Goodbye Grandpa. Hello Famine
I went back to Haysali and Kainam Villages in the Mbulu area. Things are getting worse fast.
I met up with some government officials for a brief discussion the day before I went into the village. When I told one of them that there was a drought in the villages last time I visited, the officer said that there was no drought since the villages are located high up in the moutains and have more rainfall and moist than most areas. For a while I thought I might have been misinformed during the previous trip. But when we visited the places the next day, I soon realized that I probably knew more about the problems facing the villags than the government did.
First we stopped in Kainam to visit the family that I mentioned 2 weeks ago in "I am ok. Please help the less fortunate." post. I asked about the grandfather who was sick last time and suggested that we gave the maize flour to someone else with more urgent needs. When I heard the news that he had passed away, tears streamed down my face. I wish I had insisted on giving them the food last time. It was obvious that they were in dire condition. There was no rain after one day of shower 2 weeks ago. The family had only about one quarter of acre of land for a family of 7 when it usually takes one whole acre to feed a family of that size in a good year with abundant rainfall. The family had no food in storage and had begun eating the leaves of little bean trees, which would likely reduce the output of the beans in the long run. Her son was out looking for a job this time instead of working on the farm since there had been no rain.
We went on to Haysali for a meeting with the villagers. I will write more about in the next post. I picked up some maize there from a farmer. One the way home, we stopped by the grandmother's house again hoping to meet with the son so we could understand a little bit more about their farming techniques and family situation in order to figure out a way to help them. We missed him again but left the maize with the family this time. Originally, I wanted to buy the maize from a poor farmer in Haysali in order to help the other poor family in Kainam, thinking that it would help 2 families at the same time. The irony was that no poor families still had food surplus for sale. One of them only had 2 bags left which would run out very quickly.
We could all sense a diaster is looming.
From Tanzania, Africa
I met up with some government officials for a brief discussion the day before I went into the village. When I told one of them that there was a drought in the villages last time I visited, the officer said that there was no drought since the villages are located high up in the moutains and have more rainfall and moist than most areas. For a while I thought I might have been misinformed during the previous trip. But when we visited the places the next day, I soon realized that I probably knew more about the problems facing the villags than the government did.
First we stopped in Kainam to visit the family that I mentioned 2 weeks ago in "I am ok. Please help the less fortunate." post. I asked about the grandfather who was sick last time and suggested that we gave the maize flour to someone else with more urgent needs. When I heard the news that he had passed away, tears streamed down my face. I wish I had insisted on giving them the food last time. It was obvious that they were in dire condition. There was no rain after one day of shower 2 weeks ago. The family had only about one quarter of acre of land for a family of 7 when it usually takes one whole acre to feed a family of that size in a good year with abundant rainfall. The family had no food in storage and had begun eating the leaves of little bean trees, which would likely reduce the output of the beans in the long run. Her son was out looking for a job this time instead of working on the farm since there had been no rain.
We went on to Haysali for a meeting with the villagers. I will write more about in the next post. I picked up some maize there from a farmer. One the way home, we stopped by the grandmother's house again hoping to meet with the son so we could understand a little bit more about their farming techniques and family situation in order to figure out a way to help them. We missed him again but left the maize with the family this time. Originally, I wanted to buy the maize from a poor farmer in Haysali in order to help the other poor family in Kainam, thinking that it would help 2 families at the same time. The irony was that no poor families still had food surplus for sale. One of them only had 2 bags left which would run out very quickly.
We could all sense a diaster is looming.
From Tanzania, Africa
posted by Nancy at 5:54 AM
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