We can proclaim that the chance of Shida falling over at anybody’s door is mercifully receding.
Mayega’s bravest child has recently completed another 500 mile journey to Moshi, and has had the fourth operation on her right eye. It lasted 5.5 hours. Again, there was a nervous wait for news. A quote from Shida then said it all, ‘I can see Kilimanjaro with snow on the top’. How wonderful.
As ever, Leah (Mayega’s matron) was at Shida’s side sharing the fears, pain and joy. They have now made three visits to the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre and travelled over 3,000 miles in the process.
Busega Scotland relies completely on the compassion and dedication of our Tanzanian colleagues and on the generosity of our supporters. The initial target of £1500 to fund Shida’s treatment, and expenses, has been well exceeded. Together we can do so much.
Shida will travel back to Moshi at the end of January for a check up, and hopefully treatment can start on her left eye. As her sight improves we can begin to think about school attendance. There are no special needs facilities at Mayega Primary School, so this will be another challenge in helping a wonderful little girl.

It was a day of celebration for 5 of our former Mayega boys. They have grown into 5 fine young men and celebrated the end of their auto mechanics training at Kalwande College. We were thrilled that Hasan received a special college certificate for his work as Student President and for the way he had conducted himself throughout the past three years. The students have already gained a National Certificate in Mechanical Engineering awarded by the Vocational and Education Training Authority of Tanzania and are now about to sit their final Diploma exam. We wish them every success.

The ‘Shindig for Shida’ has generated the highest ever total raised by Busega Scotland for a single event. Some fundraisers running over a number of days have raised more (such as the shop and sponsored walks) but the total raised for the Garmouth concert has passed the £1000 mark. We are stunned.

The event was headlined by 40 Elephants, a folk rock group named after an all female 18^th century criminal gang operating in London’s Elephant and Castle. Our 40 Elephants were supported by other local musicians, young and old, playing a variety of traditional and contemporary tunes. Despite a foul, wet night the audience of over fifty were superbly entertained, and served stovies (a traditional Scottish potato based dish) and oatcakes to keep their strength up.

John and Christine felt humbled by the support of their home village. The efforts of trustees and supporters were remarkable, in organising a ‘Name the Whisky’ competition, a raffle, cooking and serving the food, donating the ingredients, and advertising the ‘Shindig for Shida’ far and wide, by posters and online. The Total Giving page has been particularly successful and is still open for donations at  https://www.totalgiving.co.uk/mypage/shindigforshida

The most impressive thing about the event was the quality of the musicians – all local to the village of Garmouth. What talent, and what willingness to help a child many thousands of miles away. A video was made of the event, which Shida and her friends at Mayega will see and they will know that so many people are rooting for them. The evening was finished off with everyone joining in the Tanzanian national anthem, ‘Mungu Ibariki Afrika’! It was all so inspiring.

The home of Busega Scotland is Moray, the Scottish county that boasts 50 ‘Speyside’ whisky distilleries. On 3^rd October, a bottle of ‘Macallan Valerio Adami 1926’ 60-year-old single malt whisky was sold at auction for a word record price of £848,000. It was described as the ‘holy grail’ for its rarity, vintage and artwork.

200 miles and a world away from the auction room in Edinburgh, Busega Scotland volunteers were making sales of second hand goods in support of Shida, the nine year old girl at Mayega Children’s Centre with serious sight problems. We were joined by a lady called Karen, who had worked in retail, and helped us sort out our jumble of clothes into their various sizes. If you are not careful in our shop, you can transform in an instant from customer to sales assistant! We were happy to help a local nursery school with clothes for a scarecrow; with a ball for a bored kitten and fabric for a dog sofa!

Our support for Shida continues. In John and Christine’s home village of Garmouth, there will be a ‘Shindig for Shida’ on Saturday 13^th October (with folk music and stovies) starting at 7.30pm (no tickets, just turn up).

Despite all this energetic Busega Scotland work, we would be pretty sure that the money raised will fall a little short of the £848,000 paid for the Macallan! If you would like to reduce the gap, it is possible to donate online for Shida at https://www.totalgiving.co.uk/mypage/shindigforshida

Stop press: final takings for the Busega Scotland shop totalled £1475. Many thanks to all who made this magnificent total possible.

The article on 22.09.18 described the ‘Capital growth’ in credit unions (vicobas) in Igombe and Chole. All the women involved have done incredibly well in managing and growing their funds.

It is with great pleasure that Busega Scotland has paid the final instalment of its grant to the Chole 2 group. The £100 brings the total capital donated to £340. This is essential to get the vicoba going, as generating capital themselves is beyond the final means of the women, who live in a very rural area.

The Chole women attended a meeting with Julieth Godwin, our Assistant Project Leader, who checked the group’s records and made the payment. This model of financial support puts the onus on the women to manage their money, building-in self-determination and promoting independence from the outset.

Julieth passed on thanks from Chole 2 to Busega Scotland and our supporters, who have made the project possible. When we receive such thanks, we are always quick to say that it is the women themselves who have grasped the opportunities their vicoba has given them and so many congratulations are in order. It is great to see how there can be such progress in the lives of Tanzanian families, by us working together and in providing such simple and straightforward support.

