Buhangija Nursery School

Buhangija is a centre for children with albinism in Shinyanga that we have written about recently. At the beginning of this year, a nursery school was set up for the under 7s who have not yet started in the local primary school. Before January, the kids spent the day amusing themselves in the limited space within the walls. Drawing hopscotch in the dirt, playing on swings and slides in the sun and kicking footballs made out of plastic bags. The sheer notion of sitting still, being quiet, sharing or returning materials was a completely foreign concept leading to some amusingly chaotic moments since!

Deborah is the Tanzanian nursery school teacher who lives with Claire across the road from us. She works tirelessly as their teacher and radiates love for the kids. Even after a few weeks, it is noticeable how the children are responding to her teaching and slowly adapting to their new classroom environment. Mornings are spent singing songs, learning the alphabet and drawing pictures. The desks are adult sized and the tiny ones perch precariously on the edge of their seats to reach the table. The room is colourful and bright, a vast change from how it was before. This is the first time the children have been given the opportunity to attend any sort of school or nursery so it will take for them to adjust.

Alice’s first day in the new nursery started sitting self-consciously and awkwardly on a bench. Frankly unsure what on earth I was doing there; children ran, argued, screamed and shouted before slowly being calmed and told to sit down by Deborah. After a few minutes I felt a small hand on my back...and then tiny fingers pressed themselves into my hand. In that moment, I got it. I was there to love. So I spend my time making excited, encouraging noises at the slightest scribble. Holding hands. Rubbing backs. Repeating ‘nzuri sana’ (very good) over and over. Bandaging infected fingers. Putting cream on fungal sores. In some ways, the second you step into Bunhangija and decide to care, you become a mother, older sibling, friend, teacher, doctor. All the people these abandoned children lack the attention and comfort of on a daily basis.

Gunnar, Helen, Vita, Flemming and Tove visited Buhangija with us last week. The recent 8 day water outage affected the centre severely and many children were dehydrated and sick from drinking dirty water. The Danish visitors kindly bought 180 litres of clean drinking water which was met with chants of ‘Maji!’, ‘Maji!’ (Water!, Water!) as we carried it in. They had also brought beautiful gifts of hats, sunglasses and Lego (Paul was particularly excited about helping the kids with that!). To see pictures click here. More precious still were pencil cases, lovingly sewn by Tove and individually filled by children in Denmark - each with a little note greeting their new Tanzanian friend and introducing themselves. The children were enthralled and eagerly drew pictures and wrote notes to say thanks. Just as He created and sustains them, He made them creative and so enthusiastic.

Life in Buhangija continues to be hard. The children are dirty, covered in fungal infections and sores. Their skin is dry and cracked. There are not enough beds, they are lonely and cry to go home. The nursery is hot; all the windows are covered to keep the dangerous sun out. After over a week without water, no one had been washed. Children were thirsty and hungry. We found out that water from a local well was ‘salty’ so drinking it had only made things worse. Paul had to take three kids to hospital. Plenty more were unwell and upset. This is not how childhood is supposed to be.

Just a quick update regarding the plight of people with albinism in Tanzania. In the light of recent international attention, the government has banned witchcraft and has promised to prosecute anyone who is found to be practising it. It does not seem to have made any difference and lacks the necessary associated enforcement.

Two months ago, a 4 year old girl went missing from northern Mwanza. Despite the promise of a reward and initial arrests, she has not been found and no one has been prosecuted.

Last Wednesday, a 1 year old boy with albinism was reported kidnapped from Geita, about four hours from Shinyanga. The next morning the news reported that his mutilated body was found in the woods near his home.

A UN human rights expert warned that attacks against people with albinism were on the rise because Tanzania's October 2015 presidential / general election was on the horizon, encouraging political campaigners to turn to influential sorcerers for help. The general consensus here is that it is those at the top of government and business that are driving the murder of albino children and if that’s true, it just adds to the hopelessness of an already bleak situation.