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Father
Mansuetus Setonga Father Mansuetus Setonga was born in
the 1950s but because of poor record keeping he is not sure
of his exact birth date. He was ordained for the Diocese of
Same in 1986 and served from 1986-89 as director of the
diocese’s minor seminary. He was appointed chancellor in
1989.
As a child he remembers how other village children
rarely accepted invitations to spend the night at his house.
Pulling up one trouser leg to reveal a dark callous on his
knee, he said the children complained his family prayed too
much.
Prayer became a way of life for Father
Setonga and his family soon after his father left their home
village of Kilomeni, Tanzania, for a new life in the city.
“After father left,” he explained “Mother, she went to the
church and asked the American priest what she should do.”
The priest said, “Pray and make sure the children stay in
school.”
They prayed three hours each day, and
he and his older brother seldom missed a day of
school. His mother’s determination to see her sons succeed
made schoolwork a priority, second only to the family’s
devotion to the Catholic faith.
Over time his mother’s tenacity paid
off, not just for Fr. Setonga and his brother, but for the
entire east African community of around 4,000 people. Father
Setonga became a priest and later the chancellor of the
Diocese of Same (pronounced Sah-MAY), Tanzania. His brother
became a teacher in their home village.
Father Setonga came to the
United States and studied at the University of St. Cloud,
Minn. in 1994 and received a Masters degree in Public
Administration. The plan was to prepare him to return to
Tanzania and work as an administrator in the Diocese.
After completing his studies at St. Cloud, Father Setonga's bishop thought it was not enough education,
so he asked him to go to the University of Iowa and study
for a Masters in Economic Development. This degree would
enable him to look critically at the root cause of
his peoples poverty. He can now help them find solution to
their problems and help them reduce their poverty.
In 2000, Fr. Setonga returned
to Tanzania and now works as the administrator
(Chancellor) and Development Director in the Diocese of
Same. He has nine departments including, Health, Youths,
Women and Children, Water, Agriculture, Education,
Finance, Lay Apostolate and Pastoral Services.
Since his return he has done
a Base Line Survey (assessing the needs of the people) for the whole
Diocese and suggests ways to address their problems.
Fr. Setonga has coordinated
the drilling of 9 wells, with funding from St Mary's parish in Iowa
City, which enables nine villages to have clean drinking
water. He also directed the construction of an irrigation system, and a
medical clinic funded by the Solon community, where more
than 50 families now enjoy nutritional food, and many
more have health care. There have been several other
projects such as constructing a gravity water supply in
two villages, and constructing several water reservoirs for
irrigation in other villages.
The Diocese also conducts seminars
for HIV/AIDS victims in several villages, provides seeds for farmers, and small loans for the poorest
women and they have also built several nursery schools.
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