Hoja Project NEWS

Excellent Exam Results at the Hoja School Once Again!

2011-11-11T12:11:00.001Z

A message from Oswin:

"Dear all

I am glad to inform you that our school Hoja secondary school has done very great again in academic performance.

Last year it was 6th out of 156 schools in Ruvuma Region. All students passed their exams with the average of C.

This year again the results are out, Hoja secondary school is 5th out of 166 schools in Ruvuma region. All students have passed their exams with very good grade of C.

This makes our school to be most wanted. Till now we have received more than 230 applications of students who want to join at our school, but I hope only 40 to 50 will be accepted.

Asante Sana, I just wanted to share with you this great news!!"

WANTED! Swahili to English Translators

2011-06-01T19:43:00.003+01:00

Hello all.

This is a video of someone who received a loan from us to start an Income Generation Project (IGP).

For Translation - Hoja IGP Tailor from Phil Hatchard on Vimeo.

There's just one problem with it. It's in Swahili. In fact, I have an awful lot of video footage from Tanzania that's yet to be translated. It turns out hunting down people to translate videos from Swahili into English is harder than I thought.

But I've already tracked down one person to help me, through the Translations for Progress website, and I shall need to find a few more.

So if anyone out there thinks they might be able to push this blog post in the direction of someone who can help, please do. The more, the merrier, as it were.

All the videos can be found at vimeo.com/evilflea/videos, and start with the words "For Translation". Some are shorter, some are longer, and however much time you can afford to give, is more than welcome.

All a translator needs to do is get started, and let me know which video they're starting to translate, by emailing uk@hojaproject.org, so I can change the video description to stop anyone else doing it.

Translations should be as accurate as possible, with the odd time marker so I know where to subtitle. My Swahili's okay to generally follow what's being said, so you don't need to go completely mad with time markers - just enough so I don't get completely lost.

Many thanks in advance!

Phil

Update - Permaculture & Graduations

2011-04-16T20:18:00.001+01:00

Hello all. Welcome to another Hoja update.

Permaculture

Hoja has been looking into ways to help local farmers in Tanga ward work sustainably and Oswin has been telling us about some of the impact in his monthly reports:

NEGESO Rice Farm, Songea

Permaculture being the new thing to Songea community, but many people have proved that it is very important. An IGP group NEGESO attended the course and have applied the knowledge in the rice growing. They were doing this even before but they were using fertilizers. But this year they have done it without using fertilizers, instead they have used composite manures, the results have been very positive.

They are saying,they will get good profit as they have not used too much money as composite manures are free. Also they have used free natural pesticides. Gregory, the chair person of the Group said, "We were getting 61-70 sacks of rice for this portion of land, I hope this year we shall get more harvests. We were using 6 bags of fertilizers,but this year we have not used any fertilizer. We were using about 45,000Tshs [£23] for pesticides, but this year, it is free. This is very important education to the poor communities."

Vocational Training Centre & Non-Formal Secondary Education

While the Non-Formal Secondary Education students in Form Two were graduating in November 2010 (pictured above), the Vocational students were taking their national exams.

This month we found out their results and we're pleased that 18 out of the 21 students entered passed their exams in carpentry, building or tailoring. The other three students will have the opportunity to re-take in May - all of them passed the practical part of the exam, but failed the written theory exam.

Hoja Update!

2010-10-10T20:36:00.003+01:00

It's been a little while since I updated you all on Hoja goings-on, but sifting through my emails there has been a raft of activity.

Our Sponsored Secondary School Students took their Mock National Exams in May 2010, in which all schools participate. The students who attend the Non-Formal Education at our VTC all passed with an average of C grade, the only school out of 176 in Ruvuma region to achieve this.

12 of our students at the local Lupunga Secondary School, where we send many of our students, failed their practice exams, and we'll be working closely with Lupunga to help improve the standard of education they provide.

They'll be taking their real National Exams in November.

Oswin has also been updating us about our Income Generation Projects, based on data from the local government:

"Three years ago, the average income per family per day in Tanga ward and Gumbiro (the next ward) was 300Tshs (15 pence), now the situation is the same in Gumbiro ward and things are different in Tanga ward. Now the average income is 41 pence (810Tshs).

Many people are saying that this difference is because of
COCO IGP - Many people of Tanga ward have increased their daily income because of IGP.
Presence of COCO/Hoja Project in Tanga ward. Hoja are spending money in different things in Tanga ward. People of Tanga ward will definitely benefit from that money in one way or another. Also COCO/Hoja is educating people about self reliance.
The main road is passing through Tanga ward. This makes simpler for the people of Tanga ward to send their things to town and sell to make money."

After focusing on our secondary students last year, this year's Tutoring Programme returned to the primary schools, with the help of UK volunteers provided by COCO:

"We had two centres: Kituro primary school and Masigira primary school. The students enjoyed their learning in both centres.

Students are well prepared to seat for their national examinations and become good students when they start form one 2011.

