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Written by Administrator
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Wednesday, 29 June 2005 20:58 |
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| According to the tradition, the first Sunday of August will be a
great day for the North Eastern Diocese (NED) of the ELCT. The diocese
is now preparing for its
second major fund raising for the BIFED and the goal is high set. |
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| 1. Introduction |
| The North Eastern Diocese (NED) of the ELCT is preparing for its
second major fund raising for the BIFED. The first fund raising was in
August 2004 whereby more than Tshs. 40m/= was collected. Together with
that money collected through fund raising the NED has a special
collection day on each first Sunday of August each year. The aim of all
these efforts is to strengthen the fund and raise it to a minimum
capital of Tshs.1.5 billion/= within a period of 10 years since 2004 as
agreed upon by the Executive Council of the Diocese. This year’s fund
raising is seen as another major step towards that goal. |
| 2. What is BIFED? |
| BIFED is not a fund for the Bishop or to be used by the Bishop as
some people might misread and misunderstand. BIFED is a fund for the
NED intended for public services. It is the NED’s means of reaching out
to the world around and attending to basic needs and rights of the
people. Those people in need might be in special institutions or
somewhere outside there. BIFED is a way for the NED to respond to the
challenges of poverty and marginalisation within the society. Having
seen those needs and coming face to face with the said challenges, the
NED came up with the concept of BIFED as a sustainable way of attending
to these challenges now and in the future. |
| 3. Who are contributors to the fund? |
All members of the NED are main donors/contributors to the fund.
However, day after day we realize that they are not alone on this
journey of strengthening the fund. We have a list of permanent donors
to the fund like St. Hans congregation in Lund Sweden, Schwerten Parish
in Germany and other individuals. Again day after day we realize that
whatever amount of money is donated to the fund make a very big
difference in so far as it reduces the margin between the current
capital amount and the targeted capital amount. We thank all friends
who are together with us in our vision of strengthening this fund.
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4. Who manages the BIFED.
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The BIFED is managed by a Board appointed by the Executive Council
of the NED. This Board has authority over the fund and has to submit
annual reports to the Executive Council.
The following are current Board members.
1. Dr. Stephen Magesa
2. Mr. Ibrahim Kaduma.
3. Mr. Moses Kibwana
4. Mrs. Mary Liwa
5. Mrs. Joyce Kulwa.
The Board has met several times for preparing
guidelines and application forms for the future use of the fund. Again
the Board has met for the sake of going through the applications that
has come in. The information we can give you so far is that there are
many very applications. Most of those who have applied qualify but
unfortunately we cannot meet those needs at this stage. Applications
come from both individuals, groups and institutions. It is the Board
which decides who is to receive money from these fund as well as the
amount. We are sure that upon the completion of these preparations the
Board will make public the necessary guidelines for the fund. We
promise all the donors that whenever the Board comes up with important
decision/information you will be informed as well.
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5. How is the money going to be used?
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So far we know as it is stated in the regulations of the BIFED that
not more than 10% of the annual budget will be spent on administration.
The intention here is to spend about 90% if the annual budget for
distribution to the needy. Again it is important to emphasize that the
funds collected are primarily for the services intended. Up to this
moment the Department of Social Services of the NED carries the burden
of administration while the Financial Department takes care of the
finances of the BIFED. This is done just for the sake of saving the
BIFED from administration costs and thus allowing for enough time for
the fund to grow. However, the Board intends to employ a full time
manager of the fund who will be responsible for marketing and fund
raising. We now feel the need for such a person for the fast growth of
the fund.
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6. When is the Fund going to start functioning fully?
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It could have been understandable to say that the fund will not
operate until it reaches the targeted minimum capital. However, such a
decision could as well have been unrealistic especially due to the
present pressure of obvious needs. Due to such urgencies the Board has
decided to set aside each year a certain amount of money. For year 2004
the Board has distributed about Tshs.4m/= to two institutions.
Tshs.2m/= was given to the Rainbow School at Irente. This is a newly
opened school for autistic and mentally retarded children. The
remaining Tshs.2m/= was given to the Kana Parish in Tanga for the
construction of classrooms. This is a project for moving a public
primary school to a new place from the church premises in the
municipality of Tanga. It is our hope that despite all the difficulties
the Board will continue to set aside certain amount of money from the
fund for the sake of attending, to the most pressing needs in the
society. We all share the vision of the Board that time will come when
the interest of the capital fund will be higher enough to serve more
individuals, groups of people and institutions
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7. What is the target of this years fund raising?
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The target this year is to collect about Tshs.100m/=. If that target
is met then we will reach more than 10% of the targeted minimum capital
of the fund. The steering committee of the fund raising is busy trying
to create possibilities of reaching that goal. Therefore, each
contribution is important and urgently need in order to reach that
goal. Therefore, the Executive Council, the Board of BIFED and all
members of the NED invite each one of you for this year’s contribution.
Send your contribution to the following bank account:
NMB-LUSHOTO
ELCT-NED- ELIMU NA KUJITEGEMEA
ACCOUNT No. 4163500035
We wish you God’s blessing.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 22 October 2006 23:47 )
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