When well known missionary from Italy Salvatore Guerrera long time ago met with passionate Roman Catholic priest from Slovakia Benjamin Kosnáč, great things began to happen in diocese Kahama. With help of Slovaks the living standards of locals is gradually changing for the better. They built here:
Functional 80 meters deep well.
A gazebo, that provides shelter for children against heat.
A simple room for a teacher and some school classes

Goals and activities of the centre

Our ambition is to complete elementary school of saint Christopher. Preschool preparation is functional so far, the so-called zero year, which almost 100 kids attend. Those kids should in next year enter first year in elementary school, which is being build. Help the future first-year students with us, so they will not have just what to eat, drink and something to sleep on, but also to learn, how to live better life.

 

Salvatore Guerrera, principal of the centre

Salvatore Guerrera is Roman Catholic priest. He is from Italy, specifically from Sicily. He works in Tanzania for 23 years. He is legend. With help of benefactors from Slovakia and from Europe he built several schools, churches, parish centres and he got dozens of wells drilled. He was honoured by the highest state award of Tanzania for his sacrificial charity activity. His story is interesting. As an youngster he had bad experience with disorderly conduct and with Sicilian mafia. As he saw, like his peers, went on the bad paths slowly are losing their lives (in violent fights, because of drugs and alcohol), he was asking himself, what is his path of life? God showed him, that he got heart of missionary. That brought him to this east African country. From the start of his mission, he lived with locals by their way of life. As it is written in Evangelium, he wept with those who wept, he rejoiced with the rejoicing. The meaning of it is, that he lived in a poor shack, often he did not have what to eat and he drunk muddy water from local wells.

Sukamahela lies in the centre of Tanzania. It is the most inhospitable and the poorest corner of this country.

Goals and activities of the centre

Sukamahela is closely associated with Slovakia. Roman catholic priest Peter Majerník is building here first place of pilgrimage in Tanzania. This centre is concentrated to the Holy Virgin Mary, The Queen of peace. Part of it is huge, majestic cathedral, calvary and parish. The monastery of Sisters of Saint Joseph should be built here and a technical school as well. In Sukamahela is school, which attend something around 900 kids. A lot of them do not have secured basic needs as hygiene, food, affordable health care. A goal of this school is not only to secure basic needs, but to support growth of individual kids and methods of teaching them. In consideration of weak material and personnel provision (only 8 teachers in the school) is absolutely necessary to direct the help in this way.

 

Peter Majerník, principal of the centre

This Roman Catholic priest coming from eastern Slovakia operates in Tanzania for 10 years. He lived and had been helping in poor quarter of town Mwanza for 5 years. After this time local bishop called him to build first place of pilgrimage In Tanzania in geographical centre of the country. Missionary Peter Majerník took on this task with enthusiasm of eastern Slovak. After 5 years crowds of pilgrims are coming here from all Tanzania. His mission is difficult and dangerous. For him as missionary the danger represents not only wild animals, insects or parasites, but local gangs as well. As a priest he is in charge of village, where leppers live. He serves masses at a remote and hard to reach places as well, where no even local priests go. He is actively participating in running an elementary school, where he takes care of Catholic raising.