Monthly Archives: May 2021

28.5.21 Successful placements

Malesa and Jeremiah left Mayega Children’s Centre a year and a half ago to begin national certificate courses at Nyakato College in Mwanza. Quite a challenge for two young men who had just completed school and moved from a small rural village to the big city. They have done well in their studies; Malesa in welding and Jeremiah in electrical installation. They are now in their second year and have just completed field placements.
Malesa worked at the Songoro boatyard in Mwanza repairing fishing boats and other vessels from Lake Victoria. A tough job in hot conditions, wearing protective clothing. Jeremiah was working outside in Busega District attaching electrical wires to posts as part of a government programme to connect isolated communities to the national grid. He was placed with TANESCO, the Tanzania Electrical Supply Corporation.
Congratulations to both for their hard work and commitment to making a future for themselves.

5.5.21 Kiltwalk

25th April was a beautiful spring day when Cenzo Main, Pete Anderson, Dave Cameron and John Carney completed 13.7 miles for their half marathon Kiltwalk. The route was close to the lower reaches of the River Spey, near to the Carneys home village of Garmouth. A truly beautiful part of the world and a great day was had by all.
The photos show: Pete and Dave after receiving their shuka sashes. This is the highest walking accolade bestowed by Busega Scotland! The about halfway tea break. Drinks at the finish, followed by pizza and apricot cake prepared by Christine Carney (now you know what the motivation was!). And finally, John with his cherished Kiltwalk medal!
Many, many thanks go to all who contributed to the magnificent sponsorship of £3360. When the Hunter Foundation added their 50% contribution of £1679 (a unique feature of the Kiltwalk) the total reached £5039. Absolutely fantastic!
Overall, the Kiltwalk raised £6,105,000 for 1015 Scottish charities. The really beautiful characteristic of the Hunter Foundation’s support is that their support goes to charities ordinary people care about and is not philanthropy directed to the preferred good causes of the rich and influential. The Kiltwalk is grassroots.

4.5.21 Play in to Help Out

We would like to say a big thank you to all our friends who took part in Play in to Help Out and its various activities. The event was concluded at a Presentation Evening on 10th April. The quiz answers were revealed, a talk was given on the difference Busega Scotland is making in Tanzania and the raffle drawn.
The quiz was won by Jenny and Rob Wallen. They were later presented with a bottle of bubbly by Andy Lees, of Lees Wealth Management, who kindly donated the champagne. Many thanks to Andy and congratulations to Jenny and Rob.
A Mayega Shuka was the unique prize in the raffle. It was won by Stepnen Ambu, an old friend of John Carney from his university days in the mid seventies. Stephen lives in Kuala Lumpur. He said of the shuka, ‘very beautiful. I will treasure it always. Will now have to move to a cold climate!’. The shuka has arrived in Malaysia and Stephen is shown ‘modelling’ it!
A shuka is a traditional African garment. The Mayega Shuka pattern was developed by the children at Mayega Children’s Centre and the pure new wool cloth produced at the historic Knockando Woolmill in Speyside, Scotland. Only 40 were made and we have a small number left to sell at £95. All of the sale price goes towards the work of Busega Scotland. If you would like one or to read the backstory of the Mayega Shuka please email busegascotland@gmail.com .

5.5.21 Too much water

The northern part of Tanzania is a place of contrasts when it comes rain. For large parts of the year there is little or none and in the rainy seasons there can be too much – mvua nyingi. This has had two recent consequences for Busega Scotland.
A torrential downpour overwhelmed the drains outside the house which John and Christine use when they are in Mwanza. It was flooded with muddy water but luckily not the adjacent office. Busega Scotland staff, Julieth, Kabula and Gadlord cleaned up the mess. Many thanks to them for that. Work has also gone on outside to clear the blocked drains and we hope for no recurrence.
At Mayega, the garden at the Children’s Centre is coming on well with aubergines, tomatoes, spinach and okra. The excess rain is not helping some of the plants and they are looking a bit yellow. Let’s hope they recover well. In Tanzania water is more often the master than the servant.