Discovering The Mature Lifestyle
From the U.S., to Africa, to Europe and beyond Page 8
Exotic Travel
December 16, 2016
December Issue
Tanzania is focal point for Burnsville doctor and wife BY SUE WEBBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER Tanzania has become a destination of choice for many area Lutherans, w ho ar e part of a mission that has continued for the last 25 y ears to bring Twin Cities r esidents to villa ges in Tanzania. Dr. K enneth Olson and his wife (Roberta) Birdie, members of St. James Lutheran Church in Burnsville, are among those travelers. “We’ve gone three times with people from our church to visit a village in T anzania, in 2006, 2008 and 2012,” Olson said. “I am hoping we will be with a St. James group again in late summer 2017.” Two hundr ed or mor e Twin Citians per y ear visit the villages in T anzania each y ear, according to Olson. “W e have people of all ages visiting Tanzania,” he said. “My mom went at age 84. We had a 90-year-old man visit, too.” “’Bega K wa Bega’ is the phrase w e use to describe our companion synod r elationship with the Iringa Diocese of the Evangelical Luther an Chur ch in Tanzania,” the website said. “In English, the phr ase means ‘shoulder to shoulder.’ “Bega K wa Bega is a joint
Dr. Kenneth Olson and his wife Birdie (Roberta) of Burnsville have a close connection to the villages of Tanzania. (Submitted photo) ministry betw een comm unities of faith in the EL CA and ELCT w hose purpose is to proclaim the Gospel of J esus Christ, to e xtend Christian hospitality, and to str engthen relationships with one another by sharing pr ayer, pr esence and projects,” the website said. Olson said Iringa, a city of
20,000 people, last year opened a nursing school. He is the coordinator for health care learners groups tr aveling to T anzania and has made se ven trips with learners to Ilula Hospital. Last year, 10 students from the University of Minnesota made the trip and spent f our to five weeks in T anzania, he said.
“They learned a bout tr opical diseases, and w e taught them about high blood pressure, diabetes and non-comm unicable diseases,” he said. The class in 2017, three family medicine resident physicians in their last y ear of tr aining, two fourth-year pharmacy students in the last y ear of their
PharmD training and one physician assistant student, comprise the seventh class to be a t Ilula for the four- to five-week experience, said Olson, w ho has been pr esent with each group. “Birdie and I ha ve been to Iringa twice as Bega Kwa Bega coordinators for six weeks at a time,” Olson said. “Bir die accompanied us last J anuary to work on scholarships in the BKB of fice w hen I w as with the learner gr oup at Ilula. “In addition to helping with paperwork associated with scholarships, Bir die w ent with tw o others to visit the schools and take photos of the students at each of the eight diocese schools.” “I was at Ilula with the student gr oup then and sta yed on after they left, ” Olson said. “I stayed with Bir die until w e returned home w hen her work was done. We will do the same this year, again for five weeks.” Spending time with partner congregations involves a f ourhour trip into the mountains , Olson said. “It really is culture immersion,” he said. “It helps us understand what their needs are and w hat their plans ar e TANZANIA - TO PAGE 6