Episode Two in Mara is Ending

The Last Month – Leadership and a Graduation Day

My time is coming to an end as I write. I am in my last week and it has been very busy since my visit to Gesarya in early June. I concluded six Saturdays since May in a leadership program attended by over 30 people. I started writing this blog five days ago and as I wrote I looked back on the last month and realised I would have to write a number of shorter blogs given how busy I have been. I am tired, essentially having worked six days weekly and Sunday here is hardly a day of rest with four hours at church generally.

As I reflected in my last blog, I have learned a lot  and gained insight into training cross culturally. I cannot help but feel people who come short term to do training and other public events don’t really manage to connect. The last session was on change management, something completely foreign to people in the room.

I was able to get the message across about how much change they have experienced with a few simple photos – of a bowl of water over a charcoal fire being boiled for tea, a thermos and a gas stove top and electric kettle. Cheap Chinese exports have made a huge difference to life here. Many people in town now have a two burner gas stovetop cooker that can be purchased for less than $200. Talk about time saving devices. But the electric kettle is even better as you don’t need to put the tea or hot water in the thermos – you just boil water as needed (provided there are no power outages).

This means no collecting firewood, no pollution from cooking on an open flame and reduced costs. The hostel here still boils water over an open fire so I was able to help the manager see that for 30,000 TZS ($18) she could boil as much water as she liked and save 5,0000 TZS ($4) on firewood or charcoal. Not to mention the reduction in trees being harvested for firewood as well as the environmental effects.

_{How has this changed life?}

The assumption I started with was that Tanzanians were a nation of tea drinkers so when my cup of tea went up with the question “How has making a cup of tea changed since you were a child?” I was told by one person that they didn’t drink tea in his community. A lesson learned.

Bunda Bible College (BBC) held its thirteenth graduation on Saturday 10 June. Unlike last year I was able to take a backseat and assist with some logistics and ensure public relations were improved to highlight the supporters of the college. So in the end when it came time for presentations I was like the stage director up front telling people to stay still while a photo was taken as they received their diplomas and again when receiving their book packages (all graduates received a book pack for future use).

BBC three year Diploma and Certificate graduates 2023

Two days prior I spent the day meeting with  the distance students who undertake a two year program in their churches coordinated by BBC. I also interviewed a number to get stories for the book sponsor SparkLit Australia. 

Sephroza

Frank

Hearing about the lives of individuals and how Christianity has changed them and given them purpose and meaning is never boring. A young girl who fled from her family during the cutting season found refuge in a church where she lived with the pastor for a week after fleeing home having been tipped off by her aunt that this was the day. At 14 years of age she had seen and heard a lot, heard about options in school and fled for her life. She ended up undertaking the extension course and wanted to be a pastor in order to help her community.

In class with TEE students

TEE students after a day with me speaking to them

My job for the day in addressing the group of 25 who were at the college for a two week residential prior to graduation was to talk about planning, economics of going into ministry and practical things about governance. All in all well received and appreciated by the students. Imagine my surprise when at the end I was asked to set two questions for the exam they would do the next day! I obliged but declined the offer to mark as the exam is in Swahili.

Having arrived on Thursday travelling down with two other staff to Bunda, I planned to stay overnight with young Nguti, the IT guy who was doing some preparatory work at BBC and also the two schools. Basically I had arranged with the travel group to bring in 28 mini desktop computers which would replace the aged PCs at BBC. In order to make this all work, the old PCs were being transferred to Shalom and Bunda Girls Schools for a nominal cost which contributed to the screens required for the mini desktops. So while I was busy talking to students he was involved in his work, moving computers from BBC to Bunda Girls School next door.

_{BGSS will have over thirty computers once all are set up and running. Nguti with Education Secretary Misoji}

We stayed overnight in the house donated to the diocese and Friday morning I as usual made breakfast for us both – boiled eggs and toast. As we were eating as he bit into his toast he took the piece in his hand and said “What is wrong with this bread?” Looking at him and the “bread” and seeing nothing wrong it occurred to me he had never eaten toast in his 29 years. And I was right. So I showed him a toaster and how bread became toast. That incident has caused many laughs as I related it with someone wondering how a person who has been to university and lived in major cities had never experienced toast.

