What We Do
Bukumbi Diary - August 2009
Tuesday 4th August 2009
Having been away for a few weeks to the UK it was good to go back to Bukumbi today and say hi to everyone. Kibibi is working hard to get her questionnaires finished for the community assessment, but being challenged by the fact that often people have 2 names a current name and a traditional Sukuma name so there is one lady called Maria Nyanda and she is also known as Tabu Nyanda , which in itself would be ok but the community have also had several people moving rooms recently so it’s all very confusing!
Selina is being admitted on Thursday for her operation so Kibibi is working hard to look after her and her mother this week. Vumi is back from Dar and has had an operation to remove the ulcerated area on her face and can now be followed up in Bugando Hospital here in Mwanza which is great as we have a link with the Maxilla Facial Dr there so hopefully she’ll not have to travel too much now.
Charles and I did an assessment of the community building which a group from ‘Schulke Mayer’ are assisting to renovate next year, it will be great for the community to have a place to meet and gather together. There’s a lot of work to be done! (JT)
11th August 2009
After a month away it was good to get back to Bukumbi and hear from the community the 
comings and goings of the last month. Kibibi and I sat together under a tree with various ladies and heard how they have been harvesting crops, some have been in 
hospital, others have been industrious with crafts and 2 younger girls have just this week had their babies!
Life at Bukumbi is simple and for the majority it revolves around food, shelter, health and community. In the midst of this simplicity sometimes they face the most heart wrenching challenges, for which the solutions are often out of their grasp. I was reminded of this when Kibibi and I visited 10 year old Selina in hospital today, she is recovering well from her tonsillectomy and was sat with her mother smiling when we entered the dormitory. The cost of her operation and medication, travel and food costs all came to just £65 and has changed her life! (AW)
Pictured (left) - Selina withher mun and sister, after her tonsilectomy.
26th August 2009
Today Kibibi and I drove out to Misungwi to meet 2 people who we hope will inspire the Bukumbi community to take the income generation programme a step further. First we met Simon, an elderly gentleman of 80yrs, he lives with his wife in a close knit community who at the time of our visit were all busy washing, drying and pounding their recently harvested cassava crop. Simon had leprosy many years ago but he chose to stay in the village with his family rather than request admission to the government institutions. He told us proudly that despite his missing toes and gnarled fingers he was a carpenter and mason and this paid for his children to attend secondary school, now that he is not as mobile he sits under the tree outside his mud hut mending and sharpening knives for a few hundred shillings (10p).
We then drove off the main road and way into ‘bush country’ to meet Esther, she is an industrious lady who makes her living growing soya beans, sunflowers and other crops, she also makes clay cooking stoves and handicrafts. Although her husband left her to bring up their 5 children alone, she also has not given in to adversity and instead has worked hard to pay for them to attend secondary school. Our guide through all of this was a gentleman called Fabian who heads up an organisation which works to support small businesses, he was very complimentary of our efforts in income generation and I hope will be a great ally over the coming months. (AW)