Back Down The Road To Mlafu

This morning we went back down the road to Dar, turning off at Ilulu, we passed by Itungi, and 30 minutes later were at Mlafu.  As we turned off the road at Ilulu a man ran out and waved us down – it was Doricus Kimbavala (you may recall that he was the former pastor at Ihemi who went out to visit the IHESA SACCOS with us).  He had just come from Mlafu where he was visiting his children.  Since the death of their mother they have been staying with their aunt while Doricius goes to college in Arusha. 

When we got to Mlafu Sandy recognized the pastor.  Pastor Daison Mpesa was another one of the students from her communications class at Tumaini in 2005.  He told us that after graduating he was sent here to Mlafu and had been here ever since.

We went into the parsonage and talked awhile over chai and chapatti.  Mlafu has 4 preaching points.  The congregation has 300 adult members (and 770 children!).  Pastor Daison told us that the parish was very poor.  (Looking around I would have guessed that it was one of the poorest parishes we have visited.)  They have a CVP which is doing well and it was through the people from the Ag Institute that they first heard about SACCOS.  Today was the first time they have received any instruction in how a SACCOS works and how it can improve the quality of life in a community.

Our meeting and Itiweni’s class were held in the church with 11 men and 9 women in attendance.  Brown gave them an introduction, Tom and Sandy extended greetings, and finally Itiweni started the seminar.  This seminar proved to be longer than most as the members had many questions -- What makes a good SACCOS leader?  How do we start?  How much should we save?  Can we get help with the starting capital?  How many members do we need?  Who can join?  Where can we get training?  What can we use loans for?  What can we use for collateral? 

Good questions and lots of serious people who really want to have a SACCOS.  We promised to provide them with a constitution.  We also invited them to send three people to the training sessions.  Finally the pastor got up.  “Thank you, thank you for coming so far to see us!  We really need help in this.  Our members want to do better but we need training and help.  Bless you for helping us. . .”  His talk went on.  He told them they should all start saving for the startup capital.  Itiweni suggested that maybe they could each save $2/month.  The pastor told them the richer ones should save $3 or 4/month.

When we left the church Pastor Mpesa rode with us to show us the way to the home of Doricus’s sister.  We were met on the road by his oldest daughter who walked with us to the house and introduced us to her brothers and sisters.  Ebenezer, the youngest, had been a baby when we saw him last.  The younger children were amused by the stories we told them about what they were doing the last time we saw them.  

It’s good to see so many familiar faces when we make our visits.  

There was enough rain the night before that the road was very muddy and slippery.

We had to stop and ask directions from this woman.  It turned out she was on her way to the meeting (she rode along with us).

When Sandy got out she immediately recognized the pastor.  He had been one of her speech students when we taught at Tumaini in 2005.

As we had chai the pastor told us how they really needed help to be able to afford to follow the teaching of the Ag Institute

The church is a very attractive brick structure.  I was told that their partner (Our Saviors Lutheran in Stillwater) had helped them build it.  Asanta Sana!

The 20 people who came were very serious.  They asked so many questions that the seminar took 30 minutes longer than usual.

The local government official was there.  "Can I announce this to everyone in the area next time?  We really need this type of training here."

The pastor talked for a long time at the end.  "We need to start saving for this now," he told them.

We drove back down the rode to Doricus' sister's house.

His daughter came running down the road to greet us and introduce to the children - they had changed since 2008!

What a delightful family!