Support Tanzania Earthquake Relief

The earthquake that struck Tanzania on 10th September 2016 was a great shock as earthquakes are very rare here and many people had never witnessed anything like it. But the consequences were far reaching and left many institutions desperate for help including some which Tanzania Development Trust has been supporting for many years.

Tweyambe secondary school which has 543 students and is located 15 miles from Bukoba town was one of those schools which was affected the most. Your donations were used to quickly repair some classrooms which had been badly affected. This was urgent because within a month these classrooms were being used for important national exams. The dormitories were also repaired which allowed those students who went home after the quake to come back to school to continue with their studies with a roof over their head. Some buildings had to be demolished since they were deemed unfit for human habitation and beyond repair. However on 26th November 2016 another tragedy struck the school. The boys’ dormitory which was mildly affected in the original quake suddenly collapsed. There was nothing to be salvaged hence the entire building with students beds, beddings, books, etc were all destroyed. Luckily, there was no loss of life.

Kikukwe Dispensary (Clinic) was also particularly badly hit by the earthquake especially the maternity rooms and water supply.  TDT helped the community of Kikukwe village to build the dispensary in March 2012 and visits made by project officers have confirmed the success of these facilities in saving babies and others lives through the improving improvement in health care for the local community. Your donations are vital in restoring small but vital health facilities damaged in the quake.  The Kikukwe community are now hard at work rebuilding the water tank concrete stand and pipework which supplies water to the delivery room and other dispensary facilities.  The buildings, whilst not completely destroyed, suffered severe damage making them unsafe to use and the funds will also now ensure that they can be brought back to a safe and secure working condition, and support the very committed small team of medical staff in providing the maternity delivery service which has saved many lives in the last four years. Health workers' housing was also badly damaged and as a result of your very generous Global Giving we will be able to repair this.  

Future reports will show progress photos of the work now being carried out at Kikukwe village and Tweyambe School. 

 Working with staff on the ground and local officials we are currently assessing needs in 3 other schools that we support in the region to ensure that we spend the remaining funds for maximum impact in this very impoverished region.  Compounding the problems caused by the earthquake, the region is now suffering from food shortages due to a prolonged drought.

 Money goes a long way in rural Tanzania, and we are most grateful for the generosity of everyone who has donated.