Continuing to learn

Since arriving in Beni, I’ve been living at Bethel House, a guesthouse that CI-UCBC rents for visitors, international staff, and the visiting Congolese teachers. Conversations around the dinner table open doors to sharing and friendships. They are also impromptu French (for we Americans) and English (for the Congolese) lessons.

To be honest, at first I wasn’t eager to be housemates with visiting professors. While UCBC cultivates a cadre of quality teachers who embrace the vision, mission, and practices of UCBC, the university has to lean on visiting Congolese teachers to fill out courses—common practice in DRC where Congolese professors earn the greater part of their salary by traveling from institution to institution, teaching “their” courses. The system has emerged out of necessity and fuels corrupt and self-serving practices. There are fewer than 1000 Ph.D.-prepared professors across the nation, and many of DRC’s professors, eager to protect their secure way of making a living, keep the PhD pool limited by impeding younger teachers from obtaining advanced degrees. They further line their pockets by such practices as requiring students to pay for the class syllabus or have their exams graded. Then there are sexual abuses. Just another set of reasons why UCBC is nurturing its own cadre of teachers.

It’s in this context that I’ve “developed an attitude” toward all visiting teachers at UCBC. I've assumed that they are all “bad guys," and have had to ask God’s forgiveness for holding prejudices based on generalities. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that the prayer one offers before a meal is called grace.

We were three Americans and three Congolese at dinner three weeks ago when our Congolese friends dove into the topic of DRC politics and the government’s failure to meet the country’s needs. Losa, a linguistics teacher from Kisangani; Pastor Tsongo, a chaplain from Bunia; and Leoni, an economics teacher from Butembo asked the question, “So what are we teaching in our universities? Our politicians are products of our universities, and look at how poorly they lead.” They continued to lament the condition of their country and the paucity of leadership.

With Losa

They also opened the door for me to offer, “Well, that’s exactly why UCBC exists. It’s what Congo Initiative and UCBC are about—raising up ethical, Chrisitan leaders who are transformed, who are different, who take responsibility to bring positive change to their country. But what do you see? Are our students at UCBC any different from students at other universities?”

Without hesitation, the three guests nodded, “Yes.” Losa  described UCBC students’ willingness to work, both in class and outside of class. He spoke at length about how UCBC students participate in the work program and help to maintain the campus facilities and grounds. Pastor Tsongo and Leoni concurred. “At other universities, students destroy property. Then the university fixes the room or the facility, and the students tear it down again. That doesn’t happen here.” They went on to comment about service learning and the work program. Losa recounted to Pastor Tsongo and Leoni that during his first time at UCBC in 2010, students, faculty, and staff spent a day doing community service and picking up trash around the city. “I have never seen students do that. And the teachers and administrators were working too.”

A view across campus

“And you have Internet,” continued Leoni. Nevermind that our Internet is limited and slow. Leoni was impressed that faculty and students have easy access to computers. Yes, computers are only a tool, but in this context, in the eyes of area residents, that UCBC provides Internet service and computer access is a mark of success.

Leoni applauded UCBC's bilingual education. The others concurred that to interact on the global stage, Congo’s leaders, teachers, and business folks must be able to converse in English. In fact, every visiting Congolese teacher I’ve met over the last two months expresses a desire to learn or improve her or his own English.

Finally, my dinner companions noted that students and faculty live out their Christian faith. Leoni pointed to chapel attendance, with its music and worship. Then she came back to what she saw in students’ behavior—showing respect, working hard in their studies, demonstrating kindness, and participating in manual labor to help maintain the campus. 

The admiration these three expressed for UCBC encouraged and humbled me. Would Leoni, Losa, and Pastor Tsongo be able to point to my witness and example?

The faculty van

In the days since this conversation I am attending to my attitudes and behaviors, with the Congolese culture of hospitality as my example. As a start, I now look forward to the round of morning greetings that ring in the work day. Each passenger who climbs into the faculty van offers, "Bonjour!" and greets each rider by name. Arrival on campus opens up another round of greetings, complete with handshake and a couple of exchanges of "Comment allez-vous?" or "How was your evening?"

I used to brush these exchanges aside as a delay to the day's start. I've now come to appreciate the opportunity to stop, look someone in the eye and intentionally acknowledge her or his presence. There is something human, kind, and affirming (dare I say, Christian?) in such exchanges. 

Sure, one could breeze through each greeting without intention, just as one can recite the Lord's Prayer, the national anthem, or any other familiar set of words. But one can also embrace each exchange as a blessing, a brief moment of grace, and an example of God's daily work of redemption and transformation.