The Last Day, African Drums and Dinner

This trip started out as a hope that enough people attending a conference in Kigali would be sufficiently motivated to add on a week to visit the real Africa. In the end 18 intrepid travellers signed up. While it was a tough week travel wise with late arrivals in Nairobi after a week of conferencing and an early morning start from Nairobi on that first morning, most people seemed to have survived (is that the right word) a busy schedule.

So the last morning needed some discipline to have everyone on the bus ready to leave by 7am. And the tour group was ready, the driver was on but where was the bus owner? He had been a bit too leisurely as I hunted him down and eventually we were on the road by 7.07am. Some needed a “short stop” as the Tanzanians called it so about an hour from Mwanza we stopped at a petrol station I had stopped at a a bus trip which had facilities.

Our “short stop” stop. Buses operate as freight carriers as well as passengers

Eventually the outskirts of Mwanza, Tanzania’s second biggest city emerged in heavy traffic and street side markets as we made our way to Mwanza International Airport to drop off Kim, Jim and Lim as they identified themselves from university days for their flight to Bukoba. Lucy Lim is Executive Director of Anglican Relief and Development Australia and cut her teeth at Anglican Aid for five years prior to being appointed as the first full time director of this fledgling Anglican development agency, which I had worked with since 2013. The two agencies complement each other and are not in competition serving different Anglican communities in Australia. The Roberts family were also dropped for their flight as they extended their stay on the island of Zanzibar. Final group photos and farewells.

^{Farewells to six of our fellow travellers while the rest of us head off to Nyakato Bible College}. ^{Bishop Ntuza (left 2nd fromend) met us to direct us to the college}

Our final official visit was to Nyakato Bible School which we had heard about the previous evening from Helen Hoskins who had taught there forty years previously. As we made our way to the city outskirts it was not difficult to imagine how isolated Nyakato would have been forty years ago before the advent of sealed roads, motor vehicles, electricity and other infrastructure. Now a bustling city, Nyakato could be described as being a village back then. However here was this reasonably well preserved relic surrounded by suburbia and traffic with a welcome party to greet us singing of course. The access road could not be navigated by the bus which stayed on the road as we walked up the track to the college chapel and grounds. Speaking to Helen Hoskins two weeks later she commented on how well preserved building constructed in the 1980s were, an observation not missed by me.

^{The chapel photo through a window as it is under repair}

^{Meeting students in the church}

^{Nyakato classroom}

^{Students were keen to be photographed with us}

^{Nyakato view}

Again warm hospitality, choirs, an introduction about Victoria Nyanza Diocese and lunch. We each were presented with a college T-shirt and were able to provide gifts to senior staff of the diocese. Craig Roberts and Dominic Steele spent time over lunch explaining how QR Codes work as Anglican Youthworks donated free resources able to be downloaded on WhatsApp. As the college has n internet this will be a challenge.

Three others due to fly out that evening came back to the hotel with us to wait while others booked in and relaxed by the pool. Jodie McNeill had been chasing an African drum and Misoji at the diocese rang to let me know she had found a drum maker in Mwanza. She was asked to send him down and we would reimburse his boda boda fare even if the drum was not purchased. Thirty minutes later the African version of Uber Drums rolls up with a pair of drums of different sizes. Sold. Both of them. Another person enquired and he said he could get more. This time he came prepared wit a larger number but sadly only one further sale made. Getting through cistoms was no problem (this is writtentwo weeks after the entourage returned). Declared and waved through. Mandy as a music teacher was most excited and the sales guy hand makes these himself.

^{The Drum Maker and Boda Boda Driver demonstrate}

^{Two happy customers and a very happy drum maker}

Dinner that night was a casual affair. The Malaika Hotel sits over Lake Victoria with spectacualr views. Bishop Ntuza and Bishop Johnson Chinyong’ole from Shinyanga (three hours distance) joined us as Archbishop Kanishka Raffel was also staying the night.

^{An African sunset over Lake Victoria}

^{Bishops Chinyong’ole and Ntuza with Raffel centre}

For the Other Cheek’s Take on the final day and a summary of the trip read Taking leave of Africa but will Africa really leave me?

