Polish Taxpayers / Friends Of Kiabakari - With Your 1% Of 2016 Tax We Can Finish The School In Kiabakari

My dear Friends of Kiabakari, we have been toiling hard to complete the construction of the primary school in my mission for the past nine years. With your generous 1% of 2016 tax we can finish this job once and for all!

Come on! Let's do it! We can make it happen!

Please, Polish speakers - Listen to the radio spot prepared for Foundation Kiabakari for the sake of "2016 1% of tax campaign".

Check this out on Chirbit

Kiabakari Dziękuje Wam!

Yes, We Could And We Did!

What has happened in the past four months (September-December 2014) since I came back from my extended holidays-medical checkup, borders on a genuine miracle category. Yes, putting aside apparent God's Providence and blessings, it is an outcome of joined efforts of so many friends of Kiabakari and of our development push for the betterment of the education of our little ones in Kiabakari.

Firstly - all those who presented me with various gifts during my silver jubilee of priesthood celebrations in 2013 - both in Europe and in Tanzania. These gifts helped me to buy three plots and offer compensation for three families adjacent to our primary school for the purpose of the construction of the new wing. The cost of this exercise was 6,000 Euros.

Secondly - my relatives and personal friends in Poland, Austria and Ireland, parochial communities where I was invited for mission awareness Sundays and fundraisers (Chochołów, Puławy, Krowodrza, Św. Szczepan, Św. Kazimierz, Św. Karol Boromeusz, NSPJ os. Teatralne in Nowa Huta, Siepraw, Ogrodzieniec, Św. Jan Kanty - os. Widok, Biały Prądnik), bank donations from many known and unknown to me persons, Foundation Kiabakari online fundraisers for the construction of the new wing and for the textbooks for standard five students, Makulatura na Misje team at St. Kazimierz home parish in Krakow and the last but not least corporate donor - Murapol S.A. from Bielsko-Biała, Poland, school construction fund of parents of our students in Kiabakari (they donated altogether 200$) - we were able to reach the goal for the end of 2014 - the construction of the new wing for standard 5,6,7 classrooms and computer lab, the finishing and furnishing of standard 5 and six classrooms (the standard six finishing is underway at the moment) and the textbooks for standard 5 students. The total value of the entire project so far exceeds 75,000$.

Yes, we could and we did!

I am so proud and grateful to all of you who helped us in small and big ways. Here are some images of this story:

White Plate White Mug

On my to-do-list for today in Dar es Salaam there was a quest for food warmers / food servers for our new kitchen in health center and in new pre-school. I went to Kariakoo to search for them. Found them here and there, but what caused my heart melt were white plastic plates and mugs I bought from the wholesale Chinese shop for the pre-school dining hall. 

As I was holding a sample plate and a mug in my hands, my mind went to the opening day of the new pre-school, November 22. On that day we will not only have the ribbon cutting ceremony at the gate, but also the short sample of 'a day in new pre-school' which means - first lesson in each age group, breakfast in new dining hall and first games in our new playgrounds. 

I felt touched by the mental picture of some one hundred happy pre-schoolers sitting at the new tables in dining hall and having their first breakfast served from the new kitchen, equipped with modern stuff. Nice nutritious breakfast served on new white plates and a mug of freshly brewed tea for our little ones... All effort that went into the planning of the project, waiting in anticipation for the announcement of the Polish Ministry for Foreign Affairs - if the project passed or not, then the entire construction process up till now - it was worth it. 

The picture of our pupils enjoying their first day in their new pre-school is priceless. And melts my heart. Grateful to God and so many grand people of good will - from the donors through our Foundation Kiabakari to the task force - who made this possible, who made this happen. 

Deep Ocean Diving

Back home in Kiabakari, feeling on the very first day after return as if I dived deep down into the ocean of issues and troubles forcing me immediately to switch to the full working and combat mode. Pity it did not rain since I left for Poland some six weeks ago. Everything has changed so dramatically since then. I left the place green and lush. I found it upon my return dull, dusty, gray and yellow. Trouble, big trouble with water supply for our development projects which I commenced before I left. Guys did a great job anyway and things are moving forward in a decent pace, though they admit if not the water problem, they would be much farther ahead in the construction process. Still, I am impressed! Yesterday I spent most time discussing water issue with relevant authorities. Today we started digging out all pipelines to see who has been connected to our water lines and to make sure everything is in proper order. If I cannot solve the problem with steady supply of water from village pipeline, then I will be forced to use the option of water tanker supplying water from the nearby creek. This will be very costly and I do hope we can avoid it. Let's see what happens in these few days.

Here are some pictures (click here) I took yesterday on my tour of construction site which I posted on Foundation Kiabakari Facebook profile. As always, I count very much on your kind prayers!

Houston, we've got a problem! Water!!!

Fencing Off

For a long time my sisters have been complaining that some of the local people come after school hours to pre-school and devastate the playground. They managed already to cut off one of the swing, steal bolts and nuts, wood planks and wreak havoc on the playground area in general...

