Songoro Partnership

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All Saints - Songoro Partnership

Songoro Lutheran Church is a Meru Diocese Congregation in Tanzania. Meru Diocese is the partner synod of the Greater Milwaukee Synod and All Saints Lutheran Church has been the recognized partner congregation of Songoro Lutheran Church since 2005.

Songoro Lutheran is an active congregation high on Mt Meru that has a second preaching point at Angaza. Most families of Songoro are subsistence farmers with 3-5 acres of land and they grow corn, beans, and bananas for their own consumption. Typical annual family income is $500. Many of them also grow modest amounts of coffee that is often their only cash crop. The goal of these farmers is to grow coffee with high enough quality to be purchased by Mt Meru Coffee Project to be exported to the United States because the price paid is much higher than the price paid by international coffee buyers at the regional auction. Tanzania was a colony until 1960 and colonization did not leave them with useful infrastructure or profitable world trade opportunities.

The All Saints Lutheran – Songoro Lutheran Partnership is flourishing. The members of All Saints are helping to fund the members of Songoro for the tools needed to improve their standard of living. All Saints members are learning about the lives of faith rather than the lives of consumerism lived in the United States. The partnership offers a hand up rather than a hand out.

At All Saints Lutheran Church Church, we believe that the love of Christ is the foundation of our community. We strive to embody that love in all that we do, whether it is through our worship services, our outreach programs, or our interactions with one another. We welcome everyone, regardless of background or beliefs, and invite you to experience the transformative power of Christ's love at All Saints Lutheran Church Church.

Education

Secondary School

Our partnership was established to benefit future generations by offering education to Songoro youth that would increase their income and improve the standard of living in Songoro.

Required secondary school fees are not entirely paid by the government and most peasant farm families are not able to pay these fees. The Songoro-All Saints Scholarship Program has assisted 60 – 75 students per year with their school fees since the program began. Many of these students attend state operated secondary schools and some attend private boarding schools that offer a superior education that is more likely to lead to meaningful employment or higher education.

The Secondary School scholarship program is funded with an appeal at All Saints each fall. The scholarship committee in Songoro accepts student applications that include past school performance and determines the amount to be allocated to each student considering their family income. A full accounting of the funds disbursed by this program in Tanzania is furnished to All Saints every year.

Higher Education

After the secondary school scholarship program operated for approximately two years, there were requests by potential students for assistance with their individual higher education costs. These costs could not be underwritten using funds allocated to our secondary school program and an additional program was created that paired students with patrons that were willing to fund their education costs for their entire college careers.

A total of 20 scholarship students have attended college since the program began. Scholarship recipients are committed to supporting their congregation and their community.

Health Care

Songoro - American Clinic

The nearest health care available to the residents of the Songoro region was originally a facility in Nkoranga, a village that is at least a one hour walk from Songoro. This walk was difficult for those in need of medical care and there were actually documented deaths associated with the distance. Meru District Government offered an opportunity to the residents of Songoro but it would have been difficult, if not impossible to use to good advantage.

A specified portion of the construction costs for clinic building would be furnished by the district government if a larger portion of the costs would be furnished by Songoro Lutheran Church and the residents of Songoro village. If the clinic would be built in Songoro, the district government agreed to provide staffing for the facility and the fees for medical services would be affordable. There were meetings that included Songoro Village leadership, Meru District leadership and representatives of Songoro Lutheran and All Saints Lutheran. A past recipient of a Songoro scholarship is on the Meru District Government staff.

An appeal at All Saints, as well as a number of large individual contributions, totaled enough to make the Songoro-American Clinic happen. Volunteers from Songoro village helped to build the clinic within the proposed budget. An appeal at All Saints helped to furnish medical equipment that was needed at the clinic and was not budgeted by Meru District government. Health care in Songoro is now more accessible which is particularly important in a developing country where most residents do not own motor vehicles.

All Saints to Songoro

Originating Visit

While working on a volunteer project for Mt Meru Coffee Project in 2005, Ron and Hannelore Bohrer worshipped at Songoro Lutheran Church and met with Pastor Anate Pallangyo, their pastor at that time. A day long meeting established the principles that helped to form a healthy partnership that does not simply send money but instead funds programs that provide the tools needed to improve the standard of living.

Subsequent Songoro pastors have agreed with the original partnership plan. On going relationships between members of the congregations have helped the members of All Saints to learn more about the lives of faith lived by the members of Songoro.

All Saints Member Delegation Visits

All Saints delegations have visited Songoro Lutheran as well as other sites in Tanzania including:

Meru Diocese Headquarters

Allanga Junior Seminary

Meru Diocese Rehabilitation Center

Songoro Secondary School

Mulala Coffee Processing Co-op

Coffee farm in Songoro

Subsistence farm in Songoro

Nkoranga Clinic

Olduvai Gorge Museum

Lake Manyara National Park

Ngorngoro Crater National Park

Songoro Member Delegation Visits

Due to difficulties obtaining visas for additional delegates, a single Songoro delegate visited All Saints Lutheran in 2019, along with other Greater Milwaukee Synod sites. The delegate was Emmanuel Makoninde, who is a Songoro scholarship recipient, and has been a member of the All Saints-

Songoro scholarship committee since its inception. He is on the Tanzania Agriculture Ministry staff, and is a leader at Songoro Lutheran Church.

He attended services at All Saints and met members in formal and informal settings. He brought a message of appreciation from the members of Songoro Lutheran as well expressed the pride and dignity the partnership has brought to his congregation.

Impact

Many members of Songoro Lutheran Church have received scholarships since 2005. The additional income obtained and the commitment to support their congregation have helped to increase contributions at Songoro Lutheran Church. This increase in contributions has helped to fund a number of programs that are serving the Songoro community.

These programs include:

Self-Supporting Scholarship Program

At-Home Elder Care

Food for the Needy

Occupational Training

The partnership plan established in 2005 is yielding results. Songoro Lutheran Parish is now one of the most progressive congregations in the Meru Diocese and the standard of living has improved in Songoro Village. With the help of All Saints Lutheran, the standard of education for future generations of Songoro youth will be higher than in the remainder of Tanzania. Several All Saints members have long term email relationships with Songoro members.