News

June 2021

Events are back! Covid-secure measures in place.

Run 10 kilometres on Sunday, 25 July 2021 through central London and raise much needed funds for Village Africa. Take on the ASICS London 10K. If you would like one of our charity places, please let us know. Invite a friend or relative to join in too.

The flat 10K route passes Big Ben, the London Eye and River Thames. https://run.limelightsports.club/…/lon…/asics-london-10k

Amazon has made it easier to collect free donations for Village Africa.

AmazonSmile is now available in the Amazon Shopping App to all Amazon customers using an iPhone or Android phone. When you have activated AmazonSmile in the app, every eligible purchase will automatically generate a donation for your chosen charity.

How it works:

1. Open the Amazon app on your phone

2. Select the main menu & tap on “AmazonSmile” within Programmes & Features

3. Select Village Africa as your charity

4. Follow the on-screen instructions to activate AmazonSmile in the mobile app.

If you are using a computer, please enter the site through https://smile.amazon.co.uk/ch/1122410-0 (which shows you are choosing Village Africa) and shop as usual.

A big thank you to the many supporters who are already helping us in this way.

May 2021 x

Charles Ludovick was rushed from Yamba to Milingano Dispensary. He was diagnosed with pneumonia. Fortunately, he made a good recovery and is back home. Thank you to all Village Africa donors who made this emergency trip possible. Your kindness is helping so many people.

Charles Ludovick Yamba mili pneumonia

Congratulations to Hamza Saidi and Charles Emmanuel who have passed the Animal Husbandry course at Kiwanda College, near Amani. The course took 3 years to complete, after secondary school, leading to the VETA (Vocational Education and Training Authority) qualification.

Hamza comes from Kwembalazi where villagers keep many animals, especially cows and goats, as well as growing maize. Hamza’s knowledge and skills can assist the whole community to keep the animals as healthy as possible and increase profit (eg milk). Charles is from Yamba which is new to keeping animals. Its main crops are beans and maize.

The course covers a range of skills preparing young men and women for paid jobs or to be self employed.

Hamza and Charles were very kindly sponsored by Kids Helping Kids through Village Africa’s Simba Club.

Photo – left to right – Hamza and Charles

Baby girl born in Bombo Hospital in Tanga after an emergency trip in Village Africa’s ambulance. Baby Evelyne Togolai is pictured here with her mother Agnes Marko from Yamba. A big thank you to Village Africa donors who made this journey possible.

April 2021

Maiko Paulo is volunteering in Yamba Primary School full-time. He is now a qualified teacher and it is his dream to work at this school in his home village. He is following his dream. Maiko hopes this voluntary work (unpaid) will lead to a permanent position at the school. Village Africa hopes the Tanzanian government will appoint him as there is a shortage of teachers in Yamba.

Maiko was sponsored at secondary school and teacher training college through Simba Club, Village Africa’s student sponsorship scheme.

Maiko Paulo (1)

Gifts from Village Africa Simba Club sponsors – Basins to wash clothes, including school uniforms. Thank you to all who support students as they pursue their education. The children are happy!

from left Martha,Salome Julita

Photo – from left – Martha, Salome, Julita

Village Africa is building two classrooms for Kishimai Primary School. This is a new school several hours walk down the mountain behind Mzizma, Village Africa’s visitor accommodation. A big thank you to the Zoe Carss Education Trust for the funding.

Village Africa’s ambulance – Eliwangu Eliasi needed an emergency trip due to a broken arm. He was rushed from Milingano to Tumaini Health Centre in Tanga. Fortunately, he has recovered well from his injury. He is 4 years old. Thank you to all Village Africa donors who made this urgent journey possible.

CaptainTom100 Challenge

Take part to raise funds for Village Africa. Charities and fundraisers have been urged to participate by Captain Sir Tom Moore’s family.

Complete your own 100 Challenge on 30th April – 3rd May 2021 to raise money for Village Africa’s life-saving health and important education work and build on Captain Sir Tom Moore’s legacy.

Help his love and message of hope spread even further around the world.

Let us know if you will take part for us.

