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Restoring Smiles - Changing Lives
A dental & development charity working towards a world free from dental pain
What we do » B2A @ Bukumbi
The Maskini Community in Mwanza, Tanzania
We are committed to helping the poor and disabled (Maskini) community in Mwanza. These people, many of whom suffer with leprosy, live either on the streets or in Bukumbi Care Centre. Our Community Development programme is centred around Bukumbi Care Centre (BCC).
We are working with them to meet their basic needs - things which, in the Western world, we may simply take for granted:
Access to clean water
A nutritionally balanced diet
Hygienic toilets and showers
Somewhere secure to store any personal effects
Access to medical and dental treatment
A gathering place
Any means to generate an income of their own.
Our ongoing programme has already gone a long way to meet these needs, restoring dignity and raising self-esteem along the way.
Bukumbi Care Centre
Bukumbi Care Centre (BCC), a centre for the disabled and People Affected by Leprosy (PAL) was built outside of Mwanza in 1980 after the streets of the city were 'cleansed' and those seen as unsightly or with disabilities who were living on the streets were moved to BCC. The centre was built to provide a place where the community could be housed together as a joint project by the Government and an aid organisation.
From a place of squalor, insufficient food and desperation, Bukumbi is now a place of hope, a place where people can feel comfortable to be together and a place where the community cares for each other.
So far, we have achieved the following:
We provide on-going support and access to medical and dental treatment for the residents.
We have refurbished the toilet blocks and five of the six dormitories, the community building and more renovations planned for 2011.
We have raised £14,500 to fund a new water system for the centre, partly from direct donations and partly from our own general funds. Much of this has now been used on improving the internal systems in the accommodation blocks, and the remainder will be spent to complete the system, hopefully by autumn 2010.
In January 2009 we employed Kibibi Kengia as a Community Development Worker, and she has set up an income generation schemes for residents to make and sell their crafts for a small profit.
Our education programme started in 2007 and aims to support the children from families with leprosy and disability to attend school and support them in their learning. We also have a small student sponsorship programme.
Hope for the future and how you can help
Our long-term goal is to empower the Maskini community and give them the chance of a better life. With your help, we can make this a reality.
Would you like to visit Bukumbi and make a hands-on difference to the lives of the people there? Please email Ruth Bowyer, our Visits Administrator, for details.
If you would like to know more about our work at Bukumbi, please email Fay David.
You can always donate money to Bridge2Aid to support our ongoing work at BCC . Or why not take part in one of our fundraising challenges?
