Dear servants, I have learned about God’s grace just like you but in different ways. In 2008, I had just finished my degree in human resources management, though my marks were not very good. It was during that time when God continued teaching me how His grace works.

He didn’t give me the chance because I was strong, had wisdom of the world, or because I came from a good and wealthy family. No way. He didn’t look at my background.

But for His glory He made me number one out of all other applicants. His grace paved the way for me. His grace marked the initial stages in my career, and now, three years later, I can still tell of His grace as my doorway to join Compassion.

So am I proud to be in this ministry? Compassion is my name, my pride, my rope, and my hope for many. Joyous? Yes. Blessed? Indeed, just because of His grace.

So, never qualify or disqualify yourself by the world’s standards. Just know one thing: You are seasoned and purposed to display His splendor to many generations. His grace covers up all other qualifications.

JESUS UP!

“But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” — 1 Corinthians 1:27, NIV

Prayer: Our Lord and Father God, may You teach all of us on how to live, knowing that Your grace covers our weakness in Jesus’ name. May You increase the amount of grace to whoever needs Your presence to overcome. Amen.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Raphael Joachim Lyela works as a Field Based Partnership Facilitator in the Dodoma region of Tanzania.

Read all the One in Spirit devotionals. 

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

 Compassion began its ministry in Tanzania in 1999 with the Child Sponsorship Program. In 2008, we added the Child Survival Program.

In just over 11 years, Compassion Tanzania now works with 236 Implementing Church Partners in 12 regions of the country. We have been growing at an average of 30 percent per year and currently serve almost 64,000 children.

Country Director

Joseph Mayala Mitinje joined our ministry as a senior accountant in 1999 and also served as an operations coordinator, human resource specialist, and program implementation manager. He was appointed country director in 2009.

Prior to Compassion, Joseph worked at the Standard Chartered Bank Tanzania as a bank clerk before being promoted to business development manager and account relationship manager.

Joseph holds a bachelor’s degree in advanced accounting and auditing from Shivaji University in India; a post-graduate diploma in human resource management and international relations and stock market & exchange control from the Central Institute of Management in India; and a diploma in computer programming from India’s Space College.

He also holds a MBA from the Eastern and Southern African Management Institute.

Joseph is a board member with Haki Kazi Catalyst and previously served as a church elder and chairperson of evangelism and missions for the Arusha, Kilimanjaro and Manyara regions at the African Inland Church.

Implementing Church Partners

Implementing Church Partners are local churches in Tanzania with whom we work to deliver child development programs and frontline ministry in the field.

• Spiritual Climate
  Christianity is strong and the gospel is preached throughout the country, but superstitious practices still exist. For example, some believe that albino body parts will bring wealth.
• Unique Challenges
  One challenge that Implementing Church Partners face is retaining their child development center workers. The salary and benefits offered are low relative to the market, specifically for health workers. Thus, staff turnover is high.
• Contributions
  Implementing Church Partners make financial contributions for Children’s Day and provide the classrooms and kitchens.
• Church-to-Church Partnerships
  We have one church-to-church partnership between an Implementing Church Partner and a sponsoring church in the United States. The benefit is that the Implementing Church Partner has assurance that the children in their child development center will be sponsored. Also, it is beneficial for the children of both churches to share experiences with one another.



• Partner Development Activities
  We develop our Implementing Church Partners through training, facilitation and partnership meetings.

Child Survival Program

• Caregiver Literacy
  We offer literacy classes for the Child Survival Program caregivers three times a week using government curriculum.
• Income-Generating Skills
  We offer monthly training in income-generating skills to the caregivers in our Child Survial Program.

  These skills include agriculture, cooking, small-animal keeping, poultry, embroidery, tailoring, gardening and catering.



• Health Care
  The Tanzanian government provides prenatal care free of charge to mothers, and Compassion Tanzania pays for ongoing follow-up consultations for the mothers and children as well as any medications needed.
• Nutritional Support
  We provide nutrition education to Child Survival Program caregivers on a regular basis.
• Involvement of Fathers
  We hold group seminars during which Child Survival Program fathers are encouraged and challenged to participate in Child Survival Program activities.
• Transitioning Out of the Child Survival Program
  We work mainly with the Child Survival Program caregivers to make them aware of how the Child Sponsorship Program works and prepare them for their child’s transition.
• Areas of Expansion for the Child Survival Program
  We plan to expand into the Mara, Tabora, Iringa and Singida regions of Tanzania because these areas are extremely impoverished.

