Tanzania Partnership

As SOTV Travelers walked around the city of Iringa, Tanzania last July, one commented that “every time we turn the corner, we meet up with someone” who has a connection to our partnership. We met Enock, a former scholarship student and now the manager of the Toyota service station. We stayed at the Lutheran Center where Addy, another former student, is the assistant manager. Vumilia was a new hire at the lodge in the village, and Maria is the outstanding teacher at the Mpalapande Primary School. Pastor John is the new assistant headmaster at a diocese secondary school. Consolata, a 2004 scholarship recipient, established a career in business and has sent her own daughter and three siblings to secondary school and college. Meritho is working in wildlife conservation. 18 years of providing scholarships for secondary and university students has made an impact. The impact of our partnership was even more visible in the villages as we received thanks for bikes and m...

Meet Asia Kilelii, a Maasai girl from Mahove. Asia’s life changed when water came to Mahove seven years ago. Instead of spending many hours a day carrying water for her family, finally water was available just outside her family’s home, and Asia was able to attend school regularly. She excelled, and graduated at the top of her class. Now she attends college – the first girl in her extended family to do so. Her life was changed first by a water project, and then by a scholarship. Each year Shepherd of the Valley provides about $45,000 to support secondary and university scholarships for 150 students.   Scholarships range from $400 for most secondary students to $3000 for college students. Most of our students have parents who have died, or who are subsistence farmers earning less than a dollar a day. Your generous support makes a world of difference. Give online at http://www.sotv.org/giving/ or write checks payable to SOTV with TZ scholarship in the memo lin...

When we visited Mtera Secondary School in July, on our way back to Iringa after the visit to Usolanga, we met a remarkable man. He is the second headmaster at the school, Mr. Tibery Mbossa. He started by thanking us for our visit, saying we can see the love of God in you today; your scholarship support is a very big gift. But you don't just pay the fees, you even come to visit the students. It means a lot. Then he began to tell us his own scholarship story.  I anticipated having a life in the village. Without going to school, it is tough. Villagers have nothing to do but work hard, trying to dig by hand hoes, and work to feed their families. One day I went to the school. I met a certain man who asked me a simple question. Why don't you go to school? I told him, there is no one to pay for me. He asked, do you like the school? I said yes. I want to be a student. I think it is possible. He is a pastor. He joined me, I think it is possible. He asked me, what do...

It's almost Scholarship Month! Each November at Shepherd of the Valley, we raise funds for our Tanzania Scholarship Program. Since 2001, Shepherd of the Valley has provided scholarship support for Tanzanian students who would not otherwise have the opportunity to attend secondary school or college. It is a blessing to watch these young people take that opportunity and step into lives of service and leadership in their communities. Here are a few of the lives your gifts have touched: ·         Joakim attended secondary school, overcame debilitating migraines, and graduated at the top of his class. In college, he studied medicine and then worked for several years as a clinical officer (equivalent to a physician’s assistant). Now he’s back in medical school, just one year away from his MD. ·         Asia is the first Maasai girl from the village of Mahove to complete all six years of secondary school, and s...

We're coming to the end of our scholarship fundraising year, and let me be straight with you, it looks like we are about $10,000 short of our goal.  Our goal would continue to fund 150 Tanzania scholarships -- 100 students from Makifu and Tungamalenga Parishes attending secondary schools,  ten more students from other diocese congregations, another 25 orphans from Huruma Center attending both primary and secondary schools, and 15 students attending college, nursing schools, and university with hopes of becoming pastors, teachers, medical professionals, doctors. It's a big goal, keeping all those kids in school, or giving opportunities to new students when some current students graduate.  We're grateful to every one of you who have already contributed to our scholarship fund.  We have fabulous donors -- some who have been faithfully giving to this program since we sponsored our first students in 2002. We also have a great need calling for support.  We...

The Tanzania Scholarship Program at Shepherd of the Valley is one of the biggest pieces of our partnership with the Tanzanian parishes at Makifu and Tungamalenga.  Every year, members of our congregation contribute about $45,000 to support 150 students in secondary schools, vocational training centers, and universities. Across the Saint Paul Area Synod and the Iringa Diocese, the Bega Kwa Bega Scholarship program is also one of the largest pieces of our companionship.  Nearly 70 congregations are involved in providing about 1200 scholarships to students throughout the diocese. In recent years, the Iringa Diocese has seen enormous growth.  Village congregations are growing, parishes are starting new congregations in neighboring villages.  Saint Paul Area Synod has provided scholarships to theology students at the university, and the number of ordained pastors has grown. Over thirty new parishes have been established in the diocese in recent years. ...

