Education--the gift of a lifetime

university graduation day

From the start of our partnership together, our friends in Tanzania have told us that educational scholarships are the greatest gift we can give them.

In Tanzania, primary school education is provided relatively free of charge in most villages. Standards one through seven are roughly equivalent to our grades one through six. Secondary school, equivalent to our grades seven through twelve, is often only available regionally in the rural areas, via boarding schools, while urban areas have a day school option. Most of these secondary schools cost about $300 or more per year. That's a challenge for most families, whose income is often at the subsistence level in the rural areas. Per capita income in Tanzania overall is roughly $400, and that has almost doubled in the past ten years.


When our partnership began, we were told that perhaps ten percent of the population attended secondary school, and that only ten percent of those graduates were able to attend college or university.

Our friends Dan and Sue McIntyre from Peace Lutheran Church in Maple Grove recently spent six months in the Iringa region. Dan taught classes at Tumaini University and Sue worked in healthcare. They blogged about their experiences at http://www.danandsueintz.blogspot.com/. Their final post from Tanzania has a lot of valuable information about the Tanzanian educational system. It's well worth a read!

Shepherd of the Valley currently provides 100 secondary school scholarships for students from the villages that comprise Tungamalenga Parish. In addition, we support 25 students from around the Iringa Diocese, including twelve who are residents of Huruma Orphanage. Finally, we provide scholarships for 15 post secondary students--young leaders preparing to be pastors, teachers, doctors, nurses, and community development specialists.


Donations to the Shepherd of the Valley - Tungamalenga Partnership scholarship fund are always welcome.