You've Got To Move It, Move It!

Revival of the parochial family in Kiabakari in the Year of Family includes holistic revival of various apostolic groups and movements. Among those - vocation groups (altar servers and non-altar servers), youth groups and associations.

Our altar servers decided to get rid of laziness and started regular training before any serious attempts to check their skills with other football youth teams in Kiabakari and the area. Luckily, we have several sets of football jerseys, so their internal test matches can be played in full 'combat' attire. The older boys jerseys came to us through courtesy of our former German volunteers - Denise and Thomas. The younger boys jerseys I got years back, even before I was transferred to Musoma Cathedral in 2002. The pictures below I took before their training matches a couple of weeks ago. The little ones played in small teams on small pitch.

Girls' vocation groups is not forgotten either. I have just finished laying out of the netball court with professional goal posts, traced the lines and checked on the stock of netball jerseys. We have plenty of netballs courtesy of Australia, seven sets of netball jerseys. Some of them will go to our primary school, the rest will stay with parochial girls' teams. 

We plan to have a all-parochial tournament in football and netball starting in September with the climax and finale on the Feast of the Holy Family on December 28 this year.

Lent Retreat

The eight day long parochial retreat in Kiabakari is over. It has been a time of healing and spiritual renewal, in particular on family level. The retreat master - Rev. Fr. Baptist Mapunda from the Congregation of Missionaries of Africa and his pastoral team of lay preachers - have done a marvelous job. Those days flew in a blink of an eye. And now it is up to us to continue cooperation with Holy Spirit grace and light to make sure the renewal is genuine and lasting, the healing process is  complete and the fruit of the retreat is multiple and permanent. 

I am very grateful to Father Mapunda, Mama Anna Maria and Mr Luka for their total commitment to the task of leading us in the spiritual desert. They did not spare themselves. And I am very happy that the faithful took this opportunity and used it for their benefit, attending in their hundreds the retreat both in the parochial church and in the outstations.

Please, for the genuine conversion and total renewal of each and every one of us here in Kiabakari! Happy and blessed Lent to all!

3x4

It appears that this year will be divided in three distinctive periods of four months each. The first four months which are currently underway are fully packed with pastoral, spiritual and re-organizational work in Kiabakari. Frankly saying, I am a bit relieved we (Foundation Kiabakari) did not get funding for developing projects this year as it would put my plans for this year in jeopardy. Of course, I will always place the common good and interest ahead of my personal plans, yet, deep in my heart I was somehow happy when we did not secured the funds for our two projects for this year, no matter how important they were to my community in Kiabakari. I was personally worried that if we get the funding that I won't be able to travel this year and do some important things which need my attention. The lack of funding meant that my travel plans for this year, including very important Congress on Divine Mercy in Colombia, would go through. So, I cannot complain, but rather, enjoy this opportunity to have some holidays and do some other things.

There has been a lot going on at the moment in my life and in Kiabakari. That is why I chose to keep silent a bit and withdraw from the public domain to focus on issues here. The Year of Family demands new, fresh and original approach and full commitment to the pastoral work in Kiabakari. Rediscovering ourselves as God's and human family, so rich in talents and charisms. I enjoy renewed formation efforts with my altar servers, vocation groups, apostolic movements in the parish, Small Christian Communities, outstations, preparations of Sunday and daily homiletic reflections, interacting with my people on various levels, in particular in the parochial office. I look forward to the annual parochial lenten eight day retreat which starts this coming Sunday and will be led by Fr. Baptist Regina Mapunda, White Father and his retreat team. I look forward to this year Divine Mercy celebrations  focused on the canonization of Blessed John Paul II, the Apostle of Divine Mercy.

This grassroots level pastoral and spiritual commitment is interwoven with managerial duties I have here in Kiabakari, restructuring of the staff and work program in our health center, enjoying the new pre-school life in new reality and grateful to God for the successful registration of the pre-school and primary school. We have sat together as stakeholders of the education in Kiabakari to think about the best possible environment for our standard four students who will sit for the first time in the history of our parish for the standard four national exams later this year. We have devised lunch for them in school and extra activities - tuition - so all in the class can perform to the best of their ability and achieve good results, thus, bringing our school a due acclaim and recognition.

