Growing Up an Orphan

Alfayo and his fiance Linda

Street  Scene of Iringa where clothing is sold.

Monday afternoon as Lyn and I were about to have tea, a young man came to our door to see Tom and Sandy Hendrickson, our new roommates.  Tom and Sandy were not home so we invited Alfayo, our visitor, to have tea and cashews with us while we waited for Tom and Sandy to return.  I guessed Alfayo might have a fiance, because so many of our conversations with young men have involved the process of getting married.  A huge smile preceded our conversation about Linda whom he intends to marry in September.  The date is not quite set yet, but the exact day must be determined three months before they plan to marry.  The wedding bands are set three weeks before the wedding.  We had already talked with Mfaume about his wedding and the gifts he provided before he and Jeniatha were married.  Alfayo told us that all the gifts have meaning.

Alfayo's list follows:

•  Two cows - symbol of his good intentions, his seriousness, his love for Linda, and his plan to provide animals to plow the field 
•  Two goats - food for the wedding feast
•  Two hand hoes
•  Two blankets - for  Linda to take to her mother's home when she is pregnant and stays with her mother for the last three months of her pregnancy
• 500,000 Tanzanian Shillings - cash payment- about $300

Alfayo and Linda plan to marry at Cathedral Lutheran Church which is the church we attended on our first Sunday here.  Two of Alfayo's friends represented him with a letter to the clan (Linda and Alfayo are both Hehe) requesting permission to marry Linda.  A letter of acceptance came to Huruma Orphanage from Linda's Clan.  Alfayo has no known living relatives and his home for ten years was Huruma Orphanage.

If you asked Alfayo what he does for a living, he will first tell you that he volunteers with the Macedonia Center which is a program set up to rescue children off the streets of Iringa.  Most of the rescued children are boys.  Alfayo earns money by owning an internet cafe in the town where he lives which is a suburb of Iringa.

Alfayo is an orphan.  His father died three months before Alfayo was born.  Alfayo's mother and father first lived in Dar where his father was a political science professor and his mother was an administrative assistant at the University.  Alfayo's father was born in Zambia, but had left Zambia because of political turmoil.  Zambia seemed safe when Alfayo's parents returned to Zambia, but his father was assassinated there.  Alfayo describes his father's death as a political assassination.  Alfayo was seven years old and very close to his mother when she passed away.  Alfayo said he did not "sense love" after his mother died.  Relatives came and took things-lots of things.  Alfayo said a man with a lot of hair on his arms and head offered to take Alfayo back to Iringa to Alfayo's family; this man was a bus driver.  The hairy man (remember Alfayo was 7 years old) stayed with Alfayo in Iringa for about a week.  They tried to find some of Alfyo's relatives but did not find them.  The bus driver had to leave Iringa and left Alfayo with another man.  Alfayo spent six days on the street around the market.

Street near market in Iringa

  He met some Christians and found his way to the Huruma Orphanage and met Mama Chelawa.  Mama asked Alfayo what he wanted.  All Alfayo wanted was to go to school.  At first he went to school with the help of the Huruma Orphanage and after a while he accepted an offer to live at the orphanage.  At 18 years old Alfayo had to find another place to live.   He credits the Orphanage with his growth in faith and the many friendships he made at the Orphanage.

Mama Chelawa at Huruma Orphanage

Entrance to Huruma Orphanage

Alfayo completed Form 5 and 6 after he left the orphanage.  He studied Business Administration at Tumaini University and has a successful internet cafe.  His current business plan calls for dividing his internet cafe into two parts; one part for adult customers and a second area partitioned off from the adults for school children to use for their school studies (with restricted access to the internet). The Macedonia Center finds street children and screens each child or placement. I asked Alfayo about whether there were any girls in this program.  Answer:  girls are placed more easily and so they are not a very big part of the Macedonia Center.

Dorm Room at Huruma

Children at Huruma Orphanage when Augustana, W. St Paul, visited

We were anxious to visit the Huruma Orphanage becasuse we had a letter and present for Jetiana Kimbwene at Huruma Orphanage.  When I asked about Jetiana, Amy on of the staff at Huruma, said that she did not live there any more.  The Orphanage has a rule about having older children at the orphanage and at a certain age the student must leave the orphanage.  At one time the rule was 16 years old and at another time the rule was 18 years old.  Later on in our visit, Amy saw Jetiana about a half block from the orphanage.  Jetiana came to see us and I was able to give Jetiana her letter and gift.  Jetiana is in school and the orphanage is arranging her schooling paid by Shepherd of the Valley and her sponsor is Juanita Brandenberg.  Our friend, Alfayo, knew about Jetiana.  The Orphanage is very supportive of the adult children who were once at the Orphanage.

