Registration Now Open for Climb Kili (2020)

Originally published on January 20, 2021

Registration is now open for Climb Kili! 

Climb Kili is a virtual climb of the tallest freestanding mountains in the world, Mt. Kilimanjaro and a fundraising event for UboraTZ.

Choose from three routes of varying length–from 22 to 160 miles!  Throughout the entire month of February, you’ll journey up Kili and learn all about the fabled mountain and the work of Ubora in Tanzania in support of orphans, widows and families.

The choice is yours how you take your steps–by climbing, walking or running.  Log your steps on the Climb Kili website and virtually track your progress up the mountain.

Summiters will receive this beautiful Climb Kili medal.  All proceeds from Climb Kili benefit our brothers and sisters in Tanzania who live in the shadow of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

To register or for more information:  https://climbkili.org.

Join Climb Kili, spread the word and tell your friends!

Igniting a love for reading and books in Tanzania

“It is a paradigm shifting reality for them to have books.”

— Wendy Williams

Like so many challenges faced in East Africa, this one is hard for us here in the US to grasp:  How is access to books a major paradigm shift?  Quite simply, in places like Karansi that have spotty electricity (much less access to the internet), books are knowledge gateways that help people to reach their God-given potential in life.

In the Siha District of Tanzania where pervasive poverty still exists, it’s estimated that 70% of adults do not read or write.  Many children growing up in this area were never read to by parents and had no exposure to books at home—both critical for brain development.  Many educators in the area were simply not aware of the need to give a child under the age of 10 a book.  Further, government public schools continue to be underfunded, resulting in severe shortages of textbooks for students.

Igniting a love for books and reading is a key component of Ubora’s education initiative, and we are happy to report that God is working wonders in this area!

In 2018, our friends from Perimeter Church helped fund the first public library ever to open in the area.  Wendy Williams and Ubora Board member Brian Halpin coordinated with our partners at Books for Africa to carefully select appropriate books and other educational tools, like manipulatives, that eventually filled a 40-foot container bound for Tanzania.  Once the container arrived, it was unloaded, transferred and repurposed into the Karansi Library!  The library has become a gathering place for people of all ages–for reading, learning and community!  The knowledge gained at the library is helping children grow, farmers improve yields, students broaden their studies, and people of all ages experience Christianity.

Many of the books in the container were also distributed to the government public schools in the area.  Don’t miss the video interview with Ubora’s Leslie Sams during her recent trip to Karansi and the profound impact these books have had on learning at one of these schools.  Going forward, Ubora is looking to greatly expand this effort to provide textbooks to the public schools in the district.

Teacher mentors from America worked with their counterparts at Siha Leadership School to implement the D.E.A.R. Program–Drop Everything and Read.  First thing every morning, after students have their porridge, everyone reads for 20 minutes.  This initiative has sparked a desire in students to research topics of interest on their own and to even write and illustrate their own books!

Further, the manipulatives in that container have been instrumental in helping transform math in every grade at Siha Leadership School.

One of the Siha Leadership teachers said after having books for six months, “I love teaching now.  The children don’t come empty anymore.” Another teacher said, “The children have their own ‘big ideas’ now.”  All because of books—taken for granted in our Western world, but very much a precious gift in Karansi.

After seeing the excitement in Karansi over access to all these books, the neighboring village of Magadini (where many of our students live) expressed a desire to have a library of their own.  The two medical containers that you helped fund, will be emptied and repurposed into the second village library in Magadini, which will serve five schools in the village at large.  Soon, we will be working with our partners at Books for Africa in preparing the next shipment of books bound for Tanzania.  In the meantime, our UWM partner, Mary Ann Taylor, will begin hiring and training workers who will implement the preschool reading program that has been so successful in Karansi.

As we continue our year-end campaign, please consider a donation of $100, $250, $500, $1000 or whatever your means may allow in support of reading and learning in Karansi!  As you can see, our long-term involvement in Tanzania is creating lasting and sustainable change for our brothers and sisters in this area.

