Thursday, April 21, 2011

Change in Venue

For those of you who were planning to attend the Mother's Day Bazaar on May 7 at Egan Center -- the event has been cancelled.  Egan Center evidently scheduled the bazaar for
May 8, which is Mother's Day and the organization which sponsored the event made the call that Mother's Day wasn't a good day for a bazaar.

However, Asante Network will have a booth, with all the wonderful crafts designed and made by our women in Tanzania and Uganda, at the Chugiak/Eagle River Women In Business show on May 7 at Harry McDonald Center in Eagle River.  Asante Network (represented by me) had a booth at the show last year -- the show was well attended and a fun one to participate in.

So I hope to see all of you at the Harry McDonald Center (the ice arena in Eagle River) on May 7, anytime between 10 am and 4 pm.  If you have shared the info about the Bazaar in Anchorage with friends who are interested in Asante, please let them know of the change in venue.

Thanks!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Two Asante Events in Alaska Worth Attending

1.  April 10, 11:00 am -- I will be presenting a slide-show and talk on my trip to Tanzania for Asante.  The talk will be at my church -- Our Redeemer Lutheran Church -- in Chugiak.  The talk will be about an hour.  My church has been very supportive of Asante, especially with respect to the secondary school in Ketumbeine.  Everyone is welcome . . . please tell your friends!

2.  May 7, 10:00 am - 6:00 pm -- Mother's Day Bazaar at Egan Center.  Asante will have a couple of booths at the bazaar; I will be displaying and selling everything we carry -- baskets, batik art, batik clothing and bags, Maasai beadwork, carvings, etc.  Come one, come all.  In addition to the crafts, I'll have a continuous slide show on my computer for attendees of the bazaar to see as they shop the crafts.  Please let all your friends know that Saturday, May 7 will be a wonderful opportunity to purchase these beautiful products, made by the women you have already come to know through my posts.

3.  I am always ready and eager to be a speaker about Asante.  If you are a member of an organization, or know of someone who is, and are looking for a program for a future meeting -- call me!  The women's stories are so inspiring and Asante's support of these women really make for a great program!   Thanks so much.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Photos for Minjingu Primary School Latrine Project

So, I have finished one more album.  This one is to accompany the report I wrote on the Minjingu Primary School Latrine project.  The name of the post was 'A Tale of Generosity, Greed and Corruption".

It is magnificent here in Chugiak.  A friend and I climbed Bear Mtn. up behind my house, on Friday.  Talk about breath-taking!  Full sunshine, lots of lovely snow, great companionship, laughter, sandwichs and Alaskan Winter Ale for lunch, and then sliding down through the snow chutes on our derrieres to speed our descent.  All in all, a perfect day.

To view the photos, click here.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Welcome to the World of the Techie Illiterate!

Now that I have send a few links to photos which didn't actually act as links, my wonderful son has taught me how to send a link that works as a link.  Let's see if I can do it!

Here's a link to the photos of our micro-loan recipients and their various projects.  Click here to view the picasa web album. 

If this doesn't work, I will be humiliated publicly, but will keep trying.  Faustin says we need to always continue trying new things, so to keep the brain flexible and plastic (meaning malleable and open to new learning). 

Saturday, March 5, 2011

New photos

Here is the link to a few of the photos of the micro-loan recipients.  A couple of them might be duplicates in another posting of photos . . . sorry about that.

I get so inspired when I look at the photos and remember the courage, discipline, and motivation of our micro-loan recipients.  If you want to review the information, see the post entitled Mwika for the story of Mama Irene and Glory; Mama Light and Rhodaness' stories are in later posts.

https://picasaweb.google.com/lwddya/MicroLoanRecipientsAndProjects?feat=directlink

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Photos for Lambo School Lunch Project

Here is the link to the picasa web album for the School Lunch program at Lambo Estate.
https://picasaweb.google.com/lwddya/LamboSchoolLunch?feat=directlink  I don't know why it doesn't seem to be an active link; but copying it and pasting it into the address bar seems to work just fine.   The post describing the school and village were written February 12; the part about Lambo is paragraph 7 on that day.  Sorry this is a little out of sequence, but I wanted to get this report and web album finished, so that Glenn, who donated the money for the school lunch program could see the results of his generosity.

It's cold here in Chugiak -- we have had a north wind blowing steadily for several days, and gusting up to 25 - 30 mph.  I had to dig my snow-blower out of the snow drifts so that I could try and clear the driveway before it drifted my garage door shut!  But the sun is shining and the skies are clear, crystalline blue and spring is on its way.  We are gaining almost 7 minutes a day of light now, which adds up to almost an hour gain every week! 

My jet lag and my illness seem to be dissipating, but progress is slower than I would like.  I imagine that the culture shock, the cold, and the alone-ness of being home all have something to do with how I'm feeling.  Fortunately I am blessed with good friends who have insisted that I go for walks with them and get back into attending Bible studies and bell choir rehearsals.  

Next up will be photos of the other school projects Asante is either sponsoring or administering.  Hope you are all enjoying your days.

Monday, February 28, 2011

Photos

Hi everyone,

Here is the first batch of photos.  Actually, here's the link to the Picasa web album.  Unfortunately, my camera battery quit on me at Ketumbeine Secondary School, so I have limited photos of the school, and none of the camel project or the actual celebration of the house blessing.

https://picasaweb.google.com/lwddya/AsanteSAlaskanInTanzania1?feat=directlink

Once Kathy and Stan have recovered from their long fight home, I'm hoping they will send me copies of their photos; when they do, I will include some more photos of Ketumbeine.

I am actually feeling as if I might live through the exhaustion, jet lag and illness!  My immediate thoughts on what I'm thankful for now that I'm home -- drinking water straight from the tap, consistent electricity, hot water in the shower, my own bed, seeing my friends.

