A lot has happened since my last update so this post is a bit long. Since I’ve been keeping busy with work and hanging out with new friends on the weekends, I haven’t had much time to post updates, but here is some recent news. I finally got my Tanzanian driver’s license so I’m a free man, in terms of transport--at my convenience. My organization loans all fellows a car as a benefit since buying a car here would mean it becomes national property automatically when we move out. So far, I’ve been using it to go to/from work as well as take my Tanzanian friends out for social events. Actually, a couple of weeks ago, we visited a local lakeside beach lodge where I had a chance to relax on the sand and even play football/soccer with the locals… and for some crazy reason, I was able to score a goal with my left foot, which was a first for me.
Just yesterday, I had a chance to see my first official African football match of the “old guys” (soccer club vets) play each other on Nyerere Day (national holiday to commemorate the death of the father of the nation). It was sort of nostalgic for much of the audience seeing these older guys, who were once TZ football stars, now business owners with potbellies, play against each other in a friendly match. I must say they still got skillz but were a bit slow and one goalkeeper seemed to flutter his feet in the air when he blocked a shot, which drew some laughter. I also have gotten to know some other ex-pats, chat with my Belgian neighbors, and swim at the pool down the street.
Besides the chill time, I’ve been to the field twice in the last month and that has definitely been the highlight of my time here so far. Being with the people at the village level is essentially what I’m here for and these trips give me the opportunity to see the project lived out in people’s lives. The primary project that my supervisor and I are working on relates to implementing economic strengthening and health prevention activities to improve the well-being of households who have orphans/vulnerable children (OVC). The children are largely vulnerable or orphaned b/c their parents died of AIDS or b/c of poverty/urbanization and the kids are left with uncles or grandmothers. My first trip was more of an orientation, visiting 2 villages to observe a round of project chickens being vaccinated (part of the income generation and nutrition activity) and also a village-level savings-led group conduct their business of making deposits and loans (aka. SILC groups). These groups are the bread and butter of much of the programming with my employer in Africa since they are mostly groups of 30 women, with a few men, who deposit from 50 cents up to $2 per week into a pool of money (community cash box) and can take out micro-loans up to 3 months with interest for their own business (often buying/selling goods or for seeds or insecticides) or personal needs. It’s pretty ingenious b/c these groups use peer pressure to pay back the loans and build a support network and emergency fund to meet urgent needs of the members.
SILC groups are being trained in nutritious crop production, HIV and psychosocial support, water management, and other skills to benefit the OVCs in their respective families (every member of the group has at least 1 OVC in their house). While I was there, I witnessed the fruit of what CRS organized/trained via their field partners, who were all Tanzanians, in that the group functioned fairly independently, needing a bit of guidance on their record-keeping (the secretary of the group even named her infant “SILC”!) They all seemed to appreciate the presence of the new guy on the block-especially when I introduced myself in Swahili! Actually, they were so impressed that they asked me for a cow and a sewing machine for their group as their guest of honor, which I deferred to the partner who later told them it’s not possible. The best part of the visit though was after the meeting when all the women, went to go dance at a neighbor’s house to celebrate the first time one of the babies in town left the house to see the sun. They all came up to me single file to shake my hand, then I decided to join them in the dance, and couldn’t resist breakin’ out some old skool hip-hip “raise the roof” style dance, as all the women and kids, young and old, followed along, copying the style of the new guy. Then, to my surprise, they handed me the infant as I was doing the “running man” so as to enjoy in the celebrations. Needless to say, it was the best day here so far!
During the second visit to 2 other villages, I worked with the field partners to collect missing data from an OVC survey, which was an interesting process of orienting the field staff on monitoring tips and quality issues to observe in the village as they in turn oriented the local community volunteers during the process of administering the survey with the OVC. I stepped back so as not to correct them too much, and just watch them train each other, which was a valuable experience in letting go of the “perfect” way to administer a survey. The visit to a village primary school was really cool b/c I got to see how students interact with each other and we exchanged language lessons with each other as well. In another village, we assisted several SILC groups with “sharing-out” their profits (dividends) after having spent 9 months saving and lending to each other. The smiles on the older women’s faces were indescribable as some of them were handed the equivalent of $50 or $80 (i.e. the sum of their savings plus interest earned), who had never held that much cash in their hand ever…. followed by a loud applause. We hope they will use the money for their own intended purposes stated 9 months ago (to finish building their house or pay for school uniforms, etc). At any rate, it was a powerful witness to sustainable development as a first step towards economic independence and wellness for their family. I was still disturbed though after visiting a school in another town to see that as the students finished their school day, the boys were sent to play soccer and the girls were instructed to go fetch water in buckets at least 1-2 kilometers away. The TZ field supervisor chuckled a bit, saying “gender discrimination still persists so we have a long way to go.” I also learned about the horrible practice in certain places in TZ of killing albino children for good luck/health… which seems to be a lingering influence of black magic, but this is rare. Several NGOs have projects to help dispel these myths. Nevertheless, it was a valuable experience and many more to come.
I’m enjoying work at the office and I am really fortunate to have such a chill supervisor who is funny but serious about the work. She has been teaching me about budgets and how to plan for the next fiscal year, as well as collaborate with partners. Actually one of our partners is an agriculture expert and just happens to have access to the miracle tree (Moringa) which we can incorporate into our nutrition piece with OVCs, so it’s seems God has worked out a lot of large and small details in using my passions and skills here in TZ. I’m learning a lot of Swahili and cultural challenges as well, with the inevitable corruption prevalent at many levels. I haven’t been asked for a bribe yet, but a local TZ friend was recently tricked into paying a bribe to a traffic cop who pulled him over. Also, the crazy motor taxi drivers have a knack for zooming by on both sides of the road in the same direction! So I have to really watch it when I walk since there are few sidewalks here these guys have been known just to start fights with innocent people to assert their authority as the “bad boys” in town. A few kids will ask for money in the streets and some adults will ask for job connections, but this is something that happens in many places so it’s not surprising. Nevertheless, I still realize that I come from a position of great privilege, just walking around town, so I try to stay humble with an open mind, ready to learn and be okay when my personal space is constricted or when projects/tasks at work don’t pan out as planned due to a different sense of timing and productivity across cultures.
Overall, I’ve been healthy and living comfortably at home. I have set out simply to work hard, be flexible, laugh, and enjoy the people around me. I have so much to learn but staying productive with a routine has been nice, and I can’t complain about the 78 degree weather every day! I have also learned to appreciate the value that animals contribute to survival and wellness here, whether it’s having a guard dog in the city or oxen on the farmland, animals are so important to people here (and to me too as I've benefited from my neighbor's fresh cow milk). I've also been learning different and innovative ways development can be carried out by local partners and that the people of TZ have so much potential yet so many personal politics get in the way at times (selfish ambition/party loyalty, etc.). On a lighter note, my garden is doing well and I hope to enjoy the tomatoes and cucumbers very soon. That’s about it for now.
