Buigiri Tanzania

In 1986, the Blackpool Sunrise Club established a link with a Blind rehabilitation village in Buigiri, Tanzania. This was enabled by Kendall Lee, a Rotarian and former teacher at Arnold school in Blackpool. Ever since, the Rotary club and school have raised and donated thousands of pounds to improve the health, education and work opportunities for the people in the village.

Over the years, funding has focused on:

• The blind rehabilitation centre itself and a health clinic
• Improving housing and sanitation for the whole community
• Supplying farming and milling equipment to enable the community to grow their own food
• Supplying emergency aid e.g. mosquito nets or maize during a drought
• Educational scholarships for promising young people

The work has been enabled thanks to Kenneth Dende, a Tanzanian blind man who Kendall worked with to establish the rehabilitation centre. Kenneth’s eldest sone, Zawadi was one of the first young people to benefit from an Educational scholarship, when he travelled to the UK to study and take his A levels at Arnold School. Now Zawadi lives in the village himself, and in his own time,  supports the residents, translates all communications and coordinates the developments and resource distribution.

Rotarians from Blackpool sunrise often visit the village to support projects and witness the impact of our support. Alex Cheston and her friends visited in 2025 and raised over £5,000 for the village through a social media campaign

Here's the link to give... https://www.gofundme.com/f/raising-funds-for-the-primary-school-in-buigiri-tanzania?attribution_id=sl:c0669246-66bf-490e-9597-7bdaf2fbb670&lang=en_GB&utm_campaign=man_ss_icons&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link