18.9.16 Hard work and determination

dsc01203‘We are not walkers’, was the message delivered by Therese and Linda, when they signed up to take part in ‘Walk Moray for Busega’. Some training, and a lot of determination, saw them complete the ten miles from Burghead to Lossiemouth. Walkers or not, Linda and Therese proved themselves ace fundraisers and they handed over £105 sponsorship to Busega Scotland, at the Alba Place open day on Sunday 18th September. Many thanks to all who supported Therese and Linda, and to the ladies themselves. Well done.
Footnote: there will be an article about Busega Scotland’s developing partnership with Alba Place in the next issue of our news letter.

17.9.16 Garmouth Hotel Quiz Night

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Busega Scotland held its first event in John and Christine’s home village of Garmouth, when the Garmouth Hotel, http://garmouthhotel.co.uk/ hosted a Quiz Night on 17th September.  How well we were supported, and how well Busega Scotland was rewarded.  Sixty quizzers took part and the event raised £311. Superb.  Thanks must also go to Grant and Jody at the hotel, who staged the event for us free of charge and organised the PA system.
A familiar face was in the winning team (oh, why did he not look at the camera!) – Colin Sanders, a Busega Scotland trustee, and previous winner of ‘heads and tails’ at the Drouthy. We are thinking we may need to ban him from the next Quiz Night, to avoid Busega Scotland being accused of ‘favouring their own’. Congratulations to Mike, Hilly and Jill who made up the ‘Unreserved’ team and I’m sure answered most of the questions!

Finally, thanks to Jenny and Rob Wallen for their sterling work in staging the event and to Lewis Wiles, our Question Master. All three are Garmouth residents.

 

17.9.16 Introducing our front line staff

 

Busega Scotland is proud to introduce our Tanzanian colleagues, through photographs and biographies on the ‘Tanzanian Staff Team’ website page.

 https://busegascotland.co.uk/staff-team/

Tribute must be paid to the work of all persons associated with Busega Scotland, wherever they may be. Services have developed positively over the last two years and we have very exciting plans for development. This is all being undertaken within our ethos of partnership, respect, self-determination, self-help and sustainability.p1040991

 

 

16.9.16 Turning Point – Walking and Supporting

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Less than a month ago Christine and John took up an invitation from Scott Meredith, Service Manager with Turning Point in Elgin, to speak to the charity’s staff team. Turning Point provides support services to adults with learning difficulties.
Incredibly, one of Turning Point’s real characters, key worker Mary Laird, fitted in four walks with ‘Walk Moray for Busega’, alongside her work shifts. Mary totalled 46 miles. Even more incredible was the response of her colleagues, who made a massive contribution to the £270 sponsorship achieved by Mary. Many thanks to Mary and all her sponsors.
We would also like to pay tribute to Mary’s impact on her fellow walkers. Always upbeat, smiling and chatty, Mary was dubbed ‘Mary the Motivator’, as she encouraged everyone to go their extra miles. What a character, what a supporter of Busega Scotland!

 

 

14.9.16 Welcome on board

jenny3Busega Scotland formally welcomes Jenny Wallen as the latest recruit to the Board of Trustees. She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in Education that will strengthen and guide us as we seek to support youngsters in Tanzania. Please visit the “Meet the Trustees” page to find out more about Jenny

22.01.22 Meet the Trustees

 

 

 

13.9.16 Tanzanian Earthquake

An earthquake of magnitude 5.9 hit north-west Tanzania on Saturday 10th September, killing 16 people and injuring over 250. It was the worst earthquake Tanzania has experienced for over a decade. While a magnitude 5.9 earthquake is classified as ‘moderate’, it will cause damage to buildings. On this occasion, over 800 houses were destroyed, or seriously damaged, making a large number of people homeless.

The impact has put severe strain on local health and welfare services. The epicentre was near to Lake Victoria and shock waves were felt in Mwanza, about 120 miles away, and in Simiyu Region, where the Mayega Children’s Centre is situated. We have had no reports of casualties in Mwanza or Mayega and Rev Deuli has reported that  everyone we know is absolutely fine. Most of the casualties were in the city of Bukoba.

Lake Victoria is in the Great Rift Valley, which sits on a geological fault line and that increases the chances of earthquakes occurring. Despite this, major earthquakes in the area are rare.

