It’s that exciting time of year again when Janet, myself and a volunteer are off to see our Bumala Trust family in Kenya, we will be away for 3 weeks, returning hopefully to warmer weather here and with much positive news from our time in Bumala

My arm is now recovering from all the injections I have had to have, and I just need to purchase my malarone tablets. (so expensive) but I do not want to catch Malaria. The little blighters do like my skin! even though I cover myself with repellent and herbal remedies,

The temperature in Bumala will be around the 70-80’s and the rainy season is due to start shortly. (must remember to pack my raincoat) No time to sunbathe though as it will be all go from start to finish, but oh so rewarding.

We have nearly finished packing our extra allowance of 13 suitcases, bless you British Airways, wish they could provide us with free fares as well, but we are grateful that they are allowing us extra baggage, we certainly need it, every suitcase is bulging with much needed items such as blankets, bedding, clothes, books, toiletries etc.
Think of us while we get all that through to the check- in desk, we should have very strong arms by the end of it. Thank goodness we are being met at Nairobi airport. The cases then are taken along a very bumpy road to their destination in Bumala, hopefully all in one piece.

After a short but welcome sleep in Nairobi, we get to go on a small plane to Kisumu and then after shopping in Kisumu which is very exhausting and so noisy (the only MOT they have must be to make sure the horn works!)They certainly don’t worry what side of the road they are driving, you just have to get out of the way .we then have a long drive along a very pot holed (looks like the surface of the moon with so many graters) main road to our final destination in Bumala. By then we all look as if we have been through a hedge backwards and need a good nights sleep ( we’ll be lucky) ready to face all the neighbours and people who want to meet us.

Some very positive things have occurred over the last few months, and I can not wait to see all the projects we started, and the new projects that are underway.
I am especially looking forward to seeing the children ,widows and our workers again who do such a fantastic job in caring for our children and widows needs, as well as looking after all the projects.

I have purchased a new video camera so that I can take some footage of the projects and children which can be put onto our web site for you all to see. I am also taking extra memory cards, as last year I managed to take about 600 pictures and wished I had taken another memory card as there is so much I want to see and do.

Project updates

• Widows Home. - The charity built a new home for a very needy widow, her dwelling was collapsing and she was cooking, eating and sleeping in this home with the nine grandchildren she cares for. Her new dwelling has just been completed and she is very happy now.

• The Bee Project. - Last month 9 kilos of honey was harvested from 7 bee hives, which is fantastic. I am looking forward to tasting this honey (unfortunately due to immigration laws we are not allowed to bring any honey back with us) This honey will be given mainly to the children to supplement their food , we aim to purchase more hives while we are their, as there is a great demand for it and we should be able to sell some from the next harvest as well as providing for our families

• Water Project. - This is so exciting Peter Weyama has had the tank installed to store the water and the pump will also be installed when we arrive, we have electricity in the homestead now, which will pump the water to the local area, and Tree nursery.
Once the government put in a transformer at the Bumala Secondary School, which should be within the next few months, this water can then be pumped to the schools in the area and hopefully, beyond.

• Schools. - We will be visiting the local schools in the area particularly Bukhakhala, Masabula Primary schools and Bumala Secondary.
We need to report back on the progress of the classrooms that Decoy and Kingskerswell School are building at the primary schools, these should be near completion. I hope we can also visit some of the boarding schools that a few of our older children go to.

• Banana Plantation. - This is the only project that we are having problems with, a very virulent virus has destroyed a lot of the crops. But we are fortunate that the local ministry of Agriculture are stepping in to help us, they are going to provide us with new disease free varieties and will also support us for 3 years to establish more varieties of fruit and vegetables, at their expense, which is fantastic news for us

• Safe House. - Plans have been drawn up to provide a safe house for our most needy children, these children do not a permanent place, they sleep and eat where they can, we aim to build six two bedroom homes, within the safety of the compound, where they will be cared for by the Bumala Trust family. There are many children in the same predicament , but as our Motto says “We can’t change the world but we can change someone’s world “

• Widows. - We will be meeting the widows to see how they have been progressing. In 2008 the Trust ploughed, tilled, fertilised their land, and provided them with seeds to grow their own food, we also supported them in other projects such as pigs and sewing machines etc. With our guidance and help they were beginning to help themselves and other widows to become more self-sufficient, some of the more able widows’ work in our Tree nursery, giving them an income.

