It has its ups and downs!

Great news the foundations to the two pre-school have been dug and completed. Funds were sent out to buy the cement to complete the foundations  We are waiting to hear about the next stage - the building - and what will be required in financial support. One young woman from Chetimo village who is being funded by SEEDS will start her teacher training this month which will last for a year. Others will be trained in due course. I am so looking forward to our visit in June to assess the work done and have discussions on the way forward. This is all the ups!!

 

Now a little down! We have been travelling to Tanzania for the past four years using British Airways. A little more expensive than the other services but a direct flight which cuts down the travel time as we still have 10 hours to go once we arrive at Dar es Salaam airport. The biggest bonus of BA is the allocation of charity status with the amount of luggage. We have been allowed three cases of 23Kg per person (69Kg in total) plus a cabin case and handbag/computer case. The luggage allowance has meant that we could take out many items for the orphans and the villagers. Children's clothes, toys, school equipment, laptops and much more.  I was devastated to hear 10 days ago that BA are no longer flying to Dar es Salaam. I booked the tickets for our party of 5 10 months ago, so it was a big shock. Not only can we no longer fly direct which means much longer travelling time with the stop-over, we also have to stay our first night in Dar es Salaam before travelling onto Mpwapwa - of course this incurs extra hotel costs. The most important disappointment is that the luggage allocation is only 30Kg per person, less than half we are used to, with only one piece of cabin luggage.  I have a loft heaving with items to take out and now it is not possible. THAT IS A BIG DOWNER.

 

We have looked into sending the items out to Tanzania but the cost and the uncertainties at the point of delivery at Dar es Salaam that the items would get through customs without a hefty fee makes it impossible.  We are going to try to overcome the problem by trying to sell many of the items and raise funds to take out and then buy clothing etc for the children in Tanzania.  Onwards and Upwards!!

 

 

 

 

2013 moving into our second year - full of hope and excitement

A very Happy and Healthy 2013 to all our blog readers!

It seems hard to believe that we have moved through our first year as a charity. I am delighted with the progress that has been made and the many new supporters who have come forward to be part of  our vision to make a difference in the lives of children in Tanzania. In December 2012 a fund raising event held by Rev Nicky Teverson, one of our trustees, raised £1500 towards the bore-hole project. It has been estimated that £4000 will be required as long as the water is not too deep below the surface. The deeper the bore hole the greater the expense. A great start to the funds. We also transferred funds to the Chitemo Watoto account to cover the cost of cement required for the foundations at the two pre-schools and also funding to send one of the young women from Chitemo village to the capital Dodoma to train as a pre-school teacher. I have not had any communications recently from Mpwapwa Diocese as it is the rainy season and I believe that the people are very busy  working on the land. The next few months will be important with regards to fund raising as we require another £10,000 and thankfully there are already a number of events that should help towards this. Also there will be the planning for our next trip in June and although I do not want to wish my time away it is wonderful to know that I shall be returning the the people and country that I have come to love and feel at home in. Onwards and upwards!

Hurrah! We have bought another 'Piki-Piki'

During my last visit in July 2012 I went to Dodoma to organise the purchase of a motor-bike (piki-piki) for Pastor Festo of Chitemo and Nyhinila. This is the third bike I have organised for Tanzania - wouldn't dream of trying to buy one here - I would leave it to the men in my life!  He has 8 churches under his care and only a bicycle or his feet to travel many miles over very rough terrain. Can you imagine any Vicar in this country accepting such a post? Rev Nicky Teverson generously donated the funding for the bike. Unfortunately it has proved difficult to transfer the funds because of incorrect bank details. At last after four months the money has arrived safely. I then had to organise someone to go to Dodoma to finalise the purchase and now I am waiting to hear that the bike has been picked up and is safely in Chitemo. It will make such a difference to Pastor Festo and his care of the congregations in the churches. Perhaps 4 months wasn't that long - I had to wait 3 months to have a couple of arm chairs delivered to my home that were made in this country! Patience is a virtue!