One Tap, Big Impact campaign launched

Make Village Africa your favourite charity on Paypal and choose to donate £1 or more to Village Africa whenever you make a purchase using the ‘Give at Checkout’ feature. The digital version of a tin for loose change on the shop counter!x

The One Tap, Big Impact campaign is encouraging supporters of small charities (like Village Africa) to do this. At the end of April 2021, the charities with the most people having set them as favourite during the promotion period will win a grant (1st place £6,000, 2nd place £4,000 and 3rd place £2,000).x

Here is our link https://www.paypal.com/fundraiser/charity/28409

March 2021 x

eBay gives match funding to Village Africa. It donates five times (!) the amount raised by those selling in aid of Village Africa during eBay’s The Big Charity Sell.

Thank you to eBay for its generosity and to those who sold items for Village Africa in this scheme and throughout the year.

eBayforCharity is a great way to declutter, recycle, make money for yourself and help Village Africa at the same time! The seller decides what percentage of sales goes to Village Africa.

February 2021

Failing crops – Unfortunately some of the maize in Milingano and beans in Yamba are not doing well due to lack of rain. After flooding from Sept 2019 – April 2020, there is now a shortage of rain. This is very difficult for the villagers who are subsistence farmers.x

Dried maize

crop

Village Africa’s ambulance – Baby born in hospital after an emergency trip. The girl called Baliatu Hemed is pictured here with her mother Madadia Zabura from Kwemikame in Milingano. A big thank you to all Village Africa donors who made this journey possible and helped to save two lives.

Madadia Zabura(mother)Baliatu Hemed (child) born in hospital after mother given blood 3

Six school toilets built and 3 water tanks installed at Mashewa Primary School by Village Africa. Thank you to Kids Helping Kids for the funding.x

Mashewa A

January 2021

London Marathon – Sunday 3 October 2021 – Virtual event for 50,000 participants to take place at the same time as the physical event. Charity ballot for VIRTUAL places now open (deadline Thurs 4 Feb 1600 hours).

If you would like to take part in this virtual event and raise money for Village Africa, please email info@villageafrica.org.uk before the deadline so that we can enter the Charity Ballot. There are 50,000 places in the virtual event and Village Africa can apply for at least 3 (£28 each).

New sweaters for Village Africa Simba Club pupils made locally on knitting machines. Thank you to the sponsors for their generosity throughout the year.x

Back l to r Willson Hereti, Paulo Anthon, Doug Edmundi, front l to r David Alfons, Maiko Edmundi

December 2020x

Wickford Church of England School pupils send a giant Christmas card to their friends at Yamba Primary School.

Wickford Christmas card to Yamba 1

Sad news – Bishop Anthony Banzi died on 20 Dec 2020 at Muhimbili, the national hospital. He was Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Tanga.

In 2006 the Bishop gave his blessing to Monsignor Baruti (then Father Baruti) and Caroline Johnston (Makihiyo) to start Village Africa. He was very supportive throughout. He was well known to many of our volunteers, visitors and staff. He will be greatly missed by us all.

Photo – Bishop Anthony Banzi (centre) at his 25 years as Bishop Jubilee celebration in Tanga in Sept 2019.x

Village Africa LinkedIn started. Please ‘follow’ us to stay in touch with our latest news. http://www.linkedin.com/company/villageafrica

ASICS London 10K date announced – Sunday 25 July 2021. Charity places available. For seasoned runners and newbies too, the flat 10K route passes Big Ben, the London Eye and River Thames. https://run.limelightsports.club/…/lon…/asics-london-10k

Please contact info@villageafrica.org.uk if you would like to run and fund raise for Village Africa so that we can book you a place.

10k

Thank you to the Brazenall family members for their very kind donation to Village Africa in lieu of Christmas presents to one another.x

Village Africa partners with eBay for The Big Charity Sell. eBay is donating £5 for every £1 a customer donates to charity through Community Selling between 1-20 December. This will be capped at £500,000 in total and at £25,000 per charity. https://pages.ebay.co.uk/big-charity-sell-faqs/index.html

November 2020

Village Africa wishes good luck to the following students as they start university.

Petro Dastani

Petro Dastani joins the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) for the Bachelor of Education course. He studied at Yamba and Milingano Primary Schools, Ilboru Secondary School (Forms 1-4) and Lindi (Form 5-6). Thank you to his Simba Club sponsors in the USA and the UK for their generous support.

