News

June 2018

Village Africa asks supporters to give £3 a month (or what they can afford) to keep Village Africa’s ambulance service running. We need help to continue this life-saving work.

Father’s Day (17 June) – Joseph Maiko is one of the many fathers helped by Village Africa’s ambulance service. He was rushed to hospital and diagnosed with pneumonia. He has been discharged and is safely home with his family in Yamba.

Waterlooville Baptist Church – Caroline Johnston, Director, updates the congregation on Village Africa’s work.
The Cotswold Way – Sean Campbell is raising money for Village Africa by walking/running/crawling in August. Please sponsor him if you can. Sean was a building volunteer in Yamba. https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/seancampbell4

May 2018

Village Africa supporters were asked to ‘opt in’ to mailings to comply with new data protection regulations in the UK. Please contact info@villageafrica.org.uk if you would like to do this.
The ‘long rains’ from February to May were particularly heavy this year. They greatly hampered our work and caused many extra costs. Fortunately, the Village Africa ambulance service kept running. Many thanks to all our donors and to our excellent drivers John Samweli and Edmundi Senkunde.
On the positive side, the beans and maize crops are doing well.

Foroforo Primary School receives 6 school toilets and 3 water tanks kindly funded by Kids Helping Kids and built by Village Africa. Celebrations included traditional dancing by the men.

Lunch Club held at Waterlooville Baptist Church raises money for the charity.
Village Africa ambulance – Baby girl born in hospital after an emergency trip. Here she is (Mariam Ali) with her mother Maajabu Hosseni from Milingano. A big thank to our donors who made this possible.

A football and netball equipment (2 posts, 2 sets of bibs and a netball) given to Mibukwe Secondary School. The school has cleared an area to make a court. Thanks go to Kath Culkin, past Village Africa volunteer.

Thursday Group at Waterlooville Baptist Church – Caroline Johnston gives a talk about Village Africa’s achievements.
Village Africa ambulance – Rashidi Mohamedi from Kwembalazi had an emergency trip as he was suffering from chest problems.

Village Africa joins Smile at Amazon.co.uk. Amazon donates 0.5% of the net purchase price (excluding VAT, returns and shipping fees) of eligible purchases to Village Africa when chosen by its customers. https://smile.amazon.co.uk/ch/1122410-0
Baby Jackson named after Jack Armstrong, a past Village Africa volunteer. Jack had visited the family with a fellow volunteer to help with farming. The baby is the son of John Kijazi who was the first Village Chairman when Yamba became a village.

Central Men’s Group in Dudley receives a presentation from Doug Brazenall following his visit to Yamba.
Yamba pupils write pen pal letters to children at Chapel Allerton Primary School in Leeds, UK.

Queen’s Inclosure Primary School – Caroline Johnston gives a school assembly about the charity’s plans.
‘Stay Local’ magazine, May 2018 edition carries a one-page feature about Waterlooville Baptist Church’s ‘Petrol Can Appeal’ to raise money for fuel for Village Africa’s ambulance.

April 2018

Eight new desks for Yamba Primary School from the Simba Club community fund. Village Africa has now made a total of 700 desks since the charity started in 2006.
The desks were taken outside for the photo shoot.

HobbyAid sends knitted clothes for children in Yamba. Here is Ginzela Daniel with her mother Mshaghulwa. Thank you to all who knitted them. It gets cold in the mountains from July to September.

Malaria – Village Africa’s ambulance service rushed Maiko Edmundi to hospital in Tanga for treatment. He has now recovered and is back home in the village.

March 2018

Emma Southey visits Village Africa in Tanzania. Emma is a Director of the charity. Previously she was our Volunteer Liaison Officer and before that one of our building volunteers. ‘Baby’ Emma presented her with a watermelon as a gift. Another baby was also named after her in March.

Doug and Moe Brazenall also visit Yamba. Moe is our Child Sponsorship Co-ordinator and there are currently 112 students in the scheme. Doug is a great fundraiser for Village Africa and has twice trekked from Tanga to Yamba (100km) to raise money for the charity. A baby was named after Doug during their visit.

February 2018

New uniforms for Simba Club primary school pupils. Many thanks to their sponsors.

January 2018

The Wickford Church of England School donates to Village Africa’s ambulance service. The school chose Village Africa as its Charity of the Year from Sept 2016. It held many fundraising activities including a big breakfast, a cake sale, a summer concert, a Christmas concert and one male teacher even waxed his legs! The cheque was presented to Caroline Johnston (Director) on her visit to the school. She met all classes and showed them photos of the ambulance and some patients it had helped in 2017.
Queen’s Inclosure Primary School raises money for Village Africa at its Christmas Concert. The money was given to Caroline Johnston at a school assembly when she updated the pupils and teachers.

