Our final week was perhaps the best, and our description will work backwards, starting with the last two days in Tanzania.
One of the staff members, Honest, was married March 21st, unfortunately after we left Tanzania. However, in preparation for the wedding, a reception was held in the village of his bride, Natalia. It was in Byno, a village in Mbulu district south of Karatu, about 3-1/2 hours over the usual nasty roads.
Mbulu is quite different than Karatu. The rolling hills reminded us of areas in New Zealand, minus the sheep. It appears to get more rain as the landscape is a beautiful green, with pastures and cultivated fields. Karatu has suffered from lack of rainfall in recent years and the fields reflect that.
The reception was the ceremony for the family to give Natalia to Honest, and the only opportunity for most if not all of them to celebrate. Honest and Natalia are getting married in Moshi, near Mount Kilimanjaro, more than six hours by road away from Byno, the latter having no public transportation.
We were the only non-Tanzanians at this event and were treated like family. We were the first to eat, had a special place in the temporary shelter where the wedding party sat, and had the best view during the entire celebration.
The evening was filled with song, villagers coming into the shelter to congratulate the bride and groom to be, apparently passing on advice with good wishes, and eagerly having their pictures taken by us.
Unfortunately it started about 8 PM, so many crammed into the house of Natalia’s family. Eventually, because of the rain, a significant number had to stay the night, and we were fortunate to be given the only bed.
The next morning featured a procession out of the village, with family members walking with the bride back to our Land Cruiser (there is no road to the part of the village where the celebration took place so we had a 15 minute walk up and down a slippery, muddy path). Again there were songs, this time accompanied by tears as the family said goodbye.
Our two months in Tanzania were filled with wonderful experiences, but these two days were the highlight of our time there. We felt privileged to be a part of it all.
After reading our previous blog entries, someone asked if all we did was have fun. Well yes, because our volunteer work was fun, and we did have things to do in the office, going every day from 8AM to 5PM. More or less.
To summarize, MIHV is in the Karatu district of Tanzania to help improve the health of mothers and children under five. Part of that is creating Survive and Thrive Groups, designed specifically for young single mothers and their children, who have very few resources and are very vulnerable to health problems. A goal is to develop income-generating activities for them, and our time was focused on that. As you perhaps read earlier, we spent time in the field to get a feel for the project and the culture in the area. From there we designed training materials to help with marketing, and developed tools for running the businesses. We also created an Excel training to help improve the skills of the MIHV staff, who use the software for data gathering and analysis.
The days leading up to Honest and Natalia’s reception were spent in the office, finalizing these projects and spending more time with staff going over the materials we left. The last day we brought in lunch and showed pictures from our travels in Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Peru and the United States.
Before we went to Tanzania, it wasn’t clear how we might contribute to the project, since it is a public health organization and that isn’t our background. MIHV is doing wonderful work in Karatu, working hard to make the project sustainable after they leave. At the end we hope the resources we left behind will add to that effort. Beyond that, the opportunities to experience the culture, to visit the villages, and peek into a slice of life there was amazing. In addition, we saw some beautiful parts of the country, and were in some of the most famous places in Africa for wildlife safaris. Sharon has described the whole experience as “phenomenal”, and it was.
Thanks for joining us on this adventure.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
Last update from Tanzania
We are in our last week here in Tanzania, leaving Sunday. If you are still reading along, thanks for joining us on the journey. We’ll have some final thoughts to add after our return to Minnesota.
Yesterday (Sunday) we spent in Tarangire National Park. It was time for one more animal fix before leaving the country.
Tarangire is reputed to have the highest concentration per kilometer of elephants in the world. It is also beautiful, located in the Great Rift Valley, with some of the classic vistas seen in movies. Trees include the acacia, with the widespread flat-topped canopy so identified with the Africa savannah, and baobab trees.
The latter have a shape like a fat-stemmed mushroom. The trunk can grow to 33 feet diameter in only 100 years. “Only”, because tests suggest some live to more than 3,000 years. Baobabs’ trunks can store large amounts of water, which get them through droughts. Animals, especially elephants, sometimes help themselves to the precious liquid when rains fail to come.
Our main reason for going there was animals and we found them. Supporting Tarangire’s reputation, we did see a lot of elephants. At one small water hole we came upon a group of at least 35, from small babies to the big bulls. They were all trying to spray themselves or lie down in the wet mud to cool off. It was an incredible sight! There were many more scattered throughout the park and we never tired of seeing them. We even witnessed what appeared to be a sibling fight, finally broken up by mom.
Unlike the other parks we visited, giraffes were also plentiful and they too had babies. They are amazing to watch, walking or even running in that swaying graceful fashion you’ve likely seen in movies or nature shows. Giraffes eat the leaves of acacias from the tops of the trees, which have long, sharp, nasty needles. They can do this because of a remarkable tongue, and it was fun to watch them feed.
One surprise was to see lions running by us, three females and a young one. When we arrived we were told that the lions were elsewhere and we wouldn’t see any in the park. When our driver reported back the sighting there was disbelief, but we have the photos to prove it.
We also saw a wide variety of gazelle-like animals, including topi, waterbuck, impala, eland, dikdik (VERY small), and some we couldn’t identify. There were many so-ugly-they’re-cute warthogs, including babies, all running with tails sticking straight up in the air. We did see a battle between two males. In addition there were baboons, ostriches (and many other birds), wildebeest and zebras.
We do need to make a correction. Previously we had referred to “water” buffalo. In fact we have been seeing cape or African buffalo. The former can be domesticated, the latter can’t.
This week we are finishing up our projects, including working with the great people on staff. Our expectation is that there will be continued work for us after we return to the United States.
Yesterday (Sunday) we spent in Tarangire National Park. It was time for one more animal fix before leaving the country.
