Ilula
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Ilula Trip 2008
IOP NEWS
Lord willing I will be in the U.S. by the time this is read, but at the moment I am here in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. I have just completed what I think is the fastest 30 days of my life.
Weather in Ilula was very mild. This is winter time there, and lows were in the mid 50′s on some nights, to highs in the 70 to 80 degree range. A jacket was necessary on a few occasions, although the locals were wearing heavy coats! To me, it was perfect.
It has been a very eventful trip. My main purpose was to take as many pictures of our IOP students as I could (around 650 currently), so sponsors can have a recent picture of who they are sponsoring. Due to the shortage of secondary schools, we have students placed in nearly 70 schools across Tanzania. This made my task extremely difficult in such a short period of time.
We did manage to get 375 pictures so far, Annelies from IOP in Netherlands will continue my task until around July 9th. Various methods was used for travel to get these pictures, Berit’s vehicle, motorcycle, and walking. Several kilometers were logged on foot traveling to various schools. Due to the extremely high cost of gasoline, about 1700 shillings per liter (about $1.5 per liter, i think its about 4 liters to a gallon), and the damage that the roads cause to the tires on her 4 wheel drive (2 tires received punctures to bad they had to be replaced at a cost of $230 per tire), walking to as many schools seemed necessary. It also kind of gave me a good taste of life in Tanzania, as foot travel is the most common way of getting from point a to b.
My trip also involved some fund raising activities, and some visits to government offices on our electrical needs at the center. Upon arrival at the airport in May, Berit and I went to the Norwegian Ambassador’s house to discuss the high school IOP plans to build. Also visits to the American Embassy and a meeting with the Minister of Communication and Technology occurred while i was in Dar Es Salaam. Later meetings with Tanesco’s (the government run power company) regional and National offices concerning IOP getting connected to the power grid.
IOP, which is having a celebration the first week in July for our 10 year anniversary, is seeing even greater needs in the Ilula area. New government figures have come out showing that the Iringa region (the location of Ilula) now has the highest rate of HIV/Aids infection in the country. Various reasons for this is thought to be causing the trouble, from Severe poverty to local tribal practices of men taking their deceased brothers wife as their own (in addition to their own wife if they have one). Poverty can cause a woman to make poor choices that most would consider unthinkable. The cries of a hungry or thirsty child though, can make that poor choice seem like the best way of solving their problem.
Probably the most memorable part of my trip was the time spent with the 31 girls at the orphanage, who range in age from 9 to about 19. Having memorized all their names before leaving, and studying pictures, it took only a short time to be able to call all the girls by name. It was as if I had suddenly become “Dad” (or maybe grandpa) to 31 girls. Someone in the community even was heard calling me “Babu Berit” ( “babu” is granddad, Berit is know by everyone as “Bibi Berit”, grandmother). Saying Goodbye after 30 days was a very difficult thing to do.
I would like to thank everyone for the financial gifts of my traveling expenses, and for the prayers while i have been in Tanzania. Gifts from the church and others helped pay all the cost of my ticket, as well as helping with the cost for equipment that I took to Tanzania (battery powered photo printer, small backup hard drive, and a few other odds and ends).
From Tanzania
Ron Porter
News from ILULA
As I am laying here early in the morning under a mosquito net, having just listened to the Muslim call to worship off in the distance, the realities of where I am suddenly sink in.
The call to worship ignited in me the need to sing my own praises to my Lord and Saviour. Memories of my trip last year have come flooding back. The friendliness of the people, the lack of basic things that we as Americans take for granted, the harsh realities of severe poverty…how it affects their day to day lives, and tries to take away the hope of the future.
But there is hope in the Lord, and through His power and grace and the efforts of programs like the IOP, hope can be restored and His people lifted up. It is not the goal of the IOP to make a poor people wealthy, but it is here to give them the opportunity to use the gifts and talents that God has bestowed upon them.
This is the 10 year anniversary of the Ilula Orphan Program. God has used the gifts of many people at Christ UM Church to carry out His work here in Tanzania. Many thanks to all those who have supported and helped out in various ways to contribute to the ongoing effort. Over 850 students have been touched by the student sponsor program, the foster care program has provided housing for over 200 children, and many more have been helped in various ways.
My ticket to Tanzania was fully covered by the donations from the church and others, even paying for some of the equipment that I have delivered, such as a battery powered photo printer and a backup hard drive. Asante Sana to everyone! (Thank you very much!)
From Africa,
Ron Porter
MORE NEWS: Berit had a very busy schedule while she was home during January and February. Edson enjoyed seeing our country and meeting the people. He stated, “Volunteerism is REAL in the USA.” He was touched by those who used their resources to help people they don’t even know. We would like to thank Ron and Ann Frette for hosting Edson during his stay in America. Edson plans to take better care of his people when he returns to Tanzania.
