William Of The Pare Mountains

There are no hotels or lodges in the Southern
ParÃ© of East Africa therefore it is				I went straight to see the mother of William
difficult to reach this part of Tanzania,				- she gave me a parcel and dispatched me to
that is, difficult for a tourist. This area				the Hospital. The Pastor and I met in the
does not cater for westerners, except for				hospital mortuary, we chose a nice coffin for
those willing to spend time traveling to find				William. We opened the brown paper parcel.
these hidden jewels. I have worked on				William's mother had given me his suit. The
Serengeti safaris, climbed Mt Kilimanjaro and				suit William had never worn, the suit for the
traveled several times to Zanzibar. All this				wedding just a few days before. The Pastor
was a fantastic adventure but I was not quite				left to pay the medical bills and thereby
satisfied. I wanted to experience Africa				release the body. I watched over the body of
proper, to experience as much of Tanzania as				William as the mortuary assistant dressed him
I could. It was time to visit somewhere where				and used super glue to glue his eye lids
there were few, or better still, no tourists,				closed and then his lips.
where I would experience the real culture of
Africa.				William's parents asked me to accompany them
				to the funeral; William would not be buried
When my chance came it was, unfortunately,				in Arusha Town but taken "home" to the
under tragic circumstances. Now I was finally				ParÃ© Mountains.
to journey deep into the Southern Pare
Mountains. I wished that this journey had				We left in a couple of battered 25 seater
never presented itself. The circumstances of				buses, especially hired for this trip. The
this journey began as I lived in Arusha,				coffin was in the isle of the bus, and young
Northern Tanzania.				William's body had begun to smell. We left in
				the evening at 10 pm. About thirty of us
The village where I stayed was called Ngulelo				squeezed onto each bus. We raced and rattled
just south of Arusha on the misty slopes of				through the darkness, out of Arusha, then
Mount Meru. My near neighbors had befriended				through Moshi town, when, after passing
me, along with their eight-year-old son,				Kilimanjaro to our left, we turned south
William. My Christian name was				toward the Pare. After about four hours of
unpronounceable for many Tanzanian's and as				travel, we entered into a very small town
my surname was Williamson I became known in				named, SomÃ©. Here we left the comfort of
the village as William. This sharing of a				the tarmac and traveled for another hour,
name with young William forged a bond between				maybe two, along deep sandy roads, lit
the two of us.				thankfully by a full moon, shining down from
				clear skies.
Williams Mother and Father had never been
able to afford a marriage certificate but his				Eventually we arrived at the base of the
business had looked up and William's father				mountain range. It was still dark and
had decided he would marry the mother of his				therefore impossible to negotiate the narrow
child. The date of the wedding was set.				rocky roads up the side of the mountains. We
				parked in a one street town. It was so quiet,
The morning of the wedding William was bitten				I didn't know it was possible to experience
on his face by a dog. He almost lost his eye				such stillness and quiet. As we stretched our
- he did miss the wedding.				legs our voices echoed and ricocheted about
				the place and we wakened the locals. A few
Weddings in Tanzania normally take the whole				roadside stalls opened to sell toothbrushes
afternoon and evening. Usually, on these and				and hot tea and we brushed our teeth out in
other community events, William would sit				the open, spiting into the sand. Then sitting
next to me and we would talk and meet people,				on the stone steps of the old buildings
laughing and crying with the community.				drinking black sweet spicy tea, we waited for
William would share the adventures he had				the light of morning.
experienced since the last community event -
that is, since the last time we had spent				William's father and mother never left the
time together.				Bus. They waited in silence

I missed William at his parents wedding. I				At 6.00am we were off again, this time a
sat alone and the empty seat I kept for				steep assent, up and up and up. The mountains
William remained vacant as his wounds were				here are breathtakingly beautiful, rolling
tendered to at the hospital. The following				into the distance, with trees, birds and
day some of the elders thought the dog might				water everywhere. We took a further ninety
have rabbis but others said categorically				minutes to get to the home where were to
that it did not have rabbis. William's father				burry William. The land was terraced and we
was asked to take William for shots just in				sat outside a small house under a tree. The
case the dog was infected. William did not go				whole community had come for the burial. The
for the shots as the cost was deemed not				views were breathtakingly beautiful. We were
worth the hassle and the money, offered by				so high, looking down onto the tops of lesser
the elders for the medication, was refused.				mountains covered in thick forests and early
				morning mist. The people were warm and
William died very quickly. I was not present				welcoming, plying us with more spiced tea.
at his death, so quickly did it occur. Early				The buses had arrived with not only the body
one morning I met Mama Gifti the wife of the				but sacks of rice and supplies to cook to
Pastor. It was unusual for her to be out so				supply the masses with food after we had
early. She stopped me and asked if I heard				buried William. The women became busy
that William had been admitted with rabbis				preparing the food, the men sat around in
into hospital the night before. I had not.				silence, broken now and then with murmurs of
				conversation.
I then hit me that Mama Gifti was in
tradition dress, a Kanga. The Kanga is two				This trip was full of sadness and regret
matching pieces of fabric, one tied around				about the young boy. We were all feeling we
the waist, the other used as a shawl and				had not done enough to save him. The grave
instead of the normally colorful print, the				was on a steep incline close to the house. As
kanga was plain white. This traditional				the long funeral dew to a close I stood next
piece of attire was not usually worn by Mama				to the grave and said my goodbyes to a very
Gifti. This could only mean one thing. The				brave little friend whom I shall never
Kanga is worn by all women at funerals. White				forget. At this point the Pastor paused and
is also the color of death.				asked that the only non-African at the
				funeral say a few words about William. I
William was dead. The men had split into two				started to speak of our friendship but my
parties. The Pastor and some of the men had				voice broke and I wept, I could not continue.
gone to pay the hospital bill and make				Every time I speak of this, tears are not far
arrangements to pick up the body. Others had				away. Even now, as I write about this event,
gone in search of William's father who had				my eyes fill with tears and my lip it
gone missing, distraught that William had				trembles.
died. Blaming himself, he had fled from home
to be alone for a few hours.				One day I plan to return to the Pare
				Mountains to explore them for myself. To take
Mama Gifti told me that as William lay on the				some time and drink in Africa - away from
hospital bed the night, before his mother				tourist and phony or over-organized cultural
wept. William comforted his mother telling				visits. I will take some flowers and visit
her pleases not to cry. 'Yes', he told her,				the grave of William and even though it is
'soon I will die but I go to a better place'.				only a grave I will talk to him of all my
William died soon after these words. The day				adventures since our last meeting.
he died was his eighth birthday.

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William Of The Pare Mountains