Julius comes from a poor village in northern Tanzania, not far from Arusha and Mount Kilimanjaro. At one time his family had over 200 cows plus goats and sheep. However, over the years his father died, disease killed much of the livestock, others were sold to cover family expenses and government policy changed much of the grazing land into farm land. The world changed for the Mollel family and they now have only 3 cows.

Julius didn’t start school until he was 8 years old. Even then it caused problems in the family because his older sister wanted him to go to school but his mother wanted him to stay at home and tend to the animals as was the village and tribal custom. Julius went to primary school over his mother’s objections and after 7 years he was the only one in a class of eighty who passed the national exams that would allow him to go to secondary school. But he had to stay at home for another three years before he had the family permission and resources to continue.

At the age of 18, he started secondary school, the equivalent of high school in the USA. He had to sell a cow to have the money for school expenses and would run 10 miles each way to go to school for the next four years. Once again he had the ability to pass the national exams and go on to Form V and VI for two more years of school, concentrating in physics, chemistry and biology.

At the age of 24, Julius graduated from High School and could now use his education as a teacher. He taught at a lower level, but still had the ambition to pursue further education. His goal was to go to college in order to teach at a higher level.

One day while passing through Usa River, he looked on the bulletin board of the local Diocese headquarters of the Lutheran Church. The Diocese of Meru of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania has a partnership with the Greater Milwaukee Synod of the ELCA and they had created a medical school scholarship (thanks to several individuals and congregations in southeastern Wisconsin.) The recipient of the scholarship would become a doctor at a hospital on Mount Meru once his education was completed. Julius talked to Dr. Nanyaro, the Medical Secretary for the Diocese, and applied for the scholarship. But, the decision was delayed and Julius started school in September at the education college. Without the scholarship, the cost of about $5,000 per year for medical school was beyond the dreams of someone in a village where the average income is $300.

The Diocese made their decision, but they found it difficult to locate and tell Julius. Without his knowledge, they had accepted him for medical school and the scholarship, but Julius had gone in a different direction. “I can’t go to medical school now because it is already three months into the school year. I am too far behind to do it now. Maybe next year.”

Dr. Nanyaro and the diocese would not take "no" for an answer. They had found the person they wanted to be their doctor and they wanted him to start now. Working with the medical school in Moshi, about 50 miles away, they told him that he could make up any work that he failed on the first exams and that he would start now.

When Julius told his mother about going to medical school, she asked “How long will it take?” “Five years.” “I will be dead before you finish. You should be married by now and have a wife who can take care of me.”

Julius did go to school three months after the start of the school year. With only three weeks until the first exams, Julius studied 20 hours per day. The tests came and he passed seven of the eight tests and actually had the high grade on one of them. Other students were amazed that he could do so well on the exams and actually come out with the high grade on one of them when he started so late in the year. A combination of hard work and great intelligence had put Julius well on his way to becoming a doctor.

Now after five years, Julius has graduated and is starting his internship. He is married to Agnes and has a five-month-old son, Innocent. With the help and persistence of Kathy Neururer and Saint Mary’s Lutheran Church in Kenosha, Julius got a passport and visa to come to Wisconsin for three weeks. This visit gives him the opportunity to meet some of the people who made the scholarship possible. We in the Greater Milwaukee Synod can now put a face with the name of the medical student that we have helped support for the past five years.

It is an exciting time for Julius to visit America, meet doctors and see hospitals with medical equipment that he can only dream about. But his dreams have come from opportunities that appeared when he could least expect them. Who knows what will happen to this 30 year old as he starts his medical career.
 

Julius comes from a poor village in northern Tanzania, not far from Arusha and Mount Kilimanjaro. At one time his family had over 200 cows plus goats and sheep. However, over the years his father died, disease killed much of the livestock, others were sold to cover family expenses and government policy changed much of the grazing land into farm land. The world changed for the Mollel family and they now have only 3 cows.

Julius didn’t start school until he was 8 years old. Even then it caused problems in the family because his older sister wanted him to go to school but his mother wanted him to stay at home and tend to the animals as was the village and tribal custom. Julius went to primary school over his mother’s objections and after 7 years he was the only one in a class of eighty who passed the national exams that would allow him to go to secondary school. But he had to stay at home for another three years before he had the family permission and resources to continue.

At the age of 18, he started secondary school, the equivalent of high school in the USA. He had to sell a cow to have the money for school expenses and would run 10 miles each way to go to school for the next four years. Once again he had the ability to pass the national exams and go on to Form V and VI for two more years of school, concentrating in physics, chemistry and biology.

At the age of 24, Julius graduated from High School and could now use his education as a teacher. He taught at a lower level, but still had the ambition to pursue further education. His goal was to go to college in order to teach at a higher level.

One day while passing through Usa River, he looked on the bulletin board of the local Diocese headquarters of the Lutheran Church. The Diocese of Meru of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania has a partnership with the Greater Milwaukee Synod of the ELCA and they had created a medical school scholarship (thanks to several individuals and congregations in southeastern Wisconsin.) The recipient of the scholarship would become a doctor at a hospital on Mount Meru once his education was completed. Julius talked to Dr. Nanyaro, the Medical Secretary for the Diocese, and applied for the scholarship. But, the decision was delayed and Julius started school in September at the education college. Without the scholarship, the cost of about $5,000 per year for medical school was beyond the dreams of someone in a village where the average income is $300.

The Diocese made their decision, but they found it difficult to locate and tell Julius. Without his knowledge, they had accepted him for medical school and the scholarship, but Julius had gone in a different direction. “I can’t go to medical school now because it is already three months into the school year. I am too far behind to do it now. Maybe next year.”

Dr. Nanyaro and the diocese would not take "no" for an answer. They had found the person they wanted to be their doctor and they wanted him to start now. Working with the medical school in Moshi, about 50 miles away, they told him that he could make up any work that he failed on the first exams and that he would start now.

When Julius told his mother about going to medical school, she asked “How long will it take?” “Five years.” “I will be dead before you finish. You should be married by now and have a wife who can take care of me.”

Julius did go to school three months after the start of the school year. With only three weeks until the first exams, Julius studied 20 hours per day. The tests came and he passed seven of the eight tests and actually had the high grade on one of them. Other students were amazed that he could do so well on the exams and actually come out with the high grade on one of them when he started so late in the year. A combination of hard work and great intelligence had put Julius well on his way to becoming a doctor.

Now after five years, Julius has graduated and is starting his internship. He is married to Agnes and has a five-month-old son, Innocent. With the help and persistence of Kathy Neururer and Saint Mary’s Lutheran Church in Kenosha, Julius got a passport and visa to come to Wisconsin for three weeks. This visit gives him the opportunity to meet some of the people who made the scholarship possible. We in the Greater Milwaukee Synod can now put a face with the name of the medical student that we have helped support for the past five years.

It is an exciting time for Julius to visit America, meet doctors and see hospitals with medical equipment that he can only dream about. But his dreams have come from opportunities that appeared when he could least expect them. Who knows what will happen to this 30 year old as he starts his medical career.