Judy, Christine, Rev Deuli and John had the pleasure of attending the graduation ceremony of the Nyakato Vocational Training Centre in Mwanza. Busega Scotland has two students placed there but Monica and Mazebuka don’t graduate until next year. The ceremony was in stark contrast to graduations back in Scotland, with singing, dancing and even a fashion show. The event was long but thoroughly enjoyable. Fifty six students graduated in a variety of technical courses, with electrical installation the most popular. The keynote speaker was an engineer from a local company, who encouraged the graduates to apply for jobs with his firm. Another speaker urged the young people not to waste their qualifications by becoming conductors on dala dalas (public minibuses). After a superb end of graduation meal, the principal said our presence had ‘raised the status of the event’. High praise indeed! We have pencilled in next year’s ceremony, as Busega Scotland act as Monica and Mazebuka’s ‘parents’. How proud we will be!

You’ll have to get a move on!

That’s the clear message to quiz fans in Moray and Busega Scotland supporter Peter Hagenbuch.

Why the need for speed?

The Drouthy Cobbler Quiz Night is on Friday 17^th November, 7 for 7.30. Teams of four at £5 per person plus raffle. Tickets are selling well so please book now via busegascotland@gmail.com or directly through Mike McClafferty on 07814 448080.

You will not believe this. Peter is walking 50 miles from his home in Uphall, West Lothian to Scone in Perthshire on Saturday 25^th November in support of Busega Scotland and 14 other charities. Peter has been doing this pretty much annually for the last 20 years and says he only starts training the month before! He is aiming to raise £150 for Busega Scotland. Please support him if you can, by donating through wwwtotalgiving.co.uk/mypage/peterh2017busegascotland

Well done to Busega Scotland trustees for organising the quiz night and Peter for his epic trek!

Julieth Godwin doesn’t mind the world knowing – she is 30 today. Such a milestone had to be celebrated and Busega Scotland’s Assistant Project Leader brought her two children, Lulu and Godwin, over for the party. All over the world birthdays are celebrated with cake, and Tanzania is no exception. Godwin was so taken by his piece he couldn’t take his eyes off it. As helpful children, they both helped with the washing up, with Lulu acting as supervisor. The evening was rounded off with hugs for their new best friend, Judy. A great time was had by all.

Saturdays are busy days at Mayega. The children are divided into three groups for extra lessons from teacher Seba.  Julieth provides support with the nursery and primary 1 and 2 children.  Singing , games and  activities enrich the learning experience.

The Mayega care staff are busy too. Time for them to meet and discuss problems and how things can be improved .

Our local Kirumba Market has every type of fruit and vegetable that you could imagine. They may not have the manicured look of Tesco produce or the bend of EU bananas but the taste is right up there. Judy says the mangoes are undoubtedly ‘world class’, Christine believes the potatoes are the best she has ever tasted and John hoovers up whatever he can get his hands on (particularly ndizi).

Here are some of the other Kiswahili names of our common matunda and mboga (fruit and vegetables) -matango, tikitimagi, parachichi, embe, chungwa, nyanya, pilipili, mbilingani, viazi and vitunguu. Have fun with the translations!

There is a lot to report on within five minutes walk from our house. At the end of the road there is a new petrol station and very shiny office block.  Airport Road is now duelled and the upgrade has reached halfway to the airport. It has always been hairy crossing the road and is a little more so now as traffic speeds have increased. Down by the Rock City shopping mall pedestrians are helped by a footbridge, opened by President Magafuli on 30^th October.   At night it is very striking, with lights that change colour and pattern.

As for the small, we have a new guard dog ‘in training’! Simba soldiers on but her daughter Kilogoti died unexpectedly earlier this year. Chui (meaning leopard) is the replacement and seems more intent on greeting visitors than savaging them. He also had a lucky escape when falling some 3 metres off the balcony above our house. Some yelping and limping but all is well now. Was he pushed? We doubt the chilled-out Simba had the energy. In fact, Simba is proving to be a very attentive surrogate mum.

Mayega children also received gifts (zawadi)  from Scotland this week. It is the rainy season and although there has been precious little rain in the  Mayega area , the temperature has dropped and the children feel the cold at anything below 24 degrees. Thank you to our friends in Moray for knitting blankets and jumpers. They children love them.

Judy has found herself very busy in her first two weeks in Tanzania. Her induction at Shaloom has included observing HIV clinics, home visits and meeting the children at the after school tutor group. She is already making progress in Kiswahili greetings. She has also visited Bukumbi Mission Hospital , meeting with Matron in Charge ,Sister Anastasia and her team . This mission hospital serves the surrounding rural communities including Chole where Busega Scotland has a  Family Support Project . A tour of the hospital included a visit to the maternity suite . All the mums who had recently delivered demanded that their babies were photographed and Judy stepped in with the camera.

The Tanzania team visited Kalwande college to greet the mechanics students and bring gifts of new trainers and pens sent from Scotland. The young men are thriving there and growing in confidence as well as becoming physically stronger with the all their  activities. When we arrived the students  were engaged in environmental cleaning. They were cutting the grass and tidying around the dormitories. This is timetabled  twice weekly . There are no lawn mowers and the students cut the grass using ” slashers”. They enjoyed the break to greet us along with Father  Nyanda who is the Director of the college. We also met with the college Principal.  Their afternoon programme continued with Theology followed by Engineering Science.

Sadly George was not there as he had permission to leave college  to travel to Mayega to attend his grandmother’s funeral.

Holy Trinity kids enjoy the Sunday service in their new temporary home. The church is meeting in a covered area in a small chicken production unit in Mwanza. Since the demolition of their church , there is a shortage of chairs and the youngsters sit on a tarpaulin at the side of the area. Most of the time they are however up dancing to the congregation’s singing. John , Christine and Judy are always made very welcome here.   Bishop  Charles Sekelwa described the dramatic scenes when the building came down with half an hour notice. He persuaded the security guards to give him a few men to evacuate his office on the second floor. The church was on the top 4th floor.

The building was surrounded by security services as the bulldozers moved in. Church members and residents were running up the stairs trying to collect their belongings as they had only half an hour to vacate the building. Furniture was thrown over the balconies in an attempt to salvage what they could get. Holy Trinity managed to retrieve their new sound system, communion ware and  lectern but the pews were lost as demolition started before they could get everything.