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Tanzania

Population:  53,950,935

Percent Below Poverty Line:  22.8%

Located in Eastern Africa, Tanzania is the region’s most populated country. It borders the Indian Ocean and is situated between Kenya and Mozambique. Two-thirds of Tanzania’s population is under 25. About 61% of the population is Christian. In terms of per capita income, Tanzania is one the world’s poorest countries. The economy depends on agriculture, leaving Tanzanians particularly vulnerable to drought and other weather-related maladies. For decades, Tanzania was the largest refugee-hosting country in Africa, primarily hosting Burundian refugees, until repatriation efforts began in Burundi.

Explore the tabs below to learn more about how you can help Tanzanians today!

Holy Ghost Fathers Vocational Training Center

About

Their Story

Founded in 1703, the Holy Ghost Fathers (known as Spiritans) work in education, parishes, refugee camps, and several other areas.

Holy Ghost Vocational Training Center was established in 1994 in Tengeru, Arusha, Tanzania. Its original mission was to alleviate poverty by teaching basic carpentry skills. In learning a trade, local residents could find jobs, earn wages, and improve their lives.

At its inception in 1994, the VTC started with 60 male students. Today, it now has 250 students, male and female, who are learning skills in a variety of trades:

  • Carpentry
  • Motor Vehicle Mechanics
  • Metal Fabrication
  • Electrical Installation
  • Masonry and Brick Laying
  • Secretarial and Commercial Industries
  • Tailoring
  • Information Computing Technology

After graduating and passing their boards, most students are able to start their own businesses and help provide for their families!

Farm & Famine

The mainstay of the Holy Ghost Vocational Training Center is its small farm. In good years, enough food grows to feed the whole school community–students, teachers, and staff. A normal harvest typically includes 4,220 kgs (9,303 lbs) of maize (corn) and 1,234 kgs (2,720 lbs) of bananas, among other crops.

Drought has crippled Tanzania. There is simply not enough food. Even cows are dying.

In 2017, the VTC farm produced only 1,146 pounds of corn and 361 pounds of bananas, a mere fraction of normal production. This is simply not enough to feed all the students, teachers, and staff at the Arusha campus.

78% of people in Tanzania’s rural and urban areas have experienced food shortage.

There is constant worry and fear throughout the country, and it is not uncommon for a family member to go without food for a whole day. The price of food has skyrocketed, making food unaffordable for poor families to buy food when their own crops fail.

Click here to give now and help the VTC community survive the famine!

Your help is urgently needed today. Fr. Emmanuel found a shipment of corn and beans available for immediate transport to Tanzania, but only friends like you can make it possible for us to send it!

Meet Our Partner!

Father Emmanuel Kway, C.S.Sp., was ordained in 2014. His first appointment was in South Africa. Now in his fifth year of priesthood, Fr. Emmanuel has been at the Holy Spirit Vocational Center since 2017.

As a child, Fr. Emmanuel lived near a major seminary. One year, near the feast of Corpus Christi, he saw a group of seminarians dressed in their white cassocks for the Eucharistic procession. He says, “I was very much attracted with that and I said to myself, ‘I want to be like that!'”

Over the years, with much discernment and prayer, and the special intercession of St. Therese of Lisieux, Fr. Emmanuel was ordained on May 8, 2014. Fr. Emmy tells us, “Now I am in my fifth year as a priest, serving GOD in His vineyard happily. I see the hand of GOD in my life, since I have never regretted what I am today, especially with the new mission of serving GOD with youth.”

Pray for Fr. Emmanuel and the young people he shepherds at the Holy Spirit Vocational Training Center!

Students

Most students at Holy Ghost Vocational Training Center are orphans or come from very poor families. For those families who can afford it, tuition is Tsh. 750,000 ($394.82 USD). However, only about 45% of the students can afford tuition. The majority of students depend completely on scholarships to attend classes.

The Center has some income from its carpentry and metal works workshops. The goods sold pay for things like electricity, water, and medication when a student gets sick.

Francis, one of the students you can directly help today!

Student Spotlight: Francis K.

Francis is a student at Holy Spirit Vocational Training Center. At a young age, he and his sister were orphaned. Soon after, Francis’s sister also died, leaving him truly alone. Thankfully, his parish priest knew of the VTC in Arusha and was able to connect Francis with the Spiritans. Today, Francis is in his third year of studies in masonry and brick-laying.

Francis is extremely grateful for the VTC and the opportunities he has there, especially for growth in all areas of his life–spiritually, morally, physically, and professionally.  He’s excited for his future, and for the chance to start his own business one day!

How You Can Help

Act now. The need in Tanzania is urgent and the excellent price on this shipment of beans and corn won’t last forever!

Your gift today will ensure that the students at the Holy Ghost Vocational Training Center will have enough to eat to fuel their minds and bodies while they learn vital skills and trades. When you feed one of these students, you’re not only helping them in their fight against hunger, you’re helping them in their fight for a hopeful future!

Any amount helps, but here are some options:

  • $30 sends 75 pounds of beans and corn to Tanzania!
  • $55 pays for 137.5 pounds of food!
  • $100 funds 250 pounds of food–enough to feed every student at the Holy Ghost Vocational Training Center for one day.
  • $250 sends 625 pounds of food to Tanzania.

All it takes is 35 people to give a gift of $250 to send this shipment of beans and corn to Tanzania. Will you be one of the 35? If not, will you share this story with someone who can be one of the 35? It is easy to change the world when we work together!

Click the green button below to send a life-saving gift to our brothers and sisters in Tanzania today!

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