Wednesday, September 19, 2012

More Village Stories in Ukerewe


Hello again,

A particularly interesting gentleman who we met was Sebastian. We were surprised and delighted to hear him speak in perfect  English. He asked where in England we had come from and was very interested in what we were doing on the Island.

Sebastian looks after more than twenty grandchildren. He explained that three of his sons had passed away. We were able to give clothes, shoes, soap etc to the family


Other family members.




In the next village that we visited, we met the Village Chief Executive and Alex explained who we were and what we were doing. We also met the Ward Health Officer and of course the Lake Victoria Childrens Ambassador. We were told there were 2953 people living in this village.

We were taken to the home of Rachel who has five children whose ages range from four to thirteen years. Her husband deserted the family two years ago. The children have never been to school or worn a pair of shoes. Rachel cannot send the children to school as she has no money for uniforms or books. She can hardly afford to feed her family. In the background you can see her home which is only nine feet by fifteen feet in size.




She selected clothes for her and the children ... ... ... ...





... ... ... ... and the children each had their first pair of shoes.




This is Kambona who has eight children. Her husband died two years ago. Five of her children go to school and Kambona gets help with uniforms etc. through a Christian organization. We left clothes for her and the children, and also shoes.




This is where the family live.





This nineteen year old is Reuben. He lost both of his parents last year with stomach problems. He has now taken on the roll of guardian to look after three brothers and one sister. He attends Secondary school in the mornings and in the afternoon he gets any work that he can in the village to try and support his family financially.



This is home for Reuben and his family





As we have said before, it was very emotional to meet these families and see the hardships which they face on a daily basis. We shall continue to work towards helping them in whatever way we can.

We will bring you more stories from the villages another time.

Until then, best wishes,

Diane and Derek

Friday, September 14, 2012

Life in outlying villages in Ukerewe


Hello again,

It was now time to distribute the goods which had been donated in England. Alex arranged for us to visit villages where his Ambassadors had identified families who were struggling to survive. At one village we were introduced to Andrew who had fallen ill in 2002 and is now semi paralysed in his legs and cannot walk properly.  He and his wife have seven children.

Alex explained to him who we were and through Alex, Andrew told us his story. We gave him some bedding, soap and clothes for the family. Later we were able to supply him with some crutches to help him with his mobility. The root vegetable that you can see in the photograph is Cassava which is usually ground down to make flour for porridge, or can be eaten raw - like Alex is enjoying!


Andrew and his family live in this house, he has a plot of land where he grows a few crops and keeps goats and chickens.  Sitting outside the house is the L.V.C. Ambassador for Andrews village.




The next family that we visited was Tongera and her seven grandchildren, who she looks after since their parents died fom HIV/Aids. One of the children has learning difficulties. None of the children go to school. Living nearby is her son and his wife with two small children. The wife is in ill health. We gave Tongera soap, bedding and clothes.




Tongera was very happy to receive the clothes and bedding, especially the black shawl for herself.




This elderly grandmother also looks after her three grandchildren. The children do not go to school as she cannot afford to buy the uniforms. We came across this situation a number of times, and although a uniform is not compulsary, the children feel "different" if they are not dressed the same as their peers. Pupils also have to supply their own writing materials. Lake Victoria Children's Society do help with these items, but there are far to many disadvantaged children for L.V.C to be able to support them all, due to the lack of funds.

When we gave the grandmother some bedding, she just couldn't stop smiling, although Brenda thought that she was very near to tears!




In another village we were taken to see Jacob and his family. He and his wife have ten children, which are five sets of twins. Only one set of twins go to school. Seven of the children are fostered or looked after by other members of the family.

We gave the family clothes,shoes,soap etc.




Jacob was very happy to receive a new jacket...  ...  ...  ...  ...




...  ...  ...  ...  and Mama was delighted with her new trainers



We tried to give the children some teddy bears, but they were not used to toys and in spite of us cuddling the bears to show them not to be afraid, unfortuneately the children were too frightened to hold them. We left the bears sitting on a table and hopefully the children would enjoy them later. It was quite an upsetting experience for us as normally children love a soft toy to cuddle.





Although our help was appreciated, it was clear that we need to do more to help these families and many, many more like them.

We will bring you more stories from the villages next time.

Until then,

 Best Wishes,

Diane and Derek

Friday, September 7, 2012

Supporting the Tanzania Albino Society in Ukerewe.