Child Development Through Sponsorship

Your sponsorship of a child in Tanzania provides a variety of benefits.

The children are busy with school during weekdays, but they have time on Saturdays to attend their respective child development centers.

• Meeting Times:
• 3- to 5-year-olds: 6 hours on Saturday
• 6- to 8-year-olds: 6 hours on Saturday
• 9- to 11-year-olds: 6 hours on Saturday
• 12- to 14-year-olds: 8 hours on Saturday
• 15- to 18-year-olds: 8 hours on Saturday
• 19 +: 4 hours a week



• Nutritional Support
  Each child receives a meal on the days they come to the child development center. A typical meal consists of milk tea, eggs, bread, rice, beans, meat and fruit. We also provide supplemental food for children who are malnourished.

  Our goal is to provide healthy food for the children and to encourage program attendance.



• Vaccinations
  In Tanzania, when a child is born, the government provides vaccinations and monitors adherence.
• Extracurricular Activities or Community Service
  At our Compassion-assisted child development centers, we offer arts and crafts, music, sports, games and income-generating activities (such as tailoring) every week. We also offer annual camps and community involvement.
• Vocational Activities
  Adolescents participate in entrepreneurship and apprenticeship activities, and they also go camping together. The public schools do not offer these activities so we hope to fill the gap and expose the youth to additional opportunities to have fun and learn important vocational and social skills.
• Parent Involvement
  We hold parents’ meetings, offer parenting classes and conduct training in entrepreneurship, health and HIV/AIDS prevention twice a year.

  Parents also cook for the children weekly.



• Areas of Expansion for the Child Sponsorship Program
  We plan to expand into Dar es Salaam and Tanga, which are in the eastern and northeastern regions of Tanzania. These are some of the neediest areas of the country with many children living in poverty.

Complementary Interventions

Compassion’s core Child Sponsorship Program, while comprehensive, cannot address all obstacles to a child’s healthy development. Thus Compassion’s Complementary Interventions program works in harmony with the holistic child development model to provide additional services as needed such as the AIDS Initiative, Bibles for All Children, disaster relief and water projects.

Complementary Interventions in Tanzania are most commonly implemented to provide insecticide-treated, anti-malaria mosquito nets; water systems; infrastructure such as toilets, classrooms and kitchens; income-generating activities for families; and medical treatment for children if regular funds are not sufficient.

Highly Vulnerable Children

The primary needs for Tanzania’s highly vulnerable children include food, clothing, shelter, parental care and support, and social integration. To meet these needs, we have foster care, cottages and counseling available.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Who gets that chicken or soccer ball you give through the Gifts of Compassion Christmas gift catalog?

Does a gift like that really make a difference? How does a soccer ball make an impact on a child in poverty?

It’s hard for me to answer these questions, because I’ve never wanted a pig or cow for Christmas. But after doing some research, I found this story from Tanzania showing how the gift of a soccer ball made a lasting impact.

Encouraging Talent in Tanzania by Charles Ngowi

Last year, the money given toward soccer balls helped fund not only the purchase of soccer balls for children, but also the second National Children and Youth Talent Festival in Tanzania, November 30 through December 4, 2010.

It was organized by Compassion Tanzania, and the event brought together about 600 children who had earlier been competing at the development center and regional levels in order to qualify for the national event. The children came from the 12 regions of Tanzania where we operate.

In addition to sports equipment, the festival provided opportunities for children and youth to display their God-given talents through competition, while socializing with others in a friendly environment and compassionate manner.

The festival also developed the children’s talents with the possibility of one day making them economically self-supporting using their skills in sports and arts.

The children participated and competed in different kinds of events including soccer, javelin, high jump, singing, drawing, painting, netball, discus and many more. At the end of the event, the top students and overall regional winners were awarded trophies and medals.

One of the Compassion children who attended the festival was Hemedi, 15, who is now in secondary school. He was registered with Compassion in 2004 when he was 9 years old and got involved in sports with the Compassion team when he went to Arusha in 2007 to play in the first Talent Festival.