Tarangire is reputed to have the highest concentration per kilometer of elephants in the world. It is also beautiful, located in the Great Rift Valley, with some of the classic vistas seen in movies. Trees include the acacia, with the widespread flat-topped canopy so identified with the Africa savannah, and baobab trees.
The latter have a shape like a fat-stemmed mushroom. The trunk can grow to 33 feet diameter in only 100 years. “Only”, because tests suggest some live to more than 3,000 years. Baobabs’ trunks can store large amounts of water, which get them through droughts. Animals, especially elephants, sometimes help themselves to the precious liquid when rains fail to come.
Our main reason for going there was animals and we found them. Supporting Tarangire’s reputation, we did see a lot of elephants. At one small water hole we came upon a group of at least 35, from small babies to the big bulls. They were all trying to spray themselves or lie down in the wet mud to cool off. It was an incredible sight! There were many more scattered throughout the park and we never tired of seeing them. We even witnessed what appeared to be a sibling fight, finally broken up by mom.
Unlike the other parks we visited, giraffes were also plentiful and they too had babies. They are amazing to watch, walking or even running in that swaying graceful fashion you’ve likely seen in movies or nature shows. Giraffes eat the leaves of acacias from the tops of the trees, which have long, sharp, nasty needles. They can do this because of a remarkable tongue, and it was fun to watch them feed.
One surprise was to see lions running by us, three females and a young one. When we arrived we were told that the lions were elsewhere and we wouldn’t see any in the park. When our driver reported back the sighting there was disbelief, but we have the photos to prove it.
We also saw a wide variety of gazelle-like animals, including topi, waterbuck, impala, eland, dikdik (VERY small), and some we couldn’t identify. There were many so-ugly-they’re-cute warthogs, including babies, all running with tails sticking straight up in the air. We did see a battle between two males. In addition there were baboons, ostriches (and many other birds), wildebeest and zebras.
We do need to make a correction. Previously we had referred to “water” buffalo. In fact we have been seeing cape or African buffalo. The former can be domesticated, the latter can’t.
This week we are finishing up our projects, including working with the great people on staff. Our expectation is that there will be continued work for us after we return to the United States.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
R & R in Zanzibar
A week away in Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam gave us another perspective on life here in Tanzania. It started and ended with bus trips across the country.
It took us about 12 hours to reach Dar. We drove along the pretty Pare and Usambara Mountains, past fields of corn and sisal (a plant that looks like aloe vera & used for making rope and twine), seeing places where farmers were making charcoal, and a few places thirsty for rain.
Passing through three cities we saw a very different slice of life than in Karatu, a town of perhaps 15,000. Nearly every road in the cities is paved and every main street was packed with cars. Karatu has only the main highway through town paved, and it never seems busy in spite of all the tourists passing. In the larger cities, as in the U.S., the pace of life is faster.
The next day we ferried across to Unguja, the main island of the archipelago and what many non-Tanzanians think of as Zanzibar. Our goal was the east coast and three days on the beach. We enjoyed snorkeling each day, including a great afternoon at an atoll. However, the water near shore was too hot to be comfortable for long.
Our beach was protected by an off-shore sand reef, creating at low tide a lagoon. This is when women harvest seaweed for eventual export. The have “fields” of stakes that stick out of the water with twine between the stakes under water. The twine is for the anchorage-dependent crop, which is ready about every two weeks. At high tide the women leave, the stakes disappear, and it is time to snorkel again.
Back to the west coast of the island we stayed in Stone Town, a World Heritage Site. It is the heart of Zanzibar’s reputation as a convergence of many cultures. There ships stopped while heading east and west. There it was discovered to be an ideal place to grow spices, still today an important part of their economy. The sultanate of Oman moved there because of the riches that trade provided. From Stone Town traders moved through the mainland, selling and buying goods, and unfortunately, people.
All this activity brought about the spread of the Swahili language through east Africa. In Tanzania there are more than 120 different tribes. To facilitate communications for commerce, Swahili became the lingua franca, a common or commercial tongue among people who speak different languages. It is Bantu based, but with so many influences it has many borrowed words from other languages. By one estimate as much as 40% of the vocabulary is Arabic based. Swahili is now an official language or widely spoken in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, parts of Congo and small portions of Somalia, Mozambique, Madagascar and Comoros.
As traders from different parts of the world came, some started families, creating a rich rainbow of influences and colors. Islam is dominant, but Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism are present along with influences from the original indigenous faiths.
With attacks from the Portuguese and later the British, the sultanate was slplit between the islands and Oman. In Zanzibar the sultans were “guided” by the British until independence and then a revolution overthrew the sultan in 1964.
As a result of its interesting history, the architecture of Stone Town is a mix of Arab, Persian, Indian and European influences, with a maze of streets and alleys that are fun to wander. The government has struggled to maintain Stone Town. Unfortunately most of the buildings are in poor condition, which made the experience a bit depressing. There is an obvious effort to save and rehab, but to us it will require an enormous amount of money and careful work.
Back to the mainland we spent time in Dar es Salaam, the economic center of the country. Dar bursts with activity. It doesn’t have the character of Zanzibar, but was fun for us to wander none the less. We spent time in an outdoor Village Museum, where we could see the variety of village housing used even to this day.
We took the bus part way back, then met Jolene and rode the rest of the way with her. We had to be careful because of the ostriches hanging around on the side of the road, and the crossing by several zebras. A little different than Minnesota. The evening light and scenery were gorgeous.
We are back in Karatu, back in the wonderful weather here, back with the great people of the area. It was a good week away but great to be “home”. The coast is hot and humid, and this ideal weather has refreshed us.
It took us about 12 hours to reach Dar. We drove along the pretty Pare and Usambara Mountains, past fields of corn and sisal (a plant that looks like aloe vera & used for making rope and twine), seeing places where farmers were making charcoal, and a few places thirsty for rain.
