Project proposal TO FINANCIALLY ASSIST THE CONSTRUCTION OF HOLY FAMILY CHILD CARE ORPHANAGE,

bOMBAMBILLI, TANZANIA

1. Project proposal

Financial assistance for the construction of Holy Family Child Care orphanage Centre- sponsored by Holy Family Church, Bombambilli, Songea, Tanzania.

2. Applicant

The applicant is Rev. Fr. Jaimy  Moonjely  C.M., Parish Priest of Holy Family Church Bombambilli and director of 10 kindergartens for the less fortunate children of  the slums of Bombambilli, Tanzania, East Africa. I am a Vincentian Missionary, a member of the religious Congregation of the Mission founded in 1625 by St.Vincent de Paul in France with the special charism to evangelise the poorest of the poor.

 

3. Project Location

The project, construction of Holy Family Child Care Orphanage Centre will be located at Shule ya Tanga, 18kms away from Holy Family Church in Bombambilli. At our request, the Tanzanian government has given us 35 acres of land for this  purpose.

 

Holy Family Church Bombambilli

 

Holy Family Church, a new parish located in Bombambilli,  was consecrated to the Holy Family June 30, 2002 by His Grace Rt. Rev. Norbert Mtega, Archbishop of Songea.

There are approx 11,000 parishioners scattered throughout six substations over a distance of 28 kilometers.  Two priests and seven catechists serve here actively proclaiming the Word of God. The five following outstations are served by this parish: Msamala, Mshangano, Shule ya Tanga, Sanagura and  Mazigira. The proposed project will be located in  Shule ya Tanga.

 

Geographical situation:

 

Bombambilli is situated in the southern part of Tanzania. It is about 1000 kms away from its capital , Daresaalaam. Bombambilli is in the district of Ruvuma. It is 3 kms away from the small town of Songea. It is under the juridictory of the Arch diocese of Songea.

Shule ya Tanga is one of its substations which is 18 kms away from  Bombambilli.

 

Population:

 

Of a population of 18,000, 6,000 are Catholic and the rest are divided between other Christian denominations and Islam. There is a 2.5% population growth in this area. Bombambilli can be easily compared to a slum area..

 

 The population of Shule ya Tanga is 4,890 of which 3,289 are Catholic, the rest belonging to various Christian demoninations.

 

Social and economical status:

 

More than 40 % of the people here live below the poverty level and eke out a living in the nearby town of Songea, where, as farmers, they cultivate maize and beans.

These farmers depend upon rain for their cultivation, and in this area, rain is scarce and thus the crops are often poor.

 

More than 99% of the people of Shule ya Tangua likewise are farmers who cultivate maize for their lively hood, and depend on rain to exist.

 

Religious Status:

 

People of all faiths here are religious. They either practice Christianity or Islam.  Even though they are very religious they are very much afraid of ghosts and are victims of black magic.

 

Educational Status:

 

80% of the people are illiterate. To them, it is not a problem as they know nothing else.  It is a way of life, and thus education has no meaning for them.  Thus, they do not understand why their children should be educated and therefore very few go to school.  The government tries to the best of its ability to convince the parents of this need.  We are happy that finally, a few children go up to pre degree school.

We see this as a sign of hope and change.

 

4.Background and the Need for the construction of Holy Family Child Care Orphanage Centre.

Who are the Vincentians of  Tanzania (Congregation of the Mission)?

 

The Vincentian Society of Tanzania consists of the Vincentian Fathers and brothers, in the Congregation of the Mission. It is a religious society founded in 1625 by St.Vincent de Paul who was known as the Father of the poor.

 

St.Vincent was a man who lived for the poor and tried his best to alleviate their sufferings. ”The poor are our master and we must serve them with great respect” was his maxim. He had a special heart for children and the aged as he dedicated his life to them by establishing many orphanages.     

 

Following in the footsteps of their founder St. Vincent, the Vincentians came to Tanzania in 1993 to proclaim the Word of God and improve the social and economic conditions as they found them.  Vincentians realize that spiritual development can only come about when social and economical conditions are met in order to bring change and improve the lives of  people.  Today, in Tanzania, as in so many countries in Africa, hundreds of children, whose parents have died from the scourge of AIDS, roam the streets in gangs, with no one to care for them. 

 

Illiteracy is the root cause of all social evils and no change can occur without education. Thus, we Vincentians saw the immediate need to establish kindergartens.  Trusting in God’s providence, we sought help from the villagers.  By the grace of God we now have ten nursery school, 8 kindergardens in the centre of Bomballi and two in the substations.  The Vincentians run the following kindergartens in the following locations:

 

Bombambilli

 

1. Holy Family Kindergarten- Bombambilli- Centre.

2. St. Joseph Kindergarten- Bombambilli

3. St. Mary Kindergarten- Bombambilli

4. St. Benedict Kindergarten- Bombambilli

5. At. Michael Kindergarten

6. St. Francis Kindergarten

7. St. Theresa wa Avila kindergarten- Bombambilli

8. Holy Family Kindergarten -II

 

Msamala

 

De Paul Kindergarten Msamala

 

 Mshangano

 

St. Theresa of the Child Jesus Kindergarten.