Third Tanzanian Lunch

How time flies - it has been six months since our last lunch and I was overwhelmed by the support yet again.  Forty sat down for a 'Tanzanian' style lunch - well it sort of resembled a Tanzanian meal with a number of extras!!  I'll let you work out the extras. This time the 'lunchers' were using knives and forks instead of the spoon and fingers!  The usual tooth picks were available -very Tanzanian. The first time I went to Tanzania and ate a meal I was offered a paper napkin and tooth pick. I soon found out why. Eating with the fingers required the napkin and the meat was so tough the tooth pick was essential!   Our meal started with an orange juice cocktail - ( juice with a little shot of whisky) accompanied with Tanzanian style peanuts - followed by the main course - rice,chicken (didn't need tooth pick),mixed vegetables and a tomato sauce -sliced  banana,brown sugar and  brandy infused cream - African ginger tea with a mini cake. It's making me feel hungry writing about it.  During tea I gave an update on the building progress and projected recent photographs. The usual great team helped with the serving and clearing up and without having to ask others joined in. We had a table of paper-backs for sale and great fun  with the raffle. The lunch raised over £400 in donations.   Yet again I am amazed at the generosity shown. A big thank you to all the 'lunchers'

Details about Tanzania and Mpwapwa District

Tanzania, East Africa

The United Republic of Tanzania was formed out of the union of two sovereign states namely Tanganyika and Zanzibar. Tanganyika became a sovereign state on 9^th December 1961 and became a Republic the following year.  Zanzibar became independent on 10^th December 1963 and the People’s Republic of Zanzibar was established after the revolution of 12^th January 1964.  The two sovereign republics formed the United Republic of Tanzania on 26^th April 1964. However, the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania is a unitary republic consisting of the Union of Government and the Zanzibar Revolutionary Government.

Tanzania is in East Africa, just 6 degrees South of the Equator. It is famous for Mount Kilimanjaro (the highest mountain in Africa), the Serengeti national park, the Masai people, and the idyllic beaches on Zanzibar.

Tanzania is around 8 times the land area of the UK (or half the land area of Western Europe) and has just over half the population (36 million) of UK. About half the population of Tanzania are under 15 years old.

Most people in Tanzania speak two languages, Swahili (the language of business, schools, TV, Radio etc.) and their own tribal language (which they speak at home). There are more than 120 different tribes in Tanzania. About 1/3 of the people are Moslem, 1/3 Christian and 1/3 follow traditional religions. Tanzania has been a multiparty democracy since 1995.

Some areas of Tanzania grow coffee, sisal (to make sacking and ropes) for export. Other exports are gold, diamonds, cloves and other spices (from Zanzibar and Pemba).  Near Mpwapwa area it is too dry to grow crops to sell. Most people are subsistence farmers – they have no paid employment, but depend on growing enough food to feed their families. Some work as tailors, carpenters or run corner shops to try and make money to live. Average income in Mpwapwa is about £60 per annum. 

Only 1 in 10 children will get the change to go to Secondary school. Many parents cannot afford the £50 annual fee.  Secondary education is in English. One in five children who are born safely will die before their 5^th birthday, mainly from Malaria, pneumonia, diarrhoea and measles, with malnutrition making this more likely. One in 20 women will die from complications of one of their pregnancies. One in 9 people are infected with HIV which causes AIDS. These people will almost all die in the next 5 – 10 years. There are already many orphans and also many skilled people such as teachers have died, leaving the work force short of trained people. Many groups are working on trying to help people avoid being infected by the virus.

Mpwapwa Diocese

The Diocese takes in the administrative boundaries of the Mpwapwa and Kongwa Districts (approximately 4144 square kilometres (1600 square miles) in area), which were created before the First World War by the German Colonial Authorities. It is almost centrally located on the Tanzanian mainland, lying between the 5º 30' and 7º latitudes and straddles the 36º longitude line. Its dominant physical features include semi-arid scrubland formed at around 3000^ft ~ 4000^ft above sea level, and a mountainous belt across the centre with peaks upwards of 7000^ft.