Jetiana Kimbwene supported by Juanita Brandenberg through SOTV

Carol Langness, Amy, and  Jetiana reading Juanita's letter

Although growing up an orphan is not easy, places like Huruma Orphanage  provides support and enables the young people of Iringa to grow up and lead successful productive lives.  

People Answering a Need

Recently I have noticed a pattern among the places we have visited here in Iringa.  People come to Tanzania, fall in love with the place and want to do something meaningful.

Focolare is an organization that employs women who make beautiful handmade batik items and by doing this help families under difficult circumstances.  Focolore is in a structure similar to a large pole barn.  The building has one large room and smaller rooms with workshops and a showroom.  The showroom was in a room with sale items artistically displayed.  Their inventory was low due to Christmas purchases-a good thing.   Nearby in another building was an after school program for disadvantaged children.  Friends visiting from the Iringa volunteered to play and learn with the students.  Unfortunately the after school program has been suspended due to the poor condition of the classroom building.    

Focolore showroom with craft items for sale.

 In one corner of the larger room an artist was working on making dolls.  Another area was the batik processing area.  

Woman making dolls.

Doll, a work in progress.

Not far away is a cooking school run by an Italian Catholic Sister.  Sister Aldophina is legendary and has been here many years.  She strikes me as a woman of strong principles with a warm heart.  Her cooking school is a two year program that provides an education to disadvantaged girls who need to find a skill that can provide them with a way to support themselves.  Cooking and needlework are taught here.  Ten years ago  we were told that those who did needlework were HIV positive and were not cooking students.  I hope things have changed for these students and they have a brighter future now.   

Needlework in progress

Needlework in detail.

We were at the cooking school on Saturday morning and many students were at a special event at the nearby church.  A few girls were doing needlework and  two others were unloading newly delivered fresh produce.   On weekdays, the girls learn to bake bread, bread sticks and other tasty items on a wood burning stove.  Sister Aldophina had a chest freezer filled with the items for sale made at the school.  Each delicate meat and spinach ravioli was no bigger than an inch square and each was individually spaced on spans of light green cloth.  My purchase was weighed to determine the cost.  She also had samosas, meat pies, pesto, and meat tomato sauce.   We will return the cloth for reuse at a visit in the future.  She also accepts canning jars like the ones holding orange marmalade, my favorite, which is labeled Product of Iringa Young Women.  After our purchases were made two students carried our purchases to the car.

Our purchases were taken to the car by these students.

Next stop is Nyambaali.  Lutho and Buna found a way to provide daycare and therapy for children with cerebral palsy.  Their home is designed to hold a daycare facility.  Their program includes a two day and a three day program.  Lutho and Buna have two Italian children and have adopted a Tanzanian child and have two more Tanzanian children living with them.  Tanzanian families with special needs children experience much stress and daycare provides a needed break for the families and also provides therapy for the students.  The three Tanzanian women working with the children are trained as therapists.  There is a home style atmosphere at the daycare where the three therapists also have their younger children with them.  The daycare also has a visiting European student working with the children. 

Therapists working with children

Lutho in red shirt with visiting friend and Gary Langness

There is another story here.  A number of years ago Huruma Orphanage had a student, Janeth, who had a big  crisis.  She was a student at secondary school in Iringa and had failed her Form Two exam.  The orphanage sought help from the Langness family and funds were found for Janeth to attend the two year  cooking school.  Sister Aldophina made an exception to her class size limit to include Janeth.   Janeth graduated and was placed at Nyambaali as the personal cook for Lutho and Buna's family.  The day care has its own separate cook.  Janeth works in her own kitchen which is separate from the other buildings.

Janeth's Kitchen

Gary's greeting is special because since their last visit Janeth has had a child.

Gary and Carol Langness and Janeth with her baby.

Beautiful healthy baby girl.  

Here are just a few examples of how one person can make a difference.  

Lyn's Letter to Friends

The following is a letter Lyn wrote for family.  It's revised slightly for our blog.

We don’t have much on the schedule today, so I thought I would get a short message off to you.

    

We arrived in Dar es Salaam at about 11pm on Jan 10 with a large contingent of medical folks, as well as two couples coming to Iringa to oversee the operation of Day of Grace from Jan 13 thru 18.  We were supposed to have two buses meet us at the airport to get us to our hotel for the night, but only one showed up.  We had to load all of our luggage on the rack system on top of the bus and cover it with a tarp.  Luckily, it was not raining, as the tarp would have been unlikely to keep the luggage very dry.  The next morning both buses were there and we all started the long (9-hours or so) bus trip west toward Iringa.  The medical team’s journey was a bit shorter as they were staying and working primarily in Ilula (which is about 38 km east of Iringa) at the Ilula Lutheran Hospital.  This is the hospital that has been upgraded from a health center to a regional hospital through the efforts of the workgroup that we have been a part of since 2002. The landscape is beautiful, particularly during the rainy season when everything has greened up.  Several parts of the trip are through river gorges that are rather spectacular – see attached photo taken by Jim Wolf. 