The House of God

The time has come for the House of God to move ahead in its construction process. Started years back, corner stone laid by the late Bishop Justin Samba back in 2006, shortly before his sudden death, it waited for this moment for some six long years...

Ordnung Muss Sein

The first two weeks after my return to Kiabakari were a bit stressful and overwhelming. The calmness returns finally and things look like they fall in proper places, with everybody busy in their field of responsibility. Denise and Thomas in the school, Agata and Zuza in the health center, working on the project. Myself busy with craftsmen and construction workers at the health center, the school and at home.

We meet at the table mainly, for meals and sometimes in the evening for a chat or to watch something - a movie, news on TV or a concert on DVD.

Dust settled down, calm restored, sense of purpose, sense of belonging, sense of responsibility of each one of us. There is time for everything now. Prayer, work, rest, moments together and seclusion. 

This is the way I like things to be. Ordnung muss sein!

Just a few quick photos taken today from my construction frontline. 

The Dwelling

The First Reading of today's Liturgy. The first part of it describing in detail construction process of the Dwelling of the Lord. Moses busy with myriads of things, putting them together exactly according to the Plan given to him by God. And then, once God has taken the possession of the Dwelling, Moses was unable to enter it again...

The Busiest Day

Isn't it a bit weird that Saturdays are busiest days of every week for me? As far as I remember correctly, in Polish, European and American parishes I know, Saturday is quite an easy going day, the day of rest and little things to go about...But not for me. Am I sane?

Fast Lane

It's been one of those days when I feel I live in a fast lane. Especially today, the tempo of life has been set to a turbo mode. Time flew so fast and there were so many things happening at once that even now, though sitting and writing these few lines, and getting ready to switch to a more subtle mode of peaceful evening, I doubt it will be easy to do so and relax, as the hard drive in my head is still spinning fast and does not show any sign of slowing down...

Limits Of Decency

Staring at the piece of paper with columns of numbers and total below... Just finished measuring a truckload of timber that came from Musoma, which I ordered yesterday and left my worker there at the timber depot to supervise measuring the timber and loading on a truck. Then the vehicle arrived in the evening and my people offloaded the cargo. I asked the man I entrusted with the responsibility of making sure we get what we ordered if he was absolutely sure that this was the timber we ordered and if he was certain that the running meters of timber ordered match the running meters of timber we had just offloaded? He vehemently acknowledged that this was the case...Sorry, but I am too old to be a naive optimist...

And On This Rock...

I will build my...tank...

Amazing workers I am privileged to have, I have to say in full praise! They were able to pull an incredible feat. To finish laying concrete slab as a base for the water tank in less than 20 hours with such huge problems with water, borders on impossible! They are trashed now completely, so after paying them their dues and thanking with all my heart, I couldn't but wish them a good night, haha...

Sinkhole

I guess 'The Day After' Syndrome is going to pass rather quickly this time. And this I will owe to the most hated place in the entire Divine Mercy Hill. Strange, to say the least! For around ten long years I was staring in this disgusting, repulsive, depressing sinkhole which sucked life, joy, hopes out of me big time day in, day out mercilessly, silently, efficiently...

Ambivalence

This is exactly how I feel getting ready for my return flight to Musoma early afternoon today and then a short drive (some 40 km by car from Musoma) to Kiabakari. Ambivalence is a right word to describe my state of mind as I brace what awaits me there back 'home' in Kia (as we got used to say in short)...

Cooperation in God's Creation

Just came back from Chief Wanzagi Girls’ Secondary School at Buturu. Went out there this morning to document work we have accomplished there. Saying ‘we’ I mean my workers and myself who were asked by Sisters of the Resurrection, running the school, to help them in construction of their own house (a religious convent with all additional infrastructure) – the very first convent of the Congregation in whole of Africa! And also, to build two new classrooms in Sisters’ continuous effort to develop school infrastructure for the benefit of Tanzanian girls’ and their quality education...

We started the construction works in mid-November 2009 and by the end of April 2010 both projects were fully completed, though we had some unexpected breaks, including my emergency trip to Poland in March seeking medical help for my illness.

Browsing through pictures I was gradually taking throughout the whole construction process till today it amazes me how creative we, human beings, are! From the abandoned cassava field in November last year till (five months later) complete convent compound with underground water tank, solar system, polytanks, full electrical wiring, quality workmanship and finishing...Same with two new classrooms...

I do not want to keep this amazement to myself only, so decided to share some pictures with you, depicting our participation in God’s creation which is unfolding in front of our eyes and will continue to do so with us participating in it till Lord Jesus comes again...

The first set of photos shows the progress of the construction of Sisters’ convent from the setting of foundations till today:

The second set shows the construction of two new classrooms at Chief Wanzagi Girls' Secondary School:

 

Blessed be Lord, God of all creation!