What do I miss most from Tanzania -- Janet, Julie and their families; fresh mangoes, pineapple, bananas, and avocados; actually, all the fresh fruits and veggies; the color, noise and vibrancy of the daily market in Moshi; the immediacy of birth, life and death (which we in this country tend to isolate ourselves from); the sunshine; the red earth; the tinge of smoke in the air from the cooking fires; seeing Mt. Kilimanjaro every day.

I don't think I mentioned in any of my posts how amazing it was to attend church in Moshi.  The church was full -- approximately 1200 people -- and even though the whole service was in Swahili, I could recognize portions of the Lutheran liturgy and some of the hymns.  It was really quite moving to join with people half-way around the world who are of the same faith and who praise and worship God in their own wonderful way.  Their choir was fabulous -- we could use those singers in Chugiak, that's for sure!

That's all for right now; it's back to writing up reports for Asante.  Enjoy your day; call a friend and go for a walk together; call a family member or two and tell them how much you love them.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Asante's Alaskan isn't in Tanzania anymore!

And so, I'm back in Alaska.  Stan and Kathy are in Uganda; I spent my last day in Tanzania with Janet and Julie, receiving the financial reports on the micro-loans, discussing how to get reluctant borrowers to pay, and trying to complete the worksheets for our Fair Trade certification.  And, since everyone was invited to the next-door party for the baptism of the neighbor's grand-daughter, I got to attend as well! 

All too soon it was time to head into the airport.  Somewhere along the way I picked up some kind of respiratory bug, so my 24 hours of travel was made even more difficult with a sore throat and laryngitis.  Ugh!  But I talked with a fellow from Bethel who was returning to Alaska from skiing in India, and he had spent 3 days in the hospital in New Delhi with dysentary -- so in the whole scope of things, a sore throat didn't seem all that bad!

I will be working on my photos over the next couple of days, so I should have a link to a Picasa web-album available shortly.  I'll also be able to post some thoughts on the trip once I am over this immediate jet lag and can get myself re-adjusted to the fact that there is still snow on the ground here!

Thanks for staying with me through this blog; I'll talk to you all tomorrow.
Cheers  :-)

A Tale of Generosity, Greed and Corruption

No, this post isn't about the Alaska legislature!

Introducing generosity:  A couple of years ago, an American on safari visited the elementary school in Minjingu.  Minjingu is near the entrance to the national parks of Tarangire, Lake Eyasi and Lake Manyara.  Most of the kids in the school are Maasai.  Like many western tourists, he was overwhelmed by the needs of the school and generously offered to help build a new latrine.  The existing latrine at this school has many problems -- it is water based in an especially arid region; half of it has already collapsed and been covered over, leaving only 8 "stalls" to serve between 600 - 800 kids.  The "stalls" have no doors; 2 of them have ragged blue tarps strung across the openings -- these are for the girls!  None of the elementary schools we have visited have toilets in the main buildings.  All the schools have a latrine building separate from the rest of the buildings; most of the latrines are just pit toilets like a row of outhouses all lined up together under one roof.  The one at Minjingu is just especially bad. 

When the American tourist promised support for the latrines, the cost estimate for construction came from some of the teachers rather than an engineer.  The American took the estimate at face value and promised the money.  One of Janet's relatives is a teacher at Minjingu and when the support failed to arrive, she called Janet and asked her to follow up on the offer.

Janet contacted the American and offered a couple of options for him:  give the money directly to the school; donate it into the school's account or donate it to Asante Network and let Asante oversee the construction of the latrine.  Janet knew what would happen to the money were it just given outright to the school . . .

Asante Network agreed to oversee the project, and the money was donated.  Asante hired Immanuel, (Janet and Julie's brother) who has construction knowledge and building sense, to be the manager.  Immanuel went to work.  The building site was excavated, and then the rains came.  The entire hole collapsed and had to be re-excavated and then shored up from bottom to top  with logs, stone and concrete.  Ima worked diligently and efficiently to accomplish this extra step without breaking the budget.  His efforts were supported by the school principal and the school staff.

Enter greed:  A school board member started rumors with the village council that Ima and a few of the teachers were skimming money from the project.  The school board member wanted to be the one to manage the project; or at least wanted a cut of the money since she didn't feel that a non-school board person should be in charge.

And corruption:  The village council wanted it's share of the money, so they disputed Ima's work and the quality of the materials he was using.  The village council even hired its own inspector to state that Ima's work was sub-standard -- this after the official government inspector had already commended the construction thus far!  Immanuel walked off the job until the school staff, the school board and the village council came to some kind of agreement on the project.

This was the status of the project when Stan and I visited last week.  After walking around the site, taking lots of photos and listening to the discussion between Ima and the school principal. we went in to meet with the rest of the staff (which included the school board member).  We were met by a staff which, while not hostile, wasn't exactly welcoming . . .

There was lots of discussion which became quite heated!  Unfortunately it was all in Swahili, so Stan and I couldn't understand any of it.  Finally I asked Ima to explain what was happening.  Turns out, the village council had met the previous day.  The school board member was again insisting that she be on the payroll -- and the other school staff were disagreeing with her demands.  I asked if I could speak.  Since all the school staff understood English rather well (!) I was able to make the following points:  who and what Asante Network is; how the money came to Asante for the latrine; why Ima was hired; who received the money from Asante, especially the fact that no one had received any money from Asante for the project except Ima, and that was only after he presented us with receipts; etc., etc.

By the end of the meeting, everyone agreed that they wanted Ima to come back to work and finish the project.  They all agreed that he would be the one in charge and that there would be no control by either the school board member or the village council.  Both were free to offer advice but all agreed that Ima was ultimately in charge.  One of the teachers was to inform the village council of the decision.

Whew!  Another example of how good intentions and generous acts can be misunderstood, misinterpreted and veer way off track because of greed and corruption.  Hopefully this tale will have a happy ending.  The new latrine is desperately needed; the existing latrine is a serious health and safety liability for the children.  But if the original estimate is inaccurate and construction costs are greater than expected, Asante will need to explore options for financing the remainder of the project.  It is unknown at this time if the original donor will be willing or able to contribute more . . . stay tuned for the next episode.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Sigh . . .

