Education and Small Business Hope

I certainly anticipated having more time to update this blog but that has not been the case. I leave Longido on Thursday and have lots of wrapping up to do. I do want to include a few photos that show the results of the partnership TEMBO in Canada and TEMBO in Tanzania enjoys.

Here is an education snapshot:

Girls from the July 2010 inaugural TEC (TEMBO English Camp)

They're holding copies of stories they wrote and photos they took

Even more girls are looking forward to TEC 2011 to improve their English

And a few photos from the KWGP (Kimokouwa Women's Goat Project):

Oyaya, second from the left, is one of the TEMBO overseers of the KWGP

On an early morning visit the women proudly displayed "TEMBO" goats

Everyone was up to meet us the morning we arrived

Paulina, the TEMBO Project Coordinator with some of the women who invited us for tea

The former Honourable Councillor from Kimokouwa holds his wife's baby goat

Two of the happy hopeful girls TEMBO currently sponsors

Sponsorship opens worlds of possibilities for girls

And women

 

 

Thanks for your support!

A Day of Blessing

Sunday gave me a very unique opportunity to attend one of the core celebrations in the Maasai culture, the Circumcision Blessing Ceremony. This event in a Maasai boy’s life is much talked about and anticipated, since it happens only every 5-10 years. This is the time when “age sets” – important lifelong groupings – begin, each with their own leaders who have been selected by the community elders.

A hollowed out gazelle antler provides a haunting sound

A few hundred boys and young men from Longido, Kimokouwa, and Namanga villages spent Saturday preparing, including sleeping overnight in the forest. They decorated their faces and bodies with a “reddish paint” made from special soil found near Arusha and mixed with animal fat.  Lion shaped masks were fashioned from hide, ostrich feathers, and colourful beads. Hundreds of family members and friends began gathering about 10 a.m. Sunday at a boma chosen to host the event in Kimokouwa. Many TEMBO staff also attended. Long time TEMBO friend, Baraka Mark David, currently working for Maasai Radio, was also present to document the event.

This day was particularly celebrative because TEMBO staff member, Mary Laiser’s two young sons were taking part. Victor, the younger, seemed to look forward to the ceremony while Hopeson had very mixed feelings – right until the ceremony ended. It’s indicative of modernization reaching far into the heart of Maasai beliefs and culture.

Mary with sons, Hopeson and Victor, and community elders

  

This is a time of great transition in the Maasai community. Difficult questions are being asked and important decisions are being made about how to move forward into the future. What does a culture let go of and what does it keep? How is being “Maasai” truly defined? These are not easy questions and organizations, including TEMBO, are working within the community and schools to help with the search for clarity.

This was brought home to me with such force at the very end of the day. After all the dancing and socializing and feasting on roasted “cow” meat, the candidates gathered in a setting among acacia trees sitting cross-legged and listening intently while the elders spoke to them. The elders had deliberated long to find a leader and an assistant leader for this new age set they named iltubula, a Maasai word for growth or growing. The name was called out and the first young man, clearly shaken, was led to the front by two others. Then a second name was called out and a Form II boy from Longido Secondary School was assisted to the front of the large gathering.

Many elders attended the ceremony and each in turn spoke to the boys

 

The two were surrounded by all the elders who chanted and prayed for the new young leaders. One arm from each of them was propelled into the air and given support. The leader held a traditional power stick. The assistant leader held something that appeared quite odd until an explanation was given. It was a blue and white stripped pen.

The Maasai future includes both preserving culture and becoming educated

In days past, courage was displayed by the young men going into the forest and remaining until a lion had been killed and the evidence returned. This often took up to three months. In these new times courage would be displayed by the boys remaining in school and getting an education. Thus, the symbol of the pen, in all of its simplicity and all of its rich meaning.

TEMBO Trust askaris (watchmen) Oyaya, second from the left and Sanjoy, third from the right

Everyone proceeded inside of the large boma, walking through two lines of chanting mothers who would also receive a special blessing this day. The boys and the women sat in long rows, separated just enough for the leaders to walk up and down, chanting and sprinkling a mixture of milk, honey, water and herbs on those seated. The blessing now given, the families would choose their own time for the actual circumcision. Now the boys had a place in Maasai society.

