THE ANGLICAN DIOCESE OF TANGA

Transcription

1 THE ANGLICAN DIOCESE OF TANGA P.O Box 35 Korogwe, Tanzania Tel: , TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. News from the Diocesan Bishop s Desk 2. American Visitors 3. Hereford Academy and Holy Cross High School Link 4. Japanese students visit 5. Diocesan Soccial Services Department 6. Diocesan Mothers Union 7. Tanzania Anglican Youth Organization 8. Providence NEWS FROM BISHOP S DESK This news letter comes to you all with many good memories of successes as we continue to fulfill our mission One of these successes is my completion of my PhD as the picture on the left (below) shows. I am therefore delighted to report that the studies which took most of my time came to an end on April 23 rd when I received my PhD at a graduation held at the show grounds of Pietermartzburg city in South Africa. Present at the graduation to cheer me up were Frida, the kids and a group of Tanzanians studying at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. I thank God that through your prayers, toleration and supports this dream of my heart has come true. I am back now to my diocese to

2 try to give the ministry which people of God missed during the period of the study. It is my prayers to the Lord that He will guide me into the way of wisdom, humbleness and truth and, at the end of all, grant me eternal life. Notice Board 1. Appointments: Rev. Can. Emilius Kaminyoge, from the Diocese of Southern Highlands is now the new priest in charge of St. Marys Kigongoi replacing Rev. Fr. Vitalis Mbago who has been transferred to Holy Name Mandela Kiva Parish in Handeni Deanery. Rev. Fr. David Mnkande who was the in charge of Holy Name has been transferred to John Chrystotom Kwamndolwa Parish. Rev. Fr. Andrew Laizer from the Diocese of Mount Kilimanjaro was appointed the new chaplain at Hegongo but things did not go well and therefore had to be removed temporary. 2. Temporary Removal from Parish work: Two of our priests have been removed from their parishes due to ill-health and are taking short rests at Magila Pilgrimage and Retreat Center. These are Rev. Fr. Ernest Sedawa from Ndungu and Rev. Fr. Stephen Kiangio from Cathedral church of St. Michaels. This removal creates a vacuum which may takes few years to fulfill. 3. New Outstation: With the fulfillment of our mission 2025 we have witnessed a tremendous expansion of our church within short period of time. We now have new outstations. These are Kwefingo of St. Frank WestonBungu, Masaika of St. Peters Mkuzi, Mkinga town, Mswaki of Sangeni parish, Mwambani, Manga which is in the boarder of the Diocese of Tanga and that of Dar es Salaam. The is also a call from St. Mary s Magdalene Kigongoi parish which have eleven outstation spreading across the Usambara hills to Kitivo and Mnazi to divide it into three. Although the parishioners are ready to carry all responsibilities which go with a new parish and this will easy ministering to the people, shortage of ordained ministers remains a challenge. It is our hope that with the training of more ordinands we will divide not only Kigongoi but also All Saints Amani, Christ Church Kuze and St. Augustine Parish Mhindulo. Many thanks to the Diocese of Hereford and Tenbury Deanery for sponsoring some ordinands. 4. Solar Panel and Supply of Water: The Diocese of Massachusetts has been supporting Kizara Health Center. Kizara village is one of those isolated villages which is on the top of Usambara Mountains. The village Health Center now has water and electricity. Many thanks to Friends of Tanzania in the Diocese of Massachusetts. 5. Return of CMM Sisters to Magila: For those who have been to Magila in recent months may have seen Sister Christine CMM who is now the Matron of Hegongo Holy Cross girls. Her presence creates another opportunity of rebuilding that holy place on its root and culture.

3 OUR AMERICAN VISITORS A team of seven friends from Diocese of Ohio visited the Diocese of Tanga, on 4 January. The team arrived at Korogwe and the next day, on 5 January, paid a visit to our diocesan headquarters where the team was divided into two. The first group allocated to St. Francis Hospital Kwamkono Handeni and the second group put their focus on activities at St. Raphael Hospital Korogwe. The group at St.Raphael Hospital reported at our hospital at 9am on 5 th of January The hospital had an opportunity to be visited by this group (Larry Mackey engineer, Kelly Mackey-journalist and Linda Heitger-nurse midwife) as all of them were having potential tasks to deal with at the hospital. Larry, the engineer, inspected the hospital equipments which were donated by Friends of Tanga in the Diocese of Ohio. He started fixing an electrical converter in the operation room. He also repaired the overhead theatre lamps. He tried to repair the theatre sterilizer but found it having a broken plastic spare which needed replacement. Larry suggested consulting Chinese Company to look for missing spare part. Thereafter he worked on the ultra sound machine but, again found it having an electrical defect. He suggested consulting the qualified personnel to find out the problem. Linda Heitger who by profession is a nurse took responsibility of teaching nurses on how the use of incubators which were donated by the diocese of Ohio. She also prepared notes with instruction of using an incubator. By using models, Linda taught the students about safe delivery; she also assisted some deliveries in Labour room. Being a journalist Kelly Mackey interviewed Dr. Damian Mpundu Superintendent of St. Raphael Hospital. She also conducted interviews with the Hospital secretary, The Hospital matron and the interim principal of the Archbishop John Ramadhani Korogwe Nursing School. She wanted to know about how the hospital use the equipments provided for service improvement, the future plans of the hospital and the school of nursing. At the end the three heads of the hospital management reported to Kelly the potential equipments missing in the hospital. She also interviewed nurses and clinicians

