Tanzania Needs Our Help

Father Pirmin Ngolle of St. Pius X Catholic Church in Klamath Falls, Oregon and Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church in La Grande, Oregon longs for improvement in his native country of Tanzania. Fr. Ngolle has taken on a mission that is near and dear to his heart and is asking for help from outside organizations.

The Mission of St. Maurus Hanga Abbey has several goals in mind to improve the quality of life for so many. Along with building schools and churches for those in East Africa, Fr. Ngolle hopes to bring clean water to those who have not known what clean water is throughout their lifetime.

Claiming hundreds of children and expectant mothers each year, the streams of Southern Tanzania have become known as “rivers of death”. The diseases contracted each year from these river's contaminated waters have been fatal to those who have no choice but to drink the water.

Fr. Ngolle believe that with your help the death toll of these streams may soon be cut to a trickle. A drive is underway to raise money to pipe clean water from the artesian wells over the mountains (6 miles from the mountains to the villages) to schools, health centers, and villages in Southern Tanzania.

The clean water pipeline will provide thousands of people with clean water for the first time in their lives. The Benedictines of St. Maurus Hanga Abbey plan to work with the villagers and students to bring the clean water over the mountains.

“Our people share the same streams of water with cows, goats, pigs and sheep”, says Fr. Ngolle. “Most people in Southern Tanzania are born and die without tasting a drop of clean water”.

The goal is to purchase 20,000 pipes at $25.00 per pipe. This would allow the piping to be placed down to the clean water in an artesian wells from the mountains. The total cost of the pipes needed for this project is $ 500,000.

“We shouldn’t allow someone to die because they don’t have the access to clean water”, says Fr. Ngolle. “With the help of so many people we have accomplished much. With your help, much is still needed to be done”. Fr. Ngolle believes that piece by piece the infrastructure can be brought together. “This problem isn’t solved just for this generation, but for many generations to come” he says.

The public can contribute to this cause by visiting the Hanga Abbey St. Maurus website at www.HangaAbbey.org. There, you can contribute monetarily to purchase pipes that can bring clean water to Southern Tanzania.

“By bringing clean water, children and expectant mothers are going to be given a chance to live”, says Fr. Ngolle. The project will benefit approximately 29,000 people in the area.