TNSP Celebrates Ten Years!

“Even if every flower in the world had a voice I could not send as many as it would take to say thanks enough! So, Thank You.”— Yasinta, Fall 2018 graduate

Dear Friends,

We hope you are all enjoying your summer. Our students and their families send their best wishes and express their appreciation to you, their sponsors!

Currently, the Tanzania Nursing Scholarship Program (TNSP) sponsors 27 students at four schools. By the end of 2018, 137 young women will have graduated with your assistance.

In recognition of TNSP’s ten-year anniversary, a celebration party was held at the home of Tony and Linda van Werkhooven in Blandford, Massachusetts. Approximately 75 guests attended and enjoyed an abundance of food, conversation and entertainment! In addition to appetizers, a buffet and a selection of desserts, a “Taste of Tanzania” also showcased five traditional Tanzanian recipes. Everyone seemed to enjoy trying the different dishes.

Throughout the night, there was a lot of mingling, making new friends and re-connecting with old friends. The weather even smiled on us so people could sit outside on the porch!

In addition to eating, drinking and mingling, we held a silent auction with some pretty exciting bidding wars. Thank you to everyone who participated! Below is a photo of some of the items that were raffled:

Following the dinner, we drew for three door prizes. Caroline of Great Barrington won a lovely woven shawl, a carved ebony salad bowl went to Jesi of Monterey, and Tom of Blandford won a bottle of Amarula. Tom had an especially large grin on his face! These items were brought back from Tanzania (except the bottle of Amarula) on our last trip.

Cherie, a Board Member and very talented potter, wanted to be sure everyone went home with a small gift. She created hanging pottery animals: a giraffe, lion, elephant, and zebra. Below is a picture.

Our 10th anniversary party was also a time to unveil our official logo. It took some time to find an artist who captured the essence of our program, but Laurie Ingersoll has done just that! We are extremely grateful to Laurie for her time, work and vision. Below is our new logo:

In conclusion, we would like to share some very exciting news about Tegemea Mwalingo, a TNSP-sponsored student who graduated in 2011. Tegemea has been accepted into the Ph.D program in Nursing at the University of Massachusetts. She will be arriving in August and will start her studies in September of this year. Tegemea completed her BSN program in 2017 at St. John’s University in Dodoma, where she scored at the top of her class. She currently works at the Dodoma Regional Hospital in charge of the maternity ward. On completing her Ph.D studies, she will become one of a very small group of nurses in Tanzania who have received a Ph.D. A prior newsletter featured a short essay written by Tegemea and explains how the sponsorship assisted her in her studies.

We want to thank everyone who, over the years, has helped to make this sponsorship program a success. You have affected not only the lives of the students you have helped sponsor, but also their families, neighbors and communities. You have also given hope to other young women. We could not have done this without your help.

Please contact us with any questions or comments you may have.

We wish you well for the summer!

Sincerely,

Linda van Werkhooven RN, President