Mara 2007

Following a five week visit to Mara between the New year and early February 2007, I am pleased to report that the rains have arrived (in force in some villages) leading to such a change that I got lost driving into Kagwa.  I drove the same lane from the school to church.  The children shouted Bob, Bob as I drove in. 

In 2006, this area was dust and scrub grass no more than six inches high.  The crops were dead.  This year, grass reached above the 4 wheel drive bonnet.  I got mired in mud and the church had to adjourn – yes in full cassock from under the tree – to push me out. 

But not only the grass had risen – the church - knee height a year ago - now reaches the rafters.  I had the joy on a Sunday of delivering the last 5 bags of cement.  On Wednesday I watched the last mud brick being laid.  Every brick was dug from the soil; villagers carried the water for many miles, mixed the mud, built the kiln, brought the wood, baked the bricks, carried the brick and – quite literally – built their Church by hand.  Anna - the 60+ year old head of the Mother’s Union – carried that last of the bricks on her head to be placed on the top of the church as she had done with many previous bricks. 

In all my years as a Christian in two countries, I have never personally witnessed this level of commitment to building to the Glory of the Lord.

In Kagwa – a village on the very eastern edge of Mara with little going for it in Western terms – the people (Christian, Muslim, and non-believers’) pooled together to build the church.  But not our style of empty church:  this is a church will be filled every Sunday with 200+ people,  used 7 days each week by all and sundry for medical clinics, village meetings, teaching sessions, school and Sunday school (over 200 children in a village of less than 400), and anything else.  They are building something which will be used full time and treasured.  We, in my view, are privileged to give a bit of wood and tin to make it usable.

As for the rest of Mara, I have seen God’s hand – and your money – at work and spent wisely.  Many places now face flood killing their crops.  People travel 70+ km in an overcrowded bus to see a doctor.  Many die on the way. 

I personally visited 12 villages.  In every case I found people with a true appreciation of the ACT Diocese of Mara and what it, with our Western help, is doing. In my view, some of the most valuable Christian mission possible results from yours and my personal contributions.  For my part, I am going back again later this year.  I plan to go twice in 2008 and then for a much longer period in 2009 and 2010.  I personally have been greatly blessed by the Lord. I now feel led to use some of that bounty by doing practical work to a loving people.

Yours in Christ – Bwana asifiwe!

Bob Oreschnick

Bob's Photos

Approaching Kagwa	Entrance to church
Vestry and office	Arthur and the workmen
The scaffolding - moving donkeys	Huge progress
Notice the supervisor of works	Arthur with Dispensary and green fields
Of course its safe!!!	Hey, don't forget the women
We make and bring the bricks	Well, men bring bricks as well!!
Just checking - again	Give me a break, I just mixed more cement
Last year this was dust	And so was this
Notice who is doing the work	Anna-No-one told me the head of MU did this
I hate this tree sticking out of my head	Baby Bob, Bob and Mum
Another Baby Bob, Bob and Mum	Baby Bob and family
Grandmother, Arthur and Baby Bob	Grandmother and Baby Bob
Fineus and the three boys	Joshua, Arthur and three boys
Joshua and family	Kagwa womens group 1
Kagwa womens group 3	Kagwa womens group 2
Beautiful picture sepia	Nice pic
Robert

 

Just a quick resume of our trip to Mara - Sept 2006 (Kay Booth)

