Tena na tena

By -



Ever since 2002, Shepherd of the Valley travelers have made annual trips to visit our companions in Tanzania. Each time, we are welcomed lavishly and asked to return tena na tena, again and again.




What’s on the itinerary?
·        After a long journey and four flights, Pastor Wendy, her daughter Anna, and I will arrive in Iringa and will visit Huruma Center Orphanage and the Iringa Diocese Head Office our first day in town.
·        We’ll spend three days in each of our partner congregations: Makifu, Tungamalenga, and Usolanga.
·        We’ll spend a day at the school atop a mountain – Lutangilo Secondary School, where new science lab classrooms have just been completed.
·       Our trip includes a couple days at Ruaha National Park, to see the beauty of God’s creation in the Great Rift Valley.

We’ll see what’s new since our last visit.
·        We’ll visit Mpalapande Primary School, where school is in session for 60 kindergartners.
·        We’ll get an update on plans for two water projects in Ikwavila and Mpalapande.
·        We’ll see chapel construction in Kisilwa, Mbuyuni, and Kitisi congregations.
·        We’ll hear plans to expand the rural clinic at Tungamalenga into a small hospital.

We’ll deliver gifts of love from our congregation.
·        We’ll deliver medicines and mosquito nets to the clinic in Tungamalenga.
·        We’ll purchase rice, maize and other harvest offerings from our partners in Tungamalenga and Makifu, and then we’ll deliver that food to Huruma Center Orphanage.
·        We’ll purchase and deliver bikes that will be used by evangelists in each parish.
·        We’ll deliver a telescope and science supplies to Lutangilo Secondary School.

Most important, we will strengthen the relationship between SOTV and our partners. 
Meeting face to face and sharing concerns together is essential for clear communication and project planning. As we walk together from camp to chapel sites, as we share reports during village visits, as we sing and pray together, we strengthen the bond between our communities of faith. Thanks to all who support those who travel as ambassadors of SOTV.

Your generous contributions enable the travelers to present the gifts mentioned above. To give, write checks to SOTV with “TZ trip gifts” in the memo, or give online at http://www.sotv.org/giving. Thank you!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Idodi Secondary School

By -
Image
July 10, 2017 On Monday we headed out to Tungamalenga and Makifu parishes, ready to be offline for the next eight days.  Our first stop was at Idodi Secondary School.  Idodi is the first village we come to in the parish, and we have about 75 students attending the secondary school. Headmaster Christopher Mwasomola welcomed us to his office for an introduction and update. He said that Idodi is known as a community school -- the infrastructure is built by the community (in this case, heavily supported by a group known as Friends of Ruaha) and teachers are provided by the government.  Fun fact: the Friends of Ruaha at one point received a donation from Roy Disney, whose name is included on the dedication plaque for the school's library. The school was registered in 1999 and has 889 students, 437 girls and 452 boys. There are 41 teachers. The government supports salaries, books, lab equipment, desks, and other basic supplies. There are 11 non teaching staff, wi...
Read more

Safari 2013: the journey of a lifetime

By -
Image
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...
Read more

Karibuni sana

By -
Image
Pastor Naftal & Anjelina Ng'amillo In just a couple short weeks, we will be hosting guests from Tanzania. Pastor Naftal and Anjelina Ng'amillo from Tungamalenga Parish, along with Dr Mufwimi and Dora Saga from the Ilula Lutheran Hospital, will arrive in Minnesota October 21 for a stay of just over two weeks. What better way to welcome them than to learn a few words in their language? Karibu sana or, if you are addressing more than one person, Karibuni sana , means "we warmly welcome you." It's pronounced like this: KAH ree boo SAH nah or KAH ree boo nee SAH nah. Jambo means "hello." Another greeting is Habari, which is more like "how are you," to which a Tanzanian might respond Nzuri [good], Salama [peace], or Njema [fine, well, good] and then they might add, Habari yako [and how are you?]. When Tanzanians are in a gathering, like at church or at a meeting, and they rise to speak to the assembly, they almost always start by say...
Read more