EdUKaid

I am sitting here in Tanzania overlooking the Indian Ocean contemplating where to begin and where to end this blog. Normally, the blog entries are written by the staff in Tanzania to provide an insight into our lives here in Mikindani but I have only been here for three weeks and yet I feel that I have too much to tell. I am not so much talking about the three weeks here in Tanzania filled with experiences they might be but since January 2009 I have been living and working in Salisbury in the UK where we have been planning for the future. I do not mean to make it sound grand but it has been a truly remarkable experience. It has been extremely exciting to be left in charge of reviewing the entire charity in terms of projects, organisational structure in the UK and Tanzania, staffing needs in Tanzania and the UK etc., and then to come up with a new organisational structure with a stronger focus on the planned projects alongside some new ideas regarding volunteers.

In short I believe that we have been able to create a great deal of momentum within the charity which should mean that we are able to face the future head on. However, though our plans are in place we are still in need of finalising budgets etc. and this is going to be a challenge but in the end it will make us better suited for the future and in particular better suited for applying for funding in the UK. One particular exciting development in the UK was the decision to go ahead with the recruitment of a fundraiser who will be in charge of devising a new marketing and fundraising strategy. The person is as such going to be both the backbone and the face of the charity in the UK. The right person will take the charity to the next level and provide the charity with a boost of energy which should see a renewed enthusiasm on all levels. Hopefully, I will be able to second that enthusiasm here in Mikindani with which we are creating the necessary momentum for the charity to further progress and really make a difference upon the educational standard in the schools in and around Mikindani.

It was the intention from the very beginning that I was only to be in the UK for a couple of months before departing for Mikindani where I would be faced with the tasks of implementing our projects and seeing through the changes within the charity. Hopefully, I will have gained an insight into and an understanding of how the charity works as a whole as I now appreciate how the charity functions on both sides of the little rock that we call Earth. With this in mind I am in a far better position to call the shoot down here as I will not have to involve the trustees on a daily basis as I know their views and understand what they want to charity to focus on. Over the next few months I will be working closely together with the current project manager who will get me up to speed again on everything down here. Hopefully, this handover will be smooth leaving me in the perfect position to take over when her contract expires in the beginning of July.

As mentioned I have now been in Mikindani for three weeks and I admit that the feeling in my stomach is still one of excitement. The butterflies are thriving and multiplying on a daily rate. Talking about insects, the most annoying thing at the moment is the mosquitoes. We have just moved from the rainy period to the dry period and all the mossy eggs must have hatched within a few days. These little bastards are taking too much of a liking of Danish drips of blood. Normally, I am a very peaceful individual but my pacifist gens have been tested to the extreme. Waking up at night scratching my legs in my sleep made my patience run out with the little buggers so yesterday we decided to fight back. We could have opted for a small intervention ala the US forces landing in the Bay of Pigs in Cuba, however, this would only prolong the battle so we opted for another US solution. Going all by having the entire house sprayed with pesticide, basically trying to nuke the mossies to submission. Fingers crossed that it will be as effective as the only nuclear attack ever in human history but more about that another time perhaps.

Next week we are having meetings with almost everyone involved with education. We are always working closely together with the educational authorities so I will need to be properly introduced of course. We are also going to host a meeting with the Primary and Secondary Schools that we are supporting. I know that some head teachers and vice-head teachers have changed since last year but many are the same so it will be funny to see them all again. Hopefully, I will also be able to get round to all the schools before they go on holiday in the beginning of June as I want to see how they are all doing. I will keep you all posted of course. Take Care.