Kisimiri

As it turned out we were quite active in the Kisimiri area. It all started with the Primary School and I will deal with them later.

 We were approached by the sub-village chairman, who happened to belong to the Pentecostal church, first for assistance with a tree nursery and that extended to a village water project. Of course we were working under the umbrella of the Lutheran Diocese but the Bishop believed were were there to work with all Tanzanian groups and I was happy with that mandate.

Each group we worked with had differences to others, and we embraced that. The Lutheran church group were always keen to make sure we were fed before we did any work.

There was a water tank there built to store water when they were building the new, concrete block church. The new church was 'a work in progress' as are most churches relying on parishioners to front up with the required funds.

The site of the church made it difficult for us to bring water to it.

It is fair to say all the folk in Kisimiri looked after us well, and perhaps it is wrong to single out individuals. But these women at the Lutheran church helped keep the group together and kept us well fed.

They are wearing project T-shirts. We had a stencil made and produced the T-shirts as a promotional activity.

There is plenty of Whistling Torn Acacia in the area and it was used to keep stock out of the tree nursery and to provide shade. Likewise for trees out-planted.

Whistling Thorn Acacia  has galls that ants live in creating the hole to cause whistling when the wind blows. The spines a tough and sharp and sometimes girls use them to pierce their ears.

Otherwise the tree is not useful other than to provide browsing for goats.

Planted trees with shelters at the Kisimiri Lutheran Church. The old church is surrounded by block work of the new church being built as funds are available.

This is the water trough built I guess by the expat settler/farmers and that darkish gulley in the center of Mt Meru is the stream that passes the Kisimiri school. Michael wanted us to take water from there for the village which is considerably higher up the hill from the school - the idea came too late for our projects.
This trough is at the botton of a line that starts way up the mountain, at Kisimiri Juu (Juu means 'up/upper'). The rumor was that bang (cannabis)  is grown there and it is a dangerous place to go.

Water was coming to the trough, but it was damaged (causing the furrow) and was intermittent.

We had a cursory inspection of the line and found that it was rusted galvanized iron pipe and in places was in need of repair.
Of course we were asked to look into upgrading the line and I promised that I would try to source the funds.

The kids knew me from school, but felt freer to interact with me on their home turf. The girl on my knee is Matindi who was the daughter of a medical officer. I took the kids for a ride in my truck and Matindi in particular enjoyed it as she was preschool and had never been in a vehicle before.
These kids were showing me how they used string to make shapes.

We were told that whenever Matindi heard my vehicle approaching, she would rush inside to 'paka mafuta'  put on oil - over her dusty feet, legs and face to be ready for a ride.
She would also expect to be carried wherever we went!
In the vehicle she would stand on the seat and laugh in her deep voice.

The man behind is the Mtendaje.

Much later I found Matindi studying at Olkung'wado Primary School, no longer using her name from her home.
Her shoes show the dust that is endemic of the area, but she was quiet and shy in the school environment.

I wonder how she progresses and one day, maybe she will see this and smile. Good luck to her.

 The Pentecostal people set up their nursery right beside the church and worked hard on the project.
Michael, the sub-village chairman led these people well and they were enthusiastic to change landscape for the better.
The cans and other materials we provided by the project but all the work was carried out by the village people.

Under the shade of a Schinus molle, Mpilipili, the Pentecostal group sit with me for a photograph.
For us there seemed to be no animosity between religious groups although the Meru crisis was there in the background.

Parked up at the Lutheran church, there is that pointy mountain again.

We saved a lot of project funds by transporting materials for the water project ourselves.

Funding eventuated for the water project and we climbed on foot up four hours to the chanzo, start of the old water project at Kisimiri Juu. 
The people were friendly and we had no problems at all, their patches were well tended and there is many years of viable seed remaining in the soils. Water flows into concrete box which serves both Losinoni and Kisimiri. Someone blocks off the Kisimiri side with a plastic bag, which is a reason the Kisimiri side has irregular water. That was a village problem to be sorted among the locals.
We used the fundi from Makumira, well further up the hill, but he had a relative who lived at Mwakeny. The galvanized pipe was resurrected and improved where necessary which brought water to the trough, which needed repair.

  We involved as many as people as possible in the process and held a seminar/talk with the village people including the village authority.
We investing in the village, our policy was to supply the materials and any expertise and the village people were to carry out the manual work. Relationships within villages, I supposed would sort out the the water blockage problem with Losinoni, which it seemed to do.

The trench well under way to lay the polythene pipe. Work stalled for a time and our fundi complained at a lack of village workers. This, I discovered was because one village leader had a prposed tap outlet closer to his house than the other. For half a roll of pipe, work was restored when the distance became equal.

Bricks were brought in to repair the water trough and also for inspection boxed where air pressure was let into the line.
There was little fear of goods being misappropriated as everyone knew what was taking place.

The fundi rightly was the first to turn the water on. The standpipe was supported by a pole, pity there was no saw available to shorten it, but it served the purpose.

Over quite a period of time this man helped out with many water projects and he was always keen to be sure that everything was technically correct.

 Micheal's wife was also pleased to have the water near her house. The pressure was good as well!
It may not be realized by many that the water pipe did not go to each house. The standpipe was set up in communal areas and still had to be carried back to the houses. While the project was in progress, our first port of call as at their house and I remember well and am grateful for the sweet tea and turned-over fried eggs that were prepared for us!

Small children still carry water in small containers and as they grow, the container gets bigger. As you see with this little girl, there was not much we can do about the dust, at least in the short term.
If our project progressed to the extent that areas were re-vegetated, then maybe the dust would be reduced.





 

 The team of people who carried out the manual work - of course they will be remembered.
The whole project depends on that fragile galvanized iron pipe from Kisimiri Juu! The pipe is indeed fragile because such pipe cannot last forever, so someone needs to take up the challenge of finding a way to establish a new pipeline.

Looking down towards the greater Ngarenanyuki area, Kisimiri is actually quite high. And from the Lutheran church there, looking at the gully [probably formed by the stream the water project takes the water from] there is evidence of a dam that has obviously bust.
This dam would have been of great service to a large area and I wonder if the dam burst through natural misadventure, of by the departing farmers. It would be possible to reinstate it.