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Retired teachers bring hope to impoverished nation ; FRONT covnm Jeannie Reid and hufi- i‘ band Rob recently mumed from Tanzania. : where they spent two years teaching. sbolan®yrntg.¢‘orn Women ate only every other day. Kids sniffed glue because it warded-off hunger pangs. Friday nights were for drinking Pombe. Walking through Tanzanian villages. see- ing and hearing about the hungry or intoxi- cated was commonplace for Jeannie and Rob Reid. who spent two years making small inroads in changing the culture through education. » The Reids. who are both 66 and Ietired. recently returned from a non-paying mis- sion in Dodoma. Tanzania. where Mr. Reid taught English at the Msalato Theological College and Mrs Reid taught bookkeeping to secretarial students. But they taught much more than Engiish and academics. Pan of MrrReid's curriculum included malaria prevention. water safety. farming techniques. AIDS education and hygiene. to name a few. Once word got out they were gain on a two-year mission. people started 3 them how they could donate to their proj- ects. Fundralslng wasn‘t something they pre- viously thought about. “We just {ranted to go and work We didn't BY SANDRA BOLAN want to get involved with finances.” Mrs. Reid said. One-hundred-per-cem of any money received went to pay for 1hnzanian projects. The Reids' housing was paid for. The hard part wasn't raising the money. but deciding which projects to spend it on. To help streamline their choices. the Reids opted to support programs that involved education and that were sustainable. The money was used to help support the college sports program. pay student fees. houslng. medical needs. books. aid a street kids' program as well as village school and bible programs Hdweier. there are some situations that fell outside the parameters but could not be ignored. . , v In their travels lo the villages. where their students lived. the Reids came across women who only ate every second day. They bought eight kilograms of maize and divided it axfiong {hereAldérly Mrs. Reid said. The Reids' first mission was in 2001. They spent two weeks in Honduras. where they dug ditches to run a water pipe from the main road to the church. They also engaged in Christiah evangelism ghmugh fellowship. in an effort to teach his students at Bal- lantrae Public School about character. Mr. Reid. who was a principal at the school. con- vinced Ballantrae to partner with his church â€" St. Philips on-the-hill â€" in a non-religious project in Dodorna in 2006. A fundraiser gal; for the project raised $20,000. which enabled missionaries to build a classroom. complete with fumiture and "books. The money also provided uni- forms. which are mandatory in order to attend school. to about 100 children. Mrs. Reid said. In 2007. Mr. Reid went to Tanzania with other members of their congregation to build churches and homes. A year later. the Bishop came to Canada and was able to spend time with Mr. Reid. Among the topics of conversation was mis- sionary work. He extended the Reids an invitation to Tanzania. They took him up on his offer. Not all Tanzanian. programs were initi- ated by outsiders. While there. he met central Tanzania's Bishop Mcjimi MAhugolp. While Peter Fumbi was a student of Mr. Reid's. he spent his Saturdays working with an organization that sponsored children so they could attend school. When Mr. Furnbi was done there for the day. he worked at the street ministry. The kids at the ministry were in need of a non-judgmental person to speak with. according to Mr. Reid. They also needed food. To ward off their hunger pangs. many of them sniffed glue. With the aid of Reids African Mission. Mr. Fumbi was able to feed those street kids everySatuniay. Mr. Pumbi' graduated from the theology We 195:} college and is now a priest in the village of com «905591-3413. Chikola. Mr. Fumbi's long-term goal, according to Mr. Reid. is to buy a tractor so he can culti- vate land that would in turn enable him to buy food for the street kids. as well as pay for their education. Mr. Fumbi is also trying to turn an age-old tradition of Pombe Friday to Sports Friday. “It's disgusting." Mr. Reid said. noting drinking is a huge problem in the village. Pombe is local brew made from anything that ferments. The Reids camé home in August and four momhs later. they are still acclimating lhem - selves to North American living. "It's like being a new immigrant." Mrs. Reid said. During the mission. they had no TV and received their news from friends. family and the intemet. "Basically. we tried to tune out for two years.” Mr. Reid said. When it came to Christmas in Tanzania. the Reids bought a turkey and had a full tra- ditional North American dinner with other ex-pats and locals. But there was no Santa and “all the glitter of presents”. Mr. Reid said. Christmas in Thnzania is purely a celebra- tion of Christ's birth. For mom 1'an on their mission wort. please contact Rob and Jeannie Read at mammal.