It seems like only yesterday that Michael Carey came in to Wrington Primary School where I was head, to tell the children about his first visit to Luhimba. My role on that evening in 1984 was to operate the epidiascope for him, and little did I realise what impact this was going to have on my life, and far more importantly on the life of this poor but delightful community in a remote corner of Tanzania In the ensuing quarter of a century.

The Luhimba Project had started and I was hooked. Michael returned to Luhimba with his late wife Angela the following year. From Michael’s two visits to Luhimba two strong principles were established – that everything that would be done should be at the request of the villagers and that 100% of funds raised would be spent on village projects. These are still true today.

Over the following years much was done to help the villagers improve their quality of life in the areas of education, health, agriculture and clean water and the project’s achievements have been remarkable. Just think that in 1984 about 250 children were educated in an old crumbling village primary school and now over 2000 young people receive full-time education in three well-run primary schools and an excellent secondary school. In 1984 there were no medical facilities.

In 1997 the Angela Carey Dispensary was built with a full time doctor and last year a wonderful 20-bed extension was added to this, serving all the surrounding villages. Now there are 25 water wells in the village – back in 1984 they shared the streams with the cattle. Agriculture has improved significantly with the introduction of the heifer project 12 years ago and more recently with the small business scheme.

These are just some examples of what has been achieved through the joint efforts of the villagers and the project leaders, and the list goes on. This year the major plans include the building of a care home and the installation of an irrigation scheme for the farmers which will double the area of land they can cultivate. Also in education we are delighted that Weston College is linking with the secondary school in the village.

It is good to see that all projects so far are showing evidence of sustainability and that the benefits of the project are gradually spreading over a much greater area than just Luhimba village. So hopefully The Luhimba Project will have a positive impact on a wide community for generations to come.

I first visited Luhimba in 1992 and since then my visits have become longer and more frequent. Last year I spent almost 6 months there, living in my own house in the village. The success of the project has been due to a number of factors including the friendly happy relationship between us and the villagers, based on mutual trust, understanding and a lot of humour, and the support of volunteers (last year alone 16 volunteers came to support various village projects).

But nothing would be achieved without the extremely generous and loyal support we get from our sponsors and donors. The project started in Wrington and over the years so many individuals and organisations in the village have been so kind. This is so much appreciated. Thank you. And may I say thank you to Michael for getting me into this!

On the wall in my living room in Luhimba someone has written the words ‘Urafiki wetu udumu’ which means ‘May our friendship last forever’.

Paul Temple