I’m back in England now, reflecting on the 17 days I spent in Buigiri. It was, without a doubt, my most successful trip yet – thanks in large part to the incredible generosity of over 150 people who donated. Altogether, I brought £4,500 with me, surpassing my previous record of £3,000.
This was also the smoothest trip I’ve had. Almost everything went according to plan. Tanzania has changed a lot since my last visit – improved infrastructure, more stable electricity, and a stronger local economy have all made a difference. Yet, despite these developments, the poorest remain just as vulnerable, and the need for support is as urgent as ever.
I kept my visit low-key, unsure if many would remember me after such a long absence. But that doubt vanished the moment I stepped off the bus after a 10-hour overnight journey and heard a stranger say, “Welcome, Mr Tom.” It was heartwarming to be greeted by so many kind and familiar faces. While the adults hadn’t changed much, it was surreal to see the children I once knew now grown into adults. They were thrilled to see old photos of themselves – smartphones may be everywhere now, but few have pictures from their childhoods.
I started work right away, knowing my time was limited. With a larger budget than ever before, I was able to achieve more and on a greater scale. In the past, I’ve faced tough choices about who to include on food distribution lists. This time, the extra funds meant I could keep adding names instead of crossing people off.
Words can’t fully capture the experience, so here are some photos from the trip:
Sitting with the Chairman of the Blind Rehab Centre. This is where in 1999 I spent 3 months planting trees, building fences and digging ditches.
The goodies I took out with me. The phones will go to the blind in remote areas so they can stay connected with the Tanzanian League for the Blind.
Teck with his wife and daughter. We became friends across a pool table almost 20 years ago. He spoke no English at the time, but I gave him an English-Swahili dictionary and a John Grisham book and he looked up every word he didn’t know. He emerged with surprisingly good English skills, and a solid knowledge of Mississippi jurisprudence.
I like my hat, but hers is much more stylish.
I remember Vumilia when she was a student at the blind school, now she lives with her husband Steve and children at the centre. She rears pigs and I helped her with 4 sacks of cement (£33) to improve the pig sty. All the families at the centre now have livestock, which is an indication of development and is great to see.
My Swahili is a little rusty, but they seemed to get what I was saying.
Enock is a friend of Teck’s and someone else I’m good friends with.
Why the long face?
Anna has helped me over recent trips with things like cooking and cleaning. In part it’s due to laziness on my part, but the house has no running water and food is cooked over charcoal and everything is so time-consuming. Plus she can really cook.
My Dad and Stepmother visited for a few days as part of an epic trip around Egypt and Tanzania. They were put to work in Dodoma where we visited the blind beggars to distribute goodies ahead of Easter.
25 families in Dodoma each received a bag of rice and money to buy additional food for Easter. Those with school-age kids received exercise books and pens.
Across the trip, 95 kids received uniforms and these were the first batch to be handed out. You may think it’s as simple as going into a shop and buying a bunch, but oh no, this is Tanzania and nothing is simple. First you draw up a list of names of all the children, figure out who is in primary or secondary school and if any are albinos as they need more material, you then give it to a local tailor who meets each kid and measures them. I get an initial bill for materials, the tailoring team then get to work and I eventually collect the complete uniforms, arrange for all the children to gather, and hand them out. Uniforms are around £10-15 each and are very important. Without one, a child may be excluded from school. In addition, a ragged uniform singles you out, but you can take pride in owning a shiny new one.
Arranging blind people for a group shot is not easy!
One of the white sticks has found a new home. These only cost £5 in the UK but make a big difference to the blind in Tanzania.
The following day was Easter. My family agreed to come to church, but they may not have so readily agreed had they known it would be approaching 4 hours. The service ended in a fundraising auction where things like honey were sold off to raise funds for building a new church. I was heavily targeted by the auctioneer and figured I couldn’t escape without placing a bid – so put my hand up for this large sack of groundnuts only to be faced with stony silence from the rest of the congregation who I was relying on to outbid me.
Anna played a big part in the church service. She sang in 2 of the choirs and did some minister work, including telling me when I had to stand up and give a speech in Swahili. Thanks Anna! Afterwards, she fetched a photo she keeps in her bible of herself with Dawei and me in 2014.
