‘Helping people to help themselves’ SUMMER 2010

NEWS

Long before local development projects in Africa were in the everyday focus of people in Ireland, Fr Dan Noud of Brownstown in Co Kildare was up to his tonsils in them in Tanzania. He has built schools, churches, health centres and workshops, and tended to the spiritual, medical and other daily needs of his neighbours and their families. The people of his native county always came up to scratch when this Pallotine missionary wanted to ‘help people help themselves’. Now 74, and feeling his age and the health results of a life where he didn’t make it easy on himself, he still has projects which he wants to see through. The primary one is the completion of a Community Centre for the village of Mogitu where Dan now lives. The Centre will have a myriad of essential uses, including the location for a Mother and Child Clinic. It will be used by the local schools for exams and other activities such as debates and meetings. Village meetings to do with the management of the community, as well as festive occasions such as baptisms and weddings will use the facility. Sundays and Holy Days mass will

be celebrated there. The Centre will be available to other Christian faiths when necessary. Thanks to some specific donations from Newbridge, the Centre is already three-quarters there since foundations were broken last August, and €37,000 has been spent. The work to date has given employment and income to many people in the district. Bricks were made locally, fired by wood gathered in the countryside around Mogitu. The tradesmen learned their skills in Nangwa Technical School, which Dan established 35 years ago. Water had to be drawn from a location 10 miles away, and sand from 30 miles away. Timber was cut on the slopes of Mt Kilimanjaro, 280 miles distant. Kildare help included roofing from Tegral in Athy, and a truck for drawing the various supplies was donated by John McLoughlin of Newbridge. It hasn’t been an easy endeavour. Rains failure and consequent lack of water held

up the work on many occasions. Dan’s own health

was an issue, as he was hospitalised twice in 2009 for major spinal surgery and he has been back in Ireland since January for further medical consultation. He has now started to raise the €11,000 he needs to complete the Centre. The money will be used to complete the flooring, plastering, the interior ceiling and roof work, electrical installations, painting, doors and the provision of toilets. A large outside kitchen will be built for the feeding needs of the many groups who will use the Centre. Mogitu is a small village in an area with some 5,500 people, most of whom have tiny incomes based on subsistence farming and small trading. Dan’s mission is on two-thirds of an acre with a Primary/Secondary School and a Trading Area. He hopes to finish the Centre within four months of raising the balance of the funding. TOIL is his Irish fundraising group.

A Community Centre for Mogitu

Fr Dan Noud, Maranatha, Martinstown, The Curragh. Phone 085 1980162

Roads in the rural parts of Tanzania are, at best, rough. Typi-cally they are so bad that only 4WD vehicles can hope to last any length of time. Rains are welcome in Tanzania when they do come, but that can mean sudden floods and mudslides which can literally stop vehicles in their tracks, sometimes terminally. Otherwise the journeys are over hard and heavily rutted surfaces that can, and do, inflict equally terminal damage. They are hard on the occupants too. Over his 47 years working in the country, Fr Dan Noud has used everything from motorbikes to trucks, including a variety of secondhand 4WD jeeps. All of them eventually gave up the ghost. Reliable transport is essential for Fr Dan, as apart from his priestly duties he finds himself required to drive the sick, in-jured and pregnant to hospitals, and he also travels extensively throughout Tanzania on his work for the Pioneers. He regularly has to drive to the regional capital to discuss and negotiate is-sues at local government level. Any serious shopping for sup-plies involves a round trip of 400 miles to Arusha. In recent years he has been using an old 4WD vehicle donated secondhand from County Kildare, which is now beyond further repair. But sending out old vehicles is not really a practical op-tion, not least because spares are either unavailable or expen-sive even if they can be sourced. It makes a lot more sense to purchase a new or nearly-new one in Tanzania itself, where the

cars are specified for the local conditions. Missionaries can buy them tax free there. Options include Toyotas and Fords. From good secondhand to new, the prices range upwards from €10,000. Dan believes the best long-term value for any individual or group which wants to help with his transport needs is to raise the funds here to buy a vehicle out there. It also has the value of being a project with a definite aim and clear results if anyone here wants to set it up or contribute.

It’s tough on the trails

Around a Tanzanian bush town

Fr Dan Noud, Maranatha, Martinstown, The Curragh. Phone 085 1980162

Left: Outstation Mass.

Right: The match final -

School Team.

Below: Food aid going home.

Bottom Left: Taking water to the people; Bottom Middle: Daniel Noud Secondary School; Bottom Right: Dan’s mission - people wait for food and medicine.