Located on the western shores of Lake Victoria, Bugabo Area
Development Programme (ADP) is in Tanzania's Kagera Region. The ADP
is made up of 17 villages, with a total population of 45,000
people. HIV/AIDS poses a major threat to sustainable community
development in Bugabo.
Agriculture & income generation
Most of the people grow crops, raise livestock or fish for a
living. Mixed farming is practised, with banana plots interplanted
with coffee, beans and maize.
World Vision helps farmers increase crop production and income
by training them in improved techniques and providing quality seed
and fertilisers. Vanilla vines are distributed to grow as a cash
crop. Selected farmers can train in modern farming methods and then
demonstrate the benefits to their communities.
To encourage animal husbandry the ADP trains farmers in animal
care and dairy production and provides them with good quality cows,
dairy goats and pigs under a loan system.
Other income generating initiatives include women's poultry
projects and gardening and carpentry for young people.
Health
World Vision trains village health workers to promote health
issues amongst their neighbours and help immunise children under
five years old against the six childhood killer diseases - measles,
diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio and tuberculosis. It
trains traditional birth attendants in modern delivery methods and
teaches mothers about the importance of childhood nutrition. The
ADP encourages people to build latrines to improve sanitation and
use insecticide-treated mosquito nets to prevent malaria.
HIV/AIDS
More than 2,000 children in Bugabo ADP have been orphaned by
AIDS. World Vision trains and provides bicycles to volunteer AIDS
counsellors and home-based care workers, who visit and support
families affected by HIV/AIDS. It forms HIV/AIDS clubs in schools
and trains students to educate their peers about the risks of
HIV/AIDS.
Water
Bugabo's villagers depend on water from springs, rivers and Lake
Victoria for their livestock and domestic use. While there is
plenty of it, in general water from the lake and springs is not
safe for drinking. The cost of charcoal and firewood deters people
from boiling drinking water, so water-borne diseases are
common.
The ADP helps the people build rainwater tanks in primary
schools to give children access to clean drinking water and trains
water user committees to maintain water sources and protect them
from contamination by animals.
Community leadership
World Vision forms community-based organisations and holds
elections for community leadership posts. The leaders are trained
to effectively manage development activities, access government
support and mitigate natural disasters.
Education
Literacy rates in Kagera are high in comparison with other
regions of Tanzania, because missionaries established schools there
in the 19th century. In recent times, however, the level of
education has deteriorated as buildings have become dilapidated and
people's incomes have fallen.
The ADP works with Bugabo communities to build or repair
classrooms. It supplies desks and textbooks and provides school
fees, stationery and uniforms for needy children who would have to
drop out of school without such help.
Faith
The ADP partners with local churches for HIV/AIDS activities. It
supports the churches by providing such items as bicycles for
pastors (to make it easier for them to visit families in their
parish) and sports equipment for church-run youth activities.
Sustainable development
World Vision and the people of Bugabo ADP envisage that by 2008
the community's development will be at a level that no longer
requires World Vision assistance.
Tanzania at a glance
The shouts of 'karibu', or 'welcome', which greet visitors to
Tanzania, speak of the long tradition of hospitality and
friendliness that characterises East Africa's largest country.
