2010 Mission Trip Newsletter

“We can meet the God who chooses to be close to the poor only when we choose to stand close to the poor, unshielded from their wounds and their heartbreak.”
Sr. Marilyn Lacey, RSM (The Flowing Toward Me)

As we journeyed on our 4th annual mission trip to Tanzania, we were reminded once again of our lot in life and in so doing, we were humbled in the presence of our friends.

We were 4 travelers, three members of T.H.E. Mission, Pam, Sarah and myself, Jehane, plus Jake who was a Godsend.   Jake was at a stage in his life where there was something missing.  He was in search of something meaningful, something that would redirect his life… which brings to mind this saying from St. Augustine: “Our hearts are restless o Lord until they rest in You.” We hope this journey fulfilled his needs.  We know Jake was very instrumental to the success of this trip, as he made an impact on all the lives he crossed.  Unfortunately, Sherry was unable to join us on this trip as she needed to attend to family matters.

We were greeted by Frs. Henry and Laurent at the airport, as we required two vehicles to carry all our belongings, a total of 8- 50lbs suitcases each, filled to the brim with medical and school supplies, plus our carry-on and personal items.  Fr. Beatus was taking care of his family, as his mother had passed away a few days prior to our arrival.  May she rest in peace.

“It makes no difference where we are, provided we rest in the arms of Providence and in God’s holy grace.”
Sr. Isaac Jogues

We began our journey at Sabuko, our home far away from home.  It is there that we immersed ourselves in the community through the help of the Holy Spirit Fathers.  It is with their unyielding and unfailing devotion to help us succeed that we are able to minister to the poor and needy of Tanzania.  With their assistance as well as with the help of Srs. Philothea and Veneranda, we were able to make new connections by visiting schools and hospitals in the area.

During our first few days, we were able to shop with the nuns at the government pharmacy store and purchase the much needed medication, equipment and beds to care for the sick.  It was a very productive day, however Fr. Calistus disagreed.  He promised that next year things would be different and if I may quote him as he so eloquently stated that “he refuses to be the victim of this reality” (having to spend all day at the pharmacy store, waiting for the orders to be filled)!!!  Kudos for Sr. Philothea who completed her shopping within one hour’s time of her arrival.

Moving on to Kiraeni Girls School- we were able to reconnect with all the nuns at the school as well as at the dispensary.  We reconnected with Fr. Laswai, who is finishing his term as Pastor at St. Francis Xavier Parish.  We were able to interview all the students we were considering sponsoring, visit their schools, take their pictures and look at their grades… and we even interviewed new students.  We are proud to say that this year we are sponsoring 25 students.  We are waiting for exam results to see if we will be taking on a 26th student.  If he passes his Form IV exams, we will be happy to sponsor him through Forms V and VI.  Jake and his family are sponsoring two other students.  We are truly blessed and cannot be thankful enough for such generosity.

One part of our journey that was really meaningful and touched us to the core of our being was having to interview each student, to put a face to that piece of paper that holds the request.  To actually be the instrumental person to decide on that student’s fate, whether they would be eligible for scholarship or not.  It was heart wrenching and emotional to go through that process of elimination as the needs are endless, and yet our resources are limited.  On our last day, a scholarship was granted to a 15yr old girl, Joyce, who couldn’t continue her regular schooling as she hadn’t passed her 7th grade exam but yet her wishes were to go to school instead of staying idle at home.  Her only choice according to our resources was to send her to a vocational training school where she could learn a trade and from there be able to make a living for herself.  Our hearts were broken as this girl approached us personally to make her request.  She bravely came directly to us, without going through other channels, it was clear she was desperate.  I am glad to say that we were able to meet with Joyce and her mother, and together came to the conclusion that a trade school would be the way to go in order to secure a future for this young girl who wanted only to do something with her life instead of wasting away her time.  Unfortunately it is the harsh reality of life in Africa.  Very few are selected to move on.  We hope we were able to make a difference in Joyce’s life!

On this trip we, were able to visit Huruma, Kilema and St. Joseph Hospitals.  They were all very interesting; some even welcome foreign volunteers and students to spend time at their facilities.  We met with Ashley from AfricAid.  I invite you to visit her website:  africaid.com.  She is a very promising and dedicated young woman who is making Tanzania her new home to help the poor and needy by educating them through a particular curriculum, “Educate!”  We visited Charlotte Health Center, which is run by the Holy Spirit Nuns.  It is there that we gifted the children with the knitted hats from Julie Salas and her friends, as well as rosaries and bookmarks.  The Holy Spirit Nuns are truly very inspiring and full of life.  We were very happy to have made their acquaintance and look forward to working with them next year.

We made it our goal this year to not only meet all students, but to branch out and to expand our medical work, hence the fact of visiting the hospitals in the area as well as visiting the health center.  Our hope is to do some hands on work at Charlotte Center since it is so close to our home base at “Sabuko”.  Time will tell; it is in God’s hands.

We attended Mass at Ngarenairobi, donated some rosaries (made by Mt. Carmel Rosary Group), and bookmarks (made by Kathy Maxson and her friends).  We visited and had lunch with Fr. Urbanus, who we are sorry to say will be reassigned to a new parish.  The following Sunday we attended Mass at Lekrumuni (Maasai village) with Fr. Calistus.  We visited with the community, gifted them with rosaries and they, in return, performed traditional Maasai songs and dances.

Our visit to Tanzania would not be complete if we didn’t catch up with our friend Eli.  It was Eli who introduced us to Mr. Mbise who runs Niruvande School for Orphans 3 years ago.  We had a chance to visit the school again this year, with Sr. Alina in tow because she happened to catch a ride with us.  She was taken by surprise and was unaware of the existence of this school.  Sr. Alina was very instrumental in going over the items we gifted the school and had the kids participate in a quick lesson of spelling and adding.  The lesson and demonstration were made possible with the help of chalkboards that were hand made by our one and only Pam who is so gifted and talented in teaching.

Once again, to see the limited resources that Niruvande School has, we couldn’t help noticing how happy the kids were when gifted with soccer balls and school supplies, things that we take for granted, yet it’s like a treasure for these kids.

Much was accomplished on this trip.  It is thanks to your generosity that we were able to be so giving in our charitable work to help our brothers and sisters in Tanzania.  In brief, this is a summary of our expenses- your donated money hard at work in Tanzania.  We hope you will be proud of the work we are doing in your name for the sake of the poor.

• –   Money allocated to 3 dispensaries to buy medication, equipment and supplies that included 12 hospital beds with mattresses, sheets and blankets for a total of $15,000.00 ($5,000.00 per dispensary)
• –   Basic food staples (maize, rice & beans) for 3 faith community groups of Lekrumuni, Ngarenairobi & Kiraeni for a total of $4,500.00 ($1,500.00 ea)
• –   Computer for Vocational Training Center at $262.00
• –   2 Sewing Machines for VTC- one donated by Linda Calvo Garnsey;  Total of $180.00
• –   Niruvande School- staple food for a total of $93.75
• –   Niruvande School- Soccer balls for a total of $88.42
• –   25 Students Scholarships for a total of $13,592.00
  + In addition to the above students, 2 more students are sponsored by Jacob and his family, totaling $567.00
• ***Grand Total of $34,283 was spent on our 2010 mission trip***

We are truly blessed.  We thank you once again for your continued support in our ministry work to help the poor of Tanzania.  We could not have done it without your assistance.

“Grace continues to be the call of Jesus, inviting us to leave everything and to follow Him.”
Fr. John Balleza

May we continue to be instruments of His divine work and to follow His call.