There was no rest for Anna as she came from church to cook. This is what she knocked up every day. She’d cook enough food for 10 or more people and my door was always open for anyone to come and load up a plate. It cost me under £20 a day for the house, Anna’s services, and all the food. Bargain.
The house is in the Blind School and we visited the classrooms and were shown a Perkins Brailler – its essentially a 7 button typewriter that types in braille. This was cutting edge technology 30 years ago, but sadly the school hasn’t developed their technology. Attempts to set up a computer room have never really worked.
I kept it very quiet that I was coming, but as soon as I arrived word spread quickly that I was back. As days progressed, I would have more and more visitors who came to discuss their woes. Many I have assisted before and have faith in their sincerity, but some were turned away empty handed. I tend to focus on supporting those with disabilities, and mothers and grandmothers. Also, when my inner circle tell me someone leads a hard life and needs assistance, then they get help too. Thanks to the large amount of money given by my friends, I was able to help more people than ever before. Still, there were difficult conversations where I turned people away, and those are never pleasant.
Our plans were put on hold for Easter Monday due to two deaths in the village, so we had a relaxed day, which I didn’t think I needed, but I ended up being very grateful for. I had told my Dad to pack light for this trip, but he still found room for his backgammon set.
I’d been chatting earlier in the year to my friend Marc about how football shirts are always in demand in Tanzania – shortly after, a package turned up and he’d bought me 15 brand new shirts. Paolo visited my house in a PSG shirt and was delighted to be given an official version.
We are off on an adventure in Teck’s Bijaji. I’m so proud of how Teck has progressed his life. He had a particularly tough childhood where he essentially became head of his large family as a teenage boy. I’ve given a fair amount of assistance over the years, educating 5 of the children, building them a house, and a bunch of other stuff, but Teck has taken that opportunity and thrived. He has instilled a solid work ethic into his brothers and they now all have decent jobs, houses and families. Teck was the first in the village to own a Bijaji and he is rightly proud of that. He also owns two shops and a farm, plus he works as a bore hole engineer. He isn’t rich, but he has worked hard every single day to grind out a better life for himself and those close to him.
We were off to visit Gabriel Masaka and his son Daodi. Gabriel was an old man 26 years ago, but he still plods on. He needs an operation in Dar es Salaam and we gave a small contribution (£30) to the costs. His son Daodi is a renowned witchdoctor – he should specialise in fertility advice – his 52 children are a testament to his expertise. He is much revered in the community and has always been very kind and welcoming to me. He showed us his witch doctor’s hospital and answered our questions.
Some of Daodi’s wives and children played us Ngoma music, which is the traditional music of the local Wagogo people. Unfortunately for my family, audience participation was enforced.
As we left, a boy brought Daodi a chameleon. This will no doubt end up in a potion.
The next stop was at the rehab centre to distribute maize. This was 600kg (£140) which we divided amongst the 15 families.
It’s hard work filling the sacks. It’s then incredible to see frail people swing a 40kg sack onto their heads and totter back to their houses.
We met with Emejon. She was named after my sister Imogen 16 years ago – but something went wrong with the spelling! Emejon is studying sciences at school and has dreams of working in medicine.
This is the farewell to my family who were setting off home. Teck kindly gave them gifts of Zezes which is one of the local instruments. The chap in the middle is Mr Omary. He and I work very well together. When we first met he was a young teacher and his excellence radiated out. We’ve worked together over the past 20 years and during that time he has risen through the ranks and is now the elected leader for all disabled people in central Tanzania. He understands how I like to operate, and I always follow his advice about where to focus my efforts.
A little relaxation time – playing pool for old time’s sake. When we first met, he was probably the best in the village at pool, but I could just about compete. Nowadays I am very rusty and he kicked my butt – but I won the final game and I’m simply going to focus on that and not think about the carnage up to that point.
Meet Tom – a boy named in my honour. I have known his grandmother Mrs Kusenha for a long time and provided quite a bit of help to the family. She lives in a big house as her husband had a decent job and put it all into the bricks and mortar, but then died, leaving her destitute. The house is full of people with nowhere else to go.
