Msariwa Classrooms – an urgent need

As the EC was unable to provide the funding requested in November 2009, with most of its available funding already committed, it decided, at its meeting in January 2010 to make this project the subject of the Chairman’s Appeal this year because of the urgency of the situation.  Approximately £8500 has been requested (subject to the fluctuations in the exchange rate), of which £2500 has now been sent to UNCODET for the project.  You will find more details of this appeal enclosed with this Newsletter. 

NURU Centre for Orphaned Children 

The NURU (North Uru) Centre, which is currently run on a voluntary basis, opened in August last year to try to provide care for some of the young orphaned children in Uru North.  A local survey had revealed that there were about 450 in Uru North.  The high incidence of HIV/AIDs is very often the reason for the death of young parents.  A local woman now living in Moshi had generously given her house in Uru North for this purpose.

See more photos of the Centre in the 2010 album.

The initial request received in November 2009 was concentrated on ongoing costs such as salaries and daily food, aspects to which BTT is not able to commit because of the open ended nature of the commitment.

However, by the beginning of March a Committee made up of representatives from the community (including the four villages), UNCODET, the Uru North Joint Co-operative Society, and the Church, was working with Cletus Nyaki, the manager of the Centre.  It aims to put together a revised request that would cover the improvement and development of the house and office facilities which are urgently needed as well as schemes which would provide an income for the Centre and enable ongoing costs to be met.  These schemes involve such things as growing food and keeping domestic animals to provide for the daily needs of the Centre as well as a regular income from sales of the produce.

The EC had no hesitation in agreeing to fund the first part of the revised request and has now transferred £1958, which had been raised specifically for the Centre, for this purpose.  It feels that greater clarification is still needed about the timescale and one or two other details of the income generating schemes and the community commitment to the support of the Centre, but has no doubt about the importance of and need for this facility in Uru North.  The total amount requested is approximately £5,400, dependent on the fluctuating exchange rate.  Some members are already raising more funds for this project, for which the EC is very grateful.

The ‘Goat Project’ which supports women-headed households looking after orphans in Uru North goes from strength to strength.  Evarist Momburi, Project officer for UNCODET, is seen here with the owner of one of the goats outside the substantial  shelter.   Inside a nanny goat enjoys fresh food.  A number of the goats are in kid and we look forward to hearing good news later this year.

The Kisarika School Head’s house is finally completed, having previously been held back because of the building project to complete  the Form 5 classrooms being more urgent. 

Judy had the opportunity to photograph the Denis Morley Primary school kitchen which was completed about 18 months ago.  This school in Ongoma village has a thriving link with Skelton, Greystokes and Penruddock Primary schools in the Penrith area.

Our second visit to Tanzania.  This time we arrived just before the rains and yet everything was as lush and green as we remembered from our last visit.  The gardens at Usagara House are a delight - full of colour and wonderful shrubs and flowers.  We saw Kilimanjaro from the garden in the moonlight and we saw stars as never before.  North Uru is truly a beautiful place to relax and enjoy.

Our visit was part holiday, part work in Kisarika School and part visits to some of the other projects supported by BTT. 

The following is an extract from a report we wrote on the School to assist with a Funding Bid:

‘Kisarika School is developing well in terms of its provision, curriculum and staffing.  We were pleased to visit and participate in a number of lessons. The pupils are focused and motivated to succeed.  We were impressed with the ways independent learning and high expectations are clearly communicated to all students, who respond positively to these requirements.

The teaching staff is committed to the School and its pupils.  Some of the senior staff have been at the School since its beginning. The School has plans to develop further Science,   ICT and library/ learning resource centre provision.  All of these have buildings and laboratories available but still need additional funding. 

The recent expansion to provide A’ Level groups (currently Year 5*  only ) is exciting and we were delighted to attend Year 5 classes to see the high standards of attainment of the students and to recognise their future potential.  The implementation of this new Sixth Form initiative is clearly having an impact on the whole school’.
* Year 5 will now have moved on to year 6 so the school has students up to the end of A-level.

We did not have the opportunity to meet the new Head as he was on School business elsewhere.  We hear that he has settled in well and is already having a positive influence on the School. We wish him and all the staff well for the future.

We met the Medical Officer at the Rononi Dispensary where he was busy with a programme to assist young mothers as well as offering medical care for those in need.

Our visit to the recently established Uru Orphanage was a moving experience.  We met the committed staff and some of the young children who now live there.  Their needs are obvious and the recent bid to BTT will help them greatly.  We are happy to have the opportunity to contribute to this very worthwhile project.  See photos on page 4.