Passing through three cities we saw a very different slice of life than in Karatu, a town of perhaps 15,000. Nearly every road in the cities is paved and every main street was packed with cars. Karatu has only the main highway through town paved, and it never seems busy in spite of all the tourists passing. In the larger cities, as in the U.S., the pace of life is faster.
The next day we ferried across to Unguja, the main island of the archipelago and what many non-Tanzanians think of as Zanzibar. Our goal was the east coast and three days on the beach. We enjoyed snorkeling each day, including a great afternoon at an atoll. However, the water near shore was too hot to be comfortable for long.
Our beach was protected by an off-shore sand reef, creating at low tide a lagoon. This is when women harvest seaweed for eventual export. The have “fields” of stakes that stick out of the water with twine between the stakes under water. The twine is for the anchorage-dependent crop, which is ready about every two weeks. At high tide the women leave, the stakes disappear, and it is time to snorkel again.
Back to the west coast of the island we stayed in Stone Town, a World Heritage Site. It is the heart of Zanzibar’s reputation as a convergence of many cultures. There ships stopped while heading east and west. There it was discovered to be an ideal place to grow spices, still today an important part of their economy. The sultanate of Oman moved there because of the riches that trade provided. From Stone Town traders moved through the mainland, selling and buying goods, and unfortunately, people.
All this activity brought about the spread of the Swahili language through east Africa. In Tanzania there are more than 120 different tribes. To facilitate communications for commerce, Swahili became the lingua franca, a common or commercial tongue among people who speak different languages. It is Bantu based, but with so many influences it has many borrowed words from other languages. By one estimate as much as 40% of the vocabulary is Arabic based. Swahili is now an official language or widely spoken in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, parts of Congo and small portions of Somalia, Mozambique, Madagascar and Comoros.
As traders from different parts of the world came, some started families, creating a rich rainbow of influences and colors. Islam is dominant, but Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism are present along with influences from the original indigenous faiths.
With attacks from the Portuguese and later the British, the sultanate was slplit between the islands and Oman. In Zanzibar the sultans were “guided” by the British until independence and then a revolution overthrew the sultan in 1964.
As a result of its interesting history, the architecture of Stone Town is a mix of Arab, Persian, Indian and European influences, with a maze of streets and alleys that are fun to wander. The government has struggled to maintain Stone Town. Unfortunately most of the buildings are in poor condition, which made the experience a bit depressing. There is an obvious effort to save and rehab, but to us it will require an enormous amount of money and careful work.
Back to the mainland we spent time in Dar es Salaam, the economic center of the country. Dar bursts with activity. It doesn’t have the character of Zanzibar, but was fun for us to wander none the less. We spent time in an outdoor Village Museum, where we could see the variety of village housing used even to this day.
We took the bus part way back, then met Jolene and rode the rest of the way with her. We had to be careful because of the ostriches hanging around on the side of the road, and the crossing by several zebras. A little different than Minnesota. The evening light and scenery were gorgeous.
We are back in Karatu, back in the wonderful weather here, back with the great people of the area. It was a good week away but great to be “home”. The coast is hot and humid, and this ideal weather has refreshed us.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Four weeks left
We are half way through our stay and time is flying by. There are several projects to be finished and in some ways it feels we should be here several more months, but we hope to be back next year to continue our work.
This past week was spent in the field in an area called Mang’ola. The landscape is very different there. The elevation is lower, perhaps 4,000 feet instead of the 5,000 feet we are used to here in Karatu. In Mang’ola the temperature is warmer and the rainfall less. There is a large spring nearby. The water is pumped up to reservoirs, and then allowed to be diverted to different areas as irrigation water. This gives the contrast of scrub plants surviving in dry areas, next to lush irrigated fields of corn and red onions. The latter are shipped all over Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and other countries.
Mang’ola is smaller than Karatu town, and challenging to reach because of the road leading to it. There is no electrical service, although a few of the businesses use small solar panels to power a few fluorescent lights. Most use kerosene lamps. The nights were spectacular because the streets are so dark so the visible stars are so numerous and bright. The guest house we stayed in had all the wiring, switches and outlets necessary, even a TV satellite dish. However, it is all useless because the power grid doesn’t include the town.
As with so many experiences, being on location has much more impact than reading about what life is like there. We continue to be in awe of what MIHV has accomplished in just two years. As we drive through remote areas, people eagerly greet us because the staff has made such a strong investment in building relationships and training. Add the factor that we two white people are in the car along with staff, and we sometimes felt like we were celebrities in a 4th of July parade in America, with kids running out to wave and yell friendly greetings.
The challenges to improving the health of mothers and children under five are daunting. For example, in one village about 23 kilometers/14 miles from Mang’ola, an hour’s drive, we found a young mother who had been bitten by a poisonous snake the day before. She went to a traditional healer to get medicine, who didn’t have the right one. The woman was told not to go to the hospital in Mang’ola because they would simply cut off her leg. When we arrived she wasn’t doing well. The staff convinced her that the hospital wouldn’t cut off her leg. While two staff people were meeting with other village members, our driver took the woman to the hospital, got the right medications and brought her back, leg intact.
We were told about another incident when complications developed for a woman in labor. The plan was for her to deliver in the village with a traditional birth attendant, but it became apparent she needed to be taken to a hospital. There was no vehicle available, so she was carried on the backs of village members six hours throughout the night. The result happily was a successful, healthy birth.
MIHV seems very skilled in dealing with the wide range of education found in the villages. In one training session, the participants ranged from an individual with no formal education to one who spoke eight languages, including very good English.
