Tengeru Village

The week starts on the day George Bush visits Arusha, so everything comes to a standstill. The roads are closed, the schools are closed and many people cannot get to work, including us! Thank goodness he visited for just one day.

We start our week with a visit to WAMATA, they are based in Tengeru village about 12 km outside Arusha. Through them and with some of your donations we have been providing some food and support for 25 adults all infected with HIV/AIDS. They are men and women who have lost their husbands or wives because of this terrible disease and became despondent on discovering they were HIV positive. They saw no hope for either theirs or their children's future. Now, because of the help we have given and the support they give to each other, we can see they have hope for the future and they are enthusiastic about starting some self sustainable projects. We will talk to them about their ideas again next week.

Wamata Adults Club

HIV/AIDS Education

There are so many more people like these that we would like to help so we have been funding, with your donations, an HIV/AIDS education and awareness campaign in the remote village of Seela. There is still a huge stigma with HIV/AIDS and many children left orphaned. We discuss with WAMATA, how many people have been reached in the campaign so far, and what we can do to improve the number of people coming forward for testing. It�s only as a result of this that the extent of family suffering comes to light and some relief started.

We are delighted when we visit Ndoombo Secondary School to see the progress here. An extension to the existing building is almost complete, and a new building with 2 further classrooms and an administration room is finished. There are now just under 100 disadvantaged teenagers here in standards1, 2 and 3. Most would not have secondary education without this school. There are 30 boarders in the hostel, 14 boys and 16 girls. We are so pleased to see how your donations have been spent on materials and equipment as well as paying for the salary for a qualified teacher. Garrie has promised a game of football, so we�re in search of a couple of footballs for next week.

Ndoombo School

Priorities at T.E.K.U.A

We re-visited TEKUA to talk through their priority need which includes glass for the classroom windows before the rainy season starts and a re-stocking of art and carving materials. We caused some excitement when we were able to announce that we will sponsor 3 girls for secondary education at Ndoombo and left Chris and Ally with the unenviable task of choosing 3 girls from 40 keen applicants. This initiative really does make a difference to young people, thanks to your donations.

Class at TEKUA

Kishwahili Lessons

We are continuing with our Kiswahili lessons which help us to realise how difficult it is for students to learn English. Further updates on how we spend your donations next week.