“What’s wrong with this bread?” Note Vegemite.

The Saturday afterwards was the third leadership workshop at Bunda. In the middle of school holidays the numbers were low but the participation was great and it was easier to work with a smaller group of people than the larger groups that had attended sessions one and two. Given the low numbers from Bunda I decided the last three would run at Musoma which saved me travel on Saturdays and meant only those who were really motivated would make the hour and a quarter journey each way from Bunda to Musoma.

The last two Saturday workshops went well. The session on communication was well received especially the activity called Chinese Whispers where a message is given and passed along a line of participants with the last participant telling the group what the message received is. We had two groups of nine and both groups had a different message at the end to the one communicated at the beginning. There were a lot of laughs as each message received was explained and compared to what I had provided. The laughter was particularly loud for the message received “Julius Nyrere was born in Butiama and went to school in Musoma. He walked 26 miles each week to attend school.” This became, Julius Nyrere was born in Butiama in 1922 and died in 1999.” The following week I repeated this twice. The second time because some suggested that doing it in English was the problem so I provided a message in Swahili and the same thing happened. The message in fact was more distorted and examining where it changed, it seems it was the first person to receive the message who changed one aspect of it.

In the end nineteen participants will receive a certificate to be presented at a farewell dinner two days prior to my departure. 

May 2024

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27	28	29	30	31

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.

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

Palm Sunday 2023 and the Lost Sheep

The flight to Tanzania was flawless and Qatar Air and Doha Airport are great. Doha Airport was named best airport globally in 2022. No emptying cabin baggage (ie computers) in the transfer area. The arrival in Dar Es Salaam was not without incident as the five laptops in my luggage had me taken aside to empty out my bags and convince customs I was not selling them. Then checkin was complicated as I was told I could not have them in my checked baggage so had to carry them in cabin baggage! Getting to the hotel wasa nightmare. I walked there once that is how close it is but roadworks made it a 30 minute taxi and 47 minutes next morning.

Having arrived in Musoma Wednesday April 28 with Easter approaching it was clear that Lent is still a big deal and the Easter bunny is not. My trip from Mwanza was punctuated by a brief visit to Bishop Zephaniah Ntuza of the Diocese of Victoria Nyanza.

Dinner with these two.Couriering from Australia to Godwin in Dar and from Deborah to Musoma.

Bishop Ntuza and I lining up for a photo

My favourite sunrise

Our early morning runs are now more manageable with these leads

I am leading a group of 18 Australians who will be at an Anglican conference in Kigali who will come to Tanzania on a lightning tour to visit churches and understand how the church is functioning in a developing country. My visit to the Bishop was to meet him as our final morning will be spent visiting his diocese.

I moved back in with my friend Bishop George who was glad to see me and again have comapny in his lonely role as his wife continues in Dodoma, 1,000kms away. However she arrived for Easter holidays on Saturday night so is here for two weeks on school break. BTW she teaches a class of 235 grade 6/7 primary students with one other teacher! The bishop did ask if they learn anything or is it just chilminding?

I am back walking the dogs with Bishop in the morning. However, having housesat (read dogsitting) for two daughters in Adelaide and Sydney, I have learned a thing or two about how to slow these German Shepherds down. So my gift to Bishop was two dog leads which puts us in control of these sprinters. After two morning walks, we were less run off our feet and both dogs appear to have learned that they can no longer drag us as we control their power through our writs.

It rained non-stop my first three nights here and a funeral for a clergy person an hour and a half away that the bishop was to be at on Saturday proceeded without him as a bridge was under water from the rain. However in this agricultural society, no one complains about it being too wet.

