Would you eat your own Poo?

Squatting in front of a classroom, demonstrating what consuming your own faeces might look like, it's hard to know if you're at a high or low point in your career – probably a bit of both.

While the nursery school and clinic have been progressing, Paul has been busy with a couple more water projects. With the well finished and providing plenty of water on a daily basis, we decided to tackle a couple of other issues that would help keep the water flowing at Buhangija.

The centre has two large rainwater harvesting tanks but, like the well, they’re broken. One has a cracked, damaged roof and the other has no cover at all. The roofs and gutters feeding the tanks are dirty and damaged. The open tank is full of green, stagnant, rubbish filled water – completely unfit to be used for cleaning, let alone drinking. Yet every day, children, particularly the small ones, fill bottles with brown / green water, seemingly oblivious to the fact that water isn’t supposed to be that colour.  Seeing a child wrap a corner of their t-shirt around the neck of their bottle in an attempt to ‘filter out’ the bigger pieces of dirt has become a common sight.
 

So we found some local technicians, went shopping for materials and started the work of fixing the tanks. As well as putting on a nice new roof, we cleaned the existing catchment areas and gutters and added a new stretch of guttering to get as much water as possible. Rainwater harvesting is a good solution to provide water during the dry season in Tanzania. Rainfall levels are quite high during the wet season so being able to collect that means you have a supply of water the whole year round. To see more pictures of the tanks construction, click here.

We have also fixed showers, added hand washing taps and cleaned toilets. However, we realised early on that we could do as much as we wanted with the ‘infrastructure’ but unless it was coupled with some education and training, it may not bring any benefit to the health and well being of the kids. Hence Paul’s attempt to explain to a group of children that not washing your hands with soap is like eating your own poo. Thankfully, they saw the funny side and shouted ‘hapana’ (no) when the key question was put to them. Expounding the health benefits of hygiene doesn’t work, especially where children are concerned, but disgust and some healthy peer pressure has been proven to make an impact. So hopefully watching the ‘mzungu’ pretend to do something so revolting might just stick with them the next time they use the toilet or go to eat food!
 

As the children are prone to forget, we have told the matrons that every child should wash their hand before meals and so, one evening last week, we stood in shock and a hint of pride as we watched 80 children sent to the sinks before receiving food. We’re hoping this will continue.

Swahili word of the day: Kosha Mikono kwa Sabuni (Wash your Hands with Soap – now on signs above sinks and hand washing stations)

Buhangija Clinic

As we’ve moved into our final few weeks in Shinyanga, we have been hard at work in Buhangija, trying to make best use of the money that’s been donated before we leave. Great strides have been made in the past few weeks in coordinating and unifying the people who have invested their time and money into Buhangija. Meetings have been held with all those involved and this new communication has meant that there has been a renewed, coordinated effort in our work at the centre.

Buhangija is a government run institution, and at times there are many layers of bureaucracy that must be waded through before action can be taken. We have had many difficult discussions with the various people involved, acknowledging that any work we do removes responsibility from the people in charge. Sometimes, sustainability in an environment like Buhangija seems like a distant dream!

As mentioned in a previous post, over the past couple of months we have working alongside ASMK, a Shinyanga based NGO. With their support, we decided to address the daily hygiene and medical issues in Buhangija by establishing a clinic. The children have no access to any form of healthcare and it is usually Claire or ourselves who tend to cuts, blisters and sunburnt skin.

ASMK had secured funding from Dar es Salaam and combined with the generous donations we have received from Ireland, we reckoned we had sufficient money to set up a room and hire a nurse.

So we dusted off our painting clothes, employed a carpenter, fixed windows, installed a sink, found a bed and now, in a room off the youngest children’s dorm, there is a small, bright, clean clinic. It is here that our newly employed nurse, Madam Felicia, will work five and a half days a week to provide onsite medical care and advice. To see more of the renovation process, click here.

Today was the first day of the Buhangija clinic, Madame Felicia arrived in her new uniform ready for work. After some brief introductions, she was busy cleaning kids, tending wounds and disinfecting cuts. A retired nurse and mother of six, she has approached the job with enthusiasm. Serious medical needs will still be tended by a doctor but now she is in Buhangija, there is someone to actually contact the doctor! In many ways, what the children need is a mother, someone who will love and care for them, rather than a medical professional. We are thankful that in Mama Felicia we have found someone who ticks both boxes.

 

The children of Buhangija still need more to be done to increase their quality of life to a basic level but we're hoping this is part of a good start.

Swahili word of the day: Dawa (medicine – a favourite of the queue of kids outside the clinic door!)

Time to Say Goodbye

As with all good things, our time in Shinyanga is coming an end. The work we’re involved in here is nearing completion and a few months ago Tearfund broached the idea of moving us to a different part of Tanzania to work on community development projects there.

So sometime next week we’ll be bidding a sad farewell to ‘Shy Town’ and travelling to Geita. Our new home will be in north western Tanzania, about 3 hours from Shinyanga and the same travel time from Mwanza (where the airport, delicious pizza and Indian food can be found) so we’re not going too far. Geita is smaller than Shinyanga but as the centre of a major gold mining area is busy and growing – we’ve even heard rumours of a possible swimming pool!

 

It took a while but we have become familiar with life here in Shinyanga – and people have become very familiar with us. We know where to get stuff, our favourite restaurants know our order and we now have a long list ‘fundis’ if anything breaks. However, we have been considering Tearfund’s request for a few weeks and with heavy hearts think that the time is right to move on.

We are moving to work with the AICT Geita Diocese. Their development team are currently trying to progress some local sanitation and hygiene initiatives, would like to introduce water filters and have received funding to install a number of wells by October. Paul is looking forward to getting stuck in!

Our time in Shinyanga has been great but a very steep learning curve. We have made good friends here and will be sad to leave a town that feels like home. The past couple of months in Buhangija have been very busy and sometimes challenging but recently have begun to feel very rewarding. We will be leaving our projects here in the capable hands of Claire and ASMK but are already planning regular visits.

Swahili word of the day: Kwaheri (goodbye)