What We Do
Bukumbi Diary - October 2009
2nd October 2009
I started the week with a visit over to Kahunda to visit William and Lamecki at Secondary school. Very excited to see them and see how they are progressing with their studies. Their teachers are pleased with them and their English has improved so much. They are in preparation for the next set of exams in November and they are determined to do well!
On Tuesday Kibibi held a meeting with the community leaders and Nina the nurse to talk about the issues of some of the younger girls becoming pregnant which highlighted other social problems. . The meeting encouraged the leaders to talk with parents and the rest of the community to help solve these issues themselves. We will also support Nina with some small scale health education for the younger people.
Wednesday was busy sorting out issues at different schools and then buying some stock from the income generation group. We are going to sell some of their items in town at a book exchange at the international school. The income generation is giving the community some independence and pride in that they are earning their own money. (FM)
8th October
Despite the heavy downpour on Saturday, many people came to the book exchange at the International School where we were also selling crafts from the income generation group at Bukumbi. Sue our visiting Nurse was helping out and we sold many different things, the most popular being the necklaces and bowls, but many people wanting to put in orders for specific items. A great success!
Paul, our locum and Sue also came out to Bukumbi on Tuesday and were happy to meet the community and for Paul to see the differences in the centre from the last time he visited! Ngete is still working hard at keeping the building clean!
At the school it was good to see that the attendance is still good and that many of the teachers were there! We are nearly ready for the renovations to take place in the Standard 1 classroom, which should make it a much nicer place for the children to learn. (FM)
16th October 2009
I was excited to meet Mary on Tuesday, a young girl that we hope to support into secondary school to see how she had done in the entrance exam. Unfortunately Mary didn’t take the exam because her mother who had been very sick had died. What amazes me is that she seemed so strong and was still eager to take the exam. So we are trying to arrange that she can sit the examination another day. She also has graduation from primary school this week where she celebrates leaving school. The strength of this young girl is amazing.
Dr Paul and Nurse Sue came out to w
ork with Dr Julius to run a tooth camp. However, Dr Julius, who was trained on a DVP has carried on treating people weekly, it meant that there were not very many patients! Before Dr Julius was trained there was always a long line of people waiting to see the visiting dentist, but now we had to go out and find the patients!! Paul and Sue got to meet and treat some of the residents and also do a quick check on Vumi!
We also had the building committee meeting this week and it was great to hear from the community that there were very little problems! The community are working together to keep their homes in a good condition! (FM)
23rd October
Another week has flown by! Mary came into town yesterday to take her entry exam for secondary school, so we will be waiting for the results of that!! She and her brother Bahati are coping really well after the loss of their mother.
As a bit of an incentive to get the kids to keep going to school, we gave out little well done attendance cards to children who had achieved over 80% attendance in the last three months. For some of them they will have never received a certificate in their lives and were wondering what they were! But they walked away smiling ready to show their families and friends- we hope this encourages the others to increase their attendance.
A few little things need mending in the dormitories at Bukumbi but nothing major - dripping taps, broken locks, and a couple of light switches! The community really look after their homes now and try to keep them clean and tidy.
One piece of exciting news is from Mr Bundala, the centre manager. He says that Bukumbi is getting a car. This means that there will be transport for people to get to hospital – one of the biggest problems for the people of BCC. (FM)