2024 beckons as I ponder doing it all again. An evaluation survey will inform the positives and negatives and where improvements can be made. It was great organising this and great to see the excitement of locals who valued people coming to visit and learn. For some locals old friendships of twenty plus years were renewed as Doroth and Fional serendipitously met people they had known from Dodoma when they lived there as missionaries.

People ask me would I climb Kilimanjaro a second time and the answer is a definite no. Would I do this again. Definitely.

A Public Holiday, Bible College Visit and Farewell Dinner

April 26 each year is a public holiday in Tanzania celberating Union Day which marked the beginning of modern day Tanzania as Zanzibar and Tanganyika merged to become a united country. The Shalom Opening had originally been scheduled for this day, however arrangements canged once it became clear a public holiday could not be the official opening of a school.

Our tour group had a late morning and did not have to be at Bunda Bible College till 9am. A lazy breakfast at our motel was the order of the day.

Breakfast was western style with crepes can you believe it?

We were greeted at Bunda Bible College by a large welcome sign and warmly received by the Principal Canon Alpha Lugoley, his staff and over 70 full time students with an honour guard.

A church service in English commenced proceedings with the tour group and the Archbishop of Sydney, Kanishka Raffel together for the first time at a scheduled event. This allowed students at the college to demonstrate their studies in a practical way as they led, prayed, read the Bible and preached as well as sang. The student choir did their thing, including a song thanking Anglican Aid for their support. A number of our group commented on hearing the word sponsorship in a song for the first time.

From there the group broke into three. A number stayed to hear the Archbishop speak to students and undertake a tour of the facilities. The Roberts family including 15 year old Ruby headed to Bunda Girls School where Ruby dressed in her Roseville College uniform spend the day with girls. Her school has a relationship with both BGSS and Shalom primary. Her family had brought a suitcase of books from Sydney to donate to the school library, which is in need of books in English. Apart from books, Ruby brought letters from girls in Australia which Bunda Girls students will reply to and Helen Hoskins will deliver on her return.

The impact of this visit on her is captured by journalist John Sandeman in his article on The Other Cheek

_{Somewhere is Ruby mobbed by girls excited to have her on campus}

_{^{Education Secretary Misoji,Ruby, Principal Tupone, Libby and Craig Ruby’s parents presenting books to BGSS from Roseville College}}

Another group of three accompanied Helen Hoskins who took them to Shalom Primary School unannounced. Only students boarding were in attendance. The small group left impressed at the standard of English of these young children. Both schools are English medium schools, highly valued in Tanzania.

A number remained at BBC to hear the Archbishop speak to students and field questions. John Sandeman reported on this in his blog on The Other Cheek

After lunch a number returned to the hotel to rest after what had been a busy five days. Others ventured to the Girls Brigade Centre established in 2010 by CMS missionary Helen Hoskins and now project managed byAnglican Aid.

Robin Vonk came with a shopping list for his three daughters and ordered dresses for them from the GB Centre. The photos show the result.

^{Robin’s daughters showing off their dresses hand made}

^{Mary, Mary and Magdalena made dresses in order from youngest to oldest daughters above}

The evening had a planned dinner and formal handover of Helen Hoskins’ house to the diocese dedicated by the Archbishop of Sydney. Prior to this interviews were conducted with the bishop of Mara and Dange Wangoya a 73 you still lecturing at Bunda Bible College. The significance of the interviews is that both men cam from the same remote rural village still only accessible by 4WD or motorcycle, no electricty or water and very remote. Both men studied overseas. Sange gained degrees in Oakhill in London and a Masters in Wycliffe Canada and Bishop George obtained a PhD in the USA. They spoke about the role that missionaries played in bringing the gospel to their areas and how both were impacted by missionaries. Bishop George speaks about Helen Hoskins as his first Bible Teacher.

Sange Wangoya, Bishop George being interviewed.

Helen Hoskins spoke about her forty years in Tanzania and the various houses she has lived in before constructing the Strawberry Pink Villa. The Other Cheek provides much more detail about this.

Following this an emotional Arcbishop Kanishka Raffel spoke movingly stating “Helen, some of us have known of your work for as long as we have been Christians,” Archbishop Kaniska Raffel replied. “That’s certainly true in my case.  

