Work Crew Report 2009
The Amazing Journey
2009 Tanzanian Work Crew
A blending of soil, cultures, experiences, beliefs, and joy as part of the Northern Great Lakes Synod – Eastern and Coastal Diocese companionship program.
In 1964 the country of Zanzibar and the country of Tanganyika united into the nation of Tanzania. At the official union the two countries brought containers of soil and publicly mixed them together to signify their new permanent relationship. That event is a fitting image of what Jesus Christ accomplished in us.
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After five orientation sessions provided by Pastor Bob and Deloris Langseth, a Tanzanian
Blessing from the Northern Great Lakes Assembly and well wishes, prayers and gifts from our
local congregations, we were ready to start our journey to Tanzania.
The work crew consisting of 11 people from Calumet, Hancock, Niagara (WI), Munising,
Marquette, Gladstone and Manistique, left on Monday June 8th from the KI Sawyer International
Airport. It ended at that same location on Thursday July 9th. In between this time period we
experienced a truly amazing 32 day journey!
Because of the work crews varied personalities and how each person interprets their life
experiences there will be a variety of stories from all of us. Also because we all had different
host family situations we will all have varying experiences to tell. Therefore we will give you an
overview of what we did while on the trip in the hope that you will seek out individual work
crew members to hear their version of the trip also.
After traveling for around 28 ½ hours, we arrived in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania at 9:30
pm local time on Tuesday June 9th, 2009. When we left Marquette, the morning temperature was 38° F. and when we arrived in Tanzania it was 88° F and very humid. Dar es Salaam, the largest city in Tanzania, is 7 hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time. We were greeted by our host families, companion church pastors and dioceses representatives. We were then transported to our host families for our first evening in Tanzania.
From Wednesday June 10th to late on Sunday June 14th we remained with our host
family and we learned a great deal about the city of Dar es Salaam and the Country of
Tanzania.
We learned that Tanzania is made up of 26 regions and the economy is mostly based on agriculture. The current President Jakaya Kikwete was elected in 2005. Their national anthem is Mungu ibariki Africa which means "God Bless Africa". Tanzania also has 126 ethnic groups and each ethnic group has its own language. Swahili is used for inter-ethnic communication and official matters. English is also commonly used and is taught in the schools.
In talking with people they said some of the changes that have occurred in the last several years are: a dramatic increase in cell phone use, more automobiles adding to the pollution problem, many more slacks and some bare shoulder dresses worn by women, a sluggish economy and an increase of Masaai tribal members in the Dar es Salaam area trying to find work.
While in Dar during these first few days we did the following;
-met with the Eastern and Coastal Diocese (ELCT) leadership at the Luther House,
-visited the Tanzanian Cultural Museum and Village which was very educational. We saw many replicas of the types of dwellings that were from the regions and tribes in Tanzania.
-toured and had lunch with the Special Needs School staff and students at the Mtoni Deaconic Center. This is a project of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania (ELCT) diocese, and it provides much needed educational programs to special needs students at the school as well as through home visits.
-visited MLUC SACCOS, Ltd. (Savings And Credit Cooperative Society Limited). The SACCOS is a result of a pulpit call that was made by Rev. Heriel Mfinanga in 1994, asking the parishioners to form this kind of a cooperative, for the purpose of alleviating poverty among themselves. This is an effort to start a Credit Union among low to moderate income people. They are also educating these people on personal finances and loan out money for various purposes including "petty business, housing, transport, livestock keeping, shopping business and restaurants". They have grown from 39 paying dues members to about 2,560 of whom 7 are U.S. citizens (honorary member status).
-visited a Medical Dispensary sponsored by the Diocese. The Dispensary is located in
and serves a large community of low income people. The life expectancy in Tanzania according to the 2006 statistics is about 50 years of age and Malaria and HIV-AIDS are causing a health crisis there. The Medical Dispensary System is doing great work with Dr. Tulitweni as the Medical Coordinator.
-toured Marvelous Boutique (Marvelous Flotea Co. LTD.) in Dar es Salaam. This was a small business "start up" in 1992 that has expanded and is thriving. Presently they employ 120 people, many hired "off of the street." Business is marketing globally via the internet and operated by a dynamic CEO, a woman named Flotea Massawe.
Their vision is "to be the leading producer of functional textiles and handicrafts globally giving hope to the disadvantaged in our society".
Flotea said that several years ago the Northern Great Lakes Synod ordered 400 batik
shirts to be used by participants at the NGLS Conference. She said that the order came at a
good time for her and it was critically important to her. Also that order got "hung up" in
Customs and almost got burned because proper procedures were not followed on her end. The order taught her how to follow proper procedures with her Government and she will always remember that order and be grateful for it.
