Ms. Mary Doherty (Chairperson)
Athenry parish received a request to for a partnership with a parish in Africa in November 2005. This development has been welcomed with a very positive and encouraging response and a dedicated committee has been established. Simanjiro parish has a village centre at Emboreet, which is 104 kms south of Arusha in Tanzania. The people are from the Maasai tribe who are pastoral and nomadic.
Presently the Divine Word Missionaries run the parish. There are 3 chapels and 17 mission out-stations. Masses are celebrated in schools or under trees. The area is very remote; roads are dirt-tracks, with a radio service for the flying medical services for emergency transport to hospital (it also allows a medical service to be supplied to an area the size of Connaught which is inaccessible by land. The people are subsistence farmers and living in mud huts, drawing water for miles and eking out a frugal living for their children is a daily challenge. People in this bush-country depend on “mission” and its continuation for basic education and health services or they would have no access to them at all.
The challenge for the group is to reach out in support to the heroic work being carried out on the ground daily. There are two-way benefits – cultural benefits for us and developmental benefits for the parish of Simanjiro. Also, the opportunity to visit and experience first-hand what is happening on the ground. For more info, contact the parish office or Mary Doherty.
Athenry Siminjario Partnership Facebook page. Click here