I left feeling quite humbled and very priviledged to have been invited to witness such a significant time of passage. While cultural traditions may change over time the central place of rituals filled with rich meaning will always have a place.

Travelling with TEMBO and Sustainability

The beautiful African Tulip tree is in bloom now, during the rainy season

Since first visiting Tanzania in 1998, I am fortunate to have gotten to know many Arusha “business” people (hawkers) on the street who have become friends. They continue to provide good reliable advice on all things local and this has been a tremendous help to an outsider like me. 

So is this familiar beauty

I spent part of yesterday working with a highly recommended safari company in Arusha (where there are literally scores of safari companies) to plan the August 2011 TWT (Travelling with TEMBO) Project Visit and Safari. This is the fourth safari I have made with this company so I know the five people participating in this program this year are in for a real treat. I want to talk about the importance of this TWT program to the overall success and sustainability of our project work in Longido and Kimokouwa.

Worlds apart, worlds together

TEMBO began this program so that donors and supporters, primarily in Canada, would have an opportunity to see how their donations are put to work and the real difference they are making in the lives of people in two small rural villages in Tanzania. Travellers with us get very ‘up close’ to the women and girls in our programs and their families – they become participants rather than simply tourists. I think this is what makes the biggest difference. 

A precious resource

TEMBO has put together a program of activities with the staff and villagers but the result is far from ‘orchestrated’. For instance, one of the highlights is walking to the deep wells with village women in Kimokouwa to see where they fetch water during the dry season. The walk is long and filled with conversation about local herbs and medicines still used today, and about life for the Maasai people. When you reach the dug wells you see how dangerous it can be to access something we often take for granted, water. And there is so much more you will learn about how TEMBO is fulfilling its mandate of providing education and economic empowerment to girls and women in Longido and Kimokouwa when you  visit schools and small businesses.

TWT enlarges the horizons of so many people in Tanzania and Canada

The other part of the TWT program is a safari through some of the most beautiful national parks on the planet. Tourism is a huge resource in Tanzania that generates large amounts of money for the economy. Tanzanians, including the Maasai, are learning how valuable their natural areas are and the herds of animals that run free. In learning to live side by side with the natural world they are ensuring their own futures, as well as the survival of animals and plants that are so important to the world’s ecosystems. It is privilege to be able to experience in Africa, even for a short time, a connection to the world that we have lost in the west.

Tanzania is a photographers paradise

How does this once in a lifetime experience help TEMBO? When you take part in the TWT program you are given a tax receipt for $500.00 that is used directly for program activities. When you are in Longido you stay at the TEMBO Guesthouse – another way of supporting another of our important sustainability projects. Villagers who participate in the program during your visit are also compensated. And, when you return home, we hope you’ll tell others about what you have seen and experienced – the real TEMBO and the real Tanzania that most people will only ever read and dream about.

The memories are yours to keep forever

Improving life, one person at a time

Sunday Morning in Longido

April 3, 2011

I love Longido on a Sunday morning. There is a certain calm in the village. The pace slows. A lot of people go to one of the many denominational churches here on the weekend: Lutheran, Baptist, Seventh Day Adventist, Pentecostal, Catholic, Evangelical, and there is a mosque. A lot of different churches are here for a relatively small number of people.

Bougainvillea  are colourful and abundant

 This calm is so welcome. The staff are finally able to have some down time after working steadily to fulfill a contract with World Vision. It was ‘a first’ and the staff only had two days notice to put a plan together to feed 42 people three meals a day for 10 days. At the same time the guesthouse was full with guests. And, on one of the days,  the Youth Wing of the ruling CCM Party asked for lunch to be catered for 60 people who turned out to be 73 people. What a learning experience! The staff rightly feel proud of what they accomplished – providing excellent cheerful service as a team and dealing with unseen pressures at the same time.

