Mama Furahi had the sharpness of her clan and she soon became aware that we had some resources at our disposal and that we assisted with various projects. It did not take her long to ask us to help her 'group' with a tree nursery project. It is/was common that assistance for small project meant that the funds would be handed over and the project generally fizzled out because the funds were somehow 'eaten'. Another Swahili term.
Mama Furahi did not know then that she would never be given cash money for her project, but if we were to assist - then materials only would be donated. This was general policy for our projects, though I had developed a cynic button in my brain that self activated - and it had clicked into gear on its own.
I asked to meet this group of women and to lure them, I told Mama Furahi that perhaps I could provide some help. I had the feeling that the 'group' was hastily thrown together, but I considered that did not really matter. They were made up mainly of women from the College compound, with one or two exceptions. While I had my suspicions about the motives of the group, what made me decide to help was Mama Sudi
. She lived with her children and cared for her father who was a frail centurion on their small subsistence farm. They were very poor and I judged that she would probably carry out the bulk of the work, but her needs and enthusiasm would keep the other members honest.I had planned that I would give a notebook to Mama Sudito record the hours each member put into the project, then when the young trees were allocated (or sold) the divvy would be based on the proportion each had put into the project. At a meeting I drew up an agreement and all members understood and signed it. I worked out well.
A friend in New Zealand belonged to to an altruistic club which wanted to donate a small amount of money to a worthwhile project and with these funds we donated the nursery equipment to the group and I supplies the tree seed - the chairperson signed for materials on behalf of the group.
I gave the group a seminar on how to operate a small tree nursery and I warned them that they would face problems because of the summer water shortage - therefore, grow only the number that can be properly cared for. I saw that most were at least interested but I guessed a couple of the women would drop out fairly quickly once the work began. And that did happen!
To her credit Mama Furahi did her fair share of the work and together with Mama Sudi, a good number of seedlings was produced they did not really thrive well within the walled yard of Mama Furahi's house, but I suspect that was because she had enlisted her daughters to do most of the watering.
Once her new house was built, Mama Furahi assured me that the trees would thrive much better, but as I saw the house slowly growing, I was sure that her time would be concentrated on her house rather than the group project. There was another problem in the back of my mind - security. What was to stop the trees being stolen from her new, unfenced yard. Oh yes of course she asked for assistance to erect an enclosure - I declined.
So when Mama Faraja changed houses, I advised the group that the trees should be divvied up and that was agreed to. Mama Furahi and the members from the College compound used all their trees around their properties but Mama Sudi sold her share 'to buy soap and sugar'. The term for household needs.
Once the house was finished, Mama Furahi did manage to surround it with a post and barbed wire fence and for two further seasons the group, now a trio carried on with the tree nursery. I donated further polythene tubing and seed - it would have been nice had the group set aside funds for this, but hey, I was there to help. I was assured the nursery would keep going, but I never returned there. I hope it is - I will ask one of my friends. Was the project worthwhile? In my opinion, it sure was!
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