November 16, 2011
We woke to a wonderful breakfast made by Margaret at the Minnesota house at
Kiomboi. After breakfast we discussed
the full agenda for the day, with a tour of LIK, computer setup by Al and Mark,
and Andrea meeting with the school teaching staff and Interim Provost Peter
Kijanga (who had visited Mt Olive in 2010) to discuss online education
opportunities.
Pastor Mpumpa (pastor of the Kiomboi church and teacher at
the school) took us on a tour of the Kiomboi church. They had several people working to clean,
sand and paint for preparation of the 100th anniversary celebration
next month. The Kiomboi church is about
75 years old.
Then we toured the school.
The school (currently named LIK for Lutheran Institute in Kiomboi) was
built by the Augustana church as a school for children of missionaries. [Editor: Mount Olive, was a part of the Augustana synod when first created. ] It is interesting that we sat by a man on the
plane from MSP who went to school here at Kiomboi.
The school is currently used for pastor and
evangelist training. By May of next
year, the plan is to obtain University registration (which requires
certification by the government) and bring in their first classes for the
University programs. In order to obtain
registration, there are three main qualifications; 1) Library and chief
librarian, 2) at least 5 qualified university professors, and 3) sufficient
building infrastructure. Mount Olive
and SEMN Synod work here is key to #1 – Library. It is difficult to impossible to get all of
the books needed for the University, so they are dependant on computers,
internet, and online library/curriculum.
Therefore, they are very excited to have our assistance and to have us
here to visit the school. The school has
sufficient buildings for registration, with classrooms, offices and
dormitories. All of the buildings are in
very good shape after renovation work done a few years ago with the help of the
SEMN synod.
Singida
University in Kiomboi
plans to provide degrees in Education and Theology. In the future, they also plan to provide
degrees in Nursing, and they also want to specialize in Environmental Sciences
given the raw materials that are available in central Tanzania. They would like to research the capability to
harvest these raw materials, yet not degrade the beautiful, natural
environment.
After our tour and initial meeting, Al and I spent time in
their computer lab checking out the ten desktop computers that they have, and
also the ten laptops that we brought for the University. Everything is now in order and ready for the
fiber optic cable from Tanzania Telecommunications Company that will deliver
the internet to the University.
Andrea and Pastor Laura met with the staff to discuss
options that Globe University can help with in partnership with Singida University. They had a lively discussion on current
teaching methods and use of online education methods.
We came back to Minnesota
house for lunch, and meetings continued in the afternoon. We then visited the hospital, which used to
be owned by the church, but is now run by the government. Peter Kijanga and the school staff joined us
for dinner at Minnesota
house, and we had a good time for fellowship and conversation after dinner.
Mark
