Newsletters from Tanzania

When you first arrive at Kilimanjaro Airport, you’ll have a chance to go east or west. Towering over the western horizon is the Mighty Kilimanjaro with its snow capped peaks and its lofty designation as the highest mountain in Africa. Overlooking the eastern horizon sits Mt. Meru. At 4,566 metres it sits unglamorously at number 10 on the list of tallest mountains in Africa.

After 6 months, over 100 volunteers, and a last minute bout of food poisoning, Claire Howlett has left Tanzania to join our team in the UK. Such a momentous tenure could not be ignored and our local goat wrangler/program developer/all around good guy, Herman Sanka insisted on a celebratory occasion at his house.

International Women’s day was on March 8th this year and it held special significance here in Tanzania. The theme was "Equal Rights, Equal Opportunities: Progress for All.". This year the International AIDS Society(IAS) decided to place a new focus on women and children who make up the majority of people living with HIV worldwide. On this specific day an agenda was released which was made up of 20 specific recommendations to expand and improve responses to the HIV-related challenges facing women and children worldwide.

On Sunday 7th February I went to the Meserani Snake Park with some of the children I work with from St Lucia Orphanage. We had a such a great morning as we had a chance to look at all the dangerous snakes that live in Tanzania including the python,the green and black mamba's and the spitting cobras (all behind glass I hasten to add). We even had the opportunity of holding one of the smaller, nonvenomous snakes, which most of the kids were up for, including myself

As Christmas and the end of 2009 are near, the people of Arusha are busy with the preparations to turn these days into the best moments of the fading year. Christmas and the New Year is an important time of year for the people of Arusha. Everyone is busy with preparations in order to ensure that the last few days are turned into the best moments of the fading year. Throughout December you can see people buying new clothes, food and decorations for all the celebrations.

World AIDS Day, which is on the 1st December, was conceived in 1987 by two public information officers for the Global Program on AIDS at the World Health Organization as a way to bring awareness and education to the world about the pandemic. After two decades of HIV/Aids prevention initiatives, donors and governments are under more pressure than ever to concentrate resources on prevention strategies that are known to work.

On the 4th November 2009 a national campaign was launched in Dar es Salaam to help improve hygiene and sanitation in Tanzania. The idea has come from the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. The Unicef representative, Dr. Abdulai Tinograh, said that Tanzania needs sweeping changes in approaches towards sanitation and significant investments.

The week surrounding the 14th October has been effectively Nyerere Week in Tanzania, with a spate of activities held to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the death of the man fondly known as the Father of the Nation. Julius Kambarage Nyerere was not only Tanzania's first president; he was also the Tanzanians' favourite president.