Under the Gun

Moses is scheduled to go back to Haysali this weekend. The farmers had asked him to spend more time with them so he will be there for a 2-day training this time. We are both excited that farmers are expressing a lot of interest in our training but this also poses problems for Moses as he only works for me on the weekend while working full time for another NGO during the week. Moses is such good-hearted person that he couldn’t turn down their request knowing how eager they are and how little they have. I am praying that he doesn’t get in trouble with his boss.

I had sent him several emails giving him suggestions on how to deal with the challenges that the project is facing. I didn’t hear from him the whole week and began to wonder what happened to him. Finally, I found out that he got caught up in gunshot exchanged in a pub. He got beat up severely and lost his new cell phone. I was horrified. But he said he is now recovered from his wound and is ready to go to the village for the weekend training. Crime rate is going up in Arusha. I was told when I was there that it only cost $30 to hire a gunman to kill someone. When the president announced that he wanted to be tough on crime, the gangsters retaliated by committing more shootouts to embarrass him. Tanzania is one of the few countries in Africa that are free of civil wars. I hope that it will stay that way and doesn’t let the crimes get out of hands.

It’s easy to get frustrated with the project as there are so many problems with greed and communications. But having dedicated people like Moses and Naomi gives me the courage to keep pushing it forward.

Tanzania, Africa

More Trouble

I checked in with Moses on Yahoo! Messenger and got more details about what happened in Haysali during the last visit.

Again, Moses went to the village in pouring rain on a moped which was dangerous. The government agricultural officer helped us get around the village leader and set up a meeting despite the leader's sabotage. But now he wants us to assign him a "job" in the project - that is so he can get paid. He also asked us to provide farmers with hybrid seeds to replace the ancient seeds that they have been using. I knew very well that the reason he was pushing this was because government is pushing that and he wanted us to do his job for him. It is still not clear to us if the hybrid seeds are really better than the existing ones so I didn't want to get involved in seed selection at this point. But Moses is feeling the pressure.

I have come to realize that there are 2 types of people in Tanzania - (1) The ordinary people who are submissive, friendly, eager to please and easily initimiated and (2) The greedy and aggressive people who often get away with what they want because there is almost no justice or law enforcement in the country due to corruption. I continued to encourage Moses to stay firm. Our goal is to help farmers and not be swayed or discouraged by people who are trying to influence us for his own interest or prevent us from reaching the farmers. I can see that it is a tough role for Moses as he is not used to confrontation. I reassured him that he and his training are the most valuable part of this project and he must believe in himself even if we don't give away anything for free.

The project never stops to challenge me. Sometimes I feel it's getting impossible and have to pray for the strength to continue to overcome difficulties. I wish I was there with Moses to fend off all the "predators".

Return After the Rain Season

The last 2 weeks since Moses came back from Mbulu without being able to meet with the farmers, I had been trying to find a way to get around Haysali's village leader in order to set up a meeting and continue with the training program for the farmers. Haysali leader is not supportive of our program because he wanted bribery and I had refused to do so. The heavy rain also hampered our effors.

When I first started the project, I made friends with some people at Farm Afica's Mbulu office as well as the Agricultural Extension Officer who works for the local government. I tried to reach out to them this time hoping that they could help me bypass the village chairman to arrange a meeting in Haysali. Communication is always a big challenge in Tanzania. It can be a real pain. I was able to get hold of Mr. Kavishe of Farm Africa by email after several attempts. He kindly agreed to convince the agricultural officer who has a close relationship, through work, with the villagers to help send a message about the meeting and loan us his moped for transporation. I knew that we had to set the meeting for 2 weeks out as the communication is slow and responsiveness is somtimes low.

As we got closer to the meeting date, Moses and I started to get anxious again as we had not heard any confirmation from the agricultural officer. We were dying to find out if he was successful in making such an arrangement. Moses tried calling him many times throughout the week but was not able to get in touch with him. Finally, I had to jump in. I tried to call the officer from the US and was lucky enough to get through to him. I was so happy to learn that we were all set to go. I offered to compensate him for the fuel cost. His English is limited but I was glad that I was able to get enough information from him about our next trip.

Moses set out for Mbulu as planned on Friday afternoon. We were praying that it wouldn't rain the next day when the meeting is supposed to take place. The rain would prevent him from getting to Haysali located deep in the mountains. All the communications were cut out from that point on as cell phone reception was very poor there.

I anxiously waited for Mose's return to Arusha in order to have a chat with him online and find out if things worked out for us this time. I stayed up until 1:30 a.m. but Moses never showed up online. I knew that the bus must have been delayed again which happens all the time in Tanzania. The delay is usually a matter of hours, not minutes.

As soon as I got up in the morning, I turned on the computer to see if I had any email from Moses. Sure enough, he wrote a quick note. He made it to Haysali this time!! Fifteen farmers showed up for our meeting. The turnout was not as good as before but it was big enough for our training session. I was encouraged especially after almost 2 months of disconnet and pouring rain. It was a clear sign that we had a break-through despite months of hiatus. I am very confident that things will get better from this point on.

It's a great way to start my morning. I can't wait to hear some more from Moses when he gets a chance to send me more updates!!

When Will the Rain Stop?

I remember early this year, we were all praying for rain as rivers were drying up affecting farming and electricity supply. The rain came late and in force. Since April, it has been pouring for weeks. Just today, I got an email from Jean of CPRA (Canadian Physician for Relief and Aid) which helps farmers in the Karatu rural areas to deal with environmental issues and food sufficiency. She said "It's been raining like crazy here! In fact, it needs to stop now. Already, the beans are lost and the wheat is next. The maize is thriving." I couldn't help but worry about the farmers in Haysali whom we haven't been able to see due to heavy rain and village politics. I really hope that they will hang in there and we will be able to meet with them soon.