Notes From Tanzania 2018 (part 1)

Dear Friends,

I have now been in Tanzania several weeks. So far, this trip has been filled with a lot of very tiring long-distance travel. I arrived in Moshi January 15th at my favorite place to stay— Tembo Tamu. After getting settled, I changed money and got a local phone number.

Next, I had a few local responsibilities to pursue. I visited a young man, Erik, who is sponsored by an acquaintance in the USA. This young man came from a troubled and dysfunctional home. He has been sponsored in a private boarding school since grade two. He has thrived in this environment and is consistently at the top of his class. He is currently in Form Three of Ordinary Level of secondary education. To provide background, Tanzanian education consists of primary education (seven years) and secondary education (Ordinary or O-level for four years and Advanced or A-level for two years). I fully expect that Erik will be eligible for university education on completion of secondary level education.

After seeing Erik, I made a visit to Mawenzi Secondary School, a government school, to discuss the progress of a young lady, Jeska. She is one of four orphaned sisters supported by Sisters for Peace and whose oldest sibling, Irene, is supported by our sponsorship program.

Next, I made a day trip to Karatu, west of Arusha. This is a common entry point to a number of the national parks in northern Tanzania. This is also where the FAME Clinic is located. I travelled with two young women associated with TNSP—Sarafina and Tika. Sarafina is currently a third year student at KCMC School of Nursing and Tika graduated from Tukuyu School of Nursing in 2016. Both of these young ladies are Maasai and speak the tribal language and FAME receives many Maasai patients. Sarafina and Tika were interested in applying for a job at the clinic. While there, we met with Paschalina, who was sponsored by TNSP and currently works at FAME. We also met with Susan Gustafson, one of the clinic’s founders, to discuss job opportunities. (If you have a few minutes, the story behind FAME is very interesting.)

Following our day trip to Karatu, Tika and I travelled to Kasulu, which you can on the map on the map in western Tanzania, close to Lake Tanganyika and the Burundi border. The story of our visit to Kasulu will be featured in our next newsletter.

Our sponsored students (past and present) thank you for your support!

Tony