Water for Mufindi- Beckenham Club’s 60th Anniversary project
WATER FOR MUFINDI
(In partnership with Orphans in the Wild; reg’d charity 1113719)
Tanzania remains one of the poorest countries on the planet and the AIDS epidemic is rampant.
85-90% of the 35million population still subsist from agriculture
Almost 1 in 5 people live below the level needed to meet minimum calorie requirements; only 2% of rural households are connected to the electricity grid.
A large proportion of a village dwellers’ time is spent on collecting firewood and water. They may walk as much as 10km a day to get water for the family. This severely affects village productivity.
This burden traditionally falls to women; recent research revealed that an average woman works 16.5 hours a day cooking, growing food, caring for children, carrying firewood and water, whilst a man works on average 6.5hours.
The average wage is US$50 per month, but many live on less than US$1 per day.
An elderly lady enjoying the blankets given to her by the charity
In a world of improving life expectancy, in Tanzania the life expectancy has dropped from 50 to 43 years over the last quarter of a century- the equivalent of Europe in the 1800s.
However, Tanzania is unique in its stability. But the Tanzanian people need help due their extreme poverty and limited access to the basics of life - food, water and health care - not to mention access to education and electricity.
Fortunately through their highly effective system of village assemblies and a willingness by these proud but poor people to help themselves, it is possible to make every dollar donated go a long way.
Mufindi is a rural area in the southern highlands of Tanzania 6700 feet above the Great Rift Valley accessed by 4 wheel drive vehicle along increasingly narrow, unmade up lanes. At the centre of this area is a 2000 acre working estate that includes tea, coffee, meat and vegetable production. A small tourist lodge benefits from the climate, hospitality and produce.
The Fox family has developed this estate over many years . Their philosophy has been to work in partnership with the local village structures so any help provided is enabling and can be sustained by local people. They also aim to ensure that charitable funds are spent directly in the communities with the minimum spent on infrastructure.
An example is the help given to AIDS orphans; where family remain that are able to look after children who have lost both parents to AIDS money, food, and school uniforms will be given to sustain those extended families. But some children have no-one left to care for them. Six small orphan houses are being opened to provide a home for 10 children in each, staffed by a local woman. The first has opened; the next is soon to follow.
The first group of children (minus the baby of 9 months who is being cuddled elsewhere)
The housemothers of the first two orphanages
The school library
The Mufindi Water project
The Orphans in the wild charity has ambitious plans. Two orphanages, a hospital/clinic and school are well on the way to completion. But none of these services has a reliable, clean water supply. It will not be expensive to establish storage for rains to be collected during the rainy season- £3,500 will do the job for all 3 projects.
Beckenham Soroptimists aim to raise the funds for this as a way of marking their 60thanniversary in three years’ time- but the sooner the better for the people of Mufindi!