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Our Sister Parish St. John the Baptist Parish Archdiocese of Dar es Salaam, Luhanga, Tanzania |
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Geographical Background
Dar es Salaam (Arabic which translates as "Haven of Peace"), is the capital city, although Dodoma is the administrative center where the government now meets. Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest point in Africa and is about 4 hours from Nairobi, Kenya. English is the official primary language of commerce, administration, and higher education, although 95% of Tanzanians are Bantu and speak Kiswahili as a first language. The economy depends heavily on agriculture.
The construction of the church started in 2001 and was completed in 2004. Three bridges were also built over rivers that pass nearby the church. The church was christened St. John the Baptist in part because of two rivers that run from either side of the church and join to create one river. The waters are polluted from an upstream industrial area. The church seats roughly 1,000.
There are two Masses,
one at 7 am and another at 9 am. A 4 pm Mass started May 1, 2005 as a
children’s liturgy. There is an outstation that was also transferred to St.
John the Baptist on Feb 13, 2005. There are two Masses at the outstation and
a full-time catechist lives there to care for the Church properties.
The Parish School
The parish runs a school called "CHEMA", which is a "School of Life Education." It was recognized that many children nine years of age and above did not receive a proper primary education due to one of the following reasons: the death of parent(s) and subsequent financial inability, irresponsible parents (reasons other than financial), or child employment that was required to satisfy family needs. The school serves to provide both a primary education and a "moving away" from child labor. There are three "Year" levels with a total enrollment of about 90. Students take courses for three years and then sit for the primary education exams. Students are awarded a certificate indicating a "primary education completion in the informal structure", similar to the GED program in the US. The course offerings are in Mathematics, English, Kiswahili, and science, as well as "Values Education." The parish also runs a Pre-School program to prepare children for their primary education. There are three groups in this system as well, with ages ranging from 3.5 to 6.5 years, serving approximately 80 students.
The Parish Buildings
Although the church is new, it is not quite completed. There are benches in use temporarily. The parish has a choir but the organ is not always usable and is often in need of repair. There is no building for the priests to live in. The outstation has a small organ, which is serviceable for the time being. At the moment, kindergarten and the adult primary school use the same toilets, as the kindergarten has no reliable facilities.
Several other projects have been identified as urgent including: · Upgrading the parish store and offices · Completing a rectory for the priests · Buildings for the kindergarten and Gonzaga Primary School · A meal program · Upgrading the outstation (mission church) building
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Building a Relationship
The sister parish relationship between St. Robert Bellarmine Parish and St. John the Baptist in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania began a couple of years ago. The relationship was initiated in conjunction with the acceptance of our Vision Statement at St. Robert's, the last line of which reads: “striving to learn, live and share our faith.” Part of this sharing is in the form of outreach beyond our community here in Andover. Fr. Rick had been considering the idea of a sister parish for some time and the opportunity to affiliate with this parish in Africa came along at that moment.
All relationships take time to develop–and the sister parish concept has been forming and growing, mostly through emails and phone calls, and a few visits. St. Robert's hosted the Jesuit Provincial of Africa, Fr. Fratern Masawe, on Pentecost two years ago and then Fr. Emmanuel came one Saturday on his way from Ireland to Tanzania. At that time, he saw photos of his new parish before he had been there. He met his sister parish here at St. Robert's before he assumed duties as pastor of his own. Last fall, Fr. Valerian Shirima, the Jesuit provincial of the East Africa province, came to bring greetings and a welcome from the St. John the Baptist community.
Parishioners of St. Roberts visited our sister parish in Tanzania in May of 2007, having the opportunity to live in the parish house and celebrate the Eucharist at the parish, the outstation, and in the community. There were both welcoming ceremonies and question and answer sessions with the parish council that helped solidify our relationship. The parishioners of St. John the Baptist Church want us to know that they keep the parish of St. Robert Bellarmine in their prayers and they want to ask us to pray for them. They are very excited about this relationship. Like most of us, initially they had wondered what exactly a sister parish is. The visit allowed Fr. Emmanuel to discuss it more fully and explain the ideas behind it. Essentially, it is anything we want it to be. It is, however, primarily a mutual sharing and caring–it is being part of one very large global Christian community. The people of the parish of St. John the Baptist are happy we know they are there–they are delighted to see and hear us. They send their best wishes and they send their genuine love and affection for us, their fellow Christians.
Fr. Emmanuel with the congregation at St. Robert's
They have sent our parish a statue, on display in the rear of the church, that represents both the sense and the ideal of community. In the African culture, the individual is the center of everything. The definition of the human as a social being is taken very seriously. A person is defined in terms of relationship with respect to the community. Being is “being with”. Likewise “to be” is “to be with”. The community aspect is essential to the African culture. Thus, extended family relationships exists and thrives. The figures represent many community aspects of life. Working, gathering, sharing, and helping are all represented in the carving. The tiered aspect is a reminder that the community is dependant on the support of each member. Small Christian communities are very successful in Africa because the foundation for building them, which is community, is already there. The statue tries to express the community aspect in African culture and tradition. It is a life of sharing and caring for each other.
Fr. Emmanuel visited us in Andover in July of 2007, bringing greetings from the parish in Dar es Salaam. He spoke at each of the weekend Masses and met many of our parish members afterwards. His message was of explaining and encouraging this relationship from the Tanzanian perspective. He later attended an afternoon brunch at the rectory, where he met with the parish pastoral council. St. Robert's Parish presented Luhanga Parish with a pewter Revere Bowl for the offertory at St. John the Baptist Church. Inscribed are the words: St. Robert Bellarmine – St. John the Baptist The Eucharist – the Gift that Unites Us
Fr. Emmanuel and Fr. Rick
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