There is a lot to report on within five minutes walk from our house. At the end of the road there is a new petrol station and very shiny office block.  Airport Road is now duelled and the upgrade has reached halfway to the airport. It has always been hairy crossing the road and is a little more so now as traffic speeds have increased. Down by the Rock City shopping mall pedestrians are helped by a footbridge, opened by President Magafuli on 30^th October.   At night it is very striking, with lights that change colour and pattern.

As for the small, we have a new guard dog ‘in training’! Simba soldiers on but her daughter Kilogoti died unexpectedly earlier this year. Chui (meaning leopard) is the replacement and seems more intent on greeting visitors than savaging them. He also had a lucky escape when falling some 3 metres off the balcony above our house. Some yelping and limping but all is well now. Was he pushed? We doubt the chilled-out Simba had the energy. In fact, Simba is proving to be a very attentive surrogate mum.

Mayega children also received gifts (zawadi)  from Scotland this week. It is the rainy season and although there has been precious little rain in the  Mayega area , the temperature has dropped and the children feel the cold at anything below 24 degrees. Thank you to our friends in Moray for knitting blankets and jumpers. They children love them.

Judy has found herself very busy in her first two weeks in Tanzania. Her induction at Shaloom has included observing HIV clinics, home visits and meeting the children at the after school tutor group. She is already making progress in Kiswahili greetings. She has also visited Bukumbi Mission Hospital , meeting with Matron in Charge ,Sister Anastasia and her team . This mission hospital serves the surrounding rural communities including Chole where Busega Scotland has a  Family Support Project . A tour of the hospital included a visit to the maternity suite . All the mums who had recently delivered demanded that their babies were photographed and Judy stepped in with the camera.

The Tanzania team visited Kalwande college to greet the mechanics students and bring gifts of new trainers and pens sent from Scotland. The young men are thriving there and growing in confidence as well as becoming physically stronger with the all their  activities. When we arrived the students  were engaged in environmental cleaning. They were cutting the grass and tidying around the dormitories. This is timetabled  twice weekly . There are no lawn mowers and the students cut the grass using ” slashers”. They enjoyed the break to greet us along with Father  Nyanda who is the Director of the college. We also met with the college Principal.  Their afternoon programme continued with Theology followed by Engineering Science.

Sadly George was not there as he had permission to leave college  to travel to Mayega to attend his grandmother’s funeral.

Holy Trinity kids enjoy the Sunday service in their new temporary home. The church is meeting in a covered area in a small chicken production unit in Mwanza. Since the demolition of their church , there is a shortage of chairs and the youngsters sit on a tarpaulin at the side of the area. Most of the time they are however up dancing to the congregation’s singing. John , Christine and Judy are always made very welcome here.   Bishop  Charles Sekelwa described the dramatic scenes when the building came down with half an hour notice. He persuaded the security guards to give him a few men to evacuate his office on the second floor. The church was on the top 4th floor.

The building was surrounded by security services as the bulldozers moved in. Church members and residents were running up the stairs trying to collect their belongings as they had only half an hour to vacate the building. Furniture was thrown over the balconies in an attempt to salvage what they could get. Holy Trinity managed to retrieve their new sound system, communion ware and  lectern but the pews were lost as demolition started before they could get everything.

Moray Swing Band did Busega Scotland proud again at a very enjoyable night in Elgin. The concert raised £327. Thanks to the band members, organisers and the audience for making it a night to remember. 

We have had another highly successful fortnight at our pop-up charity shop in the Moray coastal town of Lossiemouth. The total sales reached £1355 and a little more is expected. All the proceeds will go towards the work in Tanzania, as both weeks attracted shop rent sponsors. Sales ranged from clothes, tea services, an oak television cabinet and a silver cross buggy! How good are our sales volunteers!?! The shop provides a useful service for local people and in recycling merchandise. Many thanks to sponsors, donors, volunteers, shoppers and to shop manager, Chris Petrie (her daughter Mel also allows us the use of her garage as a warehouse!).

Footnote – the charity that followed us into the shop was another African charity that supports people in Sierra Leone. It is also based in John and Christine’s home village of Garmouth (population 600).

First time Busega Scotland volunteer , Judy Campbell is pictured carefully packing , re-packing and re-packing again her 40 kg of luggage heading for Tanzania. When hand luggage was added in the total exceeded 50kg, in three roller cases. How do you roll three cases with only two arms? Answer ……. Ask Judy.

More evidence that Judy is not very good at maths……. one of her carefully weighed 20kg cases tipped the scales at 24kg at Inverness Airport.  Tanzania awaits her arrival!

A team calling themselves the “Golfers” won the Garmouth quiz with an excellent score of 58 points out of a possible 65. The event was very well supported with 14 teams of 4 competing .   Booby prizes went to the “Glaykits”. To save any embarrassment I will not reveal their score but even they said they had a fun evening and were happy to support Busega Scotland.  As always the Garmouth Hotel was very welcoming and we thank Jody and Grant for donating raffle prizes as well as making the venue and sound system available to us. Thanks to Jenny Wallen for organising the event, our Quiz Master Rob Wallen for keeping the crowd under control and helpers Jenny Ebdy and Trish Goodchild .

Christine and John travelled into deepest Aberdeenshire to talk about the work of Busega Scotland at the Skene Murray Mission. The mission has been operating in a quaint little hall for the last 110 years and it has no running water.  A computer malfunction meant the congregation were spared a Power Point presentation but not the numerous Tanzanian anecdotes so loved by audiences all over the North East of Scotland!  John also had the pleasure of a conversation with a Belgian lady about the despotic activities of King Leopold in the Congo. Not often that happens between Banff and Huntly!

Prior to the Sunday evening service the Carneys were treated to a traditional farmhouse tea by Malcolm and Marilynne Johns.

Thanks go the congregation for their warm welcome and a  very generous donation of £150.  John and Christine have promised to return in the New Year with the latest updates from Tanzania.