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Daniel Bujiku received 19th February 2005
NEWS FROM TANZANIA
Photos from the January 05 trip (over 400!)
Builders at work (79pics), Children helping with the building work (17pics),
Building progress (28pics), Children helping repair the road (31pics),
Children helping in the fields (44pics), When it rains (6pics)
New water pump (11pics, )The Goats (8pics), New girl Elizabeth with older girls (8pics),
New Toyota Landcruiser (25pics), OCC builders with children (21pics),
Two new children (5pics), Groups of children (30pics), Individual children (46pics),
The journey (45pics), New clothes washing facility( 17pics),
Trip to Bunda (Serengeti) (11pics), Sunrise- Sunsets (32pics)
Latest group return: Graham Pountain together with a group of builders from OCC (Oswaldtwistle Community Church) namely Bill Rawstron, Mark McVey, Dave Duxbury, Sam McClean and Gary Fielding returned from a visit to Bethany Tanz on Tuesday the 1st February 2005. Below is all the latest news they brought back with them including over 400 photographs.
The OCC builders and the new dormitory
The group consisting of: Bill Rawstron, Mark McVey, Dave Duxbury, Sam McClean and Gary Fielding (click here for photo) visited for two weeks and built the new 60 bed girls dormitory up to roof level. (click here to see pictures of them at work) - (click here to see the buildings progress) - (click here to see the children helping) It was a long tiring journey (click here for pics). The group worked solid from day one and only managed a trip up to Bunda (which skirts the Serengeti) on the first Sunday afternoon from then on it was non stop building work. (click here for pics of the Bunda trip)
Members of the team would welcome the opportunity of sharing their experiences with you (churches, schools, etc.) please phone Sushila on 01254 386475 to book a presentation.
Soon there will also be a DVD available all about the trip. Click here for details
Daniel and Eliada (proposed marriage): The wedding preparations are well under way for Saturday the 12th March. Eliada has tried on the wedding dress bought on Ebay and taken over by the last team to visit. Whilst she is very happy with the one we have taken she is looking forward to seeing the other one we have ready to take. We intend that these wedding dresses will belong to Bethany and be loaned out whenever staff or ex-bethany children get married - so please let us know if you have one to donate. (In Tanzania the ladies prefer very traditional wedding dresses with a lot of detail with high back and neck line with a long train!). The wedding will take place at Kibara, Bunda which is about 4 hours drive from Bethany and a welcome reception will be held at Bethany sometime the week after they are married. Daniel and Eliada would be happy to welcome any of our supporters as wedding guests click here for your invitation. There is still time to make a gift towards the wedding click here for details of how you can contribute. Click here for some photos of the happy couple.
Children: We admitted 2 new children, Enoch (4yrs) and Elizabeth(19mths) (brother and sister) in January and now have 75 children and our accommodation is even fuller .(Click here for pictures) The older girls fight over who should look after our new youngest girl - Elizabeth -19months - click here for pics. Sadly their father was a fisherman who drowned in the Lake and their mother is unable to walk and with no way to provide for the children asked Bethany to help. Mum lives only a few miles away and the children visit regularly.
Crop growing: Now the rains have come many of the children are working on their own small plots of land where they will grow maize and other crops which will be used at Bethany (click here to see pics)
Schooling: As 10 of our 15 pre-school children start school in January we found we could no longer afford to keep our teacher for just the 5 pre-school children and some of the others who have never been to school. Both Daniel and Onesmo are still helping with the teaching after school. Mr. Matiku who is studying at NTC ( Nassa Theological College) is still presently helping out with the education.
Proposed School: Still some way off!
BUILDING WORK
Water Supply: We now have a new water pump which was stripped down and transported in the teams luggage and reassembled on site. It is a high pressure pump that will not only pump the water into our new underground water tank down by the well but also all the way up to the raised water tower at the top of the site if necessary. (click here to see pics)
New Dormitory: As reported above the building is now ready for the roof. However, the internal walls have still to be built, the whole building rendered inside and out and then fitted with doors, light fittings and all the plumbing work (click here to see all the pictures of the building work)
Possible bore hole: We have not progressed with this since our last update in Dec. due to lack of time and the fact that we have not been able to contact the water engineer in Mwanza for his advice. We need to see him about the contact name given by Water aid of people who do bore hole drilling in the Mwanza region. The recommendation does however come with a warning!. The team are following up these leads, but if anyone out there knows of a bore hole drilling outfit who will drill a bore hole for us please let us know.
New Clothes washing are: We now have a new washing area - before there was one tap sticking out of a concrete base but now we have 6 taps feeding 6 concrete washbasins. The girls are trying to claim this area for themselves and have told the boys they need to get a washing are of their own. (click here to see pics)
Road Repairs: Now that the rainy season has come the road (dirt track) is gradually being washed away. To stop this erosion the children have been given the task of repairing the road. (click here for pics).
Crop Cultivation: Now the rainy season has come the children are busy growing crops.
(click here for pics)
Video & photographs. We now have a new policy with regards to photographs and video. All visitors/staff/workers are requested to ask permission before taking photographs or video. This is done to protect the integrity of the project and children.
Visitors: We now ask visitors/guests/relatives to make a contribution towards the cost of food and accommodation whilst at Bethany. Presently the charge is 1,000Tsh (50p) per day for food. It is not usually possible to accommodate visitors staying overnight unless previously agreed. The food is the same as the children and staff eat. Any special diet or requirements are not available at Bethany unless purchased seperately and paid for by the guests. (i.e. coffee, tea bags, powdered milk, marg, jam etc etc). Also, a contribution towards the diesel costs for the trip to and from the airport are most welcome.
New vehicle: Great news, The 12 seater Toyota Landcruiser has finally arrived. Daniel and Feleshi drove it back from Dar-es-Salaam (a two day journey going through Kenya). All the children were very excited and they have all now had a ride in it. We are hoping that the new vehicle will lighten the load for our old over worked Land Rover which is now over 7yrs old and has over 130,000 kilometers on the clock. We intend running both vehicles - the Land Rover doing all the work, shopping and pulling the trailer for all the building work and the new Toyota to be our personnel carrier always on hand for emergencies and for trips to Schools, hospitals etc and for the regular Mwanza trip. Neither of our vehicles are used for recreation or as a bus/taxi service for staff, workers or visitors.
Sponsorship - Finance: We are grateful to our faithful supporters who continue to support us. We are pleased to tell you that our monthly income is now £640 per month. (about a third of the amount we need to maintain the work). Other monies come from individuals, schools, churches etc. Sponsorship, Supporting Bethany.
Monthly meeting: Our next meeting will be Saturday 26th February 2005. Click here for more details
Tanz staff changes: None
UK team changes: None
Trips planned for 2005:
March Trip: Graham, Sheila and Paul Pountain are booked for this trip which is from the 3rd to the 19th March. It is timed so that we are there for when Daniel and Eliada get married. There is still time to join this trip if you are available. Please phone or email.
Easter trip 2005: This has now been booked and so far Graham and Elaine Earnshaw and Cathy Riley are going. It is during the Easter school holidays. There is still time for others to join them on this trip so please email me if this fits into your time scale.
May trip: Still in the planning stages but hope that the second team of builders will form one of these groups. Please let me know if you are interested in going.
June-July-August: There is the possibility of two trip during the summer school holidays - both two weeks in duration. Please let us know if you would like to be considered .
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