The focus of this trip was training specific village members on why and how to collect data on pregnancies, illnesses, births and deaths. Data can be a powerful tool, helping to identify the causes of health problems that can lead to a course of action. The government is keenly interested, but doesn’t have all the necessary resources, so MIHV in cooperation with the district authorities is helping. In one case the data they collected was turned over to the Karatu District Medical Office. They described the problem and presented the supporting data to a local business who pledged to fund a program to help solve it.
The people we met fascinated us. The afore-mentioned man who spoke eight languages was an engaging conversationalist. Tanzania has at least 130 different tribes, and such individuals as this gentleman have learned to converse in a surprising number of the traditional languages. As we said in a previous blog entry, given our poor performance in Swahili and previous language efforts, it is humbling. We’ll have more to say about education here in a future blog update.
We also met a 75 year old shaman/traditional healer, dressed in her tribe’s traditional clothing. Although she spoke no English, she was eager to learn a few phrases.
The week also helped reinforce the need to be patient and take things as they come. In the town and the various villages we visited there is no electricity. The roads are difficult, and in some areas will be impassable during the rainy season. Fortunately, mobile phones have revolutionized communications because there are almost no land lines.
Even with the mobile phones, scheduling these sessions is extremely difficult. Because of the roads it is a little difficult to know when we will arrive. Participants have the demands of family, farms and other responsibilities. So, something that is planned to start at 9:00AM may not begin until 11:30. Emergencies such as the snake-bite incident can pull us away from what has been planned.
In our last blog entry we mentioned a Valentine’s luncheon put together by MIHV for leading women in Karatu. The goal was to listen to their views on what should be done to help women and children in the district build income-generating activities. It was a wonderful success, with most pledging money, training and other support and deciding to meet monthly to make solving the problems an ongoing effort. It is impressive to see how government, organizations like MIHV and community members are working together.
This next week we will be in the office. We have developed some training materials for Excel and will be using them in sessions with the staff, along with members of another non-governmental organization. We will also continue working on a marketing training program for staff so they can train the village women.
We hope all is well with all of you.
This past week was spent in the field in an area called Mang’ola. The landscape is very different there. The elevation is lower, perhaps 4,000 feet instead of the 5,000 feet we are used to here in Karatu. In Mang’ola the temperature is warmer and the rainfall less. There is a large spring nearby. The water is pumped up to reservoirs, and then allowed to be diverted to different areas as irrigation water. This gives the contrast of scrub plants surviving in dry areas, next to lush irrigated fields of corn and red onions. The latter are shipped all over Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and other countries.
Mang’ola is smaller than Karatu town, and challenging to reach because of the road leading to it. There is no electrical service, although a few of the businesses use small solar panels to power a few fluorescent lights. Most use kerosene lamps. The nights were spectacular because the streets are so dark so the visible stars are so numerous and bright. The guest house we stayed in had all the wiring, switches and outlets necessary, even a TV satellite dish. However, it is all useless because the power grid doesn’t include the town.
As with so many experiences, being on location has much more impact than reading about what life is like there. We continue to be in awe of what MIHV has accomplished in just two years. As we drive through remote areas, people eagerly greet us because the staff has made such a strong investment in building relationships and training. Add the factor that we two white people are in the car along with staff, and we sometimes felt like we were celebrities in a 4th of July parade in America, with kids running out to wave and yell friendly greetings.
The challenges to improving the health of mothers and children under five are daunting. For example, in one village about 23 kilometers/14 miles from Mang’ola, an hour’s drive, we found a young mother who had been bitten by a poisonous snake the day before. She went to a traditional healer to get medicine, who didn’t have the right one. The woman was told not to go to the hospital in Mang’ola because they would simply cut off her leg. When we arrived she wasn’t doing well. The staff convinced her that the hospital wouldn’t cut off her leg. While two staff people were meeting with other village members, our driver took the woman to the hospital, got the right medications and brought her back, leg intact.
We were told about another incident when complications developed for a woman in labor. The plan was for her to deliver in the village with a traditional birth attendant, but it became apparent she needed to be taken to a hospital. There was no vehicle available, so she was carried on the backs of village members six hours throughout the night. The result happily was a successful, healthy birth.
MIHV seems very skilled in dealing with the wide range of education found in the villages. In one training session, the participants ranged from an individual with no formal education to one who spoke eight languages, including very good English.
The focus of this trip was training specific village members on why and how to collect data on pregnancies, illnesses, births and deaths. Data can be a powerful tool, helping to identify the causes of health problems that can lead to a course of action. The government is keenly interested, but doesn’t have all the necessary resources, so MIHV in cooperation with the district authorities is helping. In one case the data they collected was turned over to the Karatu District Medical Office. They described the problem and presented the supporting data to a local business who pledged to fund a program to help solve it.
The people we met fascinated us. The afore-mentioned man who spoke eight languages was an engaging conversationalist. Tanzania has at least 130 different tribes, and such individuals as this gentleman have learned to converse in a surprising number of the traditional languages. As we said in a previous blog entry, given our poor performance in Swahili and previous language efforts, it is humbling. We’ll have more to say about education here in a future blog update.
We also met a 75 year old shaman/traditional healer, dressed in her tribe’s traditional clothing. Although she spoke no English, she was eager to learn a few phrases.
The week also helped reinforce the need to be patient and take things as they come. In the town and the various villages we visited there is no electricity. The roads are difficult, and in some areas will be impassable during the rainy season. Fortunately, mobile phones have revolutionized communications because there are almost no land lines.
Even with the mobile phones, scheduling these sessions is extremely difficult. Because of the roads it is a little difficult to know when we will arrive. Participants have the demands of family, farms and other responsibilities. So, something that is planned to start at 9:00AM may not begin until 11:30. Emergencies such as the snake-bite incident can pull us away from what has been planned.
