Mvumi School Trust

I am enjoying late evening sun. The weather is balmy: a hot 35 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. Idyllic in theory but unfortunately not as good as it seems. Rainfall has been just a few showers in what should be the rainy season. Crops are distressed: millet and groundnuts are progressing but maize has the appearance of the weedy adolescent. This will be a difficult year. There is plenty for our local farmers still to learn about what crops to grow…

Troubled times

The effects of the problems facing the West are yet to surface fully here. For many the Tanzanian climate is much more important than the effects of trade and exchange rate fluctuations. But we worry about some economic signals. Food and energy prices have risen dramatically and the influx of new arrivals to Dodoma, with the birth of two universities, has pushed up rents. Firewood is increasingly scarce due to deforestation. Aid cannot be depended on. The Government has raised salaries by nearly a quarter and struggles to fund this and schools like us have to match them to keep staff. Costs inevitably rise and so do fees.

Sponsors will understand these periodic problems facing this country. It enjoys the benefit of links with the West, when the Western economy flourishes, but when the First World coughs, the Third World dies. Currency fluctuation means the Pound buys much less and, when fees are rising, this places a burden on the Trust. We realise the charges we have been able to set for sponsoring needy children for some years are now too low and we continue to need individuals and institutions to support our students. We ask that existing donors continue to honour their commitment and if possible raise it. For new sponsors we realise contributions must rise if we are to continue to support the third of the school who receive aid. I can assure you it is very well worth it.

Great expectations

We have a bright, energetic and enthusiastic Form I and a large number of applicants for other forms. The Government has decided to allocate students to local schools, rather than to the elite Government schools which have traditionally creamed off the most talented students. But the local schools lack facilities and teachers. Mvumi seems a more certain bet…

We have eight new blind students—pioneering work—and it is exciting to share our opportunities with them. Two special classrooms have been built and we have Braille machines and other dedicated equipment, all by courtesy of ICAP, for whose donation we are most sincerely grateful.

And we also have a new embosser (Braille printer), which prints Braille direct from ordinary script typed on a laptop loaded with special software, thanks to a very kind donation organised by the Hassall family. A large part of the donation was given by the local churches in Eton, Eton Wick and Dorney in the UK.

But we are still awaiting the arrival of trained specialists to help us with the students’ integration and are learning as we go. Any disability trained teachers with time to spare, please apply!!

We have just had some excellent results in the Government Form II examinations, the best in our history. This stems from a really talented group of students, many from desperately poor families most likely to suffer from the drought. We are pleased to have the children here but fear for their families’ livelihoods.

Our students continue to flourish

Our sponsored students are our highest achievers. This will certainly have knock-on effects on their families. A recent student who joined the school in his early thirties as a policeman has been able to retrain as a clinical officer in medicine, where an enormous need exists. Other students share the same ambitions. Our aim is not to train Tanzanians to gain skills to leave the country but to share those skills within the country as doctors, teachers, lawyers, politicians. Former Mvumi students are filling each of these professions.

The school is flourishing

Numbers are higher than ever and academic results the best we have achieved but success is always precarious. We need the continued help of all our supporters to see us through not only the Western economic problems but also an endemic African one of uncertain rainfall. Walking through the village reminds me of the optimism of my African friends: children playing, families gathered round the late evening fire, the endless exchange of greetings, so many smiles, so much hope. I hope we can continue to support that positive response to adversity.