Something of an outcome

This is Ngarash Primary School. We are judging the quality of tree shelters the pupils had made to protect their trees.

It took some time for the system of our project to evolve, and I was at a disadvantage until I came to know Kiswahili.

Joshia had not really become involved with the project because he was away on various courses to cater for his future. The few times we were able to go into the field, he did all the instruction and when he asked me to say a few words, I managed, 'Na omba, tunza mazingira!' I beg you to care for the environment. This meant little to anyone, because especially school kids, could not understand my accent, and it was just a slogan anyway.

Don't get me wrong though, Joshia, just a young fellow, was a trained Forester and knew his craft well, and he was capable in front of an audience; and he loved school kids. The object of my assignment was to empower the people I came into contact with and teach them new skills - without my input, I was just a fund provider.

So we sat down together to work out how we should conduct our seminars. There was the technique of preparing planting holes and the actual planting of the trees. I could not fault the method, and even today when giving advice to customers, I recommend the same technique. I will describe it later.

The format would be that Josiah speak for a while on the environment, and then I would do a role play, modified from what I had done with the Maasai elder. The Josiha would read a story that I had written called 'Ndoto ya Grace' Grace's Dream. A short story about a girl who was committed to save the environment. It will take a lot of writing. but I will post it too! Actually it was published in the Tanzania Farmers Magazine. Josiha was very good at reading the story and used different voices and actions.

Josiah has his own NGO, called 'Green Arusha Society' and there is another story there which I will tell later.

All this also helped my Kiswahili, and I felt what we were making progress.

We were pretty much welcomed wherever we went, and our first concentration was at Engorora, Mkonoo, Nadasoito and Engorora primary schools. Later we encompassed other schools and villages.

Nadasoito and Mkonoo were priority areas because these were villages that we visited with Nettie, and where NZHC had funded water projects with Hifadhi, but were not completed. Big E was too preoccupied with his Bar and had left the water projects unfinished. I was to take these projects over and found our some of the tricks that were going on. I'm not sure if I'm going to get into those, but for example; A load of sand was needed for the Nadasoito reservoir, so Big E went to the school (where there was a load for school building purposes) and told them that if they gave him the sand, NZHC would build the new classroom. Totally unfounded and untrue. He had no authority to say this, but he got his sand and the school didn't get their classroom - I had to smooth this out! But hey, don't think too badly of Big E; yes he was a crook alright, but he did care about the village people and I have to admit that I enjoyed the challenge I faced with him - trying to outwit him. I was like playing chess; and some remarkable things happened and were revealed.

What really played into our hands though was the assistance package to primary schools funded by NZHC and promoted by Mo & Jo. This gave us access into so many areas and of course Big E wanted to take the kudos, and impose where the assistance was to go (to his cronies); but I trusted the guidance and advice of Josiah. However we worked under the auspices of Hifadhi and therefore Big E received his reflected glory; which was appropriate. So we were on our way well and truly.

There was one other thing that helped us.

We went the 700 odd km to Dar es Salaam with Jo who was doing Agency work and needed a 'minder' at the time. We went to visit the Tourism, Forestry & Fisheries Department, under whose authority we worked. The people there were very welcoming and I set up a good relationship with some of them. They had this shipping container, full of forestry/environmental resources that were kept there and stored because they had no way of distributing or otherwise utilizing them. We were welcome to use as much/many of the items as we thought we could use. We took a lot of things on that trip and returned from time to time for more - they were very happy to see them used! The small disk is is a bade with a pin on the back 'Misitu ni Uhai' means

Forestry is Life. And 'Tunza Miti' means Care for Trees. We used these badges as prizes for kids - oh yes many school teachers wanted one too and village leaders/elders.
The larger disk is a sticker, there were two kinds, one for on glass - vehicle windows - and the other to stick on things like doors or walls.
These too were popular and we quickly ran out of stocks. But the container had many of them stored there. 'Panda miti kwanza ndipo ukate mti', means Plant trees first before you cut a tree. See the language - plant trees (and when we say that, we hold up five fingers to note the number of trees) before you cut one tree. For a consrvationist this is a great slogan. It demonstrates also the beauty of Swahili, the language.