 We arrived in Iringa just before dark and are staying in a nice apartment with fairly reliable electrical power and hot water.

In addition to working at the hospital in Ilula, the medical team came into Iringa on the three days on which they provided medical assessments for pastors and their spouses as part of Day of Grace.  My job was to take pictures of all the pastors and their spouses, as well as pictures and videos of other aspects of Day of Grace.

On Jan 19, Mollie and I and most of the medical folks headed out to visit our companion congregation at Tungamalenga on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning and then went on to Ruaha National Park for a couple of days.  Although Tungamalenga is not much more than 100km from Iringa, the bus trip takes well over three hours due to the poor condition of the road, which is dirt for most of the way.  We visited several preaching points, including Mahove, which is a Maasai village.  It’s the place that I've talked about concerning possible construction of a water line from the adjacent hills.  The line has been completed and is working nicely.  Attached picture shows two Maasai girls at the spigots, with the new chapel in the background.  Some of the Maasai men can be seen in next picture.

 

Our time in Ruaha was great in spite of some rain.  In addition to seeing lions, we finally were successful in seeing a leopard.  

On our previous two trips, we had failed to find a leopard despite spending quite a few hours looking for them.  Upon our return to Iringa, we’ve been out to Tumaini University a couple of times to take pictures of various student groups.  We’ve also visited the Ilula Hospital, the Huruma Orphanage, and the Image Secondary School (our church provides scholarships for a few of the students there).  On Jan 27, we attended a service for the ordination of seven new pastors.  The service lasted over five hours, which is typical for Tanzania.   

More later,  Lyn   

Day of Grace

Day of Grace was a  one and one-half day retreat for Pastors and their wives which was dedicated to the memory of Dr. Benjamin Ngede.  Last year the pastors were invited to a similar retreat.  This year's retreat provided medical assessments for the pastor's spouses and for pastors who did not have a medical assessment last year.  The first evening was registration, fellowship, a welcome, announcements, evening music, and early dinner.

 The following morning, there was diabetes testing, followed by breakfast.  The featured speaker for the morning session was Professor Muta on "Marriage Relationship."  The stress on pastors and their wives is a big concern and it is hoped that this retreat will enable the family to understand and deal with the everyday crises for the pastor and his family.

 At lunch time, the medical staff from Ilula arrived to do checks of blood pressure, heart rate, weight, height, visual screening, personal medical history and physical examinations.  At check out each person was given a follow up with special directives for serious medical conditions.  Some serious issues were addressed, but due to confidentiality, I am not giving details.  At least one person was referred to the hospital for urgent attention.

Pastor's seminars included  Entrepreneurship, a presentation by Barclay's Bank, and a Bible Study centered on the family.  The spouses had seminars on Water Hygiene, Self-Breast Exams, and a presentation by Pamela Gavile whose husband Dean Blastone Gavile is part of the Leadership Team for the 2013 Day of Grace.  

Lyn and I helped take pictures of all the pastors and their spouses.  Lyn continued to take pictures and I helped with measuring weight and height and also folded gauze for the diabetes check.

The second day ended with a light meal, prayer, and sending.
Here are a few highlights:

Rev. Lusungu Msigwa and Rev Tom Hansen Opening Worship

Dr. Saga and Dr. Hurley giving presentation regarding diabetes test.

                                      Dr. Ann and Interpretor Irene

Dr. Rik - Check out and follow up

Rev. Paulo Masinga and family from Tungamalenga with Mollie

 Rev. Naftal and Anjelina Ng'amilo from Tungamalenga

 Rev. Barnabas and Elice Kahwage form Tungamalenga

The Iringa pastors came to one of three sessions.  The first session was for pastors very near to Iringa Town.  The Tuesday - Wednesday session was for pastors farther away and the Thursday - Friday session was for those farthest away.  Our village pastors came on Thursday except for Paulo Masinga and family who came on Wednesday and Thursday.  

Buffet Line for Day of Grace

Special times I will remember fondly.  Opening Worship on the second day with Rev Tom Hansen giving a message based on the Prodigal Daughter with a skit including the blonde prodigal daughter (Rev Msigwa) trying to make friends with  a pig (Rev Tom Hansen)-a powerful message about forgiveness.  I was amazed at the catering service provided by Emery Kiwanga.  Food was prepared almost a block away and brought up hill, down steps and then up steps for the buffet line.

There were many happy reunions of pastors and their wives.  The group gained new knowledge of how to deal with the stress of being a pastor and pastor's wife.  The health screenings provided valuable advice and provided follow up where needed.  Six days of caring by pastoral, medical, and lay people gave the message that we thank the pastors and their wives their ministry.

