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Goshen College

Kiabakari Bible College

March 10, 2014

Alicia with Elizabeth - the college secretary and a great friend to Alicia.
Alicia with Elizabeth – the college secretary and a great friend to Alicia.

Today we left Musoma town with Bri, Anneliese, Melanie, and Kelsey at 7:30 in the morning in the our Landrover. The agenda was to visit Alicia Hofer at her service location in the nearby town of Kiabakari, about a 40 minute drive from Musoma.

Alicia teaches English at Kiabakari Bible College, a Lutheran run bible school that offers training for young men and women who are interested in working for the Tanzanian Lutheran church. We arrived around 8:15 in time to greet Alicia before her first teaching lesson at 8:40!  Alicia teaches two levels of English classes, one for beginners and another for more advanced, older students studying to be deacons.  She also offers English tutoring for children of the employees several times a week in the evening.  If that isn’t enough she has begun teaching some computer classes too! She is staying busy and loving it.

The farm is supported by several Lutheran missionary families in addition to teachers and administrators from Tanzania.  We met the principal upon arrival, and Elizabeth the school’s secretary who has become very good friends with Alicia.  We had morning tea and lunch at the college cafeteria with the students. In the afternoon we visited the home of Simon and Inge Marie, a Danish couple who work at the College doing some teaching (Inge Marie) and maintenance and farm support (Simon). Simon also works in the countryside with several Lutheran churches.  Alicia has enjoyed occasionally baby-sitting their 3 year old daughter, Neema.

In addition to offering training in English and Biblical studies, the college seeks to provide its students with practical training in a number of trades to complement their desire to work in the church.  The college has dozens of hectares of land on which they grow corn and beans, which they harvest and use for food for the students.  They also grind the corn to make maize flour and raise pigs most of which are sold in town.  Several students also receive training in wood-working in the college’s shop.  Wow!

We were impressed with Alicia’s involvement at Kiabakari Bible College!  After her teaching we drove the short 2 km drive to her home and spent some time with her Baba, Bibi, and sisters.  Her house is surrounded by farmland and is in an idyllic location. Since she is living in Kiabakari without other GC students, Alicia enjoyed catching up with Anneliese, Bri, Melanie and Kelsey. The students also enjoyed adding details to a “chain” letter that we are taking from town to town.  Tomorrow we are on the road again for 5 days, the first stop being Mogabiri, so more posts may wait until we have internet access.

– Ryan for the team

Alicia with Bible School students after morning devotions.
Alicia teaching the beginners English class.
Bri helping to teach for the morning.
Melanie working with a student.
Anneliese helping the students in their English conversation.
(A break for a kingfisher!)
Alicia with all of her beginner English students.
Tea in the cafeteria.
Alicia in her home.
Alicia with her Baba and baby sister Neema.
Alicia’s bedroom.
Baba Alicia in his shamba (farm).
The outside of Alicia’s home.
Alicia with her Bibi (grandmother).
The Bible College of Kiabakari.
One of the classrooms (and library) where Alicia teaches.
Alicia with Elizabeth – the college secretary and a great friend to Alicia.
The school runs a corn grinding mill to create corn flour for the community.
The food store for corn and beans grown on the college farm.
Baby pigs reared on the college campus.
The sunflower press.
The woodworking shop where some students receive training.
Part of the college’s farm.
Neema, Simon and Inge Marie’s first born.
Simon and Inge Marie (missionaries from Denmark) invited us for tea.