What has Hemedi gained by being involved with sports?

“Sports help us know each other and socialize well. They also help us be in unity; it’s easy to support one another when you know what someone needs.

Through sports, I have been able to know many people. Sports also help me be fit physically, and by playing different sports it is not easy to be attacked by opportunistic diseases.”

Whether it’s competing at a national level, understanding the value of teamwork, or getting healthy and fit, your gift of a soccer ball is giving life to dreams of Compassion children around the world.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Nooltetan is a Maasai peasant farmer who has been unable to farm because of the severe East African drought.

Mostly, she has depended on raising cattle for her family’s survival. In the past 10 to 20 years the Tanzanian government has encouraged Maasai pastoral communities to engage in alternative work such as farming instead of just relying on cattle.

Nooltetan heeded this call. Along with raising cattle, she began farming her small plot of land when she got married. But the drought has been severe, forcing Nooltetan to cease her attempts at farming. Then she lost all of her cattle and was reduced to poverty.

Nooltetan and her husband had two children before they separated after family quarrels. Now she looks after her children on her own.

With children to feed and responsibilities to fulfill. Nooltetan resorted to collecting firewood for a living. Each day she goes to the nearby bush to collect firewood, which she carries to the nearby town to sell.

One day Nooltetan injured herself with her machete, which has forced her to rely on her 15-year-old son, Alais, to collect firewood and sell it to feed the family. Nooltetan tells us,

“We get about Tshs 2,000 per day (approx. $1.15 USD) for the bundle of firewood we sell and then we use the money to buy food and other home essentials.”

Nooltetan feels it is better to do that than go hungry with no food at all. When the family is not able to earn a living through selling firewood, or when Alais has not been able to secure a day’s pay, the family resorts to asking a neighbor for food.

But if the neighbor family has nothing to spare, Nooltetan’s family goes hungry that day.

After her separation from her husband, Nooltetan decided to go back to her parents where she was born. While there she met a man who fathered four more children with her. This man has not married her and doesn’t take any responsibility for the children.

So Nooltetan now has six children to raise. Before the drought, she had six cows and 10 goats, but now she doesn’t have so much as a chicken to supply eggs and income.

“This year the drought has persisted and because of the loss of our cows and goats, the situation has become even more difficult.

“We depended much on the cattle as our security and means of survival, because we could sell some and buy food. But since cattle are no longer available, we depend on the small business of collecting firewood in exchange for food.”

On a good day, Nooltetan’s family has two simple meals of maize flour and beans, vegetables or porridge. Today they had porridge in the morning and they were going to have another porridge meal in the evening.

The porridge is made of water with maize flour and smallest measure of cooking oil they can buy (at Tshs 200, approximately 15 cents USD) to add flavor.

Food scarcity is not the only the problem in this community; there is also an acute shortage of water. Even though a water pipe is located a few hundred meters from Nooltetan’s home, the pipe is dry most of the time.

The only reliable source of water is a puddle of water-pipe leakage. Here, many people from the community collect their water each day. When the puddle is dry, they have to walk several kilometers to look for water.

One day a relative heard that the local church, in partnership with Compassion International, was going to register children and help support them. Knowing Nooltetan’s struggles to raise six children as a single mother, the uncle asked the child development center workers if he could register her son Emmanuel.

The development center workers came to Nooltetan’s home and confirmed Emmanuel for registration. Nooltetan says she has seen God in these workers, and in Emmanuel.

“Emmanuel being registered has benefited us as [a] family in many ways. Emmanuel would not have gone to school if it was not for Compassion’s intervention. His behavior is very different compared to his other siblings, and more importantly, he has great hope for the future.

“The impact [of] him going to school has even touched his younger siblings, who all go to school as opposed to his elder brothers who did not go to school.”

The family has also received several gifts from Emmanuel’s sponsors, who have even been in their home to visit them.

“These gifts have helped our family to buy food and clothes for other children as well. The benefits have spanned to all other family members.”

Nooltetan cannot hide her joy and her appreciation of Emmanuel’s sponsors.

“I would like to sincerely thank Emmanuel’s sponsors for their support and I thank God who touched them to choose sponsoring my child. I would also tell them if it were not for them, our story, and particularly that of Emmanuel, would be very different.”