The simple outside kitchen where large pots of food can be cooked

 TEMBO Canada made the work of meal preparation possible by providing funds to construct a simple outside kitchen. This is the typical way of preparing food in Tanzania – over fires outside. Simple shelters are a must, especially during the rainy season, between February and May. While the guesthouse has two propane burners in the small kitchen, preparing a variety of food for dozens of people was simply impossible. The outside kitchen was built in a day and housed three wood and charcoal fires that were able to cook huge pots of rice, meat stews, and vegetables, and an oil pot for deep frying a lot of tilapia fish that were a real treat for the evening meal.

Marinated talapia drying before being deep fried

 It should have rained last night but it didn’t. There was light activity in the sky in a distance but it never came close enough to us. This morning it is sunny and there is a pleasant breeze. There have been good rains this week. The water tanks are full with water harvested from the roof and the underground tank of clean mountain water is gradually increasing in depth.

Fortunatus was scattering seeds when I arrived 10 days ago. They have shot through the moist well drained sandy earth now. We’ll be having fresh green beans on our plates here in no time, and a lot of other nutritious green vegetables, potatoes, onions, carrots, and peppers.

Perfect conditions for growing vegetables now that there has been rain

Miracles

March 29, 2011

I met an old man this morning, the father of one of the girls TEMBO Trust is sponsoring. He had come to ask about sponsorship for his daughter who had failed her Form IV Leaving Exams. He had come to the office before I arrived requesting the same thing – could she go to a private school? 

TEMBO staff had explained that our policy does not allow this for a number of reasons. One is cost – private schools are so much more expensive than government schools and the quality of education is not necessarily better. This is not to say that private schools are not good; it’s just that some of them are run for profit and you have to be very careful when choosing. Another good reason for this policy is that TEMBO wants the girls to know they have options. Everyone is not capable of achieving in a purely academic stream. Following the same program a second time will not necessarily ensure success. Sometimes a vocational stream of education is worth exploring and we are encouraging this more and more.

Now the father asked if his daughter could take a computer program that would help prepare her to work in an office. This seemed like a good idea. We told him we’d check out colleges to see which would be a good choice, since even here there can be problems. A young woman who we know in the village completed a two year computer course a few months ago has still been unable to get a certificate despite repeated attempts.

I was interested to meet this man for another reason. He, like so many other people in the village, has been to visit the Babu of Loliondo. He is the retired pastor who appears to be instrumental in providing people with better health, and even curing serious illneses. He is being visited by doctors and even very high officials in the government. The Babu (grandfather, respectful term for an elder) uses a special herb found in the forest that is made into a drink. Long lines of people from Tanzania and beyond wait to receive this “cup”. There is lots of information on the internet about the healing that is happening (or not, depending on what you believe) in Loliondo.

TEMBO Trust staff member, Mary, explained that this man has suffered from a severe debilitating asthma for many years, since 1984, the man explained. He needed sticks to walk because he was bent over from weakness or an inability to breathe properly. He took injections of medicine each day since a puffer did not help. Yet here he sat, full of life and breathing quite easily. He no longer needed sticks to walk.

This man is not the only person I met who feels they have been healed of a serious medical condition, good friends of TEMBO Trust in Longido included. People are anxious to share their stories. I find myself asking, why not, and who am I to judge what a miracle is?

 I met another  Form IV Leaver today who passed her exams and just found out she will be sponsored by TEMBO Trust to go to Form Five (the equivalent of Grade 12). When I congratulated her she said, “It’s a miracle!” Interesting choice of words that took me back to yesterday’s meeting with the man who had asthma.

Possibility

Today it has been raining all afternoon - the first really good soaking since I have been in Longido. Fortunatus, the gardener at the guesthouse, will be able to plant tree seedlings he has grown into very moist earth.

The TEMBO Guesthouse and Sustainability

March 28, 2011

The roadside sign

The TEMBO Guesthouse (TGH), where I am comfortably staying, is located at the foot of Mount Longido in the heart of Maasai land and in one of the best cultural tourism areas in all of Tanzania. The TGH is central to the goal of making TEMBO Trust an independent Tanzanian organization by the year 2020. The guesthouse was officially opened in January 2009 to help provide funds for education and economic empowerment for girls and women. Growth has been slow but steady. The guesthouse continues to be highly subsidized by TEMBO Canada and in 2011-2012 we are working hard to reduce this subsidy greatly.

