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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.

10.4.21 Repairs and more repairs

Sod’s law says that when something can go wrong it will go wrong. Well, Mayega has had a run of bad luck and it has been in a three.
Firstly, dear Susi broke the frame of her glasses. In double quick time they were sent to Mwanza for repair. We know the optician well and he knows Susi. His name is Mr Huruma, which is the Swahili word for ‘compassion’. Living up to his name, and with great generosity, he made a spare pair of glasses for Susi free of charge. Thank you, Mr Huruma.
Shortly afterwards, a very violent storm hit the Children’s Centre and damaged the supports for the solar panel on the school room roof along with the iron sheeting. There could be no delay in sorting this out as we feared water damage to the plasterboard ceiling panels. In the same storm the roof or the woodstore was all but ripped off.
We have a good system for responding to the unexpected. We receive a payment request, along with an estimate, from Tanzania colleagues and this is then authorised before funds are removed from our Mwanza bank. As the city is 80 miles from the Children’s Centre cash is sent through mobile phones in a system generally called Mpesa. It is cheap and efficient and equivalent to our bank to bank transfer and ideal for rural locations. We have a very good fundi (tradesman), Mr Deus, who we can call upon to do much of our maintenance work. Through this system emergencies call be dealt with very quickly despite the distances involved.

4.4.21 Closer to nature

Folk in rural Tanzania have a close relationship with the forces of nature. Fishermen on Lake Victoria contend with violent storms, farmers fear drought and flood, and the possibilities of hunger and destitution are there for many people. Families have to be resilient.
The children at Mayega Children’s Centre connect with the natural world – in our vegetable garden, by growing many young trees and bushes to improve the environment, and through keeping chickens. These are not just chores or interests but life skills that may be needed in the future.
One of the boys, Paschali, has particular interests. He keeps pigeons (‘for looking, not eating’, as he once memorably said), looks after Floppy, the Centre’s puppy, and has now started growing seedlings in his tree garden. This remarkable youngster would like to be a wildlife ranger. There is strong competition for places on the national course but the wonderful thing is that Paschali has that aspiration.
Years ago the children at Mayega had no belief in their future. Adults were letting them down and they had no trust. How that has changed under Busega Scotland and it is one of the things we are most grateful for. The congratulations go to the staff and children at the Centre because it is they who have made it become a place of hope.

04.04.21 Play in to help out

Play in to Help Out is up and running!

Busega Scotland’s African-themed activities week is underway.

We have a number of Goody Bags available that you can receive by emailing busegascotland@gmail.com

The activities include:

Goody Bag 1 – Children’s Writing and Drawing Competitions with prizes

Goody Bag 2 – Leisure Activities – African Music, Film, and Street Food Recipes.

Goody Bag 3 – Storybooks 1 & 2 from our People and Places Project

Goody Bag 4 – Champagne Quiz

Please note that there are return dates of Friday 9th April for the Quiz and Children’s Competitions.

It would be great if as many folks as possible could join us by Zoom on Saturday 10th April at 7pm for our one-hour Presentation Evening. We will be providing the quiz answers, announcing winners of the competitions, giving a short talk on ‘Busega Scotland – making a difference’ and launching ‘Kusafiri Nyanza’, our activity and well being event running throughout the summer. Here is the link:

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87319250091?pwd=WjB0dFhZOE9wdXRLTGswRFlDYlp3QT09

Everyone joining in Play in to Help Out will be entered into our Mayega Shuka Raffle.