“We thank and honour you for your 40 years of service in this country. We know you are not a super Christian but a faithful and obedient one.”

And finally gifts were given as the evening concluded with a fashion display highlighting the new clergy collars which will debuat at local parishes and hopefully synod 23.

_{English and the Bible were not the only thing Bishop George learned from his first Bible teacher}

_{Jamberoo and Albion Park parishes are neighbours}

A 7am departure for Mwanza next day for those flying at 11.30am concluded an early evening.

Gafcontiki Tours Tanzania – Local Volunteer becomes a Tour Operator

What Was I Thinking? What Possessed them to Go?

Everything about this seems wrong. Everything. What if I could convince people from Australia to come to Tanzania after the conference in Kigali to visit the church on the ground and see the real Africa? It was an ambitious thought for someone not known as ambitious.

From April 2022 I was in Musoma, Tanzania volunteering with the Anglican Diocese of Mara at the invitation of Bishop George Okoth, who I had come to know through my work at Anglican Aid. Prior to departing Australia, I remembered the post GAFCON tour of Israel organised by a pastor from Sydney which was professionally organised by Sam, a guide who gave us lots of insights in the land of Jesus.

The issue for me was Jesus didn’t set foot in Tanzania, I am not a tour guide and this would be cheap as was the 2018 trip to Israel but in areas where 1 star accommodation was luxurious by local standards.

The purpose of doing something as crazy as this was that the Tanzanian church is struggling and its relationships in the UK are tenuous and it needs friends from Australia who might take an interest in partnering through prayer, visits and support through skills and knowledge transfer, training and money. Tanzania at one time had over 100 CMS missionaries here but will soon have one.

The other issue is the Tanzanian church is divided itself. American money, and lots of it is influencing relationship and orthodox bishops are seeking to remain true to the Biblical gospel which is under attack in the western church. Money is a new form of colonialism by imperial powers seeking to overthrow the faith once delivered by them when thy were orthodox.

On arrival last year the task seemed overwhelming and I had lost heart but after communicating with a Sydney pastor who encouraged me I pressed on. I discussed the concept with Bishop Mwita Akiri, chair of GAFCON Tanzania whch counts a dozen members of 28 dioceses. He was supportive as were his fellow bishops in Mara and Rorya Dioceses.

Rather than promoting a tour like tour companies do, this was a personal invitation from the Chair of GAFCON Tanzania and Bishop of Tarime Diocese. The letter was circulated to delagates in Australia registering for the conference while details were arranged. A rough itinerary and two pages of explanation accompanied the letter.

The logistics were complex and I decided the easiest and cheapest option was for people to fly to Nairobi from Kigali after the conference ended and bus it down to Tanzania. A kenyan tour operator who arranged my climb up Kilimanjaro provided quotes and I budgetted a minimum of fifteen by October to be confident of proceeding. However the numbers were thin and that idea was canned. A local bus operator in Tanzania know to the local bishop in Tarime was met prior to my departure in October and discussions occurred about his capacity to runa bus for a week from Tarime to Nairobi and all planned visits in Tanzania until each person was dropped either at an airport in Mwanza or a hotel.

So while numbers were still thin by November, the Kenyan company was cancelled and once 12 people committed I knew it was on. The bus at 29 seats was going to be limited to 18 plus the driver and I. As numbers increased the cost reduced as the bus hire was split eventually by 19 people.

In concert with the bishops an itinerary was planned. The Archbishop of Sydney, Kanishka Raffel had also been invited by Mara Diocese to come to open Shalom School so it was possible the church would be managing two lots of visitors. This was eventually confirmed.

Bishops and their wives at Tarime June 2022 – +Mwita Akiri +George Okoth and +Musa Yamo

The early invitation included an overight in Serengeti and when feedback suggested a shorter tour than the 10 days I had initially planned, this was scrapped in favour of a drive through the park while I was at the Shalom opening.

Accommodation was arranged in Tarime at a farm that the church owned which had basic accommodation and meals in a shared dining room. Rustic would be an apt decription with running water and electricity.

People were responsible for their own flights. Everything from Nairobi to Mwanza was covered except lunch on Saturday. The anglican Church Guesthouse in Nairobi was booked and communications with them was excellent. Costs were paid as they occurred so by February all Nairobi costs had been covered in Kenyan shillings. The Tanzanian costs were all budgetted in Tanzanian shillings.

