WAAGUSTINO-OSA WAFIKA JIMBO KUU LA ARUSHA KWA UTUME

THE AUGUSTINIANS-OSA OPEN UP  

NEW MISSION IN ARUSHA TANZANIA

The Augustinian mission started in the south of Tanzania almost forty years ago in the mission of Mahanje, is still expanding. After consolidating the mission of Mwanza now the delegation is opening a new mission in Arusha with two centers one in the city of Arusha and another one among the Masai in the district of Longido. This is after receiving an invitation from Most Rev Josephat Lebulu, Archbishop of Arusha, through Fr. Pius Shao the parish priest of Endumet, and after a feasibility study made by the brothers Stephano Musomba, Zacharias Kashinje, Bernard Mlowe and Kosmas Asenga sent by the Delegation of Tanzania.

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION

Endumet Parish is politically located in Longido District in Arusha region. It is bordered by Kenya and Kilimanjaro Region lying on the Western Mount Kilimanjaro. It can be accessed through Arusha Town following the Arusha-Nairobi road passing through Longido town, or one can pass through Bomang’ombe through Sanya Juu all the way to Endumet, or passing through the Moshi-Tarakea road passing through Rombo district and entering the new parish of Kamwanga which was an outstation of Endumet Parish up to recently.

Los agustinos y una masai

The parish extension in line with the road from Kamwanga to the border with Ngare is about 55km but the activities do not cover such an area because the population is sparsely distributed due to the fact that the majority a pastoralists who need large space to feed their cattle.

The parish is made of the following outstations: Kiténden, Lerang´wa, Olmólog, Olmolotí, Mkao and Elerai. From Kiténden to Elerai is about 35 kilometers of a very rough road. Lerang’wa is the parish center with a big hospital, secondary school and primary school.

POPULATION

The population of the parish is 90% Masai and the rest 10% are the Waswahili (all the other tribes inhabiting that area are referred to by the Masai as swahili). The Masai are pastoralists though some do engage in agricultural activities. Some outstations are Masai dominated while others are more mixed. According to the information received and experience in the mass, the outstation of Kitendeni is 60% Masai while Lerang’wa is 50%, Mkao is 99% Masai, while Olmolog is 40%, Olmoti 80% and Elerai is 98%. This percentage is important for the pastoral agents due to the fact that the Masai customs and traditions demand a good knowledge of them in order to be able to work with them.

INFRASTRUCTURES

Taking into consideration the nature of the population and their mode of production which is seasonal nomads, it was not at the beginning of evangelization to establish stable infrastructures especially church buildings and schools. It was recently after the establishment of permanent families and some permanent activities associated with the entrance of people from other tribes that the idea of building schools and places of prayer started seriously. The different outstations are the indication of this phenomenon.

Kiténden has a temporary wooden church building. It has plans to build a new permanent church and a nursery school for the kids who are always lacking this fundamental preparation for their future.

It has 7 small Christian communities. It has one catechist. It lies about five kilometers from the parish center.

Lerang’wa, the Parish headquarter has three rooms built as the parish office but for the moment are used as the residence for the priest serving the parish. The new church building which is combined with the priest residence is almost completed in the moment.

It has a nursery school which seems not to function well for lacking children who are always obliged by their families to take care of the animals. It has 5 Small Christian Communities which could be more if the number of households for each current community is reduced to the required one. There is a big hospital belonging to the Archdiocese of Arusha with 60 beds capacity, Operation Theater, MCH (Mother and Child Centre) in construction with a residence for the Sisters working in the hospital.

Mkao has a permanent brick church building sufficient for the believers to sit almost all of them with some standing outside. It has a nursery school with poor attendance as in every case. The entrance road is not accessible during rainy season and even during the dry season it poses difficult. It has 6 small Christian communities which can be more than ten with good organization.

Olmólog  is found in the very old town of Olmólog. This outstation has a temporary wooden church building. It has 6 small Christian communities.

Olmotí is the smallest of all the outstations. In fact it is located in a very sparsely populated area where the land is used mainly for crop production. It has a temporary wooden church building. It has only one small Christian community made of those who work in the nearby farms. Its existence depends very much on the availability of rain. During dry season or in case of drought the number of the faithful drops drastically.

Elerai  has a temporary church building located in the lower plain extending towards the border with Kenya, with difficulty access whether it is dry or rainy season if the road access is not maintained. It has 3 big small Christian communities. It is an outstation with the traditional Masai, living in the plain with their cattle and on Sunday assists in the church services.

Parish Perspectives in General

Due to lack of priests the outstations are run by the catechists in collaboration with the Parish Council. In the outstation chapels there is permanent presence of the Holy Eucharist except Elerai and Olmotí. So the Sundays without priests the catechists do celebrate Ibada ya Misa bila Padre. Due to the mode of life of the Masai very few people do receive the Holy Eucharist due to the irregular situations according to the Catholic Church norms.

Up to the moment the two parishes are being administered by Fr. Pius Shaoa a diocesan priest who normally celebrates three masses or four each Sunday though he is eighty years old.

Economic activities are pastoral and crop production. In principle the Masai possess the land and rent it to those who want to cultivate it. The rainfall is not reliable due to natural factors and manmade causes. Due to the presence of many cattle the environment has been degraded and they have to move some distances in search of water and pasture.

Pastoral challenges and possible actions

The Masai have their way of life which makes it difficult to comply with Roman Catholic pastoral approach and rules. This is due to many factors. We will present few of them.

·         Education is not valued so the majority does not know how to read and write.

·         Early marriages and the majority are polygamous.

·         Superstitious and magic beliefs, which impede them to embrace Catholicism freely.

·         The power of the elders in maintaining and keeping the traditions of the Masai in which some of their cultural elements are incompatible with the current way of life especially the age set system which is good but if not properly disrupts especially the education process of the initiates.

·         The gender inequality: women practically have no say in what concerns their life in that society. Girls are married very young. It is enough to see the group of Sangiki who young girls about thirteen to fifteen years old already married with children.

Possible Pastoral Actions

First of all one should not operate only with the same mentality and method as we has been among other people. This contexts may require new methodological approaches, may be a primary evangelization or any methodology which may give priority to the Word of God and then the Sacraments.

a.    Concentration on alphabetization (According to the different age groups).

b.    Strengthening the nursery Schools.

c.    To establish a special pastoral program for the Morani and the elders, this can be very challenging if one is not patient.

d.    Healthy education.

e.    Importance of gender equality in all aspects.

f.      One has to know the basic cultural elements of the Masai in order to be able to work with them. The knowledge of their environment and their way of life and especially their mode of production which can be the source of the serious challenges for any one working with them.

The Role of the elders should be taken seriously in the process of offering service to these people.

Taking into consideration that the area needs to be cared in order to restore its ecological balance, a pastoral approach aiming at instilling among the people the spirit of reforestation can help to solve many of the problems related to drought due to the environment degradation caused by the overgrazing.