Life in Africa Thirteen

I bought this old photo on a visit to Zanzibar. It shows how big some of those elephants were.

I have no idea when this photo was taken and there was a ready market for ivory. I remember at home on the piano there were ivory keys and we had a knife & fork set with ivory handles.

The conservator in me nowadays deplores the killing of African animals but sometimes, I guess, realism has to apply.

It is common to see children carrying water throughout the third world. This girl is at Kisimiri village [probably my next blog]. 

There are many issues to consider when a water project is proposed and there are the urban myths about people involved.

The first you hear is the men do not carry water so they don't worry if there is a water project or not. Then, it is better to carry out projects with women because they are more honest.

Both statements are untrue in my experience. People are people wherever they may be. You look for the people you want to work with and use strategies.

When the community pulls together, it is called a harambee and we witnessed the value of such an occasion for the new church at Momella.

Here people are bringing corrugated iron, but other things including money are brought.

It is a celebration day and there is usually food and entertainment.

A little orphanage started up on the road to Ngarenanyuki which called itself Good Hope. Some orphanages are able to source funding while others struggle. We were not sure how or why this one evolved but the people seemed committed and we were able to find some small one of help for them.

Passing through the Arusha national Park on our way to the Ngarenanyuki area, giraffe were a common sight and we often tried to get close to them. Beautiful animals and the emblem of Tanzania it was always a thrill to see them. Somehow our day seemed more successful when we saw them.

The Momella lakes are like an oasis during the dry seasons, but actually the water is not very useful because of the salts.
We passed this way seldom, preferring the the road via Little Serengeti.
Sometimes there we large flocks of flamingo showing white/pink in the sun..

Still with the Momella Lakes, but I like this because of that sharp peak which can be seen throughout the wider Ngarenanyuki area. It can also be seen from the main Arusha/Nairobi road.
I asked many times what the peak was called but I found nobody who knew a name for it. I can't believe it hasn't been named!

Several times we visited 'family' in the Pare Mountains and this small lake is on the way to Ugweno.
The road was tortuous and when wet quite slippery. On the main Moshi - Same road there is Mwanga village. From there the road climbs up the mountain.
The higher the elevation, the more rainfall and mist, so the vegetation becomes more lush.

One of the reasons we travelled to Ugweno was for a Confirmation ceremony similar to this one at Makumita. This too was a special ceremony.

The expense of these ceremonies cannot be justified 'but everyone does it'. The expense is not a church thing, rather the outfits are the expensive thing and the food put on by families is no less expensive. It is a highlight in the young person's life and it has become a competition for some.

The meal venue was our house and prepared by friends of those involved. My offer of the use of the kitchen was declined in favour of the traditional fire.

Many people had access to the house and it rained causing mud to be trampled throughout. However nothing was misplaced and a big cleanup the next day left the place looking like the event had never occurred. 


Turkeys were not all that common, and this one was at the Bishop's house when we were setting up the rainwater harvesting. Actually it attacked Mags and but her on the elbow!
There were a bunch od young turkeys at the Rotterdam bar at Usa River and someone had painted them, probably with aerosol paint. They looked quite funny.

Then the headmaster of Makumira Secondary School, who lived behind out house, bought some. Rowdy things, and not attractive.

Kilimanjaro is, after all, the tallest mountain in all Africa and like most visitors we tried to photograph it when the opportunity arose. This photo from the Usa River Post Office, captures the umbrellas of a new bar that suddenly sprung up. But there is Kilimanjaro in the background.

 We had great assistance in our environmental programme in Manyata and Uraki primary schools.
Mr. Kitomari had a small farm off the road into Manyata primary school and has planted a lot of trees there. He even named his little girl after mags, which was nice.
He came as a 'guide' to Lily's house, assuring us that rain was to go around us. Not so the road became tricky/slippery and the trip out was exciting/frightening for my passengers!

I started with Zanzibar so will finish with Paje Ndame beach at low tide. The sea goes out a long way at low tide, which gives local women the opportunity to grow and harvest seaweed.
The boats are dugouts, large ones, I think made from mango trees.

