El Niño is coming to Tanzania. The Tanzania Meteorological Authority and the Government of Tanzania have issued strong warnings of severe weather, with very heavy rain, storms and flooding expected and serious damage likely to roads, buildings and infrastructure. Arusha is among the regions expected to be hit hardest, and schools are closing a month early.

The Umoja Centre in Arusha is where young people from across Tanzania come to learn, build life skills, play sport and access counselling, and where community trainings and events take place throughout the year. The Centre’s gutters and rainwater harvesting system need urgent repair before the rains arrive. Leaks are already damaging the balustrades, and in heavy rain water is likely to get into the classrooms. That would disrupt learning and, left unchecked, cause structural damage that would cost far more to put right later.

The Umoja team has set out the work needed. Water needs a safe route through the site. That means repairing broken gutters, including the rainwater gutters on the office and admin building and the classroom block, digging four trenches and ditches beneath the office and admin building, the library and the classrooms so water can pass underneath, fixing the culvert by the office and admin building, and building a drainage system around the ground tanks. The underground tanks need new pipes fitted and the broken system reconnected so rainwater is collected and stored properly. The sewage system at the girls’ toilets must be fixed before flooding turns a fault into a health risk. Rotten and broken timber balusters need replacing, with metal caps fitted to prevent further decay, and the galvanised wire fence needs replacing wherever it has broken so the site stays secure.

Acting now will protect the Centre and everything that happens there. Every pound raised goes to Umoja Tanzania to complete these repairs before El Niño arrives, so we can protect the centre, safe and ready for the young people and community it serves.

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