Sawa.  Meme hapa kwa Mailisita na Janet na Frederick.

Finally, I am here in Mailisita with Janet and Frederick.  Tanga region was so beautiful.  Long drive through amazing country-side, then another 'short cut' on more washed out gravel, broken macadam, mud track to Pangani.  Impressions of the drive from Moshi:  miles and miles of sisal plantations and coconut estates; bananas everywhere; brilliant emeralds of rice paddies sparkling against the burnt red ochre of the hills; mountains; busy villages and motorcycles!

Took the little ferry across the river to the coastal area, then more rough track to the beach house Janet rented for us.  Too bad we got there after dark and (of course) the power was off.  Nevertheless, Kathy and I immediately ran out to the beach and waded in the Indian Ocean.  Can't remember the last time I was in ocean water that warm.  After dinner we all just fell into bed.

Not much to write about for the next 3 days except a morning swim at sunrise, breakfast on the veranda of fresh fruit and ginger tea, walking up and down the beach to the neighboring villages, lunch of fresh caught fish or shrimp, swim in the afternoon, maybe walk some more, then a cold (depending on whether or not there was electricity for the refrigerator) beer, dinner and another swim!  Pretty idyllic all around. 

We did spend a fair amount of time talking to Janet and Ima about the future of Miichi Women, Asante's involvement with Miichi, short and long term goals for the group and the individual women, challenges the group faces, possible new markets for their products, etc. 

We also have a lot to think about as Asante -- our continuing projects and the dismal failure of our on-line store in generating sales.  We can continue with church talks and bazaars, but the bazaars are wearing for Stan, Kathy and Pat in California as well as Mary Ann in the midwest.  And, most of our sales are during the holiday season, which means we can't order much from the women in TZ and UG in February, March and April.  So anyone who reads this, or anyone who you might send it to -- if you are interested, or you know of anyone who might be interested in a presenttion aboout Asante, the various women's groups, or Tanzania in general, please, please let me know!  We are always ready and eager to share our experiences and the lives of the women with everyone.

We traveled one day from the beach house to Saadani National Park which is the newest park in Tanzania.  It is (again) a long, rough ride, but worth it.  We didn't have the chance to take the river safari, but did do a couple of game drives within the park and saw many many giraffes, waterbuck, reedbuck and birds.  And a few warthogs!  Didn't see any elephants, because the area used to be a hunting reserve, and the animals are quite wary of people.  Unfortunately, it was the wrong season for flamingos  :-(

And then, all too soon, it was tme to rejoin the real world.  I find it difficult to reconcile the villages we have been in with the experience at the beach house.  There is a huge disconnect between the two.  It is impossible for me to weave the 2 Tanzanias together into a cohesive whole.

This internet is iffy, at best.  I'm going to try and publish this because I can't seem to save it. 

Well, now it seems to be working well . . . this is Tanzania -- intermittent, chaotic, desperately poor, close family and friends, lots of community interaction, sporadic, and then it occassionally seems to function perfectly!  Just like the electricity and the internet. 

Yesterday Stan and I went to visit another school while Kathy stayed here to work with the seamstresses on sizing of the clothing.  Will write more later; we are off to Arusha for a few final items and to drop Stan and Kathy at their lodging.  They will catch the early morning plane to Uganda; I will stay here with Janet and Frederick one more night, and then catch the late plane back to the US.  Kwaheri for now; tuta onana badaiye.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

I'm So Far Behind In Writing!

Meant to write all about Floresta in this post -- but will just say to check out their link that I have included in "for more information".  We went to a Village Cooperative Bank meeting in Mwika and it was so inspiring!  The villagers who are members of the bank cooperative, have developed a sense of independence and responsibility; they are all able to access the Bank funds for micro loans and projects.  As well, they have a  communal project in purchasing and raising pigs.  Edith, who is TZ coordinator for Floresta and her intern Gloria are professional and direct.  They make me want to work for Floresta.  I might have mentioned in my last post that after visiting with them and participating in a VICOBA meeting, I am ready to go back to work full time -- for Floresta!

We left Mwika to return to Moshi Wednesday afternoon -- whatever that date was.  Spent the rest of the afternoon walking around Moshi, checking out gift shops, meeting up with old friends, and trying to assimilate all that we had learned during our time in Marangu and Mwika.  We have been walking to the highway market, Rosaki's, every evening to purchase beer, since there is no alcohol served at this hostel.  It actually isn't really allowed, so there is something vaguely high-schoolish about smuggling in contraband and drinking it out of a paper bag on our verandas  :-) hahahahahaha   I love it.  But the place is comfortable; sometimes there is hot water; sometimes the plugs work for charging cameras and phones; sometimes there is ginger tea for breakfast; sometimes the sky is clear in the morning and Mt. Kilimanjaro is there in front of us in all its magnificence.

And then we have spent the past 3 days visiting all of our micro-loan recipients and other Asante projects here in the Moshi/Machame area.  More amazingly atrocious tracks masquerading as roads, but that's all part of the adventure.  Visited the primary school in Sere, which is by far the saddest and poorest one yet.  Our involvement with them is that Asante purchases fabric for uniforms; the fabric is sewn into uniforms at Kotela Vocational School by their tailoring students as part of their curriculum; the uniforms are then donated to HIV/AIDS orphans at schools selected by Asante's employee here in Moshi (who, along with her sister, started the Michii Women's Group.)  Sere was selected as on of our recipient schools because of the depressed economic conditions there.  The school used to be a large residential middle school; when coffee market here in Tanzania crashed, the economy of the Sere area also crashed.