7.3.21First meetings

Julieth Godwin has been working with women in Mayega and Mikuyuni villages to establish two new groups, following our Sharing Christmas appeal last year. Julieth’s role is to assess women recommended to her by local leaders to see if their circumstances lend themselves to participating. The aim is to support women with dependent children who are burdened by low incomes. The loans provided through vicobas (village community banks) set up in partnership with the groups provides a modest opportunity for women to grow their small businesses.
As Julieth said about her assessments, ‘I am always looking at the whole family situation, such as what kind of house they have, do they have valuables in their home, are they residents of the area and what is their economic status? Is it a family having a woman with a big responsibility for caring?  Is she doing all the work of earning at least a family income?  This can be proof enough that this woman should be included in our project’. The assessment is a skilled job that is aided by a family circumstances questionnaire but a lot depends on Julieth’s experience and judgement.
Both groups have had their first meetings and Julieth will monitor attendance, group functioning and members’ savings into the vicoba before making the first Busega Scotland capital payment. If all goes well three payments will be made over a period of a year. The capital donation is equivalent to £25 per woman and groups have about 30 members.

7.3.21 More from Mayega

The Children’s Centre was honoured recently by a visit from Mr Anderson Njiginya, the Executive Director of Busega District Council. He came to speak to the staff and children about Covid and reassure them about the situation in the district. The government of Tanzania has been reluctant to acknowledge the presence of the virus in the country but is now urging caution. There is no lockdown but mask wearing is being encouraged. In Mayega  the use of a mask is being misinterpreted by some village children. They run away in panic thinking it is the sign of an infected person!
We have revised our Covid Action Plan in line with the national situation. This is a subtle process. The measures put in place have to be in concert with government and community expectations. The revisions are discussed and agreed with Tanzanian colleagues and cover travel and personal protection measures. The Children’s Centre has full PPE but thankfully nobody at all connected with Busega Scotland has been affected by the virus so far.
Several months ago our first Mayega dog, Simba, was knocked down and killed on the road outside the Children’s Centre. This was a great loss as Simba was very friendly and loved by everyone.  Floppy has now arrived as his replacement. He will be looked after by Paschal. There is a kennel and the perimeter fence has been repaired, so we hope our new friend will be with us for a long time. Karibu Floppy. He has been described to us as being ‘very polite’!

17.2.20 Getting on with life

It is always good to hear about how our ex Mayega Children’s Centre young people are getting on. We have an open door (or open phone) policy and keeping in touch or dropping in is encouraged. Some youngsters are in regular contact and others not. Their choice.
Leukondia had been missing for a while. Away from Mwanza looking for work and he has been successful. About 20 miles from the city is Kikongo, on the shore of Lake Victoria. It is the point of departure for ferries across the lake to Busisi, 3km away. Several years ago a minibus went into the harbour and many people were killed. Perhaps stimulated by that disaster, the government is constructing a bridge – the longest in East Africa and the sixth longest in Africa. Leukondia, in the hard hat, is employed in the construction. Here is a link for more information.
Work begins on 3.2km bridge over Lake Victoria – Bridge Design & Engineering (Bd & e) (bridgeweb.com)
Working in Mwanza city, in an electrical/hardware shop, is Margreth. She has a certificate qualification in electrical installation. A clear help in the work she is doing. Looking very smart, she dropped in at the Busega Scotland office for a chat.
Margreth’s classmate Tabu is out of town and helping her sister with childcare (and also doing some shop work). Tabu (back left in the photograph) is a mainstay of her church choir. Choirs in Tanzania perform an important social and recreational function, and their sound is uplifting (and often very loud!). Enjoying an African church choir is one of those ‘must do’ experiences. Tabu is a very good singer.

1.2.21Mind and body

January is a busy month at Mayega Children’s Centre.
The children start their new school year and it is time for smart new uniforms. We also keep our library up to date with primary and secondary school texts. Mwalimu Reni travelled into Mwanza to choose and purchase the books. Mr Reni and Patron Emmanuel have worked hard to establish a learning culture at the Centre and have been rewarded with some superb exam results (there are earlier articles about this on the News Page). We ensure the children have the resources to stretch them.
But a man cannot live by books alone (or something like that). The end of January sees the arrival of the bulk food (and other essentials) shop, brought from Mwanza by lorry. It’s more than a trip to Tesco’s and keeps the Centre going for four months, As well as making sure we don’t run out, the presence of supplies in the store is a great reassurance to children who know what hunger is all about.
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