Algona students assist African village
By TAVIA MALONE
Globe staff writer
Posted May 16, 2002

ALGONA - St. Cecelia's Parish and the area Catholic schools have been working hard over the past three years to assist a village in Africa through donations of money and materials. With the project's end, Sister Mary Diana Blong, a Franciscan sister, came to the Algona Catholic schools to share with and inform students about Tanzania, Africa.

Sister Diana, a native of Mason City, served at St. Cecelia's as pastoral associate from 1996 to 1998. From 1998 to 2001, she served in the village of Rauya in the Moshi district of Tanzania. The Twin Parish Project was developed as a way for Catholic school students in the Algona to help students in Rauya. The students began their project with a fund drive in Lent of 2000 with the help of Lorri Larsen, the current pastoral associate at St. Cecelia's.

"The school was the first group that really decided to work together to support the children in Tanzania," said Sister Diana. "We used the funds that they collected from the Lenten project, which was over $700, and we began to look at the needs of the Rauya Primary School."

Sister Diana explained that there were many needs at the school in Rauya. The money that the students had raised went toward a total renovation of one of the classrooms at the school, which was in very poor condition.

"The roof was damaged and there was rain coming in," she explained. "The desks were terrible and the room was really a mess."

The funds that the students donated transformed the room into a bright, cheery and airy classroom. The floor and roof were repaired, as well as the blackboards. Transparent panels were placed in the ceiling so that students would have more natural light in the classroom, since the school did not have electricity. Also, new hand-made desks were furnished for the students. Books, teacher manuals and shutters for the windows were also purchased with the funds that the Algona students had raised.

These projects were recently completed in 2001, and with additional assistance from St. Cecelia's Parish, other projects were able to be developed in Rauya. Recently, other classrooms were renovated and a veranda was built along one wall of the school to help protect the school from all of the mud.

"We also got some learning tools for the teachers, especially in kindergarten," said Sister Diana. "Different people in the parish also donated a lot of resources to help the dispensary."

The dispensary served as a hospital, and because of the generosity of Algona parishioners, many items were replaced with clean and sterile medical equipment. The parish also assisted the dispensary with their medicinal debt.

Recently, on April 19, Sister Diana made a trip back to Algona from her current parish in Marshalltown, Iowa, to lead a presentation about Tanzania and how the students helped the village of Rauya.

"I wanted to thank the students for helping other students and to let them know that they did make a difference," Sister Diana said.

Many of the students at the Algona Catholic schools came to the presentation because they were involved in a pen-pall project with some of the students in Tanzania. Sister Diana explained about the culture and life of the students in Rauya.

"I shared a short video, pictures and different things that I had brought back from Tanzania so that they would have a feel for the culture," she explained.

Lorri Larsen said that the students really enjoyed the presentation and that they had many good questions. All levels of the school got to participate, including high school students.

"It's quite a bit different lifestyle and our kids were very interested in that," said Larsen. "It was an excellent way to wrap up the project."

The students also learned how much the African students treasured their correspondence with the Algona children. The Tanzanian students decorated the letters to the students with African artwork, which interested the Iowa children.

"The project occurred over a long period of time so the students followed it for a couple years," explained Larsen. "It raised their awareness of our abundance in this country and poverty in other countries."

The generous donations that the students at Seton Grade School and Garrigan High School raised for the people in Tanzania made a big difference in the Rauya community.

"I really came back with a sense of the joy and the spirit of the people," said Sister Diana. "Their spirit of gratitude is something that I will never forget. I also realize how great people in America are to share what they have with others."