The events at Meserani Chini taught me a valuable lesson.
I was not really involved with the Primary School Assistance Project at Meserani Chini as it was a school allocated to another vol, Duck.
He was based at Monduli and had no transport, therefore could not supervise the project. Instead he handed the funds to the Monduli Regional Education Office for them to administer. Duck was fully in support of the project, he just lacked the tools manage it.
So I was asked to supervise the project from time to time, which was a task I did not mind, but could have done without.
The project went well and I had no real concerns except that part of the project in this case was to plaster the floor. Fair enough, it was in a really sorry state. My concern was that they were not 'plastering' the floor, rather, they were relaying a concrete floor about 100cm thick. I agreed that it was necessary but thought they would run out of cement, which they did. Duck's budget had been spent leaving the classroom floor half completed. I made a small application for more funds and was successful so the floor was eventually completed. There were minor concerns mainly over terminology - plastering vs concreting, but that sorted ok.
The other 'unusual' part of the project was rainwater harvesting.
There was indeed a need for rainwater harvesting but the project had not attempted it before and I was very interested in the concept.
Boards had been used for spouting and a small tank had been built and I thought the setup was very well done.
I found that there was no water source within the village and water was brought in by tractor and sold for Tsh100 per 20litre bucket. Very expensive for the local Maasai.
Naturally after the first rains, I made it my business to call there to see if the tank was holding the water. The Headteacher was very stressed and wanted the tank taken away.
Providing a small amount of free water had upset the internal balance of the village. It was never expressed who should benefit from the water. The teachers thought is for them, the parents thought it was for the students, who could take water home home. Then there were the thieves at night. So the Headteacher put a lock on the tap but that only caused extra bad feeling within the village.
I called in the Mtendaje - the village executive officer, and suggested that the situation be settle in one way or another. He immediately called a village meeting , chaired by the village chairman, and a few were able to come at short notice. Then he passed the buck on to me! It was not my fight!
So I simply told the meeting that the amount of water was small and if every household recieved one bucket, the tank would be empty in a day. They all agreed.
For the sake of keeping the tank in working order, there should be water in the tank for as long as possible with some remaining constantly. The water should therefore be for the use of the teachers - equally - as teachers need to be attracted to hard, rural areas and with no water, there may well be no teachers.
The meeting fully agreed with that and peace returned to the village.
The lesson: People need to understand the terms of aid/assistance fully before work begins or goods are supplied. By taking the power away from people it insults their intelligence and nobody can be expected to accept that.
Keep the consultation process going! Always.
I was not really involved with the Primary School Assistance Project at Meserani Chini as it was a school allocated to another vol, Duck.
He was based at Monduli and had no transport, therefore could not supervise the project. Instead he handed the funds to the Monduli Regional Education Office for them to administer. Duck was fully in support of the project, he just lacked the tools manage it.
So I was asked to supervise the project from time to time, which was a task I did not mind, but could have done without.
The project went well and I had no real concerns except that part of the project in this case was to plaster the floor. Fair enough, it was in a really sorry state. My concern was that they were not 'plastering' the floor, rather, they were relaying a concrete floor about 100cm thick. I agreed that it was necessary but thought they would run out of cement, which they did. Duck's budget had been spent leaving the classroom floor half completed. I made a small application for more funds and was successful so the floor was eventually completed. There were minor concerns mainly over terminology - plastering vs concreting, but that sorted ok.
The other 'unusual' part of the project was rainwater harvesting.There was indeed a need for rainwater harvesting but the project had not attempted it before and I was very interested in the concept.
Boards had been used for spouting and a small tank had been built and I thought the setup was very well done.
I found that there was no water source within the village and water was brought in by tractor and sold for Tsh100 per 20litre bucket. Very expensive for the local Maasai.
Naturally after the first rains, I made it my business to call there to see if the tank was holding the water. The Headteacher was very stressed and wanted the tank taken away.
Providing a small amount of free water had upset the internal balance of the village. It was never expressed who should benefit from the water. The teachers thought is for them, the parents thought it was for the students, who could take water home home. Then there were the thieves at night. So the Headteacher put a lock on the tap but that only caused extra bad feeling within the village.
I called in the Mtendaje - the village executive officer, and suggested that the situation be settle in one way or another. He immediately called a village meeting , chaired by the village chairman, and a few were able to come at short notice. Then he passed the buck on to me! It was not my fight!
So I simply told the meeting that the amount of water was small and if every household recieved one bucket, the tank would be empty in a day. They all agreed.
For the sake of keeping the tank in working order, there should be water in the tank for as long as possible with some remaining constantly. The water should therefore be for the use of the teachers - equally - as teachers need to be attracted to hard, rural areas and with no water, there may well be no teachers.
The meeting fully agreed with that and peace returned to the village.
The lesson: People need to understand the terms of aid/assistance fully before work begins or goods are supplied. By taking the power away from people it insults their intelligence and nobody can be expected to accept that.
Keep the consultation process going! Always.
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