Jackline John

Jackline John is studying Accounting and Finance in the Public Sector at Mzumbe University. Jackline attended Amani Kindergarten, Yamba Primary School, Kongei Secondary School (Forms 1-4) and Machame Girls Secondary (Forms 5-6). A big thank you to her Simba Club sponsors in the USA and UK for their kind support.

Alfred Vicent

Alfred Vicent begins the Bachelor of Education at Mwenge University. Alfred went to Yamba Primary School, Mibukwe Secondary School, Mgwashi Secondary School (Form 4) and Shambalai Secondary School in Lushoto (Forms 5-6). Thank you to the Simba Club sponsors in the USA and the UK who are so kindly and generously assisting him.

x Stanislaus Richard

Stanislaus Richard begins the Bachelor of Education course at St Augustine University of Tanzania (SAUT). Stanislaus went to Yamba Primary School, Mgwashi Secondary School (Forms 1-4) and Rangwi Secondary School in Lushoto (Forms 5-6). Thanks to Simba Club sponsors in Canada who helped to get him this far. Thank you to new Simba Club sponsors in the USA and Belgium for coming forward to help with university costs.

Classrooms completed for Yamba Primary School. Many thanks to all who kindly contributed to the Yamba Classrooms Appeal. Special thanks to the Zoe Carss Education Trust for its most generous grant. Put together, this money meant Village Africa was able to build two big classrooms, a new office for the head teacher and install two water tanks.

Village Africa Christmas e-cards launched. Supporters can send an e-card to family, friends and colleagues, cut back on shopping and donate to Village Africa what they save on cards and stamps. They can choose the Kilimanjaro image (taken by Em Southey who was Village Africa’s Volunteer Liaison Officer) on the link below or one of the traditional designs there.

https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/VillageAfricaChristmasCards

Alternatively, they can dig out or snap their own image, send to friends and donate on the same link. They can take inspiration from the six images and maybe include their family, pet, Christmas tree or favourite landscape.

Congratulations to Jackline John, Alfred Vicent, Stanislaus Richard and Petro Dastani who have passed Form 6 (A levels) and will be going to university this month. Thank you to their Village Africa Simba Club sponsors for helping them to get this far and to those who have joined in to assist with university costs.

4 Uni Jackline,Alfred,Stan,Petro - B

Village Africa partners with GivingTuesday.

Village Africa donors are encouraged to make the best of the national lockdown by preparing to help Village Africa on Giving Tuesday (1 Dec 2020).X

Supporters are asked to find creative ways to raise or save money to donate to Village Africa.

Giving Tuesday has been running in the US since 2012 and the UK since 2014. It now runs officially in over 70 countries worldwide and people from over 150 countries take part in the global giving campaign to support good causes.

Giving Tuesday is MASSIVE! It holds the world record for the most money raised online for charity in 24 hours.

To donate, please go to https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/ and choose Village Africa.

Congratulations to Kundael Laurent who has started teacher training at Sahare Teachers’ College in Tanga. He comes from Yamba and passed Form 4 (O levels) at Mgwashi Secondary School. Thank you to his Village Africa Simba Club sponsors in the UK and his family for supporting him.

October 2020

Village Africa is delighted to win a Lloyd’s Market Charity Award 2020.

Village Africa will receive an unrestricted donation of £15,000 (paid across two years). Thanks to a generous donation from Lloyd’s to Lloyd’s Charities Trust the Awards were made even more generous than usual to help charities meet funding challenges caused by the pandemic.

We are very proud to be recognised in this way and the donation will greatly help us to keep our life-saving health and important education work running in remote villages in Tanzania, East Africa. Many thanks to Lloyd’s Charities Trust for choosing us and for this large contribution.

Every year, the Lloyd’s Charities Trust donates to charities on behalf of the extraordinary individuals in the Lloyd’s insurance market who volunteer or fundraise in their spare time or have been helped by a charity themselves. In our case, we are grateful to Sarah Mayne for being our Chairman and for giving so much of her time and expertise to Village Africa.

