Kirabuni House

Welcome to our home at Shukrani College - Karibuni House. "Karibu" means 'welcome' and that is what we have felt. Our tmporary home is a step up from our caravan. The sitting room window looks out on to the grounds of the small campus that houses the Administration block, classroms, computer laboratory, library and residential acommodation for students and the principal, the local Salvo Corps and officers quarters and some pre-school classrooms.

A morning walk around the block is a religious expereince in itself. Apart from the local Corps the wall of the compound is a pictorial overview of the Bible. Turning right out of the gates you can work from the New Testament back to Genesis. There is an article about the mural that can be accessed via the Salvation Army International Headquarters website - just search under Shukrani.

Continuing around the corner to the right the Moravian Church own a block. Next comes the Church of God in Tanzania. Immediately behind Shukrani is a Baptist Church, and our second turn right takes us past the Baptist Medical centre. The religious experience is not yet complete, and as we make yet another right turn the Revival Assemblies of God are on one side, and a little further up the road is the entrance to the Evangelical Assemblies of God Tanzania.


Just to bring the religious balance to the locale as we take another right hand turn the local mosque sits on our left.
I am also reliably informed that there are at least another four churches within about 400 meters of this block!
Our days here begin with the call to prayer from the mosque at 5 a.m., but sometimes we sleep through that one. It is a bit harder to sleep through the thumping bass that comes through from the E.A.G.T. next door. At 7 a.m. last Monday morning it was not especially welcome!


For those not into religion there is a shop directly opposite the ccentre gates, and a local market less that 500 metres down the road. Now that is an interesting place - and it even has its own food court, just like the shopping malls back home (well almost!).

Weekly Worship

We left Mbeya early and headed for Shipongo. It was not a long journey (maybe 60 kms), but it took 2 1/2 hours to arrive at our destination. After fifteen or twenty kilometres we turned off the bitumen and wound our way across the hills and through the villages to reach Shipongo.Along the way a few officers and local officers climbed in the back of the Nissan twin cab as the Divisional Commander offered assistance with transport.

By 11.00 am we had arrived and were greeted by Envoy Mlaga. There we were warmly welcomed into the quarters and provided with a satisfying breakfast of hot milky tea and boiled potatoes. A number of other officers joined us as we waited for others who had walked, or cycled, for many kilometres to the Corps to share in a regional gathering. Today there would be worship, celebration, encouragement and challenge. Leaders from Corps in the area came to hear from the Divisional Commander as he shared a report on the past year, and his vision and plan for 2009. It was a great privilege to be able to share with them, and an even greater privilege to bring a message from the Word.

An important part of the event was the retirement of a local officer, Mr. Petro Mukasa. The faithful servant of God has been a local officer for 40 years, and was honoured by all who had come on that day. For us it was not unusual to see the presentation of a certificate from the Divisional Commander, but the presentation of gifts from different 'sections' of that region, and from the Corps itself was new to us. The majority of the gifts were monetary, and his Corps, Shipongo, presented him with a young goat. In a country where there is no social security payment and survival depends upon your ability to work or the capacity of family to support you, these gifts will ease the burden for this servant of God for some time. It is a fitting way to honour a man who has faithfully shared, taught and led his community, as well as encouraging and supporting his leaders. The church family, his fellow Salvationists and friends, gave their support for his future.
The afternoon concluded with some more encouragement from the Divisional Commander and a meal provided by the local corps. For the DC and some of the officers (including us) the table was set in the officer's quarters. Others who had come were catered for outside the hall.

It was about 5.30 pm when we left Shipongo and the DC had taken the opportunity to talk with many of the officers and to receive and distribute important correspondence. There were a few more on the back of the Nissan as we left Shipongo and made the trek back to the city of Mbeya.

We saw again the villages along the way, the homes, the livestock, the fields and plots they worked. We saw again the women carrying their loads and the children and young men looking after the cattle of goats along the road. We marvelled at their patience and their endurance.

At around 8.00pm we arrived back at Shukrani, knowing full well that some of those we had shared with were still walking towards their homes and villages.The faith and faithfulness continues to humble us.

Bus trip to Mbeya

After a delightful Sunday evening we packed and prepared for an early start - the bus to Mbeya departed at 6.15 am. We made it with ease (the bus station was only about five minutes away) and so began a day's journey into new territory - for us at least.

We eased our way past the streets of Dar before a few stops on the way out of the suburbs to collect additional passengers. From our exalted vantage point we could see that the morning traffic in Dar replicates that of many other cities - streams of cars and buses lined up at intersections and traffic lights.

The terrain changed as we moved through the foothills and up to the plains. Along the way the various towns and their 'retail areas' could be seen lining the road.

One of the highlights of the trip was Mikumi National Park. The road to Mbeya is the main highway to Zambia and Malawi. The port of Dar Es Salaam is important to them, and the highway is busy with many trucks going east and west. And the highway goes through the national park - BONUS!On one occasion the driver stopped and backed up a few hundred meters so we could catch a glimpse of a couple of lions about 50 metres from the road. There was another stop for some giraffes near the road, but the elephant and impala did not warrant a break in our journey.

There were a few more stops along the way. We could either get off the bus and make our purchases, or buy choose from the range of goods offered to us. Phone vouchers, pears, eggs (hardboiled), bread, biscuits, sodas, cooked maize were all available.

It was close to 8pm when we arrived at Mbeya - and our stop was Soweto. My Swahili is negligible, and we were not sure whether we had communicated correctly to those in charge. I though we had, and when I saw a mzungu (white person) waiting at the side of the road I knew we were at the right place.

A few minutes later we were at Shukrani College, and had settled our gear into Karibuni House, our home for the next two months.