We visited the school in Shiramatunda which also receives our uniforms.  As well, for the past 2 years Mary Ann Sheets-Hansen's (she is founder of Asante Network) brother Glenn, has supported a school lunch program at this school.  In general, primary schools depend on parental contributions for school lunches.  If students come from families that can afford to provide food, they are expected to share with students whose families can't afford food.  So the lunch program may or may not be consistent; it is traditionally ugali (corn meal grits cooked to a much thicker consistency) supplemented with veggies from the families who can provide veggies.  Glenn's contribution to Asante has provided lunch every day of ugali with beans; rice with beans one day/week.  Doesn't sound like much,but it makes such a difference that school attendance increased significantly during these past 2 years.  The lunches are cooked in little tin roofed sheds over little charcoal fires; the students must bring their own bowls from home; lunch is served and eaten outside under the trees.  After lunch, kids gather around the one faucet that provides water for the entire school, to wash their bowls.

We have been working with Shiramatunda for 2 years, preparing them for the time that Glenn's support would no longer be available.  They have attempted to put in a vegetable garden, which needs help as well as water!  But they were so very grateful for the help these past two years, and I know they are working hard to get the garden going.  So much to do and so few resources and people to help them do it.

We visited Milisita Catholic Vocational School (a residential girls school) to see how well their biodigester works -- it is a big tank in the ground, supplied by sluice with all the cow manure which then is 'digested' into methane.  The methane is piped to the little gas stove in their kitchen shack and amazingly enough, provides enough methane for the breakfast to be cooked.  I think they are working on somehow processing all the pig manure so it also can be shunted into the biodigester.  Much of the chicken and pig manure is used on their large vegetable garden.  I am amazed, actually, by how many of the schools have animals and gardens -- and all the manure from all the animals is used in the garden.  The pigs and cows are fed banana leaves and maize meal.  It's all really small scale, but it works.  Certainly more 'organic' than our huge feedlots in the States, and much more environmentally responsible.

Then on to Lambo which is this year's recipient for Glenn's donation of school lunches and also a recipient for school uniforms.  Lambo is perhaps the most economically depressed area we have yet visited -- maybe second to the Maasai.  Lambo Estate was a huge sisal plantation owned by foreigners.  I didn't quite get the whole explanation of why it isn't in operation but I think it has something to do with (of course) exploitation of the local labor force by the owners; a semi-nationalization of the estate; the marginal parceling out of plots to villagers and then the abandonment of the only income base in the area.  Most of the kids in the primary school are economic orphans -- their parents have moved to the urban areas for work leaving the kids to be raised by grandparents or the 'village' as a whole.  We were able to photo them preparing and serving lunch; Kathy and I squatted down with the cook to help serve -- rice from a huge pot on the ground is dished out using a plate as a serving utensil; beans are served from another large pot on the ground; sauce is ladeled out from the third pot.  The kids all line up so politely and nicely; when the first little tiny kids went through I  thought for sure they were being served waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much rice and beans, but nope!  Every plate was literally licked clean by the end of the lunch.  The kids who help scrub the cooking pots are allowed to have seconds.

The school at Lambo has a garden which is laid out and ready; they just don't have any water right now to water it with.  This is the end of the dry season and the very beginning of the wet season, so rain is scarce.  Stored water is very scarce.  We talked a little about water reclamation -- that is my next direction.  If all the schools would gutter their roofs and channel the water into cisterns as well as put buckets beneath the faucets when they wash their bowls, it would save so much!!!  

We were invited to lunch with the staff and were treated to ugali, some kind of meat stew, cooked bananas and greens.  Somehow, all the stews we have eaten over here, on every trip, have been delicious.  Then the speeches and the songs and the prayers, which I have come to cherish.  We made it clear that the money came from  Glenn and not us, but they were just grateful that we had visited them to provide them the opportunity to say thank you.  All the schools have written us lovely letters to take home. 

Oh, did I mention that when we were in Ketumbeine with the Maasai we had tea made with camel milk!  It was so good -- rich, thick and creamy.  And the tea at the Babylon in Marangu was made with goat milk.  Too bad I can't get good goat milk at home.

OK, that's enough for now.  Yesterday spent the day at Janet's helping her serve and entertain a large contingent of women here from Nebraska.  They came to tour her batik workshop; Kathy and I helped her serve lunch, explain the batik process and show the Miichi products.  I actually managed to have a full conversation in Swahili with a couple of her Tanzanian visitors -- how fun is that.  And, they complimented me on my pronunciation!  I always knew I should have been a linguist . . .

Today we leave for the Tanga region and 3 days rest, relaxation, swimming in the Indian Ocean.  We will be in the Pangani area; don't have a clue about anything there so don't know if internet is available or not.  So, I'll be back when I can be.  Thank you all for your encouraging comments and support for this blog.  I appreciate knowing that it is read!

Ubarikiwe -- Go with God

Friday, February 11, 2011

Mwika

Our next adventure took us to Mwika for 3 loooooong days.  Mwika is up the road from Marangu, which is the village located near the Marangu Gate to Kilimanjaro National Park.  It is up in the hills -- lots of water so lots of bananas, corn and vegetables grown.  Wonderful views of Kili from just about everywhere. 

First stop was Kotela  Technical/Vocational School which is our partner for producing the school uniforms and school desks we sell as "Special Gifts" in our Asante Network online store.  Stan brought a suitcase full of woodworking tools for their woodshop and we had some experimental solar lights for them to try.   Turns out they didn't like the idea of giving battery operated lights to the students and then charging a few shillings to re-charge the lights using the solar system they have.  One more example of a great idea in our Western minds, but one which simply wasn't workable in the Tanzanian village reality.

Stayed at the Babylon Lodge (why on earth it is named that is beyond me!)  It is really lovely with a central courtyard, dining room, well appointed rooms, but . . . this is Tanzania, after all . . . no electricity in the entire area!  So, we walked down the road to Marangu, then way up the road towards Kili.  It is so very beautiful in this area.  We had dinner by candlelight, no cold beer, and only cold water in the bathroom.  So, it was a cold shower which is, of course, better than no shower -- especially after the dusty roads.