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Is there a childhood memory or particular person that you associate with a certain fragrance? For me, the scent of a particular facial cleansing bar instantly transports me back to my childhood.

The face of my grandmother, who always used that product, flashes in my mind. I can even see the pink shag carpet in her bathroom and feel the softness of her skin when I kissed her cheek.

Nowadays I’m the one my family associates with a certain scent. Specifically, I always wear the same signature perfume. People have even told me that they know I’ve recently been in a room when they catch a whiff of that particular fragrance.

I like to think that’s a compliment — and not a hint that I’m wearing too much perfume!

The point is, our sense of smell is powerful. Think about it: Perhaps no other sense connects us to memories and emotions as much as scent does. We associate many holidays, places and people with distinct scents.

I think Christmas smells like pine trees and cinnamon; camping smells like a combination of campfires, bug spray and toasted marshmallows; and babies smell like baby powder (unless they’re in need of changing!).

East Africa also has a distinct smell. To others it might smell of burning trash and charcoal cooking fires. But to me, it just smells like Africa.

With each return trip, the first thing I do when I step off the plane is inhale deeply – and I instantly know I am back!

Disney World’s Animal Kingdom has an East African village replica called Harambe. Disney’s imagineers got it spot on, down to the power lines resting on acacia tree branches, store signs written in Swahili and kangas hanging out to dry.

The only thing they missed is the smell. It might look like East Africa, but it sure smells like America. And frankly, most tourists probably prefer it that way!

Second Corinthians 2:14-15 tells us that, as Christians, we should have a distinctive aroma. The Message translation puts it this way:

“Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance. Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God, which is recognized by those on the way of salvation – an aroma redolent with life.”

In other words, whenever our words or actions cause others to experience the love of Jesus, we leave an aroma redolent (fragrant) with life.

• By transforming a child’s life through Compassion sponsorship, we are leaving an aroma redolent with life.
• By building relationships through letters written to our sponsored children, we are leaving an aroma redolent with life.
• By visiting our sponsored children, we are leaving an aroma redolent with life.
• By encouraging others to sponsor a child, we are leaving an aroma redolent with life.

The best part is that it’s not just our sponsored children who get to experience that sweet aroma of Christ! The aroma permeates throughout the child’s family, too.

As other children are sponsored in the community, the aroma spreads further. And as we practice being the loving hand of Christ extended, that same aroma permeates through our own families and communities at home.

As that sweet aroma spreads, we pray that those who come into contact with it would come to associate the name of Jesus with God’s unconditional LOVE, boundless COMPASSION and eternal HOPE.

I pray that I spread the aroma of Christ today.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: LeeAnn Thompson is a pastor’s wife and missions director. She leads short-term mission trips to Tanzania, East Africa, where she has had the privilege of visiting her sponsored child.

If you’re interested in writing a guest blog post, we are happy to consider publishing it. Read our guest blog post guidelines.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

There are a couple of things you should know about me.

Number one, I am a dreamer and an idealist. I literally dream about an ideal world.

I am super-sentimental and hypersensitive about everything. I cry in every sappy movie, every father-son moment, every Hallmark commercial, every touching sermon, etc.

If feelings are involved, good or bad, I will probably cry. It’s a little ridiculous, honestly.

When I was little, I listened to my dad’s old Bob Dylan, ELO and James Taylor LPs and cried. It’s actually quite embarrassing to admit all of this.

What I felt about the music was something that transcended the real world. I could close my eyes and be overwhelmed by the song. The mixture of the sounds and lyrics would pour over me and make me feel things I had never felt before. It’s a place deep in my heart that I can still go to when I listen to good music. I wish it was a real place.

The other thing you should know about me is that I’m a passionate person.

When something interests me, I become extremely passionate about it, even if it is for a short time.

Something will catch my eye and I will learn as much as I can about it, dream about it, immerse myself in it … and then, move on to something else.

This has been true my entire life.

However, there are a few things that I am passionate about that I will never move away from.

• My relationship with God and my family (including my two dogs, Peabody and Wonder)
• Music
• The plight of children in poverty

If you come to one of my concerts you will hear me talk a lot about my journey with Compassion.

I have been sponsoring little Junior in Uganda for several years now, and it has truly changed my life.

