Happy Birthday Busega!

Best wishes from Jamie and Mai-anh and friends in Dakar, Senegal.

“We held a dinner to celebrate the Busega anniversary with some people who have chosen to come and live in this wonderful country from abroad . We are so happy living in Dakar, the capital of Senegal, working in diverse fields such as public health, business, translation and education, and collectively want to express our support for the great work that Busega Scotland has done and continues to do in Tanzania. We wish them all the best for the future.

The photo was taken in our apartment in a neighbourhood called “Mamelles” which is named after two large hills, one was a lighthouse on top (marking the Western most point of Africa) and one with the African Renaissance Monument, which is the tallest statue in Africa (seen in the 4th photo down). Dakar is a peninsula, surrounded by water on 3 sides, and so is a perfect place to live if you like beaches, which can be seen every evening either with fishing boats coming back from the sea or packed with football players or wrestlers.

I live there with my wife and I work in public health advocacy for a Senegalese NGO called Speak Up Africa, whereas my wife works remotely for a translation company. I came here 5 years ago with the intention of travelling but decided that Senegal was somewhere that I could spend a significant portion of my life, so I have been here ever since! Here are some photos of people and places in Dakar.”

Retired Lhanbryde Primary School teacher and Busega Scotland trustee, Jenny Wallen, will shortly travel to Tanzania. Jenny will be introducing staff and pupils at Mayega Primary to reading schemes provided by Lhanbryde. The books form a whole school curriculum in the structured learning of English. Fluency in the language opens so many doors for pupils in Tanzania.
The Moray school has been a longstanding supporter of Mayega.

We always enjoy feeding back to Lhanbryde pupils on the progress being made. The photo shows Christine and Depute Headteacher, Sandra Dean, at a recent assembly presentation.

Sandra is chair of the school’s Tanzania Committee, that involves pupils from all year groups. The connection helps Mayega Primary, and also Lhanbryde pupils, who get a glimpse of into the lives of their peers in a developing country.
Safe journey to Jenny and best wishes for a successful trip.

Try a sample of the questions below from the quiz at the Big Busega Party at the Qismat Tandoori in Elgin.

1.Which ‘great, grey-green greasy’ river rises in South Africa and flows into the Indian Ocean from Mozambique?
2.How old was Robert Mugabe when he died?
3.What effect is eating marula fruits said to have on elephants?
4.Who was the South African rugby captain when they won the world cup in 1995?
5.What is the collective noun for a group of zebra?
6.From what country does the Boxer dog originate?
7.The mass tourism trailblazer Thomas Cook was also a campaigner for what cause?
8.What is the second largest bird species by weight?
9.When was the UK Supreme Court established?
10. How many Emmy awards did Phoebe Waller-Bridge win this year?

Incredibly, Hilary Macrae got 17 out of 20,  for these and the other 10 questions. Albeit aided by a multiple choice answer sheet, Hilary  was rewarded by a very special prize. A “Goody Bag” with its contents all originating from Tanzania!

The Moray launch party of the Busega Parties Project has taken place. Seventy supporters crowded into the Qismat Tandoori restaurant in Elgin, to celebrate five years of Busega Scotland. It was a great night, with a quiz, raffle and superb food.

John and Christine offered thanks on behalf of our charity’s trustees, for the tremendous attendance and confidence shown in the work in Tanzania. Other important contributions were noted; Atif Ali and the Qismat staff, event ticket sellers, the main sponsor, Lees Wealth Management, and official photographer, Jordyn Nicol (who as well as taking super photos is a wizz with photoshop).

The total raised by the event was quite amazing (over £1700) and everyone went home happy, after sampling our celebration cake!

Two weeks hard work at the Busega Scotland charity shop is over. Shop organiser, Christine Petrie, and her assistants should be very happy with their work. Not only have they made recycled many items for the benefit of the community of Lossiemouth, they have also raised £1060 for Busega Scotland. Many thanks and congratulations to the team.
The pop-up shop is used by many different organisations throughout the year. Cleaning and clearing up for the next occupants, is the last but important task. This year Busega Scotland trustees Cenzo Main, Margaret Forrest and Christine Petrie did the needful.
The rent for the shop is sponsored and all the workers are volunteers, so all takings go to our charity. Also, local people are incredibly generous in their stock donations. Another great Busega Scotland example of what benefits can be achieved when folk come together positively.

Perhaps they don’t have that much in common? Mayega, a rural village in Tanzania and Toronto, the largest city in Canada. Maybe so, but we can think of two things.
Toronto is on the shore of the Great Lakes and Mayega is on Lake Victoria. They are the two largest expanses of fresh water in the world.
They are also connected by the Big Busega Parties project. There will be a party at Mayega Children’s Centre in November but the De Palma and Fairman families have already had their Canadian celebration (of 5 years of Busega Scotland).
Many thanks to them for joining in our unique project, that has had coverage in Moray’s local paper, the Northern Scot.  https://www.northern-scot.co.uk/news/lets-p-p-p-party-183905/

The lead engineer in the Mayega Water Project, Daniel Gagala, has been out and about in Busega, making preparation for a Global Grant application to Rotary International. If successful, funds will bring toilets to Mayega Primary School, more water distribution points in the village and a pilot programme to introduce family toilets.
The application for global funds is onerous and we are indebted to our colleagues in Busega District Council, the national water authority (RUWASA) and the Rotary clubs of Igoma (Tanzania) and Elgin (Scotland). Partnership is at the core of the water project.
Eng Gagala moved on to Mayega Children’s Centre to inspect the walls being constructed to support the riser tank. This stores water and provides pressure to service the showers and toilets in the dormitory building. Initially, water is pumped from Lake Victoria to a holding tank in the hills and then travels down to the village. We believe that the holding tank is about 50 years old!

The gold medal goes to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
John met Stephen Ambu at university in 1974 and they have remained firm friends ever since. Stephen is retired parasitologist and a great supporter of Busega Scotland. He and wife Diana invited family and friends to their Big Busega Party. After a BBQ, Stephen spent time showing his twenty guests the parties slideshow, generating much interest in our work in Tanzania. John was slightly perturbed to see an Arsenal football shirt in KL but has stopped short of mandating Liverpool shirts at all other parties!

Keep watching the website for further news. The Moray curry party is near to selling out, with close to seventy tickets having been sold. How fantastic is that!

There will be an opportunity for supporters of Busega Scotland to gather together in Elgin on 8th October to celebrate 5 years of our work in Tanzania.

Mr Atif Ali of the Qismat Tandoori has made the restaurant available to us and will serve a three course curry buffet. This will be Moray’s opportunity to join in the ‘worldwide parties’ project, featured on this website. Many thanks to Atif and his staff for their kind help and support.

Full details of the event are in the poster below.

People can be generous in many ways – with time, expertise and money, to name but a few. Busega Scotland receives all forms of help in bucket loads and we are forever grateful.
Eleven intrepid walkers took on the challenge of the Edinburgh Kiltwalk on 15th September, tackling either 25 or 15 miles to raise money for us. The Roll of Honour is Andy, Andy, Anne, Cenzo, Ellen, Hannah, John, Maura, Niamh, Sheena and Stuart. All the walkers completed the course to collect their medals, along with the usual aches and pains. Well done to everyone and ‘asante sana’ to all our sponsors – it looks like the amount raised with exceed £7000. How incredible is that? Our biggest ever single fundraiser.

Online sponsorship is still open for this event!      https://edinburghkiltwalk2019.everydayhero.com/uk/walking-for-busega-scotland

Walk for Busega Scotland in 2020. Registration is now open:  Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee and Edinburgh.  https://www.thekiltwalk.co.uk/events/