So Palm Sunday was both of us going to the English service. However enroute we were picking up a man he had known for over thirty years who was a leader in the church that he forst was appointed to as a minister and who helped him greatly. He hasn’t graced the inside of a church for decades, having slidden into alcol abuse.

So we were 20 minutes late having waited for this man to get ready. However it was interesting when time came for Bishop to say a few words and he asked this gentleman up and told the congregation his story about how helpful he had been and how he had backslidden and was now returning to church! A big clap from the congregation. It was a lesson to behold as someone was welcomed back as the lost sheep.

The sermon earlier talked about struggle and so it was a theme that fitted in nicely as this man in his late 60s or maybe even 70 was welcomed back. The fact that Bishop made his way to bring him highlighted the humility of this man who has a pastoral heart for people.

Overheads enhanced sine my last time

The lost sheep welcomed back into the fold

Flooding preventing people getting to a funeral

The other pleasing thing was that the overheads using a projector and computer has been enhanced since I left and they have figured out the way to overcome problems. I left having agreed to preach Easter Sunday.

I am here until mid July. My goals on this visit are:

• Facilitating a Leadership Development Program for senior staff here over three months
• 22 April leading 18 people on a tour of 4 dioceses for six days
• Completion of the Strategic plan
• Completion of Bunda Girls School buildings (it started in 2013 so it will be nice to see it finalised)
• Completion of the Strategic plan for which most work was done last year.

So my focus at this stage is getting all details of the tour organised before focussing too hard elsewhere.

Back into work and Malaria strikes!

My first full week back was spent reorienting myself and looking at the remaining time here and what needs to be done. I developed a spreadsheet to plan my time as I know it will fly. I also had invitations from two nearby bishops to visit them and spend the weekend including preaching at their cathedrals. The fist was due on my second weekend back but cancelled as he is away. I will be at Rorya about two hours north near the Kenyan border on Sunday 4 September for an ordination service. So preparation for that is a priority. If you pray that would be helpful. I have selected Daniel 1 as the text.

My major goals before I leave are to complete a strategic plan in draft form for the diocese and have it ready before I leave at the end of September, help the diocese decide if it wishes to pursue a disability program following my visit to Karagwe and the opportunities that provides, work with the IT guy on the website and the next newsletter and do some financial policy work.

The financial reporting system here is not robust and I have suggested that there be a reporting system established by each unit which receives and spends funds. An audit a few years ago highlighted some basic issues that need to be established so I was asked to speak to the management team about that and the disability program. A meeting with all schools is planned for 30 September to discuss inclusive education and the possibility of using a site here as the base and having all four schools involved as part of a model supporting kids with disabilities unable go to school due to their disability.

The principal of the Bible College asked me to assist with some correspondence he received. This required the 2023 budget to be prepared and sent to the funder. Budgets here are on a CY basis and usually not completed till November or December. Apart from drafting a budget based on the 2022 budget and returning it to him, this provided focus on the whole budget preparation cycle. The bishop and the accountant agree that the end of the year means little time left to critically review and analyse budgets and make changes. The example of food at the college based on maize prices of 800TZS/kg in the budget when it is now 1200TZS/kg (thanks Putin) means that the budget for this year will see blowouts in food. Inflation here is running at least at 10% although public servants received a 21% pay rise in June.

I met the accountant and he is happy for a policy on financial reporting to be established. We also discussed moving to computer based accounting which will be a huge task but might be looked at slowly as a trial. We will see as it does require money that is not there.

I had various discussions with staff about a staffing issue in one of the schools and the way to manage this. Cultural issues here mean a solution is more complex than in Australia.

Mwita the IT guy is away working as an IT specialist on the census so discussions about the newsletter have been limited. Hoping this can be prepared by early September.

