DUGA OLD PEOPLE'S HOME

Year: 2011

Status: Completed, further grant possible

Region: TANGA

Type: Community

Partners: Ruth Edwards

THANKS TO A GRANT FROM THE HILDEN CHARITABLE FUND, and support from a member and a grant from TDT, this project has now been completed. Duga Nyumba wa Wazee (NWW) was built in the 1950s to house old people who had been brought in colonial times from areas far from Tanga like Shinyanga and Singida to work in Sisal plantations. They lost contact with their families and became destitute. There are 46 centres of this type in Tanzania. As the older residents die, they are replaced by others recommended through the Local Government system, starting at the ward level. The region pays the running costs, but not infrastructure repairs. Thanks to TDT’s previous grants and specific members' fundraising, the bedrooms of the old people have been restored and re-roofed, including the warden’s accommodation and the toilets and washrooms improved. The dining hall and kitchen have been repaired, the kitchen stove replaced and new furniture, crockery and saucepans bought.