I have had this song by Ella Fitzgerald going round in my head (What a difference a day makes) but arriving at Bethany it should be (What a difference a year makes)

If you attend monthly meetings or look on the web-site then you will already know about what I have written.

Many changes have taken place around the home in the last year; I must mention the fantastic work that has been accomplished by the long term volunteers.

This is what I saw over a 2 week period. Organised lessons form standard 1 up to 7. Pre-school children being engaged in activates equal to any found in any good children’s nursery in this country giving them skills and discipline that will help them in their future education.

Moving on to the youngsters who are attending secondary school:  the extra lessons they are receiving at Bethany are not just aimed at helping to further their command of the English language but also to help them to think for themselves. You can see their enthusiasm for more and more knowledge. In contrast to this the education available at the local secondary school is very poor. For the 700 pupils who attend Sogeska Secondary School there are 6 teachers on a good day, but not all turn up regularly. Depending on the number of teachers available the pupils may have 2 lessons per day or sometimes only one which means they miss out by having to fend for themselves quite regularly.

Then we have the 3 young people who are preparing to come to England and study at Accrington & Rossendale College.  They are constantly working on their English with help from the English volunteers on site and after having interviewed them I feel they will be well prepared for the studying ahead of them unfortunately nothing can totally prepare them for life in another country, culture and college life. Fortunately they will have the help of the UK team, the students already studying here and other volunteers

I have never before been to Bethany when long term volunteers have been working there and I can see the benefits they bring to the staff and children. The volunteers had everything running like a small school and the children were really enthusiastic about learning. You would even hear some of the smaller children running to the volunteer’s house and shouting for Vicky, Dave or Karen meaning it’s time for our lesson, can you help me? It must be very hard living and working in the same place because there is nowhere to hide, even when they feel like relaxing their house is full of children being helped with letters or just drawing. They have even organised going up to the local primary school on Friday mornings to deliver lessons to local children. Their work does not stop at 5 or 6 o’clock as evening meetings occur with prayers and announcements to encourage and guide the children. 3 times a week Bible stories are told by either the care workers or UK volunteers.

These young people are truly dedicated to what they are doing because when talking with them I can see it has not been an easy road and many difficulties have arisen, I have been watching CHRISIANITY AT WORK!   These young people have my admiration and when I was talking with some of the children they were already asking what would happen when Karen, Vicky and Dave return to the UK  and who would help with their lessons, Bible studies etc as they really look forward to these times

Since I last walked round the site at Bethany  there have been quite a few changes, starting with the demolition of the dining room and kitchen and in it’s place the outline of a larger building which when finished will have the capacity to seat around 300 children.

While there the Tanzanian team of care workers finished erecting the shuttering work and put the re-enforced steel in place ready for pouring the concrete. With the mixer churning out mix after mix of concrete a chain of both women and men were running back and forwards with buckets of concrete while others were on the makeshift scaffolding tamping in the concrete. Others moved and erected their version of scaffold while spraying water on the already drying concrete to stop it going off too quickly. Once started the team needed to keep moving, by 2pm work had been completed.  The need for spraying water on the concrete beams went on for a few more days. Next came the  striking of the shuttering, Paulo had arranged for a local builder to finish the block work up to roof level bringing it one more step closer.

 What else had been going on? Well with the demise of the old dining hall a temporary shelter has been erected alongside the girls’ dormitory with all the tables and benches set out under it. This is also used for all the meetings and Sunday worship giving you that real outdoor feeling, I am sure it’s not as good in the wind and rain but on normal days it’s great.  For anyone who remembers the containers being down by the old dining hall, well they have been moved further back towards the boundary fence which means all the containers are in line and interconnected. These containers are used for everything including garage space, food stores, equipment,  generator shed and workshop all  making a very smart and useful area. Just in front of them a temporary cooking area has been erected and sinks with running water stand just to one side. On the side wall of the end garage I noticed someone had used rendering and paint to create a chalkboard (blackboard to some of us). Children would sit on the grass under the water tower and receive lessons from the care workers. I noticed Nyangeta being given maths lessons by one of the care workers, it would appear that she has out grown her prosthetic leg and is back using crutches which was making it hard for her to walk to school. Of course this is what she would have had to do before she had her prosthetic leg.

I helped Amos the Tanzanian carpenter with the shuttering and steel work on the new building and general maintenance work while I was there. Together we put up clothes lines in both the washrooms in the volunteer house which should help when large groups are there. We refitted the doors on the food cupboard so they can now be closed. We made and fitted some units round the sink area and put up shelves and cup hooks and made some simple bedside cupboards for volunteers to use. We put curtain tie backs in the main room to give more light and air, the coffee table can now be moved without the top coming off and made a small alteration to the dining table. Hopefully we’ll re-fixed a sink in the clinic block, I say hopefully because there was not much to fix it to.

I have to say the saddest building at Bethany and I am sure people who have been there will agree is the Boys’ dormitory. If the major building work is to stop with not much chance of the new boys’ dormitory being built then maintenance work on the building would be a good thing. I know there is not much that can be done to the toilet block but a general painting of the building both inside and out would be an improvement. We had done some repairs to the shutters but more is needed. New hinges and a couple of coats of oil (boiled oil or Danish oil)  would bring life back into the wood and would make the outside look a 100% better.  Inside I would strip everything out of the building and after thoroughly cleaning everywhere with bleach and disinfectant paint the walls again with white paint to make it look brighter. Maybe it will give the boys and their care workers something to be proud of and want to keep clean.

Not going into the girls’ dormitory but just looking from the outside it would seem that a coat of oil or varnish on the shutters would help if they are not going to be replaced. 

The one or two things I have just mentioned cannot diminish all the good things that have been happening since my last visit. I have not even mentioned the trainees or young people who are in training or full time employment.  This is a major achievement for both the UK and Tanzanian teams and I had the privilege of going to see most of them. Seeing the boys at VETA  made me realise some were happy and others not just as happy. However when I saw some of the work Labazu had been doing  his work was second to none, a very high standard with the equipment they have he should come away from the Catholic VETA a very employable young man. I cannot mention everyone but Ghati also impresses her employers and seems really happy. Mwita has been taken on full time with Mr Bryson and his wage has gone up to Tsh 150,000 a month (about £28). I visited both the rooms of Rehema and Eva and both girls are doing OK.

In summing up I hope the opportunity that has been given to these young people by Bethany is not wasted, this is their chance to make something of their life, be independent, and hopefully the values they have grown up with at Bethany  will inspire them to  help other youngsters. I am looking forward to more students coming over this September and helping where I can.

John Brindle