Msalato Recollections from Peter Dawson

NOTE: I am writing the following in 2010 and my memory may be at fault in some points considering the events are 45 years ago.

I was appointed Principal of Msalato Bible School in 1965 succeeding Rev Ken Short the first Principal. A Vice Principal was appointed at the same time, the Rev Noel Ndahani who succeeded his brother, Rev John Ndahani.

At the time the Diocese of Central Tanganyika was made up of many Parishes. An ordained person was in charge of each parish and most of these people had been trained at St Philip’s Theological College Kongwa. Many parishes had several congregations in different village communities and each congregation was led by a lay person often named as a catechist or evangelist. Msalato Bible School was established for the purpose of training and equipping these lay congregational leaders. In 1965 three courses of 12 weeks each were held and there were some 30 men in each course. There were no facilities for the training of women until later. Every student paid a fee which assisted in the general expenses of running the school which was a struggle with the diocese providing a grant to help. Subjects followed were the Life & Teaching of Jesus Christ, Introduction to the Old Testament, Pastoralia which covered a wide range of practical subjects dealing with ministry in a rural setting. Teaching was done by the Rev Noel Ndahani and myself and the wife of Bishop Stanway, Mrs Majorie Stanway who visited the school every Friday.

The buildings at the time consisted of a dormitory which was very basic. Each student was provided with a bed and blankets and a cardboard box to keep his books & personal belongings. The second building was made up by several rooms. The room at the northern end was the chapel. On the western side there was a small room used as a library. Next door was a store. The largest room was the class room. Furnishings consisted of tables with two students to each table. There were no chairs and the students sat on stools. Each student was expected to bring a bible with him and was provided with an exercise book for each subject and a ball point pen. There were no other teaching books. The final room at the northern end was the dining room. Outside this room on the western side was the kitchen where meals were prepared on an open fire and there was a small room attached to the kitchen where food stores were kept. Breakfast was a cup of tea and a slice of bread. A cup of tea was provided mid morning and lunch was ugali and mchicha. The evening meal was ugali and beans with meat once or twice a week. Looking back as I write it all sounds very basic and indeed it was. It would have been wonderful to have varied the diet with meat more frequently but shortage of money did not allow this. The reality of life in Central Tanganyika at the time meant that for most students they were getting more food at the Bible School then they would have got at their home village.

The other building contained a toilet and showers.

My wife, Marie Dawson was a trained nurse registered by the Tanganyika Government and held a dispensary each day where students unwell were able to receive help and where necessary they were taken into Dodoma to attend the Government Hospital. Many students arrived unwell and tired and we did not expect to achieve a lot during the first week or so of teaching. At the end of the 12 weeks students went to their homes in better health than when they arrived.

In the following years courses were more varied. The course described in paragraph 2 above was given the name ‘First Course’. A ‘Second’ three months course was introduced which covered Acts of Apostles, Further Old Testament, Pastoralia covering matters not touched on in Course I. Visiting Pastors from Dodoma helped in teaching. When the new class rooms and dormitory were built we introduced a nine months course for those who had completed both the first and second three monthly courses. Students from these courses who had served as leaders of congregations were interviewed by staff at St Philip’s Theological College Kongwa and some went there to prepare for ordination. But most of our students returned to their homes to continue their lay ministries. We also had a non residential evening course and ran a bus from Dodma to Msalato for these students. The building of dormitories for women meant that they could be included in all courses. I cannot now recall when these changes and additions took place.

Meanwhile facilities were improved. Mattresses, blankets and cupboards were placed in the dormitories and desks and chairs in the class rooms. We were given a 15 seater bus and on week ends students were taken to various parishes for ‘mission’ outreach and this provided opportunity to reinforce teaching given in the class room.

During these years major developments took place on the Msalato ‘site’. In 1961 there was just a Bible School. But later the Msalato Literature & Christian Education Centre was established and the Bible School, Literature, Printing Press, Cassette & Technical training in wood & metal work were all included as part of this Centre.

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