Narnia comes to Tanzania

Today we started our library!

A culture of borrowing, reading and returning books did not exist in our school - there’s simply never been any books to lend before. But today, Edwina and Winifred carefully signed their names and solemnly promised to return ‘The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe’ in 7 days. Our library’s first customers! Over the coming months we hope to continue to expand our current stock of 10 books. Ultimately we would love to see the unfinished library building completed and full of reading material.

The school year begins in January and Alice’s Form 1 class are on an English crash course. Primary school is conducted in Swahili and the jump to Secondary, where all subjects are taught through English, is vast. Everything from the alphabet to the solar system has to be covered in this month before students are launched into the full curriculum in 100% English. The differentiation needed for the group is somewhat daunting; however the universal language of drawing and mime has bridged a lot of gaps. Students are enthusiastic and have patiently adapted to Alice’s teaching style. After a shaky start, ‘sharing’ and ‘group work’ have now been embraced by most of the class.

Starting with nothing but a blackboard and some chalk, Alice has been trying to introduce some colour, critical thinking and reading material into the mix. Distributed pages from the Beano were met with delighted gasps from students. When asked to identify words they didn’t understand, ‘Santa’, ‘snow’ and ‘app’ all came up. Courtesy of our Christmas visitors some artificial snow was produced the next day, possibly only creating more confusion about this ‘cold sand'. Students in our school have never heard of Santa Claus, a picture only baffled them more...explaining a fat man in a red suit who comes down chimneys to deliver gifts at Christmas was possibly the most bizarre African moment yet.

As the weeks continue it is encouraging to see students learning more and gaining confidence in their own abilities. The realities of learning complex concepts through a fledgling second language are obvious and yet students are visibly committed to learning.

To read more about education in Tanzania, click here. 

Mwamadilanha

"[A] man is developing himself when he grows, or earns, enough to provide decent conditions for himself and his family; he is not being developed if someone gives him these things."

-Julius Nyerere, First President and Founding Father of Tanzania

There are some days that navigating life out of our culture and context is tricky at best. Days where we feel like every movement forward brings us the proverbial two steps back. Days that make us question what exactly we thought we could contribute to a country so different from our own. But then there are the days when the kids in school just ‘get it’, the days when you bump into a neighbour around town and their welcome suddenly makes it feel more like home, the days when you realise that one man’s input might not change the world, but may ‘change the world for one man’. Visiting Mwamadilanha was one of those days.

Tearfund’s Church and Community Mobilisation Process (CCMP) has been implemented in Tanzania in partnership with AICT since 2003. CCMP is an initiative that aims to equip local churches to work with and for their communities in addressing their needs using their own resources. CCMP actively asks communities what assets and resources they have rather than imposing an outsider’s view of their perceived needs. AICT Shinyanga are involved in the implementation of CCMP throughout the region and Paul is now working alongside their local coordinator to assist in community based and, more importantly, community led projects.

CCMP is implemented in four stages:

• Local Church Envisioning: Helping church leaders and the local church understand that God calls them to serve their communities in a holistic manner and building confidence that change is possible
• Local Community Envisioning: Bringing the whole community together to discuss their situation, their needs and resources, and to decide what they as a community can do
• Planning for Action: Taking the vision and turning it into a plan to help the community form structures that will allow them to take action
• Taking Action: Putting the plan into practice as well as encouraging the community to reflect and learn from how things are going and to adjust their plans where necessary

Mwamadilanha is a group of villages located north west of Shinyanga and has a population of 5,229. Having been ‘mobilised’ by CCMP, the community is implementing its own 10 year plan for sustainable social, economic, physical and spiritual development drawing on their own resources.

Last week we visited Mwamadilanha with Julius, AICT Shinyanga’s CCMP coordinator and Paul’s new office mate. As we sat with a group of community leaders under the ‘development tree’ - the place where meetings are held, strategies formulated and projects commenced - we heard how CCMP has inspired the community to plan and advance its own development.

During a tour of the village, we were shown two primary schools, a secondary school, iron sheet roofs, fields of experimental crops, a water storage tank, crop bank and the foundations of a new church and health centre. In the context of a rural Tanzanian village, with currently no mains water supply or access to electricity, this is a pretty incredible array of facilities. However, it becomes quite extraordinary when we realised that, with the exception of provision to construct dams, external funding has only been used to provide training. It is this education and imparting of knowledge, hosted by AICT using Tearfund money, that has inspired and mobilised the community to work together on a plan for their own development.