I knew Catherine when she was at the blind school, and I’ve never seen her not radiate joy. She needed 2 bags of cement (£16) to strengthen her house as it was damaged in a storm. I also gave her some Factor 50 to help protect her skin.
Returning from a night out with the teachers (LtoR is Kisamo, Fwejeje, Boa, Omary and me). The bar consists of a fridge and a few plastic chairs by the side of the busy road, but the beer is cold and cheap. Its a good time for us to make plans for the coming days, but I always have to write everything down because for some reason I forget by the morning.
The next day we travelled a couple of hours down bad roads to Hombolo. They have a school which has a unit for kids with additional needs – including physical and mental disabilities. They get support from an Irish charity called Kids for Schools, but life is still a struggle. I had heard the children were lacking tracksuits, so I brought a bunch with me (£142), plus other bits (£37).
The tracksuits in action
A classroom at Hombolo. This one at least has chairs, some other classrooms, including the dining hall are devoid of furniture.
Hombolo has a large dam which makes the surrounding area fertile
It also means that when people visit, they buy fish to take back home. Here Teck is sporting a fishy necklace
I arrive home to find more visitors – the price of getting help is they need to endure a photo with me
Kenneth is the priest at the blind school. He came to see me about needing help and I expected it to be something grand like rebuilding the church, but all he needed was hymn books, so I bought 50 (£36) from town and delivered them.
Happy had visited before to ask for help with items for school and she returned with her daughter to proudly show what she had bought. This cost around £15.
Many years ago I set up a program where friends in the UK could support kids in Africa. It cost £50-100 a year and provided them with everything they needed for school, plus some food for their home. Just before I left Bristol, my friend Judi asked me to try and see what happened to Martha who she supported. I put the word out and she was located living 50km away and she came to see me. It was quite emotional and she shed some tears as she spoke about how important that help was. At the time she was a young orphan, but she went on to pass her exams and now has a good life as a tailor.
Here is Martha when she was a child. She was the first of the kids to get support.
Malea and Olivia came to speak with me about the lack of food. I had already arranged a big order of maize for the village and so I added their names to the list of recipients
The nuts from the church found a good home at the blind school
One of my proudest achievements this trip was correctly guessing how many nuts to scoop into each kid’s bag to ensure we didn’t run out or were left with kilos of the stuff remaining.
The next morning Mr Omary and I headed into town to meet some of the blind. We have discussed for a while about setting up a business for several families to work cooperatively, and this was the final planning meeting. I have given 1.5m Tshs (£430) to establish a small café – this covers pots, pans, plates, table and chairs, food, drinks, and three months rent. This project is a big challenge for them, and the chances are it will fail, but the rewards from success are worth taking the risk. As a thank you, they kindly gave me a large plate of food to eat – Omary and I wished we’d been forewarned as we had a big lunch before arriving, and its considered rude to not eat what is handed to you.
I met up with Mr Idi there. He is an Islamic preacher and a leader of the blind. Years ago I built houses for some of the blind families. He selected the most in need. Although he also required a house he knew it would look bad if he was at the top of the list, but after the initial houses were built I stopped this type of project as it is complex and difficult to accurately budget. He has spent the past years slowly building his own home, but he was struggling to fund the 60 iron sheets for the roof. He has stockpiled 20, so I gave him money to buy an additional 20 (£150), which is quite a leap forward for him.
I heard of a boy from two villages away who is paralysed. He is 7 years old and getting too big for his mother to carry everywhere. I found the only child’s wheelchair in Dodoma for sale (£100) and he and his mother came to my house to collect it. It is still too big, but they can adapt it to make it work.
This is the final maize distribution of the trip – 17 elderly and/or disabled from the village each collected 40kg (£155 in total), plus a few shillings to transport it to their houses.
Teck’s older brother Raymond, and Raymond’s daughters Imogen and Imelda. I didn’t know before this moment that he had named his daughter after my sister Imogen. By chance, Imelda is my aunt’s name, and it’s quite a coincidence as its not exactly a common name in either country.
This was my farewell visit to the rehab centre where I dished out more uniforms. I also bought 3 months of electricity (£57) for their houses, to power the water pump, and to keep their maize grinder operational.
