Julieth Godwin has been working with women in Mayega and Mikuyuni villages to establish two new groups, following our Sharing Christmas appeal last year. Julieth’s role is to assess women recommended to her by local leaders to see if their circumstances lend themselves to participating. The aim is to support women with dependent children who are burdened by low incomes. The loans provided through vicobas (village community banks) set up in partnership with the groups provides a modest opportunity for women to grow their small businesses.

As Julieth said about her assessments, ‘I am always looking at the whole family situation, such as what kind of house they have, do they have valuables in their home, are they residents of the area and what is their economic status? Is it a family having a woman with a big responsibility for caring?  Is she doing all the work of earning at least a family income?  This can be proof enough that this woman should be included in our project’. The assessment is a skilled job that is aided by a family circumstances questionnaire but a lot depends on Julieth’s experience and judgement.

Both groups have had their first meetings and Julieth will monitor attendance, group functioning and members’ savings into the vicoba before making the first Busega Scotland capital payment. If all goes well three payments will be made over a period of a year. The capital donation is equivalent to £25 per woman and groups have about 30 members.

The Children’s Centre was honoured recently by a visit from Mr Anderson Njiginya, the Executive Director of Busega District Council. He came to speak to the staff and children about Covid and reassure them about the situation in the district. The government of Tanzania has been reluctant to acknowledge the presence of the virus in the country but is now urging caution. There is no lockdown but mask wearing is being encouraged. In Mayega  the use of a mask is being misinterpreted by some village children. They run away in panic thinking it is the sign of an infected person!

We have revised our Covid Action Plan in line with the national situation. This is a subtle process. The measures put in place have to be in concert with government and community expectations. The revisions are discussed and agreed with Tanzanian colleagues and cover travel and personal protection measures. The Children’s Centre has full PPE but thankfully nobody at all connected with Busega Scotland has been affected by the virus so far.

Several months ago our first Mayega dog, Simba, was knocked down and killed on the road outside the Children’s Centre. This was a great loss as Simba was very friendly and loved by everyone.  Floppy has now arrived as his replacement. He will be looked after by Paschal. There is a kennel and the perimeter fence has been repaired, so we hope our new friend will be with us for a long time. Karibu Floppy. He has been described to us as being ‘very polite’!