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Copy of Graham Earnshaw’s email to Mr. Dunford Makala
Commissioner for Social Welfare, Tanzania
19th August 2011
Dear Sir
I am contacting you in relation to the difficulties that are being experienced in relation to gaining permission for 3 residents of The Bethany Project to be given permission to visit the United Kingdom in order to further their education.
The girls live at - The Bethany Project, (often referred to as the Bethany Family) Children’s Home and School, Magu District, Mwanza Region, Tanzania. East Africa. Registered in Tanzania as NGO no. 8059. http://www.bethanyfamily.net/
The girls are Deborah aged 17yrs in form 2, Mpelwa aged 17yrs in form 3 and Rehema aged 18yrs in form 4. They have all been given the offer of undertaking a two year BTEC, level 3 diploma in ‘Children’s Care Learning and Development’ at Accrington and Rossendale College: http://www.accross.ac.uk/. I have also attended this college as a student and can personally vouch for the quality of education on offer.
The three girls have been receiving extra education at Bethany and have already passed the IELTS English exam required for visa purposes.
Other residents from Bethany have in previous years completed this type of course in the UK and have now all returned to Tanzania. Some of these girls are now employed in Tanzanian schools and care settings and as such they are directly employing their newly acquired skills to benefit Tanzanian children and the county as a whole. These visits to the UK have always been supported by the local government officials in Tanzania. However, the Social Welfare in Magu will not support the students who are hoping to come to the UK in the next few weeks to start their studies in September 2011. This is very frustrating and disappointing for all concerned. The whole purpose of the trip is to provide these girls with skills that will benefit Tanzania on a long-term basis. The girls failure to complete their secondary education is cited as the reason for refusing permission, however, this could if needed be completed on their return.
The whole reason why Bethany exists is to promote the interests of orphaned children. The organisation is funded totally by voluntary donations from private individuals. 100% of the money given goes directly to these children. The benefits that Bethany has brought to the local community over the years are plain for all to see. It is understandable and commendable that officials want to uphold the law but, the whole spirit of this law is about benefiting children and promoting their welfare and that is the sole reason behind this educational trip.
I have just retired as a Senior Lecture from the University of Central Lancashire www.uclan.ac.uk and I have firsthand experience of non-UK students paying tens of thousands of pounds to receive a UK based education. These girls are being offered these courses at absolutely no charge to them or the Tanzanian local or national government. With the difficult economic climate that currently prevails in the UK it could well be that this type of offer will not come again. I am therefore asking that you use your authority to see that the right thing is done and that these girls are allowed to come to the UK on the understanding that once qualified they return immediately to Tanzania.
Thank you for taking the time to read this email, Yours in anticipation
Graham Earnshaw B.Sc.( Hons) MA
Copies to:
Secretary of State for International Development - Andrew Mitchell
Member of Parliament for Hyndburn and Haslingden - Graham Jones
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