News from the Diocesan Staff

We would like to introduce the reports by making a brief résumé of the current underlying thought in the Diocese of Masasi as it tries to continue on its course towards self sufficiency.

The Diocese has for many years generated some income from the Diocesan shamba, but this is obviously prone to fluctuations depending on the weather, the prices for cashew nuts set by the Ministry of Agriculture and the negotiations conducted by those who buy the nuts for processing.

There are two new projects aimed at raising money, which are now active.

The Conference Centre has been developed to help both the church and the community at large. There is no other meeting centre of this nature for people to use in the whole of the rapidly expanding Masasi Town. The Centre has been built outside the Cathedral area, so that it may be hired for use by those who would feel uncomfortable further up the road and it has already been recommended to the community by the District Officer at the time of the MU conference.

The new tractors, which were delivered last year, are now working for the community out in their fields and bringing in money for the Diocese. Obviously not a great deal will be profit for quite some time, as there are expenses when setting up any enterprise, but this is another step in the right direction. The Tractor Project has been backed by the Tanzanian Government in recognition of the work done by the Diocese for its people over the past few years in the area of agriculture, which fits in with the Government's own aim of poverty reduction. However the financial help from the Government is not a gift - it is a loan which will have to be repaid gradually as the tractors begin to make a profit.

We are all aware to some extent of how our Anglican Dioceses in UK generate income from the parishes by means of the Parish share system. This has taken many years to develop here. Now one sees from the Bishop's letter that, in addition to the above projects, plans have been made for Masasi Diocese to start along this path. This third project of getting the people to contribute more to Diocesan funds is under way to a certain extent, but clearly it is difficult to implement a scheme when the coffers are empty and there is nothing available to ?prime the pump?. One of the biggest difficulties encountered is the lack of knowledge among those doing the work of parish treasurers. Resources in the parishes are low at the best of times so it is vital that the treasurers realise how important it is to try to raise funds, to use wisely any funds they have, to send a specified amount to the Diocese, and to show accurately in their annual returns what they have done with the money which has passed through their hands.

This awareness and a willingness to follow the plan set out by the Diocese will only truly come about once they have been taught a) about the need for this and b) how to follow these procedures. For this to happen there will have to be some way of giving training to those in the villages and this will take time, effort and the laying out of a sum of money. For the sake of the future progress of the Diocese it would be advantageous if this training could take place sooner rather than later. The plan for parish shares cannot be implemented fully until people realise what it entails and why it is so important. At the moment this appears to be something of a chicken and egg situation and it is hard to see how real progress can be made until the necessary training of the treasurers and cashiers has taken place.

Mick and Val Levick