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| The number of children we support has grown and grown to over 200, more than half of whom live with us full-time. 80 live in the Children’s Village, Mkuranga, while 27 live in Dar es Salaam in the Reception Home and related rented accommodation. We also support 100 children in the community through the Relatives’ Support Programme (RSP).The total cost of the operation in Tanzania is £320,000 a year. Of this total, £280,000, about £2,600 per child per year, is spent supporting the children living with us, while a further £40,000, about £400 per child per year, is spent on the RSP.
RSP is much cheaper because our support is mainly food packages, educational needs, such as books and uniforms, and medical insurance – the rest is provided in the community, typically by a grandmother. Children living with us need a lot more support.
Our budget is dominated by three items, each costing approximately £75,000 a year. |
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| Food
The first major expense is food. The standard dish comprises ugali, which looks like mashed potato and is made from maize, kidney beans, and some green vegetables. There is some variation such as rice or a small piece of fish, and home-grown pineapples when in season. A small piece of chicken with ‘chipsi’ (potato chips) is a Sunday evening treat every other week. Having eaten with the children for several weeks, we can testify that the food is sufficient in quantity but fairly boring. It does keep the children in excellent health! |
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| Education
The second big item is education. The biggest ‘lump’ is at the Children’s Village (CVM), where our 80 children are spread across pre-primary, delivered in the village by our own staff; primary, where we send children to a school on our doorstep that teaches in English; and secondary, which is boarding. In total, this costs £50,000 a year, averaging £625 per child per year.At the Reception Home (RH) in Dar es Salaam, the total education cost is approximately £20,000 spread across 27 children, about £750 per child per year. This is higher than CVM because the courses, such as accountancy and carpentry, are typically a little more expensive. We also spend £5,000 on education across 100 RSP children, £50 per child per year, providing books, uniforms and other equipment. |
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| Staff
The third substantial cost is staff. We employ a total of 25 people across all our activities. 10 of these are mamas at CVM, one per family plus two needed to cover days off, vacations and sickness. The other 15 are managers, farm workers, RH staff, RSP coordinators, and a teacher. The total payroll cost including tax and insurance averages out at around £3,000 per employee per year. The mamas do also receive food and lodging, but they are mainly motivated to stay with us because they are very committed to the children. |
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| Taken together, food, education and staff costs represent nearly three quarters of our total spend, and it is difficult to see how we could easily cut these costs unless we plan to support fewer children.Other than these ‘big three’ cost drivers, we have some overheads that are independent of how many children we have. These amount to £50,000 a year and mainly include maintenance, vehicle expenses, RH rent, farm costs, and legal and accounting costs (unfortunately, the cost of doing business in Tanzania these days).
Finally, we need about £40,000 a year for non-food and education costs for the children, including health insurance, clothes, cleaning, water and electricity, and non-food kitchen costs.
In the last full year, Malaika Kids UK (MKUK) raised just over £160,000, similar to the year before. That is only half of what we need to continue to support our children, meet the budget and avoid running down our reserves. The balance has largely been generated by Malaika Kids Netherlands, (MKNL). Unfortunately, MKNL is signalling that it will likely reduce its income generation starting next year.
This could mean that we have to freeze the budget for Tanzania beginning in 2024 and start reducing the number of children we care for. Or we can avoid this course of action if MKUK has a great Christmas Appeal and generally steps up its fundraising. We are hopeful!
With very best wishes |
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