About Us Village Africa is a charity working in Tanzania, East Africa.  It is based in a village called Yamba, high in the West Usambara Mountains in the Tanga region.  The aim of the charity is to alleviate poverty.  Initially its work is in health and education.   Locally it is known by the Kisambaa name 'Vyaadahikana' which means 'It is possible'. Village Africa has reactivated Yamba Village Health Post (Catholic Church registered). It has done this by sponsoring the salaries of a clinical officer and a laboratory technician.  It has also provided a stock of medicine, medical equipment and cleaning materials. Village Africa is currently assisting two government primary schools (Yamba and Milingano).  It is running a volunteer teaching programme to assist with the teaching of English and is providing teaching resources.  It is assisting with school renovations. Village Africa was started in May 2006 by a British woman (Caroline Johnston) and a Tanzanian priest (Father Stanislaus Baruti). It is registered in the UK as an independent charity.  Directors have been found and it has a small UK office. The project currently has nine Tanzanian staff and employs a lot of village casual labour for building projects.  The project was initially financed by a very generous gift from the late Mrs Rhoda Lawley.  It is now funded by donations from both individuals and companies.  Volunteer fees cover the costs of the teaching programme. Most villagers have no cash income - just the crops they grow.  Despite the cold climate several months of the year, many adults and children have more than twenty holes in their clothes, no shoes, no sweaters, no blankets, no beds and no toilets.  Some do not eat everyday due to a recent crop failure caused by drought.  Water is not piped or treated.  There is no electricity.  The nearest bus is five hours walk away.  Prior to the start of Village Africa, people walked up to ten hours to get medicine.  Sick people and pregnant women were taken on a stretcher carried by six men down the mountain to hospital.  Mother and child mortality are high. The villagers of Yamba and Milingano have a thirst for development and have proved this in practical terms.  They have donated land, buildings, building materials, food and hours of casual labour to get the project started. They spent five months turning the bush into a 3km road to give vehicular access.  Village Africa has a four wheel drive vehicle which is used to bring medicine, supplies, volunteers and visitors to the project.  It is used as an ambulance to take sick people to hospital in emergencies.  The villagers are friendly, hospitable and generous.  They look after one another.  They wear vibrant colours, sing, dance, drum and play the guitar to enjoy life.  They are incredibly strong and can carry a 25kg bag of cement up the mountain. The project has the support of the community, the village committee and government officials.  All are assisting in ways that they can and all believe that development is possible ('Vyaadahikana'). Photo: Village Africa UK team.