Staying with Judy Rimmer,  Angie, Ken, Ben and Liz Robertson made our visit all the more enjoyable.  Renewing friendships and making new friends who came to the house to talk and enjoy a beer was a central part of the holiday.  Their warmth , hospitality and welcome is the memory we bring back with us to England.

Marian and Doug Williamson  18/03/10

The EC would like to see all 3 projects supported but is currently clarifying some points and discussing approaches to raising the money needed. The projects are:
(i)  Three new Classrooms for Msiriwa Secondary School, Njari Village
(ii) The new Orphanage in Ongoma Village
(iii) Wash Rooms for the Mrawi Dispensary

Orphans with Goat

In February 2009 a group of local people led by a local man, Cletus Nyaki, who has worked with disadvantaged children in Moshi for some years, researched the situation with regard to orphaned children in Uru North.  They consulted with village and community representative, women’s groups and house to house.  HIV/AIDS plays a significant part in the problem as many parents of young children are dying.
About 402 children, either orphaned or living vulnerably, were identified within the community of Uru North.  Some are cared for by the extended family, some by the groups of women which BTT and UNCODET hope will be helped by the goat project, but many are just abandoned to scavenge for themselves and these include very young children.
A local woman, who works with street children in Moshi has been incredibly generous in giving her Uru home for an orphanage.  It is a large house which will accommodate up to 32 children.  It opened at the beginning of August 2009, but by September 2009 there were only 10 children there as this was the number of beds available. Food and money were being provided by volunteers through the church and Mr. Nyaki, the Manager, Cecilia Erick, the Matron and Innocent and Mary Kimare, the Watchman and Cook, were working on a voluntary basis.  Mr Nyaki’s aim is to enable the youngsters to grow up to be able to be independent.  They will go to Fumbuni Primary School nearby when old enough. The Fumbuni Dispensary is also on the doorstep and many will need testing for HIV/AIDS.
There is much work to do to improve the facilities at the house and prepare the shamba to grow food to make the orphanage self sufficient.  The children themselves will take part in looking after the house and shamba as part of their education and training. 
The BTT EC has received a project proposal in respect of this new venture and is currently looking at this proposal and the best way of managing its support.

Kisarika Secondary School
Form 5 Centre – We were told initially in March that the Tanzanian Government Inspectors had said ‘no’ to Form 5 starting in May 2009 as the necessary facilities were not all in place. However, they recognised the need for this level of education and they changed their minds, giving permission and support to open. 

Kisarika Form 5 in 2009

In May 42 students were enrolled to Form 5 (see photo), a great achievement for such a young school.  They were all boys as there is only one dormitory facility at present.  The money for 2 of the 3 classrooms required (see photo below) was raised through Sweyne Park School and friends, £5340 has been sent out. Currently there are no former students from Kisarika’s Form 4 last year.  However, Mr. Macha, the head teacher, will be assisting his students with their Form 5 selections in good time this year.  The Library is completed and of course there are excellent kitchen and dining room facilities. The dormitory being used was built a few years ago with funds from elsewhere.  Another Science lab is still needed.

Marie Taylor from Sweyne Park and her colleague Jane Davenport climbed Kilimanjaro in August to raise money for 3 causes, one of which is Kisarika Form 5, and the latest figure we have is that a total of over £3000 + gift aid was raised. 
Headteacher’s House – This is very close to completion.  Yet again work has been delayed because of the urgency of other work such as Form 5 buildings.  It now has power and the windows are nearly all in.

Other developments at Kisarika (not UNCODET/BTT) – Mr. Macha has built a maize mill to grind all the maize for the school lunches on site and prevent the students from having to walk about 2 km during school time to get it done.  It was built with money raised through the community and is also a facility for community use.  It is making a good income for the school.  This shows the school is not depending entirely on BTT help but using its own initiative as well as looking for funds for specific developments elsewhere.  

The Pig Project –

Pig Project Residents - Aug 09

This is a project which we knew had been completed, but Judy’s visit this summer was the first opportunity to get photos.  This project is now well underway.  The photos show the impressive wooden building housing 8 3-month-old piglets at present.  They come in at 6 weeks when weaned.  At 6 months the males and some females go for sale and other females are kept for breeding.  There are extra rooms for females with young.

Report by Brian Wind - BTT Project Officer

Students from Uru and Brampton get together

The first time the British and Tanzanian students met was at the front of school on the 24th June. To start with, it was quite awkward as we realised the cultural differences between us and both groups were unsure of how to communicate and were very aware that we didn’t want to offend each other. However after a walk in the sun and a first encounter with a playground slide, conversation was flowing and initial awkwardness was soon forgotten. We began to learn how our presumptions of cultural differences before meeting the students were very insignificant and our similarities soon became very apparent, for example, music interests (Chris Brown and Rihanna)
Our first official meeting was at the welcome party at Low Luckens that evening. The Tanzanian students performed traditional song and dance and soon the British students were joining in the fun. We shared traditional songs and games from both cultures such as the Hokey Cokey from our culture and Akachunglia from Tanzanian culture. It was a really enjoyable night and we got the chance to introduce our families to the students and teachers.

