March '11 TZ Trip, Week 3 Journal

This is the last installment of my three part "novel" of our trip to Tanzania in March.  I never dreamed it would be so long, but I've tried to insert enough pictures to keep you going.  Kudos to you if you are finishing it up!


sheri


Thursday, March 24

Leaving Day

Today was the day Todd and Penny left.  Its funny how dependent you get on each other here, and in such a short time, people who are seldom in your every day life at home, become a critical part of THIS reality, that is missed very much when they go.

Sabina, the German Powerhouse

Phil and I started the morning at Sabina’s office over at the Diocese Office.  She is the new volunteer assigned to the Diocese from Germany, and was called here to work on development.  They need to find revenue streams, and they need projects to be done... for this, Sabina is an answer to a prayer!  We went over the various projects she has under way, I took copious notes, and we left feeling we were in the hands of a woman who’s got it going on!

• ETI is interested in helping with possible micro-finance opportunities
• We got on update on the water project in Same.
• ETI will discuss building a private donor base for water projects as a development idea for ourselves, so that we can become a more viable partner.
• Sabina is working on contacting the hospitals and clinics owned by the ELCT as a way of marketing the grain amaranth that the ELCT is currently growing.

It was a short 45 minute meeting, but a lot was accomplished...go German efficiency!  How does she survive here on African time?

Mwanga

At this point, it was time to go, and Todd arrived, a little breathless after getting the Land Cruiser stuck in a ditch AGAIN.  Again, a big herd of guys came and more or less dug and lifted it out, and all was well.  It’s pretty much covered in mud, but seems ok otherwise.  Wow.  I’ll never buy anything but a Toyota again!  It’s easy to think these guys are having trouble because of their driving, but actually, driving here during the rainy season is a little like driving in a harvested cornfield in Iowa in the rain....in a hilly area.....after a flood....with huge ditches and crevices from running water....and no grass cover.  The landscape is rugged, even in the middle of town, and the fact that they can get around at all is a minor miracle!

A road outside of town, heading up to a neighboring village.
Yes, you drive on that....carefully

We loaded up, and headed off for Mwanga.  Todd and Penny will go on to the airport from there, and we are going to see if we can time this right to do a home visit.  

We arrived in Mwanga to find the Healing Touch Class behind time (imagine that!) and the likelihood of a home visit remote.  We said hi instead, went through a tearful goodbye with Penny and Todd, and then took off for Same.  I can tell we are all kind of wearing out, because the most appealing thing Phil and I could think of, after a late lunch, was to collapse in our rooms and read for the late afternoon before dinner....so we did.

Sharon and Denise arrived home late, but happy, we all ate dinner and, you guessed it!  We collapsed into bed, exhausted, but pleased with the day.  I leave for Hedaru tomorrow, where internet is sketchy, so I spent a little time making sure all my email was answered and sending out the Week 2 journal to Dave for distribution.  I think I’m ready to go.

Friday, March 25

Happy birthday Alex!  Today is my son Alex’s birthday, so in his honor, we played his cd all day, and it made me miss him, but it was nice.  The Tanzanians love it!

African Time

With an anticipated 9:00 am leaving time, I was up and fed and ready to go early this morning when Eli arrived at 8:00 at the Elephant to inform me that I should go to the Diocese office.  Why?  Hmm, that was a little vague, but he (strongly) felt I should be there to meet my driver.  

Ok.  It became obvious when I arrived what he was up to.  The Diocese had double booked us, so they had me down for a Land Cruiser and driver....and they had promised Rosemary a car and driver for two days.  Yes, that would be the same driver!  There was obviously a problem, but the fun of it all was watching these men scurrying all over the Diocese office, having high level meetings and trying to figure out how to get us both in opposite directions in the same car with one driver, all the while looking like it was no big deal, and under perfect control.

This, I have decided, is at the bottom of what we call “african time”.  There is a distinct lack of organization in planning, but they compensate by being amazingly resourceful and creative.  Given enough time, they find solutions.

At 11:00, I left with Lamek (my new driver) in the Land Cruiser I had been promised, with Rosemary in tow.  We picked up her daughter who was leaving for boarding school, loaded her stuff, which was a lot, into the vehicle, and took her to the bus station.  Rosemary met one of the retired drivers to drive her up to Mhezi for the women’s seminar she was now 3 hours late to conduct.  I felt very sorry for her, but they all seem to take it in stride, and we finally got to Hedaru at noonish. 

