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Copy of Rebecca Smith’s email to Mr. Dunford Makala
Commissioner for Social Welfare, Tanzania
20th August 2011
Dear Mr Makala
May I first thank you kindly for taking the time to listen to Mr Daniel Bujiku and for looking into the issues surrounding some of the Bethany girls travelling to England to study. I am sure you are a very busy man with lots of other pressures and priorities.
I am also aware that you have probably already received various emails regarding this matter but hopefully you will see that this is because we are all so passionate about helping the children within our care to receive the best possible start to life that they can get.
As a member of the UK team it is my role to co-ordinate the sponsorship programme which helps to fund the work of Bethany. Encouraging updates regarding former young adults from Bethany studying in the UK, and then going on to begin successful careers, has always given confidence to our supporters that their financial giving is worthwhile. Statistics show that the pass rate for girls at our local school in Tanzania is worryingly low. The UK team have to account for all our actions and I believe that our sponsors may feel that we are not being good stewards if we turn down the opportunity to let three of our girls study at an establishment that received a rating of 'outstanding' in 2010 and has a huge range of resources available along with staff that are fully trained and equipped in order to send them to the local secondary school where they are almost guaranteed to fail. I understand that it is government policy that all orphans should be sent to secondary school in Tanzania but sometimes there are exceptional circumstances that need further investigation in order to give the child the best option. I believe that in this case sending these girls to their local secondary school would not be in their best interests.
The three girls will also be studying core subjects such as maths and history while in the UK to GCSE level and would therefore not be missing out on secondary education in order to gain the level 3 diploma course. However, if you still felt that the girls would be lacking in anyway as a result, we would be more than happy to put the girls through secondary school in Tanzania once they had completed the course. As I'm sure you are aware, this offer may not be available in the future and needs to be taken advantage of now.
Coming to the UK would not only give the girls an excellent qualification and working ethos but would also improve their grasp of the English language tremendously. I know that the girls who are currently in the UK have grown in many ways since they first arrived and have even been role models to many of the English students through their determination and commitment to do their best. I know they are also all keen to put their new knowledge and skills into action at home in Tanzania and hope to benefit the wider community out there.
I urge you to seriously consider our plea and to look into this fairly by interviewing our past students rather than just taking the word of one disgruntled girl as Mr Wambura has done.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and I look forward to hearing your decision shortly.
Yours sincerely
Rebecca Smith
Sponsorship Administrator, Bethany UK Team
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