We held the tutoring 2010 closing ceremonies on 4th July. The Volunteers from UK got the chance to attend one of these ceremonies. It was good day. Much good feedback from the community, government and the students.

One of the students at Masigira cenre died while at the centre, this was bad news and everybody was unhappy with this. This was Athuman Said, 14 years. Was very bright in the class. He died with malaria.

Good number of other people suffered from malaria during the training,they were treated and they are all recovered now."

The volunteers also helped:

start work on building a laboratory for the Non-Formal Secondary students at the Vocational Training Centre;
paint VTC buildings;
talk to our secondary students to help them practise their English;
conduct a nutritional survey to VTC students and pupils at Mpandangindo Primary School; and
organise a health day event.

That's all I have time for right now, there are a couple of other bits of news I'll try to distribute soon...

Hoja Update! Events, Climate Change, and Regular Donations

2010-06-09T08:58:00.000+01:00

A few snippets from Julia about recent goings on. First, our event at SOAS in February:

"Our Karamu Afrika fundraiser was a great success. It raised over £700 for The Hoja Project and hugely increased awareness of our work in rural Tanzania. We've had lots of positive feedback from guests at the event who ate a wonderful spread of Ethiopian food, heard Nigerian storytelling from Igbo culture by the remound Chinyere, saw a beautiful Ethiopian fashion show and a mesmerising dance by Meti.

There was some wild dancing to the African drum circle with Rhythm Synergy. There was a raffle and stalls selling African fabrics, jewellery, handmade spoons, and an impressive photography exhibition with photographs by Hoja's own Phil Hatchard of people and scenes from Tanga Ward where Hoja works. Thank you everyone!"

And a rather more recent event:

"We had fundraising concert at King Alfred School, London on 20th May. It was great to hold the event at King Alfred School which has been so supportive to Hoja over the years and who initially raised money to enable Oswin to receive teacher training.

The concert was largely organised by Alice Biddulph who played the piano with her friend, Ellie Jane Moran, a soprano. Both are extremely talented and gave excellent performances. We had a small but enthusiastic and supportive audience who all in all donated £136 and one person has pledged to give £10 per month as a regular giver. It was a highly enjoyable summer's evening.

Well done to all involved!"

On that last note, it's now rather easier to make regular donations to the Hoja Project. Just print and fill out the form on this page on our website and give it to your bank, or submit the details on the form via Internet Banking.

We're also starting to think more about environmental issues and sustainability in Tanga Ward, and Hoja's future work:

"The Climate Change Education Programme and Permaculture Initiative is getting underway. We are currently starting the funding application process and making links with nearby projects involved in similar activities. The aim is to sustainably grow a variety of edible tree and plant species. This aims to tackle the drying effects of climate change and deforestation which are leading to difficulties in crop growing and increased hunger in the region.

These practical steps will be undertaken by community members, one of two of whom will hopefully get the chance to take part in a Permaculture Design Course. Alongside the practical steps, will be an education initiative which will aim to increase the community's understanding of climate change, deforestation and related issues through film and educational performance (song and drama).

Watch this space.

In slightly less sensible news, I'm currently not shaving off a moustache that I grew for a play, in an effort to get the Hoja Donation Page up to £5,000. There's a blog post and a Facebook group and everything.

New Hoja Students Video, and Impending "Other News"

2010-03-07T21:42:00.000Z

I've put together a new video from the footage I got in May til August last year. It's not really much that's new, but I've changed the emphasis on bits I've already used, because I'm using it for assembly at the school where I teach this week.

Obstacles To Education from Phil Hatchard on Vimeo.

The Karamu Africa event on 22nd February went very well, and raised over £700 for the Hoja Project. I've been a bit slow getting things on here, but I'll try to get a proper post about it up on Wednesday. If anybody has any good photos they'd like to share please do email them to uk@hojaproject.org or philhatchuk@yahoo.co.uk.

Karamu Afrika! 22nd February, School of Oriental and African Studies

2010-02-03T16:18:00.002Z

[Click on the picture to make it bigger...]

It would be great to see you at this event. You can find SOAS here on this map. It's close the Russell Square on the Piccadilly Line, or Goodge Street on the Northern Line (Charing Cross branch).

Contact 07584 065211 or email for more information.

You can also RSVP to the Facebook event page, and invite all of your friends. All of them.

Christmas News Round-Up

2009-12-21T21:32:00.001Z

... not so much a round-up of Christmas news, but a round-up of old news posted at Christmas.

First things first: I've done a quick edit on some more of the video footage I shot in Tanzania this summer, and put it on the front page of our website. In the meantime we're working hard to make a special documentary out of the rest of the footage.

Julia and her mum Virginia Brownlow raised a whopping £1345.60 in July with their annual Beach Party Fundraiser in Ballyquinn beach in Ireland. Julia said, "Much singing, guitar and accordian-playing and eating of cream cakes was had by all until 3.30am. There were even Tanzanian acrobats who came along and performed with their fire-spinning friends. Congratulations to my mum, Virginia and local people in Ardmore and Ballyquinn for making it all happen."

