In December last year I came across a poster advertising a volunteering trip, organised by the Health Improvement Board (HIB), part of COEJ, to take place in summer 2009. The idea appealed to me – I had never been to East Africa, but I was aware, or so I thought, of the situation. I knew that poverty was widespread and that education and healthcare, those things we in the UK see as a right, not a privilege, were available readily to the rich but rarely to the poor. I wanted to visit a part of the world that was new to me, and so much the better if I were able to make a difference to someone else’s life.

In March this year a seminar was scheduled by the HIB team in order to introduce the volunteers to each other and provide general information about the trip. We were given some background about the work we could expect to do (primarily teaching at the Kibaha schools) and the organisations that we were likely to visit. In addition, the topic of fundraising was broached – whilst the focus of the trip was to volunteer, it was suggested by the HIB coordinator that fundraising would benefit the organisations in the longer term. What followed was a lot of hard work on the part of volunteers and, with it, generous donations of clothing, toys and money. As a result of this generosity we were able to donate to each institution we worked at or visited.

So, in July, after months of planning and hundreds of emails, off we went; fifteen people who barely knew each other. I don’t think any of us knew what to expect.

Initially, we were pleasantly surprised. The Kibaha complex is large and the buildings modern. 1200 students live and are educated by the organisation and the grounds also contain an orphanage and medical centre. The students, though often poor, are bright and ambitious. They aspire to go to university, obtain degrees and experience life as we do – lives of comfort and security. It was humbling to see their thirst for knowledge and desire to improve their situations. I found myself wondering, however, how many of them would be fortunate enough to realise their ambitions.

Nevertheless, the atmosphere in Kibaha was one of positivity and I sensed that there was a real belief in these children and what they could achieve. It was obvious that those in charge genuinely wanted to provide the best education and care they were able to. The orphanage on-site was bright, clean and well-equipped. The children were well-cared for and obviously enjoyed spending time with the volunteers.

This was far from the image I and my colleagues had had – we had envisaged run-down buildings and poor facilities. Though not to the standard we may expect in the UK, the amenities were more than adequate, and certainly far superior to many institutions in Tanzania. Nevertheless, I remain concerned about the nutritional value of the food provided at the schools. The children subsist on primarily starchy foods. They rarely get any meat and are never provided with milk or dairy products. More recently, it has been possible for each child to receive one piece of fruit a week. Though those in charge endeavour to provide meals which are nutritionally balanced, funds simply do not allow for a varied menu. Often, resources are used to cover the shortfall when families become unable to pay school fees. Once these have been met, there is precious little left to spend on luxuries such as fruit.

As our trip progressed, so the harsh reality became more prominent. Medewell, the on-site medical centre, is run by a team of dedicated doctors and nurses. They treat patients from as far away as 40km, many of whom are unable to pay for their medication. These medications may cost as little as $1, but, more often than not, the staff at the centre, already on nominal salaries, will pay the bills. Much of the machinery, already basic, is semi-functional. Gloves and plasters, which should be readily available, have to be rationed. Due to the lack of a generator, each power cut leads to a complete shutdown. Because of a shortage of nursing staff the resident Doctor often works 24-hour shifts to ensure that patients are monitored throughout the night.

Visits to external organisations were also planned as part of our trip. The first of these was to a cancer unit in Dar es Salaam. I don’t think any member of our group will ever forget the sights we saw that day – patients lying three to a bed, poor sanitation and, because of a lack of space, mattresses on the floor. Often, patients had spent so much time trying to obtain the money required for transport to the hospital that their cancers had progressed aggressively. It was common to see patients with tumours as big as fists on their faces and necks. It was common, too, to see albinos, their skin ravaged by cancer, simply because they did not have access to clothing that would protect them from the African sun. There were patients who had lost eyes, patients whose bandages were bloody and pus-stained. And, again, there was a lack of funding. £250 will pay for chemotherapy for those individuals whose cancer had advanced beyond the usual, free, treatments. Similarly to Medewell, volunteers contribute towards the cost of medication but their pockets are not bottomless. Without money, they can only do so much to try to help the afflicted.