Zanzibar should be high on the bucket list if you haven't visited there!

Life in Africa Twelve

At Sanawari there was a young lad, Bazili, who was a good friend of Olotu, so he spent some time with us. We were impressed with this young fellow, obviously intelligent and always polite. His mother had a small vege stall at the bottom of the Sanawari road and so we bought most of our vege supplied from her.

We visited their home not long before we left Sanawari and Bazili presented me with a plant. It was obvious that there was no wealth in the family, but Bazili has done well in life and he is a refreshing character.

On our first trip to Dar es Salaam circa 1995 the road 'had its moments' and was in a bad state. This picture is of part of the road heading out of Dar towards Chilinzi. During our time in Tanzania the roads were upgraded and to a high standard. I think of the road into Monduli was worse, you had to negotiate potholes so could not drive any faster than 20kph but after a recent upgrade it became a standard modern road.

 On another trip to Dar es Salaam we saw big red crosses on houses alongside the main road. We were told that these houses were to demolished to make way for the road upgrade.
I read in the newspaper and people told me that the owners had no right to be there - they were squatters. I have no idea if this is true, but at the time I felt empathy with those displaced people.

The wrecked houses seemed to be a mess and I am not sure if people were able to salvage materials or belongings.
It is easy to be glib and shrug one's shoulders - 'you can't make an omelet  without breaking an egg'. But this is people we are talking about!
I wonder how those people fare today?

With friends we were able to take a trip to Pangani. The turn-off is about opposite where we turned off to Amani. The trip through to the coast is quite long and through farmland - an interesting trip and I'm not really sure if it is the only way to get there. I think not.
There is a very good ferry to get there and we felt we were in good hands.

We slept in this 'motel' which was a very pleasant place to stay. Right on the waterfront and of course there were none of the cooler easterly winds we have in New Zealand.
Well built and comfortable with woven mats on the floor.
We were a privileged to be able to stay here - which was through contacts we had - so I won't divulge who the owners are.

The tide goes out a long way at the beach at Pangani, but there is not much sea life there. Mainly a sandy sandy beach, so there are no rock pools but I like to see what life there is and there was not much probably due to over fishing.

Crabs in the toilet? Well this was no health issue, but it was an interesting thing to occur!
This happened in our house at Makumira, and the crab appeared in the toilet bowl.
I did not know there are fresh water crabs - crayfish yes - but not crabs. There was a creek below the house fed by a spring, so there was no opportunity for the water to become polluted. There is an artificial pond built some years ago are reservoir to pump water up the hill into a tank reservoir. I have found crabs in that pond. The only was the crab got into the toilet bowl was (probably during wet weather) to crawl into the inspection pit of the toilet outlet and swim on up!

Drying prepared sisal at Dolly Sisal Estate.There was a creek crossing at the track passed through just beyond this point and the water seemed clean. I have written about Dolly Estate previously but as I write this, I remember that around Usa River (somewhere) there was a plantation and perhaps a factory that made safety matches. Long since gone.
Everything has its day and although it is sad when enterprises do not continue, that's the way of progress.

 Rashidi was one of our night guards. He was Maasai from Monduli Juu. Sometimes you have success with people you employ and other times they do not turn out to be so useful.
Rashidi's problem was that he would turn up to work drunk, especially after payday or when I gave him time off to go home. There was a local woman we called, 'I Am Free' [because she espoused the fact to us more than once] and Rashidi paid many a visit in her direction - during working hours.
He was unable to read or write, but he regularly asked for paper and pencil and showed me his 'writings' which were just scribbles and he could not say what it all meant. When he signed his payslip, each time the squiggle was different.
I gave him his marching orders when I found him unconscious with booze when someone knocked on the gate for medical assistance.

 I have previously written about Paulina and her family but came across this picture. The story is a sad one, but not uncommon in much of Africa. The girl in the blue skirt is Martguerita, who is Paulina's sisters child but is part of the family. Sylvester is the father and he was a farm worker who also turned up for work with the effects of alcohol.
The two boys were 'urchins' and in England would have made Artful Dodgers! Still they were good boys.

