Working Together for Kwalukonge, Tanzania
Una Barry writes ...
Many of us will not have forgotten the joy we experienced in welcoming the two Rosminian Fathers, Polycarp Shayo and Stan Malisa, from Tanzania to Britain in 2004. They travelled the length and breadth of England and Wales in the coldest three months of the year, basing themselves at St Etheldreda's, Ely Place, London and raising £64,000 for their project in Kwalukonge in the Tanga Diocese. I have visited Kwalukonge twice since then, so I have updated this page to give you some news. It is important to me that you know how things are coming along.
See pictures of Kwalukonge
The Rosminians are formally known as the Institute of Charity, and they certainly live up to their name. They are incorrigible with their hospitality and I was spoiled rotten, both in Lushoto, high up in the Usambara Mountains and also at their main house in Mwambani, outside Tanga, on the Indian Ocean.
You will remember reading that the Rosminians were given 500 acres of land by the Tanzanian government and the challenge to develop the site in every sense of the word to meet the desperate needs of the local people with no water, electricity, educational opportunities or medical facilities; 16,000 people, half of whom are children, living 17 miles in-land from Mombo on a very rough road, which nearly shook me to death, and which is cut off completely during the rainy season. There are two hospitals in the region, one 50 miles away in Kirogwe and the nearest 30 miles away in Lushoto which entails the long, steep ride up the Usambara mountains. The difficulties are just overwhelming for the sick, expectant mothers, the dying or simply for dealing with the numerous types of accidents that occur in such a country, all unimaginable for those of us who live and complain like mad in London about the NHS. The Rosminians tirelessly negotiated in the background by way of planning, analysis and surveying the land before any building could possibly start. Fundamental of course to the whole project was the seeking out of a reliable source of safe water. And just like here, there are planning regulations which have to be met; in Tanzania, it is the laws pertaining to Rural Health Centres and then the whole business of getting the plans approved for registering the building as a Health Centre; it is just endless. Mercifully all this was approved and established after numerous exchanges of letters between the Rosminians and the Regional Revenue Office in Tanga, who like most government offices in Africa "don't do email", and an exemption from tax on all those materials, which was a huge saving on outgoing costs.
Rosminian Brother Vincent Mwinami and Abdullah, the Farm Manager, live in the very newly built staff house on site, and great progress has been made in two years with the actual building of the health centre finished. Sixty beds donated from Swansea Hospital have arrived in Tanzania and stored at the Rosminians' main house in Mwambani, Tanga. The medical needs, staff and equipment have yet to be met for the normal running of any health centre, which will be another struggle. Rooms for consulting, blood testing, malaria testing, dressing, maternity, recovery and injection rooms and a pharmacy have been built. A microscope is desperately needed for testing malaria and eventually a suitable ambulance will have to be sought, so there is still a long way to go.
Apart from the health centre itself, the Rosminians have cleared and ploughed 200 acres of the overgrown land in Kwalukonge for corn, beans, vegetables and nuts to provide the much needed food for the local people who up to now have had very little and no means of growing with their lack of water. A store for the harvest has been built and there is a forestry plan for the future, which will protect the area again adverse weather and flooding in the rainy season.
At the end of January, Frs Emilion and Polycarp will be arriving at Heathrow, and plans are now in place for them, with the agreement of English Provincial Fr Ted Mullen and Fr Kit Cunningham, to appeal on behalf of Kwalukonge. Kwalukonge is development at its best, but in the end it is not just about money, bricks and mortar but the love of God manifested through the selfless and tireless work of the Rosminians in Tanzania which has brought this project so far in a relatively short space of time.
You can support us by coming to the Concert and party in the crypt at St Etheldreda's on Sunday 18 February. Any help you can offer in any way makes a substantial and long-term difference to the quality of people's lives in Tanzania - this is not a quick-fix project. If you would like to contribute further financially or in kind, then please get in touch with either Fr Kit Cunningham at Ely Place (020 7405 1061) or any Rosminian parish in the country. Or you can contact me direct for any further details. We can supply Gift Aid envelopes to turn each £1 given into £1.28 with no extra cost to you. Any of us would be delighted to hear from you.
Una Barry
27 December 2006