At the end of April I will travel to Poland and to Europe in general. Lot of things to do and lot of people to see. Things to finalize, to decide, to take new directions and accomplish. Among them - finding resources to push forward construction and completion of the primary school. I will have to build at least one classroom this year so our standard four students can have a place to study next year as we have completed and furnished four classrooms only so far. On the other hand - the completion and firing up of the new website of Foundation Kiabakari and the main website of Kiabakari (we are close to complete technical stuff and start filling the spaces with text and images).

This second period of four months away from Kiabakari will include also my participation in WACOM 2014 in Bogota Colombia in August. Looking forward to this experience and the opportunity of sharing with the world what we do here in Kiabakari and Tanzania to spread the message and spirituality of Divine Mercy.

Upon my return to Tanzania at the end of August, the third period of this year will be filled with the construction of the new classrooms in the primary school, competitions on artistic and sports level in the parish in preparation of the finale of the Year of Family (Feast of Holy Family on December 28). We will have competitions in choirs, drama, poems, drawing and painting, storytelling, dancing etc. We will have netball and soccer league starting in September. There are several couples who come to my office and state their intention to bless their marriages on that feast. Surely, the picture I get is very encouraging and I am positively sure those last four months will be the wonderful time of celebration of our unity and togetherness as God's and human family.

All the plans and hopes I immerse in the Ocean of Divine Mercy so the Lord's Will be done, not ours. Having said so, I ask all of you for your kind prayers. Let it happen! Stay blessed! Praying for all of you and all your intentions in this holy time of Lent.

The Year of Family plan sounds quite interesting!

Looking Forward To WACOM 2014

A very good morning indeed. I have just succeeded to register myself online for WACOM 2014 (World Apostolic Congress On Mercy) which will take place in Bogota, Colombia in August this year (check the news on Facebook and YouTube). I was blessed to attend the previous two Congresses - in Lateran Basilica in Rome and in Łagiewniki-Kraków. And I am very happy and grateful to Merciful Lord and people of good will who enabled me to get ready for the third Congress. I will participate in this important event as the national coordinator of WACOM in Tanzania.

I am deeply grateful to my friends who found a good connection and airfare at Swiss and those who helped me with partial payment for my air ticket to Europe and then to Colombia. I am deeply grateful to His Excellency Bishop Michael Msonganzila who supported the journey with remaining two thirds of the airfare and gave his blessing for the endeavor.

I am deeply grateful to Almighty and Merciful Lord for the chance to give testimony to the world about the Divine Mercy devotion and spirituality in this part of the universe. I am looking forward to reconnect with Divine Mercy Apostles from various countries whom I met in the previous two Congresses.

I commend the spiritual preparations for the Congress and the Congress itself to your kind and generous prayers, my dear readers. May Lord's Will be done in all of us and in everything we undertake in His name. God bless us all in this holy time of Lent!

Official website of WACOM Colombia - registration online

Successful registration

Sweet Little Curious Fellow

Yesterday's Sunday Gospel read:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life,
what you will eat or drink,
or about your body, what you will wear.
Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
Look at the birds in the sky;
they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns,
yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are not you more important than they?
Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?
Why are you anxious about clothes?
Learn from the way the wild flowers grow.
They do not work or spin.
But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor
was clothed like one of them.
If God so clothes the grass of the field,
which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow,
will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith?
So do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’
or ‘What are we to drink?’or ‘What are we to wear?’
All these things the pagans seek.
Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,
and all these things will be given you besides.
Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.
Sufficient for a day is its own evil.” (Mt 6)

This passage brought a fond and fresh memory of a recent event. 

In the final couple of days of the visit of my friends from Poland last month (this also explains why I kept away from the blog for so long), one of them, Peter, ventured out around my house to try to get some decent macro shots, trying out my macro gear - Canon 100m f2.8 L lens on Canon Eos 5d mark II and Canon Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX. 

With his permission, I present one of the great shots he was lucky to take. This sweet little curious fellow on the rock actually is the size of the half of the fingernail! Yet his gorgeous presence makes me speechless at the masterpiece of God's creation.  The splendor of God's creation does not mean only birds or flowers. Little curious spiders are the part of this splendor also if you dare to have a closer look at their regal attire.

Eighteen Years

Look carefully at this picture below:

It was taken right after the Divine Mercy Sunday Mass in 1996. Late President of Tanzania, Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere and myself were standing at the corner of the not-finished-yet shrine of Divine Mercy (it was dedicated on July 3, 1997) and we were talking about the situation of the education in Tanzania and in Mara region area in particular. Mwalimu was very adamant about the need of providing the quality education at grassroots levels, especially in our areas. He was giving me his moral support in the realization of this dream.