God has truly been our Waymaker and Provider in this unusual year.  We have learned that nothing can thwart the purposes of God.  His will is always accomplished—in His way and in His time.  Join us in praising Him for making reading possible!

In His Precious and Holy Name,

Dave

Dave Burgess
President
daveburgess@uboratz.org

Amazing Maize

By: Dave Burgess - President, UboraTZ

I found myself in a corn maze a few weeks ago, trying to keep up with four sixth grade boys while enjoying a cool evening of early fall.  It didn’t take long for them to lose me, so I climbed up one of the towers in the middle of the field to see if I could spot them.

While the boys were nowhere in sight, I was able to clearly see the pattern that had been cut from the cornfield, and two worlds collided in my mind.

Earlier that day, I had been working with my friend, Baraka, on a project to help provide corn, or maize as it is also known, to our friends in need in Tanzania.  A generous donation from one of our corporate partners, 5DayDeal (Griffin and Valerie Stewart are entrepreneurs and faithful supporters of Ubora) has made possible an exciting new project we’ve wanted to do for quite some time in Tanzania.

Our food silos project will enable the construction of six grain silos to be stationed at public schools in the area surrounding Karansi.  We’ve also added a seventh silo that will serve widows who also face periods of food insecurity.

My discussion with Baraka that day centered around how Ubora will be partnering with local farmers to fill these silos with maize, which will be used to provide meals for the children before school, and create a stable food source that is critical to learning.

How amazing is maize!  Seeing those winding paths cut in the cornfield, made me marvel at God’s creation and how a simple grain like corn can be used for recreational purposes here in Georgia and also provide life-sustaining nourishment for our friends in Karansi.

Thank you to the Stewart family and all who support UboraTZ.    You all are a-maizing.

Leslie Sams Joins UboraTZ as Development Manager

We are excited to announce the addition of Leslie Sams to UboraTZ as our new Development Manager.

In Leslie’s new role, she will help lead our non-profit’s fundraising efforts by engaging with donors and foundations to tell the story of Ubora and the partnership with the people of Karansi, Tanzania to enable holistic community transformation through education, health, business and family advocacy.  Leslie will be responsible for managing Ubora’s fundraising channels, including working with foundations and developing events, to meet ongoing funding needs.

Leslie has been involved with Ubora since 2010, serving as a teacher mentor to the team at Siha Leadership in Karansi, traveling to Tanzania at least once a year in that role.  She took on an expanded role with Ubora in 2019 working part-time as Operations Administrator, helping coordinate missions trips to Tanzania before transitioning to a part-time development role.

“I love to tell stories, especially about Africa, and I hope that I can tell our story in such a way that others will want to be involved by praying, going, giving, and volunteering,” said Leslie.

Leslie’s heart for Africa runs deep.  She first fell in love with Africa in 1984 while on a Jesus Film team with Cru in Zaire (now the DRC) and four years later, she led a high school group back to Zaire for a one-month mission trip for the Jesus Film.

“Leslie has a deep understanding of, and passion for, the needs of the Tanzanian people – and the ability to inspire others to help,” said Dave Burgess, President of UboraTZ.  “We know that missions work takes all kinds of people, and Leslie will go far beyond traditional fundraising to serve as the catalyst that brings the body of Christ together to help transform the lives of our Tanzanian brothers and sisters.”

Throughout her career, Leslie has served as a middle and high school Life Sciences teacher, most recently at Perimeter School (2008 – 2018).  She is a graduate of Virginia Tech and has a degree in Biology/Animal Science.  She has been married to her husband, Bert, for 33 years; together they have four grown children and two sponsored children through Ubora Project Child.

Please join us in congratulating Leslie Sams on her new role with Ubora!  Leslie can be reached directly by email:  lesliesams@uboratz.org