58 years later and one person every 2 minutes will hear 3 life changing words “you have leprosy”.

Treatment strategies have changed over the years – there’s been a move away from placing patients into institutions such as Bukumbi Care Centre towards more community based rehabilitation – but the stigma surrounding this disease endures.

This Sunday let’s mark World Leprosy Day together by helping to tackle ignorance about the disease itself and by celebrating the skills, merits and abilities of the people affected by leprosy and honour their contribution to our society.

Tackling ignorance – some facts about Leprosy

Leprosy is an infectious disease caused by a bacteria called Mycobacterium Leprae. It attacks the skin and nerves of infected individuals. Pale patches on the skin are usually the first sign of the disease – they are painless and do not itch, so are often ignored by the patient.

It typically targets three main areas of the body -the face, hands and feet. Nerve damage here means that sensations of hot, cold and pain as well as motor function -movement- are compromised. This may mean loss of the ability to blink, to move fingers or grasp objects.

When left untreated, nerve damage and other complications escalate as the disease progresses. Numbness and lack of feeling in the limbs can lead to festering wounds on the hands and feet, and then to the characteristic deformities of the face and limbs. In many communities this led to stigma towards those affected and their families, causing them to be shunned and even excluded from everyday life.

Fortunately, antibiotics can now quickly kill the bacteria that cause leprosy, so the disease can be completely cured with a few months of treatment. If this is started at an early stage, most patients need never suffer the terrible complications which used to be common -but the stigma associated with the disease stops people coming forward for treatment. This is why it’s so important that together we fighting the prejudice associated with the disease.

Cause for celebration – honouring contribution

We passionately believe that people affected by leprosy are themselves powerful agents of change. In our work with the community at Bukumbi Care Centre we are privileged to partner with many people who have faced both the physical and emotional challenges of the disease.  Their resourcefulness and creativity is genuinely inspiring.

Watching the guys as they put their own unique stamp on ancient handicrafts of the region is incredible.  Incredible not only because of the spirit which you see rising up to overcome a physical limitation, but also that sense of achievement,  that self esteem, that dignity which can never be taught, which can never be received as a gift but which has to be got for oneself.

Harnessing this potential within our income generation programme and adding your support really can make a world of difference to those living with the legacy of this disease.

John

For further facts about Leprosy you can check out http://www.ilep.org.uk/facts-about-leprosy/

There is never enough time – you just have to decide.

]]> http://www.bridge2aid.org/blog/there-is-never-enough-time/feed/ 0 http://www.bridge2aid.org/blog/it-is-what-you-do-and-the-way-that-you-do-it/ http://www.bridge2aid.org/blog/it-is-what-you-do-and-the-way-that-you-do-it/#comments Fri, 20 Jan 2012 09:03:43 +0000 Mark Topley http://www.bridge2aid.org/blog/?p=1136 Continue reading →]]> This week we released a video with the aim of helping people to explain what we do, and why we do it.

I am delighted with the results that Jem Patel and JSP Media have come up with.

When we filmed the video in November, I remember having to really focus my thoughts on what we do and the way that we do it.

Now that the production is finished – I’m glad that it comes across loud and clear:

There’s a big problem – people are in pain – if you want to make a difference, you can – but for goodness sake TRAIN people, empower people, build capacity. Otherwise your efforts will be shortlived and have a limited effect. Ultimately, sadly, they may well be a waste of your time, and inadvertently, you will dis-empower the very people you are trying to help.

The video is in the About Us – Movie link above.

It’s 15 minutes long (so grab a coffee before you watch it). Enjoy.

Together with our donors and volunteers, a huge amount was achieved right across the organisation.

We trained 47 Clinical Officers in emergency dentistry, completed refurbishment works at Bukumbi, and ran a very successful dental clinic. We also delivered a very high standard of administration in the UK, with record high satisfaction scores from our volunteers, and a huge amount raised and donated by our supporters.

On the surface – it looks great. And it is.

But it came at a cost – we had to work REALLY hard to make it happen!

