Mvimwa (Tanzania)

Project 3514 – Purchase of computer equipment

Benedictine Monks of Mvimwa (Tanzania)

Mvimwa Abbey was founded in 1979 by the Benedictine missionary congregation of Saint Ottilien (Germany) in the Sumbawanga region. Today, the community comprises ninety-six brothers, twenty-four of whom are in temporary vows, and seventeen novices.

The brothers have a poultry farm, a goat farm, a farm, a fish farm and a pigsty, which is currently being expanded. The brothers have started making and selling sausages in order to increase their income and better fulfil their pastoral missions.

The brothers are in charge of the parish. They are involved in primary schools and a vocational training centre. They have set up an association to help women in need (financial loans, conferences). In 2019, they began work on a Marian shrine, combined with a Bible in the field and a spiritual centre. In the same year, the brothers began a reforestation project to be spread over five years to plant thousands of trees, as deforestation is very high in Tanzania.

Request

The brothers run a secondary school (St Maurus) and a teacher training college in the town of Sumbawanga, with 761 pupils enrolled at St Maurus. Most of the pupils come from difficult backgrounds. Some have no one to support them because of poverty. Others (especially girls) have escaped early marriage and most are survivors of various traumas. Some of them come to the monastery in person to ask for help and others are asked by the local government to support them. The abbey has taken on the responsibility of financially supporting the majority of the pupils who do not receive any assistance.

St Maurus School needs four computers and a robust printer to print exams and other school documents - two computers for the academic office, and two laptops for data storage.

Given the abbey’s efforts to support young students, financial assistance would be needed to cover the cost of these acquisitions.

Requested amount: 5,350 euros

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