I paid a visit to Jen at the rehab centre. She shares a bed with her two youngest, but her son sleeps on the floor. I provided him with a new mattress (£25). Jen then brought out these chairs which I gave her many years ago and she wanted to show how she had cared for them. I didn’t mention there should have been 4!
The chap next to me is Mr Kapingo, and he is joined by his wife Angelina and their daughter. Kapingo and I are close – during my first visit he was one of the few who spoke English. We then fully bonded several years later when he developed cancer and I got him a diagnosis, treatment and follow up care. Untreated he would have died in months, but almost 20 years on he is doing great.
This place used to be one person cooking over a single charcoal fire. I was their best customer for many months, often bringing others for lunch. Over time its enabled John to grow into a decent business. I didn’t know it was still going until I bumped into this woman who used to help with the cooking and she wanted me to see how it has developed.
And now to my final big activity of the trip – giving goodies to the blind school. The kids love Bop-it and I wish I had space for more than one in my luggage
Here are the three bunkbeds I had made. They are sturdy beasts and cost £100 each. Some of the children share beds, so this will ease the overcrowding and they will see out generations of children. I was also there to hand out the final batch of school uniforms, as well as sweaters, because for some reason kids get cold in the blazing sun. I also provided new mosquito nets for every bed in the school.
I’m so relieved the uniform production is done and dusted. They cost a fair chunk of my total budget.
And of course there has to be a group photo. The idea was to also show the bunk beds, but they are tricky to make out behind me.
Goalball is a game where you hurl a special ball at the opposition who listen to the scuffle along the ground and the ring of the internal bell, and hurl themselves onto the concrete to prevent it hitting the back wall. The school are the national champions, but they lack kit. In fact they did not even have a proper ball, so I brought this from the UK (£65). I was also asked to source mats for the kids to land on (£250), but these were too pricey for my exhausted budget. It is something to consider for the future.
The two teams pose for a photo. The blindfolds are to ensure fairness. I gave each child one of the football shirts to thank them for their demonstration.
Many years ago a friend in the UK funded sodas for the entire school, and she got back in touch asking to repeat the process, so I bought 144 bottles (£35). Initially when I told the children about the sodas many of them ran off, which I thought was strange, they then returned with plastic bottles so they could decant some of the drink and enjoy it later.
My final night in the village and Mamma Happy and Mrs Kusenha arrived with gifts for me to bring to England: eggs and a chicken. I was a little lost for words! Needless to say, I found a good home for them in the village. It demonstrates the kindness of the people in rural Tanzania though – those who have very little will give what they have as a token of appreciation.
A visit from Teck and his brothers Gaston and Jose. His brothers would always be at my house on past trips, but now they work as plumbers and have their own families, but they wanted to pay me a visit to wish me well on my journey. Their other brother Alan lives in the south and he undertook a 1000km round trip to say hello to me over Easter.
Teck had given my Dad a Zeze stringed instrument, and to wish me well he gave a local finger marimba. He has managed to find the least musical family to equip with instruments.
This is my final photo of the trip – as I arrived in Dodoma to catch the train to leave, Lucy gave me two gifts, one for me and one for my mother – these had been funded by a collection amongst the city’s blind beggars. It felt like the perfect note to end this trip.
If you’ve made it this far – thank you for sticking with me! What I’ve shared is only a glimpse of everything that happened. In total, my records show 54 different projects, ranging from small initiatives costing just a few pounds to larger efforts like the café, bunk beds, and school uniforms, which required hundreds.
If you contributed to any of these – thank you! I did my best to make every pound count. That said, there were still areas I wish I could have supported more, especially school furniture and goalball mats. These will be goals for my next visit to Buigiri in a few years’ time.
I’m delighted to say that Frank is now studying for a Masters at Lund University in Sweden. They recognised his potential and have given him a full scholarship to complete the next stage of his education. As kind as they have been to him, I think its a bit tough asking him to move from Tanzania to Sweden at the start of winter!
