How it all started

In 1994 Alfons and Herta Walser went on a three month, 15,000 km journey from Johannesburg to Nairobi and back via Uganda and Lake Victoria.

One night, in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania, they found a safe place to camp in the grounds of the Ifunda Mission.  The Parish Priest introduced himself as Fr. Alfons, which they thought had to be more than a coincidence! This small rural Parish had neither the funds nor the infrastructure to provide facilities for the local people; the local schools were in a terrible state of disrepair and there was neither electricity nor safe drinking water for the community.

They decided - there and then- that they would try to provide some practical help to the Parish to improve life for the rural community of Ifunda.