in Hot Springs for Dane’s wedding so all his friends who couldn’t make it out to Arizona for the wedding could have a proper celebration. Lots of guitar playing and singing, riding four-wheelers and even made it back out to see the progress on Crazy Horse Mountain. I hope I live to see that finished. Took me back to memories of all our roadtrips with Dad growing up.  There’s nothing like seeing a buffalo up close.

·      JUNE-  Went back to Massachusetts for Liam’s 6^th Birthday!  Mike and Sherrise hosted me, Mom, Dad, and Jana.  It was really, really special.  Got to go back to the Montessori where Liam and Elliot go for their End-Of-The-Year Ceremony.  Lots of time with the boys splashing around in the pool, taking walks to the park, and Dad was there to share some of the “Monster” duties, which the boys really seemed to like (I know I appreciated the assistance).  After Mom and Dad flew home, Sherrise took us to Walden Pond on Father’s Day.  We walked around the lake with the boys and saw the site where Thoreau built his cabin and wrote about Civil Disobedience.  The boys made it half way around the lake before having to be carried the rest of the way, but I think the ice cream afterwards made up for it.  Mike and Sherrise even got us tickets to Fenway Park!  Dad and I had never been there before so… well Fenway Park for baseball fan is like sacred ground and I couldn’t tell you who the Sox played, but I do remember that they killed ‘em and the whole crowd sang Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” when Boston made real big plays.    Before flying back to LA Jana and I spent a week on Cape Cod out in Provincetown where Jesse (yet another Confirmation Brother- there were only five of us after all) put us up at his Aunt’s Hotel.  One day we even went out whale watching and saw a pod of Humpback Whales. 

·      JULY- Had a truly Americana 4^th of July experience at Malibu Lake with Jana where the whole community gathered for barbeque, frog races a pie eating contest, egg toss and a three legged race.  That weekend was also the Western States Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s High School Youth Gathering.  Pastor Scott (who left the same seminary in the spring with his wife Melissa that my parents began their studies at in the fall) asked me the previous fall if I would be a featured speaker at the Gathering and told me the theme was “In the Balance.”  When I told him that I didn’t have much experience with balanced living, but had lots to share about what happens when things are out of balance he smiled and said, “That’s what we were hoping for.”  I’ve never said so many personal things in front of that many people, but I received a lot of good feedback, so I can only hope that my prayers that God would help me help someone with my words were answered in some way.  A week later I packed up my truck, said goodbye to Dale (the best room mate I’ve ever had) and some close friends that came together for a little farewell gathering at Holy Trinity and drove up to Washington to make final preparations for the year in Taiwan that was set to begin on July 21^st!  About the only acting I did this year was a project with Jordan that turned out really well.  On my way up I stayed at a hostel in Berkeley roomed with a young guy from England who was bummed he couldn’t buy beer in the US.  I was doing my best to console him and in the midst of a conversation about Bruce Springsteen, Jordan called and told me he was shooting a video in Bellingham right when I would be home and asked if I wanted to be in it.  It was a blast and I got to work with ole Patrick Moote and Taylor who I’d met and become friends with on Jordan’s first feature.  If you want to check it out on youtube the link is…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPvdhcXKX7A.  The only other acting work I got this year was actually a small part on a Taiwanese Soap Opera as an American Businessman that my room mate’s wife helped me get.  It was a day’s work, everyone there spoke Chinese and I don’t know when the episode airs, but at least I can say I’ve been on a Soap Opera now for whatever that’s worth.  As far as the work that actually generated somewhat livable wages my job as a Clinical Assistant at the rehabilitation facility in Malibu, where I’d worked since December of 2009 ended in February.  After almost 4 years I left my job at Trader Joe’s in order to come to Taiwan, but was assured, much to my comfort and delight that I could receive a strong recommendation for rehire upon my return. 

