With the grace of God and the prayers of Pope and Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria and all Africa, Metropolitan Dimitrios of Irinoupolis, blessed the foundations of yet another Orphanage, that of the Annunciation of the Theotokos, in Morogoro, Eastern Tanzania.
Even though God blessed these 19 years of the Metropolitan’s Missionary work in Central (now Diocese of Arusha) and Eastern Tanzania, so that two Orthodox Orphanages have been built to date, the needs are still great due to the increased mortality from AIDS (in many areas the rate amounts to 60%) and poverty, resulting in many orphaned children growing up in miserable conditions in straw huts.
From very early in the morning of Monday, 30 January 2023, native priests, readers, believers, catechists, and many students from the Orthodox School “Saint Iakovos” began to arrive at the 5-acre plot, recently acquired by the Holy Metropolis of Irinoupolis. These students were assisted by Metropolitan Dimitrios with school scholarships to enable them to complete their studies in primary and secondary education. Also present were also Presidents, Mayors, School Directors, and other local government officials, for the foundation ceremony of the 3rd Orthodox Orphanage of Tanzania, in the region of Morogoro, in a new fruitful Missionary effort in Eastern Tanzania, in the Islamic heart of East African.
Metropolitan Dimitrios after the end of the foundation stone consecration ceremony, speaking in the Swahili language, praised the efforts of the Patriarchate of Alexandria in every corner of the African continent for peace, progress, education, health, and prosperity, all these values that for years now the Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria Theodore II, the spiritual father of Africa, has been trying to implement on the African continent.