We were also given several volumes of Useful Trees and Shrubs for Tanzania this book turned out to be a Bible for us.

So with all of this were were set to carry out an effective project and the cost were no great.

Hang on though, before I close off on this. At Loshoto,in the Usambara Mountains (Google it) there is a project funded by Denmark - National Tree Seed Project. It was a real perk trip to go there, but a very useful place to go to purchase really good quality seed. We made the trip there several times on I will relate some of those stories another time. What is not so well known though is that there is a large, well-kept Herbarium (that is a collection of [pressed of preservation] plants from Tanzania and around the world - fascinating!) Also there is a large Arboretum (that is a collection of live and growing trees from around the world) and you should see the size of some of the Eucalyptus species! There is a large range - I even found some Leyland Cypress which we grow here as a shelter tree and can only be propagated by cuttings.

So the stage was set for us really.

Working things out

One of the reasons for Whiskers and Nettie to visit, was the Agency Conference. We I'm not that into conferences, so I will not dwell on it, nor do I need to report on it. The other reason was the opportunity to look -check - on projects and the various volunteers.

Big E had a few projects that had been funded by NZHC, and while none were completed he spoke well and justified what had happened and generally made things look pretty good. We went to look at two unfinished water projects, one at Nadasoito and the other at Mswakini. More on those at another time.

Nettie was impressed with the nursery and interested in our ideas of working with schools to improve the environment. I suspect she could see that the funded projects needed some supervision.

Mo & Jo had told her that Hifadhi had no money to support our project. Not our project, but the project we belonged to. Ownership of any project was with the people directly involved - the end users.

Nettie advised me to write up a project funding proposal. She told me that I needed to state that I would control all funds and be responsible for them.

I wrote a simple proposal - funding of the tree nursery to produce trees that could be given out to participating schools - that is schools where we carry out seminars and they only receive trees after the holes are prepared to plant them in. The funding included vehicle expenses.

Mo took my proposal to Harare (with a bottle of whiskey) and returned with the acceptance of the proposal. The rules were that we received money in monthly amounts from the Agency bank account and then after fully accounting for the money spend, another month's would be advanced. I was asked to keep on Big E's case to ensure the water projects were completed.

Then there was something else - Mo & Jo had been working with Nettie on a project to assist primary schools. This included supplying desks, text books, teacher's aids, building of toilets and painting of blackboards.

I could immediately see the potential of this - not only would it help the schools enormously it would help us to access the schools. Each volunteer was to be given five schools to assist, but as it turned out not all vols wanted to take up the offer, so we were allocated ten, and that later swelled to 12 which turned out to be hard work but as fulfilling at the same time.

This was to make an assignment that I could fell very comfortable with - we were very lucky.

Expedition To Nairobi

After the seminars at Engorora and Soko, we were left to work in the nursery. Big E & Round L were concentrating on their Bar and I had been making a few changes in the way we set up the nursery. Josiah was back doing his studies and Missy asked me how we should prioritise to move forward.

I told her that we should start going out into the villages and that I would pin Big E down and talk about it. She too was keen to go into the villages and experience life there. I had started to be friendly with Mama B and the three kids. This was because the nursery was just behind the house (maybe I should draw a map), and each morning after I had had breakfast, I would walk past where Mama B and the kids were having theirs. Always Mama B would say, 'Karibu!' Welcome, but I would just pass and say that I have just finished mine.

One day Big E said to me, 'Each time you just pass, you never take tea with us!' Right there and then, I smiled and sat down with them, and from that day, I had two breakfasts every day! And enjoyed it too!