The money is going towards Hoja's Income Generation Project (IGP) programme, providing loans to people from Tanga Ward so that they can start small business such growing crops, keeping animals, or managing small stalls or shops. The money is enough to give new loans to 54 people.

Here are some people already benefitting from the IGP programme. These pictures were taken by COCO's Lucy Philipson when she came to visit in July:

Hoja have also started working with the local Government and Albino organisations to help prevent many of the problems experienced in other parts of the country. Sadly it's not uncommon for Albinos to be killed in Tanzania and body parts to be used in witch doctor "remedies".

Oswin said after the meeting in October, "It is a fact that Albino are still killed in Tanzania. Most of us are very unhappy with what is done to our fellow Albino. Hoja Project,Mainly funded by COCO, through its perfomance groups is educating the community and government leaders through perfomances, that Albino are not killed any more.

"Till now no one has been killed in Ruvuma but many have been killed in other regions. We plan to campain that we remain in this state of peace in Ruvuma. I have attached some Photos of the members of the Meeting organised by Hoja-COCO which was about how to protect Albino from being killed in Ruvuma Region. The meeting was attended by government leaders and many Albino. This meeting was conducted at Muungano Vocational training centre."

VTC Principal Mr Nguruwe, Hoja Manager Oswin Mahundi
and IGP Manager Merrakione

Some of our sponsored pupils at Lupunga Secondary School have now finished Form Four exams and the national O Level exams. Here are some pictures of their graduation ceremony.

Hoja Education Manager Agaton with sponsored students Fideluck Liviga,
Hildelta Mngoni and Samwel Mhagama, and Hoja Accountant Limi.

I'm also pleased to report that thanks to the hard work of Hoja Tanzania, a female Lupunga student who became pregnant and kicked out of school, will be able to continue her education when she is ready, at a different Government school. Normally once a pupil has become pregnant, they would not be allowed to continue to receive state education. In the meantime she has given birth to a healthy baby boy.

Merry Christmas everyone. Hope your year has been as kind as 2009 has been to Hoja. We've seen the start of our Vocational Training Centre and Informal Secondary School, and our first cohort of sponsored students have completed their national exams. This has given us the opportunity to take a really good look at how our students are performing and consider how we can help improve teaching quality to help them do even better.

For two and a half weeks in November/December, Oswin Mahundi came to the UK, visiting COCO in Newcastle and Hoja volunteers in London. He attended COCO's AGM and Red Ribbon Ball, and spoke at numerous schools and universities. It was a great opportunities to give a little back to the many people who've supported but never visited Oswin and the Hoja Project over the years, and introduce a few new people to their work. He was unfortunate enough to just miss the snow by a matter of days, however.

Personally, I've been lucky enough to be involved in some of this first hand.

We received the following email at our Hoja UK address not long ago from Thomas Mkanula, a resident of Sanangula, the sub-village where the Vocational Training Centre is located:

I would like to give my thanks to you hojaproject stakeholders for your efforts in our ward particulary to our street (Sanangula) by establishing an education institution and vocation training college. Through what you are doing, most of of poor people who were unable to send their children benefit your services. Not only that but also employment opportunities is among of benefits obtained by my village mates. I've been playing to almighty God, he can bless you and if possible you do more than those you have do. I wish all the best in your activities.

Best wishes for 2010.

Hoja Founder Oswin Mahundi in the UK

2009-12-08T23:38:00.000Z

Oswin with Steve Cram and COCO staff Laura, Gemma and Lucy at the Red Ribbon Ball

Oswin has made his first trip outside of Tanzania, spending last week up in Newcastle with COCO staff, and this week with Hoja volunteers Julia Brownlow and myself in London.

He has been talking in schools and universities, as well as taking the opportunity to take in some sightseeing. He visited St James' Park stadium on Friday morning, for which COCO Director and Sunderland fan Steve Cram made amends in the afternoon by taking Oswin to a graduation ceremony at the Stadium of Light in the afternoon.

On Saturday we attended COCO's annual Red Ribbon Ball. Steve invited Oswin to speak at the event, and he explained how difficult it is for children to attend secondary school. He told all there how average family income in Songea is around £150 for the whole year, and fees are around £70 in Form One of secondary school - students have to pay for their own food, uniform, and even their own desk.

The event raised £15,000 for COCO projects (of which Hoja is one of many) and 36 people pledged to sponsor a student for one or two years. Many thanks from Hoja to all who put so much work into making the Ball such a success!

We hope we'll also be acquiring a few more Hoja supporters as a result of Oswin's visit, and look forward to more fundraising efforts that come from it. (Hint, hint...)

Us and Our Schools - Hoja-COCO Students Part 2 [video]

2009-11-25T17:12:00.000Z

The next video after this morning's post.

Us and Our School - Hoja-COCO Students Part 2 from Phil Hatchard on Vimeo.

Again, all related videos to this are posted in the Hoja Project album on Vimeo.

