Tanzania Partnership

As we near the end of 2012, here are some of the significant moments in our partnership over the past twelve months. Best news of 2012! Water comes to Mahove!   We received the wonderful news in April.  After several years of discussing, planning, and negotiating, our partnership worked together to bring a source of water directly to the people of Mahove village.     Best Partnership Event at SOTV     Kuzunguka Zunguka was the name of a four day summer kid's camp experience held at Shepherd of the Valley in August.  Thanks to the Children's Ministries staff for partnering with Tungamalenga volunteers Mollie and Lyn MacLean, Joan and Richard Dornfeld, and Sharon Mertz.  Kids got to experience a taste of Tanzanian life and created deep bonds with the Bibis and Babus [grandmothers and grandfathers] who spent time with them.     Biggest Loss     Our dear friend Rose Mahlum died in June, and we miss her so very much. She's shown here wi

  Just two weeks until Christmas -- is your holiday shopping done?   Here's an opportunity to share the joy and blessings of the season with some of our brothers and sisters on the other side of the globe.  Shepherd of the Valley's Christmas Gift Giving program offers families a way to share the gifts of the season with others, near and far.   Tungamalenga Partnership is one of the recipients of your generosity through Christmas Gift Giving.   Funds designated to Tungamalenga will be shared with our partners in two ways -- a gift of goats to help evangelists in the parish, and a gift to Huruma Center, the Iringa Diocese orphanage.   Last year when SOTV travelers visiting Huruma Center, we asked Mama Chilewa what the children needed for Christmas.  In the past, we have given a milk cow to improve the children's nutrition.  Another year, she told us they needed shoes.   This year, she asked for funds to buy a brand new set of clothing for each chil

Perida   We continue to be very grateful for the contributions being made to our scholarship fund!    Our latest count shows contributions and pledges totalling 91 full scholarships plus $4200 to fund textbooks and technology.   Some of the best news:  this includes 38 new donors who have provided 25 full scholarships plus a couple thousand dollars.  With these new donors, and if most of our previous year's donors continue their support, we should meet our goal of maintaining support for the students currently in school, and we may even be able to add a few more students or textbook & technology projects.   If you haven't contributed yet, it's never too late.   Asante sana!  Thanks for making a difference in the life of a Tanzanian student.

Juliani Juma, student at Idodi Secondary School   We had another encouraging response this weekend and now have the funds for 67 secondary scholarships plus additional funds for textbooks and technology.    Asante sana!  Thanks to all who have contributed or made pledges to the Tanzanian Scholarship Fund.  We are especially pleased that almost 20 new donors have stepped up!   We have less than one more week before our deadline -- the totals after this weekend will determine how many scholarships we can provide in the coming year.  We are hoping to provide 150 scholarships.  All we need by this weekend is your pledge -- your payment can come later, at your convenience.  To pledge toward the scholarship fund, either fill out one of the blue forms at the spotlight table in the narthex, or email Kirsten.Levorson@sotv.org to be included in the tally.   Here are three easy ways you can submit your contribution:   1. Write a check payable to SOTV with "TZ scholars

Veronica, a student at Idodi Secondary School   We had a fabulous weekend response, twenty new secondary scholarships donated.  Asante sana!   A dollar a day makes the difference.  $360 per year gives a Tanzanian student the chance for a life beyond what they have previously known.  Instead of a life as a subsistence farmer, the scholarship you provide gives a Tanzanian student the chance at a different life. A life as a teacher, pastor, nurse, doctor, business person, community developer, or tourism specialist.   Secondary education in Tanzania -- think of grades eight through twelve in the United States -- is not guaranteed to every citizen as it is here in Minnesota.  Secondary education is a priviledge given to those who can afford it. The $360 per year is more than most Tanzanians earn in a given year for their whole family.   Our goal is to provide our partners in Tungamalenga with scholarships for 150 students.  We're a third of the way to our goal.  We al

Doris Kilipamwambu, a student at Idodi Secondary School   In our first week of collecting funds for Tanzanian scholarships, we have collected contributions of full scholarships ($360) for 27 students!  Thank you to all our donors.   In addition, we have received contributions of about $1000 for textbooks and technology .   Your generous donations are changing lives.   Want to get involved?  Contribute here .   Just a dollar a day makes a difference.   Asante sana!    

Sharon Mertz spoke in worship last weekend about our Tanzanian Scholarship Fund. Sharon with Vumilia, the student she sponsors   I’m guessing that in your pocket or in the bottom of your purse, most of you have at least $1 worth of change. I want it!   Education is the issue.   Here and in Tanzania . K-12 here is provided by our government.. Buildings (with windows and screens), desks, computers, libraries, lunchrooms, food, bathrooms, janitor services, clean water and other amenities – inside gymnasiums, outside game fields and the list goes on. Not so in Tanzania . The government provides for all students to attend 1 st thru 6 th or 7 th grades.   These are elementary schools at the village level.   Not all villages have a school.   80% of these primary school aged children attend school.   For others, there is no school in their village. I visited a primary school.   1 math book for 80 students.   6 science books for 60 students. Teach

Since the news last weekend of Hurricane Sandy's imminent arrival, through the reports emerging telling of death tolls, power outages, and damage, I have been receiving email messages from some of our friends in Tanzania.  They are expressing concern for our welfare, asking if we are okay, and offering prayers for our safety and for the safety of all who may be in harm's way. It's a good day for us to be grateful for our dear partners, and to say a prayer for their safety and wellbeing, knowing that the dangers that befall them seldom make the news in the way a hurricane would. Giving thanks for the God who loves, protects, and comforts us all, in times of joy and in times of challenges.