I am against the use of charcoal yet I am aware there is no alternative. What I do believe is that there should be commercial, man made forests grown sustainably for charcoal production.
Wood in Tanzania is being used seven times faster than it is growing, which is why I have been keep to see more plantings there.
This is an are that has been cleared to produce charcoal for the Arusha market.

There are several ways of making charcoal, but basically the process is to cook the wood so the moisture is expelled and it turns black.
This method covers the burning wood with soil and the fire is extinguished when it is guessed the wood has been cooked.
It takes two bags of wood to make one bag of charcoal - that is the conversion rate of wood to charcoal is 50%.
It would help if there were government initiatives to compel charcoal manufacturers to replant areas they have harvested - mind though some areas are converted into housing and farming.

Bags of charcoal ready to be collected for transport to Arusha [or to other large centers] the youths pack the bags fairly and certainly fill the bags. You usually find the bigger pieces on the top which looks better from a selling point of view.
The creation of charcoal is a significant employer and that extends to all the downstream activities. I would never ban the production of charcoal but I would set it on a more formal basis.

Ngarenanyuki - Water and Primary School

If you go to the UK, you can see the old castles and other history of the country but it is not so easy to see history in the Ngarenanyuki Area.

I'm always interested in history, the very reason I put things on my blogs, and around the Ngarenanyuki village, there is some history if you know where to look - or if you are fortunate.

There are two ways to get to the Ngarenanyuki village; the first (shortcut) is through the ford just past Olkung'wado and through the banana plantation, and the other by following the road on past the secondary school and over the high bridge, turn left and keep on going.

There are some small shops (duka) and from there to the left is a track that leads back to that ford but first passes by the state hospital. But straight on is a bridge and the road becomes rougher, rocky at first, and there is a big 'Shell' sign (yellow scollop shell). It was apparently erected for/during an international car rally event. The road passes across a dry river/creek bed and then in the dry season the dirt road becomes a dust road - dust at least 30cm deep! Off the road there, there are building that are the local government offices and others that seemed to be disused.

Loti's sister and her husband live on that dusty corner.

From here the road almost peters out but still reaches the Ngarenanyuki Primary School and next door (there are no other doors) is the Lutheran church. Between the church and Uwiro village, the road is a bit tricky as it crosses a creek bed where the rocks and slope kept me alert. Once through though Uwiro is easy to pass through with the next stop being Kisimiri Primary School.

There is an avenue of Jacaranda trees within the school grounds and the classrooms  are off to the right. And then  there is a long drive to buildings, converted to classrooms, but in the past seemed to be storehouses.
Between the main school block and these converted classes, to the left is a large old house, probably and old farmhouse that is now the Head Teacher's house.
The tree shelters in this picture were very well made and the planting were very orderly, planned by the Head Teacher.

When we first called at the school, the Head Teacher was a friendly, well liked woman whose husband held high village office. She took to the idea of carrying out and environmental programme and was happy that we were to assist the school.
The area is very dry, seriously dry, but we were told that watering trees was no problem because there was a water supply nearby.

Sure enough to my surprise there was a creek, fed by a good spring where (mainly) girls were able to collect water and carry it back to school. Here there are five pupils with the Head Teacher collecting water.
Water quality is a great problem throughout the district because of the various salts. I was told that this spring had good quality water.

People travel a long way to collect this water, certainly Maasai from as far a Ilkirimuni. I was curious to see a Maasai man with a camel, speaking Arabic to the animal - I don't know if it is true that camels only understand Arabic.
But, while I was in the creek bed, I could see the remnants of an old dam that must have been a water scheme.

The environmental seminars went well and as usual, while we wanted to put our efforts into the senior classes, the whole school wanted to take part. We were quite happy to work with the whole school but I doubted the smaller kids would understand my brand of Kiswahili.

Here the head Teacher makes some emphasis to some of the younger pupils.

The school through the Head Teacher encouraged the pupils in the environmental programme, but we continued to encourage by awarding prizes for good care of the trees/environment.