The accommodation in Bunda was a hotel which I spotted opposite the bus stop and when next in Bunda I visited and saw it was opened in 2020 during Covid. Booking six months in advance was a challenge as they had no concept that people booked so far ahead. As numbers increased a local church contact would update the booking each time.

By Christmas all was finalised and barring a pandemic the only financial risk was each person’s Nairobi booking which was paid in advance.

Wise is a foreign exchange provider which made managing the payments a breeze. Costs were minimal compared the normal banking system and each cost was paid in local currency with less than 1% fees and a mid market rate (Banks in Australia charge a spread of 3-5 percent depending on currency). Finalising the accounts was also a breeze as I was able to download all transactions, filtering them by currency.

Final costs were about AU$800 per person with a minor reduction for married couples for accommodationinBunda. The final group was made up of

The group comprised the following:

• Five ordained clergy and three clergy wives
• Staff member from Anglican Aid
• Executive Director Anglican Relief and Development Fund Australia
• A former missionary to Tanzania now retired and her daughter who grew up there. Both were fluent Swahili speakers.
• The 15 year old daughter of a clergy couple whose school supports Bunda Girls Secondary School and Shalom School in Bunda
• Six lay people made up of a married couple, one female and three males (self included).
• Of the nineteen, two were medical practitioners and two were journalists (one of the clergy was a radio journalist before going into the ministry, the other a former SMH and Eternity Magazine Editor).

Our group of travellers ready to leave Nairobi on Saturday morning 22 April 2023

Mhina is the bus owner

Mhina and Kenyan driver Philemon

Our print journalist now posts daily on his blog The Other Cheek kept readers updated daily on what he called the Gafcon tiki tour (Contiki Tours were a rite of passage for young people in the 1970s and 80s. I will be posting about daily activities but if you want a flavour of what is to come John’s articles provide aspects of what occurred daily. My blogs will be pictorial more than editorial.

By the way I don’t begrudge travel agents now charging a fee after experiencing the work involved in travelling arrangements.

GAFCON Conference Kigali

While in Tanzania last year I worked with bishops of three local dioceses within two hours of each other which are all GAFCON aligned. The schism in the global Anglican church was finalised early in 2023 when the Church of England made decisions which the Global South and GAFCON provinces comprising over 80% of the Anglicans globally refused to accept. The Church of England is mother to most of these churches in Asia, Africa and Latin America. They are firmly saying no to revision to fit modern culture. A daily summary of the conference can be viewed which gives a flavour of the four days.

My early arrival was unnecessary as the job I had expected to do was made redundant before I arrived. The Rwandan organisers had everything arranged and were fantatstic.

This allowed Saturday as leisure and so we visited the Genocide Memorial, a week after the weeklong “celebration” memorialising the genocide of 1994 when 1 million (one million people were slaughtered in a genocide only paralled by the Holocaust and Srebrenica in Yugoslavia. I had rushed through here on Good Friday 2014 so it was good to take some hours reflecting and understanding how this genocide occurred. No photos once inside. So little to show apart from the following of the outside and a lunch we had with three international students from Malawi, Ethiopia and Canada after the memorial visit.

_{This is Kigali}

_{Many books on genocide}

_{1st time ever on a boda boda but supplied and one per bike}

_{Kwibuka 29 a sacred memorial}

_{A Malawian, Canadian, Ethiopian met an Australian and Tanzanian}

_{Malawi Australia Tanzania Ethiopia Canada}

My week of the conference is summarised in photos. Many feature Alpha Lugoley my travelling buddy. He is principal of Bunda Bible College and apart from a week in Kenya last year had never been out of Tanzania. I pushed him to meet people as he is naturally reticient and shy so it was good to see him interacting with many. Enjoy the photos. BTW + denotes Bishops and ++ denotes Archbishops.

