Little Angel For Kiabakari

Many, many thanks to Miss Agata Krupa for her thoughtfulness and painstaking work, manufacturing some 230 little angels with big hearts for Kiabakari children along with lovely handsome 'Dziabągi'. It took her a few weeks to accomplish the task and then she needed only one day to sell them all during a special mission market day on Solemnity of Epiphany a week or so ago in Mucharz Parish in Achdiocese of Krakow, where the Parish Priest is my classmate and friend, a man of big heart like these little angels, Fr. Krzysztof Strzelichowski, who wholeheartedly invited Agata to her parish to sell little angels and small creatures called 'Dziabągi' (see pictures below). All income Agata decided to forward to Kiabakari for the benefit of our children.

This Saturday we will see how much this help was needed when we will have special Children's Fiesta with various activities, music, plays, competitions and food. Her initiative along with the help from collection of teddy bears, toys, school gadgets collected by Miss Bożena Koczur and Mrs. Anna Piwowarska on behalf of Foundation Kiabakari - which will be used as gifts to children on Saturday, along with the personal gift of Sylwia Konstantynowicz and her husband Jacek Juras (who are on their way to Kiabakari as I write these words, to represent all our benefactors, during the fiesta) - made this fiesta to be possible.

On behalf of all children in Kiabakari, parents, guardians and the entire community in Kiabakari - we say with grateful hearts, red with love and happiness, like those of little angels - Asanteni sana sana sana! Thank you very very very much! Karibuni kwa Tamasha letu! Welcome to our fiesta!

Let The Roller-skates Roll!

The wait for the charity challenge 'Roller-skates Without Borders' start is over. Kamil, the hero of the challenge is on his way to Zittau, the departure point on his journey map. Last minute preparations are almost over as well. We, in Kiabakari, are ready as well. I will be sending daily dispatches from Kiabakari, reporting on what has been going on on each given day during the duration of the challenge, enriched with pictures from our daily life in the parish and our institutions. You may follow the daily report from the route of the challenge along with my reports and pictures by clicking on the link of the official blog of the challenge - here. Let the roller-skates roll! Please, continue to spread the word on the challenge, support it if you can by kind donations and help us to improve the quality and broader spectrum of medical services offered in our health center in Kiabakari! Together we can make a difference!

Support 'Rolki Bez Granic'

One week remains till the charitable challenge 'Rolki Bez Granic' sets off at the point where three borders meet - namely, Germany, Czech Republic and Poland. Our volunteer - dr Kamil Bekalarek with the support of his future wife - Katarzyna Nawrot - intends to ride roller-skates along the western border of Poland from that three countries borders meeting point till Szczecin (Stettin) at the north-western tip of Poland. All this trying to raise awareness of the healthcare problems in Tanzania and in my mission in particular, as they get ready to come to Kiabakari next July for one year to serve my community in our health center. They will speak about the moral and financial support. They will need your support. So, please join us as we try to raise funds for the new equipment in Kiabakari health center, in particular - a new dental unit - which is badly needed in our Mara region community.

400 kilometers on roller-blades is not a feat for faint-hearted. I salute our volunteers and thank them with all my heart for their noble initiative. And you, my esteemed reader, I ask for support. You may contact me via my email - lalafofofo@gmail.com or by visiting the blog of the challenge - Rolki Bez Granic - by clicking here. Check also the poster of the challenge which I encourage you to download and repost it on your blog, Facebook profile or your website. Thank you in advance for your kind cooperation. Let's all support our volunteers, pray for the success of the challenge and keep our fingers crossed for them!

Fantastic Challenge

Please, share and spread the news on the challenge 'Rolki Bez Granic' (Rolls Without Frontiers) undertaken by two volunteers of our Foundation Kiabakari - Kamil and Kasia. More on this here. You may become our sponsor and supporter. Read their blog and join us!

School Books

It's been a good first day of the new month. Drove to Musoma, collected school books for standard three and four future students (we have only standard one and two classes so far), drove back home and put them to store to wait for the next year and the next. All this due to the generosity of our sponsors of educational adoption program of Foundation Kiabakari. Well, not everybody fulfills his or her obligation, that is why I told the bookstore owner that I will pay in full by the end of this month. I simply have not enough money to pay for the books. The money flows slowly into the foundation account. I do hope by the end of the month we will have enough to pay for the books... Thanks be to all who pay in time and allow us to move ahead! Here are some pictures of the books I brought home today.

Dividing The Time By The Spoon

Since my comeback to Kiabakari at the beginning of October, I have this prevailing feeling that the time has become densely congested, packed with numerous activities and challenges, all thrown at us at once. It feels like if the time has become a jelly which is so thick that one can divide it by the spoon...

Busy Little Bee

Recalling words of Commodus from 'The Gladiator' movie, it feels like being a busy little bee these days (maybe not that little, but still busy!) with several things going on. I'm kinda disappointed that I cannot come here to post more frequently, as I would wish, but the reality is just this. No time at the moment...

Intense

The last few days have been a bit on a hectic and intense side. A couple of busy days in Dar es Salaam, then flight to Musoma on Sunday afternoon, first encounter with German volunteers who arrived to Kiabakari on September 19 and have been undergoing a crash course in swahili since then...