Churches: Odon UM, Providence Mennonite Church, Sandborn Christian Church, Berea Mennonite Church, Memorial UMC(Terre Haute), Kingsley UMC(Sullivan), Bethel Mennonite Church, Ft. Branch UMC, Christ UMC, Haysville Lutheran, Oaktown Lenten Breakfast, Huntingburg Mission Committee, Pleasantville UMW, Salem Agape Ministries. Schools: Washington Catholic HS, North Knox West Elem, North Knox HS, North Daviess Elem, Purdue University. Organizations: Washington Kiwanis, Jasper Rotary. Special Events: Meeting with Bishop Coyner at his Indpls. office, Speaking to the community at North Elem. in Washington, Speaking at Vincennes District Missions Training Day at Community UMC.
There are 79 Methodist churches in our district. The IOP Committee is hoping to contact them and encourage them to invite Berit to visit with them and tell them about the needs of the children in the eight villages of Ilula in rural Tanzania, Africa, when she returns in the fall.
If you would like to know more about the Ilula Orphan Program, go to our website at www.ilulaorphanprogram.org.
News from the Ilula Orphan Project
Berit had a very busy schedule while she was home during January and February. Edson enjoyed seeing our country and meeting the people. He stated that, “Volunteerism is REAL in the USA.” He was touched by those who used their resources to help people they don’t even know. We would like to thank Ron and Ann Frette for hosting Edson during his stay in America. Edson plans to take better care of his people after he returns to Tanzania.
Churches
- Odon United Methodist
- Providence Mennonite Church
- Sandborn Christian Church
- Berea Mennonite Church
- Memorial United Methodist Church (Terre Haute)
- Kingsley United Methodist Church (Sullivan)
- Bethel Mennonite Church
- Ft. Branch United Methodist Church
- Christ United Methodist Church
- Haysville Luthern
- Oaktown Lenten Breakfast
- Huntingburg Mission Committee
- Pleasantville UMW
- Vincennes Bible Study
Schools
- Washington Catholic High School
- North Knox West Elementary
- North Knox High School
- North Daviess Elementary
- Purdue University
Organizations
- Washington Kiwanis
- Jasper Rotary
Special Events
- Meeting with Bishop Coyner at his Indianapolis office
- Speaking to the community at North Elementary Auditorium (Washington)
- District Mission Training at Vincennes Community Methodist Church
There are 79 Methodist churches in our district. The IOP committee is hoping to contact them and encourage them to invite Berit to visit with them and tell them about the needs of the children in the eight villages of Ilula in rural Tanzania, Africa.
If you would like to know more about the Ilula Orphan Program, go to our website www.ilulaorphanprogram.org
Ilula Mission worker
TRIP TO TANZANIA
One afternoon while in Ilula, Berit took me to visit the Kindole family. The 3 brothers, Sadiki, Amin, Bisheni are all in the IOP program. Their younger sister also lives with them. I was able to meet their mom, whom they live with. Mom has had a stroke, and has very little use of one arm. They invited us into their home, a very simple brick home, with a grass roof. Daylight could be seen through the roof. They had some small wooden stools that they invited us to sit on. What we here in the states would call the living room, was an area about 10ft by 15ft. There were some sticks in the corner, which they used for firewood, and a couple of buckets in the room.
Not much else. No electricity, no telephone, no running water, no indoor toilet. The room had a dirt floor, as did the rest of the house. They also slept on the dirt floor. The boys said that when it rained, they would have to move to find a dry spot to sleep. They brought out an old Swahili hymnal, which was in very poor condition; the binding had fallen apart, so they had used a piece of wire to hold the pages together. I got the feeling that this was a prized possession of theirs. We sang a hymn or two with them. One of the brothers came into the room with some freshly cooked corn on the cob. It was for us. I knew they had very little food in the house, probably just some flour, the corn I’m sure was freshly picked. The importance of the orphan program really sank in that day. These kids, and others like them, would have no chance at all of an education without assistance from a program such as ours. Without an education, the cycle of extreme poverty would just be repeated in their lives.
Ron P. IOP Child Coordinator
News from Ilula
NEWS FROM ILULA TANZANIA…from Ron Porter & Berit
The new pig house building is complete, and is now being used. Construction on the workshop building is progressing, doors and windows will be installed soon. Berit is back in Ilula after a fundraising trip to Norway, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. The well project is moving forward, now that they have hit water, a concrete platform for the holding tank is being constructed, and piping to the center has been started. The generator at the center though, is no longer working, after a wiring short caused it to catch fire. It is not repairable. A new one made in Germany (the old one was chinese made) will cost approximately $1000. The new secondary school project, being planned by a foundation created by Fovea Company in Norway, has an estimated cost of 1.2 to 1.4 millions dollars. Fovea is hoping to finance it through donations and possibly some assistance from the Norwegian government. Please pray that financing will be found for this project, it is much needed in Tanzania, as many many students have to drop out after 7th grade due to a shortage of secondary schools.
Many projects are ongoing…the store house and the workshop are about to be completed, windows are on the way. A huge steel door has been installed in the store. A platform and a tower for the water tank is being built to it can pump up from the bore hole. A girl from Netherland is helping with budgets, accounting, etc. Two high school teachers from Norway will be here for 3 months, which includes Christmas, as well as 8 more members of their families. Before the rain season, work needs to be done on drainage in the yard and repair work on the damage after the earth quake last year.
So, we are blessed with our helpers, volunteers, sponsors and prayers from everyone. All is well here!
