Two thousand eighteen was a big year for East Africa River Mission at Baker & Sons Safari Company, Rufiji River, Tanzania. A group from Canada (Chatham, Ontario) came to see an entire house built for a local family – husband, wife, and their 6 boys! Before making the 13,000 km trip, first this audacious Canadian group raised the money needed to fund the full construction. The mission took it from there. The local family, a few villages downriver from the safari camp, who had previously been living in a dilapidated mud and stick home, received a proper house made of brick and mortar with a strong foundation and a tin roof. No longer would their boys wake-up drenched in their beds from the rains of the wet season. It was the intention of East Africa River Mission, doing God’s work on behalf of Baker & Sons, to make a dramatic and lasting contribution within the community where their safari company operates. So they chose a native Rufiji pastor and his family to gift this house to, with the mind to make ongoing contributions to the surrounding villages through this pastor and his local church.
During construction, the team from Canada stayed at the lodges of Baker & Sons, they went on a safari game drive through the Selous and toured the Rufiji by river-boat cruise. They participated in the life of the neighbouring village in many ways. East Africa River Mission hosted a ‘nutrition event’ at the safari camp for mothers from the village and their children. Together with the team from Canada, EastARM bought-out the local market of their produce, and conducted a seminar to teach these village mothers the best vegetables and fruit to buy on-a-budget to provide their children a more nutritious balanced diet. All of the mothers were sent home from the event with a ‘care package’ of pumpkins, tomatoes, coconuts, potatoes, watermelons, mangoes and more, brought from the village market as a gift for their families.
It was a big year for the villages of the Rufiji surrounding the safari company. On behalf of Baker & Sons, EastARM, and the pastor’s family, a big thank you to Chatham, Ontario and the team who have left their indelible footprint in an ancient land alongside Dr. Livingstone, Stanley, and others who have known and been known by Tanzania, East Africa in days gone by.
