Newsletters

From the Editor

To all new readers, friends, supporters and donors in Tanzania and all over the world. Welcome to our sixth annual newsletter.

The Arusha Children's Trust has had a busy productive year and thanks everyone who has helped to make it a success. We greatly appreciate your support and fundraising efforts. Read about the amazing marathon run by friend and author Melanie Finn. 42 kilometres in gruelling hot temperatures!

We do need your continued support to keep up and expand existing projects and to fund new ones.

Many thanks to Tropical/Wilderness Trails for services in Arusha.

Ishbel Brydon.
Project manager and representative in Arusha.

Community Centre News

The community centre, built by the trust in the village of Olmuringiringa, has been open now for nearly four years. The kindergarten in the centre is attended by four to six year olds from several surrounding villages. Around fifty to seventy children attend each day and receive a hot breakfast of porridge and milk.

Last November 2004, 40 children graduated from the kindergarten and left to start Standard One in 5 different primary schools in the area. A leaving ceremony was attended by the parents and local dignitaries.

Since then the feedback from these primary schools has been very positive. The children from the centre have been praised for their confidence and independence. A tribute to the teachers!

The trust has sponsored the three teachers to attend training workshops, which have been held at The International School of Moshi, Arusha campus.

From the money donated by the Earthdance held at Masai Camp, Arusha last September we were able to make and fit canvas and plastic windows to the centre. Masai Camp will organize another Earthdance fundraiser this September for local charities.

The women's group has been very active this year. They have been attending English classes and Masai jewellery making sessions. Visiting agriculturalists have held workshops in crop management and improved use of the environment.

Sibusiso the foundation for mentally disabled children has continued to hold regular outreach clinics in the centre for the disabled children in Olmuringiringa and the surrounding villages.

Sibusiso is providing care and support to the children and their families and is motivating the whole community to help improve the situation of these children.

By offering advice and demonstrating simple exercises to the parents, the programme has been very successful in bringing about changes.

The community centre has been visited by tourists from overseas from Tropical/Wilderness Trails safari company and from The Adventure Company UK. The centre has received cash donations educational equipment, toys and clothes.

The centre has a dedicated local volunteer called Esther who makes the porridge daily for the children. Esther was delighted when the trust bought a new locally made, economic-fuel cooker to make her job easier. The cooker was made by a Tanzanian women's project.

Since then another NGO has worked with the women's group to show them how to make these cookers. In May this year two enthusiastic Dutch fundraisers, Claudia and Jannemiek came to visit the centre. They donated toys and books and gave a cash donation to the centre which was used to buy large floor mats, and mattresses for play areas.

Claudia's father, Jan van Westen, organized a donation from The Welding Companies in Holland, which covered the teachers' salaries for four months.

Also in May each child in the kindergarten received a cuddly sheep thanks to The Adventure company UK and the pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Aventis. The smiles and the excited faces on the children were a joy to behold.

Thanks to Mr Boaz the headmaster of the primary school next door to the centre for repairing a classroom floor and for the paper donation.

Elias Samson, one of the teachers in the centre, successfully completed his one year Montessori Training course last December. We hope that we can send the other teachers on a similar course.

The director of the centre Ole Supeet, has been on educational and environmental courses and has shared his knowledge with the community.

There is still no running water to the village and the centre. Local bureaucracy has brought the water project to a standstill but the director is still trying to resolve the problems.

The primary student council at the International School of Moshi, Arusha Campus had a bake sale and raised enough money to buy eleven 10 kg bags of flour for the porridge for the kindergarten.

Robert Gunn (USA), a friend of the trust for several years, continues to support the kindergarten. Friends of Brittany Stephen donated cash, spots equipment and school supplies. Many thanks from the children, the parents and the teachers for all the donations and equipment.

We do not have all the individual names of those who have contributed and helped but some of them appear on this page.

Donations and Support to the Community Centre and the Arusha Children's Trust

Melanie Finn and her sponsors
Robert Gunn
Jan and Claudia van Westen
Jannemiek de Jong
Tropical/Wilderness Trails & clients
Adventure Company & clients who visited us on 20th February 2005    
Bruce Robertson and his Round Table friends
Chris Morris, IntoAfrica UK
Eileen Gaughran, Ireland
Brittany Stephen, her family and friends in USA
Wieke van Leeuwen
Jennifer and Bob Futter
John and June Newman
Adams Family
Sarah Junker
Madeleine Cox
Simon Bigg
Victoria Dickinson

Fund-raising in Tanzania

Snow-capped Kilimanjaro was the backdrop for the Kilimarathon held on the 27th of February in the town of    Moshi. Friend and author Melanie Finn ran the whole distance, a remarkable 42.2 kilometres (or 26 miles) in gruelling temperatures in just over 4 hours.

Melanie had decided to run especially for the Arusha Children's Trust and together, we collected quite a few sponsors. Her amazing effort raised over 1000 US$! To quote Melanie "Not bad for four hours work!"

Congratulations also to Melanie on her recent marriage to Matt! Will Romans won the prize draw of a signed copy of Melanie's first book 'Away From You'.

Earthdance 2005 organised by Masai Camp manager Wieke van Leeuwen will take place on the 17th of September. Wieke and her team plan to make this year's event even more exciting than last year's.

Earthdance is a global festival of peace and it unites humanitarian celebrations in over 150 cities in 50 countries worldwide. The community centre in Olmuringiringa will benefit from this event.

Sponsorship News

Naitira Ngare, was sponsored by Robert Gunn(USA) to complete his secondary schooling up to Form IV. After that Robert sponsored Naitira to join a tourism course, Since then Naitira has gained more sponsorship from the Ngorongoro Conservation Group to continue studying.

Naitira is now 19 years old and really appreciates the support of his sponsor in giving him such a wonderful start in life.

They first met when Robert was on a walking safari, which passed by Naitira's village primary in Bulati in the Ngorongoro Crater Highlands. Naitira's dream is to become a tour guide and driver.

Transport Donation

In August 2005 Tropical/Wilderness Trails safari company, Arusha donated a vehicle to the trust. This has changed the life of the project manager, especially while driving on very dusty, difficult roads! Many thanks to the director Mike Brydon.

Website

The new website is still not up and running yet. Apologies for that. We hope to get that organized soon. However, for more information please e-mail.

Networking

We work closely with other organizations and NGOs to improve the lives of the children and the communities we support, We value ideas, comments and suggestions from all sectors

How Can You Help?

We need money for the basic running costs of the community centre and kindergarten i.e. for the teachers' salaries, educational materials and porridge,

• 40 US$ can supply the children with porridge and milk for one month.
• 10US$ can buy a classroom table,
• 5US$ can buy a classroom bench.
• 5US$ can buy 2 packets of paper.

Donations and cheques can be made payable to The Arusha Children's Trust

The Bank of Scotland
43,Comely Bank Road,
Edinburgh EH4 1AF
United Kingdom
Sterling account no, 06002520
Sort Code: 80-11-05
 
The Arusha Children's Trust is registered in Guernsey. Channel Islands by Carey Langlois Advocates & Notaries Public. Registration No. in Tanzania 10665.