Recent posts on the Latest News page of our website show the efforts being made to promote the social, emotional and educational wellbeing of children at Mayega Children’s Centre. This is the creative and inspiring work, but the compound at Mayega is large and the climatic conditions harsh. Periodically, we have to check the state of the buildings, and surroundings, and undertake upgrading and maintenance work.
We employ local fundis (tradesmen), who are keen to do good work as they know that they will be engaged again. We have a contracting system as standard practice. It requires estimates to be submitted, contracts signed with payments not concluded until work is complete and to a good standard.
Recent activity has included repairs to the fence and to damp walls in the dormitory building. Windows have been repaired and damaged mosquito screens replaced. Walls have been tiled around the shower rooms and sinks.
However, our real improvement is a couple of picnic benches to go under ‘the big tree’! These will allow the children space for study, playing games, chilling and for meetings. We provided drawings for the fundi, who followed them faithfully and has done a super job.

Busega Scotland promotes the welfare of vulnerable women and families through women’s groups. They are collaborations with the women and other local organisations. Our aim is always sustainability and independence, and the four groups we have worked with so far are all now self-managing. 130 women been supported.
The centrepiece of each group is a vicoba (village community bank) that allow women members to take interest bearing loans, to grow their small businesses, and for the vicoba to grow its capital (that is owned by the group).
The real experts are the women themselves (and Julieth Godwin, our Assistant Project Leader, who supports the groups). We are planning three new groups in 2020, and so arranged a seminar in Mwanza, inviting group members from the town of Igombe and village of Chole to attend. The women described their successes and challenges and ideas for improvement. A Community Development Officer advised on the help available from the Tanzanian government.
The event was a great success, and ended will a lovely meal in a local café. We are grateful to a Dar es Salaam based charity, called The Goat Race, for sponsoring the event and Julieth is producing a conference report, that will be available on our website in due course,

Jenny Wallen has just returned to the UK , after a month assisting with reading development at Mayega Primary School and Children’s Centre.

They must have thought I was mad; we’re going to teach reading with books with no words (the beginning of the Oxford Reading Tree), we are going to read the pictures …….but everyone was far too polite to say so.

Read Jenny’s article in full here.

https://busegascotland.co.uk/volunteers/