The day ended with a fundraiser at the Impala Hotel for the ELCT-DAR diocese, at which the PM and his wife were guests. During his speech, he mentioned the projects that he had visited that day and asked Mark to come up to thank him for his work at PHA. Surprisingly, then, he also asked Mark to say a few words. Mark also thanked him for coming and the church for their generosity and hoped that we would be good stewards of the gifts given to us by God through donors in the US, the church here, and the people in the community. It was short, but eloquent, and heartfelt. As the fundraiser was attended by the pastors of the (huge) diocese region as well as the business community of same (but mostly from Arusha) it was a great opportunity to put our school and work out to the community in a very public way. What an honor!
Then came the fundraising. By categories (pastors, health, education, business, etc.) people came forward, announced who they were and what they were giving--publically. At times, the Prime Minister thought someone could give more and challenged them to up their giving on the spot. This happened (in a friendly way) with the pastors from his home region (he is from Monduli, near Arusha) and from several bigger businesses here in town. The PM personally gave about $35,000, for a total of about $126,000 raised that evening. This is Clive and Mark giving the PHF donation. Pics of this were hard to get as the lighting was strange and there were so many people standing on the sidelines. We had a good time--and we've been invited to lunch on Monday at an upscale tented camp lodge at Lake Manyara by the owner, whom we sat next to at the dinner. He was very interested in our ideas about mentoring youth in business and the possibility of internships to learn practical applications, etc.
So there it is--Peace House Foundation steps into the limelight!
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