St. James’ Partnership with Idunda Parish:
October 2024 Update
Dear St. James Council,
This is an update on Idunda’s dispensary.
Kirsten Levorson, Bega Kwa Bega Director, now just home from Tanzania, personally visited Idunda before returning to Minnesota. She was accompanied by Joel Kissava, the Iringa Diocese Engineer. Idunda already has enough lumber for the roof and that is paid for. The photos Kirsten sent are enlightening and are attached.
As you can see in the photos, there is moss on the block. It is a product of the warm moist climate. That will need to be scraped off before they apply the finish coat of plaster to the block, which protects the structure.
The balance in the dispensary construction account is currently $9240.85 or about 24 million TSH at our current rate of exchange. Members of the church are also investing 20,000 TZS each, about $7.70 USD, in addition to the “sweat equity” they invest in doing the construction work.
The total cost of the project is $15,250 USD, less the amount for the timbers, so balance total $11,066.
In addition to the $9240.85 USD at BKB in Iringa, we have $1836 on hand, thus the total is $11,076.85. There is another $1630 available to this project when the pledges are fully paid.
The building of a dispensary in Idunda Village
Since formalizing a companion partnership in 1987, the Saint Paul Area Synod and the Iringa Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania have been partnering congregations in Tanzania with ELCA churches in the synod. St. James has been blessed to be a companion congregation to Idunda Parish since 2004. Throughout that time, the church has supported scholarships for low-income families and orphans, provided financial aid for construction costs, and traveled across the world to be together as a community of believers.
Most recently, St. James sent $1000 in matching funds to support the ongoing construction of a dispensary in the Idunda village. The Government of Tanzania requires each village to have a dispensary built to certain specification. Unfortunately, the government does not always provide the financial resources necessary to meet the requirements. With the generosity of the St. James’ community, the village is currently in the process of laying the foundation for the dispensary (see photos). Once the foundation is finished, they will begin the process of building the walls.
Dispensaries are an important part of health care in Tanzania as they are often the first place someone goes when needing medical assistance. The dispensaries operate like a clinic and pharmacy combined where people can go to receive medication along with basic medical attention.