No-Show

Hello, are you there?" "Hello?" "Hello??" If you think your cell phone connection is bad, try calling Tanzania. Or try getting the people there to act.

Doing a project in Tanzania can be awfully frustrating, and rewarding, at the same time. Because the frustration/challenge is so great that any little success feels like a monumental breakthrough.

I found out after fact that no one from the team went to the village as planned. And none of them volunteered the information, except Moses who told me that he couldn't make it 2 days before the scheduled trip. I had to drag the information out of them after several emails and attempts to call them.

When I first started the project, I was hoping to find locals who would identify with the cause and be willing to volunteer their time and expertise to help their own people. No one was willing to do it for free so I ended up having to haggle over fees that were sometimes inflated. In an effort to bring down the fees, I once had to tell one of them that I was the only one on the team that was not being paid, the only one who did not have a job (because I quit my job to do the project) and the only one on the team who is not Tanzanian even though the project was all about helping the poor farmers in Tanzania. I wanted people to join for the right reason knowing that I don't have the deep pockets of many NGOs.

I am still grateful that they decided to join the effort on their free time for a fee. I can’t expect everyone to feel the same way I do. Juggling 2 jobs is not easy so I understand that sometimes they just can’t make the trip. I just wish the attitude wasn’t so laid back. Maybe I am just too worried about disappointing the farmers with a no-show. Maybe I have a false sense that I am racing against time. There is only 1 farming season in the mountains, as opposed to 2 in the city. I am concerned that if we don’t train them and qualify them for new seeds early in the only farming season of the year, the farmers will not be able to see any increase in yield this year and will end up in the same situation that I found them in at the beginning of this year – food deprivation. I can't help the farmers unless the Tanzanians partner/experts help me.

When Stephen Lewis blasted South Africa government for its inertia in fighting AIDS, I could feel his pain. Do you help another country when they didn’t ask for help and were not as concerned about the problem? What would you do if people only wanted to be helped instead of being empowered? Do you try to change a “let it be” culture or do you accept it out of respect?

Baby Steps

The company that runs the Land Cruiser line to Mbulu sometimes pulls tricks on its customers. The time schedule is meaningless. No explanations are ever offered for any delay or route changes. The seating arrangement is a mystery to me. Arguing with the staff never does any good since the tickets are pre-paid and changes are announced at the last minute, if at all. Customer service is just non-existent. We are always at the mercy at the company.



So it didn’t surprise me that Moses, the most skinny 5-feet man that I have ever met, got screwed again. When he was put on a late-afternoon bus with a different route, he refused to get on. And when he tried to sit in the first bus in the next morning, he got kicked out. He had to buy another ticket to get on another bus, almost 18 hours later than his original plan.

By the time he arrived in the village for the meeting, half of the people had already left. He managed to do a demonstration of a new technique for the rest of the group. Now that the farmers have begun composting, the next thing is to teach them double digging which helps the nutrients penetrate deeper in the ground and create piles that look like the top of hangars which offer expanded surface for arable land.

We plan to give out seeds for carrots, tomato, cabbage to improve their health and income. Lettuce will also be given to see if it can grow in the mountains.

We discussed with the farmers about their contribution. The farmers said that they are too broke to share the cost. It’s probably true since the village was plagued with drought earlier this year and the previous years. I discussed the situation further with a local expert who suggested that we still ask the farmers to share a small fraction of the cost to avoid dependency on handout but collect the payment after they sell the vegetables. I was relieved that we are finally able to find a solution that will address all the concerns.

To be eligible for the vegetable program, the farmers will also be required to maintain 2 piles of composts in order to receive the heavily-subsidized seeds. We hope this will encourage them to implement what they learn in the class. Moses will go back to the village again this weekend to finish the field visit and determine eligibility of each farmer.

Baby step by baby step, the project is moving forward. I can’t wait until the day when farmers can begin the rip the benefit of all the techniques that they are learning.

Cheers to a brighter future.

The Soul of Tanzania - On Video

The first few weeks when I was in Tanzania, I stayed at a dormitory run by the Catholic Church where I met several priests who lived there or were traveling through Arusha. I found one of the priests to be very inspiring and interviewed him on video during a brown-out.

I finally figured out the basics of video editting and finished the rough cut for that interview. It was shot during a brown out so the lighting was horrible. But I listened to it many times, I found Father Joseph's insights fascinating.

Here it is.

http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=cac1869de8b3ea6faef04b4cfcc4d63e.646007