-toured the Street Children Center (Tuamoyo Children Society) with Nancy Macha who is the secretary, supporter and advocate for the Center. In the late 80's in response to the concern for the growing number of children loitering the streets of Dar with no means of support, TCS began. TCS started as a program to provide education and support for children who have lost both parents to HIV/AIDS. The program has about 130 students enrolled in its outreach program and is making progress in meeting educational and social needs of their students. One mother is recruited for every 10 children in her neighborhood. Their slogan is "Children deserve community support".
-visited South Shore Beach on the Indian Ocean near Dar es Salaam. Nancy Macha was kind enough to arrange for a picnic/lunch/swim at this beautiful park.
-shopped at the Mwenge Carving Center which is an open air market.
This period of time from June 10th to June 14th in Dar es Salaam was of great value to the crew members. We were extremely impressed by the high quality people that we met at the various agencies that we visited. They are doing tremendous work, under difficult circumstances. We certainly admire them. We felt that what we learned here in the past several days, gave us a better understanding of the area, culture and people before we had to leave for the school.
On Sunday June 14th, we worshipped with our host families in Dar. Arrangements were
made so that each crew member was staying with a host family that worshipped at the crew
members companion congregation. For instance, Ken and Bonnie Groh are members of Zion
Lutheran Church in Manistique, MI. Zion's companion congregation is Magomeni Lutheran
Church in Dar es Salaam. Therefore our host family is a member of Magomeni. This concept
was used for all crew members, and it was an excellent idea. Great discussions occurred and
many plans were made to improve the companion church program.
Other crew members were matched with the following Tanzanian Lutheran Companion Churches: Loni Rochon -Kijitonyama, Ruth Snyder -Mbezi Beach, Jean Cygan -Sinza Lutheran Church, Ann Christiansen - Kijichi, Rev. Tim Bernard -Azania Front and Ken Cygan and Nancy Bird with Kunduchi Beach Lutheran Church. Pastor and Deloris Langseth were with the Azania Front parish as they spent four months initiating English Language worship at the request of the diocese.
Church attendance is high and services last on the average of three hours. The churches have a Pastor, Evangelist, and Parish Workers on staff. Each church has many active choirs. The Congregations are made up of a variety of ages but weigh heavily on the young population. They talk freely about Jesus and they pray often.
One of the gifts that were presented to one of the companion congregations was a digital camera along with a sample church directory. They were extremely pleased with this gift as they said it will help them to increase communication among their church members.
On the evening of Sunday June 14th, we traveled to the Kisarawe Lutheran Junior Seminary which is approximately 40 miles from Dar es Salaam.
On Monday June 15th, we began our first day at Kisarawe. We found that we had many
adjustments to make as we try to get used to a more "spartan" type of existence.
The school is a secondary school with students from grades 6-12 in attendance.
Students range in age from 12 to 21. Students were grouped together by achievement level,
not necessarily by age. All students reside on campus in dormitories. Many students are from Dar es Salaam while a goodly number come from other parts of the country.
Our work crew came to do construction work on a new girl's dormitory but God had a better idea. Because of a fiscal and financial delay with the USAID grant money (United States Agency for International Development), construction did not take place during our visit. Our crew adjusted to this situation by taking on an extensive "clean-up, fix up, paint-up" maintenance program. This type of maintenance work was greatly needed at the school and we were happy to help them.
The fact that we were doing maintenance tasks on campus allowed us to have a great
deal of interaction with students and staff. This interaction was a tremendous experience and a
blessing for all of us. We would have had much less contact with these people, if we had been
on the construction project working behind 10 feet tall sheets of tin, so the situation turned out to be a blessing for everyone. We all agreed that God had his hand in this turn of events.
We spent three work weeks at the school in Kisarawe living there and working to make
physical improvements to the building and grounds. We were residents there Monday through
Friday June 15-19, June 22-26. and June 29th to July 3rd. In addition to the work we did, our
daily schedule included both morning and evening devotions, attending student recognition
assemblies, supervising evening student study sessions, teaching in some of the classrooms and
providing staff and student in service.
There are 435 students enrolled and attending the school with approximately 20 teachers and two administrators. While we were there 200 students were home on break and 235 were present, studying for and taking their national competency examinations. The national exams revealed that of the 51 Lutheran secondary schools in Tanzania this school ranks 6th from the top!
During our visit we had the opportunity to talk with many students and teachers. All of
us were able to develop many positive relationships. We developed a sincere appreciation for
the school, teachers, the administrators and their mission. Pastor Langseth has just
completed a USAID grant application for a much needed boy's dorm. The goal is to serve
700 students at the school.
While at the school we were happy to be part of the dedication ceremony of the library reading room in honor of Bishop Dale Skogman. Bishop Skogman was an integral part in the progress made for the library and was always very supportive of our Tanzanian Partnership. Pastor Langseth and the schools Head Master Mkongo performed the dedication ceremony.