Let Our Sponsored Students Introduce Themselves [video]

2009-11-25T09:31:00.003Z

I did some filming when I was working on the Project in Tanzania from May 'til August this year. These are some of the students I filmed, introducing themselves.

Let Us Introduce Ourselves - Hoja-COCO Students Part 1 (7 Minute Version) from Phil Hatchard on Vimeo.

What we'd like to do with this is to start up some dialogue between some UK students (or students from elsewhere) and our sponsored students. I have quite a lot more footage, and will be editing together some of the questions that Hoja-COCO students would like to ask of students from developed countries, in the next couple of days.

If you'd like to be a part of this, please get in touch with me and let me know - my email is philhatchuk@yahoo.co.uk. All videos will be uploaded to this album.

In other news, we're quite excited that Oswin, Hoja's founder and my good friend, is coming all the way over from Tanzania to visit us. He's arriving in Newcastle today, and then will be coming down to London from the 6th December until the 14th. He'll be leading various talks at schools and colleges, taking part in workshops, and attending COCO's annual ball and AGM.

Hoja Holds Meeting With Local Albinos Over Persecution

2009-10-15T10:30:00.000+01:00

I was pleased to receive this email from Oswin a couple of days ago:

It is the fact that Albino are still killed in Tanzania. Most of us are very unhappy with what is done to our fellow Albino.
Hoja Project, mainly funded by COCO, through its perfomance groups is educating the community and government leaders through perfomances, that Albino are not killed any more.
Till now no one has been killed in Ruvuma but many have been killed in other regions.
We plan to campaign that we remain in this state of peace in Ruvuma.
I have attached some photos of the members of the meeting organised by Hoja-COCO which was about how to protect Albino from being killed in Ruvuma Region. The meeting was attended by government leaders and many Albino. This meeting was conducted at Muungano Vocational training centre.
Asante sana

Although there has been less persecution of Albinos in Ruvuma compared to other parts of the country, I know this is an important issue to many involved in Hoja, not least because our IGP Coordinator in Tanzania is an Albino himself. The relative lack of violence does not mean that discrimination is not a problem.

Support the Hoja Project when you sell items on eBay

2009-10-04T19:57:00.000+01:00

The Hoja Project have registered with Missionfish, eBay's charity arm, so that you can choose to donate between 10-100% of your selling price to the charity. Your account will also be re-credited with the selling fee paid on that part of the sale price.

Sell items through eBay for Charity and donate some or all of the selling fee to the Hoja Project

Painting the VTC - Hoja and COCO Logos finished

2009-07-04T13:24:00.003+01:00

Aside from some of the inside pictures I have already shown you, there have for the last week and a bit been some outside goings-on also.

This is the nearly complete first wall of the yellow and red (the ring beam is yet to be painted white), and the pink end wall with the COCO and Hoja logos painted on them. It's a veritable feast of colours, I'm sure you'll agree.

Hoja Volunteers to Leave Songea Tomorrow

2009-06-29T11:55:00.004+01:00

The last month has been a very busy one for everyone here in Songea. We have been lucky enough to have acquired three extra volunteers in that time - Krista and Liz, from the UK, and Giza, a Malawian artist whom the girls met whilst traveling.

Very quickly we were stuck into starting to paint the VTC, progress on which slowed down once Krista, Liz and I started teaching. For the last two and a half weeks, and the two weeks to come, Hoja are providing extra tutoring for all our sponsored secondary school students, at the VTC. Painting has now started on the outside of the building, and I've been reproducing the Hoja and COCO logos as well.

Giza left a week ago after doing some fantastic artwork inside some of the rooms, and Krista and Liz are leaving Songea tomorrow. We'll be sad to see them go, they've been a great help and haven't been shy to cast a critical eye over the project.

Last week we also held a workshop for Hoja's two performance groups, on the issues of HIV and Malaria, which culminated in us holding a two hour event at the VTC for the sponsored students. Then on Sunday, the Kimamba group took part in a village health event in Litisha, using many of the things we covered in the workshop.

Krista, Liz and I also took part in two fun days for a special needs class at Mitawa Primary School the last two Wednesdays.

Unfortunately I'm running out of Internet time now, so I'll end with THANK YOU KRISTA LIZ AND GIZA!

Hello From A UK Volunteer in Tanzania

2009-05-30T12:49:00.000+01:00

Hello from Tanzania.

For the last week I have been staying with the village chairman in Mpandangindo village, and I will be for another ten weeks.

I've come back to Tanzania to visit the Hoja Project and help out as much as I can for the maximum time a tourist visa will allow.

I will be helping (and teaching) in the Vocational Training Centre (VTC) in Sanangula mostly, but I will also be working in the office in Songea Town, and filming for making a Hoja documentary.

So far I have been welcomed by the Hoja Performance Group, and the secondary and vocational training pupils of the VTC, and we have been starting to organise the sports competitions, which this year will include women's football, and include teams from three wards, rather than only the villages that make up Tanga ward.

