News & Events

For two years FUM helped with further training for Dr Mary Mkamwa, a skin specialist. She is now fully qualified and one of her responsibilities is for the 52 people in Nzega District who suffer from albinism. This includes the family in Mambali.

Sadly the mother died recently of skin cancer, a common problem due to the lack of protective melanin in their skin.

To help Dr Mary in her work FUM made a one-off donation to provide a year's supply of factor 60 suncream for each of the 52 sufferers. They will also receive regular check-ups with Dr Mary.

The staff house is complete and the rainwater project was completed soon after Easter. The clinic is now fully functional with staff accommodation on site and a good supply of water.

We are very grateful to our colleagues in Tanzania who have made this possible, with help from FUM. It has been a long haul but well worthwhile and it will make a huge difference to the local villagers.

Bureaucratic delays mean that there has been very little progress with the government's wider scheme.

FUM has agreed to hold its contribution promised for the Maboha section.

It has become apparent that the underground water table in the locality has been falling for a number of years, making the two existing shallow wells increasingly unreliable.

Early indications are that a deep borehole will be needed but its viability will need to be confirmed by a hydrological survey.

Our special project fundraising for 2020/2021 is to raise funds for a solution to Isegenhe's water problems.

With help from the local community and especially from our colleagues at
Friends of Nzega (FON) construction of this much needed accommodation was completed just after Easter. It means that a nurse is always available so is particularly beneficial for night time maternity deliveries. It was opened by our good friend Hon Godfrey Ngupula the District Commissioner. The resident nurse is Pius Mahela.

The doctor's house was in need of refurbishment, partly because of a leaks due to poor roof design. The clinic building also needed a small amount of reinforcement in one corner.

Students from Cranbrook School in Kent offered to pay for this work and a group of students planned to visit in July 2020 and help with the work. Unfortunately the corona pandemic caused their visit to be cancelled but they kindly agreed that the work could go ahead.

The leaky roof has now been replaced, new aluminium windows fitted and with burglar bars, the internal ceiling has been replaced, the floor now tiled and walls repainted.

  Read more about Mwasala doctor's house upgrade

Following the success of the 'trial run' with nurse Alexander in 2019 (below) FUM and our colleagues in Friends of Nzega (FON) have sponsored six more nurses from poor families.
All had passed their two-year basic course at Nzega College of Nursing and are now studying for the more advanced Diploma course at Tukuyu in southern Tanzania.
They will then return, fully qualified, to work in Nzega Hospital and will make a great difference to the nurse workforce there, as nurse Alexander did.

It is expected that in the next year or two Nzega College of Nursing will be accredited to teach the Diploma course so student nurses will be able to complete their studies there.

Twenty five years after was built, the clinic was in need of some serious renovation and Cranbrook School in Kent agreed to support this work with FUM.

A design was agreed with the Mambali doctor and the work was supervised by our good friend Mr Gomegwa who had also supervised the original 1995 building work.

The original barn-like space inside the building was partitioned to give four rooms with plasterboard ceilings.  For the first time a separate consultation room gave privacy for examinations, a great improvement for villagers.  Two bedroom accommodation for the medical officer was also included so emergency service is excellent.