The Pangolin Project
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Our 2003 Research Project showed that there is a substantial number of people in parts of Tanzania, with varying kinds of dementia - and no services whatsoever! Because it is generally known, in the UK, that people in Africa are not very long-lived, many people think that they do not live long enough to get dementia. This is not true.
People with dementia in Sub-Saharan Africa are in multiple jeopardy: they are old, they are poor, they are socially isolated, and they often have to care for children orphaned by HIV/ AIDS.
We are committed to providing training to workers in Tanzania, through our sister organisation, Dayspring.
In the longer term, we hope to provide a community service to be used by older people as well as managed by them and other members of the local community. Because it is owned by the community, it is hoped that it will be a permanent development - although continuing funding will be sought within the UK. It is hoped that this project will provide a model for others in Africa.
The aim of the local Wazee (elders) Groups which are being set-up in Kisangura, Kebosongo, Kibeyo, Morotonga and Nyamburi is to improve the lot of older people (of whom there are many), who live in social isolation in the region; the aim of The Salix Dementia Trust is to change the world for people with dementia and their carers.
Jointly, we feel that we can achieve both of these aims by establishing a project which uses local community buildings (including school accommodation, churches and government buildings) and collecting wazee by 4 wheel drive vehicle (with access aids for the frail). On one day each week, in each place, local workers will collect older people and bring them to the local centre where they will have the opportunity to drink chai, chat, make music, play games and, possibly most importantly, have a nourishing meal. It is hoped that children will visit and that the elders will be able to pass on their traditional wisdom and stories.
We anticipate that we should be able to provide the day service for 10-15 wazee on each day and that the locally recruited Project Manager (a nurse or similarly qualified person) would move around e.g. Monday in Kisangura, Tuesday in Kebosongo etc. A cook will be needed at each centre - it is unlikely to be the same person and we shall aim to pay a small amount to a local person to do the cooking Potential volunteers have already been recruited although we hope to extend the principle of volunteering to older schoolchildren to promote community cohesion and inter-generational understanding.
We hope to be able to be in a better position to respond appropriately to people with dementia as they present from within this integrated project as there is a need to address the problems of all older people before we can allow ourselves the luxury of specialisation.
If you want to support this project specifically, just tell us that you want your contribution to go to "Pangolin".
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Why Pangolin?
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