Blogs from Centre, Tanzania, Africa - page 5

On Wednesday 21stMarch we were picked up at Msalato along with Alex, Pam & Matika, by World Vision and driven to the Farkwa Province to meet a child Matika had been sponsoring, Yudith. We travelled from Dodoma to Farkwa along a bumpy dirt road to the World Vision HQ office where we were met by the team, provided with some great food and drinks before heading to Yudith’s school. At Yudith’s school we were greeted by children coming out of the class rooms, they were so excited to see visitors and the children just wanted to hold your hand and smile and laugh at the Wazungu (white people). We were introduced to Yudith and the headmaster and then taken to her class room. Alex who speaks good Swahili took over the class for a while teaching ... read more

After a long day with World Vision we had an early start, 7.30am, heading to Manyoni in the Rift Valley. The day had been organised by Ernest. We set off once again in Jo’s Land Cruiser, Alex driving, Ernest as navigator, Pam, Lynne & Ester in the back seat and the “kids” Evelyn, Jess and Matika in the back on bench seats, with the spare tyre. The drive from Dodoma to Manyoni is about 125klm and takes approx 90 minutes on good roads so the trip was ok. When we arrived at Manyoni Ernest directed us to the Cathedral, a large impressive stone building built with the help of money from Germany & Liverpool in the UK. We were met at the Cathedral by the church ‘Warden’s & Vestry’ (our apologies for not remembering names but ... read more

On Saturday 24thMarch Alex borrowed Jo’s Land Cruiser and along with Pam & Matika we headed off to pick up John and Vera, friends of Alex & Pams. It’s about an hour and half drive through Dodoma on a road that took us through the hills to the south east. Recent rain had provided the road with the usual corrugations and pot holes which made it a bit uncomfortable for those in the back. We drove toward Mvumi Mission where the hospital is, the hospital where Matika was born. We were also on our way to visit Dora Ntandu who had been Alex’s secretary many years ago and now lives with her family and works as secretary to the Clinical Officers Training school, at Mvumi hospital. Eventually we arrived at Dora’s home and we were welcome ... read more

Another volunteer, Helen and I set up a great “explore the forest” lesson with students from one of the villages in Pawaga region who can’t afford to go to school. I came up with the idea because Helen and I went to a section of the forested area on our own that had not been totally cleared (it’s disappearing fast) to find some tree seeds for the nursery that may be set up here. Our trip, and us discovering this forest, inspired me to take these students/peers (they are between 18-20) out to this forest to have an active environmental education lesson on forest ecology. We wanted to teach and demonstrate the importance of forests and the problems that result from deforestation (locally and globally). This particular forest was really good to demonstrate with because it ... read more

New Blog Feature Student Stories We will try to highlight a student with his or her story in each new blog entry. In this July blog we are featuring Peter Fumbi. We have spoken of Peter in past blogs, but this is his story in his words. We hope you enjoy this new feature. KING’S FRIEND GROUP My name is Peter Fumbi a theologian student at Msalato Theology College and the leader of the King’s Friend Group which helps street children to move from out of the street. As a student and other students have experienced a lot of things from our teachers, Rob and Jeannie have shared with us a lot of things at the college and to the villages where they meet with different people and share the gospel, but the interest thing is ... read more