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 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!!
posted by Nancy at 1:21 PM
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