Since we had to cancel the Art Auction at the end of March we have decided to offer the work for sale online. The link below will take you to the Flickr account page where you can view the work alongside the guide price and then place a bid by contacting Louise at rudatanzania@hotmail.co.uk

to view the paintings, prints, ceramics and jewellery click on the title above ‘Online Auction’

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rudatanzania/albums/72157712783726107/with/49614378001/

Louise and a small team have joined up to raise funds to help protect the staff and children at the Namanditi School as they return after the Lockdown in Tanzania was lifted. Masks are needed and extra washing stations outside each classroom. Louise set herself the challenge of walking a marathon over three days with one solo walk and two others, with Helen and Holly and another with George Young for company. To donate follow the link below: https://dundeekiltwalk2020.everydayhero.com/uk/louise-2

Like much of the world our charity is in lockdown and in the year ahead it will be difficult, if not impossible, to do much in the way of fundraising through our usual events like art auctions and craft events. We had hoped to get the secondary school nearer enough to completion for the government inspectors to allow us to register the school this year. That aim is not helped by the the goalposts being moving, so that where we were told initially we needed to have the just first two classrooms, a toilet block and two laboratories finished before we register – we are now told we need all four classrooms to be completed.

With the money raised ahead of the cancelled Glasgow Kiltwalk to which the Tom Hunter Foundation generously added 100% we can fund the making of the concrete blocks for the second classroom block but will be hard pushed to find the money to roof the building. However our project manager, Ntimba Millinga, is determined to carry on even if it is at a slower pace and he also plans to lay the foundations for the admin block.

The other uncertainty comes from the pandemic which has yet to take hold in Tanzania and we cannot begin to forecast what effect it will have on a population with such poor access to health care. So we wait and we hope that the worst can be avoided and meanwhile the school has been closed, the students have returned to their villages, and as yet we do not have a date for the NMSE school to reopen.

Our volunteer Valerie Anderson did manage to visit the school in March but left early just before the flights back to Spain were cancelled. She took beautiful teeshirts for all the sponsored children, a gift from one of our supporters in Ibiza. She also arranged for microscopes to be delivered and carried one in her luggage, so we now have four large microscopes for our new labs.

News about school building progress, our growing herd and upcoming fundraising events:

Issue 38 March 2020

EditedIssue 37 September 2019

Issue 35March2019

We have a new sponsored child who will need some extra support as she suffers from arthritis. We are currently trying to source lightweight crutches here in the UK since none of our Physiotherapist contacts in Dar es Salaam have any in stock.

The first two classrooms above are almost finished and have been fitted with aluminium sliding windows and electricity has been installed. The Form One children are currently registered at the nearby Secondary School where they are taught by our teachers. Once these first two classrooms are complete along with a science laboratory we can begin the registration process for our school. There will be a further two classrooms needed so the children can complete four years of Secondary and sit their leaving certificate exams.

The current funding applications and fundraising events this year are to complete the laboratory building the shell of which is currently at gable height and we also need to equip the laboratory and install water and gas. Our project manager is trying to find a firm who can do this work locally but it seems no-one can – so he is looking for a firm in Dar es Salaam who does this kind of work.

Meantime we are taking part in the Dundee Kilt walk and are looking for individuals to walk with us or to sponsor one of our team members. We have people walking each of the different length of walk and the link below should take you to the page for the Tartan Twiga team who are doing the big Stroll if you would like to sponsor. We also benefit from the generosity of the Tom Hunter Foundation which adds 40% to all donations.

https://dundeekiltwalk2019.everydayhero.com/uk/louise-9

Issue 34November2018

This was a special year for the NMSE school, marked by the first cohort of students completing their Primary School Education. There was a great deal of creative planning put in ahead of the Graduation Ceremony, which benefitted from enthusiastic teamwork by the management, teachers and workers.

Covered seating areas were constructed from bamboo poles stretched with blue tarpaulin – to shield guests from the sun. The route to these seated areas was through archways decorated with banana leaves and Bougainvillea.

The families of standard 7 students were all invited to attend along with representatives from Ruvuma Development Aid, HOJA and COCO and previous members of teaching staff. The event itself was colourful and exciting, with fabulous student participation and mercifully short speeches.

There were amazing young acrobats from HOJA, comics with painted faces and big cushion-filled bellies, actors, traditional dancers and drummers and a slightly scary masked man teetering along on very tall stilts – all creating a carnival atmosphere. Children from every class in the school from nursery upwards took part; they were singing, dancing or giving science talks to demonstrate the function of a microscope or the structure of a flower.  The teachers and workers joined in the celebration participating in a traditional dance routine with the students.

All the staff, both teachers and workers, were dressed in outfits of the same bright yellow material but each made up in very individual styles. The graduating students were presented with smart enamel badges of the school logo and printed certificates to mark their completion of Primary School.

After the performances were over the teachers and workers had prepared a delicious feast of chicken, goat, rice and water melon for all the visitors to round off a very joyful day which will be remembered for a long time.

There are many more photos and videos posted on our Facebook page www.Facebook.com/Rudatanzania