They weren’t shocked that we were 2 hours late.

Hedaru

Is this the same village I used to visit?!  I think we took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in fantasy Hedaru!  That would be the place where the schedule is slow, there is a fan in my room, and I can just relax and enjoy people’s company!  

My room, fit for a queen!

I am thrilled to report a quiet afternoon, working on computers, looking at pictures, drinking chai, and getting reacquainted.  Even the welcome service at the church was relaxed and comfortable.  Most everyone is out in the fields planting after the rain two days ago, so attendance was low, but it was a wonderful group, and we had a lovely day.

Eli arrived late, after a day of Healing Touch interpreting, to help me with the meetings coming up this week.  

So, as I’m sitting here on Saturday morning writing this, I’m dripping in sweat and it’s only 6:30 am.  I just hacked a corner off my towel with my leatherman to put in my bag for the day as a face wiping rag, and my hair is flipping and curling all over the place in the humidity.  Fan or no fan, maybe it is Hedaru after all!

Today....goat farmers!

Saturday, March 26

Wow!  What a day!  Can I just say one more time how much I love the new softer Clement who designed the new softer schedule?!  We had breakfast, got dressed, had time to journal, and still were out of here around 9:30 to go see the goats.  We piled about 15 people in the back of the Land Cruiser, and off we went, up the mountain to Mbukwe.  They were clearly out for a good time, and the party atmosphere in the car was electric...and loud!

Mbukwe

We parked the car at the last little outpost with 2 shops and a couple of houses, before you start walking up the mountain.  

From here on, there are no roads until you reach the top of the second mountain over, so there is a fabulous network of paths that snake all over these next few mountains.  

We took off on just a short walk of about 10 minutes to Evangelist Eliawaha’s home.  His wife, Mary, died in October and I had requested a chance to pay my condolences.  Her burial place was right there by the house, and it was beautiful.  I took a picture, and then we all went inside, sang a few songs, and Pr. Zaburi spoke some words and said a prayer.  I didn’t say much, as I couldn’t really see that it was expected, but I gave him a hug and told him how sorry I was, and since everyone was crying after the prayer Pr Z did, it seemed like we had done what we came to do.  Usually when I can’t quite understand what’s going on, it’s best just to kind of go with it.  Ev. Eliawaha seemed to be very satisfied, so we all had peanuts and coffee, and left.

Evangelist Eliawaha

The home of Ev. Eliawaha, and burial site of Mary

SNAKE ALERT!  If you are squeamish, skip this one!  


Hello!  Don’t we all know there are snakes in Africa?  Of course we do, and we know that they are mostly poisonous, but I have never seen a live one in 5 years of coming here.  All I’ve seen is a few dead pythons on the road, which are huge, but not so scary.  

Today, I finally saw it.  

Correction- THEY saw it. 

We were climbing up to someone’s house, and all of a sudden, the guys got all excited ahead of us, grabbed rocks and started heaving them at a small bush!  It was clearly a moment of intense manhood, and no one was about to be left out!  

By the time I got there, this little (2 ft?) gray snake lay pulverized on the ground, and there was great strutting and grunting going on;  some things transcend cultural differences.  

Yes, it was extremely poisonous.  

Yes, it was practically invisible. 

Yes, it was VERY dead.  

I really feel safe here, you know?  The people who surround me didn’t survive by being stupid, and they never fail to keep me out of harm’s way.  Natural selection is an amazing thing.

Goat Project

The next stop was the first goat pen of our Nanny Project.  It is the first of fifteen pens that will have roughly 100 goats in them in a couple of years.  The farmers got their training last month, they build pens now, and then the goats arrive in May.


If you want more details, click here.  This is a partnership between ETI and St. Andrew's Lutheran Church in Ames, Iowa.


This was really good for me to see, because I didn’t  realize what it meant to have them build pens from “native materials”, which in theory, can be gathered in the woods.  Yes.... but around here, deforestation is so severe, you really can’t gather it, and you have to buy it.  That means that each of these pens is costing the farmer around $400...an astronomical amount of money!  It is also quite large, and a pretty big construction job.