In our last blog entry we mentioned a Valentine’s luncheon put together by MIHV for leading women in Karatu. The goal was to listen to their views on what should be done to help women and children in the district build income-generating activities. It was a wonderful success, with most pledging money, training and other support and deciding to meet monthly to make solving the problems an ongoing effort. It is impressive to see how government, organizations like MIHV and community members are working together.
This next week we will be in the office. We have developed some training materials for Excel and will be using them in sessions with the staff, along with members of another non-governmental organization. We will also continue working on a marketing training program for staff so they can train the village women.
We hope all is well with all of you.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Our Third Week (such imaginative titles)
Today (Sunday) we went to Ngorongoro Crater, called by "A Thousand Places to See Before you Die" the Garden of Eden of Africa. It is the largest intact volcanic caldera not filled with water in the world (don't you love all the qualifiers?), over 12 miles in diameter. The lakes, grasslands, swamps and forests make it an ideal environment for a wide variety of animals. The steep sides help discourage migration for many but not all. The edge also provides wonderful vistas in all directions.
We took four staff members with us along with the three-year old son of one, who was a little afraid of us, perhaps wondering what was wrong with two people who had lost all their color.
We saw wildebeest, zebras and water buffalo by the thousands. A lake had tens of thousands of flamingos. Also for our viewing pleasure was a rare black rhino, hippos, elephants, serval (a small cat), waterhogs, eland (a large deer-lake animal), various gazelles, hyenas, jackal, monkeys, baboons, ostrich, various storks, egrets and cranes. We also saw a number of lions. At one location was a wounded water buffalo, hunkered down in a hollow with several lions waiting. The next time past the buffalo was dead and the lions were feasting. It was an incredible day.
Saturday we went to a large open market on the edge of town. This happens on the 7th of each month, and is aimed at Tanzanians. There is an animal auction, varieties of foods to buy, handicrafts, watches, and nearly anything imaginable. Clothes? Chances are items you donate to ARC or the Epilepsy Foundation get bundled up and sent overseas, ending in markets such is this. It was being unbaled on the spot. Every kind of used clothing seems to be here, from Columbia jackets to underwear. There is also a profusion of the colorful fabrics women and sometimes men wear.
As for our work, this last week we spent our time in the office getting prepared for future activities. Jolene, the-ever creative country director, is inviting the leading women in the Karatu community to a nice lunch on Valentine’s Day and we are assisting with that. She is always looking for ways to generate ideas from the community and collaborate in the process of improving health. Everything MIHV does here needs to be sustainable, continuing past the time the project ends.
We are continuing with activities aimed at developing income generation for the Survive and Thrive Groups. This includes creating a marketing training program for staff so they can train the village women. There has also been a lot of brainstorming on what items can be made that will appeal to tourists.
This week we will be in the field again with staff, who will be recording data and doing training. One of the stops will be in an Hadzabe village. They are a hunting-gathering tribe whose lifestyle is being impacted by modernity.
Time is flying by and we continue to be fascinated by the people and places.
We took four staff members with us along with the three-year old son of one, who was a little afraid of us, perhaps wondering what was wrong with two people who had lost all their color.
We saw wildebeest, zebras and water buffalo by the thousands. A lake had tens of thousands of flamingos. Also for our viewing pleasure was a rare black rhino, hippos, elephants, serval (a small cat), waterhogs, eland (a large deer-lake animal), various gazelles, hyenas, jackal, monkeys, baboons, ostrich, various storks, egrets and cranes. We also saw a number of lions. At one location was a wounded water buffalo, hunkered down in a hollow with several lions waiting. The next time past the buffalo was dead and the lions were feasting. It was an incredible day.
Saturday we went to a large open market on the edge of town. This happens on the 7th of each month, and is aimed at Tanzanians. There is an animal auction, varieties of foods to buy, handicrafts, watches, and nearly anything imaginable. Clothes? Chances are items you donate to ARC or the Epilepsy Foundation get bundled up and sent overseas, ending in markets such is this. It was being unbaled on the spot. Every kind of used clothing seems to be here, from Columbia jackets to underwear. There is also a profusion of the colorful fabrics women and sometimes men wear.
As for our work, this last week we spent our time in the office getting prepared for future activities. Jolene, the-ever creative country director, is inviting the leading women in the Karatu community to a nice lunch on Valentine’s Day and we are assisting with that. She is always looking for ways to generate ideas from the community and collaborate in the process of improving health. Everything MIHV does here needs to be sustainable, continuing past the time the project ends.
We are continuing with activities aimed at developing income generation for the Survive and Thrive Groups. This includes creating a marketing training program for staff so they can train the village women. There has also been a lot of brainstorming on what items can be made that will appeal to tourists.
This week we will be in the field again with staff, who will be recording data and doing training. One of the stops will be in an Hadzabe village. They are a hunting-gathering tribe whose lifestyle is being impacted by modernity.
Time is flying by and we continue to be fascinated by the people and places.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Our Second Week
Our second week has been a wonderful mixture of nature and culture. We started with a day safari to Manyara National Park, about ½ hour from our place. We saw baboons, different kinds of monkeys, gazelles, giraffes, hippos, water buffalo, wildebeest, zebra, elephants, and lots of birds, including storks, egrets, hornbills, flamingos and many more. It was a great day.
On the culture side, an integral part is languages. Swahili is the lingua franca, with most people having a local/tribal one as their first language. It seems nearly everyone speaks two languages, quite a few three (including our coworkers who speak English), and some four or more. Given how little progress we have made in our poor attempts at other languages (Japanese, Spanish and Swahili), we are truly humbled.
