Delivering a bit of Harmony to Tanzania

On December 20, 2011, it rained in Dar es Salaam. Rain itself is not unusual at this time of year. What was unusual was the amount of rain and the time it fell. In 48 hours 10 inches of rain fell on the city. The result of this rainfall was the worst flood that Dar had seen in 50 years. The rivers swelled and, as high tide approached, had no where to drain. In the end, dozens of people died. Thousands were left homeless, all of their possessions having been washed away with the flood waters.

One place very deeply affected by the floods was the Gonzaga Primary School. Gonzaga is a private school, run by a small group of nuns at a nearby Catholic church. The school was originally established for orphaned children, most of who lost their parents to HIV/AIDS. The school is located on the edge of a very small, shallow riverbed. The river flooded and filled the school. They lost everything: desks, supplies, shelves, filing cabinets, files, computers, printers. The school provides daily lunch to it's 400+ students. The flood waters claimed a year's supply of rice and beans stored in their kitchen. Upon seeing the damage to their school, the sisters at Gonzaga quickly made a public plea for help. Mike's language instructor, Hamisi, heard about the school. He shared the school's story with Mike, who in turn, shared it with our friends back home at Harmony Baptist Church.

Harmony may be a small church but they have big hearts and they respond in big ways. They quickly went about collecting and shipping us 9 boxes filled with school supplies. Accompanied by Hamisi, we were privileged to be able to deliver the supplies to the school. It was a very humbling experience.

9 BIG boxes filled with school supplies:

The river that runs by the school:

Mountains of mud and trash left from the floods:

Arriving at the school:

Sadie is standing with the head teacher at the school. The black arrow marks how high the water rose inside the school grounds:

Files that were damaged in the flood:

The head teacher gave us a tour of the school. Here she is indicating the water line inside the cafeteria:

One of the classrooms, newly fitted with donated desks:

2 of the sister's graciously accepting their boxes of school supplies:

The best picture of all, the faces of the children who will benefit from the supplies:

Through the generosity of Harmony Baptist Church, these children (grades 1-6) have a chance to continue their education with the needed resources to learn and succeed. Each of these families had paid 800,000 shillings (about $600 US) for the annual tuition. Those who could afford it have also paid additional amounts to help purchase things such as new desks, filing cabinets and food. By the provision of these supplies, the education continues. We call this soft diplomacy. People helping people.

Thank you Harmony for making this possible!