Monthly Archives: January 2021

30.1.21New horizon

Our Family Support Project has established women’s groups in Igombe, Chole and Mayega. This adds up to six in total. Around two hundred families have been supported. Building on this success, we launched a Sharing Christmas appeal, and, well beyond expectations, the response from our supporters has allowed two new groups to go ahead.
One will be in Mayega and the other in the village of Mukuyuni.
Our Assistant Project Leader, Julieth Godwin, said, ‘Mukuyuni is new to us. It is about 6 miles from Igombe and inland from Lake Victoria. It is not a fishing village and people rely on agriculture, collecting firewood, making charcoal and breaking stones for gravel, to make a living. About 500 people live there and they have a primary school and dispensary’.
Julieth is working closely with local leaders. Together they identify women who will benefit from group attendance. Julieth’s visit to Mukuyuni in January was affected by the rainy season weather. Julieth said, ‘it was raining so hard we couldn’t reach many families. I visited three and then had to give up but I’ll be back in February to complete the assessments. The families are very poor and the soon our group starts the better’.
The main purpose of a group is to have a vicoba (Village Community Bank) that can provide business loans to women members, allowing them to grow their small businesses. A group of 30 women can expect £750 from Busega Scotland, over a period of a year, and members add their own savings and loan interest to grow the capital. The vicoba is owned by the women.

29.1.21Annual reporting

Busega Scotland has prepared its Annual Report and Financial Statement for 2019-20. The accounts have been externally verified, as required by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR). The Annual Report and Financial Statement was approved at the Annual General Meeting of Busega Scotland on 12th January 2021. Our Annual Return to OSCR was submitted on 14th January and our page on the regulator’s website can be accessed through the following link.
The process described above is for our accounts in Scotland. In Tanzania, our accounts for 2018-19 have been audited by Phares K Songo and Co, who are Certified Public Accountants and Auditors. The Auditor’s Opinion is that the ‘Financial statements are in agreement with the accounting records’ and they ‘give a true and fair view’ of Busega Scotland’s financial affairs in Tanzania.
You can access the Annual Report and Financial Statement 2019-20 and the Auditor’s Opinion 2018-19 in the Accounts and Annual Reports page on this website.https://busegascotland.co.uk/annual-accounts/

24.1.21 Growing trees

There is work going on behind the scenes to establish a Tree Garden project involving a school in Elgin, Rotary, Mayega Children’s Centre and Mayega Primary School. We hope to apply for funding in the middle of the year but some preliminary fieldwork has been going on in Mayega.
The Centre planted many young trees in its compound from July 2019 and approximately 70% have survived and are growing well. Regular watering is the key. The School has established a pilot tree garden with over 400 seedlings and a small vegetable patch. The plan is for the seedlings to be planted out around the school and to supply neighbours.
The Tree Garden project later in the year will aim to improve the Mayega environment further and have a strong educational component. Tanzania has a problem deforestation. Not for plantations but for fuel and charcoal production.
It will be interesting to see the educational focus taken by the two schools. Initially, it seems the Scottish school has a stronger environmental/global warming interest while in Mayega it is the biology of tree growth. By bringing the two schools together in planning the project, they will undoubtedly influence each other.

24.1.21 Back to school

The new academic year in Tanzania starts in January and there is a flurry of activity at Mayega Children’s Centre. Writing books, pens and pencils etc. are bought in bulk and the children head to the local town of Lamadi for school uniform. Our four new secondary school pupils have to take their own desk and chair!
A raft of national examination results came in January. Of our three pupils in Form 2 of secondary school, one got overall Division 1 and two had Division 2. They were 7th, 13th and 14th of 174 candidates in their school. At the primary school, two S4 pupils got Grade B and were 3 and 8 in their class of 109 pupils. These are unbelievable results and a great testimony to the work of our teachers, especially in the March to July school closure period due to Covid.
It is always a bittersweet moment when a new child arrives at the Centre. It is sad that a new arrival needs our care but positive that life chances are immediately enhanced. The child is sure of a warm welcome and encouragement from the other children. Tumaini is 6 years old, and from a village near to Mayega. Karibu sana, Tumaini!
Tumaini is the first child to arrive after the Centre was connected to mains electricity.
This happened on Christmas Eve. We are now a fully serviced site. Mains and solar electricity, piped water with storage facilities and waste disposal through septic tanks. It has been a long haul but we made it!