Picked up by taxi at 2.45 a.m. on Thursday 21 September to travel
to Leeds Bradford.  Our flight being to Nairobi via Amsterdam.  
Arrived finally at 19.20 at our first resting point near the 
airport.  For  the next two days we travelled in a small mini bus 
(four of us from  the Holme Valley and four from Lightcliffe)
until we finally reached Mousoma which would be our home for 11  
days. Quite a  nice hotel, basic but adequate, although it was 
toss  a coin to see which was working the electricity or the 
water!!  But  we managed, Sue Styring who I shared with had been 
given a wonder  bottle from her daughter which gave you a shower 
without the water  which we were very grateful for on quite a few 
occasions. Our first  full day (Sunday) was to be a visit to Kagwa 
our link Parish.  What a  welcome - the who village had ben waiting 
for us to arrive and when  we got out of the vehicle the children 
from the Sunday School  appeared from around the side of the 
Vicarage (a building with a tin  roof and made from mud bricks) 
singing, clapping and swaying in  harmony - they certainly knew how 
to make us feel welcome.  They all  wanted to shake hands with us. 
We had gone to share their Sunday  service - 2 hours - 2 
collections and lots of singing.  We had lots  of meetings in the 
village, this seemed the way they got things done.  We had brought 
some money for the Church building.  Three  times it had collapsed 
in the past until finally the Bishop had sent  his own builders to 
do the foundations.  That Sunday it had six  layers of bricks but 
by the time we returned the following Wednesday  there were another 
nine layers.  They had bricks and cement but no  sand so our money 
had enabled them to get the sand they needed.  We  have left 
further money at the Diocesan Offices for when they get up  to 
putting on a roof!
We visited all the projects at the Diocesan Offices, Mara Primary  
School, Vocational Studies for young people (typing and computers)  
AIDS ABC programme, Water harvesting (gutters on roofs to collect 
the  rain water and piped into storage tanks, either underground or 
on top  which every could be afforded. There was also CBR 
(Community Based  Rehabilitation) which dealt with physio for 
children.  There was also  the Rural Project Development which 
dealt with agriculture and  livestock.   We didn't get time to see 
the Disability Programme and  we had a future date to visit Issenya 
High School which is on the  edge of the Serrengeti. The children 
at school often have a long way  to walk and they start at 7.00 
a.m. - the only thing they have to eat  during the day is some thin 
porridge.  But gosh do they want to  learn!!  They all had uniforms 
of sorts, most of which was too big  for them or held together with 
safety pins.  We did of a lot of  introducing ourselves as they 
were eager to know our names and also  to know a bit about us.  We 
soon got used to standing up in front of crowds to do our 
introductions.  I was always glad to do mine first  as the other 
three ladies in my group had been to Swahili lessons and  my 
Swahili was limited to saying "my name is".
We also visited the Children's home which can look after 30 
children (from birth to 2 years who have lost their mother through 
AIDS or  other illness - they are then at 2 returned to the 
family).  They  currently have 19 babies and when we arrived the 
first thing we saw  were 19 potties on the veranda -  lovely.  It 
was the cleanest place  I had every seen and the only bad point was 
that it was sleep time  and they were all asleep. All that is 
except one which we all  managed to have a cuddle.  Our next visit 
was not quite so nice - but  very humbling.  We were taken by Rhobi 
(the Health Visitor) to visit  people with HIV and to see how they 
were coping.  They all welcomed  us into their small basic homes 
and despite how ill they were wanted  us to see what was happening 
with AIDS in Mara.
As Di Ellerton  - a member of our 4 and Curate at St Johns 
Upperthong  is also a Hospital Chaplain and she wanted to see the 
local hospital  with their Chaplain.  I will never again complain 
about the NHS.  The  queues were long, the medication sparse and 
the family members did  the looking after the patient and providing 
the food.  The nurses do  just the medical side.  But the smell !!!!
We spent two days (one night) at the village of Kagwa.  We slept 
in  beds from the Dispensary in the building belonging to the lady 
in  charge of the Dispensary, and we were even given the middle 
toilet of  a block of three for our own use.  I have used worse 
lats on Guide  Camp.  It was a hole with a long drop but very clean 
and not too  smelly.  The villagers fed us very well - we were 
served first and  they had what was left - before and after every 
meal they washed our  hands, which was quite an experience.  Food 
was good but fairly  bland.  That night we all gathered in the 
Vicarage for a meal while  the villages waited outside and when we 
had finished they all piled  in, children as well, for a 
discussion.  How did we look after our  old people, what did we 
think of Polygamy?  And so it went on - until  11.45 p.m. when we 
