An Auspicious Day for PHA--The Middle

The Prime Minister (in the dark shirt) arrives at the banda at Peace House Academy. The Bishop of the Arusha Diocese is in front of him in the gray and the General Secretary of the Dioceses is to his left. It is the General Secretary that we do most of our work with on a daily basis in planning for PHA.

Like most politicians, Mr. Lowassa is skilled at shaking a large number of hands and getting introductions at hyper-speed. Don't he and Mark look friendly? Actually, all introductions were done within the context of the speeches given by the Bishop and the General Secretary, so Mark did not have an opportunity to speak personally to Mr. Lowassa at this point.

Joshua, our architect, outlined the plans for PHA building. The PM is the former Minister of Water and asked several questions about the proposed plans for rainwater catchment and possible use of graywater storage and use. He also asked about the number of students and the costs of the project. It was a very effective presentation, as Joshua had a good visual aid and was able to point out on the site where each of the buildings would be.

The PM also asked about what other work Peace House is doing. Clive Ashton (our PHF representative who lives in Moshi) spoke about the children we have been sponsoring for the past few years, mostly in the Moshi area. The PM also asked about whether Muslim children are sponsored and whether they would have an opportunity to attend PHA (he is Christian but the President is Muslim, as is almost 1/3 of the country. We don't currently sponsor any Muslim children, but it is our intent to have the population of Tanzania represented within our target group of orphans.

One of the projects at the site that needs to be done is the moving of the power lines that run directly through the campus. They are high-tension, high-power wires and need to be relocated so they are away from the main campus. This will cost a substantial amount of money. This "problem" was pointed out to the PM as a need of ours. We hope that he will consider making a "gift" and provide the funds for moving those lines.