I was showing Mwalimu the future development of the parish, where the planned institution were going to be located and the picture caught the moment where I was talking about the future primary school in Kiabakari. We were looking in the direction where now there is in fact the not-finished-yet building of the primary school.

I am praying to Mwalimu now, believing strongly that he is in heaven, to pray for us, so that after eighteen long years since that day where we talked about the importance of education in Kiabakari, this dream comes true this year. Please, pray with me to Mwalimu!

Anticipation

The next few weeks will be filled to the brim with anticipation of results of projects accepted by Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the development scheme of Polish Aid 2014. It will be known in the near future if any of our Foundation Kiabakari submitted projects will go through. I am not going to be a prophet of any kind. Just praying to God for His Will to be fulfilled as He himself knows how much we need them in this particular point of development of Kiabakari.

I know the amount of work that went into the preparation of the projects, how well they are founded and grounded in reality, how much the local community in our village and district at large needs them.

It is up to the special commission to decide if our reasoning finds its favorable decision.

To me, either way will not make my year much different. If we get the funding, it will be easier to me to complete those projects. If not, it will be up to me to find alternative sources of funding.

I will not reveal in extenso what kind of projects we sent for funding to the Ministry. I can only say that the primary school project which includes the finishing of the remaining three classrooms and computer room with extension multipurpose service building - is absolutely crucial to me. I have to do it this year.  My standard four students will sit for the national exam this year, as you know from my previous posts. For this I need a registration of the school.

As I struggle to get the registration of our pre- and primary school, one of the conditions for the full registration is the completion of the infrastructure and the basic school equipment. The Tanzanian government during the latest inspection estimated that our school project is 81% done (thanks to the pre-school project funded by Polish Aid 2013 and the Small Grant in 2007 which financed construction of foundations, walls, windows and doors of the present primary school). The lacking 19% is crucial.

That is why in prayerful anticipation I will wait for the verdict of the commission. This will tell me how my year will look like. Will it be relatively easy climb towards the important goal with funding from Polish Aid 2014 or it will be a difficult one with me going around the world again in hope of securing the necessary funding? Time will tell. I can only ask humbly the Lord to consider granting me the easier way...

All I ask of you, my esteemed readers, is to pray to God with me in anticipation of things to come. May His will be done.

2 Out Of 3

After two days of celebrations of Mapinduzi Zanzibar and Maulid, today is finally a day of work. Having celebrated the Holy Mass in the morning, I will be soon heading to the Ministry of Education to receive the official letter from the Hon. Minister - the recognition of the Diocese of Musoma as the lawful owner of pre-school and primary school in Kiabakari and myself as an executive director / manager of the same. This process of registration has there major steps and we have done two out of three. After today, what will be left is to finally register the schools and get the government number. This will enable us to be recognized as educational institution in Tanzania and as a recognized examination center for the upcoming national exams for which our standard four students will sit for the first time in the short history of our primary school.

Apart from this visit at the Ministry, what is on the agenda today is the visit to Crown Healthcare Ltd. - our main supplier and maintenance provider for our health center in Kiabakari. Since we have got a brand new water bath machine and microscope funded by the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the 'Upendo Unaojali' project, purchased at the end of the last year, I am able to bring for the emergency repair our old water bath and microscope - which - after some six years of continuous work in our lab - gave up and broke down.

In the afternoon, time permitting, I may feel tempted to go to the movie theater. Some new movies playing (same blockbusters as elsewhere in the world). We will see!

What's Cooking?

The New Year has arrived. It feels so good to enter a new year with prevailing conviction that I did what I humanely could to live it to the fullest and do whatever I could. Overwhelming gratitude do Merciful God who made it happen.

And now as I enter the New Year with all plans, dreams, resolutions, decisions and hopes, I can only repeat what I always do - In Te, Domine, speravi; non confundar in aeternum! Jesus, I trust in You!

You may ask what is cooking in the back of my mind, what lies in stake in this new year, what agenda I have. Well, it will become known and clear as we progress. For now, apart from the pastoral plan for the Year of the Family, reports of the finished development projects, hopes for the new ones, final stages of the registration of our schools, I work on final touches of the new website of Kiabakari. Hopefully, before I begin my long awaited holidays in May this year, the website will be completed and I will be able to publish it. Looking very much forward to it as it will combine and put together all assets in Kiabakari and will link in one place all things Kiabakari.