That Friday night after a visit to Brampton Bowling Club, we all met at school laden with sleeping bags, pots and pans to head off to Threlkeld for our residential. We got into groups and cooked spaghetti bolognaise together and before we knew it, we were at the beautiful village of Threlkeld. On the Saturday, Moira Houlan arrived to lead group activities and we soon impressed the locals with our rendition of Moon shadow! It was a very fun weekend and strong friendships were already forming and the link had started to feel like one unit.
During the next week, the Tanzanian students came to William Howard to experience a regular school day which involved shadowing students from various year groups and taking part in normal lessons throughout the day. Most mornings, there were assemblies to each year group where the British students introduced our Tanzanian friends to the rest of the school and then we all sang together. This helped us to show the rest of the school what the link could achieve and also made them more aware of the similarities between themselves and the Tanzanian students.
On the 2nd July, we had a cultural evening at Low Luckens. There was a BBQ and a celidh band and everyone was very enthusiastic about learning new dances. It was a very successful event and everyone had great fun.
The following night, the Tanzanian students went to their first home stays with British student’s families. They stayed with their families for a week, doing various activities at the weekend such as going to the cinema or swimming. They moved to their second family for the next week and on the 15th of July we set off for our second residential to York.
On the Wednesday, we visited Beamish Museum and experienced Britain’s culture in the Victorian era by visiting the mines and riding trams. The Victorian sweet shop was a highlight of the visit with its tongue-burning sour sweets. That night, we set up camp in Cote Ghyll Campsite before going to a fish and chips cafe and on returning to the campsite, played parachute games before heading to bed. The next morning, we went into York and visited the York Minster, which the Tanzanians especially enjoyed, and an art gallery. We also walked around the walls of the city and had our evening meal at a nearby restaurant where we celebrated one of the Tanzanian student’s 18th birthdays. Later that night it began to rain and with high hopes of a sunny and dry next day, we went to bed. However, we woke up to a torrential downpour and had the horrible task of packing up all our tents in what was definitely not a sunny and dry day!
We set off in the rain for Lightwater Valley with excitement and anticipation but slight nervousness from the Tanzanians at the prospect of a first ever rollercoaster ride. It was one of the best days of the visits despite looking like we’d just been for a swim fully clothed! There were virtually no queues, thanks to the weather, which meant that the group were able to repeat the adrenaline rush over and over again. On the journey home with our coats hanging from the ceiling, the bus resembled a dry cleaners!
The last event together was the Leaving Party at Castle Carrock village hall. It was a very moving experience as letters, photos and goodbyes were exchanged. After a presentation of certificates and a last song, we waved goodbye to our good friends with the knowledge that we may or may not see them next summer. 
Emily Kay and Lydia Cartwright.

It is good to see the Nurses’ House at the Rononi Dispensary in use.  Evarist sent this photo as bad weather meant the group   couldn’t get up here.  This makes it clear why there is a need for staff accommodation on site!

The Head’s House at Kisarika.   The doors and windows are now fitted and the whole house will be finished very soon.           

The photo below shows the current kitchen facilities for the Mrawi primary school.

The plot and plan have been prepared for the new kitchen and rubble for the foundations has been collected.  Work should progress well now so we look forward to news of its further progress.  See the Photo album - 2009 (link on right hand side of page) for more photos of the school in general.

Sweyne Park School has raised the funds for new classroom accommodation at Kisarika Secondary School and these have been sent out to help prepare for new A-level provision.

As you know, BTT has joined with the people of Uru to complete many projects.  We always insist on a local contribution, and indeed government money is available for some things so ours is a true partnership.  There is still a long-term need for more classrooms at Kisarika and Msiriwa as the numbers of students taking up education expands – good news! 
For the moment we have agreed with UNCODET that the priority is the Goat Project, which has a more formal title: Economic empowerment of marginalised and disadvantaged rural women and people living with HIV/AIDS.  This long title reflects the main thrust of the project well.  [Further details of the project were given in the last newsletter, which is available on the website.]  We are currently waiting for a final response from the Stephen Lewis Foundation, the Canadian organisation who have been asked for funds.  We expect this news in mid-April.  By backing UNCODET in their application for funds, BTT has increased the chances of a positive response. We have also agreed that if the Foundation does not respond favourably the project should start off small and be built up.