Like a duck moving across a pond, it’s all smooth on the surface, but in order to make progress, the duck is paddling furiously under the surface.

One of the things I am most proud of in our team is the work ethic they embody. There is a lot of paddling going on every day!

They also work with a great deal of creativity – if there’s a way to make something work, we’ll find it! This is so important, particularly in Tanzania where things frequently go wrong or get delayed – like the 2 DVP sites that we lost 1 week and 3 weeks before the programme was due to start, the constant delays to flights, transportation or severe weather, last minute changes in government personnel, or an official who decides that today is the day he is going to be less than co-operative…

So as you read the 12 days, and it all looks to have gone really well (and it has!), please remember that every achievement has been more than paid for with sweat and (in some cases) tears, (but thankfully no blood), by the B2A team, our volunteers, and fantastic fundraisers.

If you were part of the story this year – thank you, and well done. If you would like to be part of the 2012 story – please have a look around the site, and if you see something you would like to help with, get in touch. We have lots of ways for you to become part of making a big difference in the lives of many, many people in the year ahead.

235 exercise books, 44 shirts, 22 pairs of trousers, 7 skirts, 6 overalls, 23 pairs of shoes, 13 pairs of trainers, 26 bed sheets, 10 buckets, 8 hoes, 16 school bags, 5 mattresses, 9 suitcases and pens and pencils galore….

…just a few of the numerous things that the 26 Secondary, Vocational students and 9 Primary school children from Bukumbi needed to start another school year.

It’s a chaotic but very exciting time.

Maria Charles with her school supplies

The huge smile on little Maria’s face summed it up as she stood clutching her plastic bag containing her uniform, bag, exercise books and shoes. She is one of three 7 year olds who is taking one of the first big steps in her life and moving from the playgroup at the centre to Primary school.

Primary education in Tanzania is compulsory for children aged 7 to 15 and is free; however, not all children go to school.

In 2000, 97% of children in Tanzania were enrolled at Primary school however, only 57% of children actually attended.

Families are still expected to pay for uniforms, equipment, exam and graduation fees; paying for a child’s education is beyond the budget of a lot of families.

Making an equally huge step are 5 other students, leaving behind the relative comforts of Primary school – where all lessons are in Swahili, to Secondary school, where all lessons are conducted in English, beginning the next stage of their academic education.

In 2009, only 49% of children in Tanzania went on to Secondary education from Primary school.

5 other students move from Primary to Vocational College to learn a trade and important life skills boarding away from home. After 2 years, they will walk away with skills enabling them to provide an income for themselves and their families in years to come.

2 Government Secondary students transfer into a Private Secondary education after achieving brilliant grades in their end of first year exams.  New windows of opportunities have been opened for them.

One student moves from Vocational training into the real world of earning an income.

All this, in addition to the 15 existing students in their various Secondary schools, Vocational colleges and Apprenticeships.

An education is frequently taken for granted, though Secondary or Vocational education would not be an option for many children from Bukumbi Care Centre.
Several generations at Bukumbi Centre Centre do not have an education level higher than year 7 of Primary school and it sadly, has become an accepted fact that they are unlikely to continue their education higher than Primary school.

Bridge2Aid is working to change attitudes to education at Bukumbi.

The monstrous shopping list fades into insignificance when you see a smile like Maria’s and consider the impact that schooling can have on a life.  Bridge2Aid sponsors and supports have provided an opportunity for this to happen to the lives of these students.

I look forward to sharing their progress over 2012 with you all.

Huge thanks.

Rachel

This week’s blog is a V-Log with some thoughts on the year ahead.

By the way it wasn’t my rubbish camera work or editing that inspired me – it was that one of the most consistent comments made was that the volunteers found Bridge2Aid DVP to be a professional and well organised programme.

That’s great to hear, because professionalism is one of our core values.

There are a large number of people who help to deliver each DVP, some more involved than others, but each one works hard to ensure that the programme is a success – that the clinical training is effective, that the volunteers are well looked after and that every possible detail is covered.