Although I haven’t posted here, I have nevertheless been involved in various projects, some of which are:
Supplying lots and lots of school uniforms
Food for plenty of families every Christmas and Easter
Providing medical care for a young man after a car crash
Supporting a braille workshop
Enabling a number of children to enrol and get set-up at school and in further education
I will be heading back to Tanzania in April 2025 and I can’t wait to see everybody once again. If you’d like to add a few pennies/cents to the pot, then I’d be most grateful. I cover my costs and everything you give will be used directly to help the people of Tanzania. https://gofund.me/9d0e1f33
I am delighted to say that Frank Sakalani has just graduated from university having completed his studies in Engineering in Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering. It is a remarkable achievement for a young man from humble origins. It shows that with a lot of hard work and dedication, mixed with a healthy dose of good fortune, giant obstacles can be overcome.
I have recounted the tale of how I met Frank before, but I’ll recap. In 2012 I was in Buigiri and I would often receive notes on scraps of paper from people in the village. These would detail the various issues their families faced – requests were often for food, medication or occasionally for something completely outlandish. Frank wrote on behalf of his aunt who had a broken leg and she needed a splint and medication to help it heal. The letter was extremely eloquent and it was a surprise to hear it had been written by a young schoolboy. We met up and it became apparent that in spite of the lack of good quality education, Frank had spent his free time studying to try and better himself. After our conversation I decided to help him with his continuing education.
I supported Frank through his GCSEs and A-levels and he was offered a scholarship to university. This meant he did not have to pay tuition, but he was still liable for food, rent, school books, uniforms, a laptop etc which are prohibitively expensive for a young man with just pennies in his pocket. I shared his story with a number of friends back in Bristol and several have kindly provided the support over the four years he has spent at university.
Throughout the whole process, Frank has been a superb communicator, sharing his progress with me and keeping me informed of his successes and setbacks. He has also become involved in a locally run NGO called Builders of Future Africa which is concerned with supporting the youth and searching out those who have real potential at improving Tanzania if they are themselves given the opportunity. I am extremely proud of Frank and the success he has become.
I have just returned from a fantastic trip to Buigiri. £3010 was raised through the generosity of many friends and the children of Our Lady Queen of Heaven school and Ampleforth College. As a result, I managed to achieve an awful lot in a short space of time. Within 10 days, I carried out 60 different tasks. These ranged from small activities, such as providing exercise books to children, to distributing over a ton of maize to 50 families. Everybody likes a pie chart, so this is how the money was divided up:
Education
Education was the main area which received funding, to the tune of £1219. Whilst education is technically free, unless you have the correct uniform and equipment, then you are excluded. I spent £465 on 70 uniforms for the poorest children.
Handing out uniforms at the adult blind centre
The village tailoress, Mamma Degera. She uses the profit to support her son at school and to cover her own medical issues. Its pleasing to see money working on more than one level as it trickles through the community.
The children of the community of blind beggars in Dodoma
Augustino is the boy in the blue scarf in the photo above and he was a revelation. Usually the children are very shy and I have to rely on my Swahili. This guy speaks superb English, which is no mean feat given his parents are blind and scratch a living begging at the side of the road. He approached me asking for exercise books and then he corralled his friends and they ran to the shop to buy 100 of them which were then shared out equally.
The largest part of the money spent on education is being used to support Frank who is at University in Dar es Salaam studying Electrical Engineering. He is in his second to last year and I have supported him since he was at secondary school. I can’t sing his praises highly enough – through hard work he is breaking out of the cycle of poverty and his future is bright. He also volunteers for a local charity whereby he visits rural schools and talks to young students about how they can follow a similar path. He has identified a young boy called Alfa who is about to start Secondary School. He is the only child amongst hundreds in the village to excel at his primary school exams. He has been granted a ‘free’ place at a government boarding school 10 hours from the village. Whilst the fees and food are free, he still needs money for transportation, uniforms, books and whatever else a child needs when away from home for an extended time. I have met most of these costs and he is now at the school. My strategy now is to focus on just a few bright students, rather than my previous plan of trying to assist as many people as possible.
Me with Frank & Alfa.
Christmas food
Christmas is as huge in Tanzania as it is in the UK. If a family can afford it, they will skip their maize porridge and have rice and beef/goat/chicken, washed down with soft drinks. For many families, this is not an option. I spent £425 providing money for 60 families which will enable them to buy 2kg of rice, 2kg of meat, vegetables and drinks. I accept this is not the most efficient use of money, but it is Christmas after all. When I later met some children, their faces lit up when they listed all they had eaten.