Twitter:@LloydsofLondon

Linked In:@Lloyd’s

#LloydsResponsibleBusiness

Edith Anthon and her baby Sara Gedrin (1)

Congratulations to Valentina Edmundi on passing her Diploma in Agriculture and Livestock. After passing Form 6 (A levels), she went to Ilonga in Morogoro to study for two years for the Diploma. A big thank you to her Simba Club sponsor in the UK and to her family for supporting her.

x Valentina Edimund finished her diploma

Hilda Richard is back home in Milingano after an emergency trip in Village Africa’s ambulance. She broke her arm after a fall and was rushed to Tumaini Hospital in Tanga. Many thanks to all the donors who made this urgent journey possible.

Congratulations to Alfred Vicent on completing his National Service. Many students, like Alfred, take up this opportunity after passing Form 6 (A levels). The 3 month placement (July-Sept 2020) was in Kibiti District in Coastal Region. Alfred gained new skills in security and production. Alfred is from Yamba and is in Village Africa’s Simba Club for his studies.

Local tailor Robati Hassan Mswaki measures Thomas Martin and other Simba Club primary school pupils for new school uniforms. Robati lives in Milingano. Thomas is in Yamba. Thank you to all the sponsors for their generosity. It helps the children and their families and creates local employment wherever possible.

Tailor measuring for uniforms B

Caroline Johnston, Village Africa’s Director, visits Queen’s Inclosure Primary School in the UK. Year 2 are studying Africa and wanted to ask questions about Yamba. The year group is divided into two bubbles and social distancing measures are in place.

September 2020

Congratulations to Agnes Marko, Hellena Philipo and Luciana Casmir from Yamba for passing their kindergarten teacher training. The 3-year course at Sahare Teachers’ College in Tanga led to a certificate and a diploma. Thank you to Agnes and Luciana’s sponsors in the UK and to Centennial Academy in Canada for sponsoring Hellena.

Baby boy born in Milingano Dispensary after an emergency trip from Yamba in Village Africa’s ambulance. He is called Derek Kelison and is pictured here with his mother Antonia Charles. A big thank to Village Africa donors who made this journey possible.

Yamba pupils enjoy an exchange of correspondence with students from Kingfisher Primary School in Yeovil, UK.

Village Africa’s head builder has a fractured arm and twisted joint. Peter Sebastian, known as Sheshe, was hit by a motorbike while walking in Milingano.

Yamba students write to their penfriends at Chapel Allerton Primary School in Leeds, UK.

August 2020

Congratulations to Father Baruti, Co-founder of Village Africa, who has been given the honorary title of ‘Monsignor’ by the Pope.

Thank you to Sean Campbell who walked/jogged 67 miles along the Cotswold Way in aid of Village Africa. What an amazing achievement! Sean was a Village Africa building volunteer so saw the need in the villages himself. Thank you to all who so generously sponsored him.

Congratulations to Paulo Edward from Yamba who has started Form 5 (A levels) at Coastal High School in Tanga. Paulo went to Yamba Primary School and passed Form 4 (O levels) at Mgwashi Secondary School. A big thank you to his Village Africa Simba Club sponsor in Ireland and his family for supporting him.

Lukas Msumari and Joseph Thomas home after emergency trips in Village Africa’s ambulance. They both suffered bushknife injuries at work (on separate days) and had to be carried to Village Africa’s garage at Kwemshi. Thank you to all donors who funded these journeys.

Congratulations to Detiva Joseph from Yamba who has passed Form 4 (O levels) and has started a 2-year VETA tailoring course in Dar es Salaam. VETA is the Vocational Education and Training Authority. A big thank you to her Village Africa Simba Club sponsor in Australia.

School stationery, toiletries and blankets given to primary school pupils in Simba Club, Village Africa’s child sponsorship scheme. It is cold in Yamba at this time of year.

July 2020

Sadly, Melania Bernard died. She was paralysed and had stomach pain for a few days before she passed away. Melania was a Village Africa housegirl in Milingano throughout the volunteer programme (2006-2012). She was very popular with volunteers and greatly loved by them and all at Village Africa.

Baby Paris named after Paris Ackrill who was a Village Africa teaching volunteer in Milingano. The baby is the daughter of Mathayo Yambazi who has worked for Village Africa as a watchman and a carpenter.

Village Africa ambulance service – Ester Dastan back home after an emergency trip from Yamba to Milingano Dispensary when she was unconscious. Thank you to all donors who made this trip possible.