Results like this I think are the outcome of 4 key things:

• Who are we – the team are all people that are passionate and skilled – giving everything to achieve a great result
• How we work – as a team we work systematically, yes (I like systems!), but we also work creatively. Things go wrong – fact. How we respond to them is what I believe makes the difference.
• Why we do it – each one of the B2A team believes that people shouldn’t have to suffer in pain for days, weeks and months.
• What we believe about our work. For me it’s about being the best version of myself that I can be – using my unique skills, abilities and personality, and doing the best work I can – finding that extra 10%…

It has been great to see this in action over the programmes that we have run during this past year, and the same things are also evident from the tremendous work the UK team are doing – many of them work remotely from each other. To do this and still get results is not easy.

With more expansion on the horizon for 2012, and a larger group of people in both hemispheres engaged in the work, we’re determined to keep building. With the team’s commitment and our volunteers’ fabulous contributions, we’re going to help a lot more people.

What images would appear in your mind if someone talked about schooling in Tanzania?

Mud huts?  Kids drawing on chalk boards sitting around under an acacia tree? Masaai warriors perhaps?

Even those of us who are working on the ground in Mwanza probably have a somewhat distorted image of what life is really like for Lameki, William, Abel, Ashfak and the other 14 sponsored students from Bukumbi.

With the number of sponsored students in 2012 set to increase to 24, I thought it was about time that the people – Bridge2Aid sponsors, who are providing these young adults with such a huge, life-changing opportunity, had a small peek at life through the eyes of the students themselves.

Lameki, Wiliam, Abel and Ashfak or ‘The Kahunda boys’ as they’re affectionately known, were picked as the guinea pigs and were asked to keep weekly journals where they were to record any occasions, challenges, triumphs, thoughts, accounts of a typical day, news – anything, that would help us, the outsiders, see life through their eyes. Together with the journals, the boys were armed with a disposable camera, and were asked to try and capture in 29 photos, what they experience every day.  Admittedly, I was a bit nervous of the results – half expecting a film of moonies and toilets…

The results were pleasantly surprising. The boys photographed their classrooms, their dorms, extra studies, their friends, football teams, store keeping duties, clothes washing,  Lake Victoria, right down to the school kitchen where the daily ugali (stiff porridge) is prepared over huge burners.  The boys wrote about challenges, celebrations and their daily routines.. “we always wake up early at 5am and go jogging, after jogging we help clean the school grounds, then we wash, then we do the parade (assembly), THEN we go to class!” … it was exhausting just to read!

Some of the boys wrote about what their education meant to them and their aspirations; “I like to study because education is one of the best things in the world”, “At school we study nine subjects, I love all the subjects except physics because I’m not planning to be an Engineer BUT I am planning to be a Trader or a Lawyer”

One of the boys wrote about their hidden talents: “ I like singing…when no one else is in the dorm, sometimes I practice singing Bongo Flava!”

These images and words that the boys revealed made it very clear that schooling in Tanzania is a whole lot more than sitting in the classroom.. .or in a mud hut or under an acacia tree for that matter, and that it really is an experience that not only builds on an academic education but also changes attitudes, confidence and actions that will undoubtedly stay with the individual for life.

Thank you to all student sponsors.

It has been a great experience.  The  advisors are a fantastic bunch, and I learned a huge amount from the hours I have spent with each one. One thing that struck me again and again from the meetings is that you just don’t know what you don’t know. Read it again, it will make sense I promise!

I meet people from time to time who will tell you with great authority just how thing are. Unfortunately, there are often blind spots in their knowledge which become obvious – they aren’t aware that their lack of knowledge, sometimes combined with a lack of humility, are making themselves look, well, a bit stupid…

I’m hope that as a team we don’t operate that way. We want to be an organisation that has the humility to acknowledge that we don’t know what we don’t know, and are open to the opinions of others, whether they be inside or outside Bridge2Aid. I want to sit with people who have experience or knowledge that I don’t have, ask questions, have an open mind, learn from them, have the ‘pennies drop’ in my understanding.

It can only make me a richer person, and able to do what I do better.

What about you – when was the last time you realised you didn’t know what you didn’t know?