Ordination

On Sunday the 27th of January we attended an ordination in the beautiful country side of Image Lutheran Church. We left Iringa at 8:00 am for the 75 minute ride to Image.  We were treated to  breakfast served in the pastor's home and cooked by the church ladies.

 Church ladies preparing food, breakfast and dinner.

  Imagine hundreds of people arriving for the ordination.  There were at least three church choirs, many clergy, and friends and family of the seven candidates being ordained and many children.  We arrived at 9:15 and the official procession in to the church began at 11 am.  The choirs processed first with the  accompaniment of singing and drums; the clergy and others followed.

After the first few candidate said their vows the band played a verse of "Day by Day Your Mercies Lord Attend Me."  By 1:35 all the vows had been said and each of the new pastor was presented individually with his/her family members coming forward with garlands of flowers and hugs.  Such a happy occasion!  At 1:35, some children were invited forward to sit in front of the church to hear the sermon given by the Bishop.  At 2:40 there was communion and by 4:00 the recessional started. Dinner was served for the hundreds attending, each group was told where to go, some to the pastor's home, some to a covered area beside the church, and some to another building close by.  It was done very efficiently.

Notice the lovely countryside and view of the covered addition to the church which covered some as an occasional shower passed by.  

Blessing of the clergy, done for each of the candidates separately.  Note Lyn is taking pictures from right rear.

Seven new pastors serving the people of the Iringa Diocese and celebrating their special day.  

We were so happy to have been a part of this special day.  

Tumaini University

We visited Tumaini University with the Augustana Lutheran Church from West Saint Paul.  This is Study Week and students are working hard to prepare for their examinations next week  (see picture above).  Lyn took pictures of first year Theology students and I was the photographer's assistant explaining that we would take a picture of their name tag and then a picture of their face.  Mostly I was trying to get them to smile which is not a natural pose for them.  Usually they will be very serious and then burst into a beautiful smile when the photograph is completed.

 While we were waiting outside the dean's office, Robert Muta,  Professor of Psychology, came to speak with us.  He recognized us from when we were at Day of Grace together and he was a guest speaker.  Day of Grace was a gathering of pastors and the wives for a two day retreat.  I will write more on Day of Grace in future blogs.   We spoke about our time here and he volunteered that he was a Baptist, giving unbiased credibility to his comments.  He said that he had come to Iringa in the late 1980s.  Iringa had been a hub of industry supporting a growing agricultural community, but the industry had gone and Iringa was economically depressed.  The growth of Tumaini since the early 1990s improved the economy.  Not only with increased number of students, but improving the living conditions for those in Iringa.  People with extra rooms provide room and board for those students who could not be housed on campus. The streets are busy with shops selling food, cell phone and computer access along with the usual college town attractions.  I haven't even mentioned all the buildings that have been built since our visit here ten years ago. The University has grown from an enrollment of 500 to 4,000,  77% men and 23% women.  There are 125 full time faculty members and 25 part time faculty members.  Enrollment was grown considerably by the introduction of government student loans.  Tuition varies by area of study and ranges from $2,500 to $3,000 per year.  The degree holder has a much brighter future.  There is definitely a collegiate atmosphere where I can  feel that these students are leaning toward serving others and improving the world around them.

                                  Outside the Administration building looking toward "Old Main"

     Outside the Dean's Office where we met Prof. Muta and took pictures of Theology Students.

John and Mfaume

We arrived in Iringa Friday night and on Saturday morning John Mhekwa and Mfaume Kisakanike came to the Bega kwa Bega office.  We were so happy to see them and they were happy to see us.  We sat for a while sharing information about our families.  We were anxious to get the phones that Dornfeld's had given us activated and we also wanted to get a modem for our computer so we could get and receive emails and send messages like this blog.  John and Mfaume worked wonders at getting the phones activated and our modem before the stores closed in early afternoon.  Then we went shopping for food to eat including a delicious hand of bananas and two pineapples.  Later we went to Neema's for lunch, pictured above.  Neema's is known for providing excellent quality of food and gifts made by those with disadvantages.  We first met John at Pommerin Secondary School in 2002.  John was a sponsored by Shepherd of the Valley through college with a degree in Religion.  He is an ordained pastor and is now studying for an advanced degree in something I would equate to an MBA.  Lyn and I have met John's parents and saw his father this past week at Mahuninga.  Mfaume was also a student sponsored by Shepherd of the Valley and is doing Community Development work in Mbeya which is a long bus ride from here.  Mfaume was raised by his grandmother who is now 90 years old, and Mfaume is concerned about her health.  Mfaume went through Form 2 and then ran out of money for tuition.  SOTV was able to support him through college and now he is supporting his brothers and sisters in school.  Both John and Mfaume will be visiting our church in Minnesota in the fall.