• Goats. - We are also eager to start this project and will be looking into the building of the Goat houses, and purchasing good stock

• The Children - Hopefully we can spend time with the children, although some of our older boys and girls will be away at boarding school while we are there. We have a lot of gifts from their sponsors to give them as well as school equipment, clothes etc. Janet and I will be purchasing new school shoes from the proceeds of the shoe drive we did last year, and we will also endeavour to get as much information as we can about each of our children, their living conditions and school reports, so we can report this back to the sponsors. Our HIV children are given the special care, food and medication they need, by our wonderful carer Esnas.
Two of our boys are living with Peter in his home and three children live with Esnas, these children have no families so once our safe house is built they will be staying there.

I shall be composing a diary of my time in Bumala on my return, I will share this adventure with you on our web site. I expect to shed many tears but also much laughter.

Thank you all for supporting our charity, we are very grateful for all the help we receive, to achieve what we can to help these wonderful people get dignity and hope back into their lives.

With much blessing

Anne Jenkins

Another child is now being sponsored.
Her name is Selestine - We are still waiting for her details.

When we know more you will be able to see them on her page: Selestine

Thank you to our new sponsor who will help cover the cost of food, medication and education for Selestine.

The story and pictures of the walk are in the Herald Express today:

Herald Express Story

We completed the sponsored walk on Saturday from Babbacombe to Paignton.

The total money raised for the day is still coming in but the total so far is £951
Thank you to everyone that took part and all those that gave so generously.

Pictures can be seen here:
Spaonsored Walk 2009

Welcome to our autumn newsletter, keeping you in touch with the projects and progress of our Bumala Family in Kenya.

Thank you for your continuing support, with school fees rising and education no longer free in Kenya your sponsorship and donations are the backbone of our charity. Without these our children would not be able to look forward to a future.

Peter Weyama, Janet’s husband from Bumala arrived here at the end of August and returns to Bumala at the beginning of November.

While here Peter will be very busy, meeting those who have supported us and those who wish to support us. He very much wants to talk about the projects and the effects of these on the community and our Bumala family, without the Trust’s efforts to help them become self-sufficient, many of them would have died, or disappeared.

Peter is especially looking forward to talking to the schools that are supporting us. Decoy Primary raised enough money to build two classrooms at Masabula Primary School, Kingskerwell school are raising money to build a nursery at Bukhakhala school, Bradley Barton are sponsoring one of our children through school, and Preston and Roseland’s primary schools raise funds for us

The Tree Nursery is still thriving and the vegetable and fruit garden is getting bigger and more productive. The maize and beans have been harvested this year, and there are also fields of millet, kale and other vegetables.

On our visit to Bumala in April this year, we took out some vegetable and flower seeds that were donated by Sutton Seeds. The children planted them and the carrots have done particularly well, they are very good for our children, especially our HIV+ orphans.
Among the fruits we have planted are mango, avocado, and jack fruit,
Flowers have been planted to encourage our bees to produce honey. We have 10 bee hives now with 7 of these having bees. The honey will be harvested this month.

The Banana Plantation Project was started in 2008.
Firstly 450 saplings were planted, which has now increased to 1000 this year. We lost a few saplings and trees due to moles burrowing under the roots, and a virus that was transmitted via the bees through the pollen, but we have taken the advice of the agriculture minister and we now have this under control. We hope to have enough bananas this year to give to our orphans and families. Our aim is to increase the plantation to 4,000 Trees within the next two years.

