The first Busega supporters party has taken place has taken place in Moray, Scotland. Busega Scotland trustee, Anne Grant, and her colleagues at Moray Youthpoint, a youth project in Elgin, celebrated with the young people. In order to give a flavour of Moray, the youngsters went out and about to capture local sights. Their peers at Mayega will enjoy the photos and will be sure to send some in return from their own party.

Busega Scotland is celebrating 5 years of working in Tanzania, with parties all over the world; on each continent, culminating in the ‘Big Mayega Party’ at the Children’s Centre in November!
The aims of the project are supportive and educational:
• To show the children at Mayega that there are people worldwide who are interested in them and want to join in their celebration.
• For the children to learn about places completely outside their experience, and to let people across the world know about them.
The Mayega party will include a large wall map, so the children can see where other parties have taken place along with photographs and information.
We believe this project to be unique, and so far we expecting parties in:
Europe – Scotland, England, Germany, Spain and Switzerland
Africa – Senegal and Tanzania
North America – Canada and the USA
South America – Brazil
Asia – China and Malaysia
Australasia – Australia and New Zealand
Antarctica – we are working on this!
The first party involved the trustees of Busega Scotland at the end of their recent meeting. The centrepiece was a cake with five candles!
The celebrations have begun in Moray and will end in Mayega via every continent on earth – how good is that!

John  had an unexpected surprise at a meeting of Elgin Rotary Club, when Rotarian John Campbell presented Busega Scotland with a cheque for £50. Mr Campbell is the author of ‘Seagull Seafoods – the On-shore Fishing Industry in Lossiemouth 1950 to 1990 – Characters to Remember’. The author’s family has long history in fishing and the book contains stories and photographs of a bygone era. Many thanks go to John for his kind donation, that came from sales of his book.

Team captain Sheena Main may survive the attentions of the King of the Jungle to take part in the Kiltwalk in Edinburgh on 15th September. Brave Sheena is modelling the Busega Scotland uniform and we are bound to be the smartest team there!
Kiltwalk enables walkers to raise money for any Scottish charity. It is a walking event with three distances to choose from, suitable for walkers of all ages and experiences. The Kiltwalk is also a powerful fundraising model, developed and under-written by Sir Tom Hunter and The Hunter Foundation. Their support will enable 140% of the sponsorship money raised by our Kiltwalkers to go directly to Busega Scotland.
To make a donation please click on one of the  following links

https://edinburghkiltwalk2019.everydayhero.com/uk/john-14

https://edinburghkiltwalk2019.everydayhero.com/uk/walking-for-busega-scotland

John has stepped up his training for the Kiltwalk in Edinburgh on 15th September. After some warm weather work in Mwanza and a few short walks in Moray, he has now walked continuously for 5 hours (over 30,000 steps). There is great scope for off-road walking around his home village of Garmouth, along the Moray coast, through woodland and in the lower reaches of the River Spey.
John said, ‘it is a pleasure to walk near to our house but long walks are a challenge. In order to be confident of completing the 15 miles in Edinburgh, I need to get some miles into my legs.’.
There are 11 walkers in the Busega Scotland team, from Moray, Edinburgh and from the south of England. The money raised will be used for teaching at Mayega. The Kiltwalk will add 40% to any money donated to the BS team.
If you would like to support John, then it is possible through this link
https://edinburghkiltwalk2019.everydayhero.com/uk/john-14
Many thanks.

Busega Scotland takes its responsibilities to supporters and beneficiaries very seriously. The Latest News section of our website has regular updates on the projects in Tanzania and the Accounts and Annual Reports section meets our responsibility to report formally on our work. We also submit an annual return to the Office of the Scottish Charities Regulator (OSCR). Our reporting period is December to November and we have so far made three returns, without any queries. OSCR maintains a Busega Scotland page and this can be accessed by Googling OSCR and using our charity number SCO46101.
There is less regulation of charitable activities in Tanzania but in order to provide a similar level of financial accountability Busega Scotland has had its Tanzanian accounts voluntarily audited. The audit was carried out by Phares K. Songo and Co., Certified Public Accountants, and covered our first three years, up to December 2018. For each year, the auditor’s report states that the financial statements give a true and fair view of Busega Scotland’s affairs, in accordance with International Accounting Standards. As an example, the 2018 certificate can be viewed here and  in the Accounts and Annual Reports Section of this website.

When is a cold shower a reason for high excitement? Answer, when you have never had one before! A few days ago, the toilets, sinks and showers in the dormitories at Mayega Children’s Centre were connected to the mains water supply. This was an important stage in the progression to water sufficiency.

Last year, the District Council laid a mains pipe to the village and Busega Scotland organised a spur into the Centre. The kitchen was connected up and a 10,000 litre raiser tank is being installed, to ensure we never run out. One wag said, the tank is so big that we will ‘have to drain Lake Victoria to fill it!’.

Well, who cares? Certainly not the children, who can now get showers whenever they need them.

Just before John and Christine left Mwanza, a contract was signed with Fundi Meme Joachim to organise and install mains electricity for the Children’s Centre. The Tanzania National Electricity Supply Organisation (TANESCO) has placed an electricity pole just outside the perimeter fence and the line is expected shortly. Electrician Joachim is making the kitchen, school room, dining room and dormitories ready to receive the supply. We will then have two sources of electricity – solar and mains.
It is not an exaggeration to say, the water and power developments are really dreams coming true.

Busega Scotland has been able to facilitate the transfer of funds from Judy Campbell in Moray, to Bukumbi Hospital near Chole. Judy had previously worked with the hospital as a Busega Scotland volunteer, establishing a ‘Baby Bundles’ project.
Now back in Scotland, Judy’s fundraising has allowed a ‘Vulnerable Persons Fund’ to be established. Busega Scotland is happy to assist individuals who want to support work in Tanzania in particular ways.
The photograph shows our FSP project worker, Kabula Peter, handing over the donation to hospital matron, Sr Anastasia Salla (despite the mischievous efforts of colleague Paul Mashimba to steal the money!).
Sr Anastasia said, in passing on her thanks to Judy, ‘Thank you very much for your much concern for the very need people who are coming to our hospital ……… (who) needs of food, transport …….. (and) you reduce my pain of looking the suffering patients with no help’. Life can be tough in Tanzanian hospitals for both patients and staff.

The Family Support Project has helped over 120 vulnerable families through women’s groups in two locations – the small fishing town of Igombe and the very rural Chole. However, all initiatives need time to reflect and the FSP is no exception. Plans are being made to hold a Family Support Conference in November, involving our stakeholders and, particularly, women from the groups themselves. We need to learn lessons to take the project forward.
In the New Year, we are anticipating new groups in Chole and Igombe, and plan to extend the project to include Mayega. John has already had discussions with the District Community Development Officer in Busega, Benedict Dismas, who is enthusiastic about working with us. An added bonus, Benedict is a big Liverpool fan!
The project has also begun to support one particularly vulnerable family in the village of Buswelu, near Mwanza. We should not give too much detail, for reasons of confidentiality, but the family have moved in with a wonderful caring ‘foster mother’. Busega Scotland will provide practical support, and modest capital for a small business to help make the arrangement self-sustaining. This is the first time that the FSP has supported an individual family and we hope things work out well.