The other issue with language is how it limits our understanding of our surroundings. Our coworkers are wonderful, but there is only so much they can convey in trying to translate what we are experiencing. As we wander through the open markets and the town of Karatu alone, fumbling with our limited Swahili, our experiences are obviously filtered through our lack of language, Midwestern perspectives, the relatively small part of Tanzania we are seeing, and the short time we are here. So, we offer the following and future information with the knowledge that the slice of life we are experiencing is very limited, and we will make corrections later if new information changes that perspective.
With that, here goes. This last week has mostly been spent in two villages. In both cases staff was building Survive and Thrive Groups (see 9th paragraph from our previous entry). This involves two days of training with traditional birth attendants (TBAs) and a third day with the TBAs and young mothers. (We will try to limit acronyms to only two – MIHV for Minnesota International Health Volunteers, our host organization, and TBAs as above).
The TBAs are truly remarkable women. To put this into perspective, we had to drive between 45 and 60 minutes to get to each village, which is only 20-23 miles away. The roads are unpaved, often rutted, rocky, very rough, and should only be driven with a decent size four-wheel drive vehicle. Ours is a Toyota Land Cruiser. When the rainy season comes, some villages become isolated as the roads become impassible.
The village homes are widely spread out among fields, with sub-villages. In the second village we visited there was no electricity and we didn’t see a car or truck. Cell phones work everywhere, but to get anyplace, people generally either walk or use a bike, the latter being beat up versions of the old bikes we grew up on. Even with a mountain bike, the roads would be extremely challenging.
Although the Tanzanian government and MIHV are working hard to encourage women to get to clinics for deliveries, for many of them this is impossible. The reasons include the roads, long and sometimes difficult distances to clinics, needing to plan ahead for the delivery and hoping the due date is accurate, along with the impossibility of leaving family behind.
The TBAs are not paid for their work, expect if the delivering mother and family can afford to offer a chicken or other goods. Sometimes the TBA is buying supplies from her own funds. Some have even been known to take in a young mother and child if the woman is unmarried and the family is not able to care for her. As you might imagine, TBAs often have to go long distances, sometimes in the dark of night where wild animals could present a danger. Add to this that they teach women of all ages before and after delivery on health and safety issues, and their roles are challenging.
Traditionally, TBAs’ knowledge was passed on from one woman to another within the village. It is obvious they are eager for the training they receive, and happy they can bring more tools to their work. Some have limited literacy or less than adequate Swahili, yet they show incredible motivation to learn.
The TBAs we saw have already received training from MIHV on antenatal, delivery, neonatal and maternal care. What we witnessed was additional education and help in starting their Survive and Thrive Groups. The latter will help unmarried mothers learn more about care for themselves and their children. The mortality rates for both are high, with a large percentage of them preventable. For children under five, 51% of deaths are from acute respiratory infections/pneumonia, 31% from malaria, and 3.6% from diarrheal disease. The education provided by the government, MIHV and other non-governmental organizations can eventually reduce the numbers dramatically.
As mentioned last time, MIHV wants to introduce a system for income generation in these groups. By doing so, the young mothers will be able to help support their families, hopefully help TBAs cover their costs, employ good health practices and encourage the mothers to stay in their villages rather than seek their fortune in Karatu town. The income generation aspect of the Survive and Thrive Groups is the focus of our time here.
Karatu is the gateway for Ngorongoro Crater, the Serengeti and other famous parks nearby, with an estimated 500,000 tourists each year. The town has only about 15-20,000 people, and most of the handicrafts sold in the tourist shops come from Kenya. The women of Karatu District produce traditional crafts, including baskets and bead work that can be sold to visiting tourists. The goal of MIHV is to develop skills in the groups to perfect the crafts, help the women start agricultural projects or small animal husbandry, provide the knowledge to manage these small businesses, and have the enterprises self-sustaining. Our hope is to contribute to that effort.
On the nature side, next weekend we go to Ngorongoro Crater, which is said to have the largest concentration of mammals in all of Africa.
We are having a wonderful time.
Now, for all of you in the northern climates of the US, a weather report. The temperatures here have so far been nearly perfect, with low humidity. Days can be like that perfect summer weather in Minnesota. In the evenings we sometimes have to put on a light fleece. Sleeping temperatures are just right.
The down side is precipitation. Karatu didn’t get the rains expected in November and December, so it was dusty. The soil here is a burnt orange color, and when the winds blow, the dust rises and delivers a fine coating on everything.
A few days ago the rains started, usually in the latter part of the day and sometimes at night. Then the soil turns to a slick mud because of all the clay. Riding in the Land Cruiser feels like being on a winter road in Minnesota, slithering along. And of course the mud is quick to grasp our shoes and not let go.
However, 90% of the people here live off agriculture and need the rain, so the combination of sunlight during much of the day and needed rain later is just what they need. And, we do love the temperatures.
On the culture side, an integral part is languages. Swahili is the lingua franca, with most people having a local/tribal one as their first language. It seems nearly everyone speaks two languages, quite a few three (including our coworkers who speak English), and some four or more. Given how little progress we have made in our poor attempts at other languages (Japanese, Spanish and Swahili), we are truly humbled.
The other issue with language is how it limits our understanding of our surroundings. Our coworkers are wonderful, but there is only so much they can convey in trying to translate what we are experiencing. As we wander through the open markets and the town of Karatu alone, fumbling with our limited Swahili, our experiences are obviously filtered through our lack of language, Midwestern perspectives, the relatively small part of Tanzania we are seeing, and the short time we are here. So, we offer the following and future information with the knowledge that the slice of life we are experiencing is very limited, and we will make corrections later if new information changes that perspective.
With that, here goes. This last week has mostly been spent in two villages. In both cases staff was building Survive and Thrive Groups (see 9th paragraph from our previous entry). This involves two days of training with traditional birth attendants (TBAs) and a third day with the TBAs and young mothers. (We will try to limit acronyms to only two – MIHV for Minnesota International Health Volunteers, our host organization, and TBAs as above).
