In a society where there is no state pension, where there is no National Health Service, where the state doesn’t guarantee you shelter in your old age, it can be difficult getting old if you have no local family.
When you become too old or infirm to dig your own crops, fetch your own water and mend your own house, you are very much reliant on family to help out. For those lacking a family in Tabora, Familia Moja Itetemia can step in to become that family that is needed.
Familia Moja Itetemia is our primary partner in the Itetemia region of Tabora. We supply the funds and they supply the care. So what does the money that you give pay for when it comes to caring for the elderly?
Providing shelter can be a lifesaver. Moving from a collapsing shack made of sticks and mud into a simple brick built one room home with a non-leaking tin roof can change a life. And having a door you can lock so that your meagre belongings are secure brings peace of mind – you can go out and know your home will be safe. Some of our elderly residents have been brought back to life with the provision of simple shelter, simple food and occasionally simple medicine if it is needed. Plus they become part of a small community in the complex – human contact being essential for bringing people back to life!
Maria Salum is an elderly lady that FMI have looked after for years. She has no children, nor any family nearby. We visit and give her food. We have also dug her a well so she has water and repaired her hut [made of the traditional mud and sticks].
So how can I support this?
We have set up our bank account with CAFBank [part of CAF – the Charities Aid Foundation] and they offer a service called CAFDonate which we have signed up to. This is a service where they will collect and process our donations [for a small fee] and also deal with Gift Aid etc.
Our main donation page => cafdonate.cafonline.org/11331
With CAFDonate you will be able to set up a regular donation if you wish, make a one off donation or sponsor events etc.
Our first fundraiser since starting [and a bit of a trial run to see how it works] will be the ‘ceremonial removal’ of Eric’s beard!
This will happen on November 17th 2019 after the morning service at Bunyan Baptist Church The service starts at 10.30 and should be no longer than an hour. So the ‘event’ will probably be at about 11.45am. If you would like to join us for the service you will be most welcome. Or if you want to turn up at 11.30 for free coffee and to support that is fine too. [And we do serve a nice cup of Fairtrade filter coffee as well as tea and biscuits]
Our beard-shave sponsor page => cafdonate.cafonline.org/11415
There will be collection points for cash / cheques on the day.
Thanks already to those many people who have donated recently.
Money that has been accumulating in the funds of several churches has now arrived in our account and we are now able to make our first grant of about £7500 to Familia Moja Itetemia.
Familia Moja Community Project 