There is a very high demand for good bananas, so we shall be able to sell the surplus in the markets, ploughing back the extra capital into other projects, such as goats

We received a donation from the Swiss Tropical Institute in Switzerland of 2,000 US Dollars (£1,321.21) towards the banana plantation project, this will be used to help with the cost of fencing and protection of the plantation.

Half of our trees are now bearing branches of bananas.

Electricity has now been installed at the farm. This will enable us to run an electric pump for our water borehole. While Peter Weyama is here with us, we hope to raise enough funds to purchase the electric pump, header tank and accessories for our water Borehole,
There will then be enough water to irrigate the tree nursery as well as supplying the surrounding homesteads.
To enable us to supply all of the schools and outlying areas, the cost will be around £60,000. We are approaching large funding organisations to help us achieve this as the schools desperately need sanitation. We hope the government will also help with the funding. A slow process but like all projects it takes money and time to achieve what we have set out to do.

Many thanks to the Devon Peace Group, who have helped us with the cost of the water borehole.

We are happy to report that the widows are continuing to help and support each other, those
widows who are able, also help and work in the tree nursery, giving something back to the Trust.
They are also continuing to breed pigs and are supplying other widows with piglets.

The problems we have found however is that due to the economic situation and high costs
of materials, many of the widow’s dwellings are in a critical state of affairs some have had
to be abandoned, with some families accommodating other families in their already crowded homes.

We have however built a dwelling for our neediest widow, whose house was in a near state
of collapse, We aim to start a rebuilding program when more funds are available to provide
new dwellings, on a most needy basis first.



Our next fund raising activities are:-

Saturday 26th September. Sponsored Walk.
This will start from the Babbacombe Inn at 10.00am. and finish at The Park Hotel Paignton a distance of 6 miles. Please join us or sponsor us if you can. Contact Anne Jenkins for more details on:- 01803 813211

Saturday 31st October 10.00AM – 2PM
Autumn Fayre at Paignton Methodist Church , Palace Ave, Paignton.
Come and meet the Panda, many stall including crafts, Pick- a- straw, pin the tail on the elephant, bric-a-brac, homemade cakes, and refreshments.

Our charity with 4 other African charities in Teignbridge, have a recycling receptacle at B&Q Car park, Newton Abbot and Woodholme car park, Buckfastleigh. These will take all unwanted clothing and shoes (not duvets) that can be recycled, the proceeds are shared between the charities.
We have also just undergone a shoe drive of all unwanted shoes, this has been a huge success. The money we receive will be used to buy school shoes for our children in Africa.
We will being doing another shoe event next year, please keep all your unwanted shoes for our collection.

We can’t change the World but we can change SOMEONE’S world.

Ideal Christmas presents :- 2010 calendars for sale at £5 each
Gift vouchers towards any of our projects from £5 each.
Please contact us to purchase your requirements

Saturday 26th September 2009

The Bumala Trust is doing a sponsored walk starting at the Babbacombe Inn, Babbacombe Downs Road Torquay at 10.00am. Two of our walkers will be wearing Panda suits, others will be in fancy dress or wearing Bumala T-shirts.

We will be walking from the Downs along Babbacombe Road to Torquay harbour, then along the sea front to Paignton finishing at the Park Hotel. (Some of our walkers want to walk on to Goodrington).

The proceeds from the walk will be going towards our electric pump for our Borehole. "Water is Life"

For more details please see the link below:

Bumala Sponsored Walk 2009

Newsletter February 2009

Welcome to our second newsletter, keeping you in touch with the projects and progress of our Bumala Family in N.W.Kenya.

We know that the recession has affected many people, so we appreciate your continuing support, it is so vital in these troubled times, as prices are still increasing in Kenya while the country stabilises itself.

Peter Weyama, Janet's husband from Bumala arrived here in September and returned at the beginning of November.
While here Peter visited a Pig Farm, met other organisations who have advised him of more productive methods of growing vegetables and fruit, gave talks at the local primary schools that sponsor the trust and also joined in with some of our fund raising activities. He also updated us on all the projects and how these projects have affected the lives of the community in Bumala.