Next stop was to visit some of our micro-loan recipients.  Tuesday is market day in Mwika, so we were heading for the market to find Mama Irene, who received a micro loan to start a used clothing business.  She had done so well 3 years ago, that she is mostly paid up on her original loan.  We found her walking to the market so we took a sidetrip up to see her small shamba (farm).  Four years ago when I first met Mama Irene, she was living in absolute destitute poverty.  Her husband is an alcoholic; her children were malnourished and tiny for their age; she had no animals, no garden, nothing.  Only her occasional work with Miichi Women's Group provided her with a small income.  Today, her shamba is flourishing.  She and her neighbor cooperatively raised a cow; they sold it and split the money; she bought her own cow.  She saved a little from each market day, and bought herself 2 goats and a pig.  The pig had piglets which she sold for the money to buy a second pig.  She will purchase her second pig once she is finished enlarging the pig-pen.   She has chickens as well, so her children have plenty to eat.   They are doing well in school and her clothing business has been upgraded to a shoe sales business, which is more lucrative.  She is a stellar example of the power of micro-loans, support, hard work and good business sense.  But mostly hard work!.

We visited Glory next, who received a large loan to construct a workshop for her sewing/tailoring classes.  She has finished the workshop, purchased 9 sewing machines, does quite a bit of the sewing for Miichi Women, employs 3 people and currently has 2 students.  Unfortunately, she hasn't seen the necessity of paying back much of the loan, so we are working on ways to motivate her.  We are thinking of with-holding some of the payment for the clothing she sews for  Asante as well as reminding her that other women are unable to obtain loans since she hasn't repaid hers.  Priorities, and all that . . .

We also had the opportunity to visit a pre-school which is supported by Stan and Kathy's church.  One man from Mwika started the preschool 3 years ago -- he told us on our last visit of his dream.  I wanted to bring home every one of those little cherubs!  A friend from home had bought me a bag of the inflatable punching-bag balloons in blue, printed to look like globes.  I inflated one, then handed out the rest to the teachers, James, Stan and Kathy and the head honcho pastor in the area along with his wife.  We had so much fun blowing up the stupid things, and then playing with them with the little kids.  Talk about the room ringing with laughter and excitement.  Kids everywhere just want to play.  James is doing so well with the preschool; he is a woodworking instructor at Uwuwo Vocational School by day and runs the preschool in his spare time. His wife just had a baby, but the baby was born premature, so the wife and baby are in Dar es Salam at the hospital till the baby is big enough to travel.  James next goal is to open an apprentice-ship school for graduates from the vocational school.  He recognizes that they need some experience  before they can be certified and hired for employment, and his goal is to provide that opportunity.  He is one of the movers in the area!

Last appointment was to spend the day with representatives of Floresta (formerly Plant With A Purpose).  I've included their website on the "for more information" column.  They are an amazing organization.  Makes me want to go back to work full time, just so I could work for them.  I'll detail that experience in the next post.





Second night at the Babylon -- no electricity.  No electricity in the area also means no ATM!  And no ATM means no cash for Lydia to take to the market.  Probably a good thing, actually.  Cold water in the shower wasn't too bad but no water in the morning wasn't wonderful.

The Camel Project

Lest anyone think, after reading my Ketumbeine  Secondary School post, that I am soliciting funds or donations, I am not!  Asante Network, Floresta, Solace International and many other organizations have worked diligently to establish partnerships with village level organizations and cooperatives.  There are lots of generous and good hearted people who want to help, especially tourists who have visited and experienced first-hand the conditions of sub-Saharan African village life.  But unsolicited and one-time donations frequently have the opposite effect than the desired one.  Westerners see need based on their perspective; the villages may have very different priorities.  One time donations and gifts often generate dependency and feelings of entitlement in villagers.

Asante works with the women's groups to provide and administer micro-loans which are required to be paid back.  We do sell items like goats, school books and uniforms, school lunches, etc. on our website.  The money which is paid for these and other "Special Gifts" is administered through the women's groups and the vocational schools we have partnered with, to provide employment opportunities for producing the items as well as the products themselves.  For more information, I have listed some books that are worth reading if anyone has an interest in this area.  But, if anyone wants to donate to Asante Network, feel free  :-)

A couple of years ago, women from a boma in the Ketumbeine area wanted to join with NAAPOK bead group.  Since the group already had 56 women, they had to be turned down.  Bethany's husband, Steve (the missionary doctor) knew something of Project Heifer's camels, so he investigated that project.  The result was that the women were selected to participate in an experimental camel project.  They received 30 camels, which had been walked down from Kenya.  The Maasai community was, at first, reluctant to embrace the idea.  Then came the terrible drought of 2009.  During that drought, many of the goats and cows died; children had nothing to eat except for thin corn based gruel -- no goats meant no milk.  The camels, however, not only thrived, but calved healthy calfs.  A total of 16 calves have been born.  During the drought, the camels continued to produce milk for the children of that boma, and provided milk for the women to sell.

After that drought, the camels were embraced as a good project!  Bethany is hoping to see more bomas and Maasai communities participate in camel projects.  One of the provisions of Project Heifer is that 1/2 the calves must be given away when they are old enough -- so many new women will receive camels and training.  Camels make such good sense -- they are well adapted to the arid, scrubby conditions; they continue to give milk in droughts; and they are more environmentally responsible.  And if you have never been up close and personal with a camel, they are huge!  I wasn't prepared for them to be so big; and their eyelashes are so long; and the calves are adorable!