Hello there,

Before our recent visit to Ukerewe, many people had donated goods and money specifically to help support members of the Tanzania Albino Society who live on Ukerewe.  During our stay we visited the office and land which is owned by the Society.  The office is a place where the members can meet to discuss their problems and seek advice.


Mr. Ramahdan is the Chairman of the local Albino Society who explained about the condition and what the Society were doing for those people on the island with Albinism.  Where necessary, he visits them in their homes and any albino child which is born on the island is automatically registered and becomes a member.  Due to the fact that he only has limited English, Alex Magaga, who is a volunteer for the organization, did the translation for us.


Amongst the items donated in the U.K were suncreams, sun glasses, long sleeved shirts and sun hats.  All of which offer protection against the sun, as the lack of pigment in the Albino skin causes sun burn and in some cases, dreadful skin cancer.


We were also able to provide Mr. Ramahdan with various tools which would help him in his work as a Motor Mechanic.


 On the property there was an unlined well from which water was obtained by dropping a plastic container into the water on the end of a rope.


Through Alex Magaga we contacted a local contractor and arranged for him and his team to line the well to a depth of twelve metres, fit a cap to the top and mount a hand pump.


The rings were cast on site and the concrete kept damp to prevent it curing too quickly.


After the rings had been lowered down the shaft, the 'cap' was fitted.


Finally, the pump was fitted.  The whole project had taken ten days from starting, to water flowing from the pump.  We were privileged to be there to see Mr. Ramahdan operate the pump for the first time, and this was such an emotional experience for all of us.

The ground is approximately 2.5 acres in size and contains many different fruit trees which are looked after by a watchman who tends the trees and in exchange he receives a share of the fruit.  Hopefully, now that there is an easier water supply, the cultivation of the ground can be extended and if possible, other food stuffs can be grown.  Included in the goods shipped out in the  container were lots of gardening tools and some of these were given to the Society to help them clear more ground.



It was necessary to improve the security for the site so we arranged for the manufacture and fitting of a large double gate at the entrance to the site.


We believe that this was a very deserving group of people and we hope that what has been achieved will help the Society to support their members.  Our sincere thanks go to everyone who contributed to this project.

Until the next time,

Best Wishes
Diane and Derek

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Briquette Making at Lake Victoria Children


Hello everyone,

This blog has been submitted by Stephen and Patricia.

When Patricia and I first visited Ukerewe you could not miss the vast amount of combustible waste that was lying around.

I had previously seen a programme filmed in Uganda where briquette making had been introduced as a means of keeping the local people from cutting firewood in the forest, the preserve of gorillas, and also as a means of generating an income for those same people.

Google is a wonderful tool and eventually led me to the Legacy Foundation (www.legacyfound.org ) and discussions with them (as they were working in East Africa) proved interesting.  A set of manuals were purchased enabling a press to be made and all the other necessary equipment was purchased as well and left England in the container at Easter.

The hardest part was finding reliable Swahili speaking trainers willing to come to Ukerewe.  Alex Magaga of LVC did a wonderful job of co-ordinating once the trainers, Marieta and Zaujia were located a 1000 km away in Lushoto and booked for a week's training.  Alex also organized (willingly recruited) a group of 12 LVC Volunteer Women who gave up their time to be trained.

The training consisted firstly of the principles and benefits of briquettes in the classroom,


then practical training on production, and finally on marketing.  Marieta and Zaujia are extremely professional and have received national awards for their training - only the best for LVC!





Currently there is no market for briquettes on Ukerewe and it will take some time, even months, for the trainees to build confidence in what they are doing and for them to become proficient in producing them.  In that time they can be searching out markets.  The wood and charcoal sellers often claim that you will be poisoned by cooking with briquettes! 





At the end of the training each trainee was presented with a signed certificate and the trainers indicated potential leaders.  After Marieta and Zaujia left the ladies started slowly, but when we left were coming together to prepare and produce briquettes 2 or 3 times a week and had elected a chairwoman and secretary.

In full production a team will produce 700 - 1000 briquettes a day sufficient to supply 50 families.  Briquette making is ecologically sound and sustainable using only waste materials of which there is plenty around.  At the same time this will generate an income for a group of ladies and for Lake Victoria Children.


Our thanks to Stephen and Patricia for this very interesting article.

Best Wishes,

Diane and Derek