The visit to the cancer unit was, without question, the most emotionally draining of all. It was, though, the most inspiring. The volunteers who give their time and energy perform a truly worthy task and they do it selflessly. I’ve rarely met people so dedicated to helping others. But, yet again, the reality of the situation hit us. Three weeks after our visit we were informed one of the young girls at the unit had died.

The next excursion was to Umrah orphanage, and the contrast with the Kibaha orphanage could not have been greater. There was one bathroom for sixty children to share.  Eighteen slept in a room 10’ x 10’. A few metres from the orphanage was an area used for burning rubbish, including plastics, and, during the course of our visit, the fumes were overpowering. In addition, there were shards of broken glass on the ground and the orphans, as is usual in Africa, played barefoot. We were informed that one of the children was HIV positive but there was no way to manage the risk of cross-infection. Purchasing gloves and sterilising wipes was simply not feasible for those who ran the institution, and the same was true of medicines – whilst we were there, one of the younger children had an asthma attack, but, with no inhaler, all the owners could do was give her juice and advise her to lie down. And yet, Umrah orphanage is not the most deprived orphanage in Tanzania. There are plenty with more children and fewer resources, plenty where the facilities would appear, to our eyes, completely unacceptable.

Our final visit was to a well-digging project. As part of a relief project, the organisation regularly builds both shallow and deep wells in villages where there in no access to clean water. Prior to being shown the wells, we saw rainwater being collected from muddy holes. The water was grey and cloudy and, though none of us would have drunk it for a thousand pounds, it was the only option the villagers had.

Back in Kibaha, we spent time talking to those people who made our stay comfortable – the cooks, the people who did our laundry. The minimum wage in Tanzania is £30 per month. Some of the people working there told us how, having spent an hour walking to work and a full day there, their incomes provided nothing but food. For them, sending their children to school was impossible. But without education, their children stand no chance of improving their own lives. They are destined to live as their parents do; surviving, but not living.

And so our trip came to an end. I missed Africa, and the organisation, enormously. I missed the people I had met and the sights I had seen. But, more than that, I was left with a deep sense of anger – anger that, in a country where some are so rich, so many live on nothing. I was angry that people with cancer had to sleep on the floor because of a lack of space. I was angry that children had to play near rubbish dumps simply because there was no suitable area for them, that they could be denied basic medicines and that this was somehow acceptable.

But anger is futile without action. I, and other members of our group, would like to return to Kibaha and try to give what we can. However, manpower can only do so much. Manpower will not provide a medical centre with equipment; it will not pay for chemotherapy. Manpower will not pay for a child to go to school; it won’t buy them an inhaler.

What all these organisations need is money and equipment. The only way to improve the situation of the people we saw is to give them tangible resources. Some of us came back from Kibaha inspired by those who give their time and energy to run these projects and hope, God willing, to be able to help in some way. But we are only a few. The Khoja community is large and the possibilities vast. The institution in Kibaha is relatively unknown in the UK, but, with time, the organisation, and the work it does, could become as well-known as any other. With the generosity of the Khoja community, there is no reason why the organisations we saw, and the individuals who utilise their services, should have to continue as they are any longer.

If you would like to donate to these causes, please do so through COEJ by calling the office and stating you would like to donate to the “HIB summer volunteering trip fund”. You can also donate through the website.

 

Thanks to COEJ

 

We take this opportunity to the thank the Almighty Allah (SWT) and the COEJ  and would like to extend our gratitude for  arranging a volunteer scheme and sending 15 volunteers to WIPAHS (Kibaha).

The commitment of these youths and their parents did not only touch the lives of the people they served but in fact  reignited the flame of hope in their hearts thus inspiring them to strive even harder to make a difference to yet another soul. For which we can only say Ahsante Sana.

The difference in services, efforts and commitments that these youths experienced in Kibaha has been designed and built by the moral, financial and prayer support trusted to us by all of YOU and YOUR families for which the least we as humans can do is thank you and pray that the Almighty (SWT) grant us all the best of this world and the hereafter.

As a gift we request a Sura Fateha for the departed souls of the members of the families of the youngsters who devoted 28 days at Kibaha and those from your loved ones who have left us to struggle to make this world a better place for every soul to live.

 

 

 

HIB