I have been in meetings with the VTC about their success and how I will help there, and also one very long but fruitful meeting in the Hoja Office, about IGPs, sponsored students, training seminars for Hoja Tanzania staff, and what to do about the growing number of people from outside Tanga ward who are taking note of Hoja's work and asking for help in their communities too.

I'm very impressed with the joined up thinking that underpins the VTC at Sanangula - building and carpentry students are helping construct the much needed new kitchen, both learning in the process and making the cost of the building much cheaper. The building will also include a shop whose profits will be fed back into the VTC.

The students on the secondary school course there are benefitting from a good student to teacher ratio and are performing much better in tests than many of the local government secondary schools.

Yesterday we watched students at Sanangula VTC play local sports matches against Lukala Secondary School, and while the girls battled to a 5-7 defeat in the netball, the boys took a 2-0 lead to half time in the football. Lukala pulled one back midway through the second half, and Sanangula missed three good late chances to finish off their opponents, before a controversial red card in the last few minutes gave Lukala the opportunity to pull of a 3-2 win.

Earlier in the day we had been filming with some members of IGP (Income Generation Project) groups, who were kind enough to talk to us about how Hoja has helped them. We captured some good footage, I think, though we were a little short on women who have been helped, so we shall have to visit some of those projects.

I shall try to keep you up to date with my adventures, and about the sharp end of Hoja's work.

More VTC Pictures & Mosquito Nets

2009-04-22T17:35:00.004+01:00

I've acquired some more photos from Oswin relating to the Vocational Training Centre, and I thought it would be nice to put them up on here.

This is the Principal of the VTC, in his office.

A lady named Susan Vernon generously donated money for VTC equipment and mosquito nets for 36 VTC students, and we had enough nets left over to give to some of the students we sponsor in secondary school.

Above is a photo of some of the VTC students receiving their nets. This could be really important to them, because if they get sick it would stop them attending school (and even worse, of course, could be life-threatening).

New Hoja Website Now Online

2009-04-17T18:40:00.002+01:00

A new updated Hoja Project website was uploaded yesterday morning, and can be found at the usual address:

www.hojaproject.org

Also, our UK online donation page is also back online at:

justgiving.com/hoja

In other news, last weekend's Good Good Friday looks to have raised slightly less than £400 for Hoja, which is cracking news and will go a long way.

Tailoring Students benefitting from Hoja's Vocational Training Centre

2009-03-24T11:59:00.005Z

I just received an email from Oswin containing only this picture. At the recent UK volunteers' meeting on Sunday 1st March, we all learnt that the VTC was already open for booklearning, and that practical classes would begin in two weeks.

The VTC is an opportunity for local students who don't have a place at secondary school, to learn a trade or skills from which they can earn a living.

I'm happy to see that in the last week or so the VTC has indeed got up and running properly, as shown in this picture of students studying tailoring.

Great news.

Good Good Friday to raise money for Hoja

2009-03-21T09:36:00.005Z

I'm pleased to report that "Team Nottingham" have named the Hoja Project as one of their two charities they are supporting this year for Good Good Friday 6.

Good Good Friday is an annual event for Join Me, a collective started by Danny Wallace. When they join, Joinees promise to "make every Friday a Good Friday", by performing a Random Act of Kindness on a complete stranger.

This means that the actual Good Friday (this year on 10th April) is Good Good Friday, and every year nearly a hundred joinees meet up to perform RAoKs on the good folk of Nottingham and hold competitions to raise money for charity.

For many the highlight of the event is now the following day, on Bad Bad Saturday, when Teams North and South do battle on the football pitch, with pride and 12 months' bragging rights at stake.

Last year GGF raised nearly £800, and are hoping to raise over £400 for each charity this year, so this is a great boost for Hoja.

If you'd be interested in joining in the fun, you'd be more than welcome (particularly if you'd like to help Team North retain their title), and more details about the event and activities can be found here.

Children's Health Researcher Wanted

2008-11-11T14:15:00.003Z

As Hoja haven't done much work yet on the health side of things, rather focusing more on education, COCO would like to get some data on children's health in the community, with an eye to setting up an outreach clinic.

To put it in Lucy's words:

COCO and Hoja are mainly focusing on education in Songea, Tanzania and we have done very little health work, with the exception of performance groups about HIV/AIDS and Malaria. At our new project in Kenya, our partners were lucky enough to find a nutritionist from UK, who volunteered for one month in Kenya and collected data concerning the nutritional and general health levels of the children in an area where we are hoping to build and run an outreach clinic. This research has been essential for our proposal and will be even more important to measure the improvements that will undoubtedly be made in 1, 2 and 3 years time etc. I would really like to find someone who could give up some time to carry out a health survey of the children in this area.

You can contact Lucy at lucy@coco.org.uk or on 0191 261 7427.

Newcastle University's Developing Areas Research Network (DARN) have been kind enough to also post this on their website, and I'm sure they will have more interesting opportunities posted there in the future for anyone stumbling across this post long after it ceases to be relevant.

