Village Aid
Open to: 6th Form
Term(s): All
Contact: Miss C S Norris
What's been going on this year?
There has been a continuation of building in the rehabilitation village and the completion of piped water as well. The school has received funding to provide new equipment for the pupils and we have our first graduate (Majenda Mhutila), from our education programme. We have agreed to now sponsor him to Masters level. There is continued sponsorship of 15 pupils in secondary education. An additional villager is receiving a salary to look after all these aspects, under the direction of Kenneth Mwanampalila who has health problems. Medication and support for Kenneth is being delivered by Village Aid.
Obviously this all needs financing and pupils have been engaged in a number of activities to raise funds. This has happened in a variety of ways;
The Battle of the Bands where hundreds of screaming pupils watched budding Arnold bands
Lunchtime shows
Bag packing at local supermarkets
A sponsored fast, which tends to focus the minds of pupils on the plight of others
Car boot sales, which never fail to attract a good crowd
A charity concert held in Preston to great acclaim.
The ever popular Non Uniform Day which produced the usual riot of colour in school
Christmas Card and Cake stalls that provided stiff competition for the tuck shop!
In total fund raising has reached £10,000 to maintain and develop the activities in the village.
Village Aid Week
There will be a number of events to fund raise and remind us of our link with the people of Buigiri in Tanzania. These will include;
• The ‘President for a Day Experience’ Monday pm (invitation only)
• Frugal Lunch
• Village Aid Assembly
• Non Uniform Day.
The Frugal Lunch needs some explanation! You may notice on the Plasma screen the school kitchen and lunch for the pupils in Buigiri. It comprises of a bowl of ugali (millet porridge)
It seems appropriate that we forego for one lunchtime our usual lunchtime variety of pasta and salad bar, meat/fish and vegetables etc for a more simple, but equally nutritious alternative frugal meal.
It hopefully will;
A) Cause you to reflect on your usual good fortune
B) The cost savings will be passed on to Village Aid to Contribute towards funds for the village school.
The meal will consist of a choice of soup, jacket potato and choice of fillings and a piece of fruit or biscuit. If you usually bring sandwiches but would like to join in on the occasion, please buy a daily dinner pass in the usual way. Enjoy the occasion, think of other worlds and if you would like to know more visit our Village Aid meetings.
New Development in Buigiri Village
In the last few years Buigiri was a very small village but known to may due to its early Missionaries residences giving rise to its current name, Buigiri Mission. But today it is one of the fast growing villages maybe one day Buigiri will be a small town to a big town.
Last few years we have witnesses a new primary school (Uguzi) being built and used. Up to now the place where this school is located have been given the name as Uguzi street. But what made me write this document today is not this school instead it is the New Buigiri Secondary school in the same street as Uguzi primary school, and the Chamwino district head quarters which are being constructed in Buigiri.
Buigiri Secondary School
Being built in a new area with less people Buigiri secondary school is well situated and conducive for pupil's life, both school and social life. And as from Next year all the pupils from the village primary schools passing there standard seven exams will be going to this school.
It is a relief given that many pupils selected to join Chamwino secondary school from the village they have to walk a ten (10) Kilometer distance to and from school. Only few who have transport, which is bicycles of course see this as a short trip, and the rest do cover the journey on foot regardless it is raining or burning sunshine each day. Up to now there are 47 students, in Form one only and 7 teachers, all of this students are coming form Buigiri Village.
This school is a way forward to bring education closer to pupils and in few coming years Buigiri will see a lot of pupils finishing secondary school and go on with higher studies. Many pupils dropped studies at Chamwino secondary school from the village because of the distance from Buigiri to school, but with the secondary school being in the Village many pupils will have the opportunity to finish their education.
Chamwino District Head Quarters
Another Development face is the new Chamwino head quarters which are being built in the Village.