Usually on a Saturday morning and always on a Sunday morning, Big E was seedy from the night before, and he would take his tea by himself at around 9:00am in some sunny spot. He always wore his teal blue, toweling bath robe - only. Whenever he saw me, he would invite me to join him, ordering a chair to be brought to me and of course, my cup. When assuring Missy that I would speak to him, I had in mind one of these Saturday morning sessions.

The next Saturday morning I joined him in the warm morning sun and we talked about general things as we had become accustomed to do. After I thought he was comfortable enough, I broached the subject.

'We are making good progress in the nursery now, and don't you think it is time to visit the villages to begin working with the people?' I asked.

'Yes that would be good,' he agreed, 'but we have used the money set aside for seminars. Actually we don't have enough money to pay for petrol to travel into the villages.'

'How do you expect to deliver the trees we are growing, if there is no money for petrol?' I asked, 'and we need to be doing more that just producing trees.' I was a bit dumbfounded, but I kept calm and my voice low.

'We have to move along with the fundraising projects.' was his flat reply.

I had my ideas about those fundraising projects, they had been filed in my mental rubbish bin!

So I changed the subject and talked with him until he decided it was time to take a shower.

I mentioned my conversation to Jo, who was skeptical and said that Hifadhi should have enough money for the project as he had been successful in gaining funding - she was a bit angry. Still I decided to remain calm as it was 'early days yet'.

Now what follows had a certain impact on my assignment and the following is what I actually wrote in my diary - note that these days I would probably report it differently as I would see it through 'more experienced' eyes.

Day 54 - 8 Oct

Today Jo and I are to go to Nairobi to pick up Whiskers and Nettie, big noises - one from HO and the other from NZHC. Up early and sowed Cassia simea seed that had been water soaked.

Jo arrived at about 9:00am and we set off - me driving. I had been as far as the Losononi turn-off but after that for a time the area was treeless and quite barren. The grass is brown and dry - this is Maasai grazing land and is over grazed! We were leaving the influence of Mt Meru. The day was partly cloudy and it was warm.

Soon we encountered more trees varying sparse to quite thick spacing and they were mostly Acacia trees with flat tops and spreading crowns. Sometimes there is a sward of grass and other times the red earth is clearly visible and that means erosion problems are apparent. The road is sealed all the way, bit it is generally very narrow and there are places where large holes in the side of the road could cause a vehicle to roll if you hit it with a wheel! And of course there are potholes - some bad, most you can dodge.

Soon we spotted some Zebra in the scrub (first time for me), but we were past them before I could stop for a better look, so only saw the striped rumps. Suddenly, right on the side of the road were two Giraffe! I had actually expected them to be bigger, but I got out of the vehicle and took some photos. I tried the whistle I use to make rabbits sit up or stop, but it did not work. When they walk it looks like slow motion. In quite a few places we saw ostriches, the females are a dowdy brown, while the males are black with white wings - didn't see any running though!

Sometimes we could spot gazelles - Thompson's - and they look cute with smooth skin and distinct markings.

Alongside the road Maasai herdsmen, wrapped in their red blankets, tended their cattle or sheep or goats - some have elaborate decoration on wrists, around necks or on their ears - most are tall and thin (or is that lean) .

The border crossing into Kenya was a melee and very busy with tour parties' cars parked in disorganised rows. Men (touts) wanted to exchange money and Maasai women wanted to sell trinkets/crafts, one wanted to put a braclet on my wrist as a 'gift' and I had difficulty getting her to take it back - it was a scam anyway and she took it when she realised I wasn't parting with any cash.

The Border Post buildings were shabby and dingy (shaded) to stay cool, but the immigration officers were friendly and no bother to us. We had to book out of Tanzania first - just one small form to fill in - and then travel the 50 metres of 'no man's land' to the Kenya post. Another form to fill infor a temporary visa - they gave me 3 months and the cost was $US50.00.
This was my first actual border crossing, but Jo was used to it and well prepared because there customs stuff to attend to re the vehicle.