They came up with a good solution to some of these challenges, which was to team up like an old fashioned barn raising, and build the pens together.  Each farmer pays for his materials, but then the others help him/her build.  It really is bonding them as a team, and very culturally appropriate to do it this way.  I took lots of pictures, and told them I thought it was fabulous, and they all broke into cheers!  Hmmm.  I forget how much they want to do well and have us approve.  I wish they’d get over it, but I suppose I do the same thing, so there you go.

Next stop was the church, where we sat down and had a meeting.  I’ll just type up the highlights in bullets, since the thing lasted about 4 hours.

Clement read a report from the Tengeru Agriculture College concerning their training there.  I have the written report, in English.

• Attending were 15 Farmers, 40% women, 60% Men
• Their ages ranged from 21 to 60
• They took classes in about 10 different areas of livestock and farm management
• 80% of their study was hands-on, 20% was classroom

They shared some of the things they learned at the 2 week training:

• which plants are healthy and poisonous for a goat
• these are better quality goats than the locals, and will need much more careful care
• they learned to estimate weight, which is huge in maintaining a good profit when you sell, and knowing how to feed and breed.  
• As an old person, this will insure that their retirement is good, and they have a little money
• As a young person, they have their whole life to now develop this farm, and they are excited about the financial possibilities for their families
• how to milk properly, and save the first milk for the babies when the goat has given birth
• rainwater harvesting techniques
• some of the things they can do to look after the goats medically
• Organic and integrated farming techniques, how to recycle even urine and manure
• sex and gender training....sometimes women begin this farm, and dominant husbands take all the money and sell the goats.  They learned how to address this, as a group.
• how to make high nutrition food for the goats from old silage in the fields, and then store it for up to 4 years.
• how to make bio-gas from animal and human waste
• composting techniques, and how to use that dirt to grow better vegetables
• selective breeding and castration

Then we went on to talk about the structure of what we are doing

• We are now officially a three way partnership between St. Andrew’s, Hedaru Lutheran, and ETI.  This officially makes Eli Kisimbo the liaison from ETI, who works directly with Tunso, the Chair of the Goat Committee, and Clement, the Chair of the Companionship Committee, as well as me, representing the goat project at St. Andrew’s.
• Eli, with his degree in Agriculture and Livestock, as well as community development, will be training and guiding the committee in Hedaru, but the decisions will be made jointly by all three entities.
• There was a lot of talk about the team, and sticking together.  Already, there is one farmer who cannot figure out how to find $400 to build her pen.  Initially the talk was going towards “suck it up and figure it out, or you are no longer in the program”, but as the meeting went on, it moved towards “how can we find a way to support farmers like her, and help her find the money?”  We were VERY pleased with the way that thinking progressed on the team.
• These farmers will benefit directly from this program, but in fact, it is better that it be a model which can be scaled up and used in other locations.  They liked the idea of it being bigger than just them.

Clement leads the Hedaru Lutheran Church Committee

Tunso is leading the Goat Committee

Eli Kisimbo leads ETI in Tanzania

At this point, Eli got up and kind of hit them hard with the expectations and rules.  You could tell by the looks on their faces and the slump of their shoulders that this was NOT what they expected to hear today!  It felt very hard to me, but I trust Eli’s wisdom in how to handle these things, and as soon as he was done, he suggested we break for lunch.  It was an awesome and delicious affair, which it would be since I had offered to pay for it and treat the farmers.  Duh!  These people are not stupid!  When I got the $100 bill for it later, I thought it was a pretty good deal.  That fed about 25 people a feast, including soda!

 After lunch, we moved tables and chairs out under a tree with a nice breeze....a complete change of location.....and began to build up hope again.  I say we, but Eli was totally crafting this presentation.  By the time it was over, nine of our ten farmers were totally jazzed to be part of this dream and get the pens built by April 30, and one had openly admitted that she didn’t have the money, and couldn’t see how she could do it.  That brought up a discussion about how the team could help others on the team who were struggling, we reinforced that they need to stick together, and Eli closed it.

All together, a highly satisfying meeting!

Oliondo

This evening, a boy came knocking on the door.  He looks about 12, but i think is probably closer to 15.  He has a pronounced limp, and I’ve noticed him hanging around the edges of things here.  What is it about these little stray puppies that catches my attention?  In any case, he handed me a note, which I read.  His told me his name, and that he was born with HIV.  His parents are dead, and he lives with relatives.  He wants to go Oliondo near Ngorongoro crater, and take the cure of the holy man, and he wants me to help him pay to get there.

