I just can't say enough good things about these two people! They have welcomed me with open arms and shared so much with me about their journey to Africa, the history of the school, and just about life in Africa. It isn't easy to be a missionary here and I think they have been blessed to share their gifts with the people. They embrace these girls as their own children, but step back to let the African school administrators run the school. They will be greatly missed next year. If you ever get a chance to hear them speak in states at a church.. GO!
Abby and Erik Jorgenson, along with their girls Stella, 6, and Claire, 7, have been volunteering at the school since September. They are both teachers in Washington State and came over to teach Pre Form girls and Form 1 girls this year. Abby was one of the first two American teachers at the school when it all began back in 1995. She was at a another Lutheran schoo in the area when the Simonsons recruited her to be apart a teacher as they started building the school. Now she was able to bring her family back to help the school again. I know it has been fun for her to be back to see some of her former students teaching and to see how much the school has grown over the past 15 years. They will be returning to the states next week.
Today, I made the weekly trip to Arusha with Marv and Jean. First they took me to the Plaster House, which is an NGO that was started by a woman named Sarah Wallace. Sarah, an occupational therapist, is originally from Australia and came to Tanzania to volunteer when she was in her mid 20's. She returned home after being in Tanzania a couple years and decided that her heart was still in Africa, so she moved back to work with Mark Jacobson at the new Arusha Lutheran Medical Hospital. Sarah also wanted to help children physical disabilities like a club feet, to walk or move their arms again, so she along with some other doctors go out into the bush country to find children who need surgery and get them to hospital. The Plaster House (opened in 2008), is a rehabilitation home where the children can stay for months after their surgery to get the therapy and healing they need before they return to their village. There are three house moms at the site full time to care for the children (There real moms often will come into stay with them for a few days while recovering, but some kids are hundreds of km away from their village and the moms can't afford to stay for the duration of their recovery). Today there were about 40 children, ranging from under one year to 15 years of age) at the house recovering and they only have 17 beds. They have had to turn the office and even the mom's room into a place for the children to stay. She is in the process of raising funds to build a new home closer to the hospital. It was fun to see the children and really to meet Sarah. She has a huge heart and wonderful personality. She is truly an inspiration to young women!
After the Plaster House, we went to have coffee with Mark and Linda Jacobson, who are also Lutheran missionaries in Tanzania. Mark is a doctor and has been serving in the hospitals here for over 15 years. Through the help of the Lutheran church and some big donations, they have just opened the Arusha Lutheran Medical Hospital, a state of the art facility that will serve the community for years to come. It is quite a building in Arusha and they have put a lot of time into the project! Mark and Linda have raised there three daughters in Arusha and the last one will be heading to the states this school to start college. I have known about their missions for many years through OBA letters, etc, but it was fun to finally meet them!
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