Keanes in Tanzania

This is Father Chomba’s Home Parish but it is also the site for the Malangali School for the blind.  These kids have it rough, about a third of them are blind and 70% suffer from Albinoism.  As Albino’s they are outcast from much of society, even their families.  The center needs better Acces to water, shoes, and hats for the kids and special skin cream for the complications of Albinoism.  We did what we could while we were there but they need much more help than we could provide.

Third stop blew us away and deserves much more explanation than I can give it tonight.  Pita Village is a small Dispensary where medical care is given to people from the surrounding villages.  The distance to town is too far for medical care at the larger regional hospital so most villagers use the dispensary for routine care, especially mother and infant care.  St Thomas Moore has contributed to this Dispensary and recently provided them funds to complete a badly needed extension to the medical facilities.  Unbeknownst to us, Father Pontiano had arranged with the local priest to treat us to a celebration in honor of the new building.  We were welcomed with traditional dance, Dad was presented with a Chicken, and the baby born in the Dispensary that very day was named, Anna, in honor of mom. (You read that last sentence right, all of that really just happened!) Did I forget to mention we also met the 92 year old mother of Father Pontiano and his two sisters, amazing people, and ama

Second Stop today was at the seminary where Father Chomba was trained.  Over 300 seminarians from two adjoining diocese share this campus.  The cookhouse here was in bad repair.  One of the Institutional stoves was installed and running, but it shared a small room with ten full scale log fires and no ventilation.  Literally none of the mission team could stand to be in this cookhouse for more then a minute without a full on choking fit, yet the women who prepare the food spend 6-8 hours a day in there preparing three hot meals for the students. Institutional Stove working well in Kaengasa Seminary Ten log fires run full out in this space, absolutely impossible to breath in here

We met up with Father and the Stove team and began an epic day.  Attached are some pictures of Emma with the girls and boys from Katumba Secondary School.  The school has 180 students, 60 of which are girls who sleep in dormitories during the school terms.  The school has one of Dad's institutional stoves installed alongside the dorms and it seems to be running well after three years.  We met with the headmaster and the Matron.  Both were kind and pointed out some other needs:  Science books topped the headmaster's list.  The Matron felt the girls needed better facilities for the boarders.  Place had no electricity, one outside water spigot, and an old smokey cookhouse. Special note:  St Thomas Moore is doing great work here.  They sponsor ten of the boarding girls and we met all of them, all were charming young women; not unlike the same school-age girls I meet everyday when I drop Emma off at her boarding school, Loomis Chaffee, back in CT.  I happen to agree with the matro