4 The guests put their hands on empting the second container from Ohio as a picture in the left depicts. Although the container took several weeks at WAMA in Dar es Salaam where it had to go through series of inspections its arrival was a relief to everyone. The hospital and diocesan staff thanked God for the support from our partners in mission. Such kind of assistance which to our friends may just be very little, but it could take several years for the hospital to get such kinds of equipments. You may have qualified persons but if there are no equipments and proper medicines, the hospital becomes a ghost. May the Lord bless our supporters in mission. HEREFORD ACADEMY HEGONGO HOLY CROSS SECONDARY SCHOOL LINK In the middle of last year the two schools, the Hereford Academy (THA) and Hegongo Holy Cross High School (HHCHS), sat up a proposal for partnering which could be used for teaching and exchange programs. In strengthening this partnership, Bishop Maimbo visited Hereford Academy last July. Following the bishop s visit, Mr. Mathew Ferriday (Science teacher) and Mrs. Anne Carter (English teacher) visited Holy School between 17 and 23 February As the picture in the left shows, Mr. Matthew gave a lecture to a science class at HHCHS. The two schools agreed to formulate joint curriculum projects. Both parties explored several possibilities such as learning English and Kiswahili, joint teaching styles especially in Science subjects and English. This will be facilitated by using video and if possible by Skype. The THA promised to assist in paying the cost of internet installation at HHCHS. The two schools will continue to exchange views on issues of management, leadership styles and experiences. Apart from the academic issues Matt and Ann were able to visit Muheza Sisal Plantation, Amani tea plantation, the butterfly project in Amani, Chumbageni Primary School which has a partnership link with Sommers Park Primary School in UK. Also they had a conversation with the Vicar General and the Muheza District Education Officer Mr. Kondo. The picture below shows Anne, Mr. Amos Mzava and two

5 students after planting a Hereford Hegongo Link tree. The tree is going to be a symbol of the ling and therefore as the tree grows to produce flowers and fruits so the link will become fruitful to both schools. JAPANESE STUDENTS VISIT St. Augustine s Muheza Designated District Hospital received three students fromjapanese St. Luke s University College from 24 February 2013 to 1 March These visitors namely; Yoshiko, Kaori and Misa came to Muheza for their one week internship at the hospital and its attached institutions i.e. Muheza Nursing School and Muheza Hospice Care. The visitors arrived at Muheza at 3pm from Korogwe and they were taken to Osaka Lodge in Muheza for their accommodation. The Director of Muheza Hospice Care; Mrs. Claire Chizazi Lwoga and her family took the visitors to Mkonge Hotel in Tanga for dinner where they also held a special event of thanks giving to God and sing a happy birthday song to Claire as she was celebrating her birthday. The visit to St. Augustine Hospital in Muheza enabled the students to learn hospice care, management and services provided to antenatal mothers and management of post deliveries to our hospital. They had an opportunity of observing the management of antenatal mothers at labour ward, the services delivered at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) ward and they finally visited the Nursing school. At the Muheza Hospice Care, an NGO which is run by the Diocese of Tanga, they learned about how the NGO takes care for the HIV + patients through its kid have and mothers club, cancer patients club and the Orphans and Vulnerable Children project. On 28 February 2013, under the leadership of Mr. Luka Mochiwa, the deputy principal of the Nursing School, the visitors had a game drive to Saadani National Park. They had a safe tour via Pangani and they came back via Mandela route. On 1 March 2013, the visitors had breakfast that was organized by Muheza Hospice Care, together with Mama Frida Mndolwa (the wife of Bishop Maimbo), Mama Monica Lugendo, Dr. Rajabu Malahiyo, Mr. Luka Mochiwa, Mr. Zakaria Mnkai and Mrs. Claire Chizazi. After this breakfast they were taken to the Tanga Airport for their flight to Zanzibar.

