Builders and carpenters wanted in Tanzania

KILMIHIL couple Michael and Maureen Mescall are looking for Clare builders or carpenters to help their charity, Tanzanian Village Renewal, to complete an extension to a 450-pupil secondary school in Suji, Tanzania.
The Mescalls first travelled to Tanzania in 1999 on holiday and at the end of the trip, they stayed for a few days with Dr Margaret Hogan from Killimer, who has worked as a clinical psychologist in Dar es Salaam for over 35 years. Margaret is also a member of the Medical Missionaries of Mary.
The Mescalls were very impressed by the work being carried out by Margaret and her colleagues. Maureen returned to Dar es Salaam as a volunteer for a month or five weeks for the next four summers and taught the staff of the main hospital Muhimbili how to use computers. This resulted in the hospital becoming computerised. Maureen says this was a wonderful experience and she loved every minute of her time in Dar es Salaam.
While volunteering there, Maureen was asked if she would be in a position to find funding and men to carry out some work in Vikrouti, which is a psychiatric village/farm outside Dar es Salaam where patients from Muhimbili go to recuperate and integrate into society following their treatment. Michael and Maureen set about sourcing funds here in Ireland and set up the registered charity Tanzanian Village Renewal.
Following hard work from the couple, their friends and relatives and the support of people from counties all over Ireland, but particularly Clare, monies were raised and 15 plumbers and electricians were sourced who were prepared to travel to Tanzania, which they did in March 2008.
They wired all the houses, offices, outbuildings and workshops in Vikrouti, sank a well and repaired the existing well, which was not working.
The work has resulted in the patients having light in their houses, toilet and shower facilities, access to television and radio, as well as being able to grow their own vegetables once they had a good supply of water.
The charity also purchased 1,500 chickens for the farm so that they have eggs and chicken for the patients and they are in a position to sell the surplus to the hospital in Muhimbili.
The men wired a primary school in a village called Rombo and supplied the children with a computer and printer, copies and pens.
All the wiring and plumbing material was sourced in Tanzania, while local men were trained to carry out repairs following the departure of the Irish men.
John Clancy from Corofin and Maureen travelled to a village called Suji, which is in the Paré mountains and close to Kilimanjaro, in November 2009. They met with the board of management, who asked if Tanzanian Village Renewal would be in a position to add an extension to the school in the village.
The school has 450 pupils and at the moment has two teachers. Five graduates from NUI Galway have agreed to volunteer to teach there for at least one year. The people of Suji are absolutely delighted at this, Maureen says, and are doing everything in their power to make their year in Suji a memorable one.
The board of the charity have agreed to carry out the work and are currently looking for 15 builders to commit to two weeks in Suji starting from October 31.
The extension will be built from bricks, which have been made by the children from the school and are currently on site. Again, all material will be sourced in Tanzania.
Damien Devine from Kilmihil will be travelling again to Tanzania, as both Damien and Alan Duggan were central to the work carried out in 2008.
Anyone who is a builder, carpenter or handy man and is interested in travelling with the group, can contact Maureen at 087 7981788 or email mpmescall@gmail.com or can call John Clancy on 087 2300860.
The bank details for anyone wishing to contribute to the charity are: Ulster Bank, account number: 10095595 and sort code 98 57 53.