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to go to Tanzania and see the work Compassion is doing firsthand. A group of us went to build classrooms for one of the child development centers in rural Tanzania, just outside of Arusha.

While we were there I went with my mom to meet her sponsored child, Baraka, and his family.

He was a shy little guy with a big bashful grin that he hid with his hands. He, his parents and his siblings all lived in a tiny house that is about the size of my living room.

Me and my mom, a translator and Baraka’s family all crammed into the house for a bit and I sat in the corner, all curled up, and we listened to the story of Baraka’s life.

I heard how Compassion was able to get him food when he was hungry, medical care when he was sick, and an education when there was no way his family could afford it.

His life is completely different than it was before Compassion came along. He has an opportunity in his life that, without Compassion, he would not have had.

After we heard about that, Baraka’s mother went and opened a drawer in a little dresser she had tucked in the back of the room. She pulled out a ziplock bag and carried it over to a table in the middle of the room.

As she carried the bag, I could tell that whatever was in it was very special to her. She opened the bag and, with a big smile on her beautiful face, she poured out the contents onto the table in the middle of the room for all to see. A whole bunch of papers.

At first, no one was sure what the papers were, but when she started to open them for us we realized that they were all the letters my mom had written to Baraka since she started her sponsorship.

As I choked back tears, I understood just how precious my mom’s sponsorship is to not only Baraka, but that his entire family has benefited from the sponsorship.

They were so happy, even with the little they had in a place of poverty, disease and great need, because they had God and they had a sponsor.

Compassion is such a different organization because they work through the local church, equipping them to do ministry among the people in their communities. It’s not just a handout.

When I dream of that place deep in my heart, where my passions overwhelm me, I think of the beautiful people in Africa whom I have met through Compassion. I see their big smiles and I hear their captivating songs.

My soul wells up and I envision a world where poverty doesn’t exist. Where children are able to grow to their full potential because hunger, disease and lack of education and clean water don’t exist.

I believe God has called each of us to do what we can to bring His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. One way to do that is by sponsoring a child through Compassion.

“You may not be able to change the world, but you can change the world for one child.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Aaron Hale is a worship leader and artist/songwriter from Kansas City, Missouri (though he’s originally from Texas, and is still a Texan at heart). Aaron has been sponsoring with Compassion for almost 10 years now and has been a Compassion artist for nearly two years.

If you’re interested in writing a guest blog post, we are happy to consider publishing it. Read our guest blog post guidelines.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

It’s all over the news, the Web and social media. The images are showing up everywhere. The statistics are unbelievable, but they’re real and that’s why we keep hearing about it.

I’m talking about the drought in East Africa.

East Africa is currently facing its worst drought in 60 years; high food prices and failed crops have left millions of people at risk.

Dozens of relief organizations have rushed to the scene. They’re hard at work calculating the need, raising funds and bringing in lifesaving aid.

You’ve watched as this crisis has unfolded, you’ve been praying and now you’re ready to respond.

But wait — we have some questions from the audience:

“Where is Compassion?”

“What is Compassion doing amid this crisis?”

“How can I give to Compassion concerning the drought in East Africa?”

Inserting a donation link to our disaster relief fund and asking you to give, right now, is a timely thing to do. But before you click on the link, let me explain how this crisis is affecting our programs.

Our child development centers operate in five countries near the areas affected by the drought:

• Kenya
• Ethiopia
• Rwanda
• Tanzania
• Uganda

We do not work in Somalia, the hardest-hit country. But where we do work, our local church partners are seeing higher food prices due to poor crop yields caused by the drought. And our church partners are experiencing an influx of refugees into the areas they serve.

Because we are a holistic child development organization working through the local church our program model often protects our beneficiaries against the potentially crippling impact of famine and drought.

Our Child Survival, Child Sponsorship, and Leadership Development Programs are each designed to help meet the ongoing needs of the families, children and students we serve. The programs help our beneficiaries become self-sufficient and better able to weather disasters, such as droughts.

However, when a crisis does arise, the local churches where our child development centers are located identify the immediate and specific needs of the children, families and students we serve.

The churches have access, through our programs, to critical assistance, such as disaster relief, clean water, medical assistance, etc.

Our ministry focus is on long-term development of children from their time in the womb until an age where they’re self-sufficient. While we focus on prevention and responding to the needs of our program beneficiaries, we applaud other organizations that do widespread disaster relief.

