Trustees Annual Report 2012

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 relieve poverty in particular but not exclusively by improving 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.

Hope for Tanzania works in the following areas:

assisting Tuishime Nursery and Primary School to educate its pupils and develop its school buildings and facilities.
supporting community projects to improve education, generate income and improve employment prospects.
supporting individuals in Tanzania to improve their education and/or promote the Christian faith.
providing short term opportunities for people from the UK to visit Tanzania to work in projects.
encouraging people from the UK into long term work in Africa where the work is predominantly Christian based.

How we work

We work with trustworthy individuals in Tanzania to ensure that funds are spent on designated projects and no issues arise around corrupt practices. At present we are mainly focussing our support on Tuishime School and Arusha New Clinic as we firmly believe that long term focussed assistance is critical to achieve the changes that we want to see.

The projects that have been supported in 2012 were solely for the benefit of people living in Tanzania - students, children, families, patients. Our programmes are run for the benefit of people irrespective of their religion, gender or age.

The support we give is of limited duration and we take great care that people do not develop long term dependency on aid. The child sponsorship scheme, in particular, means that families have the opportunity to send their children to primary school. Only in rare instances, such as extreme financial hardship or exceptional academic ability, will we continue toprovide support for a child through their secondary education. Hope for Tanzania funding levels are rather modest, so they will have no effect in distorting the local economy.

What we did - Activities, Achievements

In setting its objectives for the year and allocating funds to projects, the trustees have complied with their duty of care in regard to the public benefit guidance as published in section 4 of the Charities Act 2006 by the Commission. The trustees always ensure that its programmes are in line with the charitable aims and objectives of Hope for Tanzania.

During 2012, Hope for Tanzania has carried out its activities in Tanzania for the public benefit as follows:

Education at Tuishime School

The school is thriving. An additional classroom was built during the year to accommodate the class previously using the room which was converted into the computer centre. A library and store room, of a smaller size, were also constructed.

The computer room was completed early in 2012 and fitted with desks, electrical sockets, and interior furnishings. It was fully functioning by May when IT was incorporated into the curriculum. A number of laptops were returned to the UK and refurbished prior to being taken back out to the school.

The number of children is now almost 300 which is a significant increase from the number at the start of the year. The school teaches the full Tanzanian syllabus as well as French and computing both of which have made it highly attractive to prospective parents. The finances are more robust and the school now has a balanced budget although it still requires some assistance from us for large capital items.

All of the children in class VII passed their national exams and are thus able to continue to secondary education. We are thankful that this is the third consecutive year that the School has achieved 100% success. The education authority continues to regard the school highly and is very helpful in directing pupils to the best government secondary schools in the city.

The school is being expertly guided by the director, Naomi Masenge, and we are confident that the quality of education and life experience of the children will become even better over the next few years.

Support and Education of Individuals

We currently have two students to whom we offer financial help.

Felicia has graduated with a B.Ed. degree having achieved a good grade. She is now looking for a job in the Tanga region, where her husband Emanuel now works.
Thomas Godfrey is studying at Arusha Secondary School and is doing well having achieved 6th position out of 51 pupils in 2012. We will continue to sponsor him throughout his secondary education.
Mr Augustino, an educational officer, was assisted in his work with a one-off payment.

The child sponsorship scheme continues to make a significant contribution to the lives of individual children at the school and their families. The number of children sponsored is now 24 which is a slight increase compared with last year. The sponsorship amount per child has been increased to offset higher school costs and generally sponsors have increased their monthly donation. The proportion of children from very poor backgrounds has fallen, due to the need to balance the school budget. A new UK co- ordinator was appointed who has first hand experience of the School, having visited it in 2011.

Support to a wide range of Tanzanians has included letters, emails, phone calls and text messages which play an important part in encouraging the many people in Tanzania with whom we have contact.

Send a Computer Scheme

We sent 90 reconditioned computers from the charity Computers4africa (www.computers4africa.org.uk) to four schools in Arusha (Tuishime Primary School, Kijenge Primary School, Ukombozi Primary School and Uhuru Primary School) having arranged for classrooms at each of the schools to be set up as IT suites. It was a pre-condition that this work was completed before the computers were shipped and all schools installed the computers by mid 2012 and started teaching children practical computing soon afterwards. Already they have made a huge difference in the schools and needless to say we have been asked to donate further ones, which we will do as funds permit.

Renovations to Bungalow

A donation was made for renovation of the bungalow at Tuishime School which will become the new home of Felix and Naomi Masenge on their retirement in 2013. It was originally built by the Masenges as their retirement home but converted into two classrooms when they started the school in 2001. The bungalow has been vacated with pupils occupying the newly built classrooms which will renovations to be started in early 2013.

Arusha New Clinic

The clinic has had to close as it could not meet the size criteria of recent government legislation. This was deeply disappointing as a lot of effort and support had gone into its setting up and it had only just started carrying out minor operations. We are very appreciative of the support that two of our supporters have provided to the clinic and thankful that a new home has been found for the equipment in a hospital in Dar-es-Salaam. Whilst this venture was unsuccessful we are not daunted by such difficulties and will continue to look for opportunities in the medical area.

Fundraising and Administration

Trustees held a stall at Duffield Carnival where they advertised the work of Hope for Tanzania. The website has been refreshed and we continue to receive favourable feedback on its layout. Handmade Christmas cards and a newsletter were sent to general supporters summarising the year's activities. Hope for Tanzania is now recognised in Tanzania as a NGO which allows it to have its own bank account; this has now been set up.

Visits

The academic master from Tuishime visited the UK as a result of the successful British Council grant application by one of our trustees. He spent a week at a UK school and visited other schools, parents, churches, friends and family as well as London and Derbyshire. He added cultural colour to the Hope for Tanzania stall at the Duffield Carnival and was guest of honour at the garden party we held for supporters during June. His visit was a great encouragement to us and he had a wonderful and beneficial time. Now he is putting into practice the new teaching and administration skills he saw and learnt.

Two of the trustees visited Tanzania in October and came back with encouraging reports on Tuishime School's standard of teaching, the motivation of teachers and happiness of children all of which are so important to continuing success. The trustees taught lessons, advised the School on financial matters and built relationships with teachers and other friends. Future projects such as Christian literature resources, micro finance and training of church members were investigated although these will not be started until further understanding has been developed.

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