The Pallottine Missionary Sisters opened a mission in Magogo Village, Dakawa Parish, Mororgoro, Tanzania, in 2017, at the urgent request of the Parish priest. It is in the Bush about nine km from the main Morogoro Road. The people of this area are mainly Maasai Nomadic Pastoralists, who live in the forest of Mvomero. To help the Maasai children to get an education, the Sisters opened Elisabetta Sanna, a Day and Boarding School. They began in 2018 with 21 pupils, and this year 163 have enrolled, with 53 of them living at the school and nearly 40 walking to school.
Boarding is expensive, so the greater number is day pupils. As many Maasai are subsistent villagers, we accept children from other areas outside the locality, whose families can afford to pay the school fees. Our aim is to make the school viable and self-sustaining. We managed to buy a second-hand Hiace minibus with a capacity of carrying 16 pupils but, as the number of pupils increased, we desperately needed a larger bus to take them to and from school.
Last year we began fundraising. On Wednesday, January 20th, with great joy, the Sisters, teachers and pupils at Elizabetta Sanna welcomed a new 34-seater Tata minibus. During the last year, the Sisters had struggled to collect the children using the Hiace and their Land Rover, but they were so overcrowded, it was quite dangerous driving through the Bush.
Dear Friends, we thank you for the sacrifices you have made to support us, so that we can now provide safe transport. May the good Lord bless and reward you abundantly! The two buses are now carrying 76 pupils from Dakawa Centre and Mbigiri Prison, which is 15km away from the school. We thank God for our kind benefactors, for our General Mission Procurator, Sr Marta Litawa, and our Sisters in England, who made our dream come true!
May God bless you all!
Sr. Basilisa Jacob/ Provincial Superior