UK Volunteers Meeting, 9 November

2008-11-10T12:03:00.003Z

Apologies if you've had problems finding our main website lately - it's been down for some time but we will get it back up as soon as possible. In the meantime, we're going to resurrect this blog to keep you up-to-date, and hopefully put a widget into the new website (when it appears) so news from this blog appears there too.

In the meantime, there is a page for Hoja on COCO's website, which can be found here. Feel free to direct anyone there.

Hoja is looking very exciting these days. Yesterday we held a volunteers' meeting at Julia's house in London, attended by around 15 people, to discuss progress and future plans.

Lucy from COCO was there, to tell us about her recent visit to Tanga ward, and showed us what she'd seen and how she thinks the project is going, which seems to be around 95% positive (Lucy has corrected me to 100%!).

COCO have been kind enough to support the Hoja Project for some time now, and are taking on the Vocational Training Centre being built there, which is hugely appreciated, as it would be a massive project to be taken on by volunteers.

A number of us also gave accounts of our impressions and feelings when we have visited Tanga and Mpandangindo in the past, and it was reassuring to hear how positive everyone felt about the project.

Some of the day was also set aside for discussing fundraising and awareness raising ideas, and there certainly seemed to be a general feeling that we would like to put on some bigger events and get some smaller regular events going as well. Watch this space.

Hoja Film

2006-07-15T21:30:00.000+01:00

The Hoja promotional film about Mpandangindo village is finished! It's great :) Thank you so much to Maja Georg for her hard work and all others who were involved. Hopefully we can put it online and you can watch it soon.

Durham fundraising

2006-07-15T19:30:00.000+01:00

Some news regarding fundraising in Durham over the last few months...

The Fire walk total was £4000! So a really massive thank you to all those involved. You can watch some of the fun at: www.durhamedia.com/firewalking.wmv ... it was an amazing experience :) A Durham fundraising committee has since formed and has lots of exciting plans.

Thank you to the FACE (Faith, arts, culture and environment) society who very kindly donated the money they raised from the world music night (£37) and the science and religion debate (£20.67) to Hoja.

Alex Dow, a member of the Durham Hoja Committee taught a very successful Swahili course during the spring term which raised money for Hoja through donations from her students. This amounted to approx £40.

The Durham Hoja Committee held Africa Night #2 in May, which was a great success, again raising £300. There was Zimbabwean djembe drumming (thanks to Arts Isiziba), stories from Sierra Leone, Rwandan dancing, ugali (even if it was rather yellow!!), mancala, music and an impromptu Swahili lesson from Alex. There was even a wonderful dancing lecturer who specialises in African history :) It was bomba kabisa! You can see pictures here: http://tinyurl.com/nm4zx

In June, the Hoja committee organised a global tea party held in a tiny park owned by St Oswald's Church and raised £60. There was a very diverse selection of teas, ranging from Morrocan mint to Turkish apple to Lapsang Souchong! We also had cakes, biscuits and lots of amazing arabic sweets, thanks to Antonia Rosati:) We even had a fantastic 'tea menu' created by Julia Minnear with information about each tea in connection to the culture it comes from. It was a beautiful day and there was African drumming (of course!) with Arts Isiziba. Thank you also to the tea and biscuit society for their help with the event!!
There are photos which I will try and make available soon...

Latest Hoja News!

2006-07-15T18:43:00.002+01:00

Hello! Appologies for such a long silence, but now we are back in full force :) Hoja has changed direction for the better since the last post was made...

The government built a ward secondary school in the village (Mpandangindo) to help with their election campaign at the end of last year. This is positive for Hoja as it means we can focus on other areas where help is desperately needed. In February, we carried out a community needs survey in Mpandangindo, the results of which are coming out in an independent report in August. Meanwhile, we have had a summary of those results and a recommendation that we should focus on vocational training, which is what was stressed by all the villagers interviewed. However, Hoja made a one-off donation to the school in May of books and furniture so it could open and start teaching. This has now happened and the school is government-run and sustainable!

We plan to build a vocational training centre offering professional training in specific skills such as tailoring, building and carpentry. Alongside this will operate a programme dealing with appropriate and relevant issues such as HIV/AIDS education, nutrition, life skills, income generating projects and farming methods and others as requested by the villagers. These educational programmes together will put people in a position to dramatically improve their own lives.

Join Me Pencils

2006-01-31T21:42:00.000Z

A big thank you to my friend Zena Johnson, who has been selling personalised Join Me pencils and giving the money to the Hoja Project. She raised £204 at the last (and I believe final) count, and a whole bunch of Gift Aid declarations landed on my doormat this morning, so we'll be raising a bit more in Income Tax donations too.

In other news you'll notice that I have been adding pictures to make the website a bit more appealing. Hopefully that will be a sustained effort. So far all of the pictures have come from a visit to Mpandangindo in October by Paul Temple. Paul is from the more experienced Luhimba Project, which is a charity helping Luhimba village, near to Mpandangindo.