Life was different for us at Kisaware. We had to adjust to hot humid weather as
Kisaware is just slightly south of the equator. (It was even warmer in Dar). We had to adjust to a steady diet of Tanzanian/African food, had to do our laundry by hand and sleep under mosquito nets. There were times that we ran out of water and bathroom conditions were not like we were used to. One of our members was injured and one became very ill. All of this was indeed a challenge for us, but with Gods help we met that challenge and truly enjoyed our experience.
We came away with a new appreciation for these African people who sing beautiful
music. They seem content with a simple lifestyle. It was refreshing to see them professing their faith in their everyday life. They were quick to accept us and wanted to
hear our stories as well as sharing their own. We learned so much from them. We went bearing gifts and wanting to help them. But we came away with so much more… What we perceived prior to our trip and what we experienced were two different things. We found that many of the negative stereotypes of Africa and its people simply are not true or accurate. The people were absolutely wonderful and the environment was much more pleasant than we anticipated.
After each week at the school we traveled to our host family in Dar es Salaam. This is
where our experiences differed depending on what our host families wanted us to do.
It may have included sight seeing, shopping in the markets, catching up on laundry,
visiting the hosts family members, taking the host to dinner, eating meals at the hosts home,
visiting neighbors, exchanging our money ($1. US = 1,323 shillings), attending church, giving presentations at our companion churches, meeting with church elders, going to Salasala to participate in the installation of a North District pastor, going to a choir competition of 17 women's choirs or activities similar to this. When we would gather on Sunday night to go back to the school we all had interesting updates on what we did on the week end.
We also were able to see Dr. Tuli and Mr. Charles who are diocese employees that were in the U.P. this spring. We also met several of the Tanzanian choir members who had been to the U.S. previously.
On Saturday June 27th we took a side trip to the Island of Zanzibar. A separate country until 1964, Zanzibar merged at that time with Tanganyika to become the United Republic of Tanzania. During the merger ceremony they took a container of soil from Tanganyika and a container of soil from Zanzibar and mixed it together to symbolically make one Tanzania.
After taking a two hour ferry ride on Saturday, we spent the week-end in Zanzibar and
stayed at the St. Monica Hostel.
Zanzibar was heavily involved in the slave trade and we visited several locations that
were significant to the slave trade. It was interesting to learn more about this subject. Visiting
sites that were important to the slave trade had a significant impact on all of us. Many of us
had it in our minds that slave trade ended when slavery ended in the US but it did not end until
the 1920's in Zanzibar.
We also had a visit to a spice farm in Zanzibar, where we learned about various spices
grown in the area. Many of these are exported to other countries. We also had the opportunity
to sample many of the farm products.
On Sunday we attended church at Mwana Kwerekwe Lutheran in Zanzibar where Pastor
Langseth gave the sermon. The service was wonderful! In Tanzania about 33% of the
population is Muslim, but on the island of Zanzibar about 94% of the people are Muslim.
The ferry ride from Zanzibar back to Dar es Salaam on Sunday was impacted by rough
seas and several of us experienced sea sickness. In spite of that, the trip to Zanzibar was a
wonderful experience.
On Saturday July 4th, the Diocese had a Farewell Dinner for us. It was held at the
Luther House in Dar es Salaam and all host families, companion church pastors and school
personnel were invited to attend as well. The work crew and the host families were all
recognized and crew members were presented with gifts. It was such a wonderful evening.
On Sunday July 5th we flew from Dar es Salaam to Arusha, Tanzania. July 6th to July 8th we were on Safari in the Arusha area in several National Parks. We had the opportunity to view many wild animals in their natural setting. This included lions, elephants, giraffes, wildebeests, water buffalo, rhinos, warthogs and many more. The safari was very enjoyable and an excellent opportunity to de-brief and reflect on our recently completed mission work at
Kisarawe. On July 8th we left for home having made lifelong friendships with our work crew and
contacts in Tanzania.
Our trip provided work crew members with an opportunity to develop and expand
relationships with our hosts and their families in the name of the Lord.
We were able to develop new and meaningful relationships with students and staff at
Kisarawe Lutheran Junior Seminary while repairing and improving the school.
We were also able to develop and expand relationships with our Companion
Congregations in the Dar es Salaam area and with the Eastern and Coastal Dioceses in Tanzania.
We were able to experience Christians who daily live their faith, express it with joy, and evangelized our hearts as well as the hearts of their neighbors.
We were able to become a family with our work crew and will have life long relationships with them.
For the crew members, this was a once in a lifetime experience. At least that is what we thought initially but the longer we have been home our thoughts keep drifting back to Tanzania and its people. Many work crew members have returned frequently so who knows where God will lead us in the future.
We were called to both learn and to share the work of the Lord, and with Gods help we were successful in that calling.
We would like to especially thank Pastor Bob Langseth and Deloris for all that they did for us. Everything was well planned and they were a joy to get to know and be with. Pastor Bob and Deloris are very dedicated and special people. They made a very memorable trip for all of us.
Respectfully Submitted - Kenneth & Bonnie Groh