© This site and its contents belong to Faraja Support
Registered Charity Number 1125285
And here is the news............
“USALAMA” HOUSE
I visited Usalama House as a surprise for Catherine and the children. I was delighted
to see that the house was spotless, the children were as happy as ever and their
education progress is excellent with Catherine as their tutor until school starts
in September. Anna continues to work extremely hard and our lovely Hilary is helping
out reliably with the washing and other chores. We had our second inspection by
Arumeru District and Mr. Christopher seemed happy -
OUR CHILDREN
The children are all flourishing and seem very happy and settled at Usalama. They clearly love Catherine and Anna and are very keen to learn and play and take part in household chores. Elia struggles at school but has a very practical bent and helped with hedge pruning. Aron is a little shy about having a go
at new things but is making progress. Goodluck devours all educational opportunities and is reading and writing in English and Swahili. His maths is excellent. Dominic is clearly bright but still very young and wants to play more than to study. He will learn. Johanes is another bright spark and doing well in all subjects. He still is a little insecure but with time will become less clingy and demanding of attention. His health continues to be good and he still attends for regular check ups at DREAM. Jordan, our baby, is amazing. He blossomed in the two weeks I was there. He does quite complex puzzles, is standing up for himself with the other kids and kicks a football better than the England Team.. A new Beckham in the making I reckon. Joram continues to worry us a little. He seems the least well integrated and his progress is slower because of the language issues. He needs more one to one attention so hopefully when the others start school in September he will get more time with Catherine and come out of his shell some more.
EDUCATION
Due to the state of the government schools the trustees of Faraja Support have decided to send our children to private school starting in September in order that they should all have the best chance of a rosy future. It is relatively inexpensive costing about £350 a year at Primary School but is all extra money that we have to raise. So we are looking for any sponsors who would be prepared to fund the education of one child. We feel this could be a worthwhile project for a school here in the UK and we would do our best to ensure that we maintained links with the child via reports, photos etc. Please contact FARAJA SUPPORT if you can help a child in this way.
SOME KEY FACTS
The following facts were sent to me via The Caucus for Children’s Rights in Tanzania and do not make pleasant reading:
Each day 445 children under age 5 will die
8million children are living in poverty
43,000 child deaths are expected due to malnutrition this year
18% of children have lost one or both parents
90% of children do not attend secondary school in rural areas.
50% of babies are born without skilled attendants.
TANZANIAN TITBITS
I went to a friend’s wedding during my last visit. Instead of the traditional wedding cake the focus of the food was centred on the “Goat Cake”. Not a pretty sight but local people were ecstatic about it. Please go to the gallery for some photos of this local delicacy.
On my walks from Ilboru Lodge to Usalama House I often stopped to chat to a local potato farmer. His crop is being destroyed by what appear to be giant moles and his method of trying to deter these animals was by filling up their holes with liquid cow manure. I am not sure that this works but desperate times call for desperate measures.
When we all attended the Freedom Flame event at a local primary school the keynote speaker focused on four main subjects. Malaria, HIV/AIDS, female circumcision (now illegal) and the treatment of Albino people. Female circumcision is still rife amongst some tribes and Albinos are still attacked and body parts removed for some sort of local medicinal practices.
A local favourite, namely bananas of many varieties,are under threat. There is a virus spreading through Africa which is capable of destroying this major food staple and export. Banana plants are not propagated via seeds so this will surely affect the international market eventually.
Charcoal is becoming scarce, expensive and of poor quality. The government are trying to stop the destruction of trees used to make charcoal. In Kenya women can be prosecuted and fined if found in possession of charcoal widely used throughout Africa for cooking.
To read the unabridged version of the last three trips please click on the links below:
And finally.......................... Please go to our fundraising page to view our wish list and other ways you can help us to help our children. Times are hard here but in Tanzania times are always tough and people really need our help and support. THANK YOU!