TANZANIAN priest Fr Melodious Mlowe will spend three weeks in WA from November 27 to build connections between local schools and the unique Ngelela Environmental Secondary School (NESS) he established in the small African country.
Fr Melodious will be accompanied by Wise Mgina, the administrator at the Tanzanian school, which was set up with the help of Perth’s Les and Bronwyn Mutton, as reported in The Record earlier this year.
The visitors will spend time at three schools in Bunbury, as well as speaking to various groups in Perth.
NESS opened in January, thanks to Fr Melodious’ idea of growing thousands of pine trees in his home village, which provided the resources to build the school, and will sustain it in the future.
Mr Mutton said Fr Melodious would benefit greatly from the visit, as well as providing some ingenious ideas to schools in WA.
“He is esteemed as an educator and is a member of a National Education Board, which tries to enhance the general low quality of national education in Tanzania,” he said.
“He is also an engaging speaker on a wide range of subjects such as theology, sustainable development, education and environmental management.”
The Muttons recently visited the school, taking several computers with them that will be used initially by the teachers as educational tools.
“NESS is still in the pioneering stage with little infrastructure and raw living conditions for students and staff,” Mr Mutton said.
“[The school] aims to allow all capable local children the chance of a secondary education which has an ethos founded on the Gospel of Christ.”
Two houses for teachers, as well as a visitor’s house, are being constructed at the school.
Recently, a 40-foot container filled with donated items was shipped to Tanzania, eventually being cleared by customs after a lengthy delay.
It contained a 100,000 litre water tank, a trailer, mountain bikes, and various office and school furniture.
A second container will be sent to the school, which has the support of the Australian High Commission in Kenya, next year.