Tuesday of week two saw me listless, lethargic and tired. It was census day so no work. I did nothing for the day and felt generally unwell. This continued into Wednesday and while not a flu I wondered if Covid had hit me again. I googled malaria late Wednesday and took myself to the Coptic (Egyptian) Hospital Thursday morning. They actually spoke good English. I waited like everone else – mainly women with infant children and a few older people. A very ordered system where on arrival a small marquee is where you have your BP, temperature and pulse done and then go inside to register. Pay 2000 TZS ($1.25) to see the Egyptian doctor. He ordered a blood smear to test for malaria as well as RAT for malaria which was interesting. Back to the cashier to pay 2,000 TZS for the blood test. Waited an hour and back in to see Dr Peter who confirmed falciparum malaria and said there were three options. The best he told me was the drug I was prescribed, I didn’t need to worry about the other two as I had financial capacity.

The wait between the blood test and the result was interesting as I sat outside the room where my blood was acuired from a needle prick and I hear every kid screaming after they entered so most were being tested for malaria. The killer for kids is if they come to late and the disease becomes untratable due to cerbral malaria. It is a terrible death. However I was also conscious that these parents, as poor as some of them looked invested 2,000 TZ which may equate to a day’s wage for their children’s sake.

The inital reception

Waiting room

Rembrant’s Prodigal Son in the waiting room

Pharmacist

The treatment

My little friend and mum

The cost of medical treatment. Cheap for me but unafforable for most. US$/2300

I was seated next to a mum still breastfeeding her daughter who was happy to clamber over me. She had a cough but looked OK otherwise so I guessed she also ws there for malaria. Once I had seen the doctor, received my script it was back to the cashier to pay 15,500 TZS ($10) for my medication which included 20 panadol which I didn’t think necessary but on reading the side effects of the malaria meds I realised they were for the possible side effects.

Saturday lunch at the Rehema Cafe. Last Saturday as the coordinator Heather leaves for South Africa for annual medical checks. Lunch was a group of ten or so. Arthur from the office, the bishop’s son and daughter and the IT guy Mwita as well as Arthur’s family.

Misoji from work

Elizabeth a student who wanted advice

Lunch at Rehema

Tipi (UK) Rachel, Mwita (IT at work) Jeremiah and Arthur from work

The coming week is going to be busy.

Aussie Visitors and a Sheep Story that only the photo makes believeable

Sunday started with Anglican Aid staff member Chris Cooper coming down to preac at the Cathedral here in Musoma. Tim Swan the CEO was speaking at Rorya Diocese’s Cathedral about an hour an a half away.

After church Chris and I went back to where I am staying, walked to Lake Victoria and met Tim Swan and then went to lunch at Matvilla with three bishops. All six of us had Tilapia (I am sure that came as a surprise). It was a working lunch of sorts as various issues were discussed. We then drove to Bunda where the three Aussies stayed at the home of a retired Australian missionary who has been unable to get back since 2020. The whole group of about a dozen had dinner while the locals went off to their accommodation. Alpha Lugoley, the principal of Bunda Bible College stayed back at my suggestion as Tim and Chris’s visit was about visiting BBC and discussing scholarships and the development of the college. This allowed an opportunity for Alpha to explain issues at the college as next day will be busy.

Monday started early for the 7am chapel service which was excellent. Students even had an Anglican Aid song they composed. Video and lyrics Then after “chai” we walked the grounds of a college spread across sixt acres and the Anglican Aid people discussed the infrastructure needs and locations. Tim left Chris while I accompanied him to Shalom Primary School, constructed by Anglican Aid since 2017. The development since my last visit here in 2019 has been astounding and the school looks great. Met the builder who is onsite constructing a classroom and had a chat to him and commended him on the quality of their work.

Principal Alpha, Chris AA(L) &Tim Swan CEO AA (R)

The College students and staff

Tim speaking

Then back to college for lunch before a visit to Bunda Girls School. A real flying visit as Tim and Chris had a three hour drive from here so time very limited.

The band

Welcome to Shalom

National Anthem

New Hall

The Multi purpose Hall

Where is Australia?

