Mission News

    Ilula Orphanage

    Ilula Orphan Program is a Christian outreach program that provides education for children in the village of Ilula, Tanzania in East Africa. Over three hundred eighty (380) children receive tuition through this program started by Christ United Methodist Church member Berit Skaare.

    Much progress has been made in Ilula with the help of so many people in so many places all over the world. The children “drum” themselves through their lessons at the Ilula Primary School, flowers have been planted, walls painted, holes patched and the work at the new school goes on. The Prime Minister even visited….hundreds of people came to see the person second to the President, as this had never happened before in Ilula, Tanzania!! The students were clean and sharp, the band in their red hats, marching, singing and drumming on their ten new drums. The rain came down full force but it could not dampen their spirits on this important day. Berit Skaare was escorted to the lunch room with the Prime Minister. He was a very nice and simple man. He joked with the people and answered questions in a down-to-earth manner.

    Tanzania is a stable nation with a stable government.

    The program is now continued by committees in the United States, Tanzania, and Norway. For more information, e-mail ilulaorphanprogram@hotmail.com

    Ilula Articles:

    • ILULA News Articles

      • Do you have an interest in our ILULA Mission Project. Check out our published news articles about ILULA within “Our Message” link. Just search for newsletter or ILULA staff.

      This is our latest newsletter:

    • 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 and ILULA OrphansILULA student receiving a laptop from BeritBerit and Ron
        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

      • Do you KNOW how Berit got started in mission work?

      When I was a little girl of about 6 or 7, my mother took me to a mission club at my church in Oslo, Norway. We small girls in the club were raising money for missionaries working in far away countries. We had bazaars and yard sales, and we cut up sheets and linens in long strips to make bandages for the clinics and doctors at Madagascar and Ethiopia. We were always amazed by the missionaries’ stories and pictures when they came home. In those days there were no videos or DVDs – only noisy projectors showing pictures on the wall. The stories from Africa amazed me most! How they had to struggle! With heat and animals and malaria – just like Doctor Livingstone! I can remember their stories about fever-ridden malaria patients sleeping – and dying – on the dirty ground. And how they had started a school under a shady tree, no books, pencils or anything. The children learned by memorizing. How would that work today?

      My parents were far from wealthy. In fact, I was the only one in my class who did not have winter boots, simply because my parents could not afford it. In the 4th grade my Christian teacher, who taught us about the Bible and mission work, assigned us a composition: “What would you do if you won one million money (dollars)?” One million! I thought if my parents would get half of that, I would surely get a pair of winter boots! Now, the other half…….hmmm? I remembered the missionaries’ stories and pictures. And I decided to spend the other half on building a school in Africa, so these children did not have to sit under a tree. I turned in my composition, and the issue of winter boots and African school was out of my mind! I did not win a million, nor did I get winter boots…

      Well, many years have passed and Berit has seen her and God’s plan take hold. She can be glad that her quest for building a school has seen fruition. She has seen the start, completion and ongoing of many projects, such as: IOP Sponsor Program, IOP Pre-school “Kids’ Corner”, IOP Foster Program, IOP Girl Guides, “Mskikamano”-IOP’s work for women, IOP Orphan Ctr for Girls “The Lord’s Acre”, IOP Seminars, IOP Food Distribution.

    Feed My Sheep

    The Washington FEED MY SHEEP program serves close to 500 families per month. Feed My Sheep serves those who need help on a one time basis or those who have an ongoing need – just by phoning 254-5429.