In the early
1980s the Iramba Sub-Parish Council in Musoma Diocese in Tanzania was formed by
electing representatives from the total Catholic population in the sub-parish. 
These were good, dependable Catholics irrespective of where they lived.  Often
most of the members would come from only one section of the village.  It so
happened that the council members had to investigate a marriage case in a
section of the village where none of them lived.  In fact, they were not
familiar with the families and the local situation in that section.  They were
completely deceived by a boy who wanted to marry a Catholic girl from one of the
upstanding local families.  They later learned that the boy already had a
"second" wife in another village.  From then on the leaders of the Iramba
Sub-Parish Council said they needed a representative from each geographical
section following the Small Christian Community (SCC) plan.  The SCC-elected
member would be more familiar with the pastoral situation such as marriages in
his or her local section.