I know, I know what you’re thinking.
All this gallivanting around, is she ever working? Good question,
very observant. Actually, the answer is yes. You see, work and
progress here happen very slowly. Sometimes, time literally stands
still. Literally.
My most recent work projects are moving
along nicely, slowly, but nicely.
First, my mama, who is also the head
teacher at the Primary School (to which I get the ‘pleasure’ of
living in front of) had mentioned the desire for a possible water
project. The existing rain water catchment system at the school was
in need of repair. Re-cementing, new tin roof and gutters, and new
reinforcing beams. When she came to me I suggested she talk with the
school committee, come up with a budget, and then have a meeting with
me present. To my surprise, my mama had already made a budget. So, I
went to the next school committee meeting and we schemed. Turns out,
the Water Charity application was a breeze. Water Charity is an
organization in the states which fund water projects around the world
up to $500. I was promised the full amount in less than two weeks. I
even had time to post my project on facebook and solicit donations.
Thank you to all who donated! Total friends and family contributions
came to $260. They appreciate it!
At this time, I was leaving for some
adventures/holidays/trainings, so my mama promised they would do
their part and cut down some trees, make the beams, and get the
cement. When I returned with the money, I was overjoyed to see they
did their part. At once I gave all the money to my mama and merely
watched everything happen. The fundis (cement layer and wood worker)
worked hard. It took them one full month to repair the tank. Now,
the 750 children and 5 teachers can have clean water.
Since I don’t enjoy teaching (sorry
Dad and Erica!), I was glad to be able to help the school, teachers,
and my mama get clean water. They are very grateful and so am I, to
be able to provide the means for them to finish the work and reap the
benefits.
Secondly, I have written a grant (which
I started in August 2012) to help the Health Dispensary get a new
delivery bed as well as other smaller equipment to accurately monitor
the progress of pregnancies. Now, I’m not ‘giving’ them all
this equipment, that’s actually the reason it has taken so long. If
I had the inclination to write this on my own, it would have taken me
three months max. However, that’s not the point.
The Health Dispensary committee must be
involved and invested, and they have failed to come to meetings on
many occasions, delaying the process further. With the failed
meetings, we’ve had many letdowns of participation and lost a lot
of time, but it seems they finally got their act together. With the
information we gathered, I was able to do my part (write and submit
the grant). We had a meeting with all the village leaders of the
surrounding villages, a total of five villages use this Health
Dispensary; and they all agreed to donate their allotted portion of
the community contribution (25% of the total). Now, I’m kind of
putting all my eggs in the basket labeled “please follow through”;
and if they don’t, they simply and sadly don’t get the equipment.
They must do their part. I’m not here to give them things, I
literally can’t give them things. I’m here as a liaison, a
person who brings the right people to the right people.
And now, I wait. I wait for PC staff to
agree with my grant proposal and fund my project. Then, the real work
begins…
Thirdly, I FINALLY had the opportunity
of attending a Zinduka training in late January. I had applied last
year, but since my region is the furthest away/hardest to get out of,
I wasn’t allowed to go. Region discrimination! I got over the
insensitivity and applied once again.
Zinduka is “a program that empowers
community role models and coaches (me and my two counterparts) to
deliver an activity-based curriculum that uses soccer analogies to
deliver key messages and start conversations that promote healthy,
responsible behaviors among Tanzanian youth (age 10-19).” So,
basically, I get to play games with soccer balls and tennis balls to
teach about the importance of health, and HIV/Malaria prevention.
Pretty sweet deal.
The kids absolutely love it. And, the
two “coaches” I chose to bring with me to the training in Iringa
have been more than amazing. They’ve been prepared and on time to
each practice, and they’re not even getting paid; this is them
purely volunteering their time after teaching in the classroom all
day.
Each ‘intervention’ is 10
‘practices’ total. I am supposed to complete three interventions
before my close-of-service in November 2013. Each intervention has 30
separate students. Right now we are just over halfway through with
our first intervention with the 5th graders at the Primary
School. This is also a great program for me, because it’s teaching
outside the classroom setting with games and analogies which are fun
and entertaining.
Fourthly, the Community Based Savings
Group I initially started in my village in May 2012 has snowballed.
There are now 2-3 groups in EACH of the surrounding five villages.
And, now there are 5 total in my village alone. These groups empower
the community to save their money in a safe place so they can
eventually borrow (take out a loan) for a business investment or
family emergency with a three month window of repayment. It’s
brilliant. Who needs a bank? This grey box with three padlocks will
do just fine.
Once again, all I had to do was talk to
the field officer in town, get him to come to a village-wide meeting,
and boom! 30 groups! Throughout the process, I also made a really
good friend. Which is always a perk
