Thanks to our dear friends in New Zealand, Ednecki will soon be getting her bike. We will take her to the bike shop up the road when their next container load of bikes from the US arrive.... (the end of Feb we are told). This bike shop is an initiative of the Peace Corps and the bikes and bike parts that they sell are genuine, not stolen. They also provide employment and training in bike repairs for the locals who work there. There are second hand bikes available here in Tanzania in other shops that are probably fourth or fifth hand and would not last long and Ednecki does not want one of these. We will make sure that we photograph Ednecki with her new bike once it arrives. She is quietly excited and Zac cant wait to teach her to ride.
Recently, we learned that her sister, Margie wanted to buy a gas oven that she could attach a gas bottle to in her hut and bake cookies and bread to sell as a sideline business. Her employers here on the base decided to provide a savings incentive plan for her. For every thousand shillings she put aside out of her monthly pay they would match it up until $5000 shillings. After one year Margie had saved enough money to buy her oven and she is now the proud owner of a gas cooker.
We feel that the principle here of helping someone to strategise for their future is important. I remind myself of the proverb "give and man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."
That is why when we are surrounded by so much need and so many beggars we have felt led to input into the influencers in this society and this nation. Pastors have a very elevated position in this culture and have a lot of influence on their congregation. If we can help them to change their communities with AIDS education, initiatives for widows, plus the pracitice of loving kindness in family relationships being modelled within communities we have gone a long way to providing strategies that will bring long term change.
Recently, we learned that her sister, Margie wanted to buy a gas oven that she could attach a gas bottle to in her hut and bake cookies and bread to sell as a sideline business. Her employers here on the base decided to provide a savings incentive plan for her. For every thousand shillings she put aside out of her monthly pay they would match it up until $5000 shillings. After one year Margie had saved enough money to buy her oven and she is now the proud owner of a gas cooker.
We feel that the principle here of helping someone to strategise for their future is important. I remind myself of the proverb "give and man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."
That is why when we are surrounded by so much need and so many beggars we have felt led to input into the influencers in this society and this nation. Pastors have a very elevated position in this culture and have a lot of influence on their congregation. If we can help them to change their communities with AIDS education, initiatives for widows, plus the pracitice of loving kindness in family relationships being modelled within communities we have gone a long way to providing strategies that will bring long term change.
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