So right now, the vast majority of the readers of this will probably say, “what?.....” and rightfully so.  It’s strange.  There is a retired Lutheran Pastor near the crater who declared about 6 months ago that God visited him in a dream, and told him to take the liquid from a certain tree (well known, not medicinal) and boil it.  Then give it to sick people, and it will heal them.  He wanted to charge, but God handed him a 500 shilling note, and said that is all you may charge.  It’s about 35 cents.

Since then, Tanzanians and even people from all over the world have been flocking to this place, and drinking the medicine.  Now, this is the strange thing.....I have yet to meet a single person who doesn’t know someone who went, and came home cured of Diabetes, cancer, blood pressure.....even HIV.  They swear that they are being tested in clinics all over the country and it is all true.  Cabinet ministers are going, famous people....it is pasted all over the news daily.

Of course, being American, I’m completely skeptical, if not a little sarcastic about it, and yet truly, I have not found a single person (and I’ve asked them all) that doesn’t believe it 100%. If I can, I want to talk to an actual doctor here and see if they’ve really done this testing and found these results.

If even the docs here agree that something is happening, where does that leave me with this one brave little orphan with HIV who dared to come ask me for help?  It’s a tough question.

Sunday, March 28

I am watching these entries get longer and longer as the trip progresses, and I swore today would be one page, no more....but there is NO WAY!  

Church

It started with church at 7:00 am, lasting until about 10:15.  Yes, you read that right.  The service, 2 people joining the church, about 15 infant baptisms, 3 adult baptisms, 5 offerings, and roughly 6 choir pieces....and let us not forget the 35 minute sermon.....does NOT make a short service.  Never mind that I had to be introduced too.  What the heck though, they are there to enjoy the morning, and they went away happy today.  

The highlight for me was mostly that I did my entire introduction in Swahili, and it was l o n g!  I didn’t memorize, but instead actually made it up as I went, and I got huge applause and many compliments.  This is the first time I’ve ever done that, and they totally took notice.  Kudos to my Swahili teacher Phyl!

Zebra Camp

We did it again at the second service, but I only stayed through my introduction, and then left to go work on computers some more.  I have become the local computer fundi (repairman), so everyone who owns one and can’t figure out how to do something comes calling when I have a free moment.  We ate lunch, and then loaded into two cars and headed out to Zebra Camp, located out by Gama and the Pangani River.  We were supposed to be working on the Nanny Project by-laws all afternoon, so imagine my surprise when Clement announced that we were there to just relax and enjoy!  He was delighted with my “afternoon of leisure”, the location was stunning, and you know, sometimes it’s best just to go along.

We took pictures, watched a monitor lizard on a log, didn’t see crocodiles, got rides in a canoe, and sat and yacked in a beautiful shelter house that sat right on the river.  Even Pastor Zaburi and his wife seemed to be having a very romantic afternoon!  For the most part, it was a beautiful day and I enjoyed it very much.

Monitor Lizard

Pangani River

Babu Grayson....see story below for more

Pastor Z, flirting with his wife!

I’d be lying, however, if I said it was without issues.

1. They had relaxed so much, they simply quit speaking english or translating.  The good news?  I’m glad they are so comfortable they didn’t even notice.  The down side?  It’s a strange kind of isolation to be sitting with 15 people, and feel all alone without the ability to understand what is going on around you. 
2. We were supposed to be finishing our by-laws, and I had no more time in the schedule.  Yes, that means we blew them off, in favor of down time.  I sound so American when I say that this really irritated me, but it did.  We are indeed workaholics here, and entirely too task oriented....but if not now, when?

After a brief pity party, I got up and went to shoot some pictures, and ended up having a delightful time with some stunning red flowers.  

Later, we got into a discussion in English on gender issues.

Why are westerners so arrogant?  More to the point, why am I?  My impression, and that of nearly all the wazungu I talk to, is that the men here don’t do much, and the women work very hard.  I made some comment about how hard women work, and the fact that the men eat first, best and most, which seems very different to me than our way of doing it, and Grayson (Leah’s husband) very politely challenged me.  He didn’t give a rip how we did it, he wanted to correct my impression of why THEY do it that way.

