Update - Start of 2013

Hi, This is the second attempt at a blog after the internet failed on me last time so I hope the surprisingly long time it takes for me to type a few paragraphs is not in vein.

Chris, Mel, Andrew and I have been here for just over two weeks now, whilst Kat has been here just over one, so quite a lot has happened. The kids have gone back to school so have restarted afterschool tuition, whilst work on the building has increased in preparation for the children moving in.

The kids are healthy and happy, with their English improving every time we come back. With this in mind, and as a method of further improvement, they have become our Kiswahili tutors, as unfortunately our ability at speaking it has not progressed at the same rate as their English, often to their annoyance and/or amusement. As well as this we have a few different group projects planned that will include standing up and presenting work to a group of people, a slight change from the standard dictation that the kids get in school. The results of said projects may be made available if the children are happy enough with their work, although to be fair they probably won’t care that much as long as we take pictures.

As we do not start teaching until 4.30, we have plenty of time to get work done on the building or on other endeavours. Chris and Mel are both teaching at a pre-school called ‘under-umbrella’ for two days a week, the experiences from which will be put into a blog post soon as such a placement becomes a more common thing for our volunteers to do after Tanya first went there in October.

At site we have set out a rough schedule for the next 2-3 months, with us aiming to move into the building halfway through February. At the moment we are well on track, with painting and land clearance being done by our day labourers (the volunteers) and the ceiling boards being done by the same carpenters we have worked with throughout construction. In the next few days we shall start trying to tile the toilets and bathrooms ourselves, with the fence hopefully going up in the next few weeks, depending on whether negotiations with contractors go considerably better than they did last time. I do not speak much Swahili but I do know enough to realise when we are getting done over for a concrete fence post.

Aside from working at site and with the kids, we have been settling into a new volunteer house in a new part of the village, part of which has involved a competition to see who can find out the most names and general information about people. I’m winning but I do have the advantage of knowing how to ask someone’s name and having been here numerous times before. The house itself is great, despite the water problems that seem to plague us wherever we go. The girls shower is working though and we’re happy to wash out of buckets.

We’ll hopefully be providing regular updates on our progress as we move closer to moving in to the new building, with other posts coming from myself and the volunteers as we try and focus our interests and engage with some of the issues involved with working here, as well as some of the wider positives and negatives surrounding Tanzania and the continent as a whole. By doing so we hope to promote further interest in African culture, society and development, perhaps even discussion, whilst showing that the charity work in Africa is not as simple as Westerners helping those in need.

And on that inspiring note, I’m going to go outside into the 35 degree heat to work on my flip flop tan/dirt line.

Cheers,

James x

Fundraising

Everything that takes place in Tanzania couldn’t happen without the work of our committee and volunteers here in the UK, so I will take this opportunity to tell you a little more about the work we do up in the Northern hemisphere, and of course, to say a massive thank you to everybody whose hard work enables Upendo to continue to thrive. The Upendo committee meets once a week at the University of Manchester. The meetings are a good opportunity to get together and make sure that everybody is up-to-date with developments in Tanzania and the UK. We usually plan our upcoming fundraising events, awareness-raising activities and plan the schedule for the summer volunteer programme.

Fundraising itself can be very broadly broken down into events, donations and sponsorship. Events take the most amount of organising on the part of the committee, but they also have the potential benefit of attracting new support and being quite a lot of fun! Over the past few months we have held bake sales, club nights, raffles and most recently a charity fashion show.

Months of effort went into organising the fashion show. A venue had to be arranged, other charities co-ordinated, sound, costumes, lighting, tickets and publicity organised, but it really did grow into a fantastic night. Essie and Kate put together an evening which raised a significant amount of money, not just for Upendo but for other local charities - Sexpression, Stop AIDS, Read International, Engineers Without Borders and Medicines Sans Frontiers all took part in a show which saw models wearing amazing outfits ranging from Burlesque to Bollywood… through to Alice in Wonderland! However (and I may concede to a slight bias here), the Upendo models stole the show as they paraded down the catwalk to the Circle of Life and other Elton John classics; rounding off the evening with a Lion King extravaganza.

Considering the close geographical relationship between Upendo and the Serengeti (it is only a couple of hours drive), the Lion King was a natural choice for an Upendo theme. But despite the close proximity, it is probably fair to say our costumes took much more influence from the West-End adaption of Disney’s classic than they did from the wonders of the Great Plains. Nonetheless, I’m sure all those who witnessed the show would agree that the combination of Tanzanian kangas, body paint and glitter ensured that from the flamingos to the giraffes, Upendo’s models looked stunning.