Nestled at the foot of Mt. Longido

TEMBO Trust's vision of ustainability is not just about money, though money certainly makes it possible. When TEMBO opened the TGH we made a choice to hire local villagers as much as possible. We could have brought trained or eperienced people from Arusha but this would not have helped the local economy. The current staff of three askaris (watchmen), a gardener, two housekeepers, and the TGH manager is all from Longido and Kimokouwa. Through employment at the guesthouse they are able to better provide for their families and educate their children.

The colourful multi-purpose inner courtyard

Hiring local people also means the learning curve is much steeper and it is even more challenging when you add in the fact that the service you are offering is to people from many different cultures. On the job training must happen, and so many new skills must be learned. Patience is a must but the benefits can be enormous and far reaching.

Harvesting rainwater from the TGH roof grows food for the kitchen

 It takes any business time to make itself known and to get its name and services circulating in the wider community. Effective marketing and follow up is essential. Seeds that were planted a year ago and replanted in the fall of 2010 seem to be paying off. TEMBO Guesthouse is seeing many repeat customers and some NGO’s have begun signing yearly contracts. New marketing strategies are being tested and the feedback from customers is enabling the TGH to better know what clients from around the world need and expect.

A current very large contract from World Vision, an established NGO, is teaching the staff many valuable things they will incorporate into the service they offer in the future. As one staff member offered, “This is teaching us what our weaknesses are.” It is also highlighting what their strengths are. TGH staff are able to work together under pressure as a very effective team to provide a very good quality service. Their pride in the service they offer is evident and appreciated. And it will ensure even more repeat customers. If they continue on the path they are on, and with the support of TEMBO Trust and TEMBO in Canada, as well as new and returning customers, 2011 might just be a very significant year in the growth of the TEMBO Guesthouse.

Beauty to welcome guests

Guests who arrive leave with the satisfaction of knowing that by staying at TEMBO Guesthouse they have contributed to TEMBO Trusts’ Education Sponsorship and Micro-Business programs for girls and women. And a backpack full of memories.

Journeying to Longido

March 24, 2011

Flying over the Alps

I arrived in Longido last night after overnighting at the Kenya Comfort Hotel in Nairobi. The flight was especially enjoyable from Amsterdam to Nairobi. There were a lot of empty seats. I sat near a gentleman from Kansas, Missouri – an English teacher spending 6 weeks in Nairobi teaching children’s stories to Kenyan teachers. The flight attendants were quite accommodating – I even found one who speaks German to reset my cell phone to English.

Endless

I wandered around the plane a few times to stretch my legs and captured a few interesting scenes as we flew over the Alps. By the time we were over the Sahara Desert my camera battery died. The impressions and designs in the sand below were striking. For a long time there were patterns that looked like twisted and flowing root systems that had been pulled out of the ground and placed on the surface. Then there was another long outline that could have been a four wheel drive that had passed by or a herd of camels. I chose to think it had been camels on a caravan. Probably it was the wind leaving its ever changing mark.

I couldn't help but think about the people of Lybia as we flew over North Africa, just a few miles above.

More endless beauty

A traveller going home

Here at the TEMBO Guesthouse we are filled to overflowing. There are forty two World Vision staff working in the countryside and eating three meals a day here. There has never been a crowd so large and the TEMBO staff are being exceptional in the attentive service they are rendering as a team – askaris, the guesthouse manager, the acting coordinator, and housekeeping staff are working alongside the kitchen staff to prepare and serve meals. Mama Nai, TEMBO Trust Co-Chair and Trustee, and I helped make box lunches for tomorrow as WV workers ate chicken stew, ugali, and Nusra’s delicious cooked cabbage.

This is day six with seven more to go. We met today to talk about challenges they are facing and what they are learning in meeting the needs of this group, and possible solutions. There will not be time for doing much else of anything until March 31. Yet I know we will.

The rains have come to Longido and everything is fresh and green. Mount Longido’s catch is flowing into the taps throughout the village. The people can finally celebrate after so many months of severe drought, and so can the goats and cattle.

Three visitors from London, Ontario, Canada arrive tomorrow for an overnight. What a crowd we will have!