The Carpenter’s Kids Programme was established two years ago to address a problem faced by many of the children of this Diocese. Since 2002 Tanzanian children have been entitled to a free primary education, from Reception (Kindergarten) up to Grade 7, known here as Standard 7. Prior to that time, fees had to be paid to attend and as a result only about 50% of children actually went to school. While there are now no fees for primary school, to attend, a child must be in possession of a school uniform, black shoes and school supplies. So, if a child cannot [View Full Entry]

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This month I thought I would give you more of a look at the city of Dodoma where we live. Actually, there are three Dodomas - Dodoma Region, the Rural District of Dodoma and the city of Dodoma. Dodoma Region is much like a province of the country. It is roughly 200 km east-west, 300 km north/south, has a population of 1.7 million and sits geographically in the centre of Tanzania. The principal population centre in the region and the third largest city in the country is the city of Dodoma with a population of 325000. The Rural District of Dodoma [View Full Entry]

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The Buigiri School for the Blind is one of five schools operated by the Diocese of Central Tanganyika. It was founded in 1950 by an officer in the Church Army and is situated in the village of Buigiri, roughly 20 km east of Dodoma. It was the first school of its kind in the country, which at the time was the British protectorate of Tanganyika. The choir from Buigiri School attended our church one Sunday and then a month later, Gerry and I visited the school. Buigiri is a residential primary school with a current enrollment of 96 students, offering grades [View Full Entry]

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January blog On December 28 Gerry and I joined eight other people from Dodoma and flew to Nairobi, Kenya, to attend the Brackenhurst Conference. This conference is held each year for four days in late December/early January at the Brackenhurst International Conference Centre near Limuru, a town roughly 45 minutes by car north of Nairobi. This is an interdenominational conference the purpose of which is to provide an opportunity for people engaged in Christian mission work of all kinds in east Africa to gather for rest, recreation, fellowship and study. The setting of the conference is very beautiful indeed. While only [View Full Entry]

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Our Christmas Season this year has been a mix of the familiar and the unfamiliar. The weather has certainly been different from what we normally associate with this season. Christmas Eve here was a sunny hot day in the mid-30s. It is the rainy season; however, and on the night of Christmas Eve we had a heavy rain that cooled things off nicely for Christmas morning. Since the rainy season began in mid-November we have had a number of heavy rains and whole areas that were parched and brown when we arrived are now a spring green with fresh grass and [View Full Entry]

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For this blog entry we thought we would focus on our school, but first, a little background. Geographically, the Anglican Diocese of Central Tanganyika covers the Dodoma Region, which includes both urban and rural parts. The region has a population of over 1.2 million people of which 500,000 are Anglicans. As both rural and urban districts of Dodoma are some of the least developed in the country and government secondary schools are very few in this area, the Diocese is heavily engaged in education, from kindergarten through to primary (up to Grade 7 equivalent) and secondary. The Diocese operates several schools [View Full Entry]

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Gerry and I thought in this blog entry, we would feature our home here in Dodoma. We are living very comfortably in a one-bedroom unit with kitchen, a sitting room and a small study. Our unit is one of six in a compound owned by the Diocese of Central Tanganyika, our employer. Our neighbours in the compound are other diocesan employees, mostly other teachers at CAMS. The people living here come from New Zealand, Australia and England. The compound has a 24-hour guard to keep an eye on things. We often have people wanting to sell us crafts and the like [View Full Entry]

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So….. this feels like it has been a long time coming. After a lengthy, but enjoyable summer in the UK, we finally made it to Tanzania. About two hours before we jumped in a cab to go from Karen’s flat in London to Heathrow Airport, we received via email, copies of our Tanzanian residency permits - talk about the last minute! The flight on August 30, was an overnight direct flight from London to Dar es Salaam so we arrived in Dar at 7 am, only a little worse for wear. We were met by Alistair Hookings who is the husband [View Full Entry]

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We traveled from Victoria to London on the way to Tanzania anticipating a week or two in England to visit relatives and see the sights before moving on to Tanzania. Bureaucracy being what it is, our teaching certificates and residency permits necessary to enter Tanzania and work there were not approved in time for us to arrive in Dodoma in mid-July as originally planned. As a result, our departure from Britain was delayed until August 30, at which time we will fly to Dar es Salaam and then drive roughly 500 kms west to Dodoma. Given the length or our stay [View Full Entry]

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