SEEDS4Tanzania registered charity no.1144822 – We are building!! - August 2012

I returned from my visit to Tanzania last month after three exciting and challenging weeks. Many miles were travelled visiting various areas in the Mpwapwa Diocese renewing and strengthening friendship.

My main reason for the visit was to spend time in the villages of Chitemo and Nyhinila to assess the progress being made with our first project to build a pre-school for the orphans of these villages. Over the past months, since my trip in October 2011, I have had to rely on emails from various people assuring me of the villagers’ commitment to the project and outlining their programme for the building work.

On arrival at both villages I was soon to be assured of their commitment. In fact so committed are they to the project of building a pre-school and the benefit of education for the young orphans that the project/building committee had decided to build a school in each village!!  What fantastic news, albeit it will mean double the work and double the funding.

The people were so excited to show me their achievements and I was soon whisked away to a mountain area to see the stones which had been gathered for the foundations. No B & Q to order from!  Most building materials have to be sourced from the land which has required hard physical work for the men and women, prising  boulders out from the side of the mountain then rolling them down to  be broken up. The stones will have to be transported by a lorry to the building sites. Thankfully the Bishop of Mpwapwa has offered the use of the diocesan lorry and ‘SEEDS’ will supply the funds for the fuel. Sand is being collected from the dried out river beds by the women, buckets are filled and then transported on their head. Many mud bricks have already been made waiting to be dried out by the sun before they are fired. The digging of the foundations will be extremely hard work as the land is dry, rock hard and only pick axes and shovels are available but what they lack in heavy machinery they certainly make up for with their enthusiasm.

In time funds will be needed for cement, roofing, school equipment and remuneration for the teachers. I met two young mothers who are willing to be trained as pre-school teachers and they will go to training college for a year which will also need funding. Of course more teachers will be required in due course.

For four days students from Trinity School Belvedere worked with the orphans offering various fun teaching activities.  The orphans had never experienced anything like it and it was an excellent way    to show the villagers the benefits of education and that learning can be fun.  It was wonderful to see the faces of these little children, to hear the shouts of joy and laughter.  Children are the future of this world and all deserve the opportunity to reach their full potential. In our small way SEEDS4Tanzania hope to help these children have a future.

 if  you would like to support this project in some way and help to  make a real difference in the lives of these children and the people of Chitemo and Nyhinila please contact Rev Canon Yolande Marcussen  07794151635 – email seedsfortanzania@gmail.com or yolande.marcussen@gmailcom