Trustees Annual Report 2009
Governing Document
Hope for Tanzania is governed by its Trust Deed dated 3 March 2008. It is registered with the Charity Commission, registration number 1124470.
Objects
The objects of Hope for Tanzania, as set out in the Trust Deed, are to advance education in accordance with Christian principles and to improve employment prospects of individuals and communities by such means as the trustees may consider appropriate including by means of establishing and operating any educational or training establishment or establishments and by the provision of funds, goods or services of any kind including support for small businesses in such parts of Tanzania.
Review of Activities During 2009
The volunteer network and support base from churches and other organisations has increased during the year. Whilst this expansion has not been dramatic, due in part to the limited time that Trustees have had to progress activities, it has been solid and we believe that it is sustainable. In particular the visit to Tanzania was a catalyst which resulted in a significant increase in financial support. A newsletter was sent to supporters in December, which practice will be continued annually.
The main project that has been supported has been the Tuishime Nursery & Primary School in Arusha. The vision of the Trustees is that the School will become self-financing and self-supporting in a few years' time. Dick Beath (Treasurer) visited the School in August to review the accounts, train the administrator in a computerised accounts package and make forecasts for short and medium term financial planning. These forecasts have been shared with the owner of the School to assist her in maximising income whilst controlling expenditure. A continuing and deep-rooted problem is delayed or non-payment of school fees by parents. This has had a significant negative effect on cash flow and has led to difficulties in paying teachers' salaries. The School owner has been encouraged to adopt a tougher stance with parents.
The sponsor a child scheme, started in May 2009, had a target of 50 sponsors by the end of the year. Disappointingly this has not been achieved and we only have 12 sponsors and 21 sponsored children. Nonetheless the extra money that the scheme has generated is allowing some children to gain a good education and is also benefiting general School finances. However, the salaries of teachers, who are currently taking home a lower salary than Government standard rates, have not been increased due to the low numbers of sponsors. The documentation for the scheme has been completed and UK and Tanzania co-ordinators appointed and trained.
A highly successful team visit was made to Arusha in August/September to assist in a number of projects, make new contacts and build relationships. The team of eight people (Trustees and supporters) spent periods of time up to four weeks in Tanzania. A summary of the main points from the visit report are given below:
- Developments at the Tuishime Nursery & Primary School are extremely encouraging – it has doubled in size to 183 pupils since 2007, the atmosphere in the School has become more professional and the teachers are now more committed to the School. Six new teachers have started in the last 2 years including a new headteacher who, although inexperienced, is very capable and will grow into the position. The School has capacity to increase its roll to about 300 without having to recruit additional staff. Already the School has a good reputation with educational authorities and parents but good exam results in 2010 are essential for the School to be positioned at the top end of the regional English medium schools. Volunteers and children designed artwork that is on display at the School.
- The children are a delight showing great enthusiasm for their schooling which is a key building block for the School to become high performing. Weekly debates have been recently started to encourage a less constrained learning environment for children. The recently donated reading and reference books have boosted the library resources and are proving very popular.
- All teachers are committed Christians and it is encouraging that the Bible is now taught as a formal curriculum subject. All teachers were interviewed and profiles of each teacher written based on the interviews. Common themes that came out were a desire for salary increases, the importance of Class VII exam results for recruiting new pupils and the need to improve school facilities. Pen pals in the UK are being selected for all teachers to encourage relationships to be built up.
- All the parents/guardians of sponsored children were visited and many told stories of extreme hardship and human tragedy. Profiles of each sponsored child have now been written and distributed to sponsors.
- Improvements were made to the fabric of the buildings - desks built for 60 children, shelving in the library and two rooms painted. Reconditioned laptops and a printer were donated and limited computer instruction given to a few teachers.
- A micro-credit loan scheme was discussed with a Tanzanian lady who works as an administrator for a European NGO operating such a scheme. She is an ideal person to act for Hope for Tanzania when we are in a position to start such a scheme. Our estimate is that £2500-5000 is required as a start-up fund.
- Grace Mbise, an evangelist from Christchurch Cathedral, Bishop Simon and the District Educational Officer were interviewed.
- Roger Lennard, our photographer, took video footage during the visit and is editing it into different clips showing the needs of Tanzania and the work of Hope for Tanzania.
- The home village of Mosses Paulo, who is Masai, was visited. Mosses has been supported in his education over a number of years, before Hope for Tanzania was started, and is a fine example of the benefits of investing in people. We received a warm welcome from Mosses's stepmother and village elders and were asked if we could help the village.
Donations made to the School have allowed one new classroom to be built for class VII and classroom VI to be completed. A secondary school raised money for educational books. Support was also given to assist the School to pay staff salaries in the last quarter of 2009, when cash flow became a real problem.
Support to a wide range of Tanzanians has also been of a non-financial nature with letters, phone calls and provision of learning resources which has been a great encouragement to many people in Tanzania. Meetings have been held in different churches in order to raise awareness of the work of Hope for Tanzania.
Support has been given to three students for their secondary school fees, all of whom hope to attend University. The sponsorship of one diploma business studies student has continued whilst another student, who has just started a B.Ed. degree is now been assisted.
Developments Planned for 2010
It is hoped that computer training can be given to a limited number of teachers in order to maximise the benefit that the donated computers will bring to the School. A printer will be purchased for use by the administrator and teachers. Pupil textbooks will be funded to give teachers an alternative teaching method to the blackboard. The quality of English is not as high as it should be so language classes will be arranged for teachers. A new classroom will be built to allow the baby class to move from its current location, which will both free up space within the bungalow and provide more space for the ever expanding baby class. Funding of students will continue although it is unlikely that any new students will be supported.
The website which was to be designed and operational by the end of 2009 has been delayed and an alternative designer will be sought to complete the work.
A medical clinic is being set-up in Arusha for poor people. Those who can afford full medical fees will subsidise the treatment of poorer patients. The clinic will offer minor operations as well as consultations for non-surgical conditions. One of our supporters will assist the clinic, through Hope for Tanzania, once the financial projections have been obtained and assessed to ensure that the clinic is financially viable over the next few years.
Mosses Paulo volunteered to carry out a survey of Masai villages in the area to identify the population size and their physical and spiritual needs. Hope for Tanzania will consider whether it can start a project amongst them in 2011.
Income Generation
In the period the most of the income came from individuals and schools.
Finance Report
The financial statements are enclosed with this report and consist of summary financial statements with detailed expenditure and income, and a segmental report showing which projects were funded and received funds in 2009.
Most of the income was immediately committed on specific schemes and the balance in the bank was minimal.