So when we left Ketumbeine the morning of the 6th, Ima, our driver, told us that he had been shown a short-cut for getting us back to the main road from Longido.  Hahahahahaha!  The joke was totally on all of us.  We took so many wrong turns that all of us, Ima included, were wondering if we would be spending the night in the vehicle!  Where we were gave new meaning to "off the beaten track".  We were also off the track completely.  There were times on that drive, that the fine, red dust was sheeting off the windows like water and the only reason we weren't stuck was because the red earth was so fine that even though the wheels were halfway buried in the stuff, the undercarriage of the vehicle just slid over the silt.  There were places where the washouts were so steep and so deep that we had to wander all over looking for a place to cross so we could continue.  Ima was amazing and kept us heading in the right direction all the time, but . . .

We even talked about the fact that we knew the Maasai in the area would welcome us into their boma and offer us tea, so we would be protected from the hyenas during the night.  Finally, however, we found some folks who spoke Swahili.  They didn't know of Longido, but they did point us onto the track which led to the road to Monduli -- many many kilometers south of Longido, but close to Arusha.  I have never driven over worse terrain, even when we were in Panama driving up into the mountains to locate the Chagras River. It was an amazing adventure -- we saw giraffes, ostriches, gazelles, birds and amazing scenery -- we drove the entire length of the valley rather than crossing it!  Everything (everything!) was saturated with the red dust.  I'm sure my suitcase and pack will still have red dust in it when I get home.  The shortcut took us about 8 hours longer!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Sometimes I get so involved in writing about what we are doing, and the factual background of our experiences, that I forget to mention how much I love it here.  It is just so beautiful.

Seeing Mt. Kilimanjaro out my window at 6 in the morning as the rising sun reflects off the snow on the summit; listening to the bush-babies squawking and chirping in the trees as they fight about the fruit; the silken night breezes blowing through the trees and rustling the leaves; the wonderful smoky flavor of goat milk stirred into ginger tea in a Maasai boma; watching the incredible array of stars in this southern sky, especially since I only recognize a very few of the constellations we know in the northern hemisphere; the unexpected view of a herd of giraffes just yards from the track we are on.

And somehow I love the red dust that coats everything in this dry season; and the smell of the charcoal burners that people cook their food on; and the incredible warmth and welcome of the people we know and the people we are soon to meet.  The geography and topography is fascinating and the land is ancient. 

And even though Tanzania is a swirling vortex of need, the people here have hope and dignity and so many of them have a vision for the future.  And when everything is said and done -- Tanzanians want the same thing for their children that we want for ours -- a good education, a better life and a clean environment for them to live in. 

Ketumbeine Secondary School

The first time I visited Ketumbeine village, the secondary school was only a year old.  We drove in from Longido (find it on the map -- it is west of Arusha) and it was the rainy season.  We saw giraffes, ostriches and dikdiks.  We drove down the flooded road and it wasn't until much later that I realized the road was also the riverbed!  Fine in the dry; very deep and rushing in the wet!

The school had 300 kids who were sleeping 4 to a bunk bed -- 2 on top, 2 on the bottom.  There was no electricity, no running water, no place to eat their meals except outside and the cook was cooking on the little charcoal fires that everyone here uses.  There were few textbooks, and the students were doing much of the physical labor involved in building the school, as well as attending classes, and studying for exams.  Because Ketumbeine is just south of the equator, there are 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness.  Without electricity or solar or a generator, or lanterns, the kids had no light at all after sunset.  Ever try studying by candelight?

When the students come to the school at the opening of the school year, each student brings the following:  his/her foam mattress for the bed, all his/her clothing, a bowl and eating utensils, cup, large pail for carrying water and washing clothes and self, and all toiletries, including toilet paper.  In addition, students need money for paper, pencils, and textbooks.  Students are required to wear uniforms.

The school now, in 2011, has been much improved.  There are a couple of new dormitories and 300 more kids (600 now!)  The school now covers Forms 1 - 4 (equivalent to grades 9 - 12).  For the 600 students at the school, there are 6 (that's right, SIX) teachers.  Each textbook is shared by 7 - 9 students.  There are some solar panels on the roofs of the dorms and classrooms -- each panel provides enough power to light 4 of the small cfl's.  So the students finally have a minimum of light after dark for studying.  Asante is planning to help provide some LED's which are much more efficient and provide so much more light.  The government has also helped with the solar system, but the government here in Tanzania has so many needs and so little money that their philosophy is to try and spread the money around as fairly as possible -- a little for everyone rather than a lot for a few.  My church, Our Redeemer Lutheran  Church has been helping to support this solar lighting project through Asante Network.  It was so exciting for me to be able to share the new LED lights with the headmaster.  They are a kind that has to be hardwired in and from high on the ceiling, they will provide much needed light in the classrooms.  So even though the solar panels are very small, each panel can power dozens of the new LED lamps.  I am waiting as patiently as I can for the report from the headmaster as to whether they like the new lamps.  If they do, Asante Network has 11 more to send!  YAY!

Faustin and Russell will remember that it seemed as if all I talked about after my first visit to Ketumbeine was the secondary school!  And here I am 4 years later, still talking about it.  So -- more progress:  there is a cafeteria and "kitchen" under construction.  A girl's dorm is also under construction.  A library is planned.

But . . . more textbooks are sorely needed; TS500,000 purchases 40 books ($333).  A new pit latrine is needed as well; the toilets in the dorms are water based, which doesn't work, since there isn't really enough water.  A 10 hole pit latrine can be built for $7,000 based on approved blueprints from the government.  So there is still lots of work.  I am delighted at the progress that has been made at Ketumbeine Secondary School, and sometimes get discouraged when I realize how much more needs to be done.  But that is Tanzania in a nutshell.

One of these days, when I get caught up on my blogs, I will (as my kids say) get on my soapbox and share my views on why Africa is poor . . . based on an amazing speaker I heard at an Alaska World Affairs Council luncheon last year.

Next post will be a description of the camel project and our adventure as we took a "short cut" to the main road from the village!

Maasai Primer

It seems as if it might be useful for me to include here a little bit of background on the Maasai and their culture.  Once some background has been established, the events narrated in the preceding post as well as in the following ones can be put into perspective.

