Falkirk’s Trinity Church team helping people in Tanzania

A dozen members of the Trinity Church congregation will be leaving Falkirk at the end of May to help transform lives in Tanzania.

Their trip will seem them build the first of two houses in a sustainable village on the shores of Lake Victoria.

It will eventually have 40 homes constructed for widows and children from the surrounding islands and shores.

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The expedition will give the team an opportunity to make a difference to the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in the world.

Team members, along with the congregation, have already smashed their fundraising target weeks before their journey begins.

They are working with the Vine Trust, a Scottish charity which started in Bo’ness and works with partner organisations based in Tanzania & Peru, building family homes and orphanages and providing primary medical care through medical ships.

The Vine Trust is now starting its largest construction project to date called the Kazunzu Village of Hope, in a remote area on the shores of Lake Victoria.

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The plan for this site is to build a number of homes that will accommodate up to six children who will live with a mama. Each house will have a vegetable garden, or ‘shamba’, to supplement their food supply.

In later phases, a primary school and potentially a secondary level English medium school will be constructed, alongside a health hub and a vocational training centre offering training to the local community and further afield.

This is where the team from Falkirk Trinity will be working – building the first two homes on the site.

Trinity Church set the target of raising £30,000 to fund the cost of the volunteer team’s expedition, including international flights, accommodation, food, in-country transport, and the purchase of construction materials and resources. Within six months a total of £36,365 had been raised from fundraising events, personal donations, sponsored walks and cycles, donations from local businesses and organisations and from the congregation.

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This means that as well as covering all the costs of the trip, Trinity will be able to donate £7820 towards future Vine Trust construction projects and the development of the Vine Trust’s programmes.

Iain MacSween, who visited the area last year and is going once more in May, said “This project will bring hope to the people who live in the Kazunzu area, many of whom are suffering from HIV and Aids. A very high percentage of the children are orphaned as a result and desperately need accommodation. I hope the team can make a start on what is a very worthwhile project and encourage others to get involved. We are delighted with the support we have received for this project and the level of funds raised.”

For further information Trinity Church www.falkirktrinity.org.uk [email protected],uk or Vine Trust www.vinetrust.org.

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