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11.9.16 Day 8 Basking in a warm glow

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Well, we’ve done it; 8 days, 12 walkers and 95 miles. Moray Way conquered. A special well done to Margaret, Jenny and John who covered the full distance.

dsc01187Today was long, about 15 miles across varied terrain. From Dava moorland into the green and fertile plain approaching Forres. But out of this peace comes a touch of controversy. How come Mo Farrah won the Great North Run with so much coverage? Why are we not the Great North Walk? Our route today was longer, we are nearer the Arctic Circle and the Dava Way has a ghost train (not today, unfortunately, but in 1920). Clearly we are superior. Today’s highlights. The Halfway Hut (with a solar panel and a visitor’s book which now advertises Busega dsc01190Scotland), Cenzo sitting on a sheep dog (strangely he/she didn’t move) and the Divie Viaduct (completed in 1861, 159 yards wide and 106 feet high).
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But the highlight of the highlights was the triumphant arrival at the Orchard Road car park. This is the iconic finish in long distance walking. Arm in arm, and clapped-in by our admiring supporters, then bubbles and even more cake. The perfect end to a wonderful event.
A very big thank you to all the walkers and for the support we have received in so many different ways.

10.9.16 Day 7 I want my own railway station

dsc01181There were some fatigued walkers in Cromdale this morning, facing the next 12 miles to Dava Station. Compared to yesterday it is not a difficult walk, as the route leaves the Spey Valley and turns north along the Dava Way towards our final destination of Forres. Most of ‘the Dava’ is on the track bed of the former Forres to Grantown railway.
At Castle Grant we witnessed the remains of the ultimate status symbol – a private railway halt. The station opened in 1863 but even Scottish aristocracy couldn’t prevent the Beeching cuts, and it closed around the time the line ended in 1965. Dreamers may notice the bench in the photograph, and imagine members of the Grant family, in all their period finery, awaiting a train stopping just for them.
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Another dream was realised at ‘the dragoon’, where Mary met ‘her soldier’. The chainsaw sculpture celebrates the route used by William of Orange’s forces in ending a period of Jacobite resistance, some 50 years before Culloden.
Dava Station was the end of the line for Mary on ‘Walk Moray’, as her fiancée returned today from a four month posting in the Falklands. She will miss the final push to Forres which, as I sit typing this, does seem a little daunting! 79 miles completed and 16 miles to go. We can do it!
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day-6-capture

9.9.16 Day 6 Ups and down and feel the pain

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The 12 mile route from Ballindalloch to Cromdale is undoubtedly the toughest on the whole Moray Way. It doesn’t reach the heights of Ben Aigen but it has tough climbs, especially towards the end of the walk. So, how did we get on? Well, one of the photographs shows it all – Cenzo making it to the top, while Peter looks like he is about to ‘throw in the towel’. Fear not, he didn’t and in fact he’s a bit of a ‘mountain goat’!
DSC01173DSC01176What we needed today was encouragement and we are privileged to have Mary the Motivator on our side. She was armed and dangerous, with her walking pole, bit did allow us a rest at the Cairngorm stone. Mary is our youngest walker but our biggest personality. Thank you Mary.
 What do flagging walkers need most with their lunch? A cuppa, of course. Enter Christine, our ever faithful back-up. Walking up from the road at Dalvey, her rucksack contained tea, coffee and (homemade) chocolate brownies. Fantastic. However, the idyllic lunch was not without its controversy, as half of John’s sandwich disappeared. The voracious Mike was the number one suspect and we have to record his denial – but he is a Glaswegian. Is that not enough evidence of guilt!

8.9.16 Exclusive Walker loses toenail.

IMG_0832 (1)Busega Scotland has been rocked by the news that ace walker Sheena Main has had to pull out of ‘Walk Moray for Busega’. In an exclusive interview, Sheena said, ‘ Words cannot convey how disappointed I am not to be joining my heroic team mates, as they close in on their amazing achievement’. When pressed on how much pain she endured   injuring her toe on the walks last weekend, the characteristically modest Sheena answered, ‘Och, it was nothing’. Photographic evidence, obtained by Busega Scotland, suggests otherwise but to spare squeamish readers we have only published a picture of the bandaged toe.