2018 Visit of Beckhoff Team
- by Martin Rostan
- •
- 27 Aug, 2018
Friendly Welcome
We spent the best part of two days on the school premises. The principal Fr. Pascal Kipenye showed us all the facilities, explained the current situation and answered all questions.
The seminary board, chaired by Bishop Gervas Nyaisonga and extended with the seminary teaching staff, met in the morning of the second day so that we had the opportunity to discuss the achievements and the current situation as well as discuss a proposal for the next steps.
We appreciates that they we could roam freely on the school grounds so that we were able get a good impression of the status quo. The Beckhoff team wants to thank the local team for the open discussions, the time they invested in our visit and the great hospitality!
A nice surprise: The school is now connected to the electric grid! The grid has been expanded by the government to Mpanda Ndogo village, so electricity is now available.
The building projects that we agreed on in 2016 are in advanced stage, but not finished yet.
The farming activities the
school are currently hindered by lack of water, since the river may not be used
currently for irrigation due to governmental restriction. Hopes are high that the ban
will be lifted soon, so that more crops can be grown.
Since the salaries had to be paid during the school closure, part of the funds for the construction projects were used for this purpose in agreement with Beckhoff.
Greetings from Mpandandogo. I would like to say thanks very much to the funds sent to the Seminary. I am happy to inform you that the works are in good progress.
It
is very sad that up to the moment all school in Tanzania are closed! It is a
very disturbing moment to the curriculum development as well as economic
progress in national level up to an individual level.
As a Seminary, let me be open: we are facing a financial crisis! We have sent home almost all of our workers! The fact is almost 70% of our daily undertaking in the school depends on school fees! The school was closed in the beginning of the first quarter while the majority of the students were in the process of paying school fees; So you can imagine our situation.
We really appreciate what the company is doing for us, it is doing a lot! But in this particular situation may I appeal on the behalf of the community to beg for financial assistance to run the school; sincerely we are facing the problem of paying the salaries to our workers since last month! Indeed our workers are very understanding and they are coping to realize the situation, but I'm afraid we will lose the best workers as soon as they decide to go back to work in agriculture.