From BGSS we made a quick stop to the Girls Brigade Sewing Cetre which explains what it does. Village girls come in for a year and from never having touched a sewing machine are sewing within two months as some of the examples we were shown testified. This helps girls who may not even have been able to start secondary education and be destined to early marriage and life in a village with no skills to at least have a chance of earning an income. Apart from sewing they are taught the basics of business, keeping records and pricing work.

After the formalities, Tim was presented with a cake to mark his visit which he duly cut. The girls then asked if they could sing a song which being acapella was displaying the natural ability of these girls’ voices and rythm. After what was a rushed visit Tim and Chris bade us farewell as they headed to Mwanza to arrive before dark.

A song and a photo

A cake

Welcome to the GBTC

The rest of my week was flat out. On Wednesday I have the morning off for a retirment course I am doing on Zoom back home. I got into the office at 11.30am and asked to meet in the Bishop’s Office with the Link Officer and Bunda Bible College principal. Three international students have run into visa issues and were going to be deported. I did assist them to find a solution.

Bishop and I visited a former disability program about 8kms south of Musoma which is a white elephant. After operating since 2003 and the Dutch funders building a massive complex to provide community based support to children and adults with all sorts of disabilities, the centre closed at the end of 2014 when funding ceased. One of my tasks is to assist the diocese find a solution. The buildings have not been repurposed as the bishop wanted to ensure the funders are involved in any decisions about future use. I have a meeting with the national coordinator coming up to discuss the options.. Truly depressing when I have seen a similar program Anglican Aid established on the western side of the lake which meets so many needs for families with children with disabilities.

On Thursday I arranged a meeting to discuss the development of a newsletter for overseas partners to tell of the many things happening in Mara Diocese. It has the approval of the bishop so the link officer and Diocesan Secretary were involved in how to get it up. The website is down so Bishop rang a young volunteer who maintains it. While on the phone the error message changed to site down for maintenance. He came in later in the day and I met him briefly. He was to return Friday for a meeting to discuss the newsletter and website further.

Musa the Bishop of Rorya turned up as arranged for a two hour lesson on Google Drive and how to make best use of Google features. That was time well spent.

The week finished with a meeting to discuss the farm with the Manager Annarose. She is also responsible for parents in their nineties who want to return home to their village. A real difficulty for her given both have had strokes in recent years and mum requires total care. The farm issues a re being slowly addressed. Sunflower harvest looks good and she has lots of ideas about progressing things there.

And Friday afternoon was spent with Mwita the young guy who will work on the newsletter. I went through the various things that should go into it. He will not only do the graphic design but also the reporting by interviewing the staff and getting the stories. I left him at 4pm as I am facilitating the English Bible study each week. It had it largest attendance since I have been here. It is alerting me to many issues that need help in the church here.

He is 28yo, graduate of a university in graphic design and unusually knows Apple products.

As I type the weekend is coming to a close. Saturday was a visit to a village where 25 people has been baptised in the morning after a week of evangelism. Bishop goes out on Saturday afternoon to do some teaching and be a presence among the local community. Sunday he goes out to confirm any who are ready and teach again.

Lunch on Sunday with Sange Wangoya and his wife Mary. A beautiful couple, each with amazing stories. I will post about them on Facebook.

I heard what sounded like a baby crying as I was typing and after searching the house went to the window in my room to see a sight I won’t see again in my life. Gifts are never knocked back. I got given a chicken once in Congo but they did swap it for something I could travel with. Too much to write about here so hopefully a separate blog. The photo tells the story of the village showing appreciation to the bishop.

Yes this sheep and a goat stood on a thirty minute journey on rough rural roads on top of the vehicle to come home with Bishop.

Just Like That a Month Has Gone!

An interesting, peaceful but very busy week. Church as usual on Sunday. It was a shorter service than usual as the main choirs were away singing at a fundraiser. After church as I was speaking to people a man who was born with albinism approached us, bent over and out of his gumboots pulled an empty tube of SPF60+ sunscreen, seeking donations to buy more.