The TBAs are truly remarkable women. To put this into perspective, we had to drive between 45 and 60 minutes to get to each village, which is only 20-23 miles away. The roads are unpaved, often rutted, rocky, very rough, and should only be driven with a decent size four-wheel drive vehicle. Ours is a Toyota Land Cruiser. When the rainy season comes, some villages become isolated as the roads become impassible.
The village homes are widely spread out among fields, with sub-villages. In the second village we visited there was no electricity and we didn’t see a car or truck. Cell phones work everywhere, but to get anyplace, people generally either walk or use a bike, the latter being beat up versions of the old bikes we grew up on. Even with a mountain bike, the roads would be extremely challenging.
Although the Tanzanian government and MIHV are working hard to encourage women to get to clinics for deliveries, for many of them this is impossible. The reasons include the roads, long and sometimes difficult distances to clinics, needing to plan ahead for the delivery and hoping the due date is accurate, along with the impossibility of leaving family behind.
The TBAs are not paid for their work, expect if the delivering mother and family can afford to offer a chicken or other goods. Sometimes the TBA is buying supplies from her own funds. Some have even been known to take in a young mother and child if the woman is unmarried and the family is not able to care for her. As you might imagine, TBAs often have to go long distances, sometimes in the dark of night where wild animals could present a danger. Add to this that they teach women of all ages before and after delivery on health and safety issues, and their roles are challenging.
Traditionally, TBAs’ knowledge was passed on from one woman to another within the village. It is obvious they are eager for the training they receive, and happy they can bring more tools to their work. Some have limited literacy or less than adequate Swahili, yet they show incredible motivation to learn.
The TBAs we saw have already received training from MIHV on antenatal, delivery, neonatal and maternal care. What we witnessed was additional education and help in starting their Survive and Thrive Groups. The latter will help unmarried mothers learn more about care for themselves and their children. The mortality rates for both are high, with a large percentage of them preventable. For children under five, 51% of deaths are from acute respiratory infections/pneumonia, 31% from malaria, and 3.6% from diarrheal disease. The education provided by the government, MIHV and other non-governmental organizations can eventually reduce the numbers dramatically.
As mentioned last time, MIHV wants to introduce a system for income generation in these groups. By doing so, the young mothers will be able to help support their families, hopefully help TBAs cover their costs, employ good health practices and encourage the mothers to stay in their villages rather than seek their fortune in Karatu town. The income generation aspect of the Survive and Thrive Groups is the focus of our time here.
Karatu is the gateway for Ngorongoro Crater, the Serengeti and other famous parks nearby, with an estimated 500,000 tourists each year. The town has only about 15-20,000 people, and most of the handicrafts sold in the tourist shops come from Kenya. The women of Karatu District produce traditional crafts, including baskets and bead work that can be sold to visiting tourists. The goal of MIHV is to develop skills in the groups to perfect the crafts, help the women start agricultural projects or small animal husbandry, provide the knowledge to manage these small businesses, and have the enterprises self-sustaining. Our hope is to contribute to that effort.
On the nature side, next weekend we go to Ngorongoro Crater, which is said to have the largest concentration of mammals in all of Africa.
We are having a wonderful time.
Now, for all of you in the northern climates of the US, a weather report. The temperatures here have so far been nearly perfect, with low humidity. Days can be like that perfect summer weather in Minnesota. In the evenings we sometimes have to put on a light fleece. Sleeping temperatures are just right.
The down side is precipitation. Karatu didn’t get the rains expected in November and December, so it was dusty. The soil here is a burnt orange color, and when the winds blow, the dust rises and delivers a fine coating on everything.
A few days ago the rains started, usually in the latter part of the day and sometimes at night. Then the soil turns to a slick mud because of all the clay. Riding in the Land Cruiser feels like being on a winter road in Minnesota, slithering along. And of course the mud is quick to grasp our shoes and not let go.
However, 90% of the people here live off agriculture and need the rain, so the combination of sunlight during much of the day and needed rain later is just what they need. And, we do love the temperatures.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Our First Week
Hujambo (how are you?) from Karatu, Tanzania. Our trip was long but uneventful, and Jolene, the energetic and upbeat country director picked us up. So what have we seen and done so far besides getting over jet lag?
From Mount Kilimanjaro airport we had a beautiful drive through the Great Rift Valley to get here, mountains on both sides. The trip included an overlook to see Lake Manyara, where we will probably do our first safari to see the wildlife in the park. We happened upon a wedding party that was taking pictures there which was great fun.
On our drive through the valley we saw many Maasai with their cattle and their family huts around the bomba which holds the cattle at night, a classic African picture. The fabrics worn here are beautiful and varied and men wear them too. There are several versions of a “Hongera (Congratulations) Obama!” Kanga (color cloths) which the ex-pats have been snapping up. We have gotten to know many of them already, starting with a brunch Jolene hosted the second day we were here.
For the inauguration (here it was 8pm) we gathered with a group at the home of a couple from South Africa to watch the ceremony. Just as Obama was walking to the podium, the power went out. The day before had been a bad one for power, but maybe that night everyone was watching and overloaded the system. It came back a few minutes after the speech was finished! But it was thrilling to see the crowds and the ceremony.
Of course the election of Obama has been a very big deal in this part of the world. But, we should mention that George Bush is very popular in Tanzania. Bush pushed for two major programs that directly affect the country, funding for HIV/AIDS and malaria prevention. In addition, he was the only sitting US president to visit this country.
The Karatu area, our new home in northern Tanzania, is beautiful. The hills are green (despite a drought) with deep red soil. The contrast is striking.
MIHV is developing self-sustaining programs here for pregnant women, along with mothers of child-bearing age and children under five for the 45 villages in the district. The issues are complex and the effort is comprehensive, building on the work already done in the community.