A short clip of me introducing myself in both Swahili and Kigogo, the local language.
Esta is the head of one of the 12 families who live in the blind centre.
For many, it is easier to take the items to them when the community leader calls their names out.
The Kikokos run the local Free Methodist church – a religion which sprung up in my home city of Bristol
The blind beggars after collecting money and rice.
Community projects
More will follow in due course about these two projects. The main one was the purchase of a Keyboard for the choir at the blind school. This has been requested for many years now. Music is a fantastic way to bring a group together, and the blind school choir is excellent. They do not have the hardware they need to really shine. I have been reticent about providing the money for the keyboard until now because it is so expensive, however several members of Sing Out Bristol Choir kindly donated money and I decided to use this for the school choir. I also made a contribution to the office rental costs of the local branch of the Tanzanian League for the Blind. They are a volunteer organisation and are a great help with the work I do in Tanzania.
On our first night we visited my close friend Mr Omari who is the elected leader for all disabled people in Central Tanzania. He caught up on our differing hairstyles.
This is the Power of Jesus choir who I helped a few years ago with equipment, just visible on the right hand side. After church on Christmas Day, we were invited to listen to them perform. Although I took a video, I managed to butcher my Swahili in a phone shop and convinced them to completely wipe my iPhone and this video did not back up.
Anna lent us her Bible during the service. Inside the front cover, we found a photo of the three of us from 2015, so we recreated it.
Income Generating Projects
Over the years I have assisted with creating over 50 income generating projects. In many instances these do not succeed, but when they do, they can make a huge impact on a family. The truth of the matter is that when the only money you have is the capital which is vital to keep the business ticking along, and then somebody close to you falls sick, there is tremendous pressure to raid the business. I like to look on it positively though – even when a project fails, at least good will have come about, even if it is not how we intended it.
One project which has been a great success is a cafe set up by Ester. She previously sold tea and snacks alongside the road. With an injection of capital provided by a friend who was sponsored to quit beer for a year, she has moved into a small building which houses her kitchen, a table and several chairs, where she now sells main meals. We visited for a delicious breakfast
Outside Estar’s cafe. Dawei is still finishing his breakfast
This trip we helped with a further 9 small businesses. These included more food businesses, a soap making enterprise, and a plough rental service.
Two of the three new women at the Rehab Centre. They missed out on projects I started several years ago and so I have made good on a promise and helped them this time.
Food
There is always demand for maize. The region has suffered drought for a number of years and many people are struggling. This particularly affects the elderly and disabled, so they are the focus of my efforts for maize distribution. We selected 50 families and each received 20kg of maize, which will keep their families fed for a couple of weeks.
This is what 500kg of Maize looks like
Dividing it up is hard and dirty work…. so I simply dived in for the photo opp!
30 individuals from the village receive their share
Medicine
As you can imagine, access to medicine is vitally important. Whilst appointments are very cheap, getting to the hospital or paying for your drugs is the issue. Often huge collections take place where 50 people in the village give a few pennies, to enable someone to receive health care.
My main expenditure was for a good friend of mine. This trip, he has been struck down with a trio of nasty illnesses: Typhoid, Malaria and a UTI. This left him a shell of a man. He was sat at home, rocking back and forth, chanting deliriously. I helped with several hospital visits, including two courses of intravenous fluids. I’m not a medic, but without this intervention, I suspect he would have struggled to emerge out of it.
John came to visit me to show me his arm. He broke it years ago and during my last trip it was a festering compound fracture. He proudly demonstrated how the wound had healed – but then he wriggled his forearm up and down and it was clearly still detached. He seemed happy enough though.
General expenditure
I used almost £200 to provide items such as white canes, mobile phones and a mattress to people in the village. Phones are so important as distances are vast, and communication is essential if people are to receive help.
John’s phone came from the UK a number of years ago, and it is well used and rather battered. I provided him with a new Nokia and he proudly handed his old phone to his wife. He is one of the few English speakers in the village and it is important that I can contact him when needed.
Emmanuel tries to live as independent a life as possible, but he needs some help with his farm.
