I was very happy with the tree nursery set up. At our house so there was no cost travelling to go to it and it was good that I could go out there at any time and do some work.
I noticed that Loti preferred not to do the physical work in the nursery and that is the way it is - while I was content to work with the nursery workers, culturally that's not the way it happened in Tanzania. There was plenty of other work for him to do.
Mbise was our night guard, there at the behest of DME and he worked in the nursery during the day as well. He carefully told me that I should not trust the workers and they should not be allowed inside - even to use the toilet.
I had intended to allow him to sleep in the nursery shed which actually was a room attached to the house but with entrance only from outside. He refused because he did not think it quite appropriate and possibly he was right.
The other two young women were local and of the Meru tribe. Another called at the gate 'from up the mountain' and she spoke some English. She had been trained as an electrician during national service and was of the Chugga tribe, so she was very confident. I decided to employ her.
Mbise took me aside to say that she was married to a man whose father was a thief (well he must be because he owns a bus and a Landrover). All his sons a thieves too and her husband too, they worked as a gang and had a rifle.
That was hardly the news I wanted to hear, but I generally trust my instincts but decided to keep an eye out and my ears open.
She proved to be a good worker and a good team member. However, she later developed a sadness about her and told me that she was having troubles with her husband.
A small sheet of polythene went missing and when I asked where it had gone, nobody knew, but Mbise told them that he was the guard and the loss reflected on him, so he asked the culprit to talk to me.
She tearfully came to me and told me that her husband had kicked her out of the house and she took the polythene for shelter. I told she should bring the polythene back next morning and we would talk to the group. I told her that the punishment would be to stand down from work for 2 days.
The next morning she arrived with the polythene and all knew what had happened. I deliberately did not go out until the group had a chance to talk among themselves. I went out and told them all I knew of the problems this young woman faced. I told them that if they had problems come to me and we will see what can be done. I thanked her for bringing the polythene back, but told her that she needed it more that I did. And I gave it back to her. She still had to stand down for two days.
Her personal situation did not improve and she went to relatives in Dar es Salaam, where I had no doubt she would find work.
This left room for Mama Riziki who I had employed from time to time to collect small Grevillea robusta seedlings. She was a solo mother and a good, reliable worker. Much later cupid did his work and Mbise fell for Mama Riziki - but that's later and a delight.
Mbise became very close to us as time went on. He and I would often sit in the evening and talk - me telling him all sorts of stories about life in NZ and things of nature; he would tell me of his life and Meru culture. We had fun and we shared sadness. I will write about more at another time
We became close to Loti as well, sharing some incredible adventures, and there will be more on that as well.
But this early on I brought back from Mateves (Stephen) some papaya of the huge kind that we were to grow - so all the workers had fruit to eat and return with the cleaned seeds. From the same trip I brought back fifteen Guinea Fowl (Kanga) eggs and Loti took them all so a hen he had could sit on them. They all hatched and we ate omelet from time to time.
I noticed that Loti preferred not to do the physical work in the nursery and that is the way it is - while I was content to work with the nursery workers, culturally that's not the way it happened in Tanzania. There was plenty of other work for him to do.
Mbise was our night guard, there at the behest of DME and he worked in the nursery during the day as well. He carefully told me that I should not trust the workers and they should not be allowed inside - even to use the toilet.
I had intended to allow him to sleep in the nursery shed which actually was a room attached to the house but with entrance only from outside. He refused because he did not think it quite appropriate and possibly he was right.
The other two young women were local and of the Meru tribe. Another called at the gate 'from up the mountain' and she spoke some English. She had been trained as an electrician during national service and was of the Chugga tribe, so she was very confident. I decided to employ her.
Mbise took me aside to say that she was married to a man whose father was a thief (well he must be because he owns a bus and a Landrover). All his sons a thieves too and her husband too, they worked as a gang and had a rifle.
That was hardly the news I wanted to hear, but I generally trust my instincts but decided to keep an eye out and my ears open.
She proved to be a good worker and a good team member. However, she later developed a sadness about her and told me that she was having troubles with her husband.
A small sheet of polythene went missing and when I asked where it had gone, nobody knew, but Mbise told them that he was the guard and the loss reflected on him, so he asked the culprit to talk to me.
She tearfully came to me and told me that her husband had kicked her out of the house and she took the polythene for shelter. I told she should bring the polythene back next morning and we would talk to the group. I told her that the punishment would be to stand down from work for 2 days.
The next morning she arrived with the polythene and all knew what had happened. I deliberately did not go out until the group had a chance to talk among themselves. I went out and told them all I knew of the problems this young woman faced. I told them that if they had problems come to me and we will see what can be done. I thanked her for bringing the polythene back, but told her that she needed it more that I did. And I gave it back to her. She still had to stand down for two days.
Her personal situation did not improve and she went to relatives in Dar es Salaam, where I had no doubt she would find work.
This left room for Mama Riziki who I had employed from time to time to collect small Grevillea robusta seedlings. She was a solo mother and a good, reliable worker. Much later cupid did his work and Mbise fell for Mama Riziki - but that's later and a delight.
Mbise became very close to us as time went on. He and I would often sit in the evening and talk - me telling him all sorts of stories about life in NZ and things of nature; he would tell me of his life and Meru culture. We had fun and we shared sadness. I will write about more at another time
We became close to Loti as well, sharing some incredible adventures, and there will be more on that as well.
But this early on I brought back from Mateves (Stephen) some papaya of the huge kind that we were to grow - so all the workers had fruit to eat and return with the cleaned seeds. From the same trip I brought back fifteen Guinea Fowl (Kanga) eggs and Loti took them all so a hen he had could sit on them. They all hatched and we ate omelet from time to time.
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