 

These ten kindergartens are under my care.

 

Why do we need the Holy Family Child Care Orphanage Centre?

 

Vincentian Fathers have always been called upon to be a source of love and consolation to poor children. As our founder says, “ Look at the less fortunate ones as your own brothers and sisters and be with them”. There are hundreds of orphaned children whose parents have died of AIDS, who wander from morning till evening on their own. They could be found each morning wandering the grounds of the church compound.  It was obvious that something had to be done immediately.   Education had to be provided so we started ten nursery schools by renting rooms in the villages.

 

c. Problems in General:

 

1. There are more than 400 children in this area of Bombambilli who are orphans whose parents have died of AIDS.  These children are becoming a nuisance to the public. As previously mentioned, 90% of these people are farmers. The farms are located in the mountain area far from the village. The guardians or the grand parents go to their farms and leave their children in the village and only return in the evening or at times a few days later. Who takes care of these children?  No one!  They wander on their own searching for food.

2. These children now learn how to beg. However, even their grandmothers beg.  So it comes natural to do this.   

3. These children left alone and hungry quickly learn how to steal, at first small things but that grows quickly.

4. Children left to forge on their own eat and drink whatever they can find.  Often the water is not safe and food is rotten.

5. A lot of children die as a consequence.  In this part of the world, the death rate for children is very high.

6. The center which we plan to build will be open to the entire district of Songea. In the entire district there is no orphanage for these children. It is not possible to know how many orphans there are in this district as hundreds of parents die from AIDS annually.

7. Most of the children who are left alone do not get any medical treatment.  But the center which we plan to build will be able to provide this much needed care.

8. A lot of these children who wander in the village are often misused by adults and soon become addicted to smoking and drugs.

9. Demoralization and despair set in and these children join adults and become delinquents.

 

We Vincentians are called to help these children; we cannot turn our faces from this tragedy.   Therefore we have no choice but to build this orphanage.

 

 

5. Objective of Holy Family Child Care Orphanage

 

a.       To provide a home life for these children.

b.      To provide for their education.

c.       To provide for their medical needs.

d.      To help them to grow as good citizens.

e.       To enable them to grow morally.

f.        To give them psychological and personal growth.

g.       To rescue them from the bad habits of stealing and addiction.

h.       To help them grow as religious people who respect others

i.         To provide for their holistic development.

j.        To give hope and courage to the AIDS affected children.

 

We can at the present only care for these children for a period of two years.  Then, having nowhere else to go, they return to the streets and become delinquents.   A long-term care facility is needed to prevent this.

 

6. Maintenance of this orphanage:

Of course, every organization wants to know how we plan to maintain such a centre.  How do we plan to do this?  Our plan is to follow the inspiration of our founder - St. Vincent de Paul.  He always trusted in Divine Providence as he forged ahead with the Lord’s plan for His people.   We feel that if he was successful in building orphanages, why can’t we who are his followers. We absolutely trust that God’s Hand is behind all our endeavours and we trust that He will help us all the way.   How can we fail if we are doing His work?  Surely, He will show us the way if we but trust in His guidance.   This seems to be our spiritual explanation.

 

We are fortunate in that we will have the help of CCCI Canada and we trust that with them we will be able to run this centre well. They are helping already with more than 150 sponsors. Out of these, 100 are orphans who will be sheltered here in the orphanage.  With the monies we receive for their care, we will be able to maintain the centre and at the same time, through the grace of God, there will be many more charitable agencies to help us. In the meantime, we are looking at other income-generating sources. Also the government will be able to give us at least 200 acres of land where we can cultivate the food needed. So maintenance is not going to be a problem. 

7.  Project Cost

To construct Holy Family Child Care Orphanage it would cost Tsh 80,414,775 which is equal to 100,268 Cdn. (One Canadian dollar is equal to Tsh. 802.). Even though the people are very poor they will contribute eight million Tch by their own labour.

 

 

What we request from you is 90,293 Cdn

(equilavent to Tsh. 72,412, 580)

 

 

Total cost	Tsh. 80,414,775	Canadian dollar   100, 268
Local contribution	Tsh. 8,000,000	Canadian dollar 9975
Request from you	Tsh. 72,412,580	Canadian dollar  90,293

 

Thank you very much.

Yours in Christ Jesus,

Rev.Fr.Jaimy Moonjely C.M.

Parish Priest, Holy Family Church Bombambilli

Songea,   P. O. Box 46

TANZANIA,

E. Africa

1)  Is the figure of  $90,000 Cdn a quote for construction from a building contractor?