One of these organizations is the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC), one of our partners in 58:.
In addition to its major drought-response projects already underway in Kenya and Ethiopia, CRWRC is expanding its aid to Somalia.

You can learn more about CRWRC, how they are responding to the drought, and ways you can help at crcna.org.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Traveling north from the city of Arusha, Tanzania, one passes by the world-famous Ngorongoro crater and the vast plains of the Serengeti before coming to Musoma. The town of Musoma is located on the shore of Lake Victoria, the third largest lake in the world, whose size is greater than Britain and Germany put together.

The local people’s livelihoods are tied to the lake, as most of them are engaged in fishing, the main business that provides commerce to the town. The Mara region, home to Musoma, borders Kenya and part of the different ethnic people who live in Tanzania also live in Kenya.

There are many ethnic groups in Mara, but the major one is known as the Kurya tribe. Within this tribe, there are multiple ethnic groups that have identified themselves with the location where they live.

Each ethnic group speaks the Kurya language, but there are some differences depending on the specific dialects. These ethnic groups also have different cultural practices, such as how they conduct funeral services, their customs for when a child is born, and other manners of celebration.

Circumcision, performed on both males and females, is a major cultural practice throughout the Kurya ethnic groups. It is such an important practice among the community members that when an uncircumcised foreigner comes to live among them, he or she is forced into circumcision.

How Circumcision Affects the Church

Churches are affected because their congregations are forced to undergo the ritual. During the season of circumcision, church attendance drops until the season is over.

To prevent this situation from continuing, there is a need to provide continued education, especially among children, so that they can change the society in the long run. It is important to start investing in small children, and we are working hard to protect children and act as their advocates.

Circumcision in the Kurya Tribe

Male circumcision is practiced all over the region, and female circumcision is practiced in some places like the Serengeti and Tarime districts where the Wakira, Wanyabasi, Wanyanchoka and Watimbaru ethnic groups are found. These are also the ethnic groups that fight each other from time to time.

A person being circumcised is expected to be very brave and not display any sign of fear. When being circumcised, an individual is expected to stay still and not show he or she is experiencing pain. There are people who watch to see that the person being circumcised observes the rules.

Women who circumcise others are known as “Omsali” in the Kurya language, or “Ngariba” in Kiswahili. Not every woman can be Omsali; this is a clan right that is passed down from one generation to another.

To perform the circumcision, the Omsali used to use a sharp piece of metal, which was prepared by special people. But nowadays they use a razor blade when circumcising women and a knife for men.

Why Are Men Circumcised?

The cultural norm is that men should be circumcised. If a man dies and he is not circumcised, he will be circumcised before he is buried..

Circumcision is a rite of passage from childhood to adulthood. After circumcision, the boy is no longer considered “mrisya” (a child) and has the freedom to make his own decisions. If a man is not circumcised, he is considered to be a child, even if he is over 50 years old. It is a great insult to address a man as “mrisya.” It can even ignite a great conflict, leading one person to kill another person.

Circumcision gives men the freedom to participate in funeral services. A man who is not circumcised is not allowed to come near a dead person. Circumcision gives men permission to participate in civil wars. And, circumcision gives a man the right to look after the family, which means he can marry.

If a man is not circumcised, he does not know in which age group to belong, and no girl will agree to be married to man who is not circumcised.

Women do not like to be married to a man who was circumcised in a hospital. They say they feel like they are being married to their fellow woman.

Why Are Women Circumcised?

Female circumcision is also regarded as a rite of passage from childhood to adulthood. It is rare to find a girl above age 10 who is not circumcised, and this can explain why there have been early marriages and young mothers who are less than 18 years old.

Female circumcision is done to make women less sexually active because many men spend a lot of time away from home when they go away for wars and battles against other ethnic clans.

They also perform female circumcision to try to make women not go outside the marriage and have extramarital affairs.

Women from other tribes who are married to Kurya and are not circumcised will be circumcised when giving birth.

Preparation for Circumcision

Circumcision is prohibited in July and August. Circumcision is also prohibited during years ending in the number 7, because a year ending in number 7 is considered to be a bad year.