We were able to facilitate the supply of sports balls - a rarity in remote areas. The pity is that there are Acacia trees and they have thorns, causing punctures and early deterioration of the balls. 

 It is quite important to protect newly planted trees. Obviously from livestock - including hens) but also from the dehydrating sun. In most areas there is also a shortage of fuelwood, so usually materials for shelters is a very real  investment!

These were very good shelters and inside there is a bottle to supply the tree with water by the drip method.

The success of all school planting rest with the enthusiasm or lack  of the teachers and we were well supported here.

Later, there was a change of teachers - it is difficult for me to to understand why these changes occurred, but at the time the teachers were not happy and we noticed a reduction in cooperation. This happened in many schools.

 As with most of the schools we worked with, we were impressed that that cultural traditions were used to emphasize what we were teaching. It is easy to lose culture and singing, dancing and risalas are treasures.

There are usually reasons that trees fail to grow and the first growing season is probably the most important. The faster the tree is established and with active growth, the better the chances the trees have. Danger times are school holidays and not through drying out. More likely animals come through and knock down shelters and eat the trees. Sometimes donkeys are a problem and even giraffe (you need tall shelters for them!). However continued watering is always helpful.

 The Lutheran church is close to the school and of course they too wanted to have some trees planted in the grounds. Shade is needed around church grounds - but look how dry it is. 

Of course some of the teachers also belonged to the church, probably holding office of some kind. I suspect that school kids carried out some of the watering of these trees.

 As it turned out, and thanks to DanChurchAid, DME were granted funds to carry out water projects and it became my role to oversee the project.
This is when I found out about some of the history of Ngarenanyuki.
(Presumably) whoever was in what is now the school house and set up an elaborate water project. From the creek, in an open ditch to this transfer box. I thought that the box had been put in by the settler farmers had done this to supply water to the locals, but I guess there were no locals, only workers for the settler farmers.

From the transfer box the water went into a huge, concrete reservoir. I would guess that the other outlet went to the farmer's house by galvanized iron pipe. But this reservoir (I never measured it, but at least 20m x 20m and perhaps a metre or more deep. The reservoir was overgrown and full with mud and rubbish but I suspect had been used to irrigate a banana plantation and perhaps market garden.
The project was for domestic water supply but the reservoir was cleaned out. From the creek, we renovated the dam and hooked a pipe to the transfer box. We left a pickup point for water at the creek so did not utilize 100% of the water.
From the transfer box we took a line to the school and church, and another line to the nearby village of Uwhiro. Any water from the transfer box that was not used domestically, went into the reservoir. That is water flowing in over night. Some could be siphoned off for the nearby cattle dip as well.

 The significance of livestock is high in within the culture of local people which was why the cattle trough was installed. But my personal secret is that of conservation. If you look nine pictures up, you will see animals in the creek-bed - I would leap at the chance of avoiding that any time.
I guess the water trough was situated midway between Uwhiro and Ngarenanyuki.

And there we are, cattle using the trough.

You have to be a kid to know, but I would hope that the kids were genuinely pleased that they had water on tap at their school. When I was a kid, I think I would have liked the distraction of going to a creek to collect some water. On the other hand we adults and in this case, the teachers would look at their watches to judge how much mischief the kids were up to. All kids do that, but mischief too could be a learning experience.

On another occasion we took our friend, Mama Upendo to Ngarenanyuki and she was delighted to pose with teachers, kids and Loti.

A little beyond the school - up the hill, if you like, I was taken to a site where the farmer settlers had established a bore hole that tapped an underground lake. I was told the water quality was good and I have no way of knowing for sure but it is possible that the lake feeds the spring/creek we tapped from.
The pipe is about four inch and is filled with stones. My guide told me it was kids tossing stones down there (mischief) but it is also possible the farmer settlers sabotaged the bore before they left.
Water was extracted by means of a pump powered by a tractor and pulley.
My time had run out there, and I would have liked the opportunity to revitalize the bore hole

Life in Africa Eleven

A seam of marram, volcanic ash that has been tilted slightly by earth movement. This is at Engorora where it is mined and sold to whoever will buy it. I used it in the nursery to hold down sawdust applied over seeds sown directly into pots.

