Safari Day 1

July 13, 2017

Who's ready for a safari to the national game park, Ruaha?

kiboko

Mbuni

Simba

Tembo

Wazungu

The day began with a partnership meeting with Tungamalenga Parish's partnership committee. We gathered in the grassy area behind the camp, with tables and chairs that kept moving as the sun and the shade traded places throughout the morning.  

To start, we were honored with the gift of clothing. Shirts for the guys, blouses and skirts for the women, we were all dressed to show our unity with our hosts.

Pastor Rick, Matt and Christina were present for the first part of the meeting, until they had to depart for the game park along with Andrew, Lydia and Isabella. Bobbie and I remained. See above for some of the sights on safari.

Pastor Eva was busy throughout the meeting, in many roles - senior pastor, translator, and even chair of the meeting until Daniel arrived to take on that task.

The partnership committee included three new members this year, Romanus Mbwillo from Mapogoro, Jameson Ndondole, a retired teacher from Tungamalenga, and Matambili Mgema from Namelok. They joined Pastors Eva, Bryson and Paulo, along with parish secretary Lukimbililo Mkuye, Noeli Kalulu, Evangelist Shakuru Mbeya, and Asunta Joseph.

There were three agenda items: construction, sponsorship, and transport.

Our friends reported on the past year's progress on finishing the construction of Namelok chapel. The plastering inside and out, floor, doors, windows, and altar are all expected to be completed within the next few weeks, thanks to last year's contributions. Benches might have to wait until next year if the money runs out. A financial report will be delivered once the work is complete.

Next year's construction priority is to finish the house at Idodi. Estimates include 3,917,500 TSH in expenses plus 1,160,000 TSH in parish contributions and volunteer labor. SOTV promised to send, by November, an estimate of our contributions to the project.

In discussing scholarships, there was a little discussion of how procedures have changed in the past several years throughout the diocese. Opinions vary about the options available to students - the value of schools close to home, schools father away, diocese schools, government schools. Communication around policy changes seems to be the key factor; when communication happens early and often, changes seem to be handled with ease.

Finally, we discussed the issue of transportation.  For many years, our partnership has provided bikes for use by evangelists and other church workers, to help them get around the parish with ease. There have also been purchases of motorbikes for the parish pastors. More recently, the parish has set aside its own funds to purchase one bicycle each year.

They debated their request -- several bikes now, or one more piki piki every other year?  They opted for the piki piki in 2018.

At the end of the meeting, we purchased a large bag of rice from the parish thank offerings. The rice will be delivered to Huruma Center for the orphans.

Finally, Pastor Eva thanked us for a "peaceful meeting." Pastor Bryson echoed that sentiment saying, "Thank you for the peace that appears when your group comes. Welcome again next year."

[A funny story from the start of the day.  Pastor Paulo was the first to arrive, on the dot at 9 AM. He and I looked at our watches, looked around as if to ask, where are the others? And then he said, "I am on time, I am an American!" We laughed and waited for the rest to arrive on Tanzania time.]

Bobbie and I spent the afternoon on a different kind of safari, a journey around Mapogoro and Mpalapande, to see the various parts of the water system that will one day supply the school. Atop a hill at the edge of Mapogoro, there's a tank.  Water flows in from a mountain stream, and is piped downhill to the town and surrounding villages. This water system has been in place for over thirty years.

Pipes are buried below ground and junctures with valves are protected by concrete covers like the one above.

The local water manager met us at the tank and was very kind, showing us all the locations on the map of a proposed addition to the system. Here is the location of the juncture where an additional, parallel pipeline could connect.

One proposal is to run the pipeline along two roads, parallel to the existing line.  Another idea under consideration is to run the line to the school cross country (diagonal to the 90 degree angle of the roads). One expert tells us that running the line cross country, "through the bush," would leave it more open to vandalism. Another person says, the existing line has already been tapped into by private individuals, and what would prevent them from tapping into a line running parallel to the existing line?

At the school, a line from this spigot runs from the tank in the background.

The tank also has lines running to the latrines (the tan building behind the vehicle) for flushing and washing hands. However, the tank has yet to be connected to the main water line.

We can't imagine building a school and not connecting it to water immediately.  There is another spigot not far away, at the church. Drinking water reaches that point two days each week.  When I asked several Tanzanian friends how urgent the problem of water at the school was, no one seemed overly concerned. I think they are so used to working and living in not perfect conditions that this is just another challenge of daily life.  Several shrugged at my question, saying, "Children can bring drinking water to school." They would be carrying it in buckets or in 20 liter plastic jugs. But carrying their own water from the relatively short distance from home is still a lot better than walking the four miles they previously walked to school.

It's all a matter of perspective.

Our water safari ended at the other end of Mapogoro, closer to Tungamalenga, where there is a new well.  We're told that the local Member of Parliament had a hand in locating this well and providing funds for a solar powered pump. A community spigot is located just to the left of this building, and the water tank in the photo will eventually sit atop the building.

Engineer Amos Byemerwa, regional water officer, has told us that if this well were connected to the national grid for its electricity, the well has sufficient water to meet 80% of the community's needs. If that were the case, the pipeline to Mpalapande would be sufficient to provide water to the school.

In the end, we learned a lot on our safari of the water system, and still there is more to learn, and more to discuss with the community. A conversation for another day.