African Cheese

Every so often, I try to make it to Mass on weekdays, especially during Lent. Several months ago, I noticed a "new" participant in the daily Mass. Most of the time, the same people are at this Mass. They tend to be older and in my parish, they tend to be caucasian. The "new" guy was young and black.

Last week, I finally made it a point to introduce myself to him. I found out that he is from Tanzania. He is in the United States for two years. He was very pleased when I mentioned that the U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania is a friend of mine. He said the consulate was extremely helpful in helping him get a visa to come to the United States.

Of course, I wondered why a native Tanzanian would come to a midwestern state in the U.S. during our coldest and snowiest winter. The man told me that he was here to learn about dairy production. He is working on a large dairy farm in an effort to learn how to efficiently produce milk and other dairy products. His intention is to return to Tanzania and teach others how to efficiently run dairy farms so that his region can become more self-sustainable.

In a few years, keep an eye out for African cheese.