The Maasai people are a pastoral culture and have been for generations.  They are neither truly nomadic nor agriculturalists.  They herd goats and a few cows these days; used to be that they herded cows almost exclusively.  Since the rains have not been consistent over many, many years, and the overgrazing has reduced much of the grassland to scrub, goats are more adaptable.  Goats and cows are the wealth of a family, which consists of a husband, his wives and children.

Families live in family units called bomas, which are like a family compound.  The boma is surrounded with thorn barriers to keep out the hyenas.  Inside the thorn barrier, are several houses.  Each wife has a house for herself and her children.  These houses are the traditional small, round, mud-walled, thatched roofed dwellings.  Once a man's male children are grown and taking their own wives, a house is built for the father to live in by himself.  In addition to the houses, there are a few enclosures in the center of the boma, also surrounded by thorn barriers, for the goats and the cows.  There is generally a specially fortified enclosure for the baby goats so they are doubly protected from predators.  These days, the husband may be one or two generations older than his young wives; hence, he is frequently unable to contribute to the family income.

The Maasai speak a language called KiMaa.  KiSwahili is the national language of Tanzania.  All children in Tanzania learn Swahili in school beginning in preschool.  Many children speak their regional or tribal languages at home and Swahili in school and in town.  Since many of the Maasai don't go to school, they never learn Swahili.  In western cultures, the Maasai tend to be idealized as fierce, independent and proud warriors.  That they are!  But they also tend to be marginalized members of Tanzanian society -- they are uneducated, they don't speak the national language, they don't bathe and they are seen as very poor (which they are).

To have the money to send their children to school, and to have personal wealth as represented by goats and/or a home with a tin roof, is the motivation of the women in the beading group NAAPOK.  The women are able to earn money by producing their traditional beadwork.  The sense of community in the group is amazing.  There is so much support within and between families, and this is what makes the Maasai women so successful.  They are so inclusive and cooperative with each other.  NAAPOK is truly a cooperative (rather than a communal organization) which encourages and rewards individual accomplishment within the context of the cooperative structure.

I didn't have a chance on my last post to include a few details about the Beads for Bati project -- the 60 bracelets that each woman makes represent TS300,000 ($210).  This is the money she needs for the tin (bati). the trusses and the nails.  Each house requires 60 cedar posts which, if the woman doesn't make the trek up into the mountains to get them, cost approximately TS1,000 - 2,000 each.  I will include a link to photos once I am back in the States.  Internet connections here are too slow for many pictures!

That's all for this post.  I think I have time for the next one about the Maasai secondary school which is a pet project of mine.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Maasai

This is a weird keyboard, so bear with me on this looooooooong post!

Friday, 4 February
Drove up to Ketumbeine, the Maasai village we work with in northern Tanzania.  Purchased mangoes (about 30 cents apiece!), avocados (also about 30 cents) and pineapples (Huge ones for $1.50) to take to our friends up there.  As soon as we arrived at Mrs. Lazier's home, the NAAPOK bead ladies were waiting for us.  They welcomed us with dancing and singing and speeches.  After we had a luncheon of goat stew, beans and rice, we were priviledged to be able to assist Bethany Friberg (the wife of the medical missionary in the district, who was instrumental in establishing the beader groups) and Mrs. Lazier pay the women their monthly income for their beads. 

The women knew we were from the group in America that sells their beads, and so it was exciting in both directions.  What an amazing growth these women have experienced.  When we visited 4 years ago, the goal of the group was for each woman to earn enough to purchase 5 goats for herself -- not for her husband, but for herself.  That goal has been accomplished!  Along the way, the women have learned about banking, saving, sharing, quality control, and they have also learned how to make new designs in their traditional beading -- little beaded elephant sculptures, little giraffes and zebras as well.  They are also producing wonderful beaded wine carriers for their western customers! They have also been able to send their children to school -- both at the primary level and at the secondary level.  Schools are free, but residential schools aren't without cost, and both schools in the Ketumbeine village area are residential.  Read my next post for more info on the schools.

The current goal is Beads for Bati; Bati is the corrugated tin that is used for roofing on many of the smaller houses out in the bush areas.  Each woman makes 60 bracelets/year over and above her usual allotment.  The money is put into a communal pot.  Once there is a certain amount of money in that pot, bati, along with the required nails, can be purchased by one woman at a time, to be used for construction of a new home.  These women have lived their whole lives, for generations, in small round, thatched-roofed bomas.  The Beads for Bati project is enabling them to save for a 2 room house (approximately 20 x 24) with a real door, ceiling high enough to stand up in, and a tin roof.  The individual women are responsible for obtaining the cedar from up on the mountain, to be used as the uprights (the framing) for the house.  Then they are responsible for cutting the specific branches from local vegetation, to use as the horizontal lattice between the uprights.  They organize work parties every Saturday to go and cut the wood; each Saturday is the wood for a different woman.  Then they either prepare the building site themselves or with the help of their husband and sons and children; find a builder or build the framework themselves.  The roof is put on before the walls are completed; the spacing between the lattice of branches and upright cedar poles is filled with stones.  Once all that is accomplished, the houses are finished with a "adobe" of sand, dirt, cow manure and wood ash mixed to the proper consistency with water.  When this is dry, it is impervious to water and bugs.

The 56 women in NAAPOK have worked and saved enough for 7 homes to be constructed!  One of them is finished, except for the door.  The owner of the home currently uses a thorn bush as a door, to keep out the hyenas, since she hasn't had the time yet to surround her home with the traditional thorn barricade.  We were invited and honored to attend the blessing of her home.  Everyone walked or drove out into the bush to reach her boma (family compound).  All the women gathered at the house, speeches were made, songs were sung, dances were danced, and there were many prayers and blessings by Bethany, the evangelista and the visitors (us).  The lunch was served -- roast goat, rice and sodas.  The goat was a gift of the woman who owned the new home; the rice and sodas were purchased out of the NAAPOK savings account.  We were invited to eat inside the new house, which was quite an honor.  The contrast between the traditional boma which is small, dark and tiny inside, and this new home which is large enough to walk around in and has 2 actual rooms, is just miraculous!  I really don't imagine that what I am writing can convey any of the sense of accomplishment these homes represent.  Ii is humbling in the extreme to participate in these ceremonies.  This one was especially moving, since 3 years ago, we were invited to this same boma for the blessing of a new baby; that baby is now a sturdy, healthy little 3 year old, who is just adorable.

