Nyanya Project

A Letter from The Most Honorable Frederick Sumaye

26th November, 2008

To whom it may concern

THE NYANYA PROJECT

The Sub Saharan Africa harboring over 70% of the world’s cases and deaths of HIV/AIDS is the worst hit region by the pandemic.  Tanzania which is in this region has suffered from this pandemic which has left over 2 million orphans countrywide.  Some of the lucky orphans are in orphanage centers which unfortunately are very few in the country and therefore cater for only a small percentage of those in need of care.

The majority who are not so lucky are left in the care of three main groups:

• Taken over by relatives - unfortunately only a few who have small families and financial ability can help in this respect.  However they seem to be saturated and can take no more in many instances.
• Left in the care of themselves - there are families now that are headed by children as young as 12 or 13 years.  These children drop out of school to look after their young siblings - a pathetic situation.
• Left in the care of grandparents - in Africa there are no old peoples’ homes and old people are looked after by their children.  When these ‘children’ die of AIDS the grandchildren are left in the care of their grandparents who in most cases have no ability to work to feed these children. There are many cases where these grandparents have also died due to depressions and other related diseases as they helplessly watch their grandchildren suffer so much.  Another pathetic situation.

The Nyanya project, an NGO trying to help the grandmothers look after their grandchildren came to the assistance of these grandmothers.  We have quite a number of other NGOs helping in this field, but the Nyanya project came with a different approach.  Instead of being an NGO giving ‘handouts’; Nyanya project aims at making these grandmother to be self reliant by doing two things.  One is by giving training to increase the capacities of these old mothers in money making activities which auger well with their abilities and remaining strengths; and two, by providing them with little seed money to jump start their activities.

I have attended some of Nyanya project sessions with the old mothers and seen and witnessed how much hope this project raises with these mothers who under existing circumstances live a life of despair not only for themselves but for the young grandchildren as well.

It is my wish and hope that the Nyanya project can do more to help these mothers to help themselves and the grandchildren.  What they have done has hardly scratched the surface because there are so may of these old mothers looking after their orphaned grandchildren who have not been reached by Nyanya project even in Dar es Salaam alone.

I therefore appeal on behalf of Nyanya project to whoever is touched by what they are doing to help these old mothers to help their grandchildren to generously donate something to the Nyany project.

May God bless you and give you strength.

Frederick T Sumaye.

Former Prime Minister.