Donations

We are so pleased with the progress we have seen at both Ndoombo Secondary School and T.E.K.U.A. teenage centre. Having discussed with them their priorities, we have given some donations to help them continue the great work they are doing with young people.

To Ndoombo we have given a donation of £2,000 which will pay for:

• Equipping the new laboratory, which they need for the national syllabus for practical work for the national examinations later this year.
• A teacher's salary for a year.
• 10 mattresses for the hostel so more children can board.
• Other educational materials.

Ndoombo School Building

T.E.K.U.A Donation

To T.E.K.U.A. teenage centre we have given a donation of �1500 which will pay for:

• Glass for the windows of the English classroom.
• A safety cover for the well (at present exposed and dangerous).
• Art, carving and beading materials.
• A teacher�s salary for 6 months.
• Other materials for finishing off the new building e.g. concrete for finishing off the floor in the English classroom.

New Windows at TEKUA

Our trip to central Tanzania

On Tuesday, we left on an 830km round trip to Singida in central Tanzania. This is the area where a few of the children at Living Water have come from and Dora and Anza want to meet the grandparents of one of the boys, Baraka, so that he can visit them during school holidays and maintain a contact with his family.

We have been keen to see a less developed area of Tanzania. We very quickly leave the tarmac road behind and spend a very interesting 8 hour journey driving on a dusty and bumpy dirt road. Singida is a small town built among some huge rocks and boulders and we can see straight away that it is much less developed than northern Tanzania.

The next day we visit a small government school, Januka Primary. There are 84 children here in years 1, 2 and 3. It is the responsibility of the community to build the classrooms; the government will then provide the roof. As a result there is only one classroom completed. We take a small supply of text books, pencils and crayons which we distribute to each of the children.

Classroom at Janaka Primary

Ipungi Village

We then visit the small Wanyataru tribe at Ipungi village. Here the local primary school has around 600 children with 10 teachers, standard 6 & 7 having over 100 children in each class. There is a huge lack of equipment here, with the kindergarten class having no desks and chairs at all, and many other classes where children have to kneel on the floor to do their work.

Kindergarten Class

Some of the children walk up to 2 hours each way every day to reach here. At lunchtime the children are expected to go home, however it is too far for some and we see them picking small fruits from a tree for their lunch. Again we distribute text books, pencils and crayons.

Children at Ipungi Primary

Traditional Meal

The tribe is scattered and we walk from the school to go to meet Baraka�s grandparents. We are welcomed to the hamlet with some traditional singing and dancing, and invited into the grandparent�s home, a tiny mud, flat - roofed shack with no ventilation. We are warmly welcomed and the people want to show us their traditional way of eating. They use only 2 pots, one of ground millet, one of vegetable. The men and boys eat first, all from the same 2 pots, the women and girls having to wait until the men have finished. Life here has not changed for many years, with one of the many struggles being the long distances people have to walk to collect water. We distribute some food to some of the neediest families.

Baraka's Grandparents

We feel truly privileged to have been so warmly welcomed and to have shared this experience. We come away with the realisation that our small charity is unable to help in a sustainable way, but maybe as the area develops we can make a small difference in some way.

Ipungi Village Welcome

Your donations pay secondary education for 3 girls

We left Chris and Ally last week with the unenviable task of selecting 3 girls from 40 at T.E.K.U.A., who were all keen for the scholarships to Ndoombo Secondary School. It is unusual for most children to go to secondary school here, especially girls, so we can see how excited but nervous Salma, Elieka and Joyce are at the prospect of starting school on Monday. Each of the girls was asked to give their story of why they wanted to go to secondary school, here is Salma�s story:

"My name is Salma Othumani. I am 17 years of age. I come from Gallapo in Manyarra district. I have 3 brothers and 4 sisters. My father is a farmer and my mother has no job. My father is not able to send us all to school because he has to wait until he can sell his crops and find money for food and clothes.
I like education very much and like to go to secondary school. When I finish school I like to become a doctor and help sick people."

Your donations are giving these 3 girls a chance of education, thank you.

Tekua Scholarship Girls

The roof is taking shape.

You can see already the new roof taking shape for the new classrooms and hostel for the children at Living Water. We are hoping that by the time we leave, the roof will be complete. Your donations have paid for this roof, thank you.

Roof Takes Shape