A Norfolk-based charity working in Tanzania is trying to raise money to buy a vehicle for the head of an organisation it supports in the country.
Started in 2011, Loving by Giving (LBG) in Norwich works closely with the Win All For Christ charity based in a rural village near Arusha. LBG chief operating officer Dr Jaco Beukes said Michael Mafie of the Win All for Christ charity had written to them in 2015 asking for help.
He said: 'Michael started Win All for Christ with few resources and was running it from a house in Maji Ya Chai near Arusha.
'We set about building a relationship with him through correspondence before going to Tanzania in November 2015 to meet with him and see how we could help.
'I was really impressed with Michael. He wanted to make a difference in his community but was struggling as he did not have anyone to help him.'
In addition to running ministerial training courses, Mr Mafie was involved in several community projects and conducted outreach programmes at various schools.
LBG set about identifying areas in which members could help.
'We didn't want to just put money in and looked at areas where we could get physically involved such as food and water supply, education, leadership training and construction,' said Dr Beukes.
LBG funded and helped construct a 120 square metre training centre at the Maji Ya Chai site, put in rain water harvesting systems, planted a vegetable garden and also supplied a water pump for irrigation.
'We also assessed the broader community needs and asked ourselves what impact we would have. We started by giving out food parcels and then teaching people to grow their own crops,' said Dr Beukes.
'Last year we supplied 10 water pumps to 50 farmers to help them irrigate crops. We've also supplied better quality seeds and have installed rain water harvesting systems at schools.'
He said Mr Mafie now needed a vehicle as it would help him cover more ground.
'The area is big and it would help him reach more people and carry more goods and equipment to these places,' said Dr Beukes.
To donate visit www.lovingbygiving.com or e-mail info@lovingbygiving.com
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