The Durham Firewalk

2006-01-31T15:38:00.000Z

...has raised over £300 on the justgiving page alone. I lost count and gave up around that point. It also seems that no one has lost the ability to walk since the event (since Saturday), so all-in-all excellent news. I'm sure Julia will let me know exactly how much has been raised from the event. They were collecting moneys at the event and handing out the sparkly new regular donation leaflets that I'd whipped up on my laptop the night before, so the possibilities are endless.

So a big THANK YOU to everyone who took part in that.

I'll update this post when we have an idea of how much was raised. And add photos if I'm sent any.

[Edit 2nd Feb: Well, I'm told the total is actually around three or four grand. Bloody marvellous. I'm dead jealous and it makes me feel quite lazy for the miniscule amount I've raised personally. Well done everyone. And thank you.]

How to Donate

2006-01-04T13:45:00.000Z

The simplest way to donate to the Hoja Project is online, at:

justgiving.com/hoja

You can do this with most credit and debit cards, and you can also select for us to claim Gift Aid on your donation. Please remember to specify any specific event you are donating for (eg if you are sponsoring someone).

Also note that justgiving.com will deduct a 5% charge for every donation made through them. Big thanks to COCO for hosting our fundraising page and processing and passing on the money it raises.

Alternatively, you can donate by writing an old-fashioned cheque, payable to "The Hoja Project UK", and sending it through the post. Please email me at philhatchuk@yahoo.co.uk for our postal address.

If you want us to claim Gift Aid on a cheque, please fill out a donation form. These have been kindly hosted by Daniel Wagner-Hall and there a two versions. A pdf file is available at http://danblog.co.uk/host/philh/giftaidform.pdf and a MS Word document is at http://danblog.co.uk/host/philh/giftaidform.doc.

You can print this off and send it with your cheque or you can edit the Word document and email it separately.

Lastly, THANK YOU! All donations, no matter how small, are greatly appreciated.

There will at some point fairly soon (hopefully) be a form to become a regular donor to the Hoja Project.

The Famous February Firewalk, Durham

2006-01-03T14:27:00.000Z

This is an appeal for sponsorship from Julia, one of the Hoja trustees.

Hello everyone, I hope you’re well and the New Year is good so far!

Basically I’m writing to ask for your help. On Saturday 28th January, I’m due to be walking along a 20 foot (aaargh!) strip of burning embers, to raise money for the Hoja Project. The fire walk is run by an organisation called Blaze and will be in Durham market square. There are so far 52 of us taking part (=520 scorched toes!) – with all the profit going to Hoja…

Hoja is at an exciting stage, as the government has resumed work on an uncompleted secondary school in Mpandangindo Village. This means we can start work far sooner and the money can go where it is most useful rather than disappearing into building construction. Hoja is going to promote HIV/AIDS education, provide sponsorship for those unable to afford fees, provide vocational training and also run evening classes and courses for the whole community.

I would be *really* grateful if you could sponsor me – anything at all, no matter how small. I have to raise at least £120 of which I currently have £80. You can sponsor me at:

justgiving.com/hoja

Just write in the comments section that it’s to sponsor Julia Brownlow for fire walking.

Thank you thank you thank you! :)

Have a great year,

Julia xx

New Donation Page!

2005-12-13T18:43:00.000Z

Many thanks to the Comrades Of Children Overseas (COCO) who have agreed to pass on to Hoja donations made through justgiving.com. And of course many thanks to Dan who came up with the scheme. Justgiving.com is a great site, but just too expensive for such a small charity as us to be part of, so this is a really great help.

And special thanks to those who seem to be participating in The Famous February Firewalk (gosh) and The Durham 5K Run, raising money for Hoja.

You can find the donation page at justgiving.com/hoja

African Night raises £300

2005-11-25T16:53:00.000Z

Well done to our very own Julia, who held a fundraising event last night at Durham University.

Just to say the African evening last night was fantastic and raised £300 for Hoja :)

There was Cameroonian storytelling, African board games (eg mancala, bantumi etc), Egyptian belly dancing, food, bongo flava, film, Phil's Tz slides (thanks!) and lots and lots of DRUMMING!!! It was held in the upstairs of a bar and we covered it in kanga and kitenge decorations and candles.

Excellent.

Hoja Update

2005-10-09T00:29:00.000+01:00

Since I last posted on this site the Hoja Project has become a registered charity in the UK (no. 1111350), and our aims have been updated. A video is being put together of the Hoja site in Mpandangindo village, and we will have a new website in the near-ish future. We have had a very constructive meeting with Paul Temple of the Luhimba Project, with whom we hope to share knowledge and ideas. We're looking into ways of accepting on-line donations.

Studios Tour Raises £690

2005-06-06T18:53:00.000+01:00

On Saturday, I went on a tour around a film studios in London, where they are making a blockbuster feature film coming out this autumn.. There were two tours of twelve people - one in the morning and one in the afternoon - and the money raised went to the Hoja Project.