December 2017

Village Africa buys land in Milingano to be used as a community football pitch.
Excellent exam results for primary school leavers (age 14). 18 out of 25 passed at Yamba Primary School, 35 out of 40 at Kweulasi Primary School and all 50 out of 50 at Milingano Primary School. Milingano was 20th out of 519 schools in the region. Congratulations to the pupils, teachers and head teachers. Thank you to all Village Africa supporters who have helped these youngsters in so many ways over the years. Sadly one Yamba pupil died before she took the exams but she is included in the numbers.

Photo – Juma Zuberi, Std VII leaver at Milingano Primary School. A special thank you to his Simba Club sponsor.

Yamba pupils write to their penpals at Chapel Allerton Primary School in the UK.
Lawrence View Primary and Nursery School sends Christmas cards to pupils in Yamba Primary School.

The Brazenall family donates money to Village Africa in lieu of Christmas presents. A big thank to all involved.

November 2017

Village Africa holds a Christmas auction on facebook. Thanks to all who bought lots.
Tansila James broke her arm after a fall in Yamba. She was rushed to hospital in the charity’s ambulance. Many thanks to all Village Africa donors who made this emergency trip possible financially. The trip is 100km each way on very rough roads.

50 more desks for Milingano Primary School. They were made by Village Africa carpenters Charles Bernard (left) and Emily Joseph (right). A big thank you to all who contributed to the Village Africa Desk Appeal.

Simba Club – Yeboyebo for primary school pupils in Village Africa’s student sponsorship scheme. Thank you to all the sponsors.

Joli Belle raises money for Village Africa’s ambulance service in lieu of birthday presents. She lives in Turkey. She previously trekked from Tanga to Yamba to support the charity.
Milingano Ward Football League – Village Africa’s Director Caroline Johnston is guest of honour at the final and presents the prizes.

Disabled – Village Africa distributes secondhand clothes, shoes and soap to people with a physical or mental disability in Yamba and the surrounding area. These were some of the items donated by Tanzanians to Kihime, a small project started by Father Baruti in Amani.

Photo – Alois Moses wearing his new shirt and trousers

Teacher training – Congratulations to Hellena Philipo from Milingano who passed Form 4 at Mibukwe Secondary School and is now doing a kindergarten teacher training course in Tanga. A big thank you to her Village Africa Simba Club sponsors in Canada and to her family for jointly supporting her.

Snake bite – John Hozza safely home after an emergency trip to hospital in Village Africa’s ambulance. He lives in Milingano. A big thank you to the charity’s supporters who made this very urgent trip possible.

October 2017

Celebrations at Kikumbi Primary School as Village Africa hands over 6 school toilets and 3 water tanks. The work was funded by Kids Helping Kids in the USA. The construction was done by Village Africa’s all Tanzanian building team and carpenters, assisted by villagers who brought sand, water, aggregate, bricks and timber.

Village Africa starts to build a garage in Yamba near Mzizma. The road is open so patients no longer have to walk to Kwemshi to reach the ambulance.
Austria – Student nurses Nathalie, Daniela, Johannes and Valerie (left to right) visit Yamba. They bring a football for the primary school and pencils for all the pupils.

Village Africa Ambulance Service – Shadrack Kingazi home after a trip to hospital. He needed dental treatment after he was accidentally kicked in the face when playing. He caught a lift with the ambulance when it was doing an emergency trip!

Milingano – 75 new desks for the primary school from the Village Africa Desk Appeal.

Village Africa ambulance service – Neema Salimu took an emergency trip due to complications in childbirth. Her new baby is a girl called Zawadi which means ‘gift’ in Kiswahili. The family live in Milingano

Teacher training – Congratulations to Maiko Paulo who passed Form 4 and is now doing a primary school teacher training course in Tanga. It is for two years. A big thank you to his Simba Club sponsors.

Baby Johannes – named after Johannes Mariani, a recent visitor to Yamba from Austria. Congratulations to the proud parents Clemencia (pictured here) and Richard Antoni. It is a custom in Yamba that newborn babies are sometimes named after visitors so that, as the child grows up, the visitor is remembered.

Congratulations to Epimack Francis from Yamba who has been selected by the government to join Form 5 (A levels). He has started at the government boarding school in Tanga. A big thank you to his Simba Club sponsor.