• First, he attempted to make his point with a story of me and a child walking down the road for 2 miles, and not having enough to eat.  What would I do, feed the child first, me first, or both equally?  Now, imagine that you have to walk another 20 miles, and now there is almost no food at all.  What would I do?  My answer was that this would never happen in America, and I could not give him a truthful answer....I don’t know what that feels like, or how I would respond.
• So....he tried again.  He explained that in TZ culture, the men actually work harder than the women.  They love their wives very much, so they give them the light duty, like cooking, raising children, cleaning the house, carrying the thin pieces of firewood, working the fields, and getting water.  The men, on the other hand, are stronger, so they do the things like carry the big logs, make charcoal, build walls, put roofs on things, and guard the family.  These things are far more difficult or dangerous, and require more food, but they don’t take long, so then they have plenty of time for just wandering around, which is what I have seen and completely misunderstood.

Now, whether you and I agree with what baba Grayson said or not, it makes a few excellent points.

1. They DO have a reason, based on an historic lifestyle, and it makes sense.
2. I’ve never lived in a place with so much manual labor, so I cannot say whether the men work harder or not...me judging that is unfair, because I don’t know.
3. I’ve never lived a life where I did not have enough to eat, and choices like ‘what do you do when there is regularly not enough for everyone?’ had to be made.

In fact, nothing in my life, as illustrated by my inability to answer Grayson’s questions, gives me authority to judge this culture and their way of dividing work and food.  Those judgements came from a lot of white people sitting around observing a culture we don’t understand, and I simply accepted them without question.  I think that is arrogant. 

Maybe it’s true....the men slack and the women work too hard.....but I don’t KNOW that, and have absolutely no right to make it my truth.

On that extremely humbling note, we took off from the camp to go home, clean up, and go to Immanual’s house for dinner.  

Or at least that is what I thought.  

One more reason I need to learn to speak Swahili.

Funeral

Tunso’s (extended) family lost a baby yesterday, and the burial was today.  It was a little 2 year old girl, and she died of diarrhea....in other words dirty water.  They wanted to stop in Kongei on their way home and pay the family their respects.  Kongei is a tiny little mud brick kind of village outside of Hedaru, and this was a cluster of tiny little mud brick homes that we went to.  It was a family unit of about 6 households, all living within 30 feet of each other, so you can imagine the impact this child’s death had.  

We walked through the crowd, saying “pole sana” (I’m sorry) to everyone and shaking hands, and by the time we reached the inside of the house, and then the bedroom where the mama and about 5 female relatives sat, the grief was overwhelming.  After greeting them, Pastor Z called the father of the child into the room, and everyone sang for a few minutes.  He spoke for a short time, and then prayed.  I have absolutely no idea what he said, but it seemed to both comfort the family, and make our own women cry at the same time.

Again, I was completely amazed at how much these people are willing to step into each other’s pain and comfort each other when there is nothing else to be done.  The whole village had been there today, I’m sure, and while the mama looked like she would never smile again, there was that strange sense of comfort in the room just from sitting together and touching one another.

I sat and thought about my grandson David, and what it would be like if he was the child dying of dirty water, and it just made me sick.  This is so unbelievably hard to imagine.  I completely do not know what it feels like to live here.  I never will.

Finally, after a few jokes about our schedule, and the fact that we totally ignored it most of the day, we arrived at Immanuel’s house for dinner.  His most recent son was born two days after we left in August from dedicating the water project, and he named him David Krumm after my husband, in honor of the project.  Little David is thriving, he giggled for me a lot so it was fun to get my hands on a baby again, and the food was great.  I’m now sitting and typing, because I ate so much I cannot possibly sleep until it digests!!

little David Krumm in Hedaru (above) and Iowa (below)

Was it a good day?  I think maybe I’ll quit calling days here good or bad.  I learned a lot, was deeply humbled several times, spent all afternoon in a beautiful place, had a few victories, got really pissed about the world, cried for a two year old I never met and my own little David that I miss horribly, ate a delicious meal with really nice friends, and finished the day making silly faces at a giggly baby named David Krumm.  I think today, life isn’t good or bad, it just is what it is.

