Tanzania project profile

Bugabo ADP

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. We will keep you updated on their progress.