Climatically Mpwapwa is relatively cool at night and warm and sunny during the day. The average temperature is 21ºC with average rainfall of 700mm per annum. In good years the rainy season starts from mid-November until the end of April, but about one in every five years it is prone to fail completely. When it rains it should rain almost every day quite heavily for 2 to 3 hours. It is cold enough 17° C  to need a blanket at night from February to June and hot enough +45° C to make air conditioning desirable (but usually not available!) from October to February.  It is a fairly mountainous area and takes 2 days to travel by car from north to south due to poor road conditions. Most people live on the plateau at about 3,500ft   above sea level, though others mainly from the minority Wahehe tribe live atop the 7,000ft mountains which benefit from better rainfall. Traditional ways abound with the fabric of society still enriched by a strong embodiment of the predominant Wagogo Culture as typified by the sound of gourd lutes and ‘Morris’ leg bells.

Mpwapwa Town

Mpwapwa is a market town and is situated in the centre of the Mpwapwa district, with a population of about 30,000 serving an area about the size of Wales. It is rather like a Western film set minus the horses (bicycles instead!). It acts as the administrative centre for the district, with facilities such as a bank, a post office, a court house, a veterinary research centre, a secondary school and a teacher training college. It lies nestled into the edge of the hills, approximately 80km (about 2½ hours drive) from Dodoma.

St Luke's Hospital is situated in the village of Ving'hawe, on the outskirts of Mpwapwa town. The village has a population of approximately 5000, covering a fairly widespread area. About half this number are under 15, and about a quarter are under 5.

Chitemo Village lie south west of Mpwapwa town. It is part of a parish of 8 small churches lead by Pastor Festo Kizuzu. They have a church committee to help vulnerable children and have in their care 157 orphans aged between 1 and 14. This care started in 2008 with just a few children with numbers steadily increasing. There are 3 volunteers who try to give the children activities and some education. They face many challenges one is that there is no building for the children to use, the volunteers are not trained, they have inadequate teaching materials, and insufficient water. The water supply is 6 kilometres away. In the village of Nyhinila which is close to Chetimo there are 165 orphaned children, two volunteers and the same challenges.

The congregation and village people of the villages have been contributing by giving some foods and money to help the development of the orphans.  Three times a year they usually have fundraising days. They contribute things such as food, clothes, soaps, exercise books, pencils, pens, and money and other materials, to assist the children with school fees, health assistance and other pressing needs. They usually have the fundraising days at the beginning of the first and second school terms and at the end of the year.  Some years due to drought it is difficult for the villagers to contribute to the needs of the orhpans because of their own lack of food and funds.  However they don’t lose hope they are doing it using little resource they have.  This is where SEEDS4Tanzania hopes to make a difference in the lives of these children and the people of the villages.

I hope you have found these details of interest and if you are able to support us in any way I shall be most grateful. Rev Canon Yolande Marcussen, Chairman

 

 

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Talking about water - another project!

Rev Nicky Teverson and a group of young people from Trinity School, Belvedere, who accompanied me to Tanzania in July have returned inspired. They have decided to raise £4000 towards the cost of a water bore-hole for the village of Chitemo. Although Chitemo has a water supply it is not sufficient, which is always the case. Once the pre-school is up and running this will create an extra drain on the water supply so another bore-hole will be fantastic.

Well done Nicky and Trinity. It is going to be a real challenge raising the funds but what a wonderful gift to the people of Chitemo.  A big thank you from me. Yolande

Life can be very challenging in Tanzania

I have recently received an email from a friend in Tanzania. His name is Baraka Ngobei. He is studying at the Theological College at Kongwa in the Diocese of Mpwapwa. Baraka has a wife Ester and a young son Brighton. He comes from another diocese where he will return once he has completed his studies. At present he has returned home and sent me this email

'Great to hear from you and trust that your husband's health will improve, I am now at home for the short break. I am also doing some find for my research here in the Diocese. Brighton and Ester are in Kongwa and they are all fine. People here at Kiteto have a big problem of water especially these months. The area where my parents live there is no water so they have to travel 20km and above for looking water. Send our greeting to your family and friends. Love to all the family. God Bless. Baraka.' Water is always a problem - there is never sufficient. It makes me realise how much I take for granted here in England when I turn on the tap and more importantly leave water running. What I have found which is so wonderful with the people I know in Tanzania that what ever the challenges  they never moan or give up and always have hope for the future. Something that perhaps we could all remember when we think things are a bit tough.