CHILDREN’S HOME and SCHOOL Magu District, Mwanza Region, Tanzania. E. Africa We are a small team of Christians working together to help the most vulnerable children and people in a rural area of Tanzania. East Africa. We are involved in providing financial support and volunteers to visit both long and short term to share in the work both here and in Tanzania. As of February 2015 caring for a total of 127 children Contact: Graham Pountain email: graham@pountain.net,  Tel 01254 879694
Jan. - March 2016 - UPDATE
Photos from the January Trip 2016: Study  (26 pics),  School Furniture  (18 pics),  New Children  (5 pics), School  (39pics),  Village Children for school  (49 pics), Groups  (16 pics) Kitongo - for older boys  (24 pics),  Food!  (33 pics),  Individuals (26 pics), Play  (23 pics),  Chores (39 pics),  Teachers Accommodation (29 pics) 25,000+ Photos in 567 Albums from May 2007 to Present 136 Youtube videos from August 2007 to present
Nearly all our children as at March 2013
Greetings from Bethany,  This is our temporary web page due to the fact the old computer failed and at the moment I am unable to update the old pages. However, the old Bethany main index page is here
The Bethany Project (often referred to as the Bethany Family) is registered in Tanzania as an NGO no. 8059. It is administered by the The Bethany Project (Tanzania) UK (Reg. Charity no 517995),   Reg. Address: 2 Aspen Fold, Oswaldtwistle, Accrington, Lancashire. BB5 4PH.  Tel 01254 879694.  email: graham@pountain.net Trustees: Graham Pountain, David Borland, Heather Jeffrey, Isabel Jones, Paul Pountain
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Classrooms 1 and 2 on the left, Staffroom and Head teachers office in the centre and Classrooms 3 and 4 on the right
Above you see a group of about 120 children registered at our School, half of them are resident Bethany Family Children and the other half are newly enrolled village children.  Enrolment of Village children; Our vision is to provide education for the very poorest of children in line with our aims and objectives.  Therefore we do not charge fees.  Donations from supporters cover all expenses including school uniforms, text and exercise books, teachers salaries and two meals per day, breakfast and lunch.  Our criteria for acceptance at Bethany includes the following: only one child from each family, all applications are thoroughly investigated to establish the child’s needs. Priority is given to girls as they are the most vulnerable.  The hope is that each child will make considerably better progress than if they went to the local government primary school.  This will enable the child a better chance of succeeding at the government secondary school and of eventually obtaining a job with which to support their families.  As we are an English Medium School and 10 of our teachers have been trained in the UK we are confident that our students will have a good grasp of the English Language ready to start secondary school where every subject is taught in English. Bethany Children; All the children at Bethany of primary school age attend our school and number just over 60 although this is increasing and we expect the number to reach 75+ in the next few months.  We also have 22 secondary school girls on site and 5 secondary school boys.  16 of our older secondary school boys are now at Kitongo some 60 Km from Bethany. Why a School at Bethany and why an English Medium School:  On the left you will see a video clip ‘Education in Tanzania: a mirage of progress’ which explains very clearly the state of the education system in Tanzania.  However since the video was made things have improved in Tanzania and things are now a little better.  However recently the government announced that by 2025 all education will be taught in Kiswahili up to form 4 (secondary).  For many this is seen as a backward step and will mean that few will be able to study at high school level or University as these will continue to be taught in English. Whilst the rest of the world including China, India and many African countries are promoting English as the International Language enabling its citizens to progress Tanzania will have few students capable of further higher education.  Interestingly, with China and India alone making up over a quarter of the world’s population it seems inevitable that English is more and more the accepted language for progress and education.  Please view the Youtube video on the left titled: ‘The Expansion of English in China’ to see how the Chinese view the importance to their country of leaning English.
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Above: A short video on the state of education in Tanzania
Above: The importance of the English Language in China
Above: Here is our new Teachers accommodation block which has 6 bedrooms each with a washbasin.  It also has 2 showers and 2 WC’s.  It is envisaged that it will provide accommodation for up to 12 female teachers. Click here to see more pictures.
Above: New boy Yacobo, physically disadvantaged but very capable and we hope will gain a great deal from receiving his primary education at Bethany.  Click here to see three other new Bethany Children.
Above: This is our new rented house at Kitongo for our older secondary boys. For a long time we have been looking for separate accommodation for our older boys as we have experienced difficulties between some of our older boys and our younger girls.  Finally we have found them suitable accommodation and care for them to complete their secondary education.  Click here for more pictures.
Above: Thelesia smiling and sweeping. Click here for more photos
Above:  No further buildings have been started although very shortly we will need to build another 4 classrooms to make our school complete with 8 classrooms.  Emmakulatha our headmistress says she would like to build a secondary school for girls (another 4 classrooms).
Below: Short 22min video of various clips from around Bethany showing the School and children’s home.
Below: Breakfast time at Bethany with doughnuts and tea. Click here for more photos
Below: Evenings at Bethany are spent doing home work. Click here for more photos
Possible choir visit September to November 2016:  We are looking at the possibility of bringing over 12 of our primary school children together with Jesca one of their teachers.  They will join three of our girls already in the UK to make a group who would visit schools etc to talk about Africa and the work of Bethany.  If you would be interested in a visit please email me at graham@pountain.net.
Art Exhibition 19th March: Thanks to all those who attended and supported the event. We believe the event will have raised over £750 (awaiting final figure).   Choir Trip Progress March 2016:  Our 12 children have now all got their birth certificates and have applied for their passports.  We are looking for venues where we can do presentations. Together with the children’s teacher Jesca and the 3 girls studying in the UK (Nkamba, Stella and Elizabeth) there will be 16 in our choir.  We are looking to hire a 16 seater minibus for the 8 weeks so if you know any firm or organisation that could help please email me (graham@pountain.net). The visit will be for about 8 weeks from September to the end of November 2016