"For I was hungry..."

Travelling to Dar es Salaam is expensive. Although I could find tickets for about $1,000, most were in the $5,000-$7,000 range. But let us assume that everyone attending the gathering of the Anglican Primates was a good steward and thus found a good fare and booked early. Even so, average transportation costs to Dar es Salaam would be approximately $2,000 per person (and that is probably a very low estimate). That adds up to $76,000 in transportation costs for the 38 primates.

Rooms at the White Sands Motel and Resort in Dar es Salaam average $130 per night. Most of the primates will have spent seven nights at the meeting, which adds up to $910 per room. Multiplied by 38 primates, lodging costs for the meeing will be approximately $34,600.

For the sake of simplicity, let us assume that each primate will accumulate $300 worth of incidental expenses during the course of the meeting (also probably a low estimate). Thirty-eight times $300 comes to $11,400.

To gather these 37 men and one woman for their meeting in Dar es Salaam is costing about $122,000. This does not include the number official guests, spouses, staff, the cost of security, or the members of the press who travelled to Dar es Salaam for the meeting.

Looking at the Episcopal Relief and Development Gifts for Life online catalog, here is what it would cost to make some very basic improvements for a village of 50 families:

Mosquito Bed Netting for All - $375
Clean Water and Basic Sanitation - $7,500
One Goat for Each Family - $4,000
Set of Tools for Each Family - $9,000
20 Trays of Seedlings for Each Family - $20,000
One Flock of Chickens for Each Family - $6,750
Total for Village - $47,625

Enough said.

Peace,
Jeffri