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Copy of Colin McArdle’s email to Mr. Dunford Makala
Commissioner for Social Welfare, Tanzania
31st August 2011
48.Main Street, Etwall, Derby, DE65 6LP, United Kingdom
Email: info@kidsaidtanzania.org.uk Tel: 01283 733001 www: kidsaidtanzania.org.uk
Mr Dunford Makala,
Commissioner for Social Welfare,
Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania.
30 August 2011
Appeal for Help
Dear Mr Makala,
Kids Aid Tanzania is a UK charity which has been supporting children in need in Mwanza since 2005. During our visits to the City and Lakes Region we have seen evidence of the excellent work being undertaken at The Bethany Family in Magu An important, and unique, feature of their work has been their ability to raise funds in the UK for providing opportunities for orphaned girls to study at Accrington and Rossendale College in the north of England. This is a college known to us and with an excellent reputation for its BTEC course in Children’s Care and Learning Development, which has previously been attended by a number of the girls from Bethany, now back in Tanzania and applying skills and knowledge not readily available within the country. They have also been passing their knowledge on to staff in other local orphanages in the Mwanza area.
I understand that there has been some difficulty in obtaining the necessary permission for three Bethany girls to take up the places in the UK which they have been offered for the course starting in September. Local officials in Magu seem to be requiring them to complete their secondary education before taking up the places, a policy requirement unique to children living in orphanages but not applicable to others where children are offered a form of education which their parents consider preferable. I am sure that the policy requirement for orphaned children was created with the best of intentions but without any knowledge of the unique educational opportunities which The Bethany Family has been able to provide, and which, you may feel, justifies an exception to be made
I would be grateful if you could review the decisions which have been made at Magu and consider permitting the children to take up the course which is on offer to them. The secondary education they have received to date, coupled with the extensive additional education provided at Bethany, has provided them with all that is needed to meet the entry requirements for an excellent course. On completion of their course, and on their return to Tanzania, they will benefit not only themselves but also meet the needs of many others – both the orphaned children in their care and through the training of other carers of children not able to benefit from the exceptional opportunity which has been offered to these girls by The Bethany Family and the College.
Yours sincerely
(Dr) Colin McArdle
Chair of Trustees
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