Reflections on Tanzania

As we mentioned before, we had the opportunity to take a learning trip to both Tanzania and Kenya where we got to visit programs that World Renew has in those two countries.  It was a very interesting and informative trip and we want to share some of our reflections and things we learned from the experience.  First of all, we found that although there are differences between Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania, there are also a lot of similarities.  We think we would be very comfortable living in any one of them (although there are pros and cons of each one :) 

We drove ourselves across these countries and we were super impressed by the nice main roads in Tanzania!  They were in really good condition with clearly marked lanes and road signs.

Although it wasn't particularly informative, we really liked this sign, which we saw quite frequently.  It reminded us of something that would pop up in a video game, like Super Mario.

There area we drove through was also very beautiful, with hills and plains and vast stretches of fairly uninhabited land.

We stayed in Musoma, which is right on the southern side of Lake Victoria.

We heard about wonderful transformation in the communities that we visited.  There are so many great stories that I cannot share them all.  The first community told us about many ways that their self-help groups, facilitated by World Renew, have changed their lives.  These groups started through the church, but include both Christians and non-Christians.  And the church has been helping to meet needs in the community, even helping send the children of people who were not part of the church to school.  This has brought the community together and attracted people to work with the church, even if they were hesitant to do so before.

We heard about transformation in relationships within families as well.  Trainings about how we all have equal value in the eyes of God helped people to see that men and women have equal value.  One man said he used to think he was the boss in the home, but now sees his wife as his partner and they work together and make plans as a team.  And now both girls and boys are being sent to school, not just boys.

Another great thing in this community was that they used to have to travel 10 km to go shopping, but they started up their own shops and created a center in their community so people can get supplies from close to home and be investing in their own community.  The man on the right in the photo below started this shop for grinding grain into flour.

As we were leaving, the members of these groups told us that they don't need money, they need empowerment.  They have gone on exchange visits to other communities and the exposure to how they could better their lives was what encouraged and empowered them.

In the second community we visited, we heard many similar stories.  Both communities had village savings and loans groups (VSLAs).  In this second community, some individuals had used their loans to buy solar panels so they could start business charging phones.  Others were able to buy motorcycles so they could use it as a taxi around town.  This benefited the person owning the motorcycle since they charge people for rides.  But it also benefits the community because they have transportation right from their village, rather than having to call someone from far away to come and get them.  Some people have even started a business raising pigs.

Before we walked around the community, we met in the church to hear stories.  And of course, there was great singing and dancing.

Several people started businesses selling clothes or getting a sewing machine for fixing and making clothes.  The lady on the left in the photo below was able to use this to put three kids through school and one has since become a teacher.

Before the community had people owning motorcycles, they had to carry sick people or women about to give birth on stretchers to a clinic 11 km away.  So, they decided to build themselves a clinic.  Here it is.  They're even using gutters on the roof to collect rain water.

Here is the room where they store medicine and the bed where a person stays if they need an IV.

It was especially wonderful to hear their hopes and plans for the future.  They told us that in the future, it is their dream to have a paved road to their village and electricity and running water for everyone.  Then, their village will be as good as London (England).

Before we left Tanzania, we had a quick visit to a pastor who has been farming using a technique called "Farming God's Way."  The main aspects of this technique are disturbing the soil as little as possible, planting with proper spacing in rows, and covering the soil with mulch.  This pastor has become a proponent of the technique and has been teaching lots of people from his example.

One of the things he does is to grow these greens and then sell it by the "U-pick" method to people who then go out and sell it directly to customers.  His buyers are assigned their own section so they have motivation to take care of the plants in it so they produce more.  Some have been bringing their own mulch to put around the plants in their section.

It is a challenge to find enough mulch for a large farm.  But he showed us some maize he planted without mulch:

And then the maize where he had mulched:

He said that at least after he harvests the maize, he can use the stalks and leaves as mulch for the next season.  For him, it was just a challenge when getting started to find the initial input of mulch.

You could also see a very stark difference between his lush garden and the neighbor's land where the soil was hard as a rock and just had some short, dry grass growing on it.  He said that his land used to look the same before he started this new farming technique.

I learned from him an interesting technique for protecting the maize from getting destroyed by birds.  He ties the top of the cob with a leaf from the plant so the birds can't get in:

He also designed his own contraption for doing irrigation:


So all in all, a very good trip.  We enjoyed Tanzania, learned a little Swahili, and saw great things that God is doing in the communities there.