decided that the children needed to be in bed as  they had an early 
start for school the next day. Reluctantly the  adults agreed - 
goodness knows what time they would have gone  otherwise.  We 
witness some wonderful sights while we were away - one  of which 
was the following morning at 7.00 a.m. when we were outside our 
building cleaning teeth (like you do out of a cup) when the whole 
Kagwa School passed by us on their daily run - all smiling and 
waving  at us and supervised by the older children.  Gosh - I 
couldn't  imagine that happening here.
We spent two days at Mogabiri visiting the Agricultural Project and 
seeing two farms which showed just what good work is being 
achieved, increased dairy herds (although if you could have seen 
how skinny the cows were - I stopped eating the beef and chicken 
because it was so stringy and took an age to get from between your 
teeth) better crops, water holes etc.
Now it is Sunday again - and time to visit the Cathedral - twice 
in  one day.  Morning Service lasted two and a half hours.  The 
afternoon  was called Cathedral Day and Choirs from all the 
parishes had been  asked to provide a choir, the event was to start 
at 3.00 pm and  continue until the next morning.  We stayed until 
the mosquitos came  out.  It was a fantastic afternoon - so much 
enthusiasm in the  singing and such excellent choirs.
Monday we were to visit Issenya High School.  We were staying the  
night as it was such a long journey to get there.  We took 500  
oranges with us to give the children a treat.  We were shown round 
by  the Prefects and visited all the buildings.  It is a Boarding 
School  and housed 420 students in very small dormitories. All they 
have is a  bunk bed and they live out of suitcases or trunks.  Most 
of their  belongings were hanging on the roof rafters.  But they 
all had a  smile, even the young girl who was ironing her red 
pleated school  skirt on the floor with a hot charcoal iron.  The 
next morning we  were awoken at 5.00 am by the most wonderful 
singing drifting into  our room.  We later found out that it was 
Form 4 children who were in  a classroom preparing for forthcoming 
exams and they were singing in  praise to the Lord and asking for 
his help with the exams.
Tuesday was our last day in Mousoma, we were traveling on to Speak  
Bay Lodge on the edge of the Serrengeti for a one day safari which  
was just magnificent.
Thursday we started our trip to Mwanza for a flight to Nairobi - 
only what we thought would be a short trip took all day as we went 
via Killimangaro where we had to leave the plane and then get back 
on  ready for the final landing at Nairobi.  But we did get to see 
Mount Killimangaro peeping above the clouds.
A fantastic trip.  What have I taken away with me from Mara?
the warm welcome, friendly smiles
 - the hustle and bustle of Mousoma market and main road
 - the people of Kagwa
 - seeing my first group of Massi and shaking hands with them
 - dining with the Bishop and his daughter Neema
 - the friendship and fellowship between our two groups of ladies
 - the fantastic singing wherever we went
 - seeing Pelicans and Storks flying by
 - the incredible colours of the ladies dress
and much much more.
I hope this gives you some idea of my trip - it certainly was an 
experience not to be forgotten.
As Christmas approaches we are looking to how we can send things 
out  to Kagwa on a more regular basis.  Please remember the people 
of  Kagwa in your prayers.
Finally we would like to thank everyone who gave gifts or  money 
to  us for Kaga.  Please be assured that they were received with 
grateful  thanks from everyone in the village.

Kay Booth

 Crisis and Challenge : Famine in Mara 
In 1986 Bishop David Hope of Wakefield and the then new Bishop of Mara, Gershom Nyaronga, proposed that the two dioceses be twinned, and on July 10th 1988 in Wakefield Cathedral the link covenant was formally signed.
The Diocese of Mara is in the north-west of Tanzania, next to the border with Kenya and the eastern side of Lake Victoria. Tanzania is about four times the size of the UK, but has only about half the population.
It is one of the ten poorest countries on earth, and consists of the mainland of the former Tanganyika and two islands, Zanzibar and Memba. Africa’s highest mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro, is in Tanzania, as is the Serengeti game reserve and the Ngorongoro Crater.
The country has a coastline on the Indian Ocean.
In the past it has been colonised by Arabs, Germans and the British, but in 1961 it became independent. About half the population are Christian, a third Muslim and the remainder still hold to traditional African beliefs. Most people work on the land, growing food and keeping animals. There are few roads and these are badly affected by the seasonal rains. Sometimes, as happened in 2004, the rains fail to arrive and then real hardship is experienced. The capital of the Mara region is Musoma, where the recently rebuilt cathedral is situated.

Please click on an image or caption below to view a presentation about the Mara Diocese and the Team visits there.

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