Running out of computer time, so will write more when I again have access to a computer.  Love to all of you; God is good and His blessings are not only everlasting, but sometimes overwhelming!

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Here At Last

Whew!  I am so glad to be here!  I will probably say, over the next 3 weeks, that I love it here, at least a hundred times! I love it here.

Easy flights, albeit long.  Met a group of folks from WA who are traveling to Moshi to help drill and install a new water well in a neighboring village.  Makes me wonder . . . if someone did a statistical analysis of all the projects that tiny little private groups accomplish, and compared it to the projects that the huge charitable foundations fund -- which would yield an improved lifestyle for the 'ordinary' people in these villages across sub-saharan Africa.  And which group of funders -- small vs huge-- would be more cost effective with its impact on individuals and local societies/cultures.

Janet, Julie and Ema met us at the airport.  Janet and Julie are sisters who started Michii Women's Group along with their cousin who lives in Dar es Salaam.  Their brother Ema is who generally drives us around when we are here; he also is overseeing, as project manager, our latrine/toilet project in Minjingu.  I think project management here is probably just a bit different from project management in Denver,  Anchorage or New Haven!

My Swahili cd's have been immensely helpful.  Actually was able to carry on a limited conversation with the immigration officer who stamped my passport.  Now it is simply a matter of learning lots and lots of vocabulary words.  This language is quite lovely.  It sounds, with all its rounded consonants, like water tumbling over stones in a stream.  Swahili is an amalgam of the native languages with the addition of Arabic and it suits the people, their place and their culture well.  It evokes the landscape and the softness of the sunrise and sunset.  There isn't any harshness to it, no gutterals, not many sibilants; just a lovely smoothness on the ear.

The air here smells of the bush; there is always a hint of woodsmoke, since many, many people still cook on wood or charcoal braziers.  The flat topped acacia trees, favorite of giraffes, are emblematic of Tanzania.  The giraffe is the national animal, protected, not hunted.  Giraffe is 'twiga' in Swahili.  The earth is reddish clay mostly.  Kilimanjaro is right outside my window and it was lovely as the sun rose and highlighted the glaciers on the summit.  Birds work me this morning at dawn.  I guess one can take the girl out of the tropics and plant her in the arctic, but one can never take quite all the tropics out of the girl!

Today is errand day -- register my sim card (new regulation) so I can use the phone; find an ATM so I have some shillings; hang out with Janet and Julie to more or less plan our upcoming itinerary.  But, this is Tanzania, and an plan is really more of an idea of what we might want to have happen as opposed to a schedule which we will follow.  As Janet said years ago "Americans have watches, Tanzanians have time".

Early tomorrow we will head out to Ketumbeine, which is where the Masaii secondary school is, along with the NAAPOK women who are beaders.  There is totally no internet out there; there isn't even electricity at the school, and the missionary and his wife (who organized the NAAPOK women) have solar and a generator. 

Next post will be when we come back from Ketumbeine.  (Did I mention that Kathy and Stan, from Oakland, who are 2 volunteers with Asante are here and we are all traveling together until the end of February when they go to Uganda?)

Asante sana for all your prayers and positive thoughts.  Kwaheri for now.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

seattle

Water the plants -- check
Turn off the lights -- check
Lock the front door -- check
Fly to Seattle -- check

So, another couple of hours and I'll be winging my way to Amsterdam.  Whjy does 10 hours on a plane sound so long?  It's not all that much longer than a standard work day in an office.  And I always try to put it into perspective -- what if we couldn't fly across the Atlantic and had to take a ship? 
Talk about a long journey . . .

I love you all!  Thanks for your prayers and all your support for this journey.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Pre Trip Musings

So -- everything fits into the suitcase and I have weight to spare!  Not much, but enough for last minute items which I might or might not remember . . .

Even though most of you who read this will already know me, a few words of introduction and explanation of the title of this blog might be in order.  Asante Network is a nonprofit, all volunteer organization which is committed to helping women in Tanzania and Uganda.  We connect the women's groups with markets in the U.S. This empowers these women to develop their traditional arts into viable home-based businesses.  Profits and donations are returned to East Africa to fund micro loans and projects.

I am an Asante volunteer; and I live in Alaska; hence the title.  I'm going to be traveling in Tanzania for the next 3 weeks, visiting old friends and making new ones.  I'll be v isiting women who have been past recipients of micro-loans to document progress towards their goals; I'll be visiting new micro-loan recipients as well.  Asante is also engaged in a couple of new ventures which I'll be able to document:  administering funds for a new latrine/toilet facility in a primary school in Minjingu; solar lighting in a residential secondary school for Masaii students in Ketumbeine; a school lunch program for primary students in Lambo; partnering with "Plant With a Purpose" (formerly Floresta) for a community project in the Kotela area. 

And then, of course a little time to enjoy the scenery, sunshine and wonderful beaches on the Indian Ocean at Pangani in the Tanga region of Tanzania. 

To Seattle tomorrow afternoon, then to Amsterdam Tuesday morning.  10+ hour flight from SEA to AMS, then a 3 hour layover before heading on south (for 8 hours)  to Kilimanjaro airport outside Arusha, TZ.  Looooooooong flights but so worth it once I'm there. 

Internet access is iffy in some of the villages, but I'll do my best to keep in touch. 

Cheers,
Lydia