THE ARUSHA CHILDRENâS TRUST
Newsletter # 5 October 2004
P.O Box 223, Arusha, Tanzania, East Africa.
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From the Editor
To all friends, supporters and donors all over the world.
Welcome to our fifth annual newsletter.
The Arusha Childrenâs Trust thanks everyone who has contributed over the last year to keep our projects up and running. We appreciate your support, encouragement and fundraising efforts.
We need your continued support in order to build a new classroom for the ever-expanding kindergarten in the village community centre outside Arusha.
There have been fundraising events in Arusha and in the UK over the last year and with such enthusiastic support we can continue to grow.
Many thanks to Tropical/Wilderness Trails for continued support and services in Arusha.
Ishbel Brydon,
Representative in Arusha.
Community Centre News
The community centre in the village of Olmuringiringa outside Arusha will soon be celebrating its third birthday. It was opened in January 2002. It was built initially for a kindergarten for the surrounding villages, as there was no pre-school provision in the area.
Around seventy children aged four to six come to the centre everyday. They are provided with a hot breakfast of porridge and milk.
There are three dedicated teachers who are keen to attend courses to improve their skills in kindergarten teaching. One teacher has been sponsored this year to attend a Montessori course.
We hope to send the other teachers on a similar course.
The centre has a health programme for the mentally handicapped children in the area. Sibusiso, another NGO, conducts monthly outreach clinics whereby the children are monitored and the mothers learn how to give the children gentle exercises.
HIV/AIDS awareness workshops have been held and have been well attended by equal numbers of men and women in the community.
Agricultural workshops have also taken place.
The centre is a focal point for the whole community and the director Ole Supeet has motivated the villagers to attend meetings and to get involved in the running of the centre.
The Arusha Childrenâs Trust has been a facilitator to encourage community ownership of the centre and continues to communicate regularly through meetings to discuss progress and improvements.
The parents are asked to contribute a small amount towards the upkeep of the school.
We have had many visitors to the centre. Some have been local educators who have given advice and encouragement to the teachers.
Some are representatives from other NGOs. Some have been Tropical Trailsâ clients who have brought gifts of toys and educational materials.
A group of children from one of the local international schools visited as part of their studies, joined in the lessons and tried the porridge.
A group from Germany gave a donation for two water projects. A pipeline was laid to provide running water to the centre and to the village.
Water tanks were put in place to collect rainwater. A German volunteer, Thomas Schuster who worked in the community centre for five months, initiated this project.
The donation came from various groups in Dresden, Germany.
Thomas also started a German language course in the centre for adults. Deutsche Welle sponsored the books and tapes.
He produced and printed a booklet called The Concept, which was the result of his research into the community centre.
The director has attended several conferences on early childhood development for indigenous groups with an emphasis on building cultural strengths. He also networks with other NGOs dealing with education and health issues. His work at the centre is voluntary.
Tropical Trails and The Adventure Company UK have responsible travel philosophies and they are encouraging their Tanzanian clients to support The Arusha Childrenâs Trust. The centre has received toys, books, clothes and educational materials from the clients. Many thanks to everybody!
Fund-raising Events in Arusha
Last yearâs Holistic Happening held in Karama Lodge, Arusha, hosted by Tropical Trails, raised 292 US$ for the Trust. Visiting experts led sessions on yoga, reflexology, massage and meditation in beautiful, peaceful surroundings.
Last month on September 18th Masai Camp, Arusha, hosted an Earthdance event for charity and peace. It was very successful!
Two charities benefited from this event and The Arusha Childrenâs Trust was one of them. We received 380US$.
This celebration for peace was a worldwide event, taking place in 130 cities in 50 countries.
Fund-raising in UK
Dorothy Robertson has been an energetic fund-raiser for the trust for a few years now. This year she took part in the Paris half marathon. Dorothy ran a successful thirteen miles and assured us that she did enjoy it, well, at least the first hour!
Many thanks to Dorothy and her sponsors who have raised 630 pounds for the community centre.
Wallsend Jubilee Primary School in Tyne and Wear, England has recently raised 130 pounds for the centre. Congratulations to the children and teachers!
Other Donations and Help to the Community Centre
We would like to thank the following individuals and groups:
Tropical Trails staff, Arusha
Masai Camp Staff, Arusha
The McFarlane family, Morpeth, UK
Marcus Gilbert, UK
Mark Bassenger, UK
Rachel Clarke, UK
Maarifa Ni Ufunguo (Knowledge is the Key), NGO, Arusha
Makarenko Schule, Dresden, Germany
Wallsend Jubilee Primary, UK
Wendy Marsh, USA
Jill Goldspink, Australia
John Radcliffe and Carole Riley, UK
Evangelical Nazareth Church, Dresden
Mrs R Hoffman and friends, Dresden
Thomas Schuster and family, Dresden
The International School of Moshi, Arusha Campus
Claudje, Netherlands
Other Donations to the Trust
Robert Gunn has been a friend of the trust and a very keen supporter of its projects since 2000.
Robert has donated money to a primary school in the Rift Valley region of Tanzania and has sponsored some its students. He is sponsoring one student, Naitira Ngare to complete his secondary education up to Form 6 and to continue in a college of further education. Robert has given the trust 1000 US$ for this purpose.
We shall monitor Naitiraâs progress and keep Robert informed. Already we know that Naitira has been greatly encouraged by his new sponsorship!
New Website
We are in the process of creating a new website which we hope will be up and running by the end of the year. Many thanks to John Crispin for our first website.
How can you help?
We are always looking for new ideas and suggestions. Please feel free to comment on any aspect of this newsletter.
In order for our projects to continue we need to rely on donations and fund-raising from abroad and from the community in Arusha.
For the basic running costs of the community centre we need money for the teachers salaries, for educational materials and for porridge for the kindergarten children.
A new classroom is needed for the increasing enrolment.
- 40 US$ can supply the kindergarten with porridge and milk for one month.
- 10 US$ can buy a classroom table.
- 12 US$ can buy two benches.
- 5 US$ can buy 25 exercise books.
If you would like to make a donation please send a cheque made payable to The Arusha Childrenâs Trust and send it to:
The Bank of Scotland,
43, Comely Bank Road,
Edinburgh, EH4 1AF
United Kingdom.
Name of Account: The Arusha Childrenâs A/C
Sort Code: 80-11-05
For more information contact
Ishbel Brydon.
The Arusha Childrenâs Trust is registered in Guernsey, Channel Islands, by Carey Langlois Advocates & Notaries Public. Registration No. in Tanzania 10665.