Tropical splendour

Nursery practice has been transported fruitfully from rural Wales to an east African village, as Nick Waller discovers Flic Eden's arrival at the village of Karagwe, in the tropical rainforest area of Tanzania, concluded a 300-mile trek over red dirt roads. 'I expected to see a settlement once the cloud of dust had cleared, but I was wrong,' says the Welsh nursery teacher. 'The dwellings are very spread out and the villagers are largely self-sufficient by working their land. It is an extremely fertile area and the fruit and vegetables were practically shooting up before my eyes, especially mango, pawpaw and loofah trees. And the heat and humidity took a bit of getting used to, as I had flown out from the depths of British weather!' She had taken the chance to span an enormous cultural divide by visiting Karagwe as an ambassador for the Machynlleth Community Nursery that has been long established as a daycare provider in west Wales. The small town of Machynlleth, where many children have Welsh as their first language, nestles on the banks of the River Dyfi in Powys. The area is rural and sparsely populated.