We have seen only one paved road, which carries tourists to and sometimes through Karatu to Ngornogoro Crater, one of the most famous wildlife sites in Africa. Roads are dusty when they are dry and sometimes impassable during the rainy season. Even without the rain the distance from the village to a health facility can be a significant barrier. The government has mandated health care centers in every village to try to deal with this.
One aspect of MIHV’s effort is developing Survive and Thrive groups, for young single mothers. Our main focus will be on helping to develop ways for these groups to sell products.
Jolene and her staff have done a remarkable job in only two years here.
They have been warm and welcoming, helping us to settle in and find our way as we have begun our work. And, the receptionist has kindly offered to be our Swahili tutor.
We visited a private elementary school and we received a royal tour. They teach only in English and have both day and boarding students. It had great energy and we met the headmaster, manager, several teachers and many students who greeted us in one case with a couple of songs. This was the idea of the receptionist, who plans to take us more places in the future.
Friday we went with some staff to a village and met with the traditional birth attendants and the village health officer to follow up on their record keeping of pregnant women, their birthing plans, etc. We also visited two homes with newborns.
It feels very comfortable here and MIHV has a nice home for volunteers. The birds are beautiful and varied, coming to visit each day. The foods here are wonderful, with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. The pineapple and mangoes are the best we have eaten and plentiful. And, we’ve never seen such huge avocados!
The week has flown by and yet it feels like we have been here a long time. Monday we leave for six days visiting villages and learning more about the program. We’re excited.
From Mount Kilimanjaro airport we had a beautiful drive through the Great Rift Valley to get here, mountains on both sides. The trip included an overlook to see Lake Manyara, where we will probably do our first safari to see the wildlife in the park. We happened upon a wedding party that was taking pictures there which was great fun.
On our drive through the valley we saw many Maasai with their cattle and their family huts around the bomba which holds the cattle at night, a classic African picture. The fabrics worn here are beautiful and varied and men wear them too. There are several versions of a “Hongera (Congratulations) Obama!” Kanga (color cloths) which the ex-pats have been snapping up. We have gotten to know many of them already, starting with a brunch Jolene hosted the second day we were here.
For the inauguration (here it was 8pm) we gathered with a group at the home of a couple from South Africa to watch the ceremony. Just as Obama was walking to the podium, the power went out. The day before had been a bad one for power, but maybe that night everyone was watching and overloaded the system. It came back a few minutes after the speech was finished! But it was thrilling to see the crowds and the ceremony.
Of course the election of Obama has been a very big deal in this part of the world. But, we should mention that George Bush is very popular in Tanzania. Bush pushed for two major programs that directly affect the country, funding for HIV/AIDS and malaria prevention. In addition, he was the only sitting US president to visit this country.
The Karatu area, our new home in northern Tanzania, is beautiful. The hills are green (despite a drought) with deep red soil. The contrast is striking.
MIHV is developing self-sustaining programs here for pregnant women, along with mothers of child-bearing age and children under five for the 45 villages in the district. The issues are complex and the effort is comprehensive, building on the work already done in the community.
We have seen only one paved road, which carries tourists to and sometimes through Karatu to Ngornogoro Crater, one of the most famous wildlife sites in Africa. Roads are dusty when they are dry and sometimes impassable during the rainy season. Even without the rain the distance from the village to a health facility can be a significant barrier. The government has mandated health care centers in every village to try to deal with this.
One aspect of MIHV’s effort is developing Survive and Thrive groups, for young single mothers. Our main focus will be on helping to develop ways for these groups to sell products.
Jolene and her staff have done a remarkable job in only two years here.
They have been warm and welcoming, helping us to settle in and find our way as we have begun our work. And, the receptionist has kindly offered to be our Swahili tutor.
We visited a private elementary school and we received a royal tour. They teach only in English and have both day and boarding students. It had great energy and we met the headmaster, manager, several teachers and many students who greeted us in one case with a couple of songs. This was the idea of the receptionist, who plans to take us more places in the future.
Friday we went with some staff to a village and met with the traditional birth attendants and the village health officer to follow up on their record keeping of pregnant women, their birthing plans, etc. We also visited two homes with newborns.
It feels very comfortable here and MIHV has a nice home for volunteers. The birds are beautiful and varied, coming to visit each day. The foods here are wonderful, with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. The pineapple and mangoes are the best we have eaten and plentiful. And, we’ve never seen such huge avocados!
The week has flown by and yet it feels like we have been here a long time. Monday we leave for six days visiting villages and learning more about the program. We’re excited.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Leaving for Tanzania
Sharon and Rick are spending two months in Tanzania, from January 16th until March 15th. We will try to post updates to this blog weekly.
We are volunteering with Minnesota International Health Volunteers (MIHV). The organization develops self-sustaining public health programs in developing countries, and in Minnesota. You can learn more about their work by visiting their website - www.mihv.org. We don't know what we will be doing yet, but check back on future postings.
In Tanzania they are developing a child survival project. One of the poorest countries in the world, more than half of Tanzania's population is children, and about 11.2% of them die before the age of five. And, more mothers die of pregnancy-related causes than the vast majority of other countries.
As the map shows, Tanzania is in east Africa, south of Kenya. The MIHV office is in the northern city of Karatu, about three degrees south of the equator, at an elevation of over 5,000 feet. It is near Ngorongoro Crater to the west and Arusha (a major city) to the east, and in the area of the Great Rift Valley. Tanzania is four times larger than Minnesota, with its own great lakes of Lake Victoria and Lake Tanganika. Famous sites include Mount Kilimanjaro, the Serengeti, and the previously mentioned Ngorongoro Crater, which is said to have the greatest concentration of mammals in all of Africa. Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam are also in Tanzania.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)