Dear Brothers, It is with feelings of great gratitude and deep emotion that I hasten to thank you for the donation to my humble Diocese of the sum of 5,000 euros to support the operation of our clinic at our missionary centre in Kidamali, Iriga. It is now an undeniable fact that without your help from my first steps in my diocese and without your moral and material support, it would be impossible to proceed, because the difficulties and needs are immeasurable. In this beautiful but impoverished corner of the earth, we encounter human suffering at every step. Poor but happy people, always with a smile on their lips, live their hard everyday life with simplicity, with total deprivation of necessities, but with constant recourse to God. It is a miracle to experience a Mass in Africa. With how much attention and devotion everyone participates together, even the little children, in the chanting and in the Holy Communion! At an altitude of 1500 metres, on the vast plateau of Rift Valley, lies the region of Iriga, generally considered to be the poorest and most difficult region in Tanzania. For six to eight months of the year there is a complete drought, with winds beating the trees and drying out the already harsh landscape. In this difficult region, there is a great need for medical care for our brothers and sisters. People are suffering from AIDS, malaria, typhoid, and the number of orphaned children is growing every day.
With our humble means and with timid steps, we started the operation of the Clinic in our Missionary Centre of Kidamali, Iriga, which was rebuilt by Theodore and Melpomene Geraki, regular members of your Brotherhood, and to which crowds of patients come from the surrounding areas. It turns out that it should be organized under the form of a polyclinic, with various specialties, because the diseases of the people are varied and the health care of the state is rudimentary. The cost of running our clinic, at the moment, for doctors’ salaries and donated medicines, amounts to 2.000 € per month. Yet we started with a hand on our hearts and hope in your love! May the word of the Gospel run, dear brothers and sisters, with works and words of true love, and may the bells of our Orthodoxy ring out in every corner of Africa. Amen.
†The Arusas Agathonikos
