Summer UPDATE 

 

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Hello!

 

There is so much going on in Tanzania at Let Them Shine that I felt the need for a summer update. 

Please do read on to find out what’s been going on, and news of our anniversary campaign to get 250 people donating £2 a month!

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As always, THANK YOU for your brilliant interest and support. 

Anthony Summersell 

 

Teacher Training

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Tanzania has decided to tighten up standards of pre-school childcare and is introducing a raft of new requirements.

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On its own this is probably a good thing but of course for us, where the Centre is already run to the highest standards, and in a loving environment, it poses some future challenges. The biggest being that all teachers, whilst qualifies now, are required to have a formal specific certificate - whether they teach or even if they are just the overnight matron. This means that three of our four teachers will need to be absent for a residential course over 12 months, and temporary staff found for that period.

 

Obviously, we welcome the opportunity for them to upgrade skills, but we are looking for ways in which this can be staggered as the introduction of 3 new temporary teachers at once would potentially be too disruptive. Whilst preparatory research is being taken in Tanzania, we will sit down with the three teachers when we are out there in September to discuss how best to manage the interim.

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We want to understand how much we might be able to help and how they are going to manage their home lives and their own children being absent for the whole week over a year. Stand by for updates on our return!

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Small Change for a BIG Future

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MOST IMPORTANTLY, to celebrate our tenth birthday since the Children’s Centre was opened, we are launching a micro-giving campaign called Small Change for a BIG future.

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We are asking people to donate just £2 a month with the aim of getting 250 people by the end of the year. I am not asking you to do this – you already are so generous – but I am asking if you as a major ambassador for the charity, if you might be able to ask all of your network - friends, aunts, uncles, children, neighbours – to follow your example and donate £2 a month. It’s easy to do – just ask them to follow this link 

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Rains and Roofs

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The long rains have been particularly pernicious this year. A bit of a weather theme going on in all our lives – heat here and cold and rain in Tanzania. So a major programme of renovations and repairs is underway. All the floors in the classrooms and dormitories have been repaired and painted, and major repairs to the leaking roof. We had hoped to get the renovations finished by the start of the new term last week, but the rain meant that this wasn’t possible, so the rush is on to finish quickly to minimise disruption with inside work undertaken at the weekends.

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New Term

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The new term started on Monday this week – but was swiftly followed by a Bank Holiday so the numbers turning up were initially small due to the cold weather! Numbers were up to full capacity by Wednesday.

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You may remember that one of our children, Ray, who is already hampered by partial albinism was involved in an accident which broke one of his legs quite badly. He was in plaster for 8 weeks but is still not walking as well as he should. We organised some X-rays (Ray’s X-Rays) last week and they show the bones have not joined properly and show one leg 2 or 3 cm shorter than the other.

 

An initial assessment here in the UK suggests the broken bone should have been pinned and put in traction before the plaster cast. Since then, a kind orthopaedic surgeon has offered his opinion, and we have a plan for September. In the meantime we are providing transport to and from school.

 

Otherwise, it’s just coughs and colds which are so common up in the mountains after the rain – something we keep a close eye on in case more serious chest infections or pneumonia develop.

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As mentioned I am back in Tanzania in September, and there is a lot to do ‘on the ground’. Our autumn newsletter will follow soon after my return.

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