Home Run

The last Sunday in Poland before I fly back to Tanzania. How proper it is that I spend it in the midst of my own folk, in my home parish. Having spent the whole month on medical checkups and treatments, taking care of this and that, visiting and planning for the imminent future, now it is time for home run...

Allegory

Proudly presenting to you the latest work by our 'court' artist Florian Ludovick. This is a painting (all rights reserved) commissioned by me some time ago for my Foundation Kiabakari, an allegory of what we have been doing as foundation - showing in pictures all seven fields of our activities or - if you will - areas of interest. The painting will be placed in the main office of the foundation in Krakow and, on the other hand, used also in all our official stationary and PR stuff...

Anniversary Gift

Twenty one years ago, exactly to the day, I left my Homeland for missions via Ireland where I spent three months, practicing my English, before heading to Tanzania to join my fellow countrymen who were already there working as Fidei Donum missionaries (diocesan priests sent to help in the mission countries). Grateful to God and people for the past amazing years, in which I was blessed to taste the whole spectrum of human existence and feelings, from euphoria to despair, from victories to failures, meeting wonderful people along the way and serving to the best of my limited abilities, I am proud to present the special anniversary gift I wish to share with you.

Announcement

Yesterday, the Polish Foreign Ministry announced the results of this year competition for voluntary programs submitted for funding to them. My Foundation was among other NGOs who applied for funding. It was our first time to do so. I was happy to share with you that our project code-named 'Afya Bora' (Perfect Health) qualified for the second round. And now we got the funding, meaning that the very first volunteer of Foundation Kiabakari will come here at the end of September to supervise the implementation of the project. A happy day indeed and a great result for all those in the foundation who contributed to the success. Well done, ladies and gentlemen! The link to the Ministry announcement is here.

New Page

Please, take note of the new page on Educational Adoption I have just added to tabs below the main picture of the blog. I ask you to read the contents of the page and take a moment to ponder the idea of becoming one of sponsors of our children in need. Yes, together we can make a difference in lives of the underprivileged children in my local community. God bless all who already have become 'educational parents' of our students.

Afya Bora

I may not have the best health at the moment, but the very first project - submitted by my Foundation Kiabakari to Polish Foreign Ministry under auspices of voluntary / development program 'Polish Aid' - titled 'Afya Bora' (Perfect Health) was approved by the ministry for funding! I'm thrilled! And so are all of us in the foundation. A very hard work in last two months paid dividends - the project passed and now our first volunteer coming to Kiabakari in late September for the implementation of this project will participate in training run by the 'Polish Aid' program in Warsaw. I'm positive she will do just great as she is a very smart and talented girl...

Closer

Getting real close now to the moment my sisters will move to their new convent. It will be the very day they will spend outside of my rectory since they came on January 3, 2010. The very first day and the very first night in their new house. It took us fifteen months to accomplish this task. A huge relief to them and to me as well. Today we finish all construction works outside the house, in their plot (mainly in the gates and fabricating spare keys to all doors so I keep spares at home, as this is my policy in this mission that every door in all buildings must have its spare key in my safe), do the general cleaning of the house and put all things that are ready to go (most of the donated by me and my foundation Kiabakari) - like set of sofas, gas stove, automatic washing machine, deep freezer etc. Once Tanesco fix the service line to the convent, the house will become fully operational. This - I hope - will be done in a couple of days, so before we open the house on next Sunday, sisters will there already. My mood is more and more jovial!

See. Judge. Act

This is a modus operandi of TYCS (Tanzania Young Catholic Students) organization, if I am not mistaken. The procedure known to many and applied by many, as this is an obvious sequence of steps undertaken by a prudent person...

E.T. Phone Home...

I have been waiting patiently for Tanzania Telecommunications Ltd. to graciously heed to my desperate calls for them to come and fix my dead landline at home in Kiabakari - since January last year. Last Monday I went for the umpteenth time to TTCL main office in Musoma and left frustrated again after being given yet another set of vague answers... What a surprise it was to see them coming this morning to my house, luckily finding me home as I have had just arrived from Bunda where I went for the regular confessions of Cloistered Carmelite Nuns!

Lourdes

On this day the Catholic Church celebrates the 19th World Day for the Sick. The day our thoughts and heart make a pilgrimage to Lourdes in France, to Our Lady, the Health of the Sick, to join other pilgrims present their for their annual pilgrimage, and with Her and through Her intercession, we meet anew the sick living among us, we pray for them, renew our commitment to assist them as best as we can, and we pray also for people of health services worldwide, thanking them for their professional work and sacrifices and surrendering their efforts to the Lord for a special blessing...

Photo Session

Last Monday, on February 7, 2011, the doors to standard one classroom opened officially and our graduants from Blessed Maria Teresa Ledóchowska Pre-School crossed the threshold of the classroom for the very first time. This marked the actual opening of our Blessed Edmund Bojanowski Primary School in Kiabakari. A genuine milestone and hallmark in my life and struggle to make the dream, the vision of Divine Mercy embracing the whole human person right here in Kiabakari, on the Divine Mercy Hill and around it - come true...

Graduation Day

Frenetic days this week as we continue to press ahead in all three fronts in the construction - fixing pipes and valves of the distribution system of water from the main tank, working on the sisters' convent and the finishing touches of the classroom and the furniture for the standard one students in our center for education and formation. And at the same time we are busy with the preparations for the graduation day for our children from pre-school who finished their education last year and will start the standard one class on February 7, 2011...