What We Do
Bukumbi Diary November 2009
6th November
Last week the DVPers came out to visit Bukumbi. It was great to have peo
ple come back who had worked on the renovation of the buildings. They were pleased to see all of the buildings now complete!
We also visited the home of Joseph, who has a small plot of land just outside of BCC. He has built a small mud house so that he will be able to rent it out, which is another way of generating a small income for himself. Later he dreams that he will be able to build a house for himself and his family. He proudly showed off his work!
On Thursday this week in the pouring rain we went to speak to the families of children whose attendance is not so good at school. As it nears the end of the school year, some children are starting to skip school, so it was a good time to visit. Some of the children still run and hide from me! We are in the process of supporting a boy who has just moved back to BCC. Baratini who is Vumi’s brother has been living out in the village but has never gone to school. He will hopefully start in January as he has to have some tuition, because at the age of 13 he does not know the alphabet or numbers.
Ruth our Visit co-ordinator also came out to see the work and made friends with Nulu! (FD)
11th November
A new income generation group has formed with an interest in sewing/tailoring.
There are 13 people registered with a mixture of abilities from those who have attended tailoring school to others with no experience at all. They will spend the next few weeks forming their cooperative and drawing up group parameters with input from the Government Community Development office.
After this they will have a training period before their business ‘goes live’. Sister Anna has generously donated 2 hand operated machines for the group so their only overheads will be to fund their training and setup costs. Even though it will mean them raising funds, we are keen that this happens to promote ownership, responsibility and independence for the group, once they have been up and running for about 6 months we will source other suitable machines and they will be able to use their pooled funds to improve their business.
Although we have the donated machines right now we are keen to make sure that the planning stages of group formation and basic small business training are thoroughly completed before they move onto the practical stages. (AW)
16th November
On Monday 16th myself and Kibibi met with Mrs Misana the Regional Welfare Officer for Mwanza, along with Mr Bundala the Centre Manager of Bukumbi to discuss the way forward with regards to the reintegration programme.
Kibibi reported back on her findings from the ‘needs assessment’ she had carried out recently and also on the workshop she attended in Morogoro on Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) – her feedback was well received.
We went on to discuss the reintegration process and agreed that we will trial it with 1-2 members of the community early next year. Some clear plans were made as to how we now move forward and who needs to be involved. It was a very positive meeting and I’m looking forward to seeing it all become reality! (JT)
18th November
Today the Health Committee met to discuss current issues at Bukumbi, their main decision was to buy a plastic bin with a lid for each dormitory to encourage the community to stop littering the camp, especially with used bandages. It will be the responsibility of Dr Julius and the health warden for each dormitory to unsure the community know why it is important for them to be used.
While walking and greeting the community Kibibi and I came across a very industrious
corner with ladies grinding nuts, making mats and bags, and another selling her recently harvested crops. We joined the queue and bought some green pulses, groundnuts and groundnut paste. We also heard that Eunice, one of the income generation group ladies making necklaces, is using the money she has got from selling her crafts to erect a small onsite kitchen/hut. (AW)