No.  If we give this construction project to a contractor it may take approx. $80,000US.  If we do ourselves under the guidance of an Engineer we estimate the cost at only $90,000 Cdn.  Our construction is not going to be so posh. For example, instead of putting tiles on the floor, we will have cement flooring.  Likewise, rather that a concrete roof, which is more costly, we will have aluminium sheeting.  

Why the difference?  When a contractor works, he has to give 10% of the cost to the Engineer who supervises.  But when we do it ourselves, we only need to pay an engineer/inspector each time he visits the site.  A contractor has to pay approximately 20% to the government and his profit is approximately 15%. Simply put, there would be an output of 45%.  However, when we do our own supervising, we save this money.

2) Do you have the property, or is a land purchase included in the $ 90,000?

 Land is already there and I shall send you a photo of it. I had applied to the  government and they have already entrusted it to us. We have already made the  payment and therefore, this amount does not need to be included.

 Here, in Tanzania, as land is cheap, the government can afford to be generous.  Therefore, there is no need to worry about purchasing the land as it is already in our           possession.

3) What sources are you approaching for funding? Can you get assistance from the Vincentians?  Can you get assistance from the local or national government?

I have applied to SVOS Canada asking them to build a SOS Village at Songea.  Unfortunately, they do not have the resources as they already have a centre in Tanzania and are not thinking of building another at this time.

Our congregation may not be in a position to help us financially. The reason being that we have only been in Tanzania for eight years and do not as yet have either our own community house or houses for superiors.  We do have seminarians in Tanzania and our order is in the process of building a major seminary at Morogoro.  The order is also planning to build a house for our Superiors and schools for running of the mission field in Tanzania. These projects are already being supported by the congregation.  Added to this is the fact that the Congregation supports hundreds of mission stations throughout the world.  Because of this, their funds are directed in the area of constructing formation houses and are not available for a specific project such as ours.  However, I am certain they would help us in other areas if need be. The Congregation always advise the members to approach the funding agencies for this kind of help.

The local government will not be able to help us financially. However, it has helped us by providing us with 35 acres of land.  The only cost involved was for taking the measurements of the land.  They will be able to assist us in different ways during the construction phase.

4) What is the involvement, if any, of the local church (your bishop)?

The Archbishop will be extremely happy to have such a centre. His full support and co-operation will be there. He may not help us financially but in other area, I am sure he will do all in his power.  As donations to the church, our parish would give items like a 5 bags of maize worth $ 50.00 Cdn. But I am sure he will be there with us in person and in spirit whenever we need him. Whatever recommendation or support we need he will surely give us.

The local people also will be able to help us with their labour and whatever amount of maize they can sell to use for the construction. This should offset some of the cost involved.

5) What is your time frame for construction, or is there one at this time?

We hope to finish the work within a nine month period - after we receive the first instalment of money which can be sent to us in phases  - perhaps once every three months as work is inspected.

6) Given that the orphanage is built, how will it be financed? Do you have a plan in place for annual financing of operations?

Once the orphanage is built we are sure that we will be able to run it. We have several options.

a)  For the time being we will be able to run it with the help of CCCI Canada. The reason is that CCCI sponsors more than 150 children of which 100 are orphans.  The monies collected from these sponsorships will cover a large percentage of the cost of running the centre.

b) We also will be approaching different agencies asking help.

 c)  We plan on receiving income from locally generated projects, such as fostering cows, fowls, pigs, etc.

d)  As mentioned previously, we will be asking the government to grant us at least 200 acres of land for the cultivation of maize and agricultural produce.  Once the officials see the work we have done ourselves, we are certain they will support us in this manner.

7) How will the financing of the construction be handled if the funds are made available?                                                                          

I, as the local parish priest, will be in charge of monies received.  To date, I have received from CCCI $20,000 Cdn for the construction of a kindergarten.  Last week, I received another $10,000 Cdn.  As previously mentioned, the money can be sent in phases, as the work is completed and supervised.  Progress reports and photos of construction will be forwarded as requested.

Whoever would like to come and assist in handling the supervision of this work will be most welcome.  As it is, I am ready to commit 9 months of my own time without payment to ensure that this project is completed.

8) How much do you expect annual operation of the orphanage will cost?

It depends.  As we are hoping to accommodate one hundred orphans the first year.  we expect this to cost approximately $ 12,500 Cdn.

9) Who will be responsible for distribution of funds?

 There will be a local committee directed by the parish priest responsible for distribution of the funds.  Once work has begun, a cashier will handle daily expenses.  Expenses will be verified every month by government auditors. 

10) Is the orphanage to be owned by the local church, or by the Vincentians or by a local group of people?

 This is as yet to be decided.  As we approach charitable organizations or private individuals, these decisions will be eventually taken.

 We are praying for this project daily.  May God bless our efforts and yours as you endeavour to assist us in this worthy project of the Lord.