Tanzania / Dar es Salaam / Morogoro

Dar es Salaam

Gary and Renee arrived in Dar es Salaam Wednesday, Nov 3rd at 6:45 p.m. and Alex was there waiting with a sign.



road to Morogoro



We then started the 4 hour ride to Morogoro. The traffic was very congested, causing a lot of pollution. It took 2.5 hours just to get out of the city. The ride in the dark, passing trucks on blind curves, just before the crest of the hill, would have been scary, but we were too tired to worry.  However, we did pray!

Alex was a warm and loving host. We checked into the hotel, which was new and very clean, and had air conditioning, but the electricity was off. Thankfully, we had electricity for most of our stay!  After a cold shower and a sound sleep, we started

the day Thursday by visiting Morogoro pre-school project.

The children ages 2-7 looked really good. It was a encouraging to see them sing and eat lunch. The children 7 and older meet at the pre-school after school for tutoring and Bible. These children start 1st grade at 7 yrs. old.

 

We also met Alex’s family.  He lives right next to the church where the pre-school and church are. Hilda, his wife is very pregnant – due on Nov 15th. She shyly admitted that she hopes for a girl, but will be happy with either. This will be their 4th biological child and 7th child including the 3 they've adopted. They live in a very small home that is the same as the homes the children live in – very African.

Alex and his family has lived in this neighborhood for 10 years. Even

after several attempts to kill him and his family with knives, he refuses to leave. He has told the Muslims that he will stay even if they kill his family because he loves them and wants to teach them about Jesus. The community now accepts him and allows their children to be taught the Gospel in his pre-school and learning center.

Following the pre-school and community visit, we went to the Hotel so that Renee could train some of the staff. Five of us had lunch and talked through many of the details. We did not finish after three hours so we planned to meet again on Saturday afternoon, which worked well because they looked overwhelmed and Renee was tired.

Friday morning Alex was about an hour late picking us up because a 20-year-old mother of one of the children had died.  We then went to meet the 300 children at Chamwino, and made three home visits as planned. The children were being fed a porridge and were being taught ABC’s and numbers. They are mostly children of street kids and very needy. The parents don’t value school at all and would rather have the kids wander or work.

  

Construction has begun on a building, with walls about 4-5 feet tall so far, for the children to meet in.

Right now they meet outside in the hot sun at Rehema Kagombe’s house. She is an older muslim convert who is truly dedicated to these children.

After lunch, Alex surprised us with a plan to go to the Mikumi Game Preserve about an hour out of Morogoro. We saw elephants, zebras, giraffes, baboons, water buffalo, wart hog, impalas, gazelles, and really enjoyed spending time with Alex and Emmanuel.

Inuka, a night school for older youth ages 15-21, will most likely be discontinued due to lack of positive results.  Alex is praying about this and believes the funds will be more useful with the younger ones. They used to live in an office building at the edge of town and Alex fed them. He no longer has the funding to provide food or shelter. Girls get hungry enough to prostitute themselves for a meal and boys steal to eat.

There are many ways you can help. Just one is to make a pledge of $15 per month to feed one orphan.  One $15 pledge will feed an orphan every day for a whole month. Won't you join us in keeping these precious ones alive and healthy?



http://www.foodfororphans.org/

719-591-7777