Rat Alert!  Ok, this deserves a post script, although some of you should probably skip it.  I have been sitting on my bed for several hours typing this journal.  I just went to the bathroom, and came back to go to bed, and guess what jumped out of the mosquito net that I’d been sitting next too?  A RAT!  I screeched and ran into Pastor Z’s apartment next door, which brought Eli out of his room, and the two of them chased the little thing (it was a very small roof rat....not like our barn rats in Iowa) back home outside, laughing and making comments about African wildlife.  Truly, they seem completely ok with this and thought it was a great opportunity to learn to say rat in both kiswahili and kipare!!!  Ugh.  This is one more reason you never never never never sleep without a tightly tucked mosquito net here.  It is so not about the mosquitos!

If anyone ever refers this trip as a vacation again to my face, I’m going to mentally drop a 3 ton cartoon anvil on their head.  :0) 

Monday, March 29

Katahe

Ahhhh, a satisfying day was needed, and this was it.  Phil called me at breakfast to confirm my return time to Same, update me on a few developments with his project, and let me know that indeed there is a gracious God in heaven, and we are going to go to Arusha a day before we leave to stay at the Impala Hotel, swim in that DIVINE swimming pool, eat amazing Indian food, and do some shopping.  Hallelujah!

We started the day slowly, late as usual, and our first stop was Katahe, the Masaai village where ETI is working on funding a well.  Having staff here makes more difference than anything I could have imagined.  We had time to dance and sing (a pre-requisite), eat chapati and drink tea, and then get down to business.  The main objective of this visit was to confirm that drinking water is still what they want, and discuss the possibility of a well instead of piping that horrendous water from the Pangani River.  They are situated 4 km from the river, and 4 km from the nearest well, making them a perfect location for a new well.  The whole area would benefit, and the survey team at MagiTech felt pretty certain they could find abundant deep clean water.

This is my friend Doris, with some of her children and #7 on the way.

Convincing the villagers who have seen so many people drill shallow cheap boreholes and get salt water was not easy, but by the time we left, we agreed that we would do the survey, and then meet again, and let them be part of the decision.  Yes, it’s a gamble, but the survey will tell us how much of a gamble.  I don’t think it’s a big one.  Eli will take it from here until I can get back again later this year.

As a little bonus at the end, one of our goat farmers came up with the idea of taking down the big supporting logs from the old stick and dung church that was replaced last year with a new brick building.  They’ve been slowly taking the small stuff to burn, but the big ones were too cumbersome.  However, they are PERFECT for her goat pen!  The men had a blast pulling them up and loading them on the Land Cruiser.  Yes, one more reason (as if we needed one) to love that vehicle!

Gunge

Next was Gunge, affectionately known as the driest place on earth situated right next to water.  Good night, it’s hard to believe how desolate it is out there, and this is the rainy season!  Ironically, it’s really fertile if you irrigate, and there is a ton of land just free for the taking.  We’ve been talking to them about the idea of doing some irrigation and then building an agricultural training center.  It would be a one or two room small building, whose purpose would be to provide space that can be used to train local farmers on improved farming techniques particular to this place.  This area along the river is a big bread basket where the irrigation has been done, so it is ripe for something like this. 

Believe it or not, I was standing by the river when I took this.

They are super excited about the idea, and I knew that, but you can’t imagine how surprised I was when we pulled up to a tree with a bunch of people under it, right across the road from a ....cornerstone?  Yes, of their own accord, they petitioned the government for permission to build our training center, and laid a cornerstone!  It had a lovely inscription, naming the date that this cornerstone was inaugurated, in the presence of Sheri Krumm.  I cut the ribbon, still kind of stunned that they had done this, and we all celebrated!  Whew!  I guess this means we’re committed!

The people of Gunge want irrigation, so they took us out to the spot they are thinking about.  Turns out another NGO called World Vision has been working out there, and has about 1/2 km of cement canal made to bring water from the river to their fields, 10 km away.  There is room for a partnership here, they should have some surveys and a game plan, and that will help us figure out what else can be done by us.  

We then went back to the village for lunch, and a discussion with the people.  It was pretty easy discussion, as this is a relatively simple thing, and they are way organized and cooperative.  They have strong village leadership, and it shows.

At the end of the day, these mamas are the most important contributors
to the discussion, because they do the farming most of the time.

Last, before we left, we needed to see the fields where they will be doing the irrigation.  It was not far from the village, maybe 2 km, and it was huge!  I don’t even want to guess how many acres...surely over 100.  Anyway, the ditch from the river intake is dug, the fields are in place, and the ditches into the fields from the main ditch are all there.  So, I asked, what is the project?  They want 10 km of cement and a better way to open and close the ditches into the individual fields.  They also want a renovation of the intake at the river, as well as a second intake farther up the line to increase the overall supply, which gets pretty slow out of the rainy season; both would be pretty straightforward.

