Erin and Keira enlisted the help of their family and friends at their very successful coffee morning on Saturday to support the Mayega Water Project. The children were raising money for construction of a sanitation block for villagers.  Four generations of the Hepburn family were working at the event. They set up the hall, served coffees and  worked in the kitchen.  The children took the ticket money and ran the raffle. They had written to local businesses who donated raffle prizes. Pancakes and home bakes were in abundance . Thanks to all the mums and dads who helped  and the people of Hopeman  who supported their efforts. Very special thanks to Leigh Anne , Keira and Erin for all their work organising the event.

The twin scourges of Malaria and Typhoid have struck again. This time the patient is Leah, the Matron at Mayega Children’s Centre. She has been admitted to Mukula Hospital where so far she has had 5 of 8  intravenous drips to treat the infections. She is expected to be in hospital for about 5  days. Busega Staff have health insurance but it covers only the very basic treatment at government dispensaries where medication is in short supply.

The cost of her treatment is about £5o and that is a lot of money in rural Tanzania. Her family have had a whip round and collected about £10 so far. She has few visitors as people do not have the bus fares .  Leah is a key member of Busega Scotland Staff and we will be ensuring she receives the medical treatment she needs. We wish her a speedy recovery.

At the Children’s Centre  , 5 replacement  mosquito nets have just been purchased. We buy the strongest ones we can find but they often get torn and need to be mended or replaced.

Leah ( second from left) welcoming visitors at Mayega last week.

As well as teaching on a Saturday at Mayega children’s Centre , Seba has a full time teaching job during the week. He is a busy man but is always willing to be helpful. Busega Scotland is piloting the new Keeping Safe , child protection programme produced by Thare Machi Education and written by Robin and Debbie Hill. Seba translated the narrative into Kiswahili and met with Robin and Debbie at a Mwanza school to discuss its use there.

 Pupils took a break from their National Standard 7 exams to try out the new netball hoops at Mayega Primary School. The school received a gift of sporting equipment from Lhanbryde Primary School in Moray. This included, netballs, footballs,  volleyballs and nets. The new headmaster , Ernest Damiano, was delighted to receive the gifts handed over by Robin and Debbie Hill.

Following her recent graduation Kabula is now working in a stationery business. Her duties include, letter composition, typing, filing and assisting customers in the Gladness Stationery Internet Café.

It is a thriving small business. Few Tanzanians have access to computers or copiers. Here customers  can have official letters created for them and documents copied. Finding a job isn’t easy for young people in Tanzania but thanks to Kabula’s hard work and Busega Scotland’s support she is now gainfully employed.

Saturday was a day of fun games and education at Mayega led by Robin and Debbie, Seba, Mayega’s teacher and Julieth,  The children watched a “Taking Care and Keeping Safe” DVD which explores how children and young people can keep themselves safe from anyone who might want to harm them, whether a stranger or someone they know. The session tried to equip the children to know what their rights were and what to do if someone made them scared.

Our six Kalwande students were delighted to be reacquainted with volunteers Robin and Debbie Hill when they visited the college .  The “boys” have grown up since they last met them in 2014 . Rev Deuli looks after the welfare of the students and deals with all the practicalities of paying the boarding fees on behalf of Busega Scotland.

Robin and Debbie dropped in on the first year Religious Education class at Nyakato College. Monica and Masebuka were delighted to see them and show them around their college. Robin and Debbie were visiting the former Mayega Children’s Centre students and the college to get information on courses on offer next year. With three Mayega School leavers set to join the Moving -on Project in January they were  talking to staff and taking photographs to show to the prospective students.

The Jolly Ristorante in Edinburgh and Busega Scotland are about to launch Busega Pizza Aid! What is it and how did it come about? Busega Scotland have nominated a pizza served at the Jolly and for each pizza sold our charity will receive a donation from the restaurant – semplice e magnifico!

John and Christine have been customers at the Jolly for as long as they can remember. Without doubt it serves the best pizzas bar none. John and Vito (the owner of the Jolly) were talking about Jolly pizzas and those served by Mwanza’s only pizza restaurant, called Kuleana’s. Menus have been swopped and Vito became interested in Busega Scotland’s work in Tanzania. From that Busega Pizza Aid was born – safi sana!

Vito said he has an interest in Africa and was attracted to Busega Scotland because he believes that ‘everyone deserves a chance and it is a good thing to help other people’. His advice about the nominated pizza was simple, ‘choose the Jolly Pizza because it is our most popular!’.

If you are in Edinburgh you will find the Jolly in the centre of town at 9, Elm Row, EH7 4AA. Also, we are trying to turn Busega Pizza Aid into a pizza aid movement. So, if you are regular at a restaurant and think the owner may be interested, then together we can do the rest. It is not complicated and all the money raised will go to Mayega Children’s Centre. Many thanks to Vito for starting us off and for his support of Busega Scotland.