·      TAIWAN- I sent out an initial update on my experiences in Taiwan after the first 6 weeks and will do my best to avoid redundancy.  Seeing Banana Trees as part of my daily life is pretty cool.  The memories that stand out the most are watching the sunset on a small island (the island’s name translated literally means small island) with Jana after we drove the scooter around it for most of the day, hiking Taiwan’s second largest mountain with Jana Kara, George and Lauren, sleeping on the beach at Fulong with my sister and spending the next day rock climbing (really just bouldering I found out later) at her favorite spot and picking up trash between snorkel dives, hiking a centuries old trade route in the North with Jana where we encountered butterflies and spiders considerably larger than I’m used to, and then spending my Birthday with both Kara and Jana up in Wulai amidst waterfalls, hot springs and a beautiful river in the green mountains.   The Pacific Ocean is so warm here! Megan came to visit in September and I only wish she could have stayed longer, but I was still excited to have a visitor.  Then Kara and Andy came down right around Kara’s Birthday.  A couple weeks prior to their visit I was befriended by a Taiwanese family who own and operate a small sushi restaurant right next to my apartment building.  Upon learning that I was a Christian they invited me to their church.  Their sanctuary is a room that could fit no more than 40 people with an old wooden Cross hanging in front of a red tapestry on the wall behind a simple Altar with a keyboard in the corner.  They have an overhead projector with transparencies for their hymns and although it’s a small room they have a few microphones and guitars.  On my first visit I was asked to stand and speak.  I uttered the few Chinese phrases I knew and was greeted warmly and asked to sing a song.  They handed me a guitar and I went blank.  The only thing that came to mind was “Just a Closer Walk With Thee,” but I couldn’t remember the chords.  So with guitar in hand I made my way through the song a cappella and was joined by a clapping congregation.  It was quite an experience.  The next Sunday I was invited back by the father of the Family who makes the best Dan Bao Fan I’ve ever eaten.  This hard working chef and small business owner in his late 50’s with 3 grown children wanted me to be present for his Baptism.  The refrain for Ben Harper’s song, “Blessed to Be a Witness” comes to mind a lot when think about it now.  

·      Now here I am on December 9, 2011 in their restaurant writing to all of you.  Kara left for Thailand after having spent her last week in Taiwan down here with me.  My Chinese is still limited to about a dozen phrases and I am hoping to take a class in January around the same time I hope to get a scooter so I can get out of the city on the weekends.  Pingtung is not a large city by any means (about a million people), but at night I can’t see any stars and most days the air quality is so poor I can’t see any of the dark green Mountains in the distance.  The food has a palate that is so different from what I’m used to that there are a few local dishes that I like and I eat them all the time.  At my job I’ve found that I really like children, but without a highly structured curriculum or firmly established and effective system of discipline, I get frustrated a lot.  That was to be expected though.  I came for a challenge, an adventure and something completely different and I got it.  While I have no natural talent for disciplining large groups of small children I do love my role as Mr. Paul and really have fun being silly with the kids and throwing them around a bit.  I have 13 in my 5-6 year old class and there are now 17 in my 3 year old class although several of them of them are still months away from their second birthdays.  A lot of the kids really just want to be held.  It’s crazy sometimes and I’m there roughly 55 hours a week.  I wrote a blurb on our experience at a home for the disabled where we took a field trip, which I will attach to this.   The only other highlight that’s coming to mind right now is the dozen or so times I’ve been back to visit the Monk Hue Shou at the Buddhist Monastery in Kaohsiung.  He’s a real hoot and his candid sharing about Buddhism has been quite interesting as I’ve been making my way through Thich Naht Hanh’s book Living Buddha, Living Christ.  Still trying to meditate every morning and still finding prayer to come much easier to my loud and busy mind.  

·      Some of the experiences precipitated by my identity as a Christian and my attempts to practice that identity daily are lengthy reflections all their own. I’m sending one with this letter and will put the others up on my blog as well as include them in future updates once I get them articulated on paper.  I miss Pastor Frank and Pastor Janet and all my Friends at Holy Trinity back in Thousand Oaks, but my experience here with my adopted family and their Church (where I often get translations of the pastors message) is one that I believe I will be able to learn and draw from for years to come.  

I hope that this finds you well and that 2012, the year of the Dragon, might be one where we can all work for and experience more peace, progress and prosperity.

Peace and Blessings and Love to You All

Paul Benz “the younger”