As well as painting the school blue, last month’s
Danish visitors brought hard earned funds collected in Denmark to fund poultry
keeping projects for widows in the Shinyanga area. AICT has a ‘widows group’
who meet regularly and plan projects to help and equip each other. Their
primary focus is on assisting the establishment of small scale businesses to
allow local widows to improve their standard of living.
Widows are a particularly vulnerable group in
Tanzanian society. The lack of social welfare, absence of pension schemes and a
cultural reliance on men to be the primary earner means that the death of a husband
instantly removes any source of income from a grieving household.
The AICT widows committee had decided to use the
donated money to provide group leaders with strong, secure chicken houses to
serve as examples to others within their communities. The recipients had
attended training sessions to help them effectively keep and increase their
flock. The (free range) eggs and meat will provide them with food and what is
not eaten can be sold. As part of the scheme, the initial beneficiaries have
been encouraged / obliged to share their knowledge and livestock with other
needy widows.
Both of us spent a day helping to move bricks, mix
concrete and cut wire as part of a team that included the Danish donors, the
widows themselves, local children as well as the chicken house ‘fundis’
(technicians). Five coups were built in 5 days so we were all kept busy! It’s a
small but good start and we all hope that sharing and community spirit will
allow more people to benefit in the future.
Swahili words of the day: Kuku na Mayai (chicken
and eggs)
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