_{Craig Roberts giving away books}

_{Bishops George and Musa with their Mama Bishops}

_{+Vithalis TZ, ++Rafell Aust+George Tz}

_{Archbishop Kanishka Australia keynote}

_{Australia – +Condie Chair GAFCON Aust and Michael Kellahan Director}

_{Archbishop Kwashi -Nigeria inteviews Craig Roberts Youthworks Sydney CEO}

_{Alpha and I interviewed about the post conference tour}

_{Archbishop Henry – Nigeria & Alpha with former Archbishop Akinola a founder of GAFCON}

_{Ret Bishop Don? Nova Scotia Canada}

_{Archbishop Kanishka Rafell -Australia and Alpha Lugoley Principal Bunda Bible College Tanzania}

_{English Service}

_{Primates Ndukuba Nigeria and Mbanda Rwanda Sunday church service}

_{Archbishop Henry – Nigeria & Alpha with former Archbishop Akinola a founder of GAFCON}

_{A Mexican embraces a Tanzanian}

_{Two Aussies a Mexican & Tanzanian}

_{Clark USA}

_{Nigeria Australia Mexico Tanzania}

_{Alpha Lugoley Tz & Lucy Australia}

_{Congo meet Tanzania}

_{Nathan Australia and Alpha Tanzania}

_{Dave Secco West Aust & Alpha}

_{Westminster graduates catchup}

_{Tanzanian mama bishops}

_{Lunch with the Nigerians}

_{With the Bishops from Mozambique}

_{Uganda Australia Tanzania}

_{Bishop George Tanz &ABp Kanishka Australia}

_{Australians meet Tananian Bishops}

_{UK meets Tanzania}

_{Tanzanian Bishops and mamas}

_{Tanzanian Mama Bishops}

_{Dancing Bishop of Southern Cross Australia}

_{Amazing Rwandan Choir}

_{Amazing Rwandan Choir}

_{The view from my room}

_{+David Parson Bishopof the Arctic}

_{++KR Australia and Nigerian MC}

_{Two Aussies & 2 Congolese bishops}

+_{William -Congo. Shakespeare of Africa}

+_{George Tanzania & Alpha}

_Tanzania

_USA

_{Australia photobombed++ Foley Beach}

_{Bulli Michael Williamson presents a gift}

_{Archbishop James Seychelles}

_{Bishop Barham Rwanda}

_Namibia

_{Bishop Samy Egypt}

_{Kanishka Australia}

_{Don – Gander Canada}

_{Darren Las Vegas – Chapain}

_{Tim and Linda Ireland}

_{Bill Salier Australia}

_{Tea on my balcony}

++_{Mbanda of Rwanda}

_{Alpha and ++Kwashi – Nigeria}

_{Alpha Lugoley Principal Bunda BC}

_{Aussies Tess and Jen}

That is the wrap from GAFCON in Kigali. Next post will be about 18 crazy Aussies trusting me to show them Tanzania.

The Long Trek to History in Kigali

This will be the first of a number of consecutive posts following my two weeks away from Musoma from 13 April when I left for Kigali. I finished my last post referencing a tour I had arranged for eighteen Australians attending the GAFCON Conference in Kigali who had added on a trip to experience and view the church in Africa. If you went to Kigali and thought you had been to Africa you would be seriously mistaken.

Most Africans live in rural towns and villages. In Tanzania 37% of the population live in urban areas according to the 2021 statistics. This is up from 5% in 1960, and 30% in 2013, so you can see that urbanisation has a long way to go, compared to Australia which had an urban population of 81% in 1960 and 85% ten years ago. Gross Domestic Product per capita in 2021 was US$822 for Rwanda and $1100 for Tanzania.

6 minutes

Kigali however exuded sophistication and prosperity unknown to me except in South African cities like Capetown and Johannesburg. As one US delegate at the conference commented he could have been in a resort in Florida, given the luxury at the Radisson where I stayed. Other delagates at the six other hotels would have experienced similar grandeur. However Rwanda has just 18% of its population in urban areas so compared to Tanzania it remains almost rural in all areas. Kigali does not represent how most Rwandans live. It is however more developed, its service industries have staff whose English is excellent and who appear to have had excellent training. The streets are wide and grand, there is no rubbish and more than one attendee compared it to Singapore. But if you go to Kigali, venture outside 10kms and see the real Rwanda.