(I wasn’t entirely sure about one of the elephants personally, but it wouldn’t be as much fun if everything was perfect would it?)

The night and its planning was definitely a mixture of emotions in varying intensity, peaking at the nervous excitement immediately before the curtains opened. But with ticket sales running into the hundreds there is no question that the night was a great success for all the charities involved. Although we have said it a dozen times already, we really must thank Vicki, Sarah, Kate and Essie for their fantastic effort in organising such a great event and not-forgetting all the models (even that elephant) for the time, effort and courage they gave on the night!

On top of the events organised by members of the Upendo committee, Upendo could not function without the sheer generosity of individual sponsors and organisations who hold fundraisers in aid of our projects. We thanked Emmaus Mossley in our last blog for their donation which built our roof, but we must now send HUGE thanks to Brenda Townsend (Nanny Townsend to Carly) who has been a massive supporter of Upendo and without her help we would not have reached the construction milestones that we have so far. So Asante BiBi!!

Tomorrow, we are excited to be visiting L’ecole Bilingue as this year’s beneficiary of their annual Charity Sports Day. The event has been a huge success in the past, with all of the school's pupils enjoying participating and it promises to be a fun day for all involved. We will keep you updated on how the event goes and hopefully will post some pictures!

So watch this space,

Best wishes from the Upendo Team

Update

Hello! James here. I've been trying to get an update up for a couple of weeks now but a lack of time on the internet and work to do elsewhere has meant it hasn't happened, so apologies for the time that has lapsed since the last update.

There has been a lot of change and a lot of work in the last month and a half. With people coming and going, projects being finished, and plans being made for the future.

Kids

After school finished for the holidays we had a week of activities that included swimming and a visit to the Sukuma museum (Sukuma being the tribal ethnicity of 6 of the 7 children). The kids were in fine form and gave us time to transition before summer schooling, as 5 people left (3 albeit temporarily), and 4 arrived.

Summer teaching is being headed by Mel and Ruth, both recent graduates from the University of Manchester, with a lot of help from Michael and Hannah. From its beginning last Monday they have found their feet very quickly. Lessons are well planned and the children have already shown improvement. The focus is on improving their English, as whilst they have performed exceptionally at school for children who have started their education at a later stage than most, lessons taught in English have been a hinderence, as once again they only started learning the language a year ago.

We certainly hope that we are the right people to help improve their English, and giving them a better grasp of the language by the end of the summer will help in all of their subjects (except maths, which coincidentally is most of the kids best subject!)

Projects:

Community Sports Project

The sports project, which was planned by Jackie, has now been taken up by Michael and Hannah (sports students in Cardiff) and started in the same week as the teaching. We have booked the field of a vocational college on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and have opened the sessions to any local child that wants to come.

After only 3 sessions we are all very pleased with how it has been going, with the children understanding (mostly) the rules of new games, and attendance has been going up at every session. Michael and Hannah's experience in coaching children is apparent, and they are doing very well at introducing new sports and games to children in a different language, and maintaining a relaxed atmosphere amongst kids who may never have met each other or been coached by white people (AKA Muzungu).

The sessions are structured with some fun games to start, such as stuck in the mud and duck, duck, goose, followed by some games of various sports. Either in their pure form or a version modified for easier execution and understanding. Games have included longball, football, and a mixture of handball and netball. Sessions are finished with a more relaxed game such as sleeping lions, which is normally won by a number of children who just fall asleep after 2 hours of activity!

We are hoping that the initial success of this project will mean it can become a permanent fixture in the area, encouraging help and participation from the community.

Temporary Kitchen

Due to the fact that we cannot afford to build the entire design for the 3 buildings in one go, a temporary kitchen has been constructed to allow Upendo to move into the first building upon its completion.

Despite the fact that Matt and myself have little DIY experience, we seem to have built (with help from site manager, David) a building that will not blow over in a gust of wind or randomly decombust.

Instead of describing the structure in boring detail, we'll put a picture up ASAP.

Water Tank

Sam and Marsh left about 4 weeks ago, having built the tank, with their replacement Tom continuing the hard work to get the tank ahead of schedule so that it will hopefully be finished by this Friday. This will mean that the home can get filtered water, which after some treating will be drinkable.

As well as this, Tom has been working with Andrew to explore the possibilities of another project that will allow the home to work even more efficiently. Hopefully more to follow.

