It is difficult to describe in words our thoughts and feelings on returning from our visit to Luhimba on 3 May. This was the first visit for Clare, Laura, Pete and Noel. Four of us would be staying for two weeks and Pete is staying in Tanzania for six months. From day one we experienced such warmth, friendship and a wonderful welcome everywhere we went. The people, the places, the drive through Tanzania, the village itself, and such a variety of experiences all contributed to make this such a successful, productive and enjoyable two weeks.

We landed in Dar es Salaam at 7 am on April 19 and were met by Paul Mosha who took us to the house we had rented in Dar. We spent much of that day with Paul with updates on the project and practical arrangements for the next two weeks. During the evening we were guests at the Rotary Club which is working with UK Rotary Clubs to provide amenities for the secondary school.

Early the next morning we headed south in our 4x4 on our 2-day journey to Luhimba. We passed through Morogoro, Mikumi National Park, over Kitonga Mountain, reaching Iringa, the half way point early that evening, for our overnight stay.

The following morning we set off on the second leg of our journey, stopping for lunch at Njombe, having been stopped a number of times by the local police who seemed pleased to see us!

Our arrival at Luhimba during the afternoon was memorable, with a host of smiling faces coming to greet us and children singing and dancing all around our house. We enjoyed a delicious meal of chicken and rice, cooked by our housekeeper Victoria and her helpers. Then we settled down with the village leaders to plan our programme for the coming week. We arranged to see all the current projects going on in the village as well as having meetings with the village council and various committees. In general we had a very positive feeling about everything that was happening and about the commitment of the villagers to work with us to make each project sustainable. The partnership that has built up over the past 21 years has created such a good understanding and trust. Our main points of focus were the secondary school, primary schools, the dispensary, small business scheme and water wells.

NGULUMA SECONDARY SCHOOL

We spent quite a lot of time at the secondary school and met the staff, students, school elders, and the school board, all of whom greeted us with such wonderful hospitality. The headteacher was proud to show us the new 3 classroom block which they had just completed, completely from their own resources. They had kept this a secret, to surprise us! They are in the process of building a carpentry workshop, now that they have the set of tools provided by Melton Mowbray Rotary Club. There are also plans for more buildings over the coming months.

The adult learning group which meets every evening at the school now has 27 members and is a real success story.

From the money we have raised from sponsorship and other donations we were able to pay the teachers salaries for the next 6 months and help provide materials to finish off the current building work. A very generous donation from Dublin Rotary Club enabled us to pay for 100 desks and to provide most of textbooks the school so desperately needs.

As expected, a number of the students supported by our very generous and loyal sponsors have moved away from the school. So I will now need to write to those sponsors asking if they will agree to transfer their support to another student.

All in all the school is now doing well. It is well established with over 600 students on roll. The local education authority is very supportive and we work closely with their officers. So the future of the school looks good. Thanks to the generosity of our donors and sponsors the young people of the six villages in the ward and many from other surrounding areas are having a wonderful start in life.

PRIMARY SCHOOLS

The village primary school in Luhimba has about 400 children on roll and we are delighted that Lucy Hinjo, one of the teachers, will be making a return visit to Backwell Junior School during the coming academic year. Lucy spent a very enjoyable few weeks at Backwell about 3 years ago and the school is now very kindly funding her return visit.

Likarangilo Primary School, which we helped build 10 years ago now has 550 children on roll and provides a very high standard of education under the dynamic leadership of the head Mr Kayombo. We were pleased to make a donation to help the school buy some equipment. We had a terrific welcome at Likarangilo, with the whole school out singing and cheering.

Ngembambili Primary School is the newest school in the area, built a year ago by the villagers. It now has almost 200 kindergarten and primary children. Again, the greeting they gave us cannot be described in words. The whole village was out with lots of singing dancing and hugging. Noel presented the school with football and netball kits donated by Sidcot Junior School and Metro Printers of Clevedon. We also made a donation to the school for equipment.

We are planning to set up a sponsorship scheme for Likarangilo and Ngembambili to help them buy much needed resources. With this scheme local sponsors would give £5 per month to sponsor the school, rather than individual children.

SMALL BUSINESS SCHEME

This is such an exciting step forward for the Luhimba Project. Last year we helped the villagers set up a pilot scheme for groups to borrow money from a fund to set up or expand a small business, thus helping to reduce poverty. The scheme is run by a brilliant committee of villagers who invited applications for the loans, drew up contracts and allocated funds to each of the five groups in the pilot scheme. It has proved to be a great success, with all the groups repaying the loans on time. So it was decided that the scheme should expand. Clare Hayes who is a reporter at the Weston Mercury made an appeal to local businesses earlier this year, to donate £50 to help set up a small business in Luhimba. The response has been excellent. So many local businesses have been so supportive and we were delighted to be able to help a further 14 groups in the village.

So now there are 19 small business groups in the scheme. The loans are on an interest-free basis and
the businesses include chicken farms, fish ponds, sugar cane crops. There is one group of disabled villagers benefiting from the scheme. It was good that Clare was with us in Luhimba to see the results of her efforts. I firmly believe that this is a wonderful way forward to help the villagers out of poverty, to help them be independent and increase their self esteem.

WATER WELLS

The provision of clean water is one of the main aims of our project. Over the years we have helped install 20 water pumps in the village. The pumps are in constant use so wear and tear is inevitable. Repairs to pumps has been rather hit or miss, so we discussed the matter with the village council. Two of the pumps are not working at the moment and we agreed to pay for their repair providing the village set up a system for maintaining the pumps. They decided to set up a water committee and charge a small amount for those using the wells, to cover cost of repairs. I have a well in the garden of my house so it looks as if I will have to pay water rates in Luhimba!

DISPENSARY

Last year Colin Bennet, a blind man from Worle raised money to train the village medical officer, George Pallangyo, to perform operations to cure trachoma, a sight-threatening disease spread by flies. George has now completed his training and will be treating sufferers in Luhimba and the surrounding villages. The dispensary now needs an extension to the building for patients to recover from operations etc and we agreed to raise money for this purpose. The building will be 30m x 10m housing 4 rooms, each with 4 beds, plus an office. The total cost of the new building will be £8,000 and we have about £2000 towards this already, raised by Colin, plus other donations. We also invited George to visit us in the UK during the next 12 months to see our medical facilities and to meet supporters of the project. He will travel with Lucy Hinjo.

SALE OF TANZANIAN CRAFTS

During the past year we have brought some crafts back with us and sold them at markets and fetes with all the profits going into the fund. During our visit we went to Mwenge, a very large craft market in Dar es Salaam and met the owner of one of the shops there. We discussed the possibility of buying larger amounts of crafts from him, have them shipped over here, and sell them to raise money for the project. The shop owner already exports to various European countries so has experience of the process. The crafts include ebony carvings, jewellery, musical instruments, wall hangings, batiks etc. I photographed all the items he sells so we can compile our own catalogue. This is something to discuss with the trustees.

We came away from the village feeling extremely positive and encouraged by everything we saw. Without doubt the villagers have developed an air of confidence, are keen to move forward and are coming up with strong practical ideas on how to improve their quality of life. But very important is the fact that everything that is being done is at their request and is within their own culture and understanding. How wrong it would be for us to impose western ideas on them. The outstanding success of the Luhimba Project is based on mutual trust, friendship and understanding. Painted on the wall of my house is a Swahili motto "Urafiki wetu udumu" which means "Friendship lasts forever".