That arid land can be pretty fertile if you just add water.

Once again, Eli proved he is worth his weight in gold.  I told him that what they wanted in cement work would be stunningly expensive, and I just couldn’t see it without a really huge grant.  Not probably going to fly right now.  He was completely undaunted.  Instead, he offered an alternate solution.

1. Talk to World Vision, and find out what survey work has been done.  Also, find out what their plans are so we aren’t duplicating anything.
2. If necessary, get Engineer Mjema from the Same District Office out to survey and estimate what it would take to do just the two intakes.  That would increase water flow significantly, and in spite of the fact that they would prefer cement, their ditches would work, and they’d have water.  
3. Start working with them on training.  We can do nutrition training, teach them to grow amaranth, as well as work with them on entrepreneurial skills and marketing, and teach rain water harvesting for small household gardens.  Eli has a gzillion ideas of things he can train on, and it would be very inexpensive if we can use the church until our building is built.

The great thing about this plan is that is a minimal investment with a maximum impact, and would establish a program with measurable results.  We could build on it as funding becomes available, but we could begin something now.  Lives would change, people would be learning and growing, health would improve, and our organizational structure there would strengthen.  It is really a good idea!

With a quick stop in Kongei to drop off the logs, we headed home.  I was sunburned and hot, but really very happy about the day.  To cool down a little, I had one of the most wonderful cold bucket showers of my whole life, using an entire bucket of very clean nice water!  Thank you St. Andrew’s for that water project!  If I closed my eyes, I could almost imagine a swimming pool.  The solar fundi came by and installed the panel I brought, which seemed pretty simple, and we just kind of hung around for a few hours.  Tonight, I am exhausted, but clean, and tomorrow I leave.  I’m ready, but it will still be a sad parting. We’ve had a great visit.

Tuesday, March 30

As the day began today, it looked very overwhelming.  We had to visit Chekereni and update them on the progress of their water, visit the Hedaru village water committee and find out why distribution is having issues and they haven’t turned the project over to a Water User Group, and then leave.... all three potentially difficult situations.  On top of that I’ve been here for five days now, and I’m getting very tired and dirty!

I should have known that nothing is ever as it seems here.  After being told we would leave at 9:00 SHARP, I got up, cleaned up, and was down for breakfast at 8:30.  My bags were packed and I was ready!!

Silly me.  The solar fundi had returned with a list of small materials he would need to finish the project, and by the time we got that all negotiated and done, it was after 10.  Of course, this is Tanzania.  No one seemed the least bit concerned.  I teased Pastor Z that he had said 9:00 SHARP, and he laughed and pointed at his bare arm.  “Yes, mama sheri, but you see I have no watch!”  He thought that was quite funny and went on his way!

Chekereni

We finally arrived at Chekereni, a small village south of Hedaru near the river.  The conversation with them had begun six months earlier when we decided to try and get some water and agricultural improvements to this whole area (Chekereni, Gama, Mabilioni, Gunge and Katahe).  The District office informed us that they are not in the improvement plans, because they don’t have enough people.  These villages are really without anything at all, and the land around them has great potential for some agriculture.  The village leaders of Chekereni/Gama had told us that a well for local gardens would be their priority, so that was what our discussion was going to be about.

By now, Eli and I are becoming quite good as a team, so I did the usual intro and warming up the crowd, and then he gave the reality check update:

•   Funding has been extremely difficult in the U.S. because of the economy

•   We have enough to go ahead and do a survey

•   We have not forgotten you, nor abandoned the project

•   We will be doing agriculture training in Gunge in the near future, and you should join in on that

•   When the survey is done, we will return to discuss what to do next

Their concerns were simple...they wondered if they could trust us, or more importantly me, to do what I say I am going to do.  My team spent 20 minutes trying to reassure them, and it was nice, but they didn’t look reassured, so I finally jumped in and said, you know, five years ago, Hedaru Lutheran didn’t trust us, and we didn’t trust them, but we both trusted God.  If God brought us together, we felt we should try, so we did.  Now we have a water project done, and we are great friends that trust each other very much.  Here in Chekereni, I did not come expecting you to trust me, but I also don’t know if I can trust you to get the sand and rocks and do the parts you have promised.  We both, however, trust God.  Why don’t we just take the next step, and then we will take another step, and I think in 5 years, God willing, we will be old friends.