September 2017

Village Africa ambulance – Baby girl called Salome born after an emergency trip. Her mother is called Sophia John and her father is John Charles. They live in Yamba.

Keeping the river clean – Large bowls distributed to primary school pupils in Simba Club. Villagers need to wash clothes at the edge of the river and not in the river to prevent the spread of illnesses such as typhoid, cholera, worms, vomiting, diarrhoea, skin complaints and bad eyes.

Mobile phones – Thank you to Wickford C of E School in the UK for collecting phones for Village Africa. A special thank you to the parent who managed to get 10 new ones for us.
Hoes for farming – Distributed to all primary school children in Simba Club. Nearly all families in the remote villages are subsistence farming. In Yamba the main crop is beans and in Kwembalazi and Milingano it is maize.

Photo – (left to right) Zainati, Samimu, Zakia, Mwanarusi and Zikiri at Kwembalazi Primary School

Austrian student nurses Lisa, Judith and Julia visit Yamba. They bring reams of paper, paints and paintbrushes for Yamba Primary School, key fobs for Village Africa staff and tiny solar grasshopper toys for the children.

Photo (left to right, back row Lisa, Judith and Julia, front row John Samweli (driver/senior manager), Mzee Bernard (watchman), Edmundi Senkunde (driver/senior manager), Martin Thomas (watchman), John Shekuamba (Assistant Director) and Mzee Jango’fua (watchman).

New desks – 11 desks for Kwembalazi Primary School made by Village Africa’s carpenters, Emily Joseph and Charles Bernard. Many thanks to all who contributed to the Village Africa Desk Appeal.

August 2017

Village Africa ambulance service – Paulo Mbiu fully recovered from malaria after an emergency trip to hospital. He is Village Africa’s Assistant Head builder and has helped build many classrooms and school toilets.

Sad news – Helena Francis has died of kidney failure. She was a Std VII pupil at Yamba Primary School (age 16) and lived in Kwemshi. Helena was treated at the regional hospital (Bombo in Tanga) and the national hospital (Muhimbili in Dar es Salaam). Thank you to all Village Africa supporters and staff who helped Helena in so many ways since we started the charity in 2006. You made her life, albeit short, happier and more comfortable than it might have been otherwise. A special thank you to her Simba Club sponsors who supported her education for 7 years.

Village Africa ambulance service – Baby boy born in hospital after an emergency trip. His name is Jackson. His parents are Vicenti Kasmili (father) and Salama Vicenti (mother). They live in Milingano.

Celebrations at Kweulasi-Kibaoni on the completion of six toilets and three water tanks for its primary school. The project was kindly funded by Kids Helping and Kids and built by Village Africa. Construction took under six weeks. Thank you to the villagers for their great cooperation.

Village Africa ambulance service – Petro Dastani recovered after breaking his arm playing football in Yamba during the school holidays. Petro is in Simba Club and is studying at a school for talented students.

Sarah (left) and Felicitas (right) visit Village Africa in Yamba for a few days. They bring gifts of clothing, toys and school stationery for the children from their family and friends in Italy and Austria. They are student nurses.

Village Africa ambulance service – Baby girl born in hospital after an emergency trip. She is called Zawadi and her parents are Salimu Hasani (father) and Salama Costantino (mother) and live in Milingano.

July 2017

Avocado tree – Avuniwa fell out of the tree when picking fruit. He was rushed to hospital in Village Africa’s ambulance. Fortunately no broken bones! He lives in Yamba.

Cold weather in the mountains – Primary school children in Simba Club receive coloured sweaters to wear after school and at weekends. They also receive blue school sweaters once a year. The sweaters are made locally on knitting machines. It is particularly cold this year. Thank you to all the sponsors for their generosity.

Pneumonia – Edith Philipo has recovered from pneumonia after an emergency trip to hospital in Village Africa’s ambulance. She lives in Mweni.

Sixteen more desks for Kwembalazi Primary School from the Village Africa Desk Appeal. They were made by Village Africa carpenters Emily and Charles.

Baby Caroline named after Caroline Johnston, Village Africa’s Director in Tanzania. The baby is the daughter of Peter Shemweta who gives farming seminars on behalf of Village Africa.

Pneumonia – Yulia Anton home after an emergency trip in Village Africa’s ambulance. She lives in Kwemshi in Yamba and was suffering from pneumonia. It is very cold in the village this year. The villagers have no heating, except fires in the kitchens. A big thank you to all Village Africa supporters who sent money to make this journey possible.