Jo drove the rest of the way to the Nairobi Airport and I sat back to relax and look at the countryside. It seemed to me the further we went, the more wealth became apparent. Don't know what I mean there, but probably : infastructure.

As in Tanzania, some of the Acacia trees are leafless because of the dry season, and some had bright green, new leaves and to me there seemed no apparent reason for the difference!

Saw a large area fenced off in the bush with cattle grazing - the cattle are the humped breed Brahama - that's probably wrong - Zebu.

Atop one hill there is a cement works, meaning there was lime nearby (sea in the middle of Africa?)

We came to a small village and there were street lamps - some were leaning over (bent) and perhaps only 50% worked but there you are... and the center line in the road was marked!

The road came to a T junction - left was to Nairobi, right to Mombassa, and the road had become a 4 lane highway! The turnoff to the airport was actually unmarked, but Jo found it ok by using me as a lookout, and soon we were parked in the airport carpark!

It is a big, busy airport and is made from local stone. The Arrivals Terminal is a separate terminal to the Departures and they are linked by an overhead causeway. Inside the Arrivals Terminal seemed a bit dingy because of the varnished panelling but it was neat and tidy (clean) and ok to sit in (cool). There was barrier to stand behind to wait for incoming passengers.There were stalls for various companies : Avis, Hotels, Safaris and there was an Information Counter.

As we were early, we went to the restaurant (up 5 stories) for lunch. This was a upmarket quiet and refined place (for me). Jo had actually been feeling queasy and was off her food, so we both settled for an omelet.
After lunch we went back down to the Information Counter to see when the plane would arrive,'Due to operational difficulty the plane was delayed until 5:00 o'clock'. We decided against going into Nairobi for the four or so hours because Jo did not know the city very well & anyway we had no spare money & didn't have a clue what we wanted to see there! And Jo's queasy stomach needed to be considered as we all know what that can lead to! So we sat down in a cool part of the terminal and watched the goings on. We had a few laughs at the expense of the travellers - our own fun in a way; airport fun.
We crossed the road to the Departures Terminal and Jo had a Konyagi (to settle her stomach) and I had a Tusker beer; but to be honest neither of us felt like a drink because we were a bit worried at the delay of the plane and thinking about getting home in the dark - late! Close to 5:00pm we asked at the Information Counter why the arrival was not noted on the blackboard! 'Delayed until 8:30pm'. Jo asked if the plane was actually in the air. 'We only have information when the aircraft is 45 minutes away, otherwise the time is only approximately.' Of course we were not satisfied with that answer but there was nothing we could do.

Jo had two bags with her so we took turns at guarding them while the other went for a stroll or to the loo (luck for Jo because she brought her own paper - bad luck too because she was needing it). On one of my walks, I found this guy in a computer room with a small slide window and he was monitoring all flights in and out of the airport. It was he who gave flight information, via a runner, who took it to the Information Counter for announcement. But this computer was right up to date. I chatted to the man in my most respectful Kiswahili and he was prepared to supply the news to me. He could not tell me why the plane was delayed, but he printed me out the manifesto which showed Mo and the others aboard. The latest ETA was 2:00 am which meant that the plane had not left Harare.

Oh well, we just had to wait it out! We had concerns that Mags at home will be worrying, but there was no way to get news to her. The people around the airport were friendly to us and the new shift of taxi drivers kept asking us if we needed transport into town! The guy at the computer did not mind me going back for information and a chat. Jo was on hot coals anxious for her husband Mo. Finally the guy told me that the latest ETA was 8:30am Monday morning! What to do? We decided to spend the night in the car (long wheelbase Landcruiser). The meals were off at this late stage and Jo managed to down a chocolate eclair and I had two Samosa - I must say my hunger remained, but we could find nothing else!

It was never dark in the carpark and for us trying to sleep, the lights annoyed us. Jo took the back seat and I the front - Jo seemed to sleep but I was too uncomfortable because of the gear lever!

