A bomb at a Roman Catholic Church in Olasiti Village, Tanzania on Sunday morning killed two people and injured 60, just a few feet from schools sponsored by MBA student Brendan Callahan’s (GRD ’13) nonprofit organization.

The bomb, which exploded at the official opening of Saint Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church in Olasiti Village, was thought to target Vatican Ambassador to Tanzania Archbishop Francisco Padilla, but he was unharmed. Callahan’s nonprofit, Achieve in Africa, supports Olasiti Primary School and Olasiti Secondary School, which are government-run. The schools were located near the site of the bombing.

AIA Project Manager Alex Marti, who was at the scene of the bombing, said that there were approximately 300 people there at the time. The two victims were a woman and a young boy; Marti has not yet been able to confirm whether the boy was a student at one of the schools.

Despite the bombing, Callahan stressed that AIA would continue its efforts to improve education in the village.

“This situation has given our team the opportunity to reflect on everything we’ve been doing in this village,” Callahan said. “The schools we’re supporting have kids from all backgrounds and faiths. By supporting education, we’ve given students of all religions the chance to study, learn, laugh and work together peacefully under one roof.”

Olasiti Village is 50 percent Christian and 50 percent Muslim, and police suspect that the attack was religiously motivated due to the targeting of the church. Callahan, however, said that he has never witnessed tension between the two groups.

“At this point, everyone, ourselves included, is very surprised and shocked. This is not a normal thing to happen in Tanzania in general, especially not in this village,” Callahan said. “People were very much in disbelief that this had taken place.”

Callahan added that there have been no reports of students being too scared to continue attending school.

“I think everyone was grateful that it wasn’t worse than it was,” Callahan said. “We just want to express that this isn’t pushing us back. It’s making us push forward even stronger. This just enforces the need for education and having these kids in a classroom interacting peacefully at such a young age.

According to the Wall Street Journal, eight suspects have been arrested as of Tuesday morning.