Greetings in the name of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Much has happened since I last wrote to you in June of this year. I have gotten married, went on a honeymoon to Zanzibar, visited the USA briefly this summer, returned to Tanzania and have been busy with work.
Kari, my wife, is with me in Arusha. She is working half time for Yale University having taken a leave of absence from her teaching responsibilities, but continues to work on public health projects, grant writing, and research from Arusha using the internet. She visits project throughout Africa so it is closer from here than New Haven, Connecticut.
The aquaculture work for Heifer in other African countries is going slower than I hoped. It seems they think more about fish farming when I am there and tend to put it on the back burner when I am gone. I can not be critical though because I know the staff in these programs are very busy implementing multiple livestock and agriculture projects. I can only hope that after the New Year the progress will pick up.
One concern that we are having living in Arusha is the increase in the security risk. There has been a noticeable and worrying increase in the frequency of break-ins, robberies and rape. One feels very helpless in the face of these dangers and learns how much we depend on God. Several ex-pat families, who are friends, have been traumatized by these crimes. I ask your prayers for healing within these families and an improvement of the security situation.
I returned yesterday from a trip to Western Tanzania to visit the fish farming work. I went to Kasulu, near Lake Tanganika, and Musoma on Lake Victoria. These are very large lakes. My visits were very encouraging. The work is relatively new in the Kasulu area. We visited one village where 30 ponds were built in the last 6 months. I also visited a mental health hospital in the highlands where I met a missionary doctor from Ivory Coast who wants to build about 8 ponds to provide fish for the patients. He also has training in agriculture and plans to raise dairy cattle near the ponds to provide manure to fertilize the ponds. It is an ideal site for fish and cattle. He will continue with these plans getting support and technical advice from our Heifer staff and partners we trained in fish farming.
I met a farmer in another village who has just completed and stocked a new large fish pond. He is the process of building another 3 ponds. He is an evangelist in the Pentecostal Church. He was very animated and excited about fish farming. I asked him how he became interested in it and learned about it. He explained that he first heard about fish farming on a radio program that sparked his interest. He then read a fish farming book in Swahili that clearly explains how to build ponds and raise fish. He spoke very highly about this book. I asked what book it was and he showed it to me. It was the book that Meredith and I wrote 17 years ago. It was so encouraging for me to talk with that farmer and see what he has done by just following the book.
In the Musoma area we visited the village of Nyasoro where fish farming work was started a little over a year. When I visited last year there were 4 new ponds. Today there are 55. I met with the fish farmers and village leaders and then visited about 20 ponds. We sampled fish out of 5 ponds. The fish looked great—big and healthy. The farmers are pleased with the results and fish growth. They are harvesting fish regularly. One farmer told me he harvested 130 pounds of fish over the last 8 months from his pond.
At the end of the day I was quite tired. We went back to the village office for sodas and to discuss the project. We were almost finished when an older woman with a beautiful face and missing several front teeth said she has the best pond in the village and the biggest fish but you didn’t visit my pond. I want you to come see my pond. The other farmers told her I can not see every pond and it was getting too late. She was disappointed; as was I, but such are the shortcomings of my short visits. By just looking into her face I realized the enthusiasm and pride she had in fish farming.
In closing let me say life is good for us in Arusha. We have many friends, a caring community, rewarding work, and it is so nice being married to Kari. Jesse continues to do well in his last year of high school. He is exciting about going to college in the states next year. He is in the process of applying now. Chris is doing well with work and life in the USA. We are blessed by God and have so much to be thankful for.
May God bless you richly and fully.
Peace
Dennis Murnyak and Kari Hartwig
Missionary in Tanzania