Traditional leaders consult the spirits. The traditional leader goes to a river (Nyesiba River, in Baribari village) to ask “the snake” if it’s safe to do circumcision in that particular year.

The traditional leaders ask this question by placing two empty calabashes (a type of gourd) by the side of the river, and then they go away. The next day they come to see what has happened, and if they find the calabash full of water, they consider the year to be good and circumcision preparations continue.

But if they find the calabashes half full, they know the year is not good and they perform cleansing rituals before they continue. The cleansing is done by consulting traditional medicine men, who announce that a person (normally a pregnant woman or a young man) in the village will die. Once the chosen person dies, the cleansing has passed and the circumcision process continues.

If individuals die before they have healed from the circumcision, they will not be buried in their village. The burial will be done secretly in a neighboring village.

If the other village discovers this, they will find a way to retaliate against the people who buried their dead. This has been one of the main causes of the endless conflicts among the ethnic groups.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Fides is a young mother from Moshi, Tanzania. She moved to Arusha to make money and began selling fruits and vegetables. It was at this time she met her husband and they got married. Their first child was born the year Fides got married and three years later her second child was born.

“After marriage I continued to be engaged with my small business selling fruits and vegetables. I used to get about 10,000 Tshs (about U.S.$7.00) per week, which would give me a profit of about 2,000 Tshs (about U.S.$1.30).

My business was very small and the income I was getting per week was not enough to sustain my family needs.”

Around the time Fides was to have her third child a Survival Specialist from the Child Survival Program at her local church came to Fides’ town and registered her.

“I was at that time seven months pregnant and my life status was very low. I was living in a rented single room with my husband and our two children.

“I had no one to help me during my pregnancy. The Child Survival Program came with the offer to help me with my pregnancy so that I could deliver safely.”

There was no way Fides could resist such an offer. Being desperately in need, she immediately accepted the help. After registration, Fides started to receive medical care and attention.

“I and other mothers who got registered at the same time started receiving laundry soap, cooking oil and baby jelly. I was also given some money to buy maize flour.”

Fides immediately noticed some changes to her life and that of her child. She could now afford to help her other children with the savings she experienced.

“Since then, when it is Christmas time, we have received gifts like new clothes, rice and cooking oil.”

Fides remembers that it is not only material provision she has received through the Child Survival Program.

“We have also been given seminars on entrepreneurship skills for our business. The teaching has helped me know how to increase my income. We were taught how to increase capital by introducing new commodities.”

The center also gave each mother 50,000 Tshs (about U.S.$33.00) to boost their capital. The money helped Fides to increase the goods sold at her kiosk.

“My income now has grown and I am getting about 20,000 Tshs (about U.S.$14.00) as my daily sale.”

Fides’s family can also count themselves very blessed because they were given a half-acre of land by her mother-in-law. The land had been lying idle for many years because they could not develop it.

“But now since I am saving money, we started building our own house. This was a dream come true. We have been able to build a single room on the plot and it is a great relief to us that we are no longer renting. We are beyond the grip of fear compared to when we used to be haunted by the fear that the landlord will expel us from the house.”

The family has also built a new foundation for four more rooms on their plot of land. Fides and her husband have to do most of the work with their hands, so the cost of construction is low. Fides is blessed because her husband is a builder.

“I was his workmate in building because we had no money to hire other laborers to help him. After we finished building our room, we started to build a new room where I had erected the stall room to sell vegetables and fruits.

“We have been able to build a burnt brick room and roof it with iron sheet. This has made the commodities look more attractive and be more safe as compared to the thatched roof house where I used to do business.”

Even with the success Fides has had, they still struggle with drinking water, and sometime they pay up to 500 Tshs (about U.S.$.33) for a 20-liter container of water. This is one of the great family needs that is draining the family income.

But Fides is very grateful for us because through the support of the Child Survival Program, her family has been able to overcome many obstacles that would have been difficult to tackle in their life.

“The Child Survival Program has meant a lot in my life. I did not know it would be like this when we were registering. I was like a person who was dreaming. But I am thankful to God that it has become true. I know my child will be registered with the child sponsorship program when she grows old enough and that she will be able to get a sponsor.”

Fides is optimistic that, because she joined this program, her husband will become committed to the church.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Shinyanga municipality is situated in northwestern  Tanzania, on the southern part of Lake Victoria.

