Your Stories

The Guernsey based charity ‘Tumaini’ seeks to alleviate the suffering of AIDS widows and orphans.

Tumaini is the Swahili word for Hope which is what the charity aims to bring to the people it helps.

Kagera, where the Tumaini Fund works is in the North West Province of Tanzania. Tanzania is one of the ten poorest countries in the world and most of the wealth is concentrated around Dar es Salaam in the East of Tanzania and so Kagera is far from the source of wealth.

Sue and Douglas Wilson head the charity and first had the inspiration for the Tumaini Fund when their family visited Kagera in 1994 on a trip with local MAF pilot Brian Pill.

It was the time of the Rwandan crisis and the family found themselves shocked at the abject poverty faced by the local Tanzanians.

They returned in 2001 to work in the Murgwansa Mission Hospital during their Sabbatical leave from their work in Guernsey where they have been GP’s for the last 21 years.

They were even more shocked at the desperate times faced by AIDS widows and orphans.

On returning to Guernsey they could not forget all that they had seen on their trip. As they spoke about their experiences when they got back to Guernsey, people began to give money to help support some of the causes, thus the Tumaini fund began.

The fund looks at the idea that the usual method of subsistence farming was not reliable enough in the light of climate change and unpredictable rainfall.

Education is the only way to get out of the hand to mouth existence. It is free for primary education in Tanzania, however the children are not allowed to enrol unless they have school uniforms, books and pencils meaning many cannot afford to go to school despite it being free.

This especially applies to those who are from sick widowed children of child headed families as they cannot afford the basic provision that enables them to enrol into school.

They plan to ensure each AIDS orphan (this includes children where one parent has already died from AIDS, as the other parent will usually become ill themselves).

They aim to improve the health of the remaining parent to ensure that they can have more time with their children.

The fund works with the family so that the parents know that following their death, their children will be supported.

They also try to provide each child with the school uniform, books and pencils they need to get to school .

They strive to give every person in the household two sets of clothes and a mosquito net. Malaria is the biggest childhood killer in sub-Saharan Africa while repeated episodes of malaria would threaten the life of the weak immune system of a parent suffering from AIDS.

The Tumaini Fund now supports just under 4000 orphans and the Fund aims to continue their work in the area as there are an estimated 200000 orphans in Kagera.

Dr. Susan Wilson returns to Kagera annually to audit, fact find and visit families and new areas. Former Social Worker Densie Mabire has also been going out to give the Tanzanian workers the benefit of her experience.

None of the money donated to the Tumaini Fund is spent in Guernsey. When people travel over to Tanzania for the fund they do so at their own expense and items of equipment such as lap tops, cameras and printers are all donated. This ensures that anyone who donates money to the Tumaini Fund knows that their money goes directly to Tanzania.

If you would like to contact Sue at the Tumaini fund the email address for the charity is mfukowatumaini@yahoo.co.uk