Day 55, 9 Oct

It was not long before we found that it was getting cold! Even though Nairobi is on the Equator, the altitude makes nights to be cold. Jo wore only a T shirt and I a thin cotton short sleeved shirt, but I had a cotton sweater and like the gentleman I am, I gave it to Jo and froze myself!

In all the time we had been at the airport, we had not seen women dressed in kangas as in Tanzania, but when I extracted myself at 2:00am for a toilet break, I saw 5 or 6 women dressed in kangas mopping the tile floors of the building.

At about 6:00am I went to the Information Window and was surprised to see my friend there already; after our greetings he informed me that the flight was not in the air! We did not feel that good because we had nothing for morning ablutions (no toothbrush, no shave - well Jo didn't need to - no change of underwear etc) but we decided to take breakfast. The tea was the usual sweet, milky variety that I was beginning to look forward to; but the restaurant did not open until lunch time! After a while we abandoned the idea of the restaurant, and went to the downstairs cafeteria. We decided to have toast and sausage; I was very hungry. The toast was half cooked in toastie pie maker, and the sausage was about 4 cm long and 1 cm thick, which was small for a Kiwi guy! Jo was not hungry, her upset stomach and worry about the incoming flight disturbed her.

It was time to check on the flight - this time, if there was a problem, Jo did not want to know! However my friend confirmed that the flight was in the air and due to arrive at 12:00 noon! We had been worried about Mags back at Sanawari expecting us home last night - we knew she would be frantic with worry. The oldest of Big E's sons comforted her with the idea that we could have run off the road! Communication were difficult at best during that time, but at the airport, there was a post office, so we wrote an fat for them to send to the Agency Office where we knew Mags would go because she was covering for Mo & Jo when they were not there. There was a great deal of difficulty for the post office lady find a line to send the fax and 'policy was retry every 15 min.' Well finally the fax went through, but just as Mags closed the door to the office - as far as she knew, there was no communication!

Another flight arrived from Harare, the scheduled one, at about 11:00 am so we went in to watch the passengers arrive and we stayed there for the 'real' to arrive. When Jo caught sight of Mo, she flushed with excitement and relief, hugging me twice in her glee! I too was pleased to see him and the others as they approached - Whiskers was wearing a broad grin!

Apparently the hydraulics in the tail of the aircraft failed soon after takeoff and they were luck to land safely! The repairs took a long time - the replacement pipe could not be fitted, so the split on was brazed up! They had a frightening experience and some of the passengers refused to return to the aircraft.

Whiskers hinted strongly that he wanted a T-shirt from Nairobi, so despite our fatigue, we went into the city - I will describe the city later. So this delayed us for a couple of hours.

The trip home was uneventful and we chatted. I drove from the border back to Arusha, straight up to Sanawari, where we were greeted somewhat enthusiastically by Mags and Mama B and Maua who had been keeping her company.

Exhaused, I went to bed almost immediately!

But this event put me in the good books of Nettie who was to help with our assignment!

The First Seminar

The first seminar was at Engorora village, just past the Kisongo market area. I was still struggling with Kiswahili and anyway Big and Josiah were swapping between that language and Kimaasai, so it didn’t really matter to me.

But they did seem to be going to a lot of trouble it was obvious that they were going to provide food because Mama B had made a pile of chapatis and boiled a lot of eggs. There were going to be speakers on different subjects, and Josiah had made up a number of pots to fill as a demonstration. The seminar was to last for two days.

I had the use of the Agency Maruti. This is a long wheelbase car like the Suzuki 4WD so often seen. They are India made and I found it to be an amazing vehicle. I had actually had a LJ50 with the Forest Service – a small two stroke with oil injection and it too was an amazing vehicle!
This vehicle had actually been assigned to Johnny Boy, but he had not yet arrived, but fate took a hand when a person assigned to Mbulu could not come due to ill health. The new Landrover was then allocated to Johnny Boy and the Maruti was assigned to me. Handy that because we hardly ever managed to wrestle the Suzuki from Big E or Round L!