The Tree Nursery is thriving and the vegetable and fruit garden is getting bigger and more productive, giving much needed work to our widows and people in the village. We have planted approx 1000 banana trees, some of which have started to produce fruit; we have fields of maize, kale and other vegetables. This year we plan to plant flowers that will encourage the bees and butterflies so that honey can be produced from our bee hives. Honey is in great demand and will also give our children the vitamins they need.

The pigs are also doing well, the children love looking after them, and we currently have 20 pigs with more piglets on the way.

The Borehole has been drilled, and once the pump and electricity have been installed, there will be enough water to irrigate the tree nursery as well as piping it to each homestead; a slow process but like all projects it takes money and time to achieve what we have set out to do. Many thanks to the Devon Peace Group who raised the money to achieve this.

Austin our blind orphan has now settled in a blind school nearer to Bumala, so Peter can visit him more easily. Compasse Braille donated a set of bible stories in Braille for Austin, he will be able to read these to our sponsored children and those at the School.

Peter and Janet Weyama had an interview with the Herald Express, in which they explained how they met and their involvement in setting up the charity, if you would like to see this report or any other report on some of our achievements, (providing you have internet access) then you can log on to the Herald Express news site, and type in The Bumala Trust, This will bring up items that have been reported on.

Our very kind local businessman who makes regular donations to the Trust, visited Bumala in November to see for himself the progress made since his involvement with the charity. He was greatly impressed and very touched by the plight of the families, how poor they are with very little means to live on. His donations enabled us to start and maintain the Tree nursery and pig project. Our families were so pleased to meet him, he was very moved by one little boy who said to him.
"You have brought us out of the dark into the Light"
There is much more still to do but we have to fence off the farm and provide security to our families and visitors before other projects can be started, this again is governed by costs.

We have several local schools that sponsor our charity. Decoy Primary School raised enough money to build two classrooms at Masabula Primary School, and Kingskerwell Community Primary School are raising money to build a nursery at Bukhakhala Primary school, Bradley Barton School are sponsoring one of our children through school, and Preston and Gampton Primary Schools raise funds for us.

Two Trustees and a volunteer are planning to visit Bumala in the Spring Unfortunately they could not go last year due to the riots, Many changes will be noticed.
British Airways has offered them a baggage waiver which will enable more needy items and clothing to be carried.

Since our last newsletter in July we have been busy with several fund- raising activities

* The Kingsteignton Ram roast raised £87.28
* Sponsored walk on Saturday 27th September raised £1650.75
* The Kelly Quarry Blasters at Totnes on the 5th October raised just over £500, many thanks to Annie & Derek Wills who organised the event,
* Three store collections at Tesco's & Asda, raised a total of £672.60

At some of our fundraising events you may have seen one or two Pandas; these Pandas are willing to help the Trust by offering their services for a small fee which will be donated to the Trust. They can deliver flowers or chocolates to a loved one, or entertain at children's birthday parties, please contact Anne Jenkins for more details or look on the web site www.teddy-grams.co.uk

Our charity has joined on some fundraising activities with 6 other African charities, based in Teignbridge, Our umbrella name is ACT (African Charities Together). Web site www.act.btik.com A recycling receptacle at B&Q Car Park, Kingsteignton, Newton Abbot, has been installed to take all rubbish clothing and shoes (not duvets) that can be recycled, the proceeds will be shared between the charities.

The Swiss Tropical Institute, in Basel Switzerland, is considering our application for part funding of the banana plantation.

Thank you all who have filled a tube with small change. We have raised over £1748.01 so far. If you would like a tube to fill with small change please contact us

In this News Letter section we will publish longer more detailed reports on a regular basis:

This is our new diary where we will keep you up to date on a regular basis of what is happening in Bumala.

Please check back regularly.