They seemed satisfied, and like a lot of meetings with conflict here, it just evaporated, and we were done.

Village Water Committee

The Hedaru Village Water Committee meeting was was my biggest fear on this trip! They have had some problems, and people are suspicious of unscrupulous behavior from their government officials.  Imagine that.  As we all gathered at the church hostel, it was tense.  They were sure I was at the very least displeased, and probably very angry, and they didn’t make a lot of eye contact.  We did introductions, and then went on a walk around the village to see the water points. 

Yes, there are some issues.

•   Distribution has been a little erratic in places

•   At least one spot doesn’t seem to get much water at all

•   There is not as much water as they had hoped

So, the question becomes “why?”  Theories abound in the village gossip but there are two main theories.

1)  Corrupt officials are selling the water at night to wealthy people and guest houses, and lining their own pockets

2) They are simply not turning the water on in some areas because they don’t care about those people.

These comments came from some extremely angry mamas at the water points, who were not shy about venting their frustrations to their village leaders and me, all gathered in one place to hear them.  We did not try to answer, but instead listened.

We then returned to the hostel, ate lunch, and began.  I stood up and thanked the village water committee for their work to make this system possible, and told them I only had one objective today, and that was to finish what I promised the people of Ames.  The final step is to hand the project over to the Water User Group (citizen led), which removes it from the control of the Village Water Committee (Gov’t led).  Once that is done, we are finished.  What is the date they expect this to happen?

At this point, Eli jumped in and said no, we need to address these complaints first.  WHEW!  That opened up about an hour of tempers flaring while everyone got all these things out in the open.  They talked about it all, the village leaders got to defend their actions, and we heard their side.

As it unfolded, it was clear that the issue wasn't corruption, it was transparency.  No one was telling the people of the village what was going on, or listening to their complaints.  When you don't know the truth, you make up something that seems to make sense, right?

Finally, it seemed time to stop.  Everyone had said his or her piece, and it was out in the open, so I asked to speak.  

The long and short was that I'm not unhappy with them, and in fact, what they do with that system is their problem to figure out, not mine.  They have a legal process, and I trust they will use it to settle their disputes, just like we do.  My issue is to finish the contract and get the thing handed over to the Water User Group.

We knew when we built the system that it would not fix everything, but it made huge improvements, and we are happy.  On the other hand, it is my opinion, as a mama and honorary resident of Hedaru, that they should listen to their people.  If they choose not to do that, then they may find ME down on the streets complaining with the rest of them!

That got a laugh, and again, like a puff of smoke, the conflict and anger just dissolved, and the meeting was over.  Everyone shook hands, friends again, and went on their way.  Eli will do some follow up and he will send me notification when they hand it over.

Goodbye Hedaru

The last thing on the agenda was the goodbye.  They like to have long goodbyes, but at this point we were all wiped out, and it was late.  Instead, Clement did a formal thank you, I thanked them all, and the tearful hugs began!  I was pretty ok until I got to Elia Mshana, the youth director.  His wife is in the final stages of dying of cancer, and we had been talking about it all week.  When I gave him a hug, we both burst into tears, because we knew that by my next visit, she would be gone.  It didn’t really stop until I got in the car and got half way to Same!!!

My friend, Elia Godson Mshana

 I got home to the Elephant and my own bathroom with great relief!  I couldn’t even go eat until I showered and did a little laundry, and it felt amazing to be clean and cool again!  I joined the rest of the group for dinner, we swapped stories and I had fun talking as fast as I wanted to with liberal use of slang. With clean sheets and a clean body, I was OUT LIKE A LIGHT!

Final note

It’s Wed morning, and I probably won’t write any more.  We leave soon for Arusha and a day of shopping, relaxing, and Indian food before we take off on Friday.  I hope my rambling has given you a glimpse into what we do here, and you will understand why it is so difficult to come home and explain these trips!  If you have actually read them all, kudos to you!  I know they are awfully long, but it was very therapeutic to write, and I hope at least someone enjoyed them.

If you want to help with anything we are doing, go to www.empowertz.org and check it out.  Every donation and every fund raiser is appreciated, and goes to a wonderful cause!