My Week in Tanzania: Days Three & Four

Catch up on Days One & Two

Day Three
I have always thought of myself as someone who has an appreciation for the hard task ahead of our ADP staff. Now I know that I was not even close to comprehending the difficult issues they face.

This classroom is now too unsafe to use. 

Today we went to one of the Primary Schools in Luguru. The noise of hundreds of children is such a happy sound. Yet some of them were in classrooms with no furniture, some of the buildings were so unsafe that they were unusable, and instead of having the 49 toilets they require, they had 3. But there were bigger issues than what could be seen.

The children were moved to this classroom,
where they have no furniture.
The class that was in this room now meets outside. 

Only 40% of children in the community attend school and of those, only 50% finish primary school. Children are kept at home to work or look after other children, girls are given over to early marriage and boys have to take cattle to other areas in dry seasons.

We also went to a shallow well, which was not shallow at all. It was deep and dangerous. There, I learnt that the women are the lionesses of these communities. They collect the water, cook for their families and care for the animals. The men are busy – busy getting drunk. Alcoholism is a big problem. Men drink for pride. Men who do not drink are stigmatised.

The "shallow" well.

How do you change a culture? A mind-set? A tradition?

You can build a school but how do you convince families to send their children to school and not to work?

You can build wells, but how do you convince husbands to share the burden with their wives?

I cannot even convince my children to eat all their vegetables.
 

Some of the wonderful people of Luguru

But I see hope. My hope is in the people – in the community leader who has mobilised people to build and plaster classrooms at the school, because he says that the children in his community deserve better, and he has done this without WV’s help.

It is in Elizabeth, the midwife who has worked in the clinic in unbearable conditions for 10 years.

Volunteers hard at work in Luguru

It is in the attitude of so many of the men and women I met who want a better life for their families and are increasingly becoming brave enough to change.

My hope is also in the World Vision staff I have met in the ADP. They are incredible. They know the families and have gained their respect.

 

Some of the incredible staff in Luguru ADP

They have already faced struggles in visiting families to register children and dealt with suspicion that they would be taking the children away, even sacrificing them one day. The process of gaining the trust of the community has been a very long one, and it is ongoing. 

The heart of development is not about buildings or programmes, it is about people and I believe in the people of Luguru.

Not once have I felt like crying over their plight because they are not helpless. They are intelligent, hard-working, and ready to work even harder to change their communities. And they have to be so brave to do this, because this requires taking a risk.

We are asking farmers who have been growing cotton, rice and maize for generations, to try growing millet and sunflowers which is drought resistant. That is so easy for us to ask, but if the crop fails, it is the farmers and their families that will suffer. So our staff have a massive task of growing the confidence in the people they are working with, but they also require grace to allow the people to make their own decisions.

I believe that the staff at Luguru ADP can do this though. They are highly skilled and clearly love this community. They tell me with real conviction that they want Luguru to be the best ADP in the world. I believe they are on the way to making this a reality.
Find out more about Luguru on WVNZ's website

Day Four
We met the ADP manager for Budekwa for a short time the day before. He seemed very flat, no energy, even sad. Something was up.  We eventually realised what was going on when he informed us that there are only two staff in the ADP as of this week. Everyone else had moved on or been made redundant as part of the process of transitioning more responsibility to the communities.

Although this makes sense for an ADP that is one year from closing, it was clear to see that this was a man mourning the loss of his friends, perhaps even experiencing some survivor guilt. We feel so blessed to be here to encourage him as he embarks on this important final year. As we get to know him more he cheers up, laughs and jokes a lot. As he shows us around the community, we see what a capable man he is. We know he can finish this race well.

It is so encouraging to go to a place like Luguru, at the very early stages of the ADP, and then go to Budekwa.

Esther, one of the Well Management Committee
members, infront of one of the 120 wells in Budekwa..

I think of the shallow well that I saw just yesterday, and compare it to the one I have seen today. This well is safe, beautifully cared for and one of 120 in the area. The shallow wells the community once used are now only used for washing clothes and feeding animals.

Water is life. Having access to clean water means that the children do not get sick so often, which means they can go to school, which sets them on a path to a much brighter future.



Another contrast with Luguru is the pride on the faces of the women who are part of the community group responsible for raising the funds to help build and maintain the well.

“We are taking this well somewhere else”, we joke. “Over my dead body” they respond. “You can come and try out the well but you better take your shoes off!”

These women are proud and feisty and I love it.



Me, giving one of the wells a try,
with my shoes off of course

I compare them to the women of Luguru who, when asked, sounded so uncertain as to the difference they could make. In 15 years it would be great to go back and see if the women of Luguru develop the same confidence as these women of Budekwa.

I also saw the community in action through the local mill. Farmers do not have to travel to a mill far away. They can mill their crops locally, and the mill’s profits go towards caring for vulnerable children, particularly orphans, ensuring they are able to go to school.

These are great examples of the community helping themselves. World Vision just has one more year to help them – and then we can get out of the way.
 

The lovely Elizabeth

It was a truly great day that ended on such a high note. We met Elizabeth, a 16 year old sponsored child. This girl is a stunner, Her favourite subject is biology and she would like to be a nurse. The only sadness in meeting her was when she told us that she had not received anything from her sponsor since she was 10, even though she wrote to them every year. In her words, this made her feel terrible. We have to find a way to encourage sponsors to write to their children that does not make them feel guilty, but also does not sugar-coat the reality of the impact this has on children who send annual reports and greeting cards to our sponsors every year, but receive no reply.

However, with the brightest smile on her face, Elizabeth spoke about the changes that have come about in her community through World Vision’s help – from furniture in schools, to child rights – she covered so much in just a couple of minutes.

Once again though, it wasn’t just what she was saying – but this girl who was the triumph. In an area where it is common for young girls to look away when speaking to adults, particularly men, she spoke with such confidence, grace and hope. When I look at Elizabeth I see the bright future in store for her and the other children in her area, a future that would not have been possible without the help of World Vision and Kiwi sponsors.

Elizabeth is the symbol of success for Budekwa.
Find out more about Budekwa on WVNZ's website