FROM Archdeacons Roberta Wilson-Garrett and Marie Loewen

My Dear Friends;

In the past couple of days Marie Loewen and I have had multiple email exchanges with our friend Mwita, Bishop of Tarime, Tanzania. What began as an update of Covid-19 in Africa has now quickly grown into outreach that requires all of our support.

Some of you will know that +Mwita’s wife Mukami, is a Clinical Officer, the equivalent of a Nurse Practitioner, at a clinic in Darsalam. During the course of our emails we discovered that the African government has been slow to respond to Covid-19 and that PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) is only currently being provided to frontline health workers handling Covid-19 patients in designated treatment/isolation centres. Consequently, Mukami and her staff are working unprotected. We all know the extreme risk she is taking in doing so. She and +Mwita have spoken and decided that she would purchase PPE for herself and the others at the clinic.

Marie and I thought we could quickly amass some supplies and ship them, however after much more back and forth, it has become clear that it would be far more practical and cost efficient to provide financial support. The supplies are still widely available for purchase in Tanzania but the cost is rising quickly. The weekly statistics indicate that Covid-19 cases in Africa have increased 43% over last week and the W.H.O. feels that Africa could quickly become the world epicentre of this virus. This will not shock anyone who has been to Africa or any other 3rd world country where the health care system and the community infrastructure can in no way meet the required demands of a health care crisis. We cannot sit back and watch when we have the ability to make even a small difference.

So, with Archbishop Anne’s support, we are asking our colleagues and friends to consider financially supporting this outreach to our extended family in Tanzania. We are also asking everyone to share this request as widely as possible.

We have set up an account and will be able to receive financial e-mail transfers which in turn will be transferred for Bishop Mwita to manage. This conversation began with concerns for the staff of Mukami’s small clinic, so they will first be provided with necessary PPE for them to continue their jobs and stay healthy. The balance of the funds Bishop Mwita will use to support the clergy and parishes In Tarime so that they can weather the storm of Covid-19 as he determines to be necessary.

Transfers can be sent to rwilso@xplornet.com with the password Tarime2020. Unfortunately, we are unable to supply tax receipts for these gifts.

Marie and I cannot thank you enough for your support of this outreach to our brothers and sisters in Tanzania.

God Bless

Ven. Roberta Wilson-Garrett
Ven. Marie Loewen