It is not easy work for the young men who scratch out a living doing this and it is dangerous work.

Loading the truck directly below the pit face. If you enlarge the picture, there is a heap to the left ready for sale. The marram is actually packed quite tightly and the bigger chunks are not saleable. The young men do not cheat with their produce, though they will try you regarding price. I knew the price and payed well so had a good relationship with the guys.

 Typical soil erosion just North of Engorora. A water pipeline crosses this gulley which carries water from Mt. Meru to the Army Base at Monduli. Of course people have tapped into the line - legally and illegally causing the army to discontinue its use.
Water, or the lack of it, continues to be a problem throughout the area.



A typical lineup for water at a tap beside Engorora (now Kisongo) school.
Water is  turned on at certain times and the water drums are filled in order of the line.
Washing is also brought to the tap in the hope there is enough water available at the time.

 Well. I'm a sucker for baobab trees and this nice one in full leaf is by on the road Kikatiti to Valeska.

I was fortunate enough to to take photos of a lot of elephants. I post this one because of the nice-shaped Acacia tree in the background.
I once took kids through Manyara National Park and we parked in the bush to watch some elephants, but a large group came along and we were sitting among them.
Upendo. Eriki and Vai sat there wide-eyed and very quiet!

 Horses in striped pajamas! There is areal beauty in the clean lines of zebras. Even though lions were close to this group, they seemed to know that they were somehow safe.
The lions were not hungry. 

Lions check us out, and even though the zebras were not too concerned about them, we were excited to see them so close.
We travelled without a guide, and they have the advantage of radio contact, so when exciting things are spotted, those in contact rush to the spot. It is good not to be involved in all that and we trust to luck.
We saw our share of good stuff!

It is easy to become relaxed about these wild animals and one time we stopped to watch a small number of lions feeding on a buffalo - not ten metres away.
I climbed out of the drivers window and stood on the roof-rack to take a good photo. But we had the children of friends with us (18 - 20 year olds)  and they appeared up there with  - from the back door. I told them to quickly get back in - which they did, but that was a risky - foolish thing to do!

 Mongoose burrows in a very large termite mound. These little animals seem to be alert all the time. We parked close by them and they performed for us.

A meeting with Maasai men at the village of Mkonoo. This was at the terminal of a water project we helped to establish.
Mount Meru in the background is the source of many of the downland water projects because groundwater is deep and often high in salt content.

Our 'Egg Girl' at Makumira. Her mother sent her to sell us eggs from their house at Nshupu. Upendo was a nice polite girl and the eggs were very good. We ended up giving her a job in the nursery where she performed very well. Later she trained as a cook - or was that chef? And she was lucky to obtain work in a hotel in Arusha. All did not end well for her.
Upendo's younger sister became our egg girl, and she too was a good kid who worked hard at school, passed the national examinations and was selected for a distant secondary school. She came to visit us when she was able to return home during holidays.

We took on a 'House Girl' who had been employed by leaving vols. We had not contemplated employing a house girl but we felt sorry that Mama John had been left in the lurch.
Rather than cleaning, it was good that she cooked for our nursery workers.
There was a cloud in her and she left quite suddenly. I saw her occasionally working in a bar closer to her house.

There is not much choice other than to use charcoal in the larger centers, but this is what causes the wood resource to diminish seven times faster than it is growing. To make one bag of charcoal, you need to use two bags of wood.
Where charcoal is produced, the land is denuded of tree cover.
And it is one the ways people can earn a living. It is not sustainable, healthy or environmentally sound. The only answer is in the logo 'Plant five trees before you cut one tree'. I say, double it!

Pit sawing is an age old system of cutting timber. It is still practiced in Africa and the guys carrying this work out make a very good job. I was dismayed to see a team arrive at Makumira with chainsaws and to use them to cut timber. This more than doubled the amount of waste ans saw the demise of a worthwhile skill.

These logs, I cut (felling the tree with a chainsaw) as the tree was leaning over our house. Mbise paid the men to cut the timber for the house we later built.