“Focus on the journey, not on arriving at a certain destination,” is a quote by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield as he was presumably as he was hurtling through space enroute to the International Space Station. The journey to Kigali started on Thursday when I left Musoma by Bajaji for the 8km ride to the bus station where I boarded the bus to Mwanza for an overnight stay. At Bunda I was joined by Alpha Lugoley, principal of the Bible College. Our stay in Mwanza was at the Anglican Guesthouse, basic but cheap at $AU12 a night with no hot water but a bed and a TV with one station and a fan.

_{Bajaji ride}

_{Lake Victoria}

_{Rural Musoma}

_{Rice is grown in the wet seasons}

_{Alpha my travel companion}

_{Rural Bus station}

_{School is out}

_{Buses carry freight}

_{Mwanza Bus station}

_{Our hosts met us}

The bus ride to Mwanza was uneventful. At $6 it is expensive for locals but there is no tax for visitors. The guesthouse provided the perfect stopping point and a meal was had at a local restaurant which is rented out by the Anglican Church whch has a number of commercial premises attached to its compound.

_{Hostel Manager}

_{Fish for dinner}

After dinner a stroll around Mwanza. Our accommodation is two minutes from Lake Victoria. We managed a sunset and a visit to St Nicholas Church which is the cathedral. The Diocese of Victoria Nyanza (DVN) was established in 1960 as the second Anglican Diocese in Tanzania when it was still part of the church of East Africa comprising Kenya and Tanganyika as it was then called.

_{Inside from the gallery}

The new St Nicholas

_{Sunset over the Lake}

_{Owned by a rich person}

_{An evening study session at St Nicholas}

Bishop Zephaniah Ntuza kindly loaned us a car and driver for the next leg of our journey to the Rwandan border with only petrol to reimburse him. Very generous.. A 5am start was necessary for what was to be a long day driving of fifteen hours with a border crossing included.

_{5am start}

_{Sunrise over Lake Victoria}

_{Rural Tanzania western side of lake}

First stop was a ferry crossing at Busisi where we passed a new bridge being constructed. When completed in 2024 this bridge of over 3kms in length will allow all transport year round access to international destinations in Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda. Pictures tell a lot of the story of our journey to Rusumo Falls Border.

_{Rusumo was our destination}

_{Breakfast stop at 11am}

_{Biharamulo Diocese stop}

Enroute we passed the newest diocese formed in 2017 of Biharamulo so we stopped in for a toilet stop and to gree the bishop if he was in. It turned out there was a meeting in progress and a number of visitors from other parts of Tanzania were in attendance but the bishop did greet us.

_{The Biharamuo Cathedral}

_{Bishop Vithalis}

_{Alpha and Vithalis}

_{Drivers waiting for their people}

^{We do this all the time in Australia right?}

_{A passing scene}

After seven hours of driving including breakfast at a dodgy cafe (I had mild food poisoning in Kigali) we arrived at Rusumo Falls border in the rain.

The border crossing was fairly straightforward. One building that did everything. First to the Tanzanian desk to exit and have my passport stamped and then to Rwanda which now being a Commonwealth country allows free entry visas to citizens of the Commonwealth.

However I was not ready for what was to come.

rom Mwanza to Rusumo was 375kms and the seven hour drive was not surprising. However the passenger bus was we were told a few hours. Even Google maps hasn’t figured out African roads don’t have consistent driving conditions. The 154kms to the convention centre took eight hours by bus! And no toilt stops!

_{The land of 1,000 hills and a million smiles}

_{Boda taxi at the border}

^{Rusumo Falls which has a hydro-electric station and is the border}

So focussed was I on the journey that I barely took any photos. My water ran out early on the trip (Oh how fortunate was that). We seemed to stop at every village enroute to Kigali and let me say the villages are not that far apart, to allow passengers on and off the bus. The slow trip could be sped up if tickets were issued on the bus. Each passenger receives a printed electronic ticket issued from an EFTPOS size machine which indicates th start and finish of the journey and the cost. This is no doubt an anti corruption measure which I remember being promoted when I visited Rwanda in 2014.

Arriving in Kigali, we had to find a taxi to transport us to our hotels ready for the conference two days hence. All in all a long but good day. Arrrived in The Land of 1,000 hills and a millions smiles. Dinner with Alpha and bed.

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bula matari, breaking rocks, exploding myths, retyrement, retirement