Rev Gadlord Deuli is both the Busega Scotland Project Leader in Tanzania and a pastor in the Charismatic Episcopal Church. He is responsible for the Holy Trinity parish in the city of Mwanza and is the Area Dean, supervising four other parishes within the Mwanza Diocese.

These duties are very demanding and Rev Deuli divides his time effectively between Busega Scotland and church duties. He is Christine and John’s major contact for communication between Scotland and Tanzania, and this is one of the main reasons why our organisation is so productive in its various projects. Pastor’s knowledge, skills and experience are crucial to the work that is undertaken on the ground.

On 30^th September, Rev Deuli received a major ecclesiastical honour by being made a Canon. This is an honorary title given in recognition of long and dedicated service to the diocese. The photographs show the honour being bestowed, Mr and Mrs Deuli at the resulting celebrations and Canon Deuli with his great friend and spiritual mentor, Canon Andrew Mohamed.

Busega Scotland sends its congratulations and best wishes.

It is the half way point for this autumn’s charity shop in Lossiemouth. The first week has been very beneficial in financial terms, with sales amounting to £820. All our volunteers are amazed by the generosity of people donating stock. Quite literally, we can have more to sell at the end of the day than at the beginning. We provide a very useful service to customers, and in recycling still serviceable items.

However, the highlights of each day come from chatting to folk visiting the shop. Volunteer Mike McClafferty met a retired PE teacher, who used to teach at his secondary school in Glasgow. One couple asked if we had a coat for their dog who was feeling the cold. No coat, but a particularly small t-shirt seemed to fit the bill.

Angus visited with his mum and dad. Our ‘toy department’ fascinated him and he settled down with the book ‘What the ladybird heard’. Shortly afterwards, we sold an ice axe to a photographer who buys his props in charity shops. Somewhat worryingly, he said it would be useful for Halloween photos!

Our favourite story, is of a little girl who arrived with her dad and asked if we had anything she could use as a hammock for her rat (the rat having ‘eaten’ the previous one)? No hammock, but a  beret will be pressed into service. However, the general consensus was that the delinquent Mr or Mrs Rat will eat this also!!

The Busega Scotland pop-up charity shop in Lossiemouth is now open for the next two weeks and in its fourth consecutive year. For the first time, the shop has a specific fundraising focus – to meet the costs of Shida’s ongoing eye treatment. The shop takings will be added into the ‘Shida fund’, and a special appeal is accompanying the sales.

We are pleased to report that, as previously, the shop rental costs have been met by a kind donation. This means that all shop profits will go towards Shida’s treatment.

Setting-up is always an exciting time and a bit of worry, in seeing if we have enough stock. This year, as in previous years, our supporters have come up trumps and we expect more items will arrive over the two weeks. Our local newspaper, the Northern Scot, published details of the shop, and we thank them for that.

Thanks also go to Mel, Chris and Jenny for setting-up and the other volunteers who will serve our many customers to promote the work of Busega Scotland.

Busega Scotland has worked with four women’s groups to start vicobas (maybe better known as credit unions). The concept is for Busega Scotland to provide initial capital in instalments, the women take loans for their small businesses and pay back the capital and interest. Busega Scotland supports and monitors the early management of the vicobas Eventually they become independent and the sole responsibility of the women members. One group in Igombe became independent last year, another Igombe vicoba is developing and the two vicobas in Chole are in their development phase.

Earlier this month, Julieth Godwin, Assistant Project Leader for Busega Scotland, reported on the developing groups and they are showing healthy capital growth. The Igombe group capital has grown by 165% since January, Chole 1 has had a growth of 153% since March 2017 and Chole 2 361% growth since January. Julieth also reported her confidence in the management of the groups, and the positive impact the vicobas are having.

The next newsletter will focus on our Family Support Projects in Igombe and Chole.

This article is about the courage and resilience of two young people supported by Busega Scotland.

First, there is Shida. She is 9 years old and arrived at Mayega Children’s Centre earlier this year with extremely limited sight. Second, there is Monica. A couple of months ago, our Mayega graduate and member of the Moving-on Project, had a very serious accident while cooking. She was burnt and scalded. Both young people have had spells in hospital.

Shida has just returned to Mayega after her second 1000 mile round trip to the Kilimanjaro Medical Centre. This resulted in the third operation on her most damaged eye – she was in the operating theatre for 3.5 hours. Initial indications are that her distance vision has improved. She will go back in October for a check-up and hopefully treatment on the other eye.

Monica was hospitalised in Mwanza for her treatment, on what were very painful injuries. She is a second year student at Nyakato College, studying domestic electrical installation. She has recently returned to her studies but problems with one of her wounds has necessitated a further hospital visit.

Both girls are incredibly brave.

The cost of Shida’s very specialist treatment, travel and subsistence is likely to exceed £1500 – an expense that we had not anticipated. Busega Scotland’s fundraising events up to Christmas will focus on Shida but if any supporter wants to make a personal contribution then this can be done through the website.