As our hosts took us on a tour of their village, we were struck by the community leaders’ immense pride in what they had achieved. Everything they showed us had been done by the community for the community and they were now reaping the benefits. Children are able to attend school, sitting proudly at their unique desk, each slightly different having been made by a member of the community. Farmers work together to increase crop yields and store food to be used during poor harvests. Drought resistant crops such as sorghum, cassava and sweet potato are being grown. Women have been given a voice in the running of their community. Murders of elderly women due to fears of witchcraft have ceased. Solar panels provide electricity and public water supply is literally in the pipeline.

While as with all great plans there have been stumbles along the way, this was an example of development that works. It was encouraging to see that people’s lives can and are being changed through simple and minimal interventions. Mwamadilanha is a community that doesn’t need handouts and has decided for itself how life will be. They don’t need fancy machinery or expensive buildings supplied by foreign development investment committees. They have been given the skills and encouragement to do what they know is best.

Swahilli word of the day: Umoja (togetherness - what CCMP is otherwise known as in Swahili, read more here)
          

New Year, New Classes, New Office

Our three month orientation / working out what on earth is going on, is now officially over and we have started the new year with new roles in AICT.

Alice is flying solo in Bishop Nkola Secondary School and now has her own timetable. School started two weeks ago with a grand total of 7 students with more students arriving every day. Apparently final registration of numbers won't happen until March so could be a while before we know how many students are actually attending our school this year. First week of teaching included learning the alphabet and watching Toy Story...

Exciting things are happening in Buhangija, Centre for Children with Albinism. Claire, an American who lives close to us, and a group of determined women from Mwadui mine have decided to set up a nursery school in the centre. A local teacher has been employed and a classroom is taking shape among bags of maize in an empty room. Unloading a LandCruiser full of handmade soft toys, colourful posters and copy books was one of the most encouraging things we have done here. Its wonderful seeing people motivated and moving for good. Alice has committed to spending one day a week in the centre and as well as spending time with the children, will to be teaching the Art and Craft syllabus to the kids.

Paul is now in the AICT office full time so no more Physics teaching / revision. He is sharing an office with Julius, the AICT staff member responsible for implementing Tearfund's CCMP projects. Paul and Julius have decided that bio sand filters will be one of their major projects for this year, having local knowledge and enthusiasm is proving invaluable as we begin the process.

Paul will also be advising on existing projects in communities within the Shinyanga region. He is glad to be back in the familiar role of sitting at a desk and working an 8 to 4 day. As you can see in the photo, Paul has also become the office's IT support - some stuff he's fixed...some stuff he hasn't. Julius has become a hardcore Mumford and Sons fan, although Paul is less enthusiastic about the Congolese music that was traded in return!

Hunted like Animals

We have experienced many difficult and uncomfortable things here in Tanzania. Sights that stay with you for weeks, reappear in your dreams. Smells that linger on your clothes. Buhangija was probably the hardest yet. 

While our families were over for Christmas, we visited AICT’s hospital and health training centre, their schools and college and a local agricultural project. On their last day, our local partner suggested a visit to Shinyanga’s ‘Albino Centre’. Not knowing what we’d find, we expected an education or support facility. 

Nothing could have prepared us for what lay at the end of the bumpy drive down an unmarked road. Ahead of us, three metre high walls topped with barbed wire and enormous gates refused us entry. We sat in silence as conversations were had with security staff and phone calls were made to allow us access to the compound. Our hearts sank as we realised that this was no education centre but essentially a prison. A safe house where scared parents leave their children hoping that here they will be safe.

People with albinism are particularly at risk in Tanzania. There is a belief, promoted and exploited primarily by witch doctors, that certain body parts of albinistic people can transmit magical powers. Potions made from their bodies are believed to bring good luck and wealth to the user. Body parts taken from live victims are thought to have even more value, their screams adding to the power of the magic. As a result, children are particularly vulnerable. In other communities, people with albinism have been ostracised and even murdered, their white skin presumed to be cursed and bring bad luck.

from National Geographic, article here

Tanzania has the highest proportion of albino births in the world. Estimates vary but it is thought that 1 in 1400 babies here are born with albinism, compared to less than 1 in 20,000 in Europe. Albinism is an inherited condition characterised by a lack of melanin, the pigment that normally gives colour to the skin, hair and eyes. This makes sufferers vulnerable to the sun and bright lights and almost all experience poor eyesight and are prone to skin cancer.

