About Bukoba, Tanzania

Bukoba in a few paragraphs:

Bukoba is located in the region of Kagera, in the north-western corner of Tanzania. It is a fast growing town, situated on the shores of Lake Victoria.

The Kagera region neighbors Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi and lies across the lake from Kenya.

Kagera is one of the poorest regions in Tanzania, where malaria continues to claim the lives of thousands of children every year. 

The region has the lowest life expectancy rate of 45 years, with death rates exceeded birth rates.

The spread of HIV/AIDS is devastating the area.  In 1983, Kagera ws the first region in Tanzania to identify HIV/AIDS.  By 1986 HIV/AIDS had spread to the whole country. 

The constant influx of refugees from the confllicts in Burundi and Rwanda, has also worsened the economic infrastructure of the region.  In 1994 alone the region received more than 500,000 refugees from the horrific genocide that happened in Rwanda.

More detailed information on Bukoba:

Bukoba Township and the surrounding villages (population 150,000) are situated on the western shore of Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake and the largest tropical lake in the world. Bukoba lies only 1 degree south of the Equator and enjoys 12 hours of daylight year-round. The climate is sunny and mild most of the year.

Bukoba’s main ethnic group is the Bahaya, who speak Ruhaya. Most people also speak Swahili, and English is taught in school.

The core industrial activity is agriculture. The vegetation consists of tropical grasslands with scattered trees. The vegetation within the town vicinity and nearby villages is evergreen throughout the year. The upper villages are covered with plantations of bananas, coffee, potatoes, and other crops. The main commercial product is coffee, and the main food crops and dietary staple are matoke (large green bananas), maize, and beans.

Bukoba has chronic unemployment (alarmingly high) and abject poverty (income averages less that $2 per day) due to lack of development and public services. Running water, electricity, healthcare, and basic infrastructure are extremely limited.

A little background on Bukoba may offer some explanations for this depressing economic crisis. Kagera shares the border with Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi. These proximities made the people of Bukoba one of the first eyewitnesses of horrible days of Rwanda genocide and the 

Ugandan’s Idi Amin war.  

It suffered the worst aftermath of Tanzania’s incursion into Uganda to overthrow Dictator Idi Amin in the late 1970s, although close neighborly relations between the two countries have since been resumed. Since 1994 the area has suffered from another regional catastrophe: Kagera has housed vast number of refugees from Rwanda, Burundi, and the Congo.

These two major events had huge effects on Bukoba, causing massive stress on the social and economic structures in the communities as a result of massive influx of refugees.

Bukoba's main health problems, which call for immediate attention, include:

* High maternal mortality rate 664/100,00 (2003 Annual report)

* Infant mortality rate 58/1,000 (reported cases)

* High cases of malaria 438/1,000 (2003 report)

* Low vaccination coverage 84%

* High cases of diarrhea diseases 64/1,000 (2003 report)

* High prevalence of STD/HIV 10.8% (2003 report)

* Increasing cases of TB and leprosy

* Environmental degradation

* Sanitation and refuse disposal

* Control of air and water pollution 

HIV/AIDS is another factor that gravely disturbed Bukoba’s development.

The region has more orphans than any other part of Tanzania. Most of Bukoba’s families have been ravaged by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, leaving mothers as the sole providers for their families. This means girls must help out with family chores after school and are unable to complete homework assignments. They are unable to challenge the status quo from their position of acute vulnerability.

In this context of widespread poverty, girls and young women face massive exclusion from education and the opportunities that education itself unlocks.

Girls and young women in Bukoba are among the most disadvantaged social group in the world today. Girls’ circumstances can only improve if their communities are in a position to support them, and in turn, rural communities can only change if girls’ circumstances improve.

SHARE’s goal is to unlock the resources that begin the process of change.

We aim to empower girls to solve problems - to identify their own resources, knowledge, and creativity - and supplement these with finance and training.

We hope to build around girls a supportive environment in which they can attend, and succeed, at primary and secondary school, and progress into young adulthood with opportunities that include professional training, higher education, and job creation.