Avid readers of this website may recall a previous article on the erection of a chicken/goat proof fence, around a 25m x 15m parcel of land adjacent to the Mayega Children’s Centre. The ground was then developed through planting leguminous jack beans and addition of cow and chicken manure. But the kitchen garden remained ‘in preparation’ until earlier this year, when the water supply reached the centre.

Bingo! Staff and children have turned the opportunity into a flourishing vegetable patch. The photos show the variety of vegetables being grown, and so available to improve the children’s diet. One picture shows Rose, our Assistant Cook, preparing mchicha, a local form of spinach.

How inspiring are these photographs, and they show what can be done even in the arid conditions of Mayega, with a reliable water supply. The Mayega Water Group are awaiting the outcome of a funding application to increase the number of standpipes across Mayega village and then the kitchen garden can become a village teaching garden, for experimentation and training. How great it is that the Children’s Centre are showing what can be achieved.

When Christine and John were in Tanzania earlier this year they experienced untypically heavy ‘long rains’. Farmers had been experiencing limited rainfall in recent years but not so in 2018. In fact, too much in too short a period causing serious damage and loss of life.

Mwanza was not spared the deluge, and flash flooding has caused damage to the foundations of Rev Deuli’s house.

Rev Deuli is our Project Leader in Mwanza, and lives ‘up the hill’. This is not uncommon, as Mwanza is set in a series of valleys and on granite outcrops, giving it the nickname ‘Rock City’.

Instead of waiting for his house to fall down, Rev Deuli is proactively building another home adjacent to the old one. In Tanzania, construction occurs when money is available and can be a family/community activity. So far, the foundations are in place, with help from a younger brother and church congregation. It make take a while, but the house will be built and, being a wise man, the pastor is building his new house securely on the rock!

John and Christine, along with supporters Peter and Sandra Anderson and Judy Campbell, spent a week at the Refuel festival in the Gordon Castle estate. This is home ground for the Carneys as the site is just 3 miles from their home.

Refuel is Christian festival and Busega Scotland has been invited for the last two years to have a stall in the Marketplace, along with many other charities. Our stall was well stocked with African crafts, cloth, shopping bags, t-shirts, jigsaws and Mayega shukas.

We had a particular focus on Shida. Previous items on this website tell the story of how she arrived at Mayega Children’s Centre with severe sight problems. Prompt treatment has led to sight returning in her right eye and she will return to hospital in August to treat a cataract in her other eye. This involves a 1,000 mile round trip. She is such a brave and positive young girl.

The sales and donations at Refuel amounted to £375 (including Gift Aid). The estimated cost of Shida’s treatment and expenses is £1200. Busega Scotland will meet these costs but it is a significant and unexpected demand on our funds. If any readers wish to contribute to Shida’s treatment then this can be done in the usual ways, including the Donate Now button on our website’s front page.

Edina and Shida at Mayega Children’s Centre

An Aberlour Child Care Trust project in Elgin has become a valued partner of Busega Scotland. Moray Options provides services for children affected by disabilities. The project, its staff, and the families they support, have helped us in many different ways; participating in sponsored walks, filling Smartie tubes with 20p’s, having a Busega Scotland news corner and by providing office space and facilities.

The support is not just one way, as John chairs the Moray Options fostering panel and service manager Sheena Main says, ‘it is part of Aberlour’s philosophy and values to reach out and participate in the community, be that local or further afield. We are delighted to support Busega Scotland in the excellent work that it does. The services are so similar that Busega could be called ‘Aberlour in Africa!’.

The Aberlour Trust has its roots in Moray. An orphanage was opened in the village of Aberlour in 1875 to look after four ‘mitherless bairns’. It closed its doors in 1967 and since then the trust has become the leading Scottish children’s charity, with services in residential care and fostering, dependency, early years, disability and early intervention youth work.