Albinism is seen in adults who survive childhood without being kidnapped and butchered by witch doctors Well what can you do? The TZS 10,000 is a lot of money for people who may only earn 400,000TZS a month (AU$225 is a very good income) so it was nothing to give him the $6. I saw the same tube later that week sheltering from rain for exactly TZS10,000.

Lunch on Sunday was at Afrilux where I have eaten each Sunday since arriving but this time with Bishop away, I took the pastor of the English Service and his wife to lunch and had, as usual tilapia but baked which had a tomato based sauce on it. Not as good as fried tilapia.

Adram and Roy Sunday lunch

Roasted tilapia

One of a number of albino adults in Musoma

Bishop was away at his village after getting a call from his dad who wanted to see him. He mentioned Monday and Tuesday were public holidays so I started working at home Monday in preparation for the workshop I was presenting at on Thursday and Friday on strategic planning. I rang the Diocesan Secretary about some issues about the workshop as he was translating, only to find out the holidays were Tuesday and Wednesday so off I went. I located what must be the only locksmith in town to get a key cut. Enroute the public reserve was populated by hundreds of Muslims bowed down under large tents in what I understood later to be the beginning of Eid at sunset that night.

Monday flew and before I knew it, the workday was over after 5pm. I walked home and found a hairdresser and had a cut for 3,000 TZS or $2. I left a tip with both the cutter and the woman who massaged my scalp with oil after the cut.

Tuesday and Wednesday were holidays for the Muslim festival of Eid which celebrates the end of Ramadam.I went into the office late morning as Max was working and I needed some assistance from him Lunch was at the Serengeti Resort, a bar that serves food. A muslim man was there with a bottle of red wine and a bottle of coke. He was alone – it was apparent after sometime. I saw something I have never seen before: the Coke was a mixer for the red wine. I saw it with my own eyes!

After work haircut

Key cutting

Eid ceremony

Bishop was back Tuesday and it appears his father is having some health issues he wanted to share with him. Over one of our regular after dinner conversations he mentioned a building the diocese owned which had been vacant for years since his arrival which previously housed a disability program supported by a Dutch NGO. The upshot of that discussion was to arrange a call to the disability program on the western side of Lake Victoria which coordinated 21 disability programs for the Dutch rather than them setting up an office here to see if this program could be kick started again.

After breakfast we had a long conversation with Aggrey from the Karagwe Disability Program. He was confident this program could be supported again by the Dutch and he will arrange an introduction to the new manager there as he has retired.

I had given Bishop an old phone and we spent time this morning putting the Google Fit app on it and showing him how it worked. He is very health conscious and has stopped using sugar since I commeneted on its negatve effects. We decided to walk to church for the 3pm Wednesday service and walking home were caught in a torrential storm. It rained during the service, stopped, we then got to the shoe repair guy on the street outside the cathedral where he had his shoe repaired. It rained there again as we waited so we sheltered under the shoe repairer’s shelter, had a corn on the cob from a young student he knew who sold these for some extra money (TZS 200 = 12 cents!), then made our way to town when it poured again while we were in another shop. After stopping Bishop then found a milk vendor. Street vendors purchase from suppliers and pasteurise it on the street over charcoal stoves. The milk is warm as it is poured into an empty water bottle. TZS 1000/Litre or 65 cents.

Milk for sale

Harvesting storm water

Wet after a rainy walk

When it stopped 30 minutes later we walked across to another store to buy a pillow and the heaviest rain of the day hit with thunder and lightning. The power went off briefly. After about 30 minutes when it eased off we just walked in the rain to the amazement of locals under shelter. Bishop mentioned they are more scared of rain than motor cars.

Shoe repair shop

Corn seller

Note the recycled tyre sole

Fixing Bishop’s shoe

Goat for lunch

Red wine and coke

POLIO

While polio is unknown now in Australia, I do remember at primary school kids with leg irons who had polio in the late 1950s. The evidence of polio here in Tanzania is evident in a number of people I have met who are pastors at the cathedral who still limp or walk with difficulty, all the result of polio in their childhood. All in their forties which suggests polio was still rife here in the 1970s if not later.

