Speaker Ashley Peatfield - Funzi and Bodo Trust

Ashley explained that he had torn his Achilles Heel and hurt his back which was why Sarah was having to chauffer him on this visit.

He said that at its heart the charity provides medical services. It has now got a government clinic close by to its own facility but this clinic never has medicine for free so people still come to the Funzi and Bodo clinic where they can get the prescription drugs that they need free of charge. He then showed part of a video about a young girl called Rebecca and her family. She was an extreme case as she had suffered severe third degree burns from boiling water all over body. As shown in the film the charity helped her get back to a normal life. He also said that whilst they were filming Rebecca’s dad committed suicide because of the trauma of her burns and children were the ones who found him.

The full 16-minute film can be viewed at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJkpU60E9jw&t=396s 

He then went through a list of ways in which the trust helps the people on the Island of Funzi and its mainland neighbouring village of Bodo: -

When the Peatfields first visited the area, the villagers used to have to use the bush or the beach as a toilet which was causing a lot of medical problems because of the unsanitary conditions. Now they have given over 200 toilets and recently they have given grants for toilets and showers at the clinic.

The clinic has been extended to provide physiotherapy and occupational therapy to adults and the elderly whereas originally it was only for children. 

A farm school in large, netted enclosures with drip irrigation- has been built which now employs 100 people. Once they have enough food for their own family, they are able to sell the surplus to their neighbours as food costs on the island are very high with food having to be brought over from the mainland. This has reduced malnutrition on the island. They are also starting cookery lessons as a lot of the people don’t know how to deal with a lot of different vegetables. Now that the main farm has been successful, they are starting Home Farms. These are basically allotments with the Trust teaching them how to grow the produce and providing plants from the nursery at the farm. Also, they are having farming lessons at the school provided by the Trust, .

Recently a science lab has been built at the Funzi school thanks to a donation from a charity called Hazel's Footprints. This means the children can now compete with city children and progress to higher education which they were unable to do previously as they didn’t have the science part of the curriculum.

Another exciting project is a Seaweed Farming operation which has been financed by a micro loan to a women's group. The type of Seaweed that they grow is used in cosmetics. The women buy seeds and then attach them to a rope and take it out to sea which then produces large amounts of the special seaweed. The group have already paid back several loans and have recently applied for a new loan to buy a boat for planting and harvesting the crop.

Another micro loan has gone to a carpenter who bought better joinery equipment and is now making school desks for the government. He is doing so well that he now employs several people.

There are 3 sewing groups using old treadle sewing machines as there is no electricity on the island. These groups make sanitary pads, school uniforms and general clothing. The groups get loans to buy bulk material and then pay them off as they sell the goods.

Last December we at Bradford Blaize donated £500 to be used on micro loans. This allowed a man to purchase a new engine for his boat which he uses to ferry islanders to and from the mainland and also to take tourist on excursions around the area. His boat is currently being fully refurbished and will start plying its trade again as soon as the rainy season ends.

Ashley said that it takes a minimum of £80,000 to keep the charity going but they usually manage to raise upward of £110.000 per year to keep schools, clinic and library going. He said that there is a team of locals on the ground that deal with the day-to-day work but that there is one man who was previously a mechanical engineer who they can trust implicitly to manage the operations.

Finally, Ashley played a film of about 12 young people who had gone on to either university or polytechnic and were qualified to become teachers, nurses, car mechanics, a marine engineer and an electrician among other professions. This can be seen on the Funzi and Bodo web site at https://www.funzi.org.uk/