Seminars are a common way of providing development in Tanzania, and the participants are usually given a pen and exercise book to take notes. ‘People do not arrive if you don’t feed them’, which is the reason for the food. The usual demand is that at least 25% of the participants be women – this is to ‘empower ‘ women, up I found underneath all, they have their own type of power.

So I took Josiah with the food and the equipment out to Engorora, while Big E went to collect the guest speakers – they were late and one of the speakers had to be replaced by a ‘less than expert’; but that did not matter because despite the promise of breakfast (at 9:30) people were only arriving in their small groups.

The seminar was held at the school, a wooden building; and for the first time I saw the problems education was facing in Tanzania. Now it is much better as sometime 2002/3 Tanzania was provided with a huge aid package from Denmark to target the education problems.
The building was of wood and termites had caused a lot of damage, so the door did not shut and weatherboards had fallen off. There was one desk to three students. A newly constructed class was made out of slabwood (waste from the sawmilling operation) this new building housed two classrooms with no desks; the kids sat on boards that stood on large stones or bricks. The blackboards were painted black, but most of the black had worn off.

Engorora School Building – Maruti Outside

The Slabwood Classrooms

Inside the classroom - the desks came later

I asked the Head Teacher how far some of the students had to walk to school : 4 miles was about the farthest! Most arrived with water containers because there was a water tap in the school compound.
The water came from Mt Meru. It was a line established for the Army Base at Monduli some kilometers away. It was supposed to be exclusively for Army use, but many villages had tapped into it illegally; so much so that finally there was not enough water going to the Army Base, so the line was closed down and they established another. The village people were left to suffer no water.

When the seminar participants had finally assembled, the women members were coerced into preparing the food that we had brought with us and after Grace was said the food was washed down with the typical milky, sweet tea.

The participants were given a school-type exercise book and a pen to jot down notes. Much care was taken to draw the margin on each page and as the speakers spoke, all took notes. Josiah spoke well and so did Big E and he used the picture in a book as a teaching aid – though nobody could see it. There were other speakers as well, talking about health and other matters.
Josiah demonstrated a jiko fuelled by sawdust – now this was remarkable! A jiko is a small, circular metal drum that holds a cooking fire. It usually fuelled by charcoal (one of the major causes of deforestation) of firewood. These jikos are most common in towns where firewood is more difficult to find; in rural villages three stones is a more common type of fire.

Mama B cooking on jiko

Now Josiah’s demonstration was to place a bottle in the center of the jiko and tightly pack dry sawdust around it, then carefully remove the bottle. With tinder, light the center where the bottle has been removed. The sawdust burns slowly at first, but soon produces hot cooking embers. Sadly this did not become popular and did have issues with sourcing sawdust – but it was available!
Another guy expounded the use of a solar dish to cook with, but the cost was way over what local people would be able to pay!

After lunch there was a demonstration on sieving soil using the wire netting frame commonly used for cleaning maize, beans or coffee. There was a supply of soil and rotted cow manure on hand to be mixed together with some water so the texture was correct.
There was on man there dressed in traditional Maasai regalia, and I did so want to take his picture, but had forgotten my camera.
So next day, I took our camera – phoo, he turned up wearing a brown suit!

Mixing soil

The seminar continued the next day was spent with a demonstration of cutting the polythene tubes correctly to length and filling them with soil – there is a knack in filling them. The bottom must be well packed to avoid the soil falling out when being handled. But softer further up so the seed can germinate easily.
The group was given some various seeds and they were told that they could start their own tree nursery.

Big E was happy with the seminar, and another was conducted at the village of Soko a few weeks later. I had some reservations – the side issues did not reinforce the environment/conservation message and there was no follow-up planned. But nonetheless I had learned a lot.
I found out later that he had been funded for these seminars and somewhat more than was actually spent! But that’s another story for another time.