6 DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES One of the several gaps which have been in existence in the management system of our diocese and which our mission 2025 promised to address it, is the coordination of social services at the diocesan level. Mr. Zakaria Mnkai who is now the Diocesan Social Services Officer has come to fill the gap. Although his desk will be at Korogwe main office but he will be more mobile so that he may reach out to all places where he will be needed. Consisting three sectors - Education, Health and Social welfare, the department insures that each institute in the diocese works to meet the expectations of the community. These institutions includes: St. Augustine Institute of Health and Allied Sciences (i.e. Muheza Nursing School, Muheza Hospice Care and St. Augustine Muheza District Designated Hospital), St. Francis Hospital Kwamkono, St. Raphael Hospital Korogwe, Kizara Health Centre, Hegongo Secondary school and Kwamkono Disabled centre. Mr. Zakaria seems to give a new hope to these institutions which before worked without supervision. He will also help our parishioners and priests to learn advocacy and entrepreneurship. Although there are more capable candidates who could fill Diocesan Partners Link Officer and Education Officer which are vacant as indicated in the Mission 2025 their salary remains a challenge. 60 Years of Tanzania Nurses and Midwives Council (TNMC) We praise Lord for his many blessings to our Diocese of Tanga and its institutions for keeping serving people in need of social services. These were the words of nurses and midwives who recently, celebrated anniversary of 60 years of Nurses and Midwives services in Tanzania. The ceremony was hosted by Muheza Nursing School where by other participants joined together and celebrated the special day. During the anniversary, two long service staffs were awarded a long services Certificate, named Mr. Davidson Shemoka and Peter Rajab. Historically, TNMC was inaugurated in 1952 and on 15 March 2013 reached 60 years of its existence. The following are some of TNMC duties and responsibilities:- 1. Registration of Nurses and Midwifes who has completed their courses 2. Advising the government on all matters pertaining Nurses and Midwives 3. Evaluating the Nurses and Midwives training 4. Developing final exams and monitoring of all exams for Nurses and Midwives

7 5. It is a disciplinary object for Nurses and Midwives 6. Appointing exams invigorator and announce final results According to researches, the country is facing shortage of about 52% of nurses and midwives. The government has called private sector to build, operate and own schools and colleges which will train qualified nurses so that the shortage may be reduced. To respond to this call, the Diocese of Tanga is transforming two centers into learning centers. The first is Muheza Nursing School which is becoming St. Augustine Institute of Health and Allied Sciences and the second is the buildings of the current offices of the diocese which are becoming Archbishop John Ramadhani Korogwe Nursing School. Process are in place to start new courses in September this year. MOTHERS UNION The Diocese of Tanga, as it is to the church in Africa is attended more by women than men. The sodality which deals specifically with women in the diocese if Mothers Union. Mothers Union in the Diocese of Tanga is working hard to alleviate poverty through building capacity seminars. Pictured in the left is a group of members of Mothers Union displaying hand work commodities made by the members themselves in their parishes. Through village community banks (VICOBA), women get small credits through which they buy materials. However, the challenge is market for these products. The diocesan coordinator of Women is working hard to ensure that women get market for their products. In the Mothers Union General Convention last year for example, they had a seminar on how produce a competitive product. It is our hope that finally women in our diocese, majority of who are rural and poor, will make profits from their products they produce locally. YOUTH MINISTRY Apart from Mothers Union, another sodality which is active in the Diocese of Tanga is Tanzania Anglican Youth Organization (TAYO). It focuses to youth in schools, colleges and those who have left school. TASMO (Tanga Anglican Student Movement) is a branch of TAYO which calls all Anglican students to be aware of their role as Anglicans in the community and the church. It also encourages and coordinates Anglican students to share resources which they find in their studying environment. TASMO provokes young Anglicans to study hard so that they may get chances to attain high posts in the government and private firms for the better of the church and

8 the nation. On the other hand, TAYO is also fully engaged with activities that will help youth to care the environments. Through youth empowerment program, the coordinator of youth services was able to challenge parishes to establish tree nursery and the youth and now several parishes owns tree farms. Pictured in this article are youth at their tree nursery ready for planting. TAYO is also encouraging youth to use sports and singing for two purposes. First is to discourage drug abuse and unwanted sex and second is to create employment opportunities. It is from these aspirations that TAYO attempted to renovate a building at Magila so that it can be a recording studio for youth choirs. Unfortunately, they could not complete the work due to lack of funds. PROVIDENCE The story of Abraham taking Isaac to Horeb is a life experience in Africa. In that story when Isaac asked his father where the lamb for the sacrifice was, Abraham said that God would provide. Similarly, whenever an African, especially in the rural area, reaches the end of his or her own capacity, will say God will do. In our last news letter we reported the effects of draught in our diocese. It is with many thanks to God that rains came sufficiently this time and therefore there many hopes for good harvests this year. There are few areas such as Mtoni Bombo, Mgambo, Kwajanja, Ng ombeni, Mwangalieni and Daruni (Maramba Deanery), Songea, Magoma, Makumba, and Mashewa (Magoma Deanery) which rains came very late and was below expectations. This means that these areas may face shortage of food in case the short rains of September will also not be sufficient. Pictured in the left is one of the promising maize farms. Indeed God provides.