Volunteering in Kiabakari - North American Chapter

I ask all my friends to have a kind look at the website/blog below (click on the caption below the picture to access the blog) and help if possible this young brave lady who dreams about sharing with us in Kiabakari her time, talents and professional knowledge she has acquired through her studies. She will be the very first North American volunteer in Kiabakari. Keeping my spiritual fingers crossed for our future guest! Welcome to Kiabakari, Emily!

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Kiabakari Open For Business

Having finished a tense period of long preparations of the ordination of Fr. Augustino Mapambano, his thanksgiving Mass and all events related to it, we can go back to work. Kiabakari open for business again. My mind and heart shifting back to parochial pastoral and spiritual life, development projects, daily stuff coming from our educational and healthcare facilities, diocesan events like tomorrow's silver jubilee of Fr. Julius Manyonyi in Masonga Parish which I am going to attend. After all, Father Julius along with Monsignor Aristaric Bahati are my classmates - we were ordained same year, 1988. So, I really look forward to tomorrow's long journey to Masonga parish. Nice day off Kiabakari and its duties.

On Thursday I will accompany our volunteer Jane from Rome who has been working for a couple of weeks in Kiabakari serving children in our pre-school during her annual holidays. Jane is working professionally for Italian Television Rai Tre, but she decided to offer her holidays this year for voluntary work and asked to come to Kiabakari to do so. As she will be leaving next week back home, this week is the last bell for her to reward herself a little with a day trip to Serengeti. I want to make sure that she gets the value for money as the experience shows that when my volunteers go by their own, without the knowledge of Serengeti, sometimes drivers tend to shorten the day and save fuel for which we paid after all, and they come back in the afternoon without even reaching Seronera and Hippo Pool. So, I will go with Father Augustino to make sure we get what we paid for and Jane and us enjoy spectacular views and close encounters with the wildlife. Expect some nice picture soon!

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.

M&M

Thank God Marianna and Marija arrived safely to Dar es Salaam yesterday. Thank God for Brother James and Sister Ewa who met them at the airport and gave shelter overnight and brought them back to the airport for the morning flight to Mwanza. Thank God for bringing me safely to Mwanza. Thank God for Father Janusz and the whole SMA community at their regional house in Bwiru, Mwanza, for allowing me to stay with them overnight and giving me a great company. Thank God for M&M safe flight to Mwanza and our first ever meeting and breaking ice there. Thank God for our safe journey to Kiabakari and our first ever lunch together at home...God is great. Always great!

Lighthouse Family

Their songs accompany me in the last two days as I tried to fight the clock and get everything in place and ready for the first volunteers who will give a comprehensive test to the renovated and refurbished St. Martha House and the premises...

Feminine Touch

This will be the final step in the renovating and refurbishing efforts of St. Martha House and St. Robert Bellarmin House. For those of you who don't get these names - a translation into more approachable terms: St. Martha House is a small guest house near the mission compound, which initially I built in 1992 as an  employees house, for the housekeeper and the family, while St. Robert Bellarmin House is the rectory...

Sadness, Gratitude, Hope

So sad to see someone you get used to live with and share daily struggles - go back to Poland. Today in a hour time we will have a short ceremony combined with lunch at health center, bidding farewell to Zosia, a volunteer nurse from Humanitarian Aid Foundation 'Redemptoris Missio', who lived with us and worked in Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati Health Center for six months since October last year till now...

Thin Line

There is a fine line between life and death, security and safety, happiness and sorrow, confidence and fear... I guess it applies to all humans all worldwide, but in particular here, in a rural Tanzania. Today we have seen this thin line for ourselves...