Safari in Swahili means journey. We'd like you to consider taking the journey of a lifetime with other Shepherd of the Valley members next summer.  For two weeks in August, you could be ambassadors from our congregation living among and getting to know our partners from Tungamalenga Parish. What's a journey like this look like? We'll fly from Minneapolis to Amsterdam, then Amsterdam to Dar es Salaam with a short stopover at Kilimanjaro (alas, it will be dark and we don't get off the plane at Kili). That's about 24 hours from start to finish, with a four hour layover in Amsterdam. Arriving at the Landmark Hotel just before midnight, we get a good night's sleep in Dar before the eight to ten hour cross country bus ride to Iringa. notice the US and Tanzanian flags on the dashboard of the bus?   Highlights of that cross country ride include driving about 100 kilimeters of the way through Mikumi National Park -- and if we're lucky, we'l

When this partnership started about twelve years ago, we were told that only about ten per cent of Tanzanians had the opportunity to enroll in secondary education (high school).  At that time, the cost of a year's secondary tuition, room and board was higher than the Tanzanian per capita income. From the start, one of our partnership's highest priority ongoing efforts has been to provide secondary and university scholarships for students who meet academic standards.  It's the most important gift we can give, our partners often tell us. And so Shepherd of the Valley's support for scholarships has grown from six scholarships in 2001 to a consistent 140 scholarships for the past five years.  100 of those scholarships are for secondary students from Tungamalenga Parish ($360 each).  Another 25 secondary school scholarships are provided to orphans from the diocese owned Huruma Centre.  The rest are post secondary scholarships for students in a variety of settings -- theo

Our eight days in Tungamalenga last month were so jam packed, we still have untold stories.  Here's the day we arrived in Tungamalenga, just in time for the wedding of Daima and Leu.       The wedding processional had just begun as we pulled up to the church in our vehicle piled high with luggage and bikes.  One choir led the way, then came the bridal couple and attendants (above), then the pastor and worship leaders.   Another choir brings up the rear.   Tungamalenga is Daima's home village.  He now lives in Kihesa, a "suburb" of Iringa, and attends the Kihesa Lutheran Church.  Daima and Leu both sing in the kwaya (choir) there, and so the entire Kihesa choir came out to Tungamalenga to sing at the wedding.  They brought a sound system and technician, electronic keyboard, and some fancy dance moves along with the voices.   One fun fact about Tanzanian wedding services -- the bride and groom and attendants sit in chairs of honor at the fro

This post was written by Mollie and Lyn MacLean    Bibi Joan and family dressing Maasai style    Last week we spent four energy-packed days sharing our Tanzanian experience with twenty-five grade school students.   It was not only a culture camp for the students to get to know about four Tanzanian families (who we as adult leaders know rather well); but it was also a cultural experience for our students to get to know us, who are at least 50 years older than they are.   Bibi Mollie and the "Kahwage" family collect water   Each student was placed into one of the four Tanzanian families groups.   Each family group had a picture of the family and some items commonly found in the home of that specific family.   We talked about life in Tanzanian and life in that family:   what each family member does, how they dress, and the opportunities and challenges for each family.      Babu Richard and the "Kuyaa" family   We talked about how

Here's a quick glimpse of the fun we had this week! 24 Minnesota kids singing along with a video of our Tanzanian friends at the end of our weeklong Tanzanian culture camp.   http://vimeo.com/48088075   The song is about walking around the throne of glory -- singing, sitting, earting, greeting, dancing and jumping for joy in the Lord! Here is the original video of kids at Makifu singing the song. http://vimeo.com/47735479 

Suzanna, age 8 One of our favorite places to visit while in Iringa is Huruma Center, the orphanage owned by the Iringa Diocese.  Huruma means mercy. Right now there are about 34 kids at the center, with another 28 who live outside the center while attending schools.  Kids can come and go from this place -- some are dropped off or found living on the streets when parents or family cannot care for them, others leave the center when staff are able to locate other relatives willing to take them into their own homes. Shepherd of the Valley provides gifts to the center when we visit and at Christmas time.  I asked Mama Chilewa what the children need this Christmas and she immediately said, "a new set of clothing for each would be nice."  She explained that the children make do with hand me downs most of the year, but at Christmas she would like them to have something new. Can we make this happen, SOTV?  Sure we can.  Our Christmas gift funds for the center come f

All of our trips to Tungamalenga include some of the same things -- worship, celebrations, bus rides, preaching point visits, singing, dancing, relationship building.  And a partnership meeting. This year the partnership meeting was held on a Monday morning in the backyard of Tungamalenga Camp.  From Shepherd of the Valley, Kirsten, Judy and Sharon; from Tungamalenga, Pastor Naftal Ng'amillo, Evangelist Azuberi Mhema, Chairperson Hosea Visima, Evangelist George Kioniani, Treasurer Lukimbililo Mkuye, Evangelist Atuletye Msigwa (also known as Mama Neema), SACCOs chair Absalum Kilipamwambu, Daktari Barnabas Kahwage; from the Iringa Diocese, our interpreter Rev. Lusungu Msigwa. Pastor Naftal said the meeting would be short, just seven agenda items:  Mahove, scholarships, SACCOs, dispensary, goats, chapels, transport, and the new congregation.  Oh, I guess that's eight. Seven hours later, we had gone through a lot of business. We had a great discussion about the