Kigoma, Shinyanga and Tabora are the three regions that form the western zone of Tanzania. Compassion Tanzania also operates in Tabora. Shinyaga region borders Mwanza, Kagera and Mara on the north, Arusha and Singida on the east, Kigoma on the west, and Tabora on the south.

As a region, Shinyanga covers 50,781 square kilometers, out of which 36 percent comprises forest and game reserves, and 62 percent is arid land suitable for agriculture and raising livestock. The rest of the land is mountainous and rocky.

Population

According to the 2002 population census, Shinyanga has 2,796,630 inhabitants. It is the third largest populated region after Dar es Salaam and Mwanza. Out of this, 5 percent of the population lives in urban areas.

Income

The region’s main source of income is derived from agricultural-related activities such as farming and livestock keeping. It is the leading cattle raising region in Tanzania.

The main food crops are sorghum, millet, maize, rice, cassava and sweet potatoes. Commercial products include tobacco, cotton, sunflower oil, peanuts and lentils/chick peas. Livestock kept in the region include cows, goats, sheep, pigs and chickens.

Apart from agriculture, gold and diamond mining activities are also carried on in the region. There are also few light industries, such as cotton processing and cotton oil refinery, carpentry and shoe making. About 60 percent of all cotton produced in the country is grown in Shinyanga.

Per capita income is estimated at $180 a year.

Water Supply

Shinyanga is one of the driest regions in Tanzania. There are two rainy seasons: the short rainy season is from October to January and the long rainy season occurs from February to May.

Searching for water is one of the major activities that occupy families in this area, including sponsored children’s families. Shinyanga’s water table is deep, and the ground water is not often fit for human consumption. The government has started efforts to have the water from Lake Victoria supplied to Shinyanga.

Diseases and Health Issues

Malaria is still the leading killer disease. In 2008, more than 500,000 malaria cases were reported in hospitals and, out of these, approximately 52 percent were cases of malaria among children under age 5.

Nearly 6 percent of the region’s population is diagnosed with HIV.

Apart from malaria and HIV/AIDS, other leading health problems in the region include dysentery, worms, eye diseases, skin diseases, anemia and respiratory diseases.

The regional hospital was built in 1947 as a dispensary to cater to 10,000 people. Since then, it has been expanded and elevated as a referral hospital. It currently serves about 830,000 people.

Local Issues and Concerns

Shinyanga is one of the regions in Tanzania that lags behind in education. The number of children who make it to school and the quality of education is still low despite the government’s efforts to address this.

There are 1,108 primary schools. All but 17 of these are owned by the government. The region needs an additional 324 schools to meet the demand of the current number of children. Most of the classes have between 50 and 60 children in one class.

Some schools lack qualified teachers or there are very few compared with the number of children per school. Some of the teachers who are posted for teaching jobs never report to their stations for fear of being placed to the remote areas and this complicates the problem.

Primary education is compulsory, and all children are supposed to attend for seven years before they sit for qualifying exams to join secondary schools. But in the rural communities people tend to move from one place to another in search of grass for their cows. Frequent moving makes it difficult for children to settle down and concentrate on their studies.

It is believed that this low level of education has contributed to the malpractice of killing old women due to superstitious beliefs. Several hundred elderly women have been killed in the past ten years for being suspected to be witchdoctors.

Also in recent years Tanzania has had a new problem of people with albinism (albinos) being hunted and barbarically killed. Parts of their bodies are chopped off due to superstitious beliefs associated with the gold mining and selling business, which has been thriving recently.

Home Life

Most children live with their parents /guardians in small mud houses. Some families are able to afford their own home and others rent from landlords.

The average family includes six people, and those renting generally cannot afford to have more than two to three rooms, which serve as bedrooms, living room and a kitchen.

Church and Religion

The church in Shinyanga has not been very strong for the past several decades because of the mobile nature of people. People have being practicing traditional religions.

The oldest and most dominant church in the area has been the African Inland Church. But in the last 10 to 30 years Shinyanga has witnessed the growth of other Christian churches due to the Pentecostal revival sweeping East Africa and rural-urban migration of people in search of jobs and business.

There are a significant number of Muslims in Shinyanga, which has been attributed to the Arabs who moved to the region in search of business opportunities.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates