Despite Tanzanian schools being closed, our Mwalimu (teacher) Reni and Patron Emma (also a qualified teacher) have been keeping the children going with lessons and testing. Reni is a great fan of regular tests and that mirrors what goes on in school. There are internal school tests, groups of schools run the same tests and compare results and national testing goes on throughout a child’s education.
Some of the Mayega pupils have done very well recently. Johana, for example, was top in Mathematics in a cohort of over 200 and little Boazi is shaping up to be an exceptional pupil. While Johana is a star in Maths, Elizabeth outstripped him, and did very well, in English. This improved attainment is down to the children’s application and the work of Seba (our first teacher) and now Reni and Emma. Reni is a Maths and Science graduate, which is gold dust in Tanzania.
The photos show a selection of 92(!) photos sent by Reni of the children displaying their recent ‘lockdown’ test results.

The cumulative total of reported cases was 46 on 13th April with 3 deaths. The majority of cases are in the largest city, and commercial capital, Dar es Salaam. One case has been reported in Mwanza. Seemingly, a man was quarantined in Dar but left and travelled to the Rock City. One private hospital has now been sealed off and it is assumed that is where he now is.
As with UK, the number of reported Tanzanian cases will be an underestimate through a low level of testing. The worry remains that the virus will spread rapidly. The government has upped its response by closing airports to international flights, as of 12th April. Schools and colleges are closed and large gatherings banned. Social distancing should be practised and overcrowding on buses stopped. Controversially, services at churches and mosques are still allowed. President Magafuli said that the virus is the work of satan and requires divine intervention to be quelled.
In a broader context, there are worries that if a lockdown is introduced there will be a danger of starvation as many people live from day to day, working and buying food. No danger of stockpiling. Also, the government is in no economic position to underwrite business costs (or vastly expand health services). The dilemma of protecting the population from Corona but at the same time damaging people and the economy in other ways is most apparent. It remains to be seen if any lockdown would be obeyed or could be enforced. The hope is that the virus doesn’t spread so rapidly for reasons particular to the Tanzanian population and environment.

There have been plenty of photographs in our news posts of the hedging and trees flourishing at Mayega. One thing we haven’t shown is the beauty of the passion flowers.

Also, our vegetable garden has benefited from the recent rains with the biringanya (aubergine) and nyanya chungu (white tomato) doing particularly well. The white tomato is also called African egg plant and is an indigenous type of aubergine.

The garden produces a mixture of local and introduced vegetables. The benefit of all this activity is dinner at the Centre. Easter Sunday was celebrated with a special meal of beans, meat, rice, vegetables, fruit and sodas.

One of the key commitments in the Busega Scotland Covid-19 Action Plan is to ‘monitor the availability of food and other supplies in Mayega and Mwanza and ensure the storeroom at the Children’s Centre is well stocked’.
We normally keep up to four months supply at the Children’s Centre and the last bulk food delivery was in February. Acting on advice of our Tanzanian colleagues, we decided to bring forward the next shipment and so have 6 months supply on site. There are worries about price and availability.
We have seen panic buying/stockpiling of food in the UK, despite the unlikely prospect of food shortages. In Tanzania, people really have something to worry about. We would be surprised if any of the children at Mayega had not experienced real hunger. Indeed, two recent arrivals had swollen tummies. A sure sign of malnutrition.
So when the lorry arrived last weekend, we were delivering not only supplies but also comfort to the children that they would not go hungry.