Salome, Michael, Gideon, Dotto, Kulwa and Emmanuel are feeling at home at Mayega.

They enjoyed wrapping themselves  in their new comfort blankets knitted by Lorna Logan of Gordon Chapel.  They have all started school at Mayega and are mixing freely with the other children and joining in with activities. They are already looking stronger and fitter thanks to regular meals and tender loving care from the Mayega Children’s Centre Staff.

We now have 11 girls and 8 boys at the orphanage. Another young boy has already been identified to join them and we expect him to be brought to the centre next week. We are working closely with the Social Services Department of Busega District to identify the children most in need of care. All the children have lost their biological parents and have been living with elderly relatives or neighbours in desperate poverty where food has been in short supply.

Over the next few months we will increase the number of children to 24.

Busega Scotland is delighted to announce a partnership with the prominent Mwanza-based safari company, Shrike Safaris. This is our first such arrangement with a Tanzanian company, and will result in donations made to the benefit of Mayega Children’s Centre.

John and Christine and family travelled to the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater with Shrike Safaris last year and had a wonderful time. Since then discussions have taken place with Mark James, the founder and CEO of Shrike, who has been wonderfully enthusiastic and encouraging about the partnership.

The company is about to launch a new website and Busega Scotland will have its own dedicated page. Mark hopes that this will encourage his clients to support Mayega themselves. It also provides further worldwide exposure of the work of Busega Scotland.

It is the hope of our charity to host further volunteers in Tanzania. We think the combination of work with us and a trip to the Serengeti, is an unbeatable combination for our adventurous supporters. John and Christine would certainly recommend Shrike to fulfil the second part of the dream.

Finally, many thanks go to Mark and his team for their generous support of Mayega.

Production of the Mayega Shukas has started at the Knockando Woolmill.  Head over to their site for wonderful photographs and information on this unique joint venture.  Click on the following links.

Desiging a Shuka to raise money for Mayega

Production has started

Two signatures brought Knockando Woolmill Trust and Busega Scotland together in a ground breaking partnership. The story began several months ago. Busega Scotland trustee, Colin Sanders, introduced John and Christine to the work of the mill. After several meetings at Knockando, the concept of a ‘Mayega shuka’ emerged. A shuka is a traditional fabric, worn as a garment in East Africa, and it has a striking resemblance to Scottish plaid. Templates were taken to Mayega Children’s Centre and coloured in by the children, using colours typical of the local environment and the Tanzanian national flag. From these stunning patterns, designers at Knockando have created a Mayega version, from which the unique woollen shukas will be woven.

The partnership signatories, Emma Nicholson, Marketing and Merchandising Manager at Knockando, and Mike McClafferty, Secretary, Busega Scotland, gave the green light to production. We hope a sample of the cloth will travel with John and Christine to Mayega later this month, to show the children what they have helped to achieve. Our shukas will then go on sale in the summer, with profits used to benefit the children’s centre. The project is truly remarkable.