The photo above of the shoe repair man is a good story. Afflicted before five with polio, he survived and is now married with children. He had a shoe shine business and in 2019, a visiting Englishman provided capital for him to make sandals as well as repair shoes and keep shining. So the covered area you see is his “shop” and to the left you can see his hand pedal tricycle which gets him around.

The Strategic Planning Workshop

This is the first pressure I have felt since being here. 28 Archdeacons and area deans were gathered to learn about strategic planning. Few had English so I was working through a traslator, Max, the Katibu or Diocesan Secretary. Google Translate has been my friend. It dawned on me Tuesday that my overheads could be duplicated then translated using Google Translate. This assisted greatly as Max was able to refer to the OHP while I had my tablet with the English slides on it.

We managed on day one to get through what components are required in a strategic plan finishing on the process of developing one and a visual of the matrix from vision to tactics which support strategy.

The big surprise of the day was the introductions which were just an icebreaker asking for tem to introduce themsleves, their area of birth, number of siblings and favourite food. The number of siblings was a shock as one after one identified 8, 9, 10, 12 siblings from one mother. One pastor was one of twenty born to one mother. Another was born to his polygamous father’s ninth wife and counted 32 boys. I asked later about the girls and he didn’t know but thought altogether there were over fifty children. His story will be a separate blog.

Day two started with them developing a personal plan to get some practical experience, then we did the SWOT Analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) and it highlighted the endemic poverty these men come from, their uncertain incomes where $40 is a good income monthly and their need to farm in sometimes harsh environments when drought prevails. However they did well to identify all the components of the SWOT analysis and a good morning from my perspective was accomplished.

After lunch we had the chair of Mothers Union address them on the trial of a successful program mobilising communities using the Church and Community Mobilisation Process (CCMP) which has been around Africa for decades and in Serengeti has seen eight savings and loans groups start since 2019 which operate like community banks. Two of these in a large town have 28M and 31M TZS ($19,000 and $21,000) in the economy providing loans for members. This has seen many small enterprises established and increased economic conditions for many.

Her session started with her bringing a wooden box about 30 cm long and 10 cm deep. It was a money box used by the village S&L Groups. It was at that point I understood this was starting something kids in Australia learned from Kindergarten which is how to save. Remember the Commonwealth Bank deposits and the weekly banking which taught us to save. As she spoke, I didn’t need Swahili to understand that most pastors found this something that would be helpful for them. We assume a lot and here I was witnessing many understanding for the first time about saving for the future and borrowing for investments.

The response to her teaching was overwhelmingly positive and hopefully there is a takeup for MU to train people in many villages in the concept.

Groupwork

Groupwork

The workshop room

Reporting back

Reporting

Engageded in discussion

Australian Moneybox

Group photo

Tanzanian S&L Moneybox

I concluded with a hastily developed evaluation in Swahili, the main question being what will you do in the next two months as a result of this workshop. The translated responses will be interesting.

Day one I was absolutely wrecked and not so much after the second day as I was more confident. However overall a fairly positive outcome.

Saturday as I write this was a quiet morning then off to lunch at Rehema Cafe which is only open by booking and ordering ahead by Friday. The three English GOMAD volunteers were there and we talked about COVID and two of them have had COVID three times, both early on and prior to vaccinations being available. Apparently it is rampant in England at present. Hannah the 19 yo nurse saw a colleague aged 19yo die in April 2020 within three days of being vaccinated. She was the only one of the three not to have had it.

Late afternoon was spent at a Bible Study the bishop attends. Very formal structure and this week was a sort of time of rememberance for one of the members whose father in law died two months ago and a gift of cash being provided as a means of showing their support and affection for her and the extended family.

Tim Swan CEO of Anglican Aid is visiting and I catch up with him tomorrow at Bunda as he visits the college there and also the secondary and primary schools.

A busy but satisfying first month.