Minchinhampton Nkokoto Link - January 2021
We hope you have had a good Christmas and 2021 has begun well for all our readers, supporters and sponsors. The Covid situation is easier in Tanzania than in the UK and the academic school year is starting as normal for Vumilia Secondary School and the Folk Development College this month. Although times are difficult for us here in the UK, the Link remains committed to supporting the ongoing education of students from Nkokoto. The following is an overview of the Link's continued involvement in to 2021.
Vumilia Secondary School: Success for Nkokoto Primary School! 55 of the 65 pupils in the top year passed their exams to attend Vumilia Secondary School (33 boys, 32 girls). Therefore we have been asked for 55 bikes. Due to the higher numbers and unit cost, we have said that to spend a total of £2,750 (£50 each) for bikes is not possible at the moment. Last year Lucky, our local representative, met with the students and parents and it was agreed that any student leaving school would return their bike to the village leadership for use by new students. We have asked how many bikes have been returned before sending any money for bikes.
When you live in poverty, the reality is that you survive by working together. Setting up asso- ciations and farmers’ groups is an integral part of Traidcraft because they understand that people are stronger when they unite.Together, they can demand fair prices, buy and sell collectively and build up savings.
2020 was such a strange year for us all and every one of us was affected in different ways because of the virus and government restrictions.
There is a dwindling number of countries in the world where the UK has influence and does genuine good. The Dept for International Development (DfID) is among one of the world’s most effective aid agencies and has turned the UK into a global force in development. Tanzania is one of the African countries that has benefitted from British Government aid. The independence of the DfID has protected overseas aid from becoming politicised; it was set up after the Pergau Dam scandal in the 1990s when development money for Malaysia was revealed to be linked to weapons sales. But during the summer months, Boris Johnson announced plans to merge the DfID into the Foreign Office, to better align the £15 billion overseas aid budget (0.7% of our GDP) with UK foreign policy. This move was condemned by previous Prime Ministers David Cameron, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair. Boris Johnson said that recipient nations treat the UK like “some giant cashpoint in the sky” (and he threw in the glib comment that their leaders take the money then “cut off the heads of their political opponents.”) This is a worrying, baffling and distressing attitude by the Government. Aid is not a cashpoint in the sky – it is a lifeline that provides medicine, food and shelter, vaccines, mosquito nets and clean water around the globe. Johnson also complained that the UK gives as much aid to Zambia as to the Ukraine, when the latter is crucial to our security. But aid is about giving to those in need.
through our weekly newsletter, The Rainbow which is a weekly compilation of members’ contributions, generally in the form of articles on techniques, artists, and visits, and photographs of recent paintings and sketches. Several challenges have been set over the period, such as ‘view from a window’, ‘a portrait’, and a ‘five minute challenge’. One of our more fun challenges was to draw a picture of your face in the mirror while not looking at the paper. We had some interesting results!
It has been a very difficult few months. Coronavirus has changed the world as we know it and continues to impact on the ways in which we live and work. 