More than 70 people with albinism have been killed over the last three years in Tanzania. Campaigners say that despite this, there have only been 10 convictions for murder. It is thought such incidents are on the rise but the plight of albinos in Tanzania has also garnered international attention– see this BBC report from last month or this one from the Guardian.

We were only in the centre for half an hour, if that. We were asked to make a short speech for the 300, hat covered heads looking at us. The children were bored and a tiny boy sitting in front of us fell asleep, nearly falling out of his chair. The centre’s headmaster introduced us and then explained in front of the assembled children that security was tight because they would be ‘hunted like animals’ if they went outside.

Buhangija is home to nearly 300 children who are blind, deaf or have albinism. The government only provides for the blind leaving 200 children unfunded. There are not enough beds, medicine, clothes or food. The children are living in abject poverty hiding in fear from the eyes of their community.

In the past week, we have got to know Claire, an American who is working with these abandoned children in the centre. She told us that nearly every day people call in to ‘look’ at the albinos. They bring small, token gifts of rice and speak words the children don’t understand. In reality, we had accidentally confirmed to these children that they were an exhibition. Something to be looked at, and probably forgotten.

So we have decided not to forget. We will visit. We will hold hands, play games, paint pictures, bandage cuts, raise money, fix tanks, draw hopscotch, cry, pray and laugh. There are 300 children living in a fenced compound only three miles from our house. 300 children who have little access to education. 300 children who have been abandoned and who believe that their lives would be at risk by simply going outside.

Some sights won’t leave your head. Some faces linger.

And Then There were Two

Our house is very quiet. On Saturday, we said our emotional and teary farewells to Eric, Donna, Joan and Clare as we reluctantly dropped them to Mwanza for the first stage of their long journey home. We had a fantastic time with them and having family over for Christmas was a privilege and blessing.

Highlights included:

• Cooking our pre-slaughtered and pre-prepared Christmas chicken outside on our new ‘Jiko’ (big thanks to the Masasilas of Shinyanga for stepping in as chicken buyers, killers and slicers!) 
• Climbing papaya trees - using Paul as a somewhat unsteady ladder
• Playing Christmas Day charades
• Attending a significant number of church services
• Enjoying an incredible trip to Serengeti, seeing animals that should only be found in National Geographic (see photographic proof here)
• Talking and talking and talking and talking
• Lazing about in the hammock, Paul’s excellent Christmas present
• Comparing mozzie bites
• Visiting Bishop Nkola Secondary School and giving the staff tour
• Looking out over Lake Victoria from high on a hill in Mwanza (Photos here)
• Sampling the many variations of ‘kuku na wali’ (chicken and rice) in the not-so-many restaurants of Shinyanga

After a 40 hour journey, we received confirmation this morning that they've all arrived back in Ireland in one piece, albeit an exhausted and slightly frazzled piece! Ever the adventurers, their 9 hour layover in Dar was put to good use as they were taken on a tour of the city by a chance contact. Despite being Tanzania's commercial centre, Dar is renowned here for its sweltering heat and terrible traffic and by the sounds of an email from Eric, they certainly experienced the latter "Minibuses came left and right. Single lanes turned into 3 lanes. We even went through a cemetery at one point as a short cut! We drove on the wrong side of the road and had a game of bluff and dare with crossing traffic at junctions. The girls sat in the back in hysterics - I was in the death seat!"

Having such wonderful, flexible and encouraging ‘guestys’ for our first Christmas in Shinyanga is something we will forever be grateful for. Eric, Donna, Joan and Clare; thank you for being so much fun! You each brought something unique and we love you all for that. Paul and Lynne, you guys were missed. Steven, thank you for giving up your family for Christmas, your selflessness brought us much joy.

We know that each of our visitors have been impacted by the poverty and unfairness that you cannot help but be confronted with here. Discussing global issues over countless cups of ‘chai’ was therapeutic – we owe a great deal of thanks to their patiently listening ears. Even though it was a quick 2 weeks, we feel glad to have been able to share the sometimes harsh realities of life here.

And so, the house still feels empty, but we’re doing fine. We both feel excited by conversations we’ve had over the past few weeks and are looking to the New Year with anticipation. Maybe something amazing will happen. Maybe life will just bumble along. But either way, we’re very happy to be here in Tanzania.

Swahilli word of the day: Safari Njema (safe journey)