The Dehydrator

There are hundreds of mango trees around the village. Once a year, after the short rains when the mangos ripen there are more than enough to go round.
Most of the children’s bellies are full of fresh, sweet and juicy mangos.
The rest of the mangos that aren’t consumed fall to the earth and rot on the ground.
During the dry season when the land is barren, brown and dusty there is a shortage of food and malnutrition is especially prevalent.
Our idea was to prepare, dehydrate and properly store the dried mangos so there could be a supply for the children around the village
A special thanks goes out to our Carpenter Justin Wyllie of Victoria, Canada and our Friends at SC. Smith building company who donated all the materials and built the solar dehydrator for this great project.
Unfortunately we arrived in Tanzania to find out that there was a major drought this year and no mangos came to fruition. But we are ready to dehydrate for next year!
Volunteer Zach Swett from WA, USA lead the team of boys in the assembly of the dehydrator.

The Shower and Toilet Facility

When we originally built the orphanage we didn’t have enough funding to build a proper toilet and shower block. So instead we constructed a grass thatched outhouse. This was our only facility until funding came through in January of this year.
We now have boys and girls washrooms with flush toilets and shower stalls.

HIV Nutrition Program

In an effort to improve basic standards of living for village families living with HIV, an intervention program was started by bringing food to single mothers who suffer from HIV/AIDS. 

People taking ARV drugs to fight HIV require a balanced diet. Healthy diets enable the drugs to work with little side effects so the mothers have the opportunity to live a higher quality life and have longer to care for their children.

Shown in a photo is Mama Parika who has unfortunately passed on. We now care for her two children.

Water Supply

The villagers of Lukobe take their water from a small polluted pond which provides for 1000 people.

In order to supply the orphanage with a more reliable, healthy and convenient water source a well was hand dug and supported with several cement rings. Unfortunately the well has since dried up.

After the well dried up, we held a community meeting and made agreements to set up preventative measures to reduce the risk of contamination of the village water source. A Bio Sand filter has been placed at the pond for the villagers' use. .

Last year during the dry season  we had the land professionally surveyed and were told that we could have a constant source of water if we drilled to 55m in a different location on our property.

Bio Sand Filter

Brick Making

It was an exciting time at Lukobe when the brick factory started. It was meant to lessen the cost of building of the dormatory. The brick factory ended up earning its weight through providing employment to 20 locals and paying for itself as an income generating project.

Bricks were made out of soil, shaped in a mold and baked in huge carefully built kilns, using rice husks as fuel.

The Orphanage