Iringa
It's Friday morning in Iringa, time to catch up on the blog.
It has been a week of travel, departing Minneapolis/St Paul on Monday afternoon, arriving in Amsterdam for a short layover, then continuing on to Tanzania on Tuesday, with a long flight to Kilimanjaro and then a short flight to Dar es Salaam. The flights were long and tedious and uneventful, the best kind. On Wednesday morning after a short sleep we journeyed by bus cross country to Iringa. We traveled from the coastal region with its tropical terrain, through the savannah with its sights of impala, a few zebras, giraffes and elephant, then into the highlands and the baobab forest. So many sights.
Bobbie asked the question, how has it changed in the fifteen years since Shepherd of the Valley's first trip to Tanzania? So many ways.... the traffic in Dar, the development along the road from Dar to Morogoro, so many more cars, so many more petrol stations and places to stop along the way. So many more cell towers.
We arrived at the Lutheran Center in Iringa before dark on Wednesday, and enjoyed a fine meal and a good night's rest.
Thursday we started the day at the diocese head office, greeted by Pastor Lusungu Msigwa who provided an overview of the diocese and the partnership we call Bega Kwa Bega. He talked about how the partnership between the Iringa Diocese and the Saint Paul Area Synod is "part and parcel of our diocese and helped us grow very fast."
The group received a tour of the diocese campus, with a quick look at the Million Trees project, and a tour of Radio Furaha. Pastor Rick and I had the chance to sit down with Kija Magembe, one of the partners in Sama Construction who has been the lead on our Mpalapande Primary School construction. Along with Pastor Msigwa and BKB program coordinator Julia Hubbard, we reviewed a few items from the latest site inspection. There are just a few small details to attend before the dedication on Wednesday, July 12. We discussed the items that will be included behind the dedication plaque - a Bible in Swahili and English, and other items that will represent the Maasai and Barabeig tribes that have been working together for the sake of this project.
After the diocese visit, the group went on a walking tour of the Iringa market area. We ended up at Neema's for lunch and a tour of the workshop. Neema's is an Anglican mission that employs people with disabilities. They produce high quality woven items, beads, and many handcrafted items. One of our favorites are the notebooks covered in paper made from elephant dung.
Later in the afternoon, we met Pastor Joyce Ngangdango, the new director of Huruma Center, the orphanage owned and operated by the diocese. She had been in meetings near the Lutheran Center and joined us for the ride out to visit the orphanage. She provided us with an overview of the Center, and a description of the services provided for children ages 5-16.
We also toured the newer daycare center, which provides care for infants and toddlers up to age five. There is a growing need for child care in this area, as more families have two employed parents. In the past, such families would have employed young adult or teenaged relatives to care for the children in their own home, but now many of those teens and young adults are taking advantage of expanded school options.
When asked about the challenges at the orphanage, Pastor Joyce told of some of the very sad situations children come from, and how they are cared for and counseled here. She spoke of the struggle to provide health care for the children, when health insurance would cost 65,000 TSH per year per child. You do the math, but a couple of our travelers calculated it as roughly $1200 per year to cover all.
Finally, we played with the kids for over an hour. Soccer, sharing photo albums, singing. It's always hard to leave. We had dinner at Mama Iringa's, with lots of discussion about what we have seen and heard here.
Friday morning, now it's breakfast, and then a drive to see Lutangilo Secondary School. Expect to see some fabulous views when we post our pics on Facebook later today.
It has been a week of travel, departing Minneapolis/St Paul on Monday afternoon, arriving in Amsterdam for a short layover, then continuing on to Tanzania on Tuesday, with a long flight to Kilimanjaro and then a short flight to Dar es Salaam. The flights were long and tedious and uneventful, the best kind. On Wednesday morning after a short sleep we journeyed by bus cross country to Iringa. We traveled from the coastal region with its tropical terrain, through the savannah with its sights of impala, a few zebras, giraffes and elephant, then into the highlands and the baobab forest. So many sights.
Bobbie asked the question, how has it changed in the fifteen years since Shepherd of the Valley's first trip to Tanzania? So many ways.... the traffic in Dar, the development along the road from Dar to Morogoro, so many more cars, so many more petrol stations and places to stop along the way. So many more cell towers.
We arrived at the Lutheran Center in Iringa before dark on Wednesday, and enjoyed a fine meal and a good night's rest.
Thursday we started the day at the diocese head office, greeted by Pastor Lusungu Msigwa who provided an overview of the diocese and the partnership we call Bega Kwa Bega. He talked about how the partnership between the Iringa Diocese and the Saint Paul Area Synod is "part and parcel of our diocese and helped us grow very fast."
The group received a tour of the diocese campus, with a quick look at the Million Trees project, and a tour of Radio Furaha. Pastor Rick and I had the chance to sit down with Kija Magembe, one of the partners in Sama Construction who has been the lead on our Mpalapande Primary School construction. Along with Pastor Msigwa and BKB program coordinator Julia Hubbard, we reviewed a few items from the latest site inspection. There are just a few small details to attend before the dedication on Wednesday, July 12. We discussed the items that will be included behind the dedication plaque - a Bible in Swahili and English, and other items that will represent the Maasai and Barabeig tribes that have been working together for the sake of this project.
After the diocese visit, the group went on a walking tour of the Iringa market area. We ended up at Neema's for lunch and a tour of the workshop. Neema's is an Anglican mission that employs people with disabilities. They produce high quality woven items, beads, and many handcrafted items. One of our favorites are the notebooks covered in paper made from elephant dung.
Later in the afternoon, we met Pastor Joyce Ngangdango, the new director of Huruma Center, the orphanage owned and operated by the diocese. She had been in meetings near the Lutheran Center and joined us for the ride out to visit the orphanage. She provided us with an overview of the Center, and a description of the services provided for children ages 5-16.
We also toured the newer daycare center, which provides care for infants and toddlers up to age five. There is a growing need for child care in this area, as more families have two employed parents. In the past, such families would have employed young adult or teenaged relatives to care for the children in their own home, but now many of those teens and young adults are taking advantage of expanded school options.
When asked about the challenges at the orphanage, Pastor Joyce told of some of the very sad situations children come from, and how they are cared for and counseled here. She spoke of the struggle to provide health care for the children, when health insurance would cost 65,000 TSH per year per child. You do the math, but a couple of our travelers calculated it as roughly $1200 per year to cover all.
Finally, we played with the kids for over an hour. Soccer, sharing photo albums, singing. It's always hard to leave. We had dinner at Mama Iringa's, with lots of discussion about what we have seen and heard here.
Friday morning, now it's breakfast, and then a drive to see Lutangilo Secondary School. Expect to see some fabulous views when we post our pics on Facebook later today.
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