Each tourist paid £25 pounds for the privilege, except those who chose to make larger donations, and the final figure raised was £690. It was money well spent, even including the train fare I incurred from Exeter, to attend such an informative and, for a slightly unhinged film buff such as myself, mindlessly exciting experience.

So a big thank you goes to all involved in organising the tour for us. Also, of course, to all the lovely people who attended the tour.

[EDIT 14th June: Now it's £755 apparently. Job well done.]

[EDIT 28th June: Just been informed the grand total is now £840.]

[EDIT 24th July: It just keeps going up and up... £865.]

The Love and Hope Orphanage Centre, Makete

2005-05-23T08:57:00.000+01:00

Another fellow volunteer from Tanzania, Rizick Msombe, is part of a project to build an orphanage in Makete. Good luck to them. Here I have attached their proposal for the project.

Orphanage proposal

What is The Hoja Project?

2005-05-09T01:34:00.000+01:00

[EDIT 3rd Jan 2006: Since I wrote this post work on an uncompleted Government secondary school in the village has resumed, and we will now be supporting that school. All the details aren't certain yet, so I won't update this properly just yet. It should mean that we have a lesser initial sum to raise, and we can focus on providing the facilities that we feel are important, in cooperation with the school.]

In 2004, a certain group of young people were working as volunteers for the charity Students' Partnership Worldwide (see link in sidebar). They - okay, we (yes, I was one of them) - were based in Iringa region in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania.

Living in various villages, we were teaching in the local primary schools and working with the local youth. Our work involved a wide range of activities, but the main focus was always on reducing young people's vulnerability to HIV.

Unbeknownst to the rest of us, one of the other volunteers was hatching a plan. His name was (and, he tells me, still is) Oswin Mahundi, and his plan was thus:

To build and run a secondary school on the edge of his home village of Mpandangindo, in Songea region.

Of course, this would be a massive, not to mention impossible, undertaking were he to attempt it himself. By roping in many of his friends, however, he has now turned this dream into a very real possibility.

Secondary education in Tanzania

Primary education in Tanzania is compulsory, yet the number of students advancing on to secondary school, let alone finishing their education, is tiny. According to UNICEF, between 1998-2002, secondary education enrolment was just 6% for boys and 5% for girls nationwide.

This problem doesn't lie solely with the lack of schools either. Most Tanzanians simply can't afford the fees of less £100 a year. Girls, in particular, are vulnerable to those who might offer to sponsor them through school.

Secondary education lasts six years. At the end of Form 4, students take their O Level exams, and in Form 6, their A Levels. If they finish at least the first of these exams, they may have the opportunity to enter a profession such as teaching.

Hoja School Ethos

Much of the proposed school ethos is based on our experience as SPW volunteers. The use of non-formal education (NFE) techniques, the elimination of corporal punishment, the teaching of life skills, and the promotion of gender equality are key to both the more specific aim of beating HIV and the wider goal of reducing poverty.

Non-formal education

In most classrooms in Tanzania you will find the children sitting quietly in rows, with the boys on one side of the class, and the girls on the other. The teacher will be telling them what to write, and they will write it. When a question is asked, there will only be right and wrong answers.

With the Hoja Project, we want to teach the students to think for themselves. We want to use games, group work, discussion, debate, drama and role plays to achieve this. We want them to develop their own ideas and opinions, and to respect those of others.

Corporal punishment

In Tanzania, corporal punishment is allowed, and is supposed to be strictly controlled, but in practice it is often used extensively. We would not allow any corporal punishment in the Hoja School, and a more inventive use of both reward and punishment will be encouraged in its place.

Corporal punishment is not only physically cruel to a child, but it holds back their education. A child who is afraid of being hit will not offer answers to questions in class. Rather than risk making a mistake from which they can learn, they will simply sit and keep quiet, learning nothing.

Life skills

Life skills are those skills that enable you use your knowledge to make the right choices in life. For example, a girl may know how HIV and other STIs are transmitted, and she may know how to prevent them being transmitted, but if she does not know how to say "No", that initial knowledge is useless.

The Hoja school will aim to build the confidence and self-esteem of students to enable them to make the right choices in life, recognising that knowledge would not necessarily make them any less vulnerable to difficult situations.

Gender equality

Young women and girls are far more vulnerable than men in Tanzania. Through all that I've outlined here, through NFE and mixing classes, through equal treatment in punishment and reward, and through the teaching of life skills, Hoja would aim to give every girl as good a chance of succeeding in life as every boy in the school.

It's not just about building the self-confidence and self-esteem of girls, but also teaching the boys that they are equal, and that each individual has something to offer and should be respected for it.

Funding the school

Initially, the cost of setting up the school is estimated at around £15,000, and it is anticipated that this will be raised before any work begins.

Once the school is up and running, sponsors would be asked to pay the school fees of a pupil for one year, at around £84 or £7 per month. This would cover their fees, and the student's family would be expected to cover the cost of their food. The sponsors could keep in contact with their sponsee, and see the effect that their money is having.