Wishing all of you happy and prosperous New Year both in your personal and professional lives, I pray for each and everyone of you. God bless us all!

Happy Moment

Felt weary and burnt out today as I made my way through Ministry of Education and some places and shops in Dar es Salaam, running on spiritual fumes - if I may use this petrol head term. 

It is unusual for me to have a nap in the afternoon. Not today. I had to. I had enough of everything and the ambiance of total tiredness encompassed me suddenly. 

Woke up a couple of hours later. Working on the previous post I felt a surge of happiness and accomplishment and then came along this song - one of my old companions since many many years. 

It all came together wonderfully and made a magic moment of pure happiness and inner joy...

One Week

One week left till the opening of the new school year, the day when our new pre-school fills with children laughter and smiles. Can't wait! Such a huge reward for all the effort of the passed year.

2014 Resolution

The Year of Faith showed me very clearly how difficult is the situation with our families in Kiabakari, both - the couples and extended families. You would assume before the Year of Faith started that it would be a time of reconciliation, healing, acts of faith including the sacrament of marriage and so forth. To the contrary. The Year of Faith painfully displayed all the problems couples and families face in the modern world. I was able only to bless a few marriages in 2013, the lowest number in all my years in Kiabakari.

Holy Father puts it precisely, pinpointing these problems:

"The family is experiencing a profound cultural crisis, as are all communities and social bonds. In the case of the family, the weakening of these bonds is particularly serious because the family is the fundamental cell of society, where we learn to live with others despite our differences and to belong to one another; it is also the place where parents pass on the faith to their children. Marriage now tends to be viewed as a form of mere emotional satisfaction that can be constructed in any way or modified at will. But the indispensible contribution of marriage to society transcends the feelings and momentary needs of the couple. As the French bishops have taught, it is not born “of loving sentiment, ephemeral by definition, but from the depth of the obligation assumed by the spouses who accept to enter a total communion of life”.

The individualism of our postmodern and globalized era favours a lifestyle which weakens the development and stability of personal relationships and distorts family bonds. Pastoral activity needs to bring out more clearly the fact that our relationship with the Father demands and encourages a communion which heals, promotes and reinforces interpersonal bonds. In our world, especially in some countries, different forms of war and conflict are re-emerging, yet we Christians remain steadfast in our intention to respect others, to heal wounds, to build bridges, to strengthen relationships and to “bear one another’s burdens” (Gal 6:2). Today too, various associations for the defence of rights and the pursuit of noble goals are being founded. This is a sign of the desire of many people to contribute to social and cultural progress." (Evangelii Gaudium, 66-67)

It is obvious that we as a parochial community must react and respond to this challenge.

The Holy Father explains:

"The parish is not an outdated institution; precisely because it possesses great flexibility, it can assume quite different contours depending on the openness and missionary creativity of the pastor and the community. While certainly not the only institution which evangelizes, if the parish proves capable of self-renewal and constant adaptivity, it continues to be “the Church living in the midst of the homes of her sons and daughters”. This presumes that it really is in contact with the homes and the lives of its people, and does not become a useless structure out of touch with people or a self-absorbed group made up of a chosen few. The parish is the presence of the Church in a given territory, an environment for hearing God’s word, for growth in the Christian life, for dialogue, proclamation, charitable outreach, worship and celebration. In all its activities the parish encourages and trains its members to be evangelizers. It is a community of communities, a sanctuary where the thirsty come to drink in the midst of their journey, and a centre of constant missionary outreach. We must admit, though, that the call to review and renew our parishes has not yet sufficed to bring them nearer to people, to make them environments of living communion and participation, and to make them completely mission-oriented.

Other Church institutions, basic communities and small communities, movements, and forms of association are a source of enrichment for the Church, raised up by the Spirit for evangelizing different areas and sectors. Frequently they bring a new evangelizing fervour and a new capacity for dialogue with the world whereby the Church is renewed. But it will prove beneficial for them not to lose contact with the rich reality of the local parish and to participate readily in the overall pastoral activity of the particular Church. This kind of integration will prevent them from concentrating only on part of the Gospel or the Church, or becoming nomads without roots." (Evangelii Gaudium, 28-29)

That is why this year is going to be a Year of the Family in Kiabakari. The comprehensive pastoral program which will include special seminars and retreats, Small Christian Communities revival and communal reflection on the issues bothering our society and families.

I entrust this year to the guidance, light and power of the Holy Spirit and to the intercession of the Holy Family. I ask also all of you, my esteemed readers, to pray for us, pray for the couples and the families, pray for our parochial family.

