Since my being in Nzara, South
Sudan, one of the first things I have noticed is the unbelievable
view of the sky at night. Thinking about it, yes, it seems logical
that the stars will be more prevalent in a place with little or no
lighting interfering with the view of the stars. For me, thinking
about the logistics and seeing the actual results are nearly
different concepts. Because as I attempt to count the amount of
visible stars, I can not fathom the surplus of stars I am leaving
out.
Growing up, I was always
fascinated by the stars, about space about the how we all live on a
planet that is in retrospect quite small when thinking about the
limitless universe. As I gaze into the vast night sky hypnotized by
the surplus and utter beauty of the stars, I began to wounder, “what
do the Zande's make of these stars? Do they know anything about
astronomy? Do they know how fortunate they are to have such a
remarkable view of the sky every night?” To seek these answers I
consulted Emmanuel Ramadan, a young man I have befriended since my
stay and he and I have become quite close. As I asked him these
questions, he gazed up at the stars and said, “We Sudanese don't
know much about the stars, because there is no one to teach us. We
just see them and don't pay much attention to them.” When I heard
this my jaw almost hit the ground. I couldn't fathom having such a
spectacular and limitless view of of the night sky and not thinking
much of it, or not being confused or curious about it. But then I
reminded myself, that within the American school system students
progress through elementary years having to learn about stars,
constellations, the solar system, galaxies, space, etc, as a part of
the teaching curriculum. With each year building on the previous
information taught, until when reaching high school level, students
ultimately decided whether studying astronomy is something they want
to continue to engage in. I quickly grounded my thoughts and realized
that unfortunately students here do not have such options. Emmanuel,
noticed my expression and my silence as I wrapped myself in momentary
thought, and interjected with, “what can you tell me about the
stars brother?” I thought that to be a great inquiry, and the
beginning of a unexpected lesson.
As Emmanuel and I lay under the
star gazing into the vast depths f space, I filled his mind with
stories of constellations, and how in the 12th
century Vikings would use the stars as they navigated through the
waters, how English settlers also did the same thing before the time
of maps. While telling him these stories of old, I could see his eyes
widening as if he was now realizing that is more to these brights
dots in the sky then he imagined. I told Emmanuel about the solar
system, how earth is not the only planet, and how, in the big scheme
of things, earth isn't even a large planet. Thus, led into the
inevitable question from Emmanuel asking, “you say that Earth isn't
the only plant in this solar system. Are you meaning to say that they
are people living in these other planets?” Upon hearing his
question I let it sit. Not answering right away, because now I know
he is thinking, thinking about the vastness of the universe, whether
there are other forms of life and how small Earth really is in
retrospect. This is what I wanted. I wanted him to begin thinking
about the universe, to think about other planets, to think about
stars and to think about the possibility of other forms of life.
Thinking about these things enhances his imagination and also
broadens his mind, which was my hope before we began our discussion.
Now I was prepared to answer Emmanuel's question. I was going to tell
him my thoughts and have him decide ultimately decide for himself
what he would believe. However, much to my relief, I noticed someone
approaching us as we lay beneath the stars. It was Modi, a young
adult who works within the Bishop's compound cooking, cleaning, and
helping out in exchange for having her school fees paid by Bishop
Samuel. When she reached us her first question was, “gini pai mo na
amanga ha,” meaning “what are you two doing?” To my surprise,
Emmanuel was energetic to respond, telling her the about mind
boggling and vast concept of space, as well as he could regurgitate
the information I had shared with him over the past hour. He told her
of the stars, of different constellation, and of his joyfulness for
learning such things. Now with Modi eager to learn something she
joined Emmanuel and me.
We laid beneath the star talking
about stars, space and galaxies for another good hour. Now I noticed
that time had seemingly fleeted by, and I had teaching to do the
following morning. I decided to close this lesson and gathering of
friends, with one last story. The story of Ursa Major, the big
dipper.
I told them the Iroquois Indian's
version of the big dipper. How within that culture the belief is that
the constellation really symbolizes a man hunting a bear that turns
out to be mis mother, and how Zeus turned the hunter in to a bear and
placed them both in the sky to prevent the son from hunting his
mother. The two pupils laughed at this story as it is seemingly
bizarre to them.
This spontaneous lesson was
outstandingly productive. I was able to relay information to Emmanuel
and Modi in such a way that allowed their imaginations take it in and
run with it. Over the two hour spans we laid beneath the majestic
night sky watching shooting stars, spotting satellites and learning
about space made. This was a great use of time and a great lesson, as
now both Modi and Emmanuel are able to point out certain
constellations and relay the story behind them. By being able to do
this both students are broadening their minds by being able to look
in to the night sky and see excitement, wonderment and amazing
sights, rather then their original conception of the stars.
One trait about the Zande
culture I respect is when someone hear or learn something of
importance or amusing they will take the story to each one of their
friends. I can rest assured that even though there were only two
friends with me as I taught about space, the teachings will spread
far beyond my perimeters.