December 1st - today! - is our stated deadline for contributions to Shepherd of the Valley's Tanzania Scholarship Fund. Of course we gladly and gratefully accept donations in any amount at any time of the year, but our December deadline is a fairly important way we assess and estimate the number of students we can support throughout the coming year.  So if you haven't given or pledged yet, please take action today! Now, if you want to give to this ministry but can't find a big chunk of money in your checkbook today, here's the way to go:  Simply Giving allows you to set up recurring automated withdrawals from your bank account.  You can set it up to withdraw $15 twice a month or $30 once a month, and over the course of a year, your contributions will support one of our secondary school students. It's easy!  https://vimeo.com/146680673

This month, we are collecting funds to support 150 Tanzanian students who would not be able to continue their education without support.  Here are a few words of thanks from our students. I am a student in form four [10 th grade]. I come from Ikwavila in Makifu Parish. The aim of this letter is giving you thanks for the chance to study biology, mathematics and English. In my family, I am the first one to study at secondary school. Yours faithfully, Baricki. I greet you in the name of Jesus Christ. The aim of writing this letter is to say thanks for your help paying school fees. Now I’m in form three [9 th grade]. I promise you I will study hard and I will get high marks in my exams. I don’t have any way to thank you but God will bless you. Yours faithfully, Hans. I greet you with great pleasure. I am a form four [10 th grade] student. I have three sisters and I am the last child. I lack all parents, I mean I am an orphan. But I’m still fighting for my educ...

Thanks to many contributions to the Tanzania Scholarship Fund this past year, Shepherd of the Valley supported 150 students in secondary, vocational, and university programs! Since 2001, your gifts to SOTV’s Tanzania Scholarship Fund have made a world of difference for hundreds of young men and women who would not have had the opportunity for education. In the United States, we appreciate, and perhaps even take for granted, our system of public education. Our friends in Tanzania experience a different reality in their educational system: ·         Secondary school tuition fees range from $300 to $900, plus boarding fees. ·         The cost of secondary and advanced education often exceeds the family’s annual income.   ·         Fewer than 25% of Tanzanian youth are able to advance beyond sixth grade. How does the scholarship program work? ·   ...

We recently received a packet of letters from our friends at Bega Kwa Bega! There was a cover letter from BKB Director, Rev. Peter Harrits: I've recently returned from Iringa and have carried with me letters from some of the 1200 students that are sponsored through the scholarship program we share with our companions in the Iringa Diocese. Enclosed you'll find letters from some of your sponsored students.   During the month of February I traveled with three volunteers from Saint Paul (Pastor Lynda Thompson - Incarnation, Shoreview; Trish Blomquist - Christ the King, New Brighton; and Carol Langness - Augustana, West Saint Paul) as well as leaders from the Iringa Diocese to visit students at six secondary schools. It was a week of bumpy roads and bright smiles as we met with students whose direction in life is being altered because of the gift of education that you and the members of your companion congregation are sharing with them. This is one of many projects that...

Your gifts to Shepherd of the Valley's Tanzania Scholarship Fund make a world of difference to hundreds of students each year.  Here are a few whose lives have been changed by your generosity. Joachim M. thanks you for your support! Joachim was orphaned early in life and raised by elderly grandparents. He attended high school with an SOTV scholarship, and he was a shining star, overcoming debilitating migraines and graduating at the top of his class. He continued his education with a degree as a physician's assistant, worked several years at the Tosamaganga Hospital, and just recently returned to school to complete his MD. Maria K. thanks you for your support!  Maria was orphaned as a young child and lives with her uncle, an evangelist in our partner congregation.  Like most Tanzanian girls, she did not expect to be able to continue her education beyond the six years of primary school.  Thanks to support from SOTV’s Tanzania Scholarship Fund, she is in h...

Traveler Jenny Buckley shared her photos and observations from our school visits on Facebook awhile back.  Thanks for permission to reprint here. SOTV members visited the Tungamalenga Primary School on a Saturday.  All the standard seven students were camping at the school to continue practicing for the national exam. Posted in the Headmaster's Office at Idodi Secondary School.   I love it! I find the P interesting--do we ask our students to "Pick what is good from peers" or is that something lost in our individualistic culture? The Tanzanian flag flies in the middle of the school courtyard. A typical classroom building. When the students left this classroom, they took their chairs with them. I am assuming they use the chairs in another class, but I never got a definite answer on this. The Science Storage room (I think there are few storage rooms here that look like this). The library. Students come here to ch...

As our group of 25 travelers prepares to visit our Tanzanian partners in the next few weeks, one thing we are especially looking forward to is meeting the students we sponsor. Scott, Rich and Nancy Nonini met  Mwanne K. last year Shepherd of the Valley provides scholarships to over 150 secondary and university students each year.  As we travel around Iringa and to Tungamalenga and Makifu, we are often met by students or former students, or we meet their parents. Kambona K. is one of our recent graduates.  Last summer as we traveled from village to village, he stepped up to translate during our visit to Mpalapande.  We've recently learned he was accepted into a university program in which he will earn a certificate in community development.  Congratulations, Kambona! Two years ago, Sharon Mertz, a retired nurse, was delighted to meet these nursing students working at the Tungamalenga Dispensary.   We've been providing scholars...