May this year be happy, fulfilling and successful in all aspects to all of us. God bless us all!

Rain And Ground Water Harvesting, Cleaning and Storing Project - Images

And the final post for today - just a few pictures of the final stage of the completion of the rain and ground water harvesting, initial cleaning and storing in concrete and PVC tanks development project in my mission in Kiabakari, co-financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland. These pictures were taken also in mid-December, like the previous two posts. I had no time to post them earlier - internet issues and guests prohibited to do so. Today, I am in Musoma, so the internet is gentle enough to allow to upload the pics. Mind that the latest works are not depicted here. Not all elements of the project are seen here as well. This is just to let you get a general idea of the nature of the project.

I will post final pictures along with the remaining two projects once they are in full swing. Still, what is seen here, fills my heart with pride and gratitude to God, Polish Foreign Ministry, Foundation Kiabakari and all people involved directly and indirectly in the realization of the project.

Extension Of Health Center In Kiabakari Project - Images

A few pictures of the final stage of the completion of the development project of expansion of our health center  in Kiabakari, including the construction of new wards, ICU of infants, maternity ward, gynecologist's office and so on, co-financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland. 

These pictures were taken in mid-December, the latest works are not depicted here. Late equipment arrivals as well. A couple of new wards, not all. I will post final pictures once the new wards are open and fully operational (first, I need to stamp logos on bedsheets, hang mosquito nets, place the trash bins according to color code, prepare hospital clothes for patients - these clothes were not included in the project and to finalize the tender for running of our new hospital kitchen before I allow patients to be admitted in the new wards; and so forth). Still, what is seen here, fills my heart with pride and gratitude to God, Polish Foreign Ministry, Foundation Kiabakari and all people involved directly and indirectly in the realization of the project. 

Modern Pre-School Project in Kiabakari - Images

A few pictures of the final stage of the completion of the modern pre-school development project in my mission in Kiabakari, co-financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland. These pictures were taken in mid-December, the latest works are not depicted here. I will post final pictures once the pre-school is open and students are in the school. Still, what is seen here, fills my heart with pride and gratitude to God, Polish Foreign Ministry, Foundation Kiabakari and all people involved directly and indirectly in the realization of the project.

Serengeti Western Corridor In Wet Season

A few images from Monday day trip to Serengeti. Lucky to run into the wildebeest migration. Never seen so many of them in one place. Polite request: Please, do not copy the images without my permission. Thank you.

Nature About To Explode

A Mountain To Climb

Construction phase of our development projects over, half of seminars interconnected with projects done, three more to go. The time has come to complete paperwork - reports, statements, financial documentation etc. The sheer amount of work is immense and although all papers, documents, pro-forma invoices, invoices, legal receipts, photo documentation and so forth are professionally collected and stored securely, still - the job of turning this mountain of paper into prescribed in form and method reports - is a genuine mountain to climb. This is what I have started doing sometime ago and will continue for the next two weeks or so. Calm patience, silence and focus is what I need now. That is why I have detached myself from the noise and 'hodi hodi' environment of Kiabakari to do the job professionally and thoroughly. Wish me luck, please, and say a prayer to Holy Spirit for the success of this task. Thanks in advance!

Thank You, Poland!

The Power At Work Within Us

At the threshold of the new liturgical year, I recall the words of Saint Paul the Apostle of Nations, which I chose as the preamble of my testament and I used them as the second reading for my silver jubilee celebration in Kiabakari last week on November 21.

"I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that he may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to accomplish far more than all we ask or imagine, by the power at work within us, to him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen." (Eph 3:14-21)

When I went for my one day retreat at Bunda Carmel one week before the silver jubilee celebrations, I got the powerful message on that day reminding me about the unique role of the Holy Spirit in my life and priestly / missionary vocation. All three reading chosen for the jubilee Mass spoke about the work of the Holy Spirit in my life. And yet I was somehow oblivious of this obvious truth in my past years. The Holy Spirit came back on that day in Bunda and rightfully enlightened my mind and soul to take back His crucial and primary position in my life.

As I celebrated the first Holy Mass of the new liturgical year this morning, I surrendered myself to the Holy Spirit and His Power at work within us. May this new year and all remaining years of my life be the Holy Spirit Domain. 

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth. The earth of my heart and soul. The earth of my daily priestly and missionary life. The earth of lives of all I love and serve.

O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.