Daniel receives one of the talking watches I brought with me
Homes
The final main category I assisted with was helping people rebuild their homes. Most houses are constructed from bricks made of mud, which then have a roof comprised of wooden joists and corrugated iron sheets. They are not particularly sturdy and can face problems. I provided cement, wood and a door for three houses which I built in the past.
Mamma Happy always greets me with a huge smile. I helped with 10 sacks of cement which she will use to strengthen the walls of her house. She will use the remainder to form a solid floor, which will prevent dirt and possible disease finding its way inside.
The end of the trip and a miscellaneous photo dump
Imogen visiting the family of her namesake who was given her name a number of years ago. There is also another family with three children: Thomas, Imogen and Sara, which is the name of my mother.
I could feel the eyes boring in to me
A boy making the most of what is available
One of many visitors asking for help with a uniform and school shoes
I apologise for my horrendous rendition of the National Anthem
Some dancers from the church visited our house on Christmas Day, so we joined in
I feel like I have neglected this blog for far too long. Despite not posting, 2017 has been a busy year for projects in Tanzania and I’ll highlight some of them here. Thank you to all who have donated money – I have some very kind friends. Also, thank you to both Our Lady Queen of Heaven School in London and Ampleforth College in Yorkshire who have continued with their support.
As always, there is a pressing need for food. Tanzania has endured yet another drought and life is particularly hard for the villagers of Buigiri. I arranged for food to be distributed on a number of occasions. Here is a little video where one of the villagers gives thanks in Swahili, on behalf of his friends, for the assistance. The second video is a brief explanation in English about the first.
The number of children at the Blind School is growing. I have been involved with a program whereby a teacher visits rural communities to look for children with eye problems. The parents are then informed of the blind school and I take care of the various costs associated with getting the child to the school and established as a student. As a consequence of this, as well as other factors, there is a shortage of beds and children often have to share. I have provided a couple of bunk beds and a number of mattresses for the dormitories . I have also supplied a large number of school uniforms throughout the year for the pupils at the blind school as well as at other local schools.
The blind children play a game called goalball. The attacking team throws the ball along the ground and the defending team has to prevent it from slipping past them and hitting the wall. Much like in blind football, where visually impaired athletes wear eye masks to ensure they have zero vision, the children wear the same masks to keep things fair. They compete against other Tanzanian blind schools but they have been held back by a lack of kit. A couple of years ago I repaired the potholes in the goalball pitch and this year I have supplied them with the kit they need, including the specialist balls, face masks and sports kit.
I have set up a number of small pig rearing projects. I’ve supplied 13 families with two piglets each. The hope is that when they are fully grown they can be sold for meat and make a healthy profit which can then be reinvested. This kind of project can be very risky though. When the only resource your family has is the pig in the garden, then when somebody falls ill the temptation is there to cash in on the livestock. Hopefully a handful of the projects work in the long term.
I have continued to support a student called Frank at university. I have sung his praises in previous posts, but he is a remarkable man from the village who has managed to excel academically in spite of his living conditions and the poor standard of local secondary education. He is now studying for an engineering degree in Dar es Salaam. He has a little over a year until graduation and then he will be in a great position to find a well-paid job and he can then support others from his community. Even as a student, he is involved in initiatives to improve the living standards in rural areas.
One other area I have tried to focus on over the years is helping mothers start small businesses. I think it is important to empower the women in the community. They often carry out much of the hard work, yet they do not always control the family finances. On many occasions I have seen hungry families at home whilst the fathers are sat under a tree drinking homebrew. This year I have helped several women start businesses, such as opening small cafes (such as Esther in the photo below) or preparing snacks to sell in the market.
There have also been a number of much smaller projects such as repairing houses, paying medical expenses, setting up an after-school English Club and supporting students at Primary school. One such student is Gaston, who has recently graduated and hopes to attend Secondary school in 2018.
For many, it is easier to take the items to them when the community leader calls their names out.
This is the Power of Jesus choir who I helped a few years ago with equipment, just visible on the right hand side. After church on Christmas Day, we were invited to listen to them perform. Although I took a video, I managed to butcher my Swahili in a phone shop and convinced them to completely wipe my iPhone and this video did not back up.
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