It is built about 2 Km along Chamwino Road. This will be the head quarters of the new district which by its being in Buigiri the village is expected to be one of the centers for all the district activities leading to many people to move from other places to Buigiri. This new district which its construction still goes on will attract people to invest in Buigiri, in many fields including businesses, education and other related activities. It will also provide job opportunities to Buigiri people when employed by the district or in any other fields brought by the new district being in Buigiri.
It is my hope that in few coming years Buigiri will grow from a small village to a small town and later to a bigger town, a city maybe! bringing development closer to people and to the village. There are other developments within the people of Buigiri, one of this is the emergence of building new cement bricks houses and the use of electricity is increasing everyday.
Many houses they have electricity compared to last three years where only few had this service. We hope that Buigiri will be famous and a village to learn from.
Till next time
By Majenda
Majenda tells us about the Buigiri Easter Experience
Have you ever thought of how Easter and other related holidays are cerebrated around Buigiri Village? May be not, but today I will walk you through all the events and styles of cerebrating these holidays. This years Easter was much different compared to last three Easters. I did write to you all about how Buigiri was green and for God's sake everything went well in terms of crops.
For every one who was able to work on his/her farm there are promising harvests this year. This includes food crops such as Maize, rice, White Millets, Millets, groundnuts and others. Also this year saw most of Buigiri people cultivating Sunflower as cash crop giving opportunity to have something to sell later on this year. During this year's Easter people in Buigiri had a lot to eat from their farms and hence few people had to worry on what to eat or to buy especially when no one have some money for the holiday.
Buigiri Primary School
This year has started with happiness and joy to all the school teachers, pupils, and their parents. The first thing which makes every teacher smile is the performance of their last year's standard seven in their Standard seven national examination. All of the 51 pupils passed their exams out of which 24 are males and 27 females. In average the attained grade for all the pupils is B grade and every teacher is proud of. Due to this performance Buigiri primary school was the 263rd school out of 12,787 schools countrywide, 74th school out of 592 schools in Dodoma region and was the 19th school out of 147 schools in the Dodoma district.
All of these pupils have been selected to join Chamwino secondary school whereby some of them whose their parents can not afford to send them to school have been given scholarships so that they can join the school. Many of these scholars are being funded by the Schroberer funds administered by Village Aid through Arnold School. According to the Primary school head teacher, Mr. Sebai 8 students are benefiting from this scholarship and other two are being funded by Nyerere Fund and sometimes the District council does fund some students too.
The 8 students being funded by Schroberer funds include 4 females and 4 male students and their names are as follows:
Female Students
- Rahel Malundo
- Elizaberth Nhusule
- Neema D. Mwaluko
- Anna P. David
Male Students
- Eliya Chisosola
- Joshua Bochela
- Paulo E. Paulo
- Ascoba Kamanjenzi
Photos and other details will be send to you as Mr. Kenneth finishes compiling them.
Another thing which brings joy to Buigiri Primary school and its beneficiaries is the electricity.
Electricity!
Thanks to Arnold school, this primary school will be connected to the main National grid as soon as registering and other logistics are completed. All the wiring has already been installed and according to the head teacher not later than March the school will be connected and ON!. Thanks to Arnold School.
Lastly the head teacher sends his thanks to all the Arnold school students, teachers and their parents for everything they are doing for the school. He also says thanks for the Jersey (the football Jerseys) send to them by Kendall Lee, the students are very busy preparing the play ground ready for play. The first set (9 Jerseys) will be used by female netball team and the second set (15 Jerseys) will be for the male football team.
Buigiri Dispensary
Because of the rain many people are suffering from Malaria and hence more busy time for all the Dispensary workers. This is the main disease mainly during rain season. Apart from this all other activities are going well around here.
We hope that the rain will continue raining and bring more happiness to the village this year. Because the crops are not yet ready and thus the rain need not to stop. Also I would like to say thanks very much again and again to All Arnold school community for making things happen here in Buigiri.
Majenda Mhutila for Village Aid in Buigiri, Tanzania. 12.02.07