First Aid and English

In return for the skills and expertise learnt from our Tanzanian counterparts in construction, childcare, and everyday Tanzanian living and to allow for greater efficiency in the running of Upendo from both sides, some of our volunteers have been providing English lessons and First Aid training.

Carly (and previously Vicky) have been teaching the adults of the Upendo family and a few others in child health and first aid, and Jackie in her time here provided English lessons.

These have gone well and will provide valuable knowledge for all.

Everything Else

I'm certain that I am leaving a lot out but for now I need to go and collect our final 3 volunteers for the summer; Kate, Matt and Emma.

With this final group we can provide teaching on a more personal scale and start the much anticipated chicken coop!

We are continuing to develop our plan of action for our return to the UK in September, both in attracting volunteers and donors. If you would like to get involved, or know someone who may be interested please get in touch (enquiries@upendo.org.uk).

Apologies for a perhaps convoluted update, there are quite a few distractions around here today!

Love and light and all that xxxxxxx

End of Year Update

School All 7 children shall be starting at Eden Valley School in January, which is brilliant news and is down in no small part to the efforts of Andy, Josh and Carly.

The school is in Buswelu and the education provided there is to a much higher standard than that of any other school in the surrounding area, as well as having much smaller class sizes. The children are very happy with this news and are looking forward to going to school, something most of them have not done in a long time, if ever.

To fund this more expensive schooling option we have been appealing for individual sponsors to pay the schooling fees, something a few people have very kindly done. We are however still looking for people to sponsor the remaining four children. Doing so will entitle the sponsor to updates and school reports on the child, as well as doing something truly special. Contact enquiries@upendo.org.uk for any questions or if you are interested.

The Building

The walls are currently going up on the first building after construction began in August, and the most recent pictures shall be added soon. This is one of the most expensive phases of construction considering the materials, labour, transport costs etc. and donations are gratefully received.

Buswelu September-December

After six of the eight summer volunteers left Buswelu at the start of September, Josh and Andy remained at the house to maintain Upendo's presence in the area. This has involved overseeing the construction of the first building and teaching the children among other tasks. They have proven successful at all of these tasks considering the progress of the building (that shall be looked at later) and the development of the children, especially their grasp of English and Maths. Upendo would not be where it is today if Andy and Josh had not remained and put in so much effort, and we are very grateful to them for it.

Christmas Volunteers

Over Christmas we have both returning and new members in the newly refurbished volunteer house to join Andy and Josh. Upendo founder Carly has gone with her dad Graham and sister Gemma, to be joined later by Diana and Suze. We wish them well for their time in Buswelu that I am sure will prove to be all too short.

Upendo Fundraising in the UK.

So far our fundraising has been based largely in Manchester (apart from bag selling and other events further south which we are appreciate hugely), and we would like to change this! Wherever you live in the UK ,USA or Isle of Man, you can get in touch should you wish to organise an event, and we would be very happy to work with you and provide you with all the information you need about Upendo. If fundraising is a side to an event run primarily for something else you are involved in, such as a sports team, we would also be happy to be involved.

Engineers Without Borders

Upendo has recently begun a project with Engineers Without Borders at the University of Manchester to design and implement one, some or all of the following systems: Rain water container, grey water container, an efficient sanitation system and an efficient power system. We are very pleased that Engineers Without Borders are working with us as they are a very well-established and respected group, and it is a privilege that they see potential in our project.

Red Rum

At the end of the semester a club night was held at Red Rum in Fallowfield, Manchester, in which entry was free but an honesty donation was suggested. This proved successful as we managed to raise £255.53 in what was a really good night that we would like to make a regular event. We'd like to thank Lewis and Will for their organising of and DJing at the event - it's much appreciated!

World Aids Day

Wednesday, December 1st and the week around it was a busy one for Upendo and its partners at the Student Stop Aids Campaign. We set up a presence around campus promoting awareness of HIV and the steps being taken to fight the virus. Our main goal was getting hand prints for the 'Push for the Pool' petition; a UK wide attempt to get pharmaceutical companies to pool their twenty year patents on HIV treatment drugs, forcing prices down and allowing the drugs to be combined to increase effectiveness. Click here for more information.As well as this we were handing out condoms and of course telling people about the Upendo project, raising money by encouraging people to 'buy a brick', for a pound (although £1 buys about 23 bricks).

We would like to thank all of those who have so far donated to the project and helped its progress.

These updates shall hopefully become much more common and therefore easier to read!

Merry Christmas!

Lots of love,

James and everyone at Upendo xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx