Author Archives: christinecarney

27.3.17 STRIKING PARTNERSHIP!

 

Busega Scotland is delighted to announce a partnership with the prominent Mwanza-based safari company, Shrike Safaris. This is our first such arrangement with a Tanzanian company, and will result in donations made to the benefit of Mayega Children’s Centre.

John and Christine and family travelled to the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater with Shrike Safaris last year and had a wonderful time. Since then discussions have taken place with Mark James, the founder and CEO of Shrike, who has been wonderfully enthusiastic and encouraging about the partnership.

The company is about to launch a new website and Busega Scotland will have its own dedicated page. Mark hopes that this will encourage his clients to support Mayega themselves. It also provides further worldwide exposure of the work of Busega Scotland.

It is the hope of our charity to host further volunteers in Tanzania. We think the combination of work with us and a trip to the Serengeti, is an unbeatable combination for our adventurous supporters. John and Christine would certainly recommend Shrike to fulfil the second part of the dream.

Finally, many thanks go to Mark and his team for their generous support of Mayega.

 

14.3.17 Avoid the bag tax.

Busega Scotland stalwart Ruth McIntosh has launched a ‘Bags for Busega’ project. Ruth has got together a group of skilled friends, who can turn cloth brought back from Africa into very attractive shopping bags. Ruth said that a Busega bag can be folded up and carried around in  a handbag, which is very convenient.
John and Christine brought the first cloth back from Mwanza and this has been added to by other supporters, who have visited Africa and even Tanzania itself. Their kindness is motivated by a wish to give something back to Africa.
The first Busega bag sale will be held later this month at a pop-up Traidcraft shop, hosted by Bellie Parish Church, High Street, Fochabers, Moray. Friday 31st March, 10.30 to 12.00 and 14.00 to 16.00.
Please attend the sale if you can. The bags are beautiful, unique and proceeds will support the children at Mayega Children’s Centre.
Many thanks to Ruth and her team.

9.3.17 Momentous Day

Two signatures brought Knockando Woolmill Trust and Busega Scotland together in a ground breaking partnership. The story began several months ago. Busega Scotland trustee, Colin Sanders, introduced John and Christine to the work of the mill. After several meetings at Knockando, the concept of a ‘Mayega shuka’ emerged. A shuka is a traditional fabric, worn as a garment in East Africa, and it has a striking resemblance to Scottish plaid. Templates were taken to Mayega Children’s Centre and coloured in by the children, using colours typical of the local environment and the Tanzanian national flag. From these stunning patterns, designers at Knockando have created a Mayega version, from which the unique woollen shukas will be woven.

The partnership signatories, Emma Nicholson, Marketing and Merchandising Manager at Knockando, and Mike McClafferty, Secretary, Busega Scotland, gave the green light to production. We hope a sample of the cloth will travel with John and Christine to Mayega later this month, to show the children what they have helped to achieve. Our shukas will then go on sale in the summer, with profits used to benefit the children’s centre. The project is truly remarkable.

19.2.17 Kabula Starts Work Placement

Out of the classroom and into the workplace. In February Kabula , one of Buseaga Scotland’s students, started her three month work placement as a secretary with Mwanza City Council. For the next three months she will be working in the headquarters of the Ministry of Education offices in Mwanza. Kabula is delighted as the office is well equipped with computers and all necessary materials. Sadly this is not the case in many offices.

As her secretarial course is nearing its end she has been busy preparing her CV with the help of Julieth, Assistant project leader and volunteer Arnold Barrow.

Finding a job will not be easy and recruitment practices in Tanzania make it difficult for young people with no family behind them to get work. CV’s are not usually expected during recruitment however we hope having one will make her stand out from the crowd. There is a high unemployment rate among young people in Tanzania. We hope the training she has undergone and the confidence she has developed will help her find work. Her teachers have praised her for her pleasant personality and hard working nature.  We  wish her well for a successful placement and in her search for employment.

18.2.17 Dream becomes a ‘nightmare’?

As with all teams attending a Busega Scotland quiz night, the Dream Team arrived with (maybe) high hopes of success. Unfortunately, any optimism quickly became ‘despair’, when the results were read out and they had become booby prize winners. But, as ever, it was all taken in good heart.

 

On the winner’s rostrum were Elgin Steelers, who scored an unheard of 10 out of 10 in the Africa round. There was also a ‘rags to riches’ story for Mike Fox, who had been the first person eliminated in the Heads and Tails competition at our previous quiz night.
This time he won the blue ribbon prize – a testament to hours of hard study, we think!
The great news for Busega Scotland is that the event raised £600 for the Moving-on Project – absolutely superb. The message from the quizzers – it was a great night and we should do it more often.

12.2.17 Comfort Blankets

Four new children have been admitted to Mayega Children’s Centre. This has increased the number from twelve to sixteen. The children were understandably nervous and a bit bewildered at first. Arnold and Valerie Barrow have seen them since and feel they are settling in well.

John and Christine will be visiting Mayega in March and are looking forward to also saying ‘hello’.

 

Thanks to the skill and industry of Lorna Logan, of Gordon Chapel in Fochabers, the children will receive a special gift of a very colourful blanket. We hope that this will help give the message ‘you are welcome and valued’, although by then we are sure these sentiments will have been provided in abundance by the ‘Mayega family’.

 

 

Many thanks to Lorna for her very kind gifts.

8.2.17 Malesa is recovering well.

RecoveringWe are happy to tell you that Malesa, one of the Mayega boys, is recovering well following surgery to remove a large fatty lump from his head. He is currently in Mwanza where the surgery took place and he hopes to be able to travel back home in a few days time. Mayega is about 85 miles from Mwanza. He was supported by Matron, as well as  Valerie and Arnold at the hospital. Malesa has lived with this problem for many years and requested help to have it removed in December.

Busega Scotland and Malesa thanks everyone who has helped to make the arrangements for the surgery and pay the hospital bill.

6.2.17 Ladies Together and John

John and Christine met the Ladies Together group at Lossiemouth Baptist Church and spoke about the work of Busega Scotland. Our talk was enthusiastically received. Also, it was good to meet again an important figure in our children’s education. Claire Stewart, who introduced us to the group, was a teacher at Milne’s High School and taught Ellen, Hannah and Graeme. It was difficult not to refer to Claire as Mrs Stewart!  Old habits die hard.The group made a magnificent donation of £100, that will be used to best effect in Tanzania. Many, many thanks to the Lossie ladies.

3.2.17 Food Shortages?

Reports are reaching us from colleagues in Tanzania of a growing food shortage, due to limited ‘short rains’ last year and subsequent crop failures. The government is adamant that the country is not facing a famine threat and that there is enough food. The ruling party has also blamed traders for stoking up public concern and for rising prices. What we know is that the rains did effectively fail in the Mwanza and Simiyu Regions, and food prices are significantly higher. Rev Deuli, our Project Leader, organises a four month bulk food shop and we expect the load to go next week will cost about 20% more than last time (for staples like maize, rice, sugar and cooking oil). This is a significant issue for Busega Scotland, particularly as the value of the pound against the Tanzanian shilling is some 12% less than pre-EU referendum levels. Colleagues have discussed the food situation at Mayega with the Busega District Commissioner (the president’